21. Chapter Twenty-One
Maya
L ife settled into routine as the summer flew by and my relationship with Jason, Marcos, and Nico developed into a stable and steady foundation. Communication was key, and we had learned we thrived best when the four of us were on the same page.
They had even developed their own little rituals and protocols for how they greeted me, and in return, I learned how they wanted me to address them when Kara wasn’t around.
It was funny how easily we fell into a twenty-four-seven dynamic, despite them telling me that I didn’t have to live that way if I didn’t want to.
More than anything, I found that I enjoyed it.
It was so simple to address them as Sir, or to kneel in the bedroom waiting for one of them to get out of the shower, or to kiss them good morning after I made a pot of coffee—something I only did on mornings I got off the night-shift.
Otherwise, I was still not a morning person and didn’t like to deal with anything more than sitting on their lap while I sipped my coffee.
The routine of it all is what I loved the most. Life was chaotic enough; knowing what to expect from my three lovers was a relief. Especially while we shared the house with my best friend.
Kara living with us was an added challenge, but not all that bad. There was a layer of sneaking around that made things fun, not that we had to hide things from her, but we also didn’t want to make her uncomfortable with public displays—she was Marcos’s sister after all.
Kara didn’t seem to mind though, besides rolling her eyes every once in a while, when the boys were especially sappy, she seemed to be very happy for us—and I would know, I’d asked her a million times.
“This isn’t weird for you?” I asked for probably the tenth time in the last two months.
“I mean, I don’t want to see you guys making out on the couch or nothing,” Kara laughed. “But I’m totally fine with it. You’re good for them.” She shrugged a shoulder. “You’re good for my brother. It’s good to see him happy.”
Kara’s words may have seemed happy, yet despite her smile, I could see something was bothering her. There was still a sadness clinging to her, that only surfaced when it was just the two of us. “How are you doing?” I asked.
Kara shrugged her shoulder, staring off into the distance. Her eyes were unfocused as she took in the woods surrounding the property. “I’ve been thinking about my father a lot lately.”
Surprised by the admission, I chose my words carefully. “Do you know anything about him?”
“No. I only found out his name because I was cleaning out Mom’s papers recently.
Marcos doesn’t like to talk about it; we don’t have the same father.
” Kara sighed and ran a hand through her blond hair, the humidity made it stick to the back of her neck.
She pulled it up and into a messy bun, tying it off with a hair band that had been around her wrist.
“So what’d you find out?” I asked, dying to know.
“His name is Vincent Carmichael.”
“She gave you his last name at least.”
Kara nodded. “I googled him. He’s some hotshot lawyer in Mourningside.”
I gasped. “So he’s practically local.”
“Yeah.”
“Shit, girl. That’s rough.”
“Yeah.” Kara sighed again. “I have half a mind to go down to his firm as ask him why he didn’t want me, you know?”
I watched her solemnly, watching the melancholy wash over her. “Did you ever ask your mom about him? ”
“Yeah, and she never really answered. Just said that he wasn’t a nice man, and I shouldn’t look for hope when there was none.”
I pressed my lips together, biting back a retort.
I didn’t want to seem insensitive to a dead woman, but not being open to a child about their birth father was cruel, even if you were trying to protect them.
They deserved to know, even if that parent was a shitty human being, it only spurred on hope otherwise.
“Maybe your mom was just trying to protect you.”
Kara shrugged. “I guess we’ll never know.”
“Does it bother you, finding out he’s a lawyer?”
Kara barked out a laugh that sounded sarcastic but otherwise didn’t respond.
“I mean, you’ve been planning on being a lawyer practically your whole life. Kinda ironic, huh?”
Shaking her head, Kara stood up and started pacing in front of the fire pit.
She tugged at her ponytail before she finally responded.
“It’s such fucking bullshit! I had to find out his name from my birth certificate.
She clearly cared enough about him to write his name there.
Why couldn’t she have given me more to go on?
Tell me he’s an asshole, or that he cheated on her.
Or SOMETHING! Not the blasé ‘ he’s not a good guy ’ spiel she gave me.
Then I find out he’s a lawyer? Not some criminal like I thought! ”
“Girl, just cause he’s a lawyer, don’t mean he’s a great guy,” I shot back. “Lawyers can be crooked as fuck. They know how to manipulate the law to their advantage. ”
Kara sighed and stopped pacing. Tugging her ponytail again, she nodded. “True.”
