"I can see that," Mia agreed. "You’ve just got to remember that you’re in this for the long haul, Babe. Tomorrow isn’t a one shot deal."
"You’re right. I know I shouldn’t build it up bigger than it already is, but I want so badly to please her. She’s been with so many women—I worry that I’ll be a dud."
"It’s not that hard, Jamie," Mia soothed. "Really. You just start at the top and work your way down. Stop when you get to something that interests you, hang out there for a while, and move on when something else grabs your attention. It’s no big deal!"
"It’s that moving down part I’m worried about," Jamie admitted, getting to her biggest concern.
"What? Oral sex?"
Draping an arm over her eyes, Jamie muttered, "Yes, Mia, oral sex. It freaks me out to think that she’ll expect that."
"Well, hell yes, she’ll expect that!" Mia laughed, her outburst falling well short of the reassurance that Jamie sought.
"Now I feel better," came the mumbled reply from her friend.
Mia sat up, crossing her legs and resting her elbows on her knees. "Jamie, it’s no big deal because I guarantee you’ll want to do that to her. Trust me on this, Babe. You’ll get involved, and it will just happen. You’ll be munching away before you know it, and I guarantee that you’ll wonder why you ever had any doubts."
"God, I hope so," Jamie groaned. "Sex is so important to her…and it’s becoming important to me, too."
"It’ll be fine, Babe. You’ll call me when you get back, and I guarantee that you’ll laugh about your nervousness."
"Either that, or I’ll call you tomorrow night and beg you to come to Pebble Beach to be my standin."
"Either way, Babe," Mia laughed. "You know I’m a giver."
Forty-five minutes later, the sweaty shopper returned, amused to find her companions out cold. She tucked her purchases into her gym bag, kicked off her shoes and socks, and scampered across the hot sand for a refreshing dip in the 72-degree water.
When she returned, she could not resist the impulse to straddle Jamie’s somnolent body, allowing the cold droplets of water to rain down on the shocked woman.
"Yeow!" the blonde cried as she shot up into a sitting position. Only Ryan’s quick reflexes allowed her to jump back a foot to avoid having Jamie’s head do a number on her pubic bone. Shaking her head, the confused blonde asked, "Did you leave?"
"Ahh, I’ve been gone for over an hour, Sleepy," Ryan informed her.
"Oh, yeah," Jamie said, lazily scratching her head. "Did you shop?"
"Yep. All done."
"Lemme see." The tousled blond head looked around for a package but found none.
"Ahh, okay," Ryan stalled. "I…uh…Ally and I have this…thing," she stumbled. "We…ah…"
"This I gotta hear," Mia said, sitting up alertly.
Now two sets of eyes focused on the uncharacteristically bashful brunette. "Oh, all right," Ryan said, grabbing the bag and handing it to Jamie.
As the T-shirt fell out and was unfurled, brown and green eyes trailed from the fabric to Ryan and back again. "This is for…Ally?" Jamie finally said, as Mia got ready for the fireworks to begin.
"Now, Jamie," Ryan soothed. "It’s a … joke between us. I told you that I was going to keep her as a friend, and…"
"Sleeps well with others!?" Jamie finally uttered, her eyes focused on the writing on the shirt. "You’re giving your ex-lover a T-shirt, that you buy on our honeymoon, that says, ‘
Sleeps well with others'?
!"
"Well, when you put it that way, it sounds kinda bad," Ryan admitted, shifting her weight nervously from foot to foot.
Mia was utterly fascinated by this exchange. Her dancing brown eyes darted from one woman to the other, waiting for the next volley. Jamie spoiled her fun by taking a deep breath and neatly folding the shirt. "Whatever," she muttered, before placing it back in the bag.
"No, no, no," Ryan said, sitting down on a portion of Jamie’s towel. "Not so fast there, Sport. Here’s how it is," she explained, ignoring Mia’s presence. "Ever since we’ve known each other, we always, and I do mean always, buy each other a T-shirt on every trip we take. The game is to make sure you get the one with the most sexual innuendo, or the most politically incorrect one, that you can find. I like Ally as a friend, Jamie, and I want to keep the friendship part of our relationship just like it used to be. Do you understand?" She lifted Jamie’s chin with her fingers and leaned over to place a gentle kiss on her lips. "Please try to understand, Honey. I don’t want to hurt your feelings."
"Couldn’t you have gotten another one?" the smaller woman asked. "There had to be less…provocative ones."
"Well, I could have bought the one that said, ‘FBI’ in big yellow letters."
"That sounds better," Jamie said.
