Aww! You guys are so sweet! 3333

I'm glad to hear that you have such a great girlfriend, Serena! We all deserve that level of commitment and care ^^

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Chapter 37

Sofia

I was awoken by the sound of rain pattering on the roof, and I whimpered, pushing myself closer to James.

The room was still dark, and I snapped my eyes shut, trying to go back to sleep in case a storm hit.

"Good morning, gorgeous wife," James whispered in my ear, tightening his grip around my bare middle.

"Good morning, handsome husband," I smiled, rolling over and kissing him.

He pulled the blanket over us and propped himself up on his hands over me.

"I love you so much, baby," he heatedly pressed his lips against mine and trailed kissed along my jaw.

"I love you too," I sighed happily.

Thunder rumbled outside, and he ran his fingers along my slit before I had time to react.

"Focus on me," he whispered, sliding his fingers inside, "I want to make love to my goddess of a wife,"

I arched my back and moved with him as he pleasured me.

A crack of lightning flashed, and he wrapped my legs around his head, rubbing his cock in my warmth.

I grabbed his arms and tucked my head to his chest.

"Relax, love," he whispered, entering me slowly.

I gasped and dug my nails into his back.

The rain was falling harder, and he increased his pace to match it.

His gesture sent me into a frenzy of pure ecstasy.

The storm raged around us, but he kept me safe in our love cocoon.

"I'm glad it didn't rain last night," I stated, pulling the blanket off of us.

"Me too," he agreed, running his hand along my torso, "Even though I love seeing you wet,"

I blushed and sat up.

"I'm going to make you breakfast," I got up and went to my dresser.

"Okay," he smirked, standing behind me and wrapping his arms around my waist, "But only if you wear the outfit from last night while you cook,"

I bit my lip and retrieved the lingerie from the bathroom floor.

"You are perfect," he picked me up and rested his forehead on mine as he carried me downstairs.

"Go feed the dogs," I giggled, hopping out of his arms and handing him an umbrella.

"Yes, ma'am," he kissed me and ran upstairs to put on clothes before grabbing the dog food and walking outside.

I turned the stereo on and turned the volume up to block out the thunder as I gathered the ingredients from the fridge.

"What are you making?" James asked, resting his chin on my shoulder.

"Egg white and spinach frittatas," I smiled, turning my head and kissing his cheek.

"Did I mention you were perfect?" he asked, and I heard his stomach growl.

"Once or twice," I giggled, taking the pan off the stove and setting it on a potholder on the island.

I sat on his lap on the couch as we ate and watched a movie.

"What do you want to do today?" James asked, putting his plate down.

"This," I sighed contently, "I want to be alone with my husband today,"

"Good, because I want my beautiful wife all to myself today, too," he purred, running his fingers along my stomach.

"Are we really going to Hawaii for Thanksgiving?" I asked, remembering what Tilly had said.

"We sure are," he grinned, "Are you excited?"

"Yeah," I nodded, "How long will we be there?"

"Six days," he rubbed his nose on mine.

"Can I plan some stuff for us to do? I'd love to hike Diamond Head," I smiled enthusiastically.

"We will do whatever you want," he purred, "Think of it as our honeymoon,"

I smiled and rested my head on his chest.

We spent the rest of the day watching movies and making love until we fell asleep.

Monday morning came too soon, and we went back to our normal routine.

James and I walked into the building, and, once again, we were the center of attention.

"Congratulations!"

"We're so happy for you guys!"

James wrapped his arm around my shoulders, smiling smugly as we were showered with compliments.

At least it was for a good reason this time.

We found our seats in homeroom, and James kept me pressed against him.

"Sofia Talbert, to the principal's office, Sofia Talbert, to the principal's office," Mr. Avery's voice rang over the intercom as soon as the bell rang, and I groaned.

James grabbed my hand and pulled me out of my seat.

"James, he only called for Sofia," Mr. Harper pointed for him to go back to his seat.

"I need a hall pass," James held out his hand, "I'm not letting her go by herself,"

I tried not to laugh as they stared each other down.

I was surprised James even asked, Mr. Harper should consider himself lucky.

"Fine," Mr. Harper grunted, handing him a yellow piece of paper, "But try to get back quickly,"

James led me out the door and to the principal's office.

"I'm not going to have a repeat of fucking Mrs. Gillian," James scowled, "I swear to God,"

"I love you too, husband," I smiled, hugging his arm as we entered the office.

"So damn much" he kissed the top of my head.

"Mr. and Mrs. Talbert," the secretary beamed, "Congratulations on your wedding,"

"Thank you, ma'am," we both smiled widely.

