Monogamy

  Monogamy

  Part 1

  The first faint hint of dawn crept into the slightly chilled room, and with it, a bright blue eye cracked open, shifting around to orient the fuzzy mind of the owner. The eye closed; having recognized the approaching dawn, its task was complete.

  The tall, lean woman was lying on her left side, and a substantial weight was pressed heavily against her back. Her right leg was drawn up towards her chest, and another leg was plastered to her own, mirroring her pose. She could feel skin, and a tuft of springy curls tickled her ass when she twitched it slightly, so she knew she was bare from the waist down.

  A warm hand gently held her breast, and she could feel her heart beat against the soft skin of her lover’s palm.

  Her ears got into the game then, picking up the slow, steady sound of Jamie’s breathing. Judging by the volume, she guessed that her partner shared her pillow, one of the blonde’s favorite morning habits.

  Then her nose performed its duties, and her mouth twitched into a slow smile when she filled her lungs with the lingering musk of their lovemaking. That was clearly not a dream, she told herself, immensely pleased by the confirmation.

  Only one sense remained, and for unassailable proof of the previous evening’s activities, she held her hand under her nose, then licked the tips of her fingers, grinning broadly when she tasted the unmistakable essence of her partner. "Nice," she purred, not even realizing she had said the word aloud.

  "What’s nice?" a soft, raspy voice whispered into her ear.

  "Waking up like this," Ryan sighed. "Feeling so close to you … feeling so well loved … having you hold me like this … It’s incredibly nice." She shifted out of Jamie’s hold and lay on her back, snaking an arm around her partner. "Thank you," she whispered.

  The blonde woman placed a kiss on her chest, then nuzzled her slightly cold nose against the warm skin. "You’re welcome. The pleasure was equally mine."

  "I guess that’s true, isn’t it?" Ryan dipped her head and gently kissed the pink lips, tasting herself on her partner. "You had me in every way imaginable."

  "Huh-uh," the blonde said. "I’ve concocted lots more ways in my little head to have you."

  "I eagerly anticipate being on the receiving end of that quest."

  There was a slight pause, then Jamie hesitantly asked, "Uhm … really?"

  "Really." Ryan hugged her tightly and said, "You helped me break through my fears last night, sweetheart. I think we’re gonna be fine."

  "Hey, now," Jamie began, soothingly stroking her partner’s belly as she spoke. "Don’t push yourself too hard. If we have trouble again, or if you need to go slow or change anything that we do, it’s okay with me …"

  Mid-statement, a pair of warm lips cut off her words. After kissing her thoroughly, Ryan said, "I don’t need to go slow. We’ve got a lot of time to make up for." She hugged her again and said, "This is like falling off a horse. The best cure for your fears is to get on her back and ride her."

  "With pleasure." Pulling Ryan’s arm from around her neck, Jamie rolled her over and sat astride her ass, hips thrusting lasciviously. "I’ll ride you all day."

  "Ya gotta love a woman who takes you literally," the brunette purred, not caring if her riding lesson made her miss an entire day of school.

  Jamie only had time for a quick ride, and she scampered out of bed just minutes after her usual wake-up time, much to Ryan’s amazement. The brunette wasn’t usually so completely enervated by early morning lovemaking, but Jamie had managed to rock her world thoroughly, and before she knew it she was out like a light.

  Waking at 7, Ryan stretched and rolled around the bed like a big cat, twitching her body into a multitude of contortions to get the kinks out. My God, Jamie nearly loved me senseless. Ooo, but what a way to go. She linked her fingers and stretched her arms straight up over her head. I’d love to wake up exactly this way every day for the rest of my life. She lay quietly for a few minutes, the thought of having Jamie right by her side for all of her days making her hum with pleasure. Every day for the rest of my life.

  Suddenly, she sat up in bed, thoroughly bedazzled. What in the hell are we waiting for? We talk about having a commitment ceremony – of publicly declaring how we feel about each other – why haven’t we done it? Good, God, we almost died during the carjacking – and if that taught me anything, it taught me that every day is precious. I want to – I need to – show Jamie how precious she is to me. I want to marry her in front of everyone we know – and to give her a ring that she can look at every day for the rest of her life and know that I love her with all my heart. I can’t waste another minute!