“Let’s say you reach out. Then what?”
Crossing her arms over chest—like she was hugging herself and not being defensive—Kara stared out into the forest again. “I don’t know. It’s stupid, you know? Like I’m some orphan needing validation from a parent or something.”
Empathy rolled over me, as I watched my friend pace.
“Maybe you should talk to Marcos about it all. I know he doesn’t like talking about it, but maybe he knows more, something your mom told him and not you.
He is quite a bit older than you; he would remember the time before your birth. Maybe he met your father.”
Kara paused and seemed to consider it, her head tilted to the side, lost in thought.
I heard the rumble of bikes down the street and knew my alone time with my best friend was coming to an end. “Sounds like the boys are home.”
Kara sighed and took her seat again, staring out into the surrounding forest.
A few minutes later, Jason was bending over me and pressed a kiss to my lips. “Hi darlin’.”
“Mmm, hi.” I smiled against his lips as he kissed me again, this time more passionately.
“Sister sitting here,” Kara said .
Jason chuckled and pulled away, leaving me breathless and panting.
“Hi, sister.” Marcos laughed before he bent over me and kissed me just as thoroughly. “Hello, Mi Vida.”
“Hello.” I laughed when we pulled apart.
Nico pushed Marcos out of the way before I could say another word. “Little Dreamer,” he greeted, before he claimed my lips.
“What are you girls up to?” Marcos asked his sister.
“You know, just chillin’,” Kara replied.
I pulled away from Nico slowly and gave him a smile, before I turned to Marcos. “Actually, we were talking about Kara’s father.”
Marcos froze slightly, his dark brown eyes turned toward his sister, watching her carefully. She was still hugging herself and ignoring them for the most part, staring out into the forest.
I decided to help my friend out. Reaching for Marcos’s hand, I laced our fingers together and squeeze his hand. “Kara found her birth certificate in a bunch of Lita’s papers, and found her father’s name. She looked him up. He’s some lawyer in Mourningside. Did you know him?”
Marcos squeezed my hand tightly. “No. Mom never brought him around the apartment. If she was meeting him, she either did it at the club or a hotel or something.”
Kara’s head dropped to look at the ground in front of her .
My heart broke for her. I couldn’t imagine the pain she was going through. To have such a loving and caring parent and to lose them so young, it was heart breaking.
“Mom did say that she loved him at one point, but she found out he wasn’t the man he portrayed himself as.” Marcos sighed and rubbed a hand over his buzzed head. “I dunno, Lil Manita, do you think you want to reach out to him?”
Kara shrugged and I could see the tears welling in her eyes.
I tugged on Marcos’s hand and he glanced down at me. I nodded my head at Kara and Marcos nodded slowly. Running his hand over his head again, he stepped away from me, letting go of my hand and walked over to his little sister.
Marcos crouched down in front of Kara, resting his hands on her knees.
“Lil Manita, I’m so sorry,” Marcos murmured.
Kara’s eyes slowly looked up to meet her brothers.
“I wish I had the answers you’re looking for, but I don’t.
I’m sorry, chaparrita, but I’m here for you if you want to reach out to him. Whatever you need.” Shorty.
Tears fall from Kara’s eyes and she sniffled softly. I turned away, giving my friend some space with her brother. Privacy was hard to come by when you lived together and I could grant my friend that space.
Summer faded away into fall and soon Kara was back at Northern Illinois University for her junior year, leaving me and my boys plenty of privacy in our rental house.
Living a twenty-four-seven dom/sub dynamic fell naturally to me.
Our group chat was a constant stream of chatter, so texting my boys when I was leaving work became as natural as breathing.
I was eager to get home to them after a long shift at the hospital, and knew they were excited to see me.
As for my other rules, I found the no panty rule to be oddly freeing.
I liked knowing my men could slip inside me easily if I wore a skirt.
I also liked how sexy and naughty it made me feel under my scrubs.
Let’s face it, scrubs were not the sexiest pieces of clothing, but they got the job done.
Feeling sexy and desirable only made me more confident in myself.
I was finding there were many things now that made me feel more confident and sexier, and I felt stronger over all, since I started submitting to three men. It sounded absurd, I knew, but it was the truth nonetheless.
I had never felt freer in my life.
“Alright, Little Dreamer,” Nico started as we sat around the dinner table. “Tonight’s the night. ”