Chapter 12
Charlie
The Middle School Years (11-13)
“All right. Get together, everyone. Say middle school,” Reagan said as she held her phone out in front of her and made an exaggerated smile as if the kids didn’t know how to do it.
Then again, maybe she was right since the only one currently doing what she said was Carter. Ronan had his arms crossed in front of his chest and Olivia was, to no one’s surprise, rolling her eyes.
“This is so lame,” Ronan whined.
“Yeah, really. We’re too old for first day of school pictures,” Olivia said.
“Well, you better get used to it.” I pointed to Reagan. “I’m pretty sure your mom is going to make you take one up until your first day of college.”
“And on the first day of your first adult job,” Reagan joked.
Except, knowing her, I wasn’t so sure it was a joke. The older she got, the more sentimental she became, especially when it came to the kids.
“If you smile, we’ll do something fun after picking you up.”
“Can we go to the batting cages?” Ronan asked, a smile finally coming to his face.
“Seriously?” Olivia asked. “The batting cages aren’t nearly as fun as mini golf. What do you think, Carter?”
For a second, Carter looked like a deer caught in the headlights, most likely due to the fact that she unfortunately wasn’t used to her opinionated siblings asking for her input. Then she looked at me and shrugged. “Why can’t we do both? They are at the same place. Plus, it’s right next to the bookstore. That way, we all get to do something we enjoy.”
Reagan pointed at Carter. “See. That’s why she’s the smart one!”
Olivia scowled at Reagan. “We’re all smart.”
“She’s obviously joking,” I said. “Now please smile so we can take this picture and get to school.”
The kids smiled as if they were perfect little angels and Reagan snapped the picture. If I was like too many other parents my age, I would’ve posted the picture on social media and pretended that the minutes leading up to it weren’t filled with fighting and bribes. Instead, I took Reagan’s phone and sent it to the chat we had with her family and added, “Only had to bribe them with batting cages, mini golf, and the bookstore to get this picture.”
Within seconds, Reagan’s brother replied with, “I love how it’s so easy to figure out who each of those bribes are for.”
***
When we picked them up from school, the kids were buzzing with excitement. It was hard to figure out what any of them were saying when they were all talking at the exact same time.
“And they already told us when the first dance is going to be,” Olivia said, loud enough to be heard over the other two voices. “It’s only two weeks away. Marty and CJ both asked me to dance with them as soon as they found out. After the dance, I’m going to decide which of them gets to be my boyfriend.”
“Boyfriend?” Reagan asked, aghast. “We’re in the boyfriend years already?” She pointed between Ronan and Carter. “Are you two getting boyfriends too?”
Ronan shook his head. “I only like girls.”
“Dope. Me too.” Reagan held her hand out for a fist bump, which Ronan reluctantly returned. “How ’bout you?” she asked Carter. “Any boyfriends or girlfriends?”
Carter’s face became serious as if she was considering the question. “I only really care about school and friends right now.”
“But,” Olivia wrapped her arm around Carter. “We’re going to try out for the soccer team together.”
Olivia’s soccer playing days didn’t even last up until the time of the first dance, when she decided she would rather cheer for sports than play them. Carter had made the team and decided to stick with it, but I had a feeling that was only because she was determined not to quit and probably wouldn’t do it again the next year.
The one thing all three kids could agree on was that they were very excited for the dance. All for different reasons of course. Carter wanted to hang out with some of the new friends she had made, Olivia wanted to decide which suitor would get the pleasure of being her first boyfriend, and Ronan wanted to play basketball in the gym.
Once they were ready, Reagan took their picture and we drove them to the school together. “Their first dance,” Reagan said with a sigh after they were out of the car.
“I know, right? I feel so old.”
Reagan lifted an eyebrow at me. “Want me to help you feel young again?”
“That depends. What did you have in mind?” If I was being honest, the smirk on her face made me feel equal parts excited and scared.
“Let’s park the car in the overflow parking lot between the schools and reenact that night you jumped me after you figured out I wasn’t actually dating your brother.”
“You really want to reenact the night the cops showed up while we were trying to have sex in my car?”
“It was your ex-boyfriend. He was hardly a cop.”
She did have a point and that parking lot was dark and empty. Not to mention the fact that it had been forever since we had sex and just the mention of it had me very turned on. “Fine. But if we get caught and need to be bailed out of jail, we’re calling one of your high school friends. I don’t care how long it’s been since you’ve talked to them.”
Reagan shrugged. “Fine with me.”
I drove to the parking lot and parked in the farthest and darkest spot. I turned off the car to decrease the risk of someone seeing us, then turned toward Reagan and ran my hands over my legs. “Do these sweatpants turn you on as much as my shorts did that night?”
“Is it weird if I say they turn me on more?”