"Mr. Avery is waiting for you, Mrs. Talbert," she pointed to the office door, "Did you need something, Mr. Talbert?"

"The last time a principal wanted to see her, we ended up transferring schools," James explained, "I'd rather her not go in alone,"

"Ah, I see," she nodded, picking up her phone and buzzing Mr. Avery.

"Come on in, you two," Mr. Avery opened his door and welcomed us, "I assure you our topic of discussion is nothing bad, but this gives me a chance to give you both your wedding gift," he smiled, handing me a white, lace-covered bag.

I pulled out an envelope and a beautiful picture frame.

"Thank you, Mr. Avery. I love it," I smiled, showing the frame to James.

"Thank you," James smiled, shaking his hand.

"I took up a collection from the staff as well; there's a check in there for $600. We figured you could use a vacation soon," Mr. Avery explained, sitting in his chair.

"That's very generous of you," I stared at him, shocked.

"You two are important students, not only academically and athletically, but we are all concerned with your well-being. I'm sure you understand," Mr. Avery half smiled, "But, to get down to business, Mrs. Talbert. You expressed interest in tutoring for the SATs when you first enrolled. Is that something you would still be willing to do?"

"Of course," I nodded.

"Fantastic," he smiled, grabbing a pen and a stack of papers, "I will need you at the school Tuesdays and Wednesdays from four to nine. This is a paid position, and we will provide food, usually pizza, and we will need you until Christmas break,"

"Sounds great," I agreed, taking the paperwork from him.

I glanced over at James, and he was smiling proudly at me.

"Have you applied to any colleges yet?" Mr. Avery asked me, but I shook my head.

"The cut-off for early admission is November first, but I haven't decided where to apply yet," I shrugged, smiling as I checked 'MARRIED' on my tax forms.

"With your SAT score, you could get into any school you want. Do you know what you want to study?" He folded his arms across his desk.

"I'd like to get my Masters in art history," I nodded, "But I also want to make sure whatever school I go to has a good football team for James, so it really depends on where he wants to play,"

"Have you given any thought to your athletic career?" Mr. Avery adverted his attention to my spotlighted husband.

"Recruiters should start showing up soon, so I should know within a month," James nodded.

"Let me know when you both choose; I will write you a letter of recommendation, Mrs. Talbert," Mr. Avery stated, taking the paperwork from me, "I'll get this filed, and Mrs. Flora will find you tomorrow to give you the details,"

"Thank you very much, Mr. Avery. For everything," I smiled, shaking his hand.

"It's my pleasure, get back to class," he smiled, motioning toward the door.

"He is so nice," I gushed, swinging James' arm as we walked back to class.

"Mhm," James grunted, sideglancing at me, "What did you get on your SATs, baby?"

"1530," I stated, "But only because I truly suck at math,"

James stopped, and I stumbled back.

I looked up at his shocked face and cocked my head to the side.

"What's wrong?" I asked, squeezing his hand.

"So you should be looking into Ivy League schools," he whispered.

"It's been brought up a few times," I shrugged, "I was allowed to graduate in my Sophomore year, but Miranda said no, so I took a bunch of AP and college classes through the school. That's why I can graduate with my Associate at the end of this year,"

"Fuck Miranda," he growled, "Where do you want to go? I know you've thought about it," he looked at me seriously, "Why didn't you tell me all this before?"

"You have dedicated your life to football, my love, and I will follow you wherever you want to go. I was going to apply to the Pratt Institute in New York and Yale, but I want to wait for you to choose," I ran my hands along his arms, "I don't need to go to an Ivy Leauge school; I need you,"

"I'll talk to coach Rassmussen about getting recruiters for top schools; you deserve to go to a challenging school," James nodded, "I refuse to be the reason my genius wife doesn't get the education she's dedicated her life to get,"

"I'm not a genius," I giggled, standing on my tiptoes and kissing him on the cheek, "But I guess you're right; all I've ever wanted to do was go to college. Please don't be mad at me,"

"I'm not mad at you, baby," he kissed my forehead, "I'm mad at myself for not taking your education seriously. I know you're smart, and we should have seriously had this conversation back when dad brought it up in Casper,"

"To be fair, we've had bigger problems to address," I laced our fingers together.

"I suppose you're right," he sighed, pulling me to his chest, "I'm still sorry. It's my job to make sure you're taken care of in every way,"

"And you have, my valiant knight, you've gone above and beyond to make sure I'm taken care of," I assured him, looking into his eyes, "I love you so much,"

"I love you too, baby," he brought his lips to mine, "So fucking much,"

I led him back to the classroom, and he pulled my chair to him, keeping me wrapped in his arm.

He was so amazing.

I couldn't ask for a more devoted, loving husband.

