“You’re sure?” Maurice asked, the phone held between his ear and shoulder. “I don’t mind.”

“Matt’s insisting he take us home. I think he’s jealous,” Nancy said and Maurice heard Matieus protesting in the background. “Besides, you’ve done more than enough. Relax this weekend and I’ll see you Monday.”

“Bright and early, ma’am,” Maurice said without thinking.

Flipping his mobile closed, he tossed it to the couch and put his hand back on the ladder. “What’s left to screw in?” he called up to Yevi, who was securing the winch onto the ceiling beam.

“Just you two once I’m done,” Yevi called down.

Yevi’s ability to float effortlessly between masculine and feminine looks was a huge reason for Maurice’s attraction to him. However, this morning the five o’clock shadow on Yevi’s normally smooth jaw was really doing it for Maurice.

The front door creaked open and Jaz strode in with a gigantic bouquet. Kicking the door closed, she skipped to the kitchen table. She adjusted the flowers several times until she found the spot she liked.

“What’s all that?” Yevi asked.

“From Maury’s boss,” Jas replied, looking over the card.

Maurice peeked around the ladder and asked, “She sent me flowers?”

“Nope! They’re for us,” Jaslene said, sticking her tongue out. She held the card out as she read it. “‘Thank you so much for letting me steal your man all the time. He’s invaluable, but I’ll try to be less stingy with him.’ Awww, she’s so sweet,” Jasmine said, holding the card to her chest.

“Oh no, not more of you,” Yevi said with a grin to Maurice as they descended the ladder.

“Are you done?” Maurice asked, smacking Yevi on his shapely butt.

Yevi snatched the control pad off the ground. “I am. The swing is ready!”

With a flourish, Yevi bowed and pressed a button. The silk cloth hanging from the ceiling rose until he released the button. Jasmine walked over and looked up, pushing brunette ringlets out of her eyes.

She turned to the boys with a big grin. “Who’s first?”

Yevi slid an arm around Maurice’s waist and said, “We already decided it’d be you.”

“Works for me!” Jasmine said, whipping her t-shirt off in one motion before fighting her pajama shorts and underwear over her hips. Yevi slipped out of his pajama bottoms as Maurice retrieved lube from the bedside cabinet.

“So, how’s this work?” Jasmine asked as her hand found Yevi’s member.

“You get in and the cloth holds you up while Mo and I have our way with you,” Yevi said as he watched Maurice get undressed.

Jasmine glanced up at him with a sparkle in her eyes. “Same time?”

“Yep,” Maurice replied, flipping the lube bottle in his hands as he came over. “Saddle up, girl, you’re going for a ride.”

----------------------------------------

“You could have met us at the house, you know,” Nancy said, signing Shirley’s discharge paperwork as the hospital buzzed with people around them.

“Nonsense,” Matieus cooed to Shirley in her carrier. “I’ve missed enough time with this angel as it is.”

Nancy laughed and thanked the nurse. To Matieus, she said, “She’s been in the world for two weeks. You’ve missed nothing but her sleeping and eating.”

“Regardless! I missed baby Michael because I was busy with my startup. I don’t intend to miss this little angel,” Matieus said to Shirley, holding her in front of him as they turned to leave.

“By that, I should assume you’re going to be her live-in nanny?” Nancy asked, pulling him out of the way of someone in a wheelchair.

“Ha! No. But I could be persuaded to rent an apartment here,” he said with his massive grin down to her. “I don’t suppose you have one of your fancy penthouses available?”

“I can check,” she said as they exited the hospital. A large stretch limousine took up the entire entrance round-about. Nancy sighed and shook her head. “Matt, was this necessary?”

“What?! I’m making up for lost time.” He shrugged. “Besides, we wouldn’t fit together in a sedan.”

In the limo, Nancy sat facing Matieus, who had Shirley buckled in next to him. She picked up the newspaper on the seat next to her and opened it to the business section.

“You are just the cutest! Yes, you are! Yes!” he said to his granddaughter, wiggling Shirley’s foot with his fingers.

“Don’t baby talk her,” Nancy said without looking up from the newspaper.

“What? Why not?” he asked, his head popping up. “That’s the best part of having a baby around. You get to be a kid with them.”