  Minutes after she had made her decision, Ryan paced in front of a buff-colored telephone, which rested on a small, wooden table near the front door of her home. She had been pacing for quite a few minutes, and was no closer to picking up the phone and dialing than she had been when she had begun.

  This is silly, she reminded herself. There’s nothing to be nervous about. You’re only being polite, and you know it. His opinion means little at this point. Her mouth curled into a smirk as she looked down at her roiling stomach and said aloud, "Hear that? The brain is telling you to calm down. Don’t you realize the brain is in control around here?"

  Okay, now I’m talking to individual body parts. Not a good sign …

  Decisively, she picked up the phone and dialed the long series of digits. "Senator Evans’ office, this is Margaret Aimes. May I help you?"

  "Hi, this is Ryan O’Flaherty. I’d like to speak to Senator Evans if he’s available."

  "Ryan O’Flaherty," the woman repeated, pleasing Ryan by getting the pronunciation correct. "I’ll see if he’s available, Ms. O’Flaherty."

  She waited just a moment before his voice came on the line, sounding slightly agitated. "Ryan? Is anything wrong?"

  "No, not at all, Jim," she said, acknowledging to herself that a call from her was a pretty rare occurrence. "I have a couple of things to ask you, if now’s a good time."

  "Yes, it’s fine," he said. "What’s on your mind?"

  Avoiding the more difficult issue, she chose the easy one. "I wanted to make sure you’re still planning on coming to Jamie’s birthday party. just trying to get a final count."

  "Of course I am," he said immediately. "That uhm … does bring up one issue, though, Ryan, so I’m glad you called. I uhm … know you’ll tell me the truth."

  "Sure. What is it?"

  "I was going to bring Kayla with me. Do you think that will present a problem?"

  "Kayla, huh?" She let the question rumble around in her mind for a moment.

  "Catherine claims that she doesn’t mind if I start to see her again," he said, obviously trying to convince her.

  "Jim, I don’t have an opinion about who you date. I’m only trying to consider how it will affect Jamie. I know you don’t want to make her uncomfortable on her birthday."

  "Of course not, that’s why I asked."

  She spent a moment thinking of the dynamics of the group that would be at the party, and she answered him as honestly as she could. "I can’t imagine that it won’t make Catherine uncomfortable, no matter what she says. If Catherine is uncomfortable, that might make Jamie uncomfortable, too. But, she claims that she wants you both to move on – so I imagine she’ll do her best to get over her discomfort."

  He sighed and said, "That’s what I thought."

  "Let’s be honest, Jim, Jamie would prefer that you and Catherine were still together, but since that can’t be, she’s actively trying to get used to the fact that you’re both free now."

  "I’ll call Catherine and ask her directly," he said. "I wouldn’t press this, but I’m in kind of a bind here, Ryan. Kayla’s going to be with me for some meetings on Thursday and Friday,
and I don’t want to exclude her from this if I don’t have to."

  "Well, I’m sure Catherine would appreciate the ‘heads up,’ if nothing else."

  Letting out a breath, he asked, "What else did you want to talk about, Ryan?"

  Her mouth was suddenly very dry, and she wished she had brought a glass of water into the living room. Clearing her throat, she forced herself to say, "Circumstances didn’t allow me to do this in April of last year, even though I wish that I could have."

  "Go on," he said warily.

  "As you know, we’ve had a rough month. One thing the carjacking reinforced for me was the fact that life is very short, and it’s best not to put off doing the things that are important to you."

  "Yes …?"

  "One thing that we’ve been putting off is having a formal commitment ceremony to celebrate our union. We both very much want to do this, and have from the beginning, but we’d agreed to hold off until everyone we loved was willing to celebrate with us." She took in a breath and added, "Up until now, you were the only hold-out. But, it seems that things have been going well between us for a while now, and I hope that you’ll agree to not only come to the ceremony, but to participate in it."

