Hello again. Thanks so much for the positive feedback on the first chapter. I am happy there are people out there who still read, and I was thrilled to see you return. I haven't been this inspired in years. Thank you. I hope I don't let you down.
Several hours later Alex and Mitchie had not moved from their couch. A pile of candy wrappers sat on the mahogany coffee table in front of them. The light of the large Smart TV was all that illuminated the room, Netflix up and running as agreed upon. Mitchie and Alex sat snuggled up on their plush, cream-colored couch.
"I can't believe we can finally watch whatever we want, and we're watching The Office again," Mitchie said, unwrapping the last candy and popping it into her mouth.
"We couldn't agree on anything else." Alex blindly searched for a candy in the dimness, only to find there were none. "Babe, did you eat the last Kit-Kat?"
Mitchie looked at her, stopping mid-chew. "No," she said, mouth full.
"Liar." She smirked. "Great. What am I gonna eat now?" Alex asked.
"Me?" Mitchie's lips curled into a smile.
Alex's mirrored it. "Delicious."
She reached up and cupped Mitchie's face, instantly bringing their lips together. Mitchie tangled her fingers in Alex's raven hair and pressed their bodies together. Alex leaned into her wife's touch and they tumbled onto the couch, Alex on top of Mitchie, kissing her hungrily. Alex's lips moved to Mitchie's neck, placing butterfly kisses as she went. Her hands roamed to Mitchie's jean shorts, and her fingers expertly found the button and undid it.
She was about to pull down the zipper when a bright flash filled the room, followed by a poof. Alex flew off Mitchie, fists raised and ready to fight whatever intruder was zapping themselves into her living room. It was times like these she wished she still had her powers and her wand, but she'd given them up a few years ago for Mitchie and Sam.
When the smoke cleared Alex let out a sigh of relief and lowered her fists. Her eldest brother Justin stood before her. His hair was longer now, and he had it pulled back into a ponytail. He still dressed like a dork, though, in Alex's opinion. For example: Tears of Blood had split up four years ago, and here he was, wearing their t-shirt like he was on the way to one of their concerts.
"It's Justin," Alex told Mitchie, who was still flat against the couch, buttoning up her pants again.
"Of course it is," Mitchie said, sitting up. "Who else zaps into our living room?" She waved at her brother-in-law. "Hi, Justin."
"Hey," he said, eyebrows raised. He took in their flushed complexions, tangled hair, smudged lip gloss, and recalled how he'd found them on the couch. "Am I interrupting something?" he chuckled.
"Kind of," Alex said with a sigh. She crossed her arms over her chest, feeling exposed. This wasn't the first time Justin had caught her and Mitchie up to something. He'd walked in on them literally having sex before, but that was when she was living at home. "You know I hate when you pop in like that."
"What do you want me to do, zap myself outside?" Justin asked, gesturing out the window. "There are always paparazzi. They'd see."
"You could at least call first and give us a little warning," Alex grumbled.
Justin shrugged. "Sorry, Alex, I wasn't thinking. Now that I have my full powers I use them all the time, kind of like I'm on autopilot."
There he went again, rubbing in her face that he won the family wizard competition. Alex was still bitter about it. As soon as she got back from her honeymoon the wizard council stripped her of her powers for marrying a mortal. That meant when Max turned of age it was just him and Justin participating in the competition to see which sibling would keep their magic and gain the full powers of their family's magic. Justin won easily. Alex had a hard time watching, silently seething with jealousy. She had no doubt in her mind had she been able to compete she would have mopped the floor with both of her brothers, and then she would have been the family wizard. But then she got home and kissed her wife and son and all that regret instantly went away. Although it did still sting when she saw Justin using his magic. She missed it, what could she say? It literally made everything easier, and with how lazy Alex was, easy was her favorite difficulty level.
"Are you here for a reason, or just to flaunt your magic in my face?" Alex asked, irritated.
"I'm here to bring you this," Justin said, holding out his hand. With the other he pointed his wand to his empty palm and a manila folder full of papers appeared. He smiled at his sister and sister-in-law.
"You had to zap those in? You couldn't have just brought them with you?"
Justin's face fell. "Sorry, I forgot…" He walked over and handed them to his sister. "All signed and ready to go."
Mitchie took the folder from Alex's hands and opened it. She skimmed the contents and took a deep breath, then looked up at her wife.
"This is it," she said. "It's official."
Alex smiled and reached out to take Mitchie's hand. She looked to her brother. "Thank you, Justin. You don't know what this means to us."
"Of course," he said with a nod. "When's your appointment?"