"Yeah, but underneath it said, ‘
Female Breast Inspector
.’" Ryan chuckled. "Most of the rest of the suggestive ones had something to do with penises, and that just wouldn’t do," she added righteously.
"Let’s go back to the boardwalk," Jamie offered, as she stood and extended a hand to her partner.
"Really? Why?"
"Because I want that ‘FBI’ shirt," she laughed. "And I’m starting with yours…tomorrow!"
After the second shopping trip, they relaxed on the sand for a while. All too soon they had to pack up and head back to the apartment. A thorough shower for Ryan was first on the agenda, and Jamie was next on the list. By rushing a little, they were cleaned and dressed just in time to head out to LAX. Traffic was pretty slow and, since none of them knew the shortcuts, they had to stay on the freeway. They wanted to be there an hour early, but Mia dropped them off at the departure gate barely 45 minutes before their flight. She quickly kissed Ryan on the cheek, and gave Jamie a heartfelt hug, whispering, "I know you’ll be fine tomorrow, Honey. Have a great time, James, and call me when you get back."
"I promise, Mia, and thanks for everything," she said as she kissed her. "You’re the best."
"I hope, for your sake, that I lose that title tomorrow!" she laughed as she pinched her friend’s blushing cheek.
An hour and 15 minutes later, they were in the air for the 50-minute flight to SFO. Martin had agreed to pick them up after Ryan had called earlier in the day. They were both excited about seeing the family again and Ryan jabbered throughout the trip about Caitlin, and Duffy, and how she’d missed them. "You are such a little love bug," Jamie said, giving her a kiss. "I just adore how much you love your family."
"I do love my family," Ryan agreed. "And now that you’re part of it, my whole world is complete."
"That definitely deserves a kiss." Jamie leaned in for a big, wet one.
Martin picked them up at eight p.m. They headed home in his truck with Ryan talking nonstop about the ride, and how proud she was of Jamie, and how pleased she was that Jamie’s father had made a special trip to L.A. to see her. Martin hardly got a word in edgewise, but he happily let his daughter speak her mind.
When they entered the house, Duffy leapt on Ryan and licked her from head to toe. She quickly got down on the floor with the squirming dog, as he joyfully began to lick her eyes and ears. She giggled like a child as the big dog lapped at her energetically. Both Martin and Jamie had to laugh at the spectacle the pair made. Ryan finally caught her breath and demanded that Jamie join her. The smaller woman rolled her eyes at Martin, but dutifully joined her partner for the tongue bath. Conor was out for the evening, but Martin had saved some dinner for the travelers. The three of them sat down at the dining room table as Ryan focused on her dinner, with Jamie taking up the slack in the conversation as she filled Martin in on the things Ryan hadn’t covered.
He asked a few questions about the ride and how Jamie had experienced it. She related a few small stories about her experiences and told him of how loving and thoughtful Ryan had been. She decided not to bring up Ryan’s near collapse on the last day, figuring that was for Ryan to tell, if she so chose.
Martin tried to draw Jamie out about their plans for Pebble Beach, but she ducked that question as gracefully as possible after sharing a surreptitious glance with her partner. She knew that their main plan was to have sex and plenty of it, but she guessed that Martin didn’t want to know those details. Since they really had no plans that called for them to be in a vertical position, she adroitly steered the conversation back to the ride.
By the time they cleaned up the kitchen, it was 9:30 and they were both beat. They hadn’t discussed how they would handle sleeping arrangements and, rather than bring it up at this point, Ryan decided that one last night alone wasn’t such a terrible thing. She took Jamie’s bag down to her room and snagged some sweats for herself. After Jamie had finished in the bath, she tucked her into the big bed, kissing her tenderly for several minutes. Ryan rose to leave, but Jamie tilted her head up and gave her such a winsome look that she couldn’t help but dash back for another round of tender kisses. They started to move against one another slowly, but Ryan called a halt to the escalating passion and wrapped her arms tightly around her partner. "Guess what we’ll be doing this time tomorrow?" she asked softly.
"Sleeping," Jamie said dreamily.
Ryan pulled her head up and stared at her with a quizzical look. "Sleeping?"
"Yep," she said with conviction. "We should be down there by 2:00, so by 9:30 we will have had seven solid hours of wild sex.
I think we’ll need a little rest!"
Ryan gazed at her with love-filled eyes as she stroked her cheek with her fingertips. "You can’t imagine how much I’m looking forward to spending a full week exploring every little nook and cranny of your beautiful body," she whispered.
"If it’s half as much as I am, I’d say we’re in for a treat," she smiled.
