It was with great relief that Kevin pushed open the doors leading out of the Riverdale High gym, his stepsister Josie at his side. Together, they began walking out into the parking lot, making their way toward his old Ford Bronco,.
"I'm so glad today is over," he told her. "I'm positively exhausted."
Wrestling on its own was bad enough; even though Kevin enjoyed the challenge, the activity and the necessary training that accompanied it was enormously physically demanding. But after Coach Kleats had seen seen all the extra work he'd been doing with Archie and the improvements the latter had made, he'd asked Kevin to start working with a few more of the athletes. Determined to help his team, Kevin had readily agreed, but every once in a while, he wondered if maybe he shouldn't have been so hasty. While Kevin was flattered to be considered so skilled and eager to help the others, he had to admit that teaching the extra training sessions were cutting into not only his free time but also taking a good portion of his energy.
Josie snorted. "You think you've got it bad? Not only do I have practice with the Pussycats, but Cheryl is an absolute drill sergeant when it comes to the River Vixens and perfecting our routines. I might not have signed up if I'd known what I was getting into."
"Oh, don't say that," a new voice told her. "After all, you look damn fine in that cheerleading uniform."
Turning around, Kevin and Josie found Reggie approaching them, Moose at his side.
Upon seeing Reggie, Josie instantly perked up, her earlier weariness forgotten. She cocked her hips and put one hand on her waist, looking at him flirtatiously. "Why, Reggie, I hadn't thought you'd noticed. You always seem so focused on the game and never anything else."
Reggie grinned at her. "Well, that's about to change. Moose and I decided we'd like to take you both out tonight."
"B-both of us?" Kevin stammered, casting a surprised glance at Moose. Even after he and Midge had broken up, Moose hadn't shown any further interest in him. Though disappointed, Kevin had concluded that Moose simply didn't want a relationship with him and then tried to move on. But he evidently hadn't moved very far, because now hope flared in his chest at the possibility of going on a date with him.
"Yeah, of course." Moose sent him a friendly grin. "We were thinking just some casual stuff, you know, a movie at the Bijou and then a late dinner at Pop's. But we'd love to have you with us."
Kevin's heart fluttered in his chest, but he was so excited at the invitation that he found himself unable to form words. He and Josie exchanged glances, and he gave her a nod, so Josie proceeded to accept the offer with a grin.
"You're on," she said, sending a challenging look at Reggie. "Time for you to show that your game is just as good off the court as on it."
Reggie answered with a grin of his own. "I look forward to proving it. How about we pick you up at your place in an hour?"
"We'll be waiting on you," Josie replied, pulling open the door to the passenger side of Kevin's truck.
"And we'll be looking forward to it," Moose said fondly, giving Kevin's shoulder a squeeze that sent tingles running down his spine at the mere touch.
Finally regaining the ability to speak, Kevin managed to give Moose a smile. "Me, too."
With a wave, Moose and Reggie departed, and Kevin and Josie climbed into the truck, Josie letting out a squeal of excitement as she slammed her door shut.
"Can you believe it?" she asked, clearly thrilled. "After waiting for months for those clowns to get their act together, they've finally asked us out! Both of us!"
Kevin shook his head, still smiling. He felt like he was walking on air and still couldn't quite believe that he was finally starting something with Moose. "It feels almost unreal," he confessed.
"Well, it's very real." Josie reached out and grasped his hand. "Now, get us home ASAP so we can get ready!"
With a contented sigh, Sierra shut the door of her car and began walking up the driveway to their home, taking a moment to admire the vibrant garden that surrounded the large Tudor house. Today had been a good day—she'd won a difficult court case, and she felt proud for emerging victorious after a long, extended battle.
The sound of wheels crunching on the pavement caused her to turn around, and she found Tom's patrol car pulling up to the house. He must have a finished his shift early, she realized, a smile reflexively tugging her lips upward as her husband stepped out of his vehicle.
"Hey, good-lookin'," he called, striding over to her with a smile of his own. "How are you doing?"
"I'm glad to be home with you," Sierra replied as they fell into step together, beginning to walk up to the front door side by side. "And our darling children, of course."
She wasn't lying; she genuinely was happy to be home. As much of a career woman as Sierra was, she couldn't deny that being mayor had taken away a significant chunk of time she normally would have been able to spend with her family. Of course, she was too ambitious to ever want to simply stay at home, and after being left with no choice but to step down as mayor, being the district attorney was a compromise that satisfied her.