"Friday," Alex answered. "It didn't seem real until now, but it's finally happening."
"I can't wait." Mitchie beamed and gave Alex's hand a squeeze.
"Well, good luck. Let me know how it goes." He leaned over and kissed Alex's cheek. "Call me if you need anything." He bent down and gave Mitchie's kiss a cheek as well. "I'll see you soon."
"Going so soon?" Mitchie asked.
"Mitchie, let him go if he wants to." Alex looked at her pointedly. "We have plans, remember… Dinner?"
"I think I know what you mean by that, and on that note I'm gonna go," Justin said with a scrunched-up face. "Besides, Juliet's waiting for me."
Mitchie and Alex didn't think it was possible for a couple to be as disgustingly in love as them, but then Juliet and Justin got back together and challenged them for cutest Russo family couple. They had gotten married just a few months prior and were still in the honeymoon phase. They spent every spare moment together, when Justin wasn't off teaching at WizTec. They even monster hunted at night together, even though Juliet was technically a monster, being a vampire. But she was a good one, so the monster hunters utilized her instead of hunted her.
"Go, go home and kiss your wife so I can kiss mine." Alex smiled to her brother.
Justin nodded and winked before lifting his wand and swirling it around his head. An orb of light illuminated at its tip and with a small flash Justin was gone. Alex stared at the spot her brother had stood a moment before, thinking longingly about the joys of zapping places. No driving, traffic, or planes. Oh, did Alex hate planes. Flying on a plane was nothing like flying a magic carpet. No leg room, no crisp night air in her face, and no Mitchie holding her waist securely from behind.
Mitchie reached out and squeezed Alex's hand. "Hey, you still with me?"
Alex nodded and looked down to the singer. "Sorry, just thinking." She smiled. "Now… Where were we?" She leaned down to resume the activity she'd been enjoying before her brother interrupted.
"Actually," Mitchie said, pulling back to avoid Alex's lips. "I'm kind of hungry for food with nutritional value." She gazed at Alex apologetically. "Can we postpone 'til later tonight and get some real food?"
Alex tried hard to hide her disappointment, putting on a gentle grin. She still really wanted to have sex right then and there, but she also respected her wife and would never insist on intimacy of that nature once Mitchie expressed disinterest. Just because she was still as hormonal as when she was a teenager didn't mean Mitchie was. It's not like they didn't have a healthy sex life, it just wasn't as intense as when they'd first started making love. Back then it was something they did every chance they got. But as they got older and progressed with their busy careers there just wasn't as much time. Plus, raising Sam, let alone any child, could be exhausting.
"Of course," Alex said, bringing their intertwined hands up to her mouth and kissing Mitchie's knuckles.
Mitchie beamed. "You're the best." She stood and kissed Alex quickly on the lips. "Let's go out for dinner, make a date out of it. We never get to do that anymore."
Alex nodded. "Okay. Where do you want to go?"
"You pick," Mitchie told her.
"Sushi," Alex said excitedly, her eyes lighting up. They never got sushi because Sam hated it. Whenever he wasn't with them it was usually Alex's go-to.
"You got it."
Mitchie walked around the couch, leaving the living room. Alex turned off the tv and followed the songstress, quickly catching up at the stairs. Alex ascended in Mitchie's wake, her eyes firmly planted on the way Mitchie's ass moved in her shorts with each step. Mitchie turned and glanced back at Alex, noticing the woman's attention was on her backside.
"I'm gonna take a shower first, and use all the hot water I want," Mitchie joked, turning forward again. "I feel like you could use a cold one."
"Well, you're not wrong," Alex said lowly. She reminded herself that good things came to those who wait as she continued to follow Mitchie to their bedroom.
Alex sat on the large, unmade bed, staring at the clock. She'd called the restaurant while Mitchie was in the shower to get a reservation. At first the hostess said they were full, but once Alex casually mentioned the fact that she was Mitchie Torres' wife they magically found an available table. However, if they didn't get going soon, they weren't going to make it in time. When it came to restaurants and celebrities, however, there were exceptions. Normal people would lose the table if they were not even five minutes late to their reservation. Celebrities were given more leeway. Much more. They could show up hours late or even out of the blue and still get a table. But Alex hated the egotistical celebrities who did that and vowed never to be one of them. She already felt disgusted in herself for using her wife's star power to get them a table. She didn't want to push it.
Which meant they really needed to leave.