I laughed a long hearty laugh. Just when I thought I couldn’t love this woman more she says something that makes me realize I can. “I’d expect nothing less from you, baby.”
“Do I still turn you on as much as I did when I was the straight girlfriend of your brother?”
I laughed again. “That’s a definite yes.”
Reagan motioned toward her lap. “So, I guess if we are re-enacting that night, you belong right here.”
I looked around the parking lot as if someone would have suddenly snuck in and was watching us. When I found that it was still completely empty, I did as directed. It took a bit more maneuvering than I remembered, but finally I was able to find a not-so-terrible position facing Reagan with my hands clasped together behind her neck. I leaned in and kissed her slowly at first, but picked up the pace when she wrapped her arms around me.
As the kiss heated up, I moved my hips against Reagan’s lap to get some release from the currents pulsing through my body already. As I pushed into her harder, I felt something in her pants. What the hell?
I moved my hand into Reagan’s pants and gasped. “You’re packing right now? You’ve never done that before.” That’s when it hit me. “Wait. You were planning on this.”
“Planning would mean I assumed you’d say yes. I was hoping.”
“You’re quite the romantic, Mrs. Miller-Cooper.” I pulled the object out of her pants and stroked it. “But I don’t recall this happening that first night in my car.”
“Who knows what would’ve happened if Jarrett hadn’t shown up.”
“Maybe you should show me now.”
Reagan licked her lips and nodded at me. “Take your pants off and I’ll show you.”
After struggling to find a position where I could maneuver my pants off I was finally able to pull them down. I let them rest around my ankles and repositioned myself on Reagan. I leaned forward to whisper in her ear. “Where do you want me?”
“It’s not about where you’re going to be. I want to be inside of you. I guess I should probably get you wet first though, huh?”
“That shouldn’t be hard.” In fact, I felt myself becoming wet the moment I realized Reagan had something extra between her legs.
When Reagan brought her hand to my center, I purred with delight. As if that wasn’t enough, Reagan ran two fingers through my wetness, then brought those fingers to her lips and licked them clean.
I swore I could’ve come just from watching that. I wanted to see her do it over and over again. But Reagan was on a mission and moved her fingers against me harder and harder. I pushed her hand away when everything around me started to disappear and my muscles began to spasm.
“I need you inside of me now.”
Reagan smirked. “Your wish is my command, my queen.”
She held the dildo in place while I lowered myself on top of it. It felt so good going into me that I thought I might orgasm before the first thrust. Luckily, I was able to hold myself together enough to start moving on top of it.
I lifted my body up and down so I could fuck myself on Reagan’s dildo. The pressure built within me as I moved faster and pushed it in further. When the pain came, I only fucked myself harder. Pain mixed with pleasure and the most intense orgasm I ever experienced shot through me.
I laid my head on Reagan’s shoulder as I struggled to catch my breath. “Wow. That was… wow.”
Reagan let out a breathless laugh. “That good, huh?”
“Just give me a second and I’ll return the favor.” Although I had no idea how I would ever top that.
“There’s nothing to return. Watching you move against me. Feeling you move against me. Yeah, don’t worry. I’m good.”
Slowly, the recollection of where we were returned to me and I suddenly became very aware of the position of my half naked body. “I guess I should pull my pants up, huh?”
“I mean I’m not making you, but I guess if you must.”
I moved back to my seat and pulled up my pants and underwear. I had just pulled them over my butt when red and blue lights blinded me.
“Shit. Shit, shit, shit.” I wiggled around in my seat while I tried to figure out what to do.
“Just act normal,” she said out of the side of her mouth. “And let me do the talking.”
When the light from a flashlight shined on my window, I rolled it down and sat back so Reagan could take control.”
“Hey, officer, we just decided to pull back here to look at the stars while we wait for our kids to be done at their first middle school dance.” She pointed across the parking lot. “We can leave if you’d like.”
The police officer waved his hand and chuckled. “No. You’re fine. I was just making sure you weren’t two teenagers. Do you know they try to come here to have sex?” He scoffed. “Kids.”
Reagan brought her hand to her chest, looking like she had just been scandalized. “No. Please tell me that’s not true.”
He took his hat off and rubbed his balding head. “Unfortunately, it is. I’m just glad tonight I stumbled upon responsible mature adults instead.”
“That’s us.” Reagan smiled widely. “The picture of maturity.”
The officer talked to Reagan for another minute then told us to have a good night and left us alone in the parking lot again.
I let out my breath and realized I had been holding it that whole time. Then I looked out in front of me and saw the stars scattered around the sky. “The stars really do look beautiful tonight.”
“We have permission to look at them. Want to sit on the hood and do just that?”
“Stargaze until our kids are done at their first dance? What could be more perfect?”