"I don’t doubt that a bit. Just in case you have any worries about tomorrow, try to remember that the only thing that matters is that we’re together. We’re partners now, Jamie, in life and in love. We can go as slowly or as quickly as you wish. No matter what, I’ll never put pressure on you, or push you further than you want to go. You’re my one true love, and I intend to treat you like a priceless treasure for the rest of your life."
"Duffy," Martin called, as he was getting ready for bed. "Duffy boy, come on, lad, time for a trip to the yard." His call was greeted with silence, so he started to search for the reluctant pet. His first stop was the most logical one and after walking halfway down the stairs to his daughter’s room, he spied the pup, curled up against his mistress’s back. She, in turn, was curled up against her small partner, so thoroughly merged that a breath of air could not have passed between them. Martin immediately decided to let the threesome remain undisturbed.
It seems that the days of "no overnight guests" have ended
, the senior member of the O’Flaherty household mused, smirking to himself as he climbed the stairs.
Shortly after dawn on Monday morning, Ryan woke to the delightfully delicious sensation of being snuggled up behind Jamie in her own bed. Spooning up against her partner’s sleep-warmed back; she started to slowly stroke her thighs, not trying to wake her, but needing the contact. Jamie was a long way from consciousness, but she nestled up against Ryan in an automatic, and now familiar, instinct. Ryan felt so warm and happy that, after a few minutes, she let herself drift off to sleep again. She woke nearly an hour later to the sensation of gentle kisses being planted all over her face. She gave Jamie a broad smile as she stretched like a cat for several minutes. "When did you sneak down here?" Jamie whispered into her ear.
"I never left," was the languid reply as Ryan stretched her arms over her head. "I was unable to move from your tempting embrace."
"Ohh, that’s so cute," Jamie grinned. "You jumpstarted our honeymoon!"
"Yeah, but honeymoons are much more fun when you’re both awake," Ryan replied with a smirk.
"I couldn’t agree more. And speaking of honeymoons, are you ready to get up and go, or do you want to cuddle for a little while?"
"I want to cuddle a lot, but I think I’d rather do it in Pebble Beach," Ryan said thoughtfully. "How about you? Are you ready to go?"
"Yep. I can’t wait," she said, snuggling up against her warm partner.
"We probably shouldn’t leave until ten or so, to avoid traffic. Would you mind if I do some laundry before we go? I just hate to leave all of those sweaty clothes lying in my suitcase for a week."
Jamie sat up a little and gazed at her lover thoughtfully. "You know, that’s one of the things I love about you. I know how much you’re looking forward to this, but you still want to take the time to get organized and neaten up. You’re just so mature," she said, as she tickled her a little bit.
"So, do you agree?"
"Yeah, that’s probably a good idea. Let’s get some breakfast and I’ll wash out all of our bike clothes in the sink. You can start a load of underwear in the washer. Do you mind doing mine along with yours?"
"I think it’s about time that our underwear got used to spending time together," Ryan said with a chuckle.
Jamie threw on some sweats and they sorted their dirty clothes. They only had three loads, besides the bike clothes, and Ryan trotted upstairs to get started while Jamie made a phone call.
When Jamie went upstairs, Ryan was hard at work making a huge breakfast. Conor had left for work already and Martin had eaten with him, so Ryan made oatmeal for just the two of them, and a big omelet with ham and cheese for herself. She was toasting a bagel and chatting with her father when Jamie appeared. "Did you sleep well, Jamie dear?" he asked brightly, as she gave him a kiss on the cheek.
"I slept like a baby," she replied sincerely. "I don’t know if it’s the room or the bed, but I always sleep great down there."
"Jamie, Da and I were just talking about our plans for the summer. I just finished telling him that we plan on staying at your house during the week and then coming back here on the weekends."
"How do you feel about that, Martin?" Jamie asked.
He let out a deep breath and looked down at his hands. "Do you want the unvarnished truth?" he finally asked.
"Yes," they replied in unison.
"I hate the thought of my baby leaving home," he said sadly. "I know it had to happen sooner or later, but it just doesn’t feel like home without you here, Siobhán. Conor and Duffy and I just bumped around here all week waiting for you to come back. We’re quite hopeless on our own, you know."
Ryan walked over and put her arms around her father, hugging him soundly. "Oh, Da, I hate to leave you, too, but I feel that Jamie and I need some time alone. This is going to be quite an adjustment for both of us, and I think we need to just focus on each other for a bit."