Tom gave her a kiss on the cheek and put an arm around her shoulders as they walked through the front door together, and she snuggled up against him. When they crossed the threshold and stepped into the foyer, she leaned her face in closer, preparing to give him a deeper, longer kiss. But before she could, they were interrupted by Josie, clad in a t-shirt and sweats, zipping down the stairs to meet them.
"Hey, Mom. Hey, Tom," she greeted them hurriedly before getting straight to the point. "Mom, have you seen my red silk petal skirt? I was going to wear it out tonight."
Hmm." Sierra thought for a moment. "Sorry, baby, I think it's still at the dry cleaner's."
Josie groaned. "Fantastic. Guess I'm stuck finding something else." She turned and started back up the stairs.
"Are you going out tonight, sweetheart?" Tom called after her.
"Yeah, both me and Kev are going out on a date," she said over her shoulder before disappearing around the corner.
Tom and Sierra traded glances, eyebrows rising at the news.
"Did you know about this?" Tom asked her.
Sierra shook her head. "I had no idea, but now I'm curious. Care to help me with the interrogation?" she invited him playfully.
"I wouldn't be much of a parent if I didn't," he returned dryly.
Walking up the stairs, they bypassed the second level of the house where their own bedroom was located in favor of climbing to the third story, which held both Kevin and Josie's rooms. They found their two teenagers in Josie's room, Kevin sitting on the bed while Josie frantically rummaged through her closet.
"Why can't I find anything that matches?" Josie exclaimed in frustration. Holding a hanger with a yellow peasant blouse in one hand, and she was using the other to sift through hangers at a rapid speed.
"Just wear something classic black," Kevin told her. "Doesn't that go with everything?"
Josie held up a pair of black denim shorts with dual rows gold buttons down the front, surveying them critically. "I don't know. It seems a little too plain. But I don't think I want to go with something patterned—that might seem like just a bit too much."
"Why not get something textured, so there's some kind of design but nothing to over the top?" Kevin suggested.
Josie brightened. "That's a great idea!" Rifling through racks, she withdrew an army green suede skirt with corset-style lacing. "This will look great with my studded wedges!" she declared.
"And just what precisely is the occasion that requires such attention to detail?" Sierra asked with a smile. She leaned against one side of the doorway while Tom leaned against the other.
"We got asked on a double date," Josie said triumphantly. "Reggie asked me, and Moose asked Kevin. All of us are going to the movies and dinner together."
With a dubious expression, Tom crossed his arms over his chest. "On a school night? I don't know . . ."
Sierra laid a hand on his arm. "Let them enjoy themselves, Tom. They've both been working hard." She sent an affectionate look at their two children. "They deserve a little break and to have themselves some fun."
"All right," Tom conceded, pushing him off of the door frame. "But I want to meet both of these boys before you run off with them." He then walked away in the direction of the stairs.
"Probably getting ready to give Reggie and Moose the third degree," Josie remarked, sending an amused look at Kevin and Sierra.
"Speaking of getting ready, I need to start," Kevin said ruefully, glancing down at himself.
"Oooh, you should wear that black shirt I got you," Josie proposed. "And I have the perfect accessory!" Racing over to her jewelry box on her dresser, she tossed open the lid and extracted what seemed to be a pile of delicate silver chains and handed them to Kevin.
"I don't know—" Kevin began, but Josie wouldn't hear it.
"Just trust me," she urged him, pushing him toward the door. "It'll look great. C'mon, I need to get dressed, and so do you."
Smiling at her children's antics, Sierra gently took Kevin's arm, tugging him toward his own room so her daughter could change clothes. "Why don't I help you with your hair while Josie is finishing up?" she encouraged him, playfully stroking Kevin's damp locks, still messy and unkempt from the shower. "After spending as many years in politics and holding as many spur-of-the-moment interviews as I have, I know how to make some incredible styles in less than five minutes."
Kevin gave her a shy smile, clearly grateful for her offer of help even as it was evident he felt uncertain about accepting. "If you don't mind."
"It's my pleasure," Sierra assured him, before directing him to sit down on his desk chair before retrieving the necessary styling products from the bathroom cabinet. Then she came back into the room and began to work.
A faint ache started in Sierra's heart as she helped comb and tease Kevin's hair. Memories of doing the same for Josie when she was a little girl floated into the front of her mind. She couldn't help but wonder if, had she instead married Tom years earlier and not spent such a long time trying to convince herself that she could repair her marriage to Myles, she might have done the same for Kevin when he was younger as well. How much happier could both she and Myles have been if she hadn't insisted to him, all the way back when he asked her for a divorce nearly a decade ago, that they stay together for Josie's sake?