"I hear congratulations are in order," Mrs. White stated, crossing her legs.

"Yeah," I beamed, "James and I got married Saturday,"

"Why so suddenly?"

"My uncle showed up Monday afternoon and informed us that Sam and Miranda are getting released on bail next month. Their court date is set for January, and if, for some reason, Miranda was allowed to walk, she could have gotten custody of me again. However, now that James and I are married, she can't," I explained, sitting on the edge of the couch cushion.

"So it was for legal reasons?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"And we love each other; I told you James proposed, we just moved the date up," I laughed, "Nothing has changed except my last name. We were basically already married,"

"Mm," she wrote something down, "Tell me more about your uncle's visit," she looked back up at me.

"He was waiting at our house, and James called the Sherriff. He warned us not to testify against Sam and Miranda because some really 'influential' people were involved in my abuse and would come after me if I agreed to. But the Sherriff is going to keep my name off the witness list until the day of the trial, so, hopefully, they will leave us alone," I swung my legs over the arm of the couch and looked over at her.

"Are you worried they might find out?" she asked, scribbling down notes.

"There's always the possibility, but we have police protection and the fact that James took Sam down in Casper. They should know better than to mess with us," I smiled, "I'm honestly not that worried anymore,"

"I'm glad you're relaxing, but I can't help but wonder why," she pressed.

"For the first time in my life, I can go to bed at night and not wonder if someone is going to bust down my door. I'm relaxing because I can. I have a family that cares about me, I have a husband that will do the door-busting if he has to, and I have friends that will help any way they can. I'm happy, Mrs. White. Truly, undeniably, irrevocably happy," I sat up and crossed my legs as I grinned at her, "I've never had what I have now, even when I had friends back at my old school,"

"Comfort is a stance of avoidance rather than the pursuit of excellence," she sighed.

"You and your quotes," I grumbled, "I'm afraid I don't know that one,"

"The more comfortable you get, the easier it will be for whoever is after you to get you. You will eventually find yourself alone and unguarded, and if you don't keep at least the idea that you are in danger in the back of your mind, I'm afraid you are going to regret it," Mrs. White explained, staring at me in the eye.

"So you're saying I should be scared?" I asked, cocking my head to the side.

"I'm not saying you shouldn't trust anyone or to keep yourself locked away until the trial; I'm saying that you need to be cautious. Moderately, reasonably, cautious," she frowned, "Don't rely on James or the police to do all the work of keeping you safe,"

I nodded and rested my head on the back of the couch.

"Have you been having nightmares?" she asked, changing the subject.

"Only a couple in the past week," I sighed, "One after Scott showed up and one the night James's grandma called me a money-grubbing drug addict,"

"She did what now?" Mrs. White gasped.

"We had dinner with James's family Tuesday night, and she told everyone that I was using him. I had a panic attack, and she stood in the kitchen trying to get them to believe I was still on drugs and was waiting for James to go pro so I could 'get my hands on his money,'" I frowned, "I know she was looking out for her family, but she judged me for being raised by monsters. I explained my situation, and she apologized, but James made her and his grandpa leave,"

"You will undoubtedly have to deal with people like that if they learn about your past," Mrs. White grimaced, "But I hate hearing that,"

"She was able to check up on me pretty easily," I sniffled, "I'm not sure If I can take going through that again,"

All you can do is stand up for yourself," Mrs. White stated, " Have confidence in who you are. Don't cower down to anyone. I know you're a good person, but I also know you are very good at hiding who you are from people,"

I nodded sadly.

"You need to work through your issues; that is priority one," she continued, "Are you still taking your medication,"

"Yeah," I nodded, "I'm still not sure if it's working, but I'm taking it,"

"I'll send off for some more potent anxiety medicine, especially now that Sam and Miranda are being released. I have a feeling they are going to cause you more stress,"

"Thank you," I sighed.

"I'll see you next week, Sofia. And remember what I said. Be cautious, not paranoid,"

"Yes, ma'am," I pulled myself off the couch and grabbed my bag.

James ran up to me as soon as I walked out the door and pulled me to his chest.

"I missed you, wife," he smiled.

"I missed you too, husband," I smiled back as he kissed me.

"How was your meeting?" he asked, leading me to the truck.

I shrugged and grabbed a notebook out of my bag.

"Shrug?" he asked, opening my door, "Why the shrug?"

"I can't seem to find a middle ground between paranoia and contentment," I mumbled, scribbling down addresses on the paper.

He didn't say anything as he watched me.

"What are you writing?"

"We need to have a family meeting when we get home," I pulled my legs up and used them to write on.