"Siobhán, I know exactly what you mean, and I agree with you completely. When your mother and I were first married, we hardly knew anyone else existed," he said with a laugh as he shook his head. "Still, I want you to know how I feel about this. I know this makes sense for now, but I want you to consider living here after you’re finished with school. Nothing would make me happier than coming home at night to see your smiling faces."
"We’ll seriously consider that, Da. There’s nothing to hold us in Berkeley after we graduate. There’s no reason that we couldn’t live around here." She walked over to Jamie and slipped her arms around her shoulders. "Besides, I wouldn’t want to have to drive all the way over here to drop the kids off with their babysitter," she teased.
Martin’s eyes lit up at the thought of grandchildren. "Are you two serious about that?" he asked with unabashed glee.
"Definitely," Jamie said. "We both want to have a child, and you’ve done such a marvelous job raising your kids, I’d feel blessed to have you help us raise ours."
"So, Darlin’," he said to Ryan with a grin. "This sounds suspiciously like you’re past the dating phase and into the commitment phase."
"We’re definitely into the commitment phase." Ryan grinned in return as she hugged her partner. "This is it for me, Da. ‘Til death do us part," she said seriously, and then kissed Jamie softly on the cheek.
"I feel the same way." Jamie gazed up into her partner’s big blue eyes.
Martin wiped a tear from his cheek as he got up to wrap the two of them in a hug. "You couldn’t have chosen better, Siobhán. Your mother would be so happy for you." He brushed a tear away as he patted Jamie on the cheek, "I’m so glad you’re a part of our family, Sweetheart."
Both women wiped the tears from their eyes as they each kissed Martin. "Thanks, Martin," Jamie finally choked out. "That means more to me than you’ll ever know."
"So, Siobhán," he said after a moment. "Do you need anything for your honeymoon suite?" Then he added with a twinkle in his eye, "Besides a sturdy lock on the door?"
"No, Da," she said happily. "The room is perfect. I am a little concerned about the boys, though. Do you think they’ll mind having Jamie here?"
"Mind?" he asked in amazement. "They’re thrilled about it! I spoke to Rory before he left, and both he and Conor are very excited to have you here, Jamie. And they both agree that we should make an exception to the house rules since you can’t formally marry."
"That makes me feel a lot better," Ryan said. "I don’t want to do anything to make the boys feel slighted."
"Not a worry, Sweetheart."
After a quick breakfast with Martin, and a bit of ironing, they took all of their clean laundry downstairs and started to pack. "Do you think I should go get the Range Rover?" Jamie asked teasingly as Ryan assembled her gear on the bed. She had her RollerBlades, running shoes, running shorts and tank tops, swimsuit, wetsuit, sweats, slacks, blouses, a heavy jacket, and golf clubs, and she was still debating whether or not to bring her boogie board.
"Well, the Boxster is a little small for all this stuff," Ryan admitted, scratching her head as she stared at the enormous pile. "Do you think I’ll need everything?"
"I think you could get by in just your birthday suit," Jamie cooed into her ear as she wrapped her arms around her tightly.
"Aren’t you going to let me out at all?" Ryan tilted her head down to peer into her partner’s eyes to gauge her seriousness.
"Nope. You’re going to emerge on Saturday like a possum coming out of its den. It’ll take you a day to get used to sunlight again," she promised. "But seriously, Sweetie, you could borrow my father’s clubs, and we have lots of sports equipment for the beach. You just need to bring some clothes. Oh, and that reminds me," she added. "I want you to have Conor come down on Saturday and play Pebble Beach with you because I’ll be at the graduation almost all day. It starts at 1:00, so I have to leave by 10:30. Also, if Conor comes down, he can give you a ride home and we can meet back here in the evening."
"That sounds great. He’ll be thrilled." Ryan did her best to disguise her disappointment at Jamie’s plans, but she couldn’t help but rue the day she had agreed to them.
At least one O’Flaherty will be happy about the plans for the day. Hmmm…I wonder what the penalty is for calling in a bomb threat
…
Ryan continued to pack her clothes, musing about various forms of mayhem she could conjure up to stop Jamie from going to the graduation. She was deep in thought when her partner emerged from the shower.
Ryan looked up and spent a moment gazing at Jamie, a slow smile spreading across her face. She wore a pair of deep rust-colored shorts and cream-colored cotton polo, with a braided belt and a pair of woven leather loafers that matched the color of her shorts. Her hair was even blonder than normal, due to the sun, and her skin was a beautiful golden color. She looked fresh and clean and absolutely beautiful to Ryan’s appreciative eyes. "Wow," she said as she wrapped her in her arms. "You look fantastic." A moment of nuzzling her partner’s neck led to a few gentle nibbles, and Ryan smiled as she pulled away. "You taste divine, too."