But it was water under the bridge now, Sierra told herself firmly. At this point, she and Tom were happy together, and Myles saw Josie far more often than he had back when they were still a couple. It may not have worked out exactly in the way she expected, but she finally possessed the life she'd wanted.
Finishing with Kevin's hair and guiding him to the mirror, Sierra let a smile curve over her lips at her accomplishments both in the moment and overall. She was glad that the kids had this date, to see Josie bonding with Kevin, and also to be bonding with Kevin herself.
"Well?" she asked as Kevin glimpsed himself in the mirror. "What do you think?" She'd copied a look from popular runways models and styled his hair to look just a touch windswept, mostly neat but also playfully tousled for some bounce and volume.
He turned to her with a smile. "Thank you, Sierra. It looks terrific."
"It's no problem." On impulse, Sierra gathered her stepson into a hug, and delight sparked through her when Kevin returned the embrace after only a moment of hesitation.
Leaving Kevin to get dressed, Sierra made a few calls on her phone before going downstairs to find Tom. He was sitting at the table in their large, sunny kitchen, frowning at his laptop screen.
"Don't tell you're running a background check on our kids' dates," Sierra scoffed, coming to wrap her arms around Tom's shoulders.
He leaned back into her touch. "No, just getting all worked up over how many speeding tickets that Mantle boy has."
"Oh, Tom, won't you relax?" In spite of her exasperation, Sierra still nuzzled against his shoulder. "Kevin and Josie are so excited for their date, and you saw how well they're getting along. We should be happy for them."
"You're right." Pushing back his chair to look at her, Tom gave her a sheepish smile. "All the same, I can't help worrying."
"Trust me, honey, I worry, too." Sierra settled herself in his lap. "So I called in a few favors that some of your deputies still owe me, and everyone who's on patrol tonight is going to be watching out for Reggie's car. Just to make sure he's obeying all traffic laws instead of tearing around Riverdale like a speed demon as he usually does, and that our children are safe with him and not being put in certain danger."
Shaking his head, Tom chuckled. "One step ahead of me, huh?" Wrapping his arms around her, he pulled her in closer for a kiss.
"What can I say?" Sierra leaned up against his chest to whisper into his ear. "I'm just waiting for you to chase me down, and when you catch up, you pin me to the ground and be as rough as you like." She smirked, cocking an eyebrow at him. "If you're interested, that is. Care to engage in pursuit?"
"Wouldn't miss it," Tom replied, his mouth tugging up in a grin, and the next several minutes were spent kissing passionately as the two of them focused on nothing but their shared embrace.
Before they could take it to the next level, though, duo sets of footsteps tramping down the stairs prompted them to hurriedly break apart and straighten their clothes. Sierras was just smoothing down her skirt when Kevin and Josie walked into the room.
With a carefully coordinated outfit that she made look effortlessly chic, Josie easily could have stepped off the cover of a fashion magazine. Her shirt was a saffron yellow midriff peasant blouse with floral crochet cutouts both at the neckline and the elbows of the billowing bell sleeves. In contrast to her whimsical and folksy blouse, the short green skirt that she'd selected earlier was clearly inspired by rock 'n' roll. The corset ties curved down either side of the front, calling attention to her slim legs. The crisscrossing laces and gleaming gold grommets added a hint of edginess to the otherwise unremarkable garment, and the metal accents matched the gold pyramid studs that decorated her brown leather wedge sandals. Her hair was loose with curls bouncing around her face, only held back by a wire cat ears headband decorated with sparkling beads.
While Kevin's outfit was more subdued in color, that didn't stop him from appearing equally stylish and sophisticated. He wore a pair of form-fitting dark blue jeans that highlighted his long, coltish legs and completed his black work boots. His black shirt was extremely tight, showing off his toned body, and the sleeves ended in upturned cuffs just before his elbows. Embroidery of red roses and green thorns wound down his arms and across his torso to provide a focal point, drawing the eye to his lean, well-defined muscles. The buttons of the shirt didn't begin until a third of the way down, and with a decent portion of his chest left bare, it became apparent just what exactly Josie had given him to wear. It was a thin silver body chain that looped around his neck and it trailed down between his pecs before it disappearing beneath the shirt's fabric.
A flood of warmth and pride rushed through Sierra at the sight of her children all dressed up for their date, and she couldn't help but beam. "Both of you look positively gorgeous." She turned to her husband. "Don't you think?"
