With that thought in mind and with my cock in a grumpy mood, I head to the bathroom, strip down and turn the shower on full blast. I need to jerk off or I won’t be able to think for the rest of the day.
“I’m not shy about getting my fill.”
“Fuck,” I groan, planting one palm on the wall and stroking myself with the other as I picture soft lips and perky tits and a round little ass that’s begging to be violated.
“There’s nothing you can show me that I haven’t seen or done already.”
She underestimates me. I like that. I want to surprise her. I want to watch her green eyes widen and then roll back into her head as she shudders underneath me. I want her hands clawing at my hair while my mouth defiles the hot center between her legs.
I want to take it all. Everything.
But today I have to settle for a fantasy as I come hard, pant for a minute with my forehead against the tile, and then seize the shower gel to wash off.
Yesterday I made plans with Danny to go to the batting cages later. While I haven’t played the game in years, I’ve taken swings at the cages now and then and no one can accuse me of being out of shape. I wonder what kind of path I might have followed if Liam and the horrors of Tavington hadn’t twisted my destiny into something different. Anyway, swinging a bat with my old buddy amid doses of good natured banter is something I didn’t have for a long time and I’m glad to have it again. Danny needs to make up his mind soon and decide what he plans to do about the upcoming season.
It’s not until my stomach grumbles that I remember I haven’t eaten yet today. There’s not a whole lot to choose from in the kitchen. I should go to the store since I’ve got nothing else going on for the next few hours.
I’ve just finished pouring the remnants of a bag of granola into my mouth when I hear some weird noise coming from the front door. There’s a low thump, then some animal-like scratching. Finally, the doorbell rings, a lengthy DINGGGG DONGGGGG, as if whoever presses the button doesn’t know how to do it correctly.
There are no deliveries expected today. I toss the empty granola bag in the trash and the doorbell gets tortured again.
DINGGGG DONGGGGGG.
I have zero patience for door to door sales. No one wants their day interrupted with an offer for satellite television or bug spray. Now irritated, I throw the door open to show the visitor the less cheerful side of my personality.
And I stare, dumbfounded.
“Hi,” says Caitlin.
The twins, dressed in sparkly princess costumes, gape up at me as they shiver side by side.
I look around for an adult and see no one. “What are you two doing here?”
Mara hiccups and starts to cry.
Caitlin sniffs. “She’s sick.”
Winter has reclaimed the skies and it’s far too cold for them to be outside dressed as they are. I don’t know how they wandered off but we’ll deal with that in a minute. My first priority is to get them warm.
“Girls, come in.” I wave them inside and they step forward eagerly, although tears stream down Mara’s cheeks.
I shut the door, tell them to stay right where they are, and dash to the bedroom to grab a couple of hoodies.
“Here. You can put these on over your costumes.” I hand them each one.
The look confused.
“They’re sweatshirts,” I explain. “You pull them over your head. See? I’m wearing one.”
Caitlin wrinkles her nose. “I know that.” She yanks hers on and pushes her hands into the sleeves. It comes down to her knees and it’s on backwards but whatever.
Mara tries but gets stuck, her muffled voice yelling “Help! Help!” from within the fleece folds. She turns in blind circles.
Gently, I help her find her way out. She breathes with relief and pushes her hair out of her face. Her eyes are still watery.
I’m crouched down in front of them. “Now what are you guys doing wandering around by yourselves? Where’s your Aunt Gretchen?”
“She had to go places,” Caitlin says.
“And your Uncle Danny?”
“He’ll be back in ten minutes.”
I frown. “Where did he go?”
“He’ll be back in ten minutes,” Caitlin repeats with confidence.
Why the hell would Danny have left them alone, even for ten minutes?
“My tummy hurts.” Mara is crying again.
“She drank the tea.” Caitlin takes her sister’s hand. “It was bad.”
“You drank bad tea?” I ask Mara, beginning to grow uneasy about what we’re really dealing with.
Mara nods.
“And then she threw up on the table,” Caitlin announces.
My uneasiness skyrockets.
I peer directly into Mara’s eyes, which seem a little glassy. She gazes tearfully back at me.
“You’re not in trouble,” I assure her. “But I need to know what you drank, sweetheart.”
“Uncle Danny’s tea,” she whispers. “It was on the table.”
I flash back to the day of the funeral. “To Jules!”
In an instant I understand what must have happened.
“Did you find the tea in the carriage house?” I ask the twins.
They nod.
“Was the tea a brown color and in a bottle?”
They nod again.
Fucking hell, Danny.
He not only left them alone but he left a bottle of whiskey out for them to find.
Mara and Caitlin watch me with identical worry. I don’t want them to know that I feel like throttling their uncle right now.
This isn’t good.
This is the kind of thing that gets reported to the authorities and summons child protective services.
“I need you to think,” I tell Mara as gently as possible. “You have to tell me much tea you drank.”
She screws up her little face as she concentrates and for a second she bears an astonishing likeness to her mother. “I had one drink and then another.”
“You mean you drank one cup and then had a second cup?”
She shakes her head.
“You had one sip and then a second sip?”
She nods.
“And then she threw up,” Caitlin reminds me. “I didn’t have any sips. I tasted it and it was yucky so I didn’t want it.”
I feel like I’ve been holding my breath and now I can exhale. It sounds as if Caitlin didn’t ingest any whiskey while Mara didn’t drink much and threw up the portion she did drink. To make sure, I ask Mara to walk toward me in a straight line, which she thinks is funny. I ask her to touch her nose, which she thinks is even funnier.
Caitlin is inspecting my house. “You don’t have any furniture!”
“I have some,” I argue.
“You should get more.”
“I will.”
I lift one twin in each arm and announce we’re walking back to their house. We can be there in just a minute, before Danny returns and freaks out when he can’t find them.
The girls think it’s great fun to be carried down the street. Caitlin begs to be tossed up in the air ‘like Uncle Danny does’ but given the fact that her sister puked a few minutes ago we won’t be doing that.
The front door is locked but luckily the back door is not. Danny’s still not around but neither is Gretchen and for once I’m glad because I’d rather not be the one who gets stuck explaining her brother’s babysitting failures.