Jessie's mind was scrambled at this moment. She didn't know which way was up or down. She felt dizzy. All she could feel were Katie's lips pressed against hers as their tongues hungrily discovered each other's mouths. Jessie probably wouldn't even have been able to recognize her own name if it weren't for Katie softly whispering it.
"Jessie…"
At the sound of Katie softly moaning her name, Jessie tightened her grip on Katie's back and pulled her in to a deeper kiss. Katie obliged and continued to eagerly move her lips against Jessie's. Jessie, panting heavily, could barely keep up. Katie almost couldn't contain her excitement. She wanted to move her hands all over Jessie, but instead, they pulled away from each other. Jessie had to catch her breath. And Katie had to calm herself down.
Jessie looked over at the older girl. "Wow."
"Yeah," said Katie. "Well, that was a definite detour. That was intense. Almost made me forget what we were talking about."
Jessie looked at Katie, innocently. "Almost?"
Katie looked at Jessie, her eyes pleading. "Jess…"
Jessie looked Katie nervously. Her hand started shaking as Katie reached over and put her hand on Jessie's thigh.
Jessie took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. I'm just nervous."
"It's okay. It's perfectly normal to be nervous." Katie looked at her girlfriend with complete affection. Her gentle gaze helped Jessie to relax a little bit.
Jessie ran her finger along Katie's hand, which was still on Jessie's thigh. "It's just I…I've never…done this before."
Katie nodded. "I know." She began to massage Jessie's thigh in order to calm her down and let her know she'd be there with her every step of the way. Jessie loved the feel of Katie's hand massaging her leg. It was making this a lot easier for her. She closed her eyes and sighed, trying to mentally prepare herself.
"Katie, I just don't think I'm ready. I'm sorry."
"Jess, you're ready. Trust me. It's gonna be okay. I promise."
"But…I mean…how do you know? How am I supposed to know if I'm ready?" asked Jessie.
"Do you trust me?"
Jessie nodded. "Yes. Completely. You know I do. But Katie, I'm only fifteen."
"But you'll be sixteen soon. Then before you know it, you'll be seventeen, then eighteen, then twenty five. I really don't see the age factor as a very good defense for you." Katie moved her hand from Jessie's thigh up to her face and began to tuck some pieces of hair behind Jessie's ear. The feel of Katie's finger on her skin was beginning to drive Jessie crazy. She knew Katie was right. There was something about this girl that gave her strength she never knew she had.
"But what if we get caught?" Jessie protested.
"Jess, you're stalling…again. Look, maybe you're right. I shouldn't pressure you. And you know I would never pressure you into doing something you don't want to do, but I know you want this. We've talked about it. Extensively."
"Yeah but—"
Katie rolled her eyes at Jessie's latest protest. "For crying out loud, Jess! Just turn the ignition and start the engine! It's just a car. We've got our seatbelts on. We're on a residential street. You can go five miles per hour if you want, but just do it already!"
Jessie looked at Katie, appalled. She knew Katie wasn't yelling at her. It was more of an act of encouragement. She looked ahead out the windshield of Katie's car and smiled. "You know, have I ever told you you're kinda cute when you're forceful?"
"No."
"Good," stated Jessie. "Because I'd be lying. You tend to make an ugly face when you yell."
Katie smiled. "Oh, I see. So you're saying you wanna WALK home. Okay. I can live with that." Katie reached over and grabbed the keys out of the ignition. Jessie tried to reach for them, but the seatbelt was hindering her.
"No, no. I'll do it! I'll do it!" exclaimed Jessie as she took off her seatbelt and reach over to the passenger side to try to get the keys away from Katie.
Katie was having too much fun playing keep-away. "No, no. That's fine. I wouldn't want you crashing my car anyway."
"I won't crash it. Just give me the keys!" said Jessie, as she started tickling her girlfriend, trying to get her to drop those sacred keys.
Katie started laughing and squirming, but refused to give in. "Nope! You had your chance. Maybe you can stall some more by kissing me again like you did before."
Black and White
Jessie: "Okay, so in hindsight, making out in a car in broad daylight may not have been the best idea. I mean, we were parked on a curb. Anyone could have walked by and seen us. But it's not like I was that careless. I mean, it wasn't either of our neighborhoods. But still, it was a risk. A risk that was definitely worth it. Even if I did use it as a means to stall."
Jessie gave up and took her place back in the driver's seat. "So…you kinda saw through that, huh?"
"Yeah. Not that I'm complaining, but it was a little obvious." Katie dangled the keys in front of Jessie. "Are you sure you're ready?"
Jessie grabbed the keys and slid them into the ignition. "As ready as I'll ever be."
"Okay. Well, no car has driven down this street in the last twenty minutes, so it's a safe bet that you can go as slow as you want. Just remember: the wide pedal on the left is the break, the skinny one on the right is the gas."
"Wow. You must think I'm really dumb," said Jessie, as she started the engine. "Okay, so which one is reverse? Is that the D?"
Katie looked at her, dumbfounded.
"I'm kidding! Geez. You really do think I'm dumb, don't you?" asked Jessie.
"Well…you ARE blonde," replied Katie, nonchalantly.
"Can we please nix the blonde jokes today? That would be great. Thanks." Jessie turned on the engine, put her foot on the break, and slowly put the car in drive.
"Okay," said Katie. "Now there's no one in front of you, so just ease your foot off the break and pull into the street…" Before Katie could continue, both girls lurched forward as Jessie slammed on the break.