"Babe, we're gonna be late," Alex called through the closed bathroom door. She'd been ready for nearly twenty minutes. Then again, it didn't take her long to get ready. Just a shower, a bit of makeup, and some clothes and she was good to go. She didn't even dry her hair, preferring to let her dark, shoulder-length locks air dry on their own.
"One minute," Mitchie called back.
Alex stood with a sigh and went over to check herself for the fifth time in the floor-length mirror on the backside of the bathroom door.
Her hair was mostly dry, hanging in natural waves, framing her face. She wore dark skinny jeans and a royal blue shirt with a black vest over it. Her feet were clad in her trusty black boots, but she had to admit they still felt weird without her wand pressing into her right ankle. It just wasn't the same. But still, she had to admit she looked pretty damn good.
"Why is the door closed, anyway?" Alex asked. They'd been together over eight years. Alex had seen Mitchie give birth to their son. They never closed the door. Not even when using the bathroom. Partially because they didn't care, and also a little because they didn't like to be separated.
The door swung open, and Alex's reflection was replaced with Mitchie standing before her, all done up and ready to go. She wore a skin-tight hot pink dress, which hugged her curves perfectly. The black pumps on her feet made her calves look amazing, and Alex couldn't help staring.
"Shock factor." Mitchie said with a smile, pushing a strand of her chin-length black hair behind her ear. "Do I look okay?"
Alex looked to her face. "Okay?" She chuckled deeply. "Honey, you look so hot we need to leave right now before I throw you down on our bed and rip that dress off of you."
Mitchie laughed and closed the bathroom door. She checked herself in the mirror one last time, like Alex had been doing previously, and smiled at her reflection. Alex was right, she'd outdone herself with the dress and went a little darker with her makeup than usual. But it was a special night. She and Alex usually got alone time when Shane took Sam, and since he'd been gone for a month they hadn't been able to go out just the two of them in weeks. And plus, this was probably going to be one of the last times they wanted to go out for a while. She wanted to make the most of it.
"K, I'm good. Let's hit it," she said, turning to her waiting wife.
"Oh the 'hitting it' comes later, darling," Alex said, quirking an eyebrow and offering her arm to the other woman. "Shall we?"
Mitchie smiled and linked her arm through Alex's. Eight years together and Mitchie still hadn't tired of Alex's jokes and goofing around. Mitchie laughed at nearly every one and rolled her eyes at the bad ones. But Alex never stopped making them, and Mitchie loved her for it. No one had ever made her smile or laugh as much as Alex Torres-Russo.
Shane army-crawled across his living room floor, going slow as to not give himself rug burns. Once he reached the back of the leather couch he sat up, putting his back against it. He clutched a plastic Nerf gun to his chest, and he slowly crouched, looking over the couch. The living room seamed clear. He stood and let out a breath.
Sam chose this moment to pop about from behind the recliner.
"Die, Imperial scum!" Sam yelled, unloading the Styrofoam bullets from his Nerf gun.
Shane flinched and made screaming noises every time one of Sam's bullets hit, pretending to really be injured. He found Sam got a kick out of it.
"I said die!" Sam yelled again and pulled the trigger on his gun. He was met with a hollow click, and to his disappointment no projectile came from the toy in his hands. "Uh oh."
Shane gave a battle cry and advanced on Sam, emptying his own round of foam bullets on his son.
"Take that, Han Solo!" Shane pumped his fist in the air.
Sam dropped his gun and ran at Shane, leaping onto him. Shane fell backwards onto the floor, Sam on top of him.
"Okay, truce, truce," he said, laughing as he sat up, trying to catch his breath. "You win, rebel alliance."
"Victory!" Sam stood up and jumped onto the couch, bouncing up and down.
Shane watched him, shaking his head. Maybe he shouldn't have given him all those Skittles after all.
"Okay, Dad," Sam said, jumping down from the couch and standing over his father. "Now I'll be Luke Skywalker, and you'll be Darth Vader. I'll go get my lightsabers."
"Hold on, bud, Dad's tired," Shane said, slowly picking himself up off the floor. He tossed the toy on the couch. "Why don't we do something else?"
"Like what?" Sam cocked his head to the side and looked at Shane quizzically.
"Well, the pizza should be here soon," Shane said, glancing at his smart watch. "How about we eat, then go see a movie?"
Sam's eyes lit up. "Yeah! The new Jurassic World is out!"
"I don't think that's a good idea," Shane muttered. "I got chewed out by your moms just this morning for letting you watch the first one."
"Awe, come on, Dad," Sam said with a pout. "That's just 'cause I was a little kid then. I was five." He held up all five fingers to make his point. "I'm eight now—" he held up three more fingers, "I can handle it."
