"I’ve got a surprise for you," she said.
"Really? Really?" he said, eagerly, in that little boy tone she still loved so much. "What is it?"
"You’ll find out later," she said.
"Wait a minute-," he said suspiciously. "The last time you said that I came home to Emma throwing up."
"It’s not that. I promise. Besides, that was just coincidental. That wasn’t the surprise I had in mind for you."
"So the girls are fine?"
"Yes, the girls are fine. Don’t worry, honey. It’s a good surprise."
"Tell me."
"No, you’ll just have to wait," she said, and he whimpered a little. "Don’t start," she said, firmly.
"So what’s the plan?"
"Well, you need to pick up the girls at school because I have my class at three," she said. "And then I get out at five. My mom said she’d have supper with the girls so we could go out."
"Great!" he said. "So I’ll see you at five?"
"Probably half past five. I seem to always be quite popular after class for some reason."
"Should I start supper for the girls?"
"I don’t know, honey. Can you handle dialing the phone and ordering pizza?" she said in a mildly sarcastic tone.
"You’re so fresh," he said, and lowered his voice considerably. "You know what that means."
She breathed in deeply and felt an immediate tingle between her legs.
"Well, you’re just going to have to catch me, aren’t you?"
"I think I can handle that," he said.
"Well, we’ll just see about that," she said. "I’ll talk to you later."
"I love you."
"I love you. Bye."
She hung up the phone and sat quietly for a moment. She thought affectionately of her husband of almost ten years. She laughed to herself. When she was in college, she had thoroughly convinced herself that she would never marry. She was so scared then. God, she was practically a baby. Now, twelve years later, with a lucrative writing career and a small part time teaching job at the University, she was a confident, mature wife and mother of two beautiful little girls. She could hardly believe at times how far she had come in her life and how much she had achieved.
And then there was her husband. The only man that she knew, even at twenty-five, that she could marry. He was at the time just a baby, too, still trying to decipher his dreams from the dreams of those who cared for him so deeply. Her confidence wasn’t the only one to strengthen over the course of twelve years.
Over twelve years, they had grown as a couple and facilitated each other’s growth. They had sadly watched a few of their friends’ marriages end in divorce, and at times had worried about the direction of their own marriage. For the most part, they stayed true to the promise they made to themselves when they met and then again when they married- honesty always.
She was quoted in the University humor magazine as saying that the two things that held a marriage together were honesty and an adventurous sex life. That quote made her quite popular among the students and earned her a few raised eyebrows from the faculty and the administration.
She looked up at the clock and realized that she had been daydreaming for a good fifteen minutes. If she didn’t hustle, she knew she’d be late for class, and she knew what that meant. Although she never minded the "consequences" for "transgressions."
She let her class out a little before five, even though she knew she wasn’t supposed to. She was eager to get home to see the girls. She wanted a little time with them because she knew that she and her husband would be out past their bedtime. As usual, she was surrounded by a swarm of students after class. A few of them were anxious about the short writing assignment that was due the next class. She was finally able to go to her car at about quarter past five.
She drove down the shady streets to the beautiful, one story house that she and her husband had bought soon after they married. They decided to stay, even after she sold her first novel and made the New York Times Bestseller list. She loved their little house. Every spring, they planted a garden in the backyard, and a whole mess of flowers in the front.
She parked the car and went into the house. As soon as she walked in the door, she was ambushed with hugs from all sides.
"We missed you, Momma," the girls and even their father said, almost in unison.
"I missed you, too," she said, laughing.
"Come see what I did in my room, Momma," Katie said, eagerly, tugging on her hand.
"Okay," she said, throwing her bag on a chair and following her six-year-old daughter into the bedroom she shared with her twin sister.
"I helped," Emma said, in her usual soft voice.
"Yea, Emma made lots of hearts," Katie said, in her usual, boisterous voice.
The girls had decorated one wall with balloons, streamers, and construction paper hearts.
"It looks like you’re getting ready for Valentine’s Day," she said, warmly.
"I looked at the calendar. It’s exactly seven days before Valentine’s Day!" Katie said, her voice getting louder with excitement.
"I’m excited, too," she said.
"Will Nana help us decorate the rest of our room?" Emma said.
"Probably," she said.
"Yeah, Nana!" Katie cried, jumping up and down. She went out to the couch in the living room and started jumping up and down on the cushions. "Nana! Nana! Nana!"
"I know you’re excited about Nana coming over, but stop jumping on the couch, please," her father said, and her mother scooped her up.
"Are you over-stimulated?" she said, gently.
"I’m oversimutated," Katie said, loudly.
"Come sit with Momma," she said, sitting down on the couch with Katie on her lap. "Did you have a good day?"
"Uh-huh," she said, wiggling a lot.
"Stay here with me for a minute, sweetheart," she said, gently, hugging Katie to her chest and stroking her dark, curly hair. "Did you do anything exciting at school?"
"I found a caterpillar during recess and I showed it to my teacher and we made a habi-, habi-. What’s that word for a place to live?"
"You mean a habitat?"