"Sorry!" exclaimed Jessie. She felt the need to explain after seeing the incredulous look Katie was giving her. "Uh…I got scared."
"Oookay," said Katie. "Let's try this again. So you're halfway in the street now. That's good. We're making progress."
Jessie slowly hit the gas as she steadied the steering wheel out. She was going about eight miles per hour, which actually impressed Katie. It was a full three miles more than she thought Jessie would drive.
Black and White
Katie: "My dad taught me to drive. I don't think I've ever fully recovered from that. He was incredibly uptight when it came to me driving. When we were done with a lesson, I'd have to pry my hands off the steering wheel. He made me that nervous. I mean, he's a good guy. And an okay dad, I guess. But he always made me nervous."
"Wow, Jess. You're doing really well."
"Sshhhh, no talking….I'm concentrating," said Jessie, her eyes focused intently on the road ahead.
"Okay," laughed Katie. "Whatever keeps you safe."
Once Jessie felt a little more comfortable, she increased her speed to fifteen miles per hour. She had driven around the entire block without incident, so she finally felt comfortable enough to carry on a conversation.
"By the way, Katie, you lied to me," stated Jessie.
"What? How did I lie to you?"
"You promised me we wouldn't break the law anymore," informed Jessie.
"And?"
"I'm fifteen, without a legal guardian, and I have no license."
Katie pondered that for a moment and slumped her shoulders. "Huh. You're right. Damn it. I hate it when you're right."
Jessie smiled, rather pleased with herself. "You love it." She continued gloating until she suddenly slammed on the breaks again. "Whoa!"
Once again, their bodies pitched forward at the sudden movement. "What is it?" asked Katie, as she reached her hands out to the dashboard.
"There's a car."
"Where?" Katie couldn't see anything.
"Up there," pointed Jessie. Katie finally saw what she was talking about.
"Jess, it's like thirty feet away."
"I got scared," said Jessie as she looked adoringly at Katie. Katie knew Jessie was using her cuteness to her advantage. And it was definitely working.
Katie shook her head and grinned. "You are too adorable for words. Come on. Pull over. I'll drive you home."
Jessie pulled over to the curb and both girls got out of the car. As they passed by each other, Katie brushed Jessie's arm with her hand. "You did good. Really good. I'm proud of you."
Jessie blushed as she got into the passenger seat. It was a Saturday afternoon in late October. The leaves were starting to fall. The air was a little more crisp. As Jessie watched Katie on the drive home, the sun shining through the window brought out the radiating beauty in Katie's face. She reached over, took Katie's hand and put it on her lap. She leaned her head back, closed her eyes, and envisioned the rest of her life being just like this. She felt truly content.
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As they walked through the door, Jessie was immediately welcomed by Rick.
"Jessie! Good. You're here. Everyone's in the kitchen."
"Why? It's not dinner time yet," replied Jessie.
"Well, we've got some news. About the baby and we wanted everyone to be here when we announced it," said Rick.
Katie backed up towards the door. "Oh. I'll just head home. I'll call you later, Jess."
"Oh you don't have to leave, Katie," protested Rick. "You're more than welcome to stay. Come on. Both of you."
He led them into the kitchen where Jessie could plainly see he wasn't kidding. Everyone was there. Eli, Grace, Zoe, Lily…even Judy and Sam. Jessie was surprised Jake and Tiffany weren't called over, though she supposed that would have been a little awkward. Katie and Jessie took a seat at the table as everyone waited to hear what the big news was.
Rick put his arm around Lily and looked at her. "Do you want to tell them?"
Lily smiled. "Sure." As she looked over at her family, her entire face was beaming. "We're having a girl!"
"Oh that's so great! Congratulations!" exclaimed Judy, as she jumped up and hugged her sister.
"Another girl?" asked Zoe. She was quickly stifled by Grace, who nudged her in the shoulder.
"That's great, mom!" said Grace, as it was her turn to hug Lily.
"I'm with Zoe," said Eli. "Another girl?" he joked as he playfully elbowed Zoe.
Rick and Lily knew he was teasing. Still, it couldn't be easy being the only male sibling in the family.
Jessie looked over at Katie, who was wildly grinning. "That's awesome. Aren't you excited, Jess?"
Jessie reached her hand under the table and took Katie's hand. "Yeah. I'm really excited. Congratulations, you guys." Jessie looked back at Katie with an impassioned gaze in her eyes.
Katie loved the feeling of Jessie's hand in hers, even if it was hidden from the rest of the world. She simply could not stop smiling. "So do you guys have a name picked out now that you know it's a girl?" asked Katie.
Rick looked quizzically at Lily. "Uh…well, we're getting closer to picking a name. Managed to finally narrow it down to eight choices. We'll get there."
Black and White
Rick: "It was like the moment I found out Karen was having a girl. When I found out she was having Jessie. I never thought I could feel anything so…real…and raw…in all my life. Suddenly there was this little human being; this little girl. With a heartbeat, and…just this life force that I helped create. I mean, I felt it with Eli, too. But with Jessie, it was like this sudden need to protect her. Before she was even born. I just can't believe I'm feeling it all over again."
Black and White
Jessie: "I'm actually really excited about the baby. I mean, I know most kids hate it when there's a new baby in the house, but I'm kind of looking forward to it. I mean, maybe they'll be so focused on the baby that they won't notice…I don't know…other things." Jessie shyly looks away from the camera.
To Be Continued…