"Thanks," Jamie grinned. "Now you go get ready, because I’ve got big plans for you today." Her tone was stern, but underneath, it held a great deal of promise. Ryan nearly ran for the shower in her haste to comply.
Jamie, with Martin's help, was already upstairs packing their things in the car when Ryan strolled out 15 minutes later, wearing a pair of bright white pleated shorts that fell just a few inches above her knee. An oversized black linen camp shirt hung out over the crisply ironed shorts, and black leather loafers and her favorite backwards black knit driving cap completed her ensemble. The long black hair hung loose and her skin glowed bronze from the recent time in the sun. She still had some pink in her cheeks, though--partly from sun and partly from anticipation. Jamie’s mouth went dry when she saw her, and Martin couldn’t help but tease, "I hope Siobhán’s going to drive today, Darlin’. You don’t look like your mind could focus on the road."
She blushed a deep red as she gave him a hug. "I hate being so transparent," she moaned into his chest.
"It’s one of your most winning traits, little one," he said soothingly. "It’s altogether adorable, Jamie. Don’t you change a bit."
As Ryan draped an arm around her partner, she had to agree with her father. "It’s not possible to improve on perfection, Da." The elder O’Flaherty smiled at his daughter and her mate, pleased beyond measure at their obvious joy.
Duffy had bounded down the porch stairs right behind Ryan, and she spent a few minutes petting him and whispering last minute instructions. Duffy looked terribly sad, knowing that his mistress was leaving again. "I don’t know if I’ll be able to keep him happy without you here, Siobhán. You may have to take him with you when you go to Berkeley," Martin said as he cast a loving glance at the pair.
"I’d love to have him, Da, but I think you two need each other." Ryan stood and dusted off her knees. "We’ll see how it goes for a while, and if he’s unhappy, I’m sure we could take him."
Jamie kissed Duffy’s head and gave Martin a firm hug and a kiss before she hopped into the passenger seat of the little yellow car. Ryan spent a long minute hugging her father. They both had their eyes closed, and Jamie was deeply touched by the tenderness of the moment. Finally, he released his daughter, giving her a kiss on each cheek. Obviously struggling with his emotions, he turned and strode back up the stairs and into the house before Ryan even got into the car. Duffy sat looking at them sadly for a minute, until Ryan ordered him back into the house. He gave her another sad look and slowly climbed the stairs, giving her one last, baleful glance as he entered the open door.
"They don’t make it easy, do they?" Ryan asked, as she sniffed a little and slipped her dark sunglasses on.
"No, they certainly don’t," Jamie agreed. ""They can’t help it though, Honey. They’re both mad about you." She squeezed Ryan’s thigh in a comforting gesture and asked, "Would you really like to have Duffy in Berkeley?"
"Oh yeah, I really would. We could go for our long run in the mornings, which we both really enjoy. Duff challenges me to go farther and faster than I do on my own. Da doesn’t like to have to exercise him before work, so it’s asking a lot to expect him to take over. In a lot of ways, it would work out better if he was with us." She looked at Jamie shyly. "Should I have checked with you before I said that? I…"
"No, Ryan." Jamie looked at her and patted her leg to reassure her. "I want you to think of it as our house. I want you to do whatever you need to do to feel at home there. If that means having Duffy, I would be happy to do so," she said agreeably.
"Our house," Ryan said as she tried the concept on. "That sounds kinda cool, doesn’t it?" she said with a twinkle in her eyes. "It’s kinda nice to have a house and a home, isn’t it?"
"It certainly is, Sweetheart. It certainly is."
Traffic was relatively light on this clear, warm Monday morning. Jamie knew Monterey Bay would likely be fog covered when they got there, so she enjoyed the warm sun as it beat down on them. They were making good time, playing some of Ryan’s favorite CD’s and just enjoying being together.
Their musical tastes did not complement each other and they could never find a radio station that both enjoyed, so they had reached a compromise. The driver got to play whatever music she liked. In practice, that meant that Ryan always played her CD’s, and over time, Jamie eventually took her own music back into the house so she could hear it occasionally. Still, she had to admit that even though she would never choose the music her partner favored, it was well worth listening to it to watch her favorite body move sensually to the beat. She was often gifted with Ryan singing along, and few things made her happier than listening to her partner’s deep, sexy voice. Jamie had her hand on Ryan’s thigh; watching her drive and listening to her harmonize with some Jamaican singer. She felt so totally content, soaking up every sensation, she thought she would burst with happiness.