  Stunned silence came from Jim’s end of the phone line, but Ryan let it go on, knowing that it would take him a while to get used to the idea. "Why didn’t Jamie call to ask me?" he finally got out.

  "She doesn’t know I’m planning this. I want to give her a ring for her birthday, but I don’t want to even bring up the topic if you’re unwilling to attend. We’re only going to do this once, and I know she’ll always regret it if you don’t share this with her."

  Ryan could hear him exhale sharply, and heard a slight squeaking as he probably rocked in his desk chair. "You’d wait until I was ready to do this?" he asked quietly.

  "That’s the only reason we didn’t do it originally. Ideally, we would have had a ceremony before we moved in together, but that wasn’t possible."

  "I suppose not." He was quiet for a minute and finally asked, "Did you predict I’d be so opposed to your relationship, Ryan?"

  She paused for a moment and tried to recall how she’d felt before they spoke to Jim and Catherine about their love. "No, I didn’t. I actually thought Catherine would have the harder time with it. So did Jamie," she added quietly. "She was pretty sure you’d be behind her."

  "She’s always given me too much credit," he muttered, as much to himself as to Ryan. With his voice at normal volume, he said, "I’ll be there for her this time, Ryan."

  "That’s great to hear, Jim. Jamie will be very pleased." A moment passed, and she added, "I’m pleased, too. Having both of our families there will mean a lot to both of us."

  "Uhm … forgive my being dense, Ryan, but this feels like you’re asking for my daughter’s hand in marriage, but given all of the recent tumult about Proposition 22, I know that’s not possible."

  Ryan gritted her teeth slightly, her anger over the statewide ballot proposition prohibiting gay marriage very much on her mind. "No, not technically," she said. "We’re going to ask your father to perform the ceremony, of course, so it has religious significance, but it has no legal import."

  "I see," he mused. "But you’re not an Episcopalian, Ryan. Will the ceremony satisfy your spiritual needs?"

  She chuckled mildly and said, "There will be a long wait before my church comes out of the Dark Ages to acknowledge same-sex relationships. Besides, I don’t think God belongs to any particular denomination. To be honest, what matters are the vows we’ve already made to each other – it doesn’t matter who blesses us if we don’t honor those."

  He was quiet for a moment, reminding himself that she wasn’t aiming her comments at him. "Ahh … that’s what I thought. Well, I’m sure it will mean a great deal to you both, even without the state’s recognition."

  "It will, Jim. We pledged our love to each other before we … moved in together," she said, deciding not to mention that it was actually right before they made love for the first time. "This is an occasion to repeat those vows in front of our families and friends. It’s a lot more formal and a lot more public, but the meaning is the same."

  "I see. Now, you say you’re going to do this for Jamie’s birthday, correct?"

  "Yes, that’s right."

  "Good. I won’t say a thing when I talk to her."

  "Thanks, Jim. I really appreciate that you’re being supportive of something that I know you don’t approve of."

  "I approve of my daughter – and her choices," he said quietly. "I’ve come to learn that being supportive of her is sometimes difficult … but always rewarding. Besides," he added, laughing softly, "you’re pretty easy to like, Ryan."

  "I suppose I have my charms," she said, joining him in the laugh.

  Less than an hour later, Jim picked up his private office line to hear his daughter’s cheerful voice on the other end. "Hi, Daddy. Have you got a few minutes?"

  "Sure, Jamie," he said absently as he made a note to mark his place in a document he was reviewing. "Funny that you should call today. I just talked to Ryan." The words were out of his mouth before he realized what he was saying.

  "Pardon?" she asked. "Why did Ryan call?"

  "Oh! Well, she wanted to make sure I was still planning on coming to your party," he explained, hoping she’d buy it.

  "Odd … the O’Flahertys never care how many people show up. Oh, well," she said, unable to divine Ryan’s intent. "I hope that your answer was yes."

  "I wouldn’t miss it for the world. Now, why did you call? Same reason?"