Shane stared at him for a moment, scratching his chin while he pondered what to do. He didn't want to say no and upset Sam. They had so little time together he hated to ruin it in some way. Whenever he had Sam he always let Sam choose what they did, that way they had the best shot at having a good weekend. But on the other hand, he also didn't want Alex and Mitchie mad at him for showing Sam another scary movie. He'd never hear the end of it.
"Please, Daddy?" Sam asked again. "I promise I won't be scared."
Shane sighed, his resolve crumbling. "Okay, but you can't tell your moms."
"All right!" Sam threw his fists in the air gleefully, and Shane had to smile. That's all he wanted, was to see the kid happy.
The restaurant was dimly lit, most of the light coming from the candles on the tables and the sparse overhead lighting. Waiters floated around, and quiet conversation of the diners buzzed through the dining room. Mitchie and Alex sat nestled into a booth in the corner of the restaurant, sitting side-by-side, Alex's arm over Mitchie's shoulder and Mitchie with her hand on Alex's thigh.
Their finished plates of sushi lay on the table in front of them, only a couple of stray grains of rice remaining on the otherwise spotless porcelain.
"I can't remember the last time we went to a restaurant with tablecloths," Mitchie said, running her other hand over the tabletop and smoothing out the bleach-white fabric. "You know, ones not made of paper."
"Yeah, and I bet they'd ban us for drawing on them in crayons, right?" Alex joked.
Mitchie laughed a little and nodded. "Most definitely."
Moments later their waiter appeared with their bill and Mitchie's credit card, ready to be signed.
"Thank you so much for dining with us this evening, Mrs. Torres-Russos." The young man took a pen out of his apron pocket and clicked it, placing it on the table next to the receipt. "Whenever you're ready. Have a pleasant evening." He smiled before rushing off, onto his next table.
Mitchie quickly signed the bill and left a generous tip before placing the pen back down and returning her credit card to her black clutch. She untangled herself from Alex and slid out of the booth, holding her hand out to her wife. Alex quickly followed, taking Mitchie's offered hand. They made their way through the dining room, and when they reached the entrance Alex opened the door for Mitchie, allowing her wife to walk through the door first. Mitchie smiled at the woman's actions, thinking to herself how some things never changed.
Alex retrieved her valet ticket stub from her back pocket and handed it to the valet. She spoke with the man briefly, and he handed off the keys to another parking attendant, who ran off towards the parking lot around the back of the building. He looked a little young, and Alex wondered how long he had been driving for. Couldn't have been too long. It made her nervous. Maybe she should have parked her beloved silver Lexus herself.
She turned around to tell Mitchie just that but stopped short when she noticed her wife's eyes were already fixed on her. Her lips were curled into a small smile. Alex shifted under her gaze.
"What?" she asked.
"Nothing," Mitchie said, shaking her head. "It's just," she took a step closer to Alex, "I love that you've never stopped opening the door for me."
Alex smiled. "Remember the first time we went to the movies together? Before we were dating?"
Mitchie nodded. "Of course. We had a contest to see who could catch the most popcorn in her mouth."
"Exactly, that night," Alex said quickly. "Well, I liked you, but I didn't want to, so I told myself not to treat it like a date. Not to open the door for you, or anything like that." She reached out and cupped Mitchie's cheek. "But what did I do? I opened the door for you, because I just can't help myself when it comes to you."
Mitchie's eyes darkened. "Now why do you have to say sexy stuff like that when you know damn well it's going to be nearly forty-five minutes before we get home with L.A. traffic?" She shook her head, leaning out of Alex's touch.
Alex put her hands on her hips. "As I recall, you're the one who put things on pause so we could get dinner."
"Don't use my own words against me," Mitchie said, cracking a grin.
Alex smiled, but it faltered as she caught a glimpse of a flash over Mitchie's shoulder. Straining her eyes, she spotted a sleaze ball with a camera hiding behind a bush about a hundred yards away. Damn paparazzi. She could have sworn she'd lost them on the interstate.
Thankfully the valet appeared with the Lexus moments after Alex's discovery. She quickly ushered her wife to the vehicle, opening the door for Mitchie to climb in.
"I'll never get tired of that," Mitchie said with a sigh of contentment as she climbed in the passenger's seat.
Alex closed her door and went around to the driver's side. The young valet handed her the keys, and she slipped him a folded-up bill as tip. He smiled brightly, offered her thanks, and rushed off. It seemed as though she hadn't needed to worry. The SUV looked just as perfect as when she'd left it.