We were silent as we sat on the hood of our car, hands resting on top of each other. There was so much I could have said at the moment. I could have told Reagan how much I loved the life we created together and that I was so happy we still had that spark after so many years together, but I didn’t need to. Because she already knew. She always had from that very first moment that we met out in my parents’ driveway.
The night flew by and soon it was time to pick the kids up from the dance. “So, which boy did you choose?” I asked Olivia as the kids got into the car.
“Peter Simcox.”
Peter ? Was I losing my memory already? That name didn’t sound familiar at all. I furrowed my eyebrows at Reagan and was happy when I saw that she seemed just as confused. “Peter? I thought it was two other boys you were choosing between.”
Olivia shrugged. “Me too, but then Peter asked me to dance, and he’s a lot cuter than the other two.” She looked at her siblings. “Isn’t Peter the best looking boy in our class?”
“I don’t really pay attention to that,” Carter said, already picking up the book she had left in the car.
“Maybe second cutest after me,” Ronan said smugly.
At least my son doesn’t lack confidence .
Olivia scrunched up her nose. “Ew. You’re not cute. You’re my brother.” Her expression suddenly changed to one of excitement. “Oh my god. I was talking to Ellen Geller tonight. She’s in eighth grade, and she told me the eighth graders get to have a dance with just them at the end of the school year. They even get to sleepover. How cool is that? I can’t wait.”
Ronan chortled. “Eighth grade is forever away.”
“It’ll be here before you know it. These years are going to go by quickly.” They already are.
***
I wish I hadn’t been right, but I was. Middle school flew by, and before I knew it, the kids were getting ready for their eighth grade dance. Luckily, we got to be part of it since Reagan and I had volunteered to chaperone. Ronan and Carter were okay with our decision, but of course Olivia told us we needed to act like we didn’t know them. It was useless since we already knew most of their friends and classmates, but we still respected her wishes to let them go in before us.
We stood outside of the car at the school while Carter waited for her siblings to give themselves one last look in the car’s side mirrors.
I turned to Carter. “Do you think you’ll dance with anyone tonight?” Her brother and sister had both been very vocal about who they would be dancing with, but she hadn’t said anything.
Carter shrugged. “I doubt it. The person I like doesn’t like me.”
As her mother, that was hard for me to believe. I didn’t understand how anyone couldn’t like my perfect daughter. “How do you know?”
“She has a boyfriend. I don’t think she likes girls at all.”
Before I could say anything else, Olivia grabbed her hand and started pulling her away. “Come on. Carmen and Isabella are waiting for us inside.”
Once our children were out of earshot, Reagan leaned close to me. “Did our daughter just come out to us?”
I smiled with pride as I watched them walk away. “No. Because she didn’t have to.”
There were many times I questioned if I was doing the right thing as a parent, but this definitely wasn’t one of them. Sure, it was easier for a girl with two moms to admit she liked girls, but the fact that she didn’t feel the need to turn it into a big deal made me happy. Her “coming out” experience was so much different than mine and I was proud I could give that to her.
Reagan must have been feeling the same way I was, because she put her arm around me and sighed contentedly. “We’re doing an okay job, aren’t we?”
“We definitely are.” I nodded my head toward the school. “Now what do you say we really embarrass our children and go bust a move on the dance floor?”
Reagan held her hand out toward me and when I took it, she surprised me by spinning me around and dipping me then placing a soft, yet mind-numbing kiss on my lips.
“Let’s do it.”
The night flew by as we danced together and pretended to look for inappropriate dancing. The only child we ended up embarrassing was Olivia. The other two had fun dancing with us. Once their classmates all said how cool Charlie and I were, even Olivia wasn’t embarrassed anymore.
When it was time for the students to get into their sleeping bags and go to sleep, Reagan and I were assigned hallway duty, which meant we were responsible for making sure no one snuck away to… well, do whatever it is eighth graders do when they sneak away. I refused to think about what I would have been doing at that age now that I had children who could be doing the same thing.
After a few hours of talking and watching shows on our phones, I could hardly keep my eyes open.
“Do you want to take shifts monitoring?” Reagan asked. “I could take the first one so you can shut your eyes.”
“No, I’m fine.” The big, unintentional yawn that followed my words completely blew my cover.
Reagan laughed. “Just shut your eyes. I’m fine. I promise.”
I laid my head against her shoulder and finally let my eyes close. “Can you believe our kids are going to be in high school soon?” I asked sleepily.
“Not one bit. It’s insane. I feel like I was just in high school. How the hell do I have three kids who are?”
“Do you think we’ll survive?” I asked, only half kidding.
“I honestly don’t know, but I guess we’ll find out soon.”
I sighed. Much too soon.