“You two can be children all you want, but you’ll speak to her like you would me,” Nancy replied, flipping a page.

“I baby talk you sometimes,” Matieus said with a grin.

Nancy aimed a stern glare over the top of the newspaper. He held his grin until Nancy folded the paper and cocked her head to the side.

“Fine!” he huffed, throwing his hands up. Turning to Shirley, he puffed out his chest and put on his best official voice. “Well then, little madam, it’s a right pleasure to meet you. Shall we discuss the difficulties of the stock market and how that could affect your family’s trust?”

Nancy snorted and shook her head, pulling the paper back up. As the limo exited the interstate, her phone buzzed in her purse.

“Nancy Lanover,” she answered and listened for a moment, then lowered the newspaper. “I’m so sorry to hear that. How’s your family? Is there anything we can do?”

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

Matieus looked up from Shirley, his brows furrowed. ‘What is it?’ he mouthed.

Nancy held a finger up as she nodded and listened.

“Yes, please. Forward me all the information. Matieus Clough is here with me. I’ll relay this to him. Again, I’m very sorry for you and your family. You’re very welcome. We’ll be in touch.”

Nancy folded her phone closed and tapped it on her knee, staring at the seat opposite her, thinking.

“My gods, what’s happened?” Matieus asked.

“Patrick’s dead,” she answered, eyes glazed over.

Matieus’s shoulders sagged with a heavy sigh. “You’d think I’d be used to this. How’s his family?”

“Managing,” she blinked. “That was his son-in-law. They’re sending all the funeral information.”

“Good,” he nodded. “At least he’s free of that respirator he hated,” Matieus said, glancing out the window. When there was no response, he looked back to find Nancy still in a daze. He waved his hand, breaking the spell.

“Hmm?” she mumbled, blinking as she brought her attention back to him.

“Are you okay?”

“Oh, yes. Just projecting. Do you know if Patrick had a beneficiary for his stock in the company?”

“You know,” he said, reaching over and putting his large hand on her knee. “You can worry about the company later.”

“I disagree. This could be beneficial,” she replied, leaning back in the seat and lacing her fingers in her lap.

“Nancy.”

“What? I’m not celebrating his death. His daughter’s very sweet. I feel bad for her and her children. But if I can get ahead of this, I can lock Ingrid out of any foolishness.”

“Nancy,” Matieus repeated, a little more firm this time.

“If he didn’t have a beneficiary,” she continued, ignoring Matieus as her mind wove possible futures. “I can influence who takes his place on the board. And even if he did,” she said, eyes darting as she thought. “I never did anything to him or any of his ventures. So, it’s unlikely he’d be able to instill whatever hatred he had for me into someone new.”

A smile crept up from the corner of her mouth. No board member was eligible to take over another’s shares, so that kept Ingrid from making a power grab. Nancy contemplated beneficiaries: Trisha, Patrick’s daughter, was a wonderful person but had zero business savvy. Micah, her husband, was a small business owner, but he wasn’t ready to move to something this large. Patrick’s grandchildren were possibly old enough, but she didn’t know enough about them. She made a mental note to have someone look into them this evening.

Shirley’s slight groan and struggling from her carrier snapped Nancy back into the present. She unbuckled herself and moved to sit next to her daughter.

“All right, little girl,” she said, lifting the baby out. “Are you hungry or messy?”

Matieus chuckled. “If she answers you, I’ll never use baby talk again.”

Nancy turned Shirley around to smell her bottom, then put her back into the carrier. Undoing the buttons on her blouse, Nancy pulled her breast out and lifted Shirley to it.

Matieus’ face went pale, and he searched the back of the limo before snatching the newspaper. He snapped it open, positioning it between himself and the feeding.

Nancy laughed. “Matt, it’s just anatomy.”

Matieus turned to her, but then looked away quickly again. “I’ve known you since you were her size,” he said from behind the newspaper. “You’ll forgive me for not wanting to see my niece’s anatomy.”

“Well, you can stop hiding,” Nancy said after a minute. “She doesn’t seem to be hungry, either. Hand me a towel, please.” Nancy spread the towel over her shoulder and held Shirley against her, swaying gently. “Sometimes she just wants to be held.”