The only thing that kept Shane awake during the movie was the extremely loud roaring of various dinosaurs, and Sam continuously ducking his head behind his shoulder anytime a carnivorous creature was onscreen. Shane offered multiple times for them to leave if it was too much, but Sam insisted; they stayed until the end. Afterwards Sam chatted excitedly about his favorite parts of the movie and boasted about how he wasn't scared at all.
It took some persuading to get Sam to calm down enough to take a bath and then crawl into his bed, but finally Shane was turning off the light to Sam's room and shutting the door. He slowly trudged down the hall and into the master bedroom. He pulled back the covers on his bed and climbed in, reveling at the softness of his memory foam mattress. He'd been sleeping in a hotel bed for so long that he almost forgot what his own felt like. It was his favorite part about being back home, sleeping in his own bed.
He placed his black, square-framed glasses and phone on the nightstand and switched off the lamp. His head hit the pillow, and his eyes slipped closed. God, he was comfortable.
"Dad?"
Shane slowly opened his heavy eyelids and saw Sam's dark silhouette beside his bed. He stifled a groan and switched on the lamp again.
"What's up, bud?" he asked, rubbing his eye.
"I'm scared," Sam said quietly.
Shane sighed. He knew this would happen. He fucking knew it and he did it anyway. Alex and Mitchie were going to kill him.
"Come on," Shane said, pulling back the covers on the other side of the bed.
Sam scrambled onto the bed and snuggled under the covers. He scooted closer to Shane and rested his head on his dad's chest. Shane began rubbing Sam's back him small, soothing circles.
"You don't still wet the bed, do you?" Shane asked. He felt Sam shake his head.
"Not since I was seven-and-a-half."
Shane stopped rubbing Sam's back. "You just turned eight, like, a week ago."
"I know, you weren't here," Sam said, bitterness evident in his voice.
Shane winced. He knew he'd let Sam down when he couldn't make it back from filming to see him on his birthday, but the show was going into semi-finals. He had no free time. He'd sent Sam a British soccer jersey from a shop he'd found near his hotel and Facetimed him when he'd had a free moment, but he knew it wasn't the same. Kids didn't understand work, schedules, and commitments. All Sam knew was that his dad missed his birthday.
"I know, I'm still sorry about that," Shane said, hoping Sam could hear in his voice how much he meant it.
"Dad, why don't I get to spend more time with you?"
"What do you mean, bud?" Shane asked. "This is how it's always been." Well, not entirely. Shane only did supervised visits until Mitchie and Alex moved to California when Sam was around four. Then he'd started taking him every other weekend. But it had been that way for as long as Sam could remember.
"Yeah, I know," Sam said. "But other kids in my class whose parents aren't together spend one week at one house and one week at the other's." He tried to search Shane's face in the darkness. "Why do I only get to see you every other weekend?"
"I mean, that's what your moms and I agreed to." He shifted, resting an arm behind his head. "Do you… want to spend more time with me?"
"Of course I do," Sam said quickly. "You're my dad. I love you. And we always have so much fun together."
"Well, I could ask your moms about you maybe coming over more often," Shane said uncertainly. He hated to make promises he couldn't keep, at least when it came to Sam. Sam was one of the few people in the world Shane didn't want to let down. "But it's up to them, okay?"
"Okay," Sam agreed. He draped an arm around Shane's torso and squeezed him. "I hope they say yes."
"So do I," Shane said gently, silently already running through what he could say to get Mitchie and Alex to agree. "Hey, get some sleep, okay? They'll never let me take you again, let alone more if you're a zombie tomorrow."
Sam laughed. "Okay," he said again. "Goodnight, Dad. Love you."
Shane kissed his mop of curls. "Night, Sam Man. Love you, too."
The boy fell silent, and soon he was asleep. Shane heard Sam's heaving breathing and looked down at the boy resting beside him. Sometimes Shane watched Sam sleep and marveled in how much they looked alike. He had Shane's dark, curly hair, his lopsided smile, and the same nose. His eyes, though, those were Mitchie's, and his freckles. It never ceased to amaze Shane that the worst thing he'd ever done in his entire life had resulted in the best thing that had ever happened to him.
Finally Shane lost the fight with his eyelids, and they closed, jet-lag and exhaustion ultimately taking over.
Sorry this chapter was a bit Shane heavy. I know you guys hate him, but I felt it was essential to show his growth. Hopefully Sam being a part of it makes up for it. He's so much fun to write now that he's actually a little person with thoughts and feelings. Anyway, hope you enjoyed. Review if you like.
Until next time
-DF