"Yea, and Momma, we have to remember to buy valentines and fill them out this weekend for my class. Can we make candy bags?"
"Sure. That sounds like something we could all do together."
She felt Katie’s small body start to relax. Katie always got a little spazy right before dinner and usually needed a cuddle from at least one parent. Emma sat in the big, cozy armchair that everyone in the family usually fought over on movie night. She was looking at and half reading one of her books. Her momma could tell by the way Emma moved her lips that she was reading. It was an endearing sight. Her husband was puttering around in the kitchen, probably straightening things up. He still swore that he had OCD, but she continued to try to convince him that he mellowed. With two infants and little to no sleep, they both decided that children were a lot more important than how clean the house was. Still their house was remarkably clean for a family with two six year olds. Part of it was that Emma, true to her father’s nature, was a neat nick, so she was very conscientious of keeping things picked up. Katie, on the other hand, was "neat in her own way," as her momma always put it.
"What do you have for homework?"
"I did it with Daddy," Katie said. "And Emma did, too. So we could play with Nana tonight."
"Great!" she said.
"I’m not overstitumated anymore," Katie said. "Can I get up now?"
"Yes," she said, and after letting Katie off her lap, she went into the kitchen to see what her husband was up to.
"I laced her juice with crack, can’t you tell?" he said.
"I think I’m going to have to do something about that," she said, pulling him down to whisper in his ear. "I think I’m going to have to spank you," she whispered, feeling the tingle between her legs.
"No," he whimpered softly in that little boy voice he liked to put on for her. "No spanking! I'm good!"
She giggled in spite of herself.
"You got home a little early," he said.
"I ended class a little early," she said, slyly.
"Oh, did you now, young lady," he said, patting her bottom with his hand. They started to kiss, slowly and sweetly. His hand cupped her bottom and kneaded it a little, and she moaned softly.
"We have a visitor," he said, softly, and she turned around.
Emma stood quietly in the doorway, watching them. Emma had always been a quiet child. She could be standing next to either one of her parents for a few minutes before they even knew she was there. This always worried Emma’s mother.
"Hi, sweetheart."
"I’d like to sit with Momma for a little while," Emma said.
"Okay, I’ll be right in," she said.
"When’s Mom coming?"
"She said she’d be here by six. Will you cut up some fruit and veggies for the girls? Mom won’t think to do it, and I want them to eat something besides pizza," she said.
"Sure."
She went into the other room and read with Emma. Katie brought a book over and soon the whole family was piled on the couch looking at books and talking about them. This was the part of the day she loved the best- the whole family, piled on the couch, sharing stories.
At quarter to six, the doorbell rang.
"Nana, Nana, Nana!" Katie cried, running to the door. When she opened it, she practically jumped in Mom's arms.
"Hi, Katie-bear," she said, cuddling her for a moment. "Hi, Emma," she said.
"Hi, Nana."
"I need to change," Katie and Emma’s mother said, getting up and hugging her own mother. "Thanks for coming."
"No problem," Mom said.
She went into the other room, followed by her husband. She picked out the clothes she was going to wear and wrapped her new lingerie in her clothes so her husband wouldn’t see her bring them into the bathroom. That was one of her surprises for him.
"What are you wearing?" he said.
"You’ll see," she said, going into the bathroom and locking the door. She knew he wouldn’t be able to resist the temptation of coming in while she was changing. She was very eager to surprise him with the new lingerie.
She came out in a spaghetti strap, white dress that flowed yet accentuated her curves. He made that little sound he always made when he was aroused- it was a moany, breathy kind of sound that she enjoyed hearing immensely. He went over to her and started kissing her. She could feel his erection through his pants. So much for it taking longer as you get older, she thought, and then giggled at her internal quip.
"What?" he said.
"Nothing. Let’s go. We don’t want to be late."
"Why? Do we have reservations?"
"No," she said, biting her tongue to keep the secret.
"Okay, what aren’t you telling me?"
The way he was psychic was sometimes unnerving.
"Nothing," she said. "You’ll see."
They went out to the living room to say goodbye.
"Momma, you look pretty," Katie said.
"Thank you, honey."
They hugged and kissed both children good night and went to the restaurant.
"Gallagher, party of three," she said.
"Three?" he said, and she just grinned.
"The first member of your party is already here," the hostess said. "I’ll take you to your table."
"Hi, Jasmine. How are you?"
"Great," Jasmine said, standing to greet them.
"This is my husband, Derek," she said. "This is Jasmine. She’s getting in the Ph.D. program in sociology at the University."
"It’s nice to meet you," he said, shaking her hand. Julie noticed how he looked her over with a sort of embarrassed smile.
They all sat down, and Julie turned to Derek.
"Remember that discussion we had really late one night last month?" she said, and he looked puzzled for a moment. And then he realized what she was talking about. He blushed in spite of himself.
"Well-," he said. "Well-,"
"You don’t have to be embarrassed," Jasmine said.
"How old are you?"
"25."
"How did you-?" Derek said to Julie in amazement.