  "No, I don’t think so," she said. "I want to bring up a subject that might be a little difficult for you to come to terms with, Dad, but it’s something that’s important to me."

  "Okay," he said. "What is it?"

  She let out a breath and steeled her nerves. "Ryan and I both want to have a celebration of our commitment to each other, Dad."

  Good Lord! These two really do belong together! They even think alike! "Yes, go on, Jamie," he said, feeling grateful that Ryan had prepared him already.

  "We’ve wanted to do this ever since we became a couple, but … well, things didn’t quite work out that way."

  "That’s putting it mildly," he said, surprising her completely.

  "Yes, well, I was playing golf this morning, and something hit me, Daddy. None of us knows how long we’re going to have on earth, so it seems wasteful to delay doing the things that mean the most to us. Nothing is more important to me than showing everyone the place Ryan holds in my heart," she said quietly, her voice catching with emotion. "We wanted to do this earlier, but it was obvious that you wouldn’t have participated then. I want you to be a part of our ceremony, Daddy. It would make me very, very happy. But whether or not you’re able to support us – we need to make our plans. I can’t wait any longer to do something this important."

  "I’ll be there, Jamie," he said, the emotion welling up inside of him. "You can count on me."

  "Really?" she asked with a voice that reminded him of when she was a small child. "You’re okay with this?"

  "I think it’s a wonderful thing, Jamie, and I’m touched that you gave me some time to come around. I know how hard that must have been for you," he added, his voice heavy with regret over his actions.

  "I wish you were here, Daddy," she whispered. "I’d give you the biggest hug you’ve ever had!"

  Leaning back in his chair and gazing at the ceiling with unseeing eyes, he let the warmth and love that filled her voice wash over him. "Not many children would be able to forgive the things I’ve done. I’m eternally grateful that you’re an extraordinary woman, Jamie. I mean that in every sense of the word."

  Standing right outside of the locker room at Levine-Fricke Field, Ryan adjusted her baseball cap to keep the sun from her eyes and called Catherine. "Hi, there," she said, long past the point of having to identify herself.

  "Hi, Ryan. How goes it?"

  "Good. Very good, as a matter of f
act. I uhm … have a favor to ask, Catherine."

  "Anything in my power, Ryan. All you need do is ask."

  "Okay." She sucked in a breath. "I’d like to borrow your daughter for, oh … I’d say, the rest of her life. Is that okay?"

  Catherine’s amused chuckle soothed the slight bit of anxiety that had been building up in Ryan all afternoon. "You want to know if Jamie can come over to play for seventy or eighty years?" she asked lightly.

  "Well, that’s a fairly modest goal, Catherine. I’m hoping to squeeze an even hundred out of her. She’s got very good genes."

  "I can’t think of anyone I’d rather entrust her to, Ryan. But now that that’s been established, can you tell me what you’re getting at?"

  She laughed softly and said, "I think it’s about time we made honest women out of each other, Catherine. I’d like to have our long-delayed commitment ceremony, if you approve, of course."

  "Oh, Ryan," she sighed, "of course I approve! I’m wholeheartedly in favor of it." She paused for a moment and asked, "If you don’t mind sharing, could I ask why you’ve decided to do this now?"

  Ryan cleared her throat, not having prepared herself for the question. She surprised herself by speaking straight from her heart. "Because I love her so much it makes me ache," she said softly. "She’s the most important person in my life, Catherine, and I want my creator and everyone I know to hear me pledge my life to her."

  Catherine was quiet for a moment, then asked, "Do you speak like that to her?"

  "I do," Ryan said, just a little embarrassed about being so open. "I try to tell her every day how much I love her."

  "She’s a lucky woman," Catherine said. "And so are you. She loves you with all of her heart, Ryan."

  "I know. And as much as you try to avoid taking credit, part of her ability to love comes from you, Catherine, and I’m very thankful to you for giving her that."

  "We weren’t always the best parents, but we both tried to show her that we loved her – even though I know she didn’t always feel what I tried to convey."

  "More got in than you realize," Ryan said.