Tom's eyes were soft as he looked at both of them. "The two of you look lovely." Stepping forward, he pulled Kevin into a hug, then drew Josie in as well. "I hope you both have a wonderful time tonight." He stood back, his gaze growing serious. "But if you need to call me for anything, anything at all, don't hesitate. Just say the word, and I'll be there."
"I know, Dad." Kevin's voice was tinged with exasperation, but he put his hand on his father's shoulder affectionately. "I've heard it about a million times."
"You have, but Josie hasn't." Tom gently kissed his son's forehead before turning to his stepdaughter. "Now, listen to me, Josie. If any boy tries to get fresh with you, you don't hesitate
"Thank you, Tom." Josie leaned forward to give Tom another hug. "But have you considered . . ." a devilish grin started to form on her face, "that I might want a boy to get a little bit fresh with me?"
"Josephine!" Sierra exclaimed, half-amused, half-scandalized.
Unabashed, Josie only shrugged, and Kevin came to his stepsister's support.
"Hey, I get it," he admitted. "We're young, you know? We want a little bit of, er, adventure." His cheeks pinkened as he spoke, but even though the self-consciousness was clear on his face, he also wore a small smile.
Tom sighed, but his face was bemused. "Fair enough."
The doorbell rang then, and Kevin and Josie exchanged looks of anticipation before charging into the hall, wide smiles on their faces.
Moving to follow their children, Tom offered Sierra his arm. "Shall we go meet the suitors?"
"We shall," Sierra replied, playing along as tucked herself in against him.
Strolling down the hall and into the foyer together, they found Reggie and Moose, dressed in jeans and their varsity jackets, standing by the door with Kevin and Josie. And even though she had her own reservations about the date and just what her daughter would get up to, Sierra couldn't deny that each one of the teens was clearly thrilled for the night to begin, and their energy was infectious.
"Hello Reggie, hello Moose," she said amiably. "It's good to see you both."
Reggie was in no way intimidated by the two of them, instead flashing them a smile as he stepped forward to shake their hands. "Hey, DA McCoy. Hey, Sheriff."
"Reggie," Tom said, accepting his hand and offering him an even nod. "Marmaduke."
"Just Moose is fine, Sheriff," Moose replied with a friendly smile as he took the opportunity to shake their hands as well.
"Moose, then." Tom fixed both him and Reggie with a steely gaze. "We're letting Josie and Kevin go out with you tonight, but we're expecting you to bring them home at ten o'clock sharp. And we're also trusting that you'll respect every one of their boundaries. There will be consequences if you don't."
"Dad, " Kevin hissed, but Moose only put an arm around Kevin's shoulders, pulling him close.
"You don't have to worry. We've got nothing but respect for Kev and Jo. And we wouldn't want to ruin a beautiful night-especially not when our dates look so beautiful, too, " he said, looking at Kevin with a smile that had pink blooming in Kevin's cheeks.
"We'll be perfect gentlemen," Reggie added. He cast Josie an approving glance eyeing her up from head to toe. "Even though I gotta say, you look even more delicious than usual right now. Goddamn, girl."
"Hmm." Tom still didn't look particularly impressed, but that didn't prevent him from wishing them a good night. "Well, I suppose you kids will want to be off to the movies. Have fun, but," he sent an emphatic glance at Kevin and Josie, "don't be afraid to call me if you need anything."
"Got it," Kevin said, sending a fond glance back at his father before leading the way out the door, Moose still beside him with his arm around him.
Reggie and Josie followed them, Josie giving Tom and Sierra a wave prior to closing the door behind her, but they still caught her next words.
"Listen, Reggie, forget about what my parents said. I really don't want you to be too much of a gentleman . . ."
Groaning, Sierra dropped her head into her hands. "God save me from teenagers."
"Too late, I'm afraid. We already live with two of them," Tom informed her, tone deadpan.
Sierra chuckled. "True. But most of the time, they're both terrific. We're very lucky."
"We are," Tom agreed. "I'm very grateful for Josie and Kevin being the people they are. And I hope they have a nice time on their date. But . . ." he smirked at Sierra. "It does occur to me that with them gone, we have the house to ourselves for the next four hours."
"Is that so?" Sierra rose an eyebrow at him, looking him up and down. "And I can't help but notice that you're still in uniform." She leaned in close, pressing her forehead against his. "You've even still got your handcuffs."
"Why, Sierra," Tom said, his green eyes gleaming. "Are you saying I should put them to use?"
"Damn straight." Taking Tom by the hand, Sierra began leading him to the stairs. "And I'll even demonstrate to you just the way to do it."