“May I?” Matieus asked, his hands out.

Nancy passed the baby over. She fit snugly in both his hands and fussed until he started humming and swung her gently back and forth.

“What song is that?” Nancy asked, trying to remember where she’d heard it before.

“No song,” he said, grinning down at Shirley. “My mother used to hum it when she cooked. I hummed it to you when you were little.”

“You’re going to be a great live-in grandpa,” Nancy said with a pat on his leg as they pulled into her driveway.

“I’m no such thing!” Matieus said, giving her a squint.

----------------------------------------

Fifteen teen girls sprinted up and down soccer field 6B. They had been at it for five minutes and fatigue was showing. Katrina watched them from the sidelines, yelling an occasional order or encouragement. Only two of the girls had been on her team last year. They were the two still going all out.

“Lucretia! ¡Dale ¡Dale”

Lucretia was tall and strong, but lazy. She could be a great goalie with her height, but Katrina knew she’d languish sitting in the goal. Putting her through sprints and footwork drills might make her a good winger or striker.

“So, that’s where she gets it from,” a voice said from behind. Turning, Katrina saw Margaret Lenny, Lucretia’s mother. “Whenever she wants to go somewhere now, it’s ‘Mom! Dale!’. If the food isn’t ready right when she is. ‘Mom! Dale!”

Katrina laughed and hugged her. “If the girls are going to play my sport, they get a bit of my culture. ¡Dale just means ‘hurry up’.”

“Oh, that’s good. I was worried it was a curse word.”

“Oh, I’d never. Well, at my own children maybe, but never yours,” Katrina said with a wink. She checked her watch. “All right, girls! Water break! 10 minutes!” Setting her stopwatch, she turned back to Margaret. “So what brings you so early? How’s Kitty? Did she make the high school team?”

“Yes, they started her varsity. She asks about you all the time.”

Katrina touched her heart. “Awww, she was a favorite.”

“As for me, I had some time to kill and figured I’d watch you torture the girls.”

“Train,” Katrina corrected with a grin and a finger point.

“I don’t suppose you have any training for adults?” Margaret asked as she patted her mid-section.

Katrina chuckled. “I wish. If only I burned calories by watching them. Life’s so busy.”

“Speaking of busy,” Margaret said, swatting Katrina’s shoulder with a twinkle in her eye. “Are you still seeing that husky guy? What’s his name? Don?”

There it was. The real Margaret stopped by. She could be fun, but she was a gossip hound. Whatever you told her, everyone knew shortly.

Katrina shook her head. “No, we’ve gone our separate ways.”

Margaret’s face drooped. “Aww, that’s such a shame. You two made such a sexy exotic couple.”

Katrina gave her a polite smile and nod. She wasn’t about to let this gossip bitty live vicariously through her. “Sometimes, things just don’t work out.”

In reality, she was tired of men feeling the need to one up her. Don had been the last in a streak that felt the need to overcompensate whenever she mentioned anything she had accomplished.

When Katrina made the mistake of mentioning she owned and ran her own business, Don puffed his chest out and started spouting work accomplishments. It suddenly became show and tell with the expensive things he owned when Bryan found out she owned her home and a nice car. Zack made her feel insignificant by pointing out how she should have done things differently when she complained of a rough day.

And it wasn’t just her job or possessions. While she said nothing about their bellies, back hair, or receding hairlines, they always had some comment about cellulite or stretch marks. Enough was enough, and it was time for a break.

“Besides,” Katrina said, trying to change the subject. “I’ve got enough to focus on with the business and whipping these new girls into shape.”

“Well, if you’re curious, I know of a single gentleman who you might like,” Margaret said, a twinkle in her eye.

“I’m sorry. I have to get back to it.”

Katrina grabbed her stopwatch, hit the button to end the count early, then blew her whistle. Sorry girls, tell your moms to stay home if you want longer breaks. She turned, grabbing several soccer balls and lobbed them onto the field.

Margaret pointed at her with a big grin. “Used your hands. That’s a penalty.”

“You got me,” Katrina smiled and turned to the girls before her face cracked. “All right! Tammy. Bea. Come up front and we’re going to show the others some footwork drills.”