"Okay, love. I'll wait," he wrapped his arm around me and pulled out of the parking lot.

"Mom, Dad?" I called as we walked through the door.

"In the kitchen!" Mom called back.

I tossed my backpack on the couch, held my notebook to my chest, and sat at the table.

Mom put our plates in front of us, and I thanked her.

"We need to talk after dinner," I announced, putting a fork full of salad in my mouth.

"What's up?" dad asked worriedly.

I just shook my head and continued to eat.

James exchanged concerned glances with them; they all looked at the notebook and then back at me.

"I don't want to ruin your appetites; mom works really hard on supper," I shrugged.

They all reluctantly started eating.

"Did you guys know Sofia got 1530 on her SATs?" James asked, smiling.

"Wow," dad coughed, "That's amazing,"

"Yes, it is," Mom gawked at me.

"I talked to coach Rassmussen today about getting recruiters from top schools with the best art programs to come to our games, and he said he would look into it," James stated proudly.

"Well, even if you can't get a spot on an Ivy League team, you can look in the same cities. No rule says you two have to go to the same college," mom pointed out, cutting her chicken.

"I guess not," James pouted.

"No, I'll go wherever James goes. We already talked about this," I frowned, "However, that does remind me, I've got all As in my classes so far, and hopefully, I'll make the chancellor's list this semester,"

"Awesome, baby!" James smiled, squeezing my leg.

"That's fantastic," mom and dad beamed.

"Thanks, and I'm going to be working at the high school as an SAT tutor, so I need my curfew extended until nine-thirty on Tuesdays and Wednesdays," I continued, putting my plate in the sink.

"I'll pick her up, so I will too," James added, placing his plate on top of mine.

"I'll let the Sherriff know to keep a deputy at the school while you're there," dad pulled out his phone, "Does it start tomorrow?"

"Yeah. The shift is from four to nine," I nodded.

Dad got up and walked into the living room to call him.

"Now, what did you want to talk to us about?" mom asked, patting my chair.

"Let's wait for dad," I grabbed the notebook and watched the door.

"He will have his deputies stationed outside while you're there," dad sat back down, "Now, the suspense is killing me; what do you want to talk about?"

"We need a plan in case whoever decides to come after me gets ahold of me," I stated, opening the notebook and putting it on the table, "This is a list of addresses that Sam will take me to. These are his friends, hiding spots, and labs,"

They looked at the paper and back at me.

"I circled the last address because under no circumstances are any of you to go there," I stated firmly, "I would honestly prefer if you guys didn't go to any of them; this list needs to go to the police in the event of my abduction,"

"What is the last address?" James asked, taking my hand in his.

"The farm," I scowled, "It's the compound where all the Daniels live, and they keep that place locked down tight. There are bear traps in the field, motion sensors around the perimeter, and they have an armory for their little drug militia that's full of semi-automatic weapons,"

"Do the police know about this place?" mom asked.

"You are the only people I've told about it, so I have no clue. Just promise me you'll stay away from there," I insisted sternly.

"What are the chances they will take you there?" James whispered, horrified.

"It depends on who gets me first. If Miranda gets me, then that's the first place she will go, but it will be one of these other places if Sam gets me. There is a cemetery here," I pointed to another address, "With a mausoleum. There is a staircase at the far left corner that leads down to a sort of crypt where Seth and I used to play flashlight tag. Sam found out about it and used it as a stash spot,"

"What did Mrs. White say to you today?" Mom asked, putting her hand over her mouth.

"She said I was too happy and too comfortable and that I need to be afraid because I can't rely on you guys to save me, so I decided to compile this list as a way to help," I sighed.

"You shouldn't be worrying about this yet; I'm going to have a chat with that fucking woman," Dad growled, "You just got married, you've been a little ball of energy since Wednesday, and for her to tell you that you're 'too comfortable' is unacceptable!"

"She didn't seem too happy about us getting married, either," I admitted, pulling myself on the island, "She tried to twist the whole thing as it only being for 'legal reasons' and when I told her that we were basically already married she just 'mm'd,'"

"The fuck?" James clenched his jaw.

"I will keep this list, but I want you to forget about it, okay?" Mom ripped the page out of the notebook and put it in her purse, "No one is going to get you, but on the off chance they do, we will get you right back like last time," she took a shuddered breath and pulled me to her chest, "You're ours. We might not be your guardians anymore, but we are your parents, and I'll be dammed if anyone takes you away again!"

"I'll find you a new therapist," dad whispered, wrapping his arms around us, "You focus on being happy because God knows you deserve to be,"

I smiled as James grabbed my hand while our parents engulfed me.

This is why I was comfortable.

They would do anything for me, and I didn't need to be afraid.