"Oh, it’s so embarrassing," Jasmine said.
"I’ll tell it gently," Julie said. "And quietly." She turned to Derek. "I caught her reading one of Anne Rice’s books."
"Really?" he said.
"We had a long talk about it," Julie said. "She’s one of us."
"Sounds like a secret society of Martians," Jasmine said, tucking a tuft of red, curly hair behind her ear.
"Oh, we are. We come from the planet Syborg and consume the babies of small green plants," Derek said, and both Jasmine and Julie started to laugh.
"You’re so fresh," Julie said, and he winked at her.
"It was comforting to meet someone who had been doing that sort of thing for a while. For a long time I thought I was a freak."
"It’s a perfectly healthy part of your sexuality, and as long as you’re safe about it, then there’s nothing wrong with it," Julie said.
"Have you tried it out in real life?" Derek said. "You don’t need to give details."
"My boyfriend used to-, you know, when we would have intercourse," she said, quietly. "But that’s about it. I haven’t done anything since we broke up."
"I told her I wrote erotic stories on the subject, and I let her read a few," Julie said. "And she owns the Julia and Lily compilation book I put out under the pseudonym. Her favorites are the," Julie cleared her throat, "motivational ones." She winked at her husband.
"Sometimes I wish for a little ‘motivational support,’" Jasmine said.
"So I offered," Julie said.
"Did you now?" he said. "We’re not going to-,"
"Not tonight," Julie said. "I wanted all of us to get acquainted."
They had a pleasant dinner together, chatting mostly about their lives and their individual projects. Julie talked a little bit about the twins, letting Jasmine in on the hilarity that comes from parenting twins, especially when they were toddlers.
"And I hadn’t changed a diaper in my life," Derek was saying. "I was afraid I was going to diaper the wrong end."
Julie and Jasmine were laughing uncontrollably. As the night wound down, they started making arrangements to meet again. Jasmine professed to being ‘ready’ for any kind of play they wanted to try out, but Julie was a little skeptical. Jasmine was so young, and Julie wanted to make sure that this was completely what Jasmine wanted.
"You know, honey, if at any time you feel uncomfortable, or that you don’t want to do anything, or that you can’t do anything, you have to tell us. Don’t do it to make us happy. We want you to be completely comfortable with us and with this," she said. "You have to promise me you’ll tell us if you’re ever uncomfortable."
"Okay," Jasmine said. "I promise."
When Julie and Derek got into the car, Derek was quiet for a few moments. Julie started to worry. Usually when he was quiet, something was wrong.
"You know you’re really amazing," he said, suddenly, and she started to feel a little better.
"Thank you," she said. "What makes you say that?"
"All I did was create a tiny little fantasy, and you found a way to make it come true," he said. "And on top of that, you’re being so kind and gentle to Jasmine about it."
"Well, first of all, finding out that Jasmine is into spanking was a complete fluke. And of course I’m going to be gentle with her. She’s young, and I remember being confused and unsure of what I wanted in all areas, not just in the sexual arena. I want her to be very comfortable with us because it’s such an intimate kind of relationship. And I’m glad that there was a way to make your fantasy come true," she said, resting her head on his shoulder.
"You’re still pretty amazing. Thank you for my surprise."
"I have one more for you, too," she said, taking his hand and moving it slowly up her thigh. He moaned softly when he felt her garters. She lifted her dress a little so he could see that they were white.
"I like your surprises," he said, softly. "And I’m going to take you to the woodshed when we get home."
"No!" she protested loudly, stomping her feet. That never ceased to amuse him.
The woodshed wasn’t a misnomer; it was an actual shed that they used to store wood for the fireplace. Julie had it built when they moved into the house because she said that they "needed it." Although only Julie and Derek knew the real reason why they had it built. They used it once in a while before the girls were born, but it had become a valuable asset after they were born because Julie refused to do any kind of spanking in the house when the girls were home.
When they got home, they sent Mom home and checked on the twins, who were sleeping peacefully. Julie put the baby alarm in their room and brought the other part with them. She was always worried that one of the girls would wake up and would be scared when she couldn’t find her parents.
Out in the backyard they went, Julie’s heart pounding like mad and the tingle between her legs turning into a throb. They had built the woodshed about twenty yards from the house so they could make a little noise if they wanted to.
"Okay, young lady, in the corner," he said, firmly, and Julie stood in the corner of the woodshed, facing the wall. Derek sat down on a chair that they left in the woodshed for the sole purpose of giving him something to sit on while he spanked her.
"You ended class a little early today, didn’t you?" he said.
"Yes, sir. And I was almost late to class because I was daydreaming."
"Well, then. I guess we need to do something about that, don’t we? Why don’t you bring me the paddle?"
If not for the aching between her legs, she would have put on a little show for him, throwing a fit and refusing to cooperate. But instead, in eager anticipation, she reached into their "toy box" behind a pile of wood and brought him their well-worn paddle. It was made of quality wood and had lasted them for twelve years. She stood beside him, her heart pounding. The anticipation was the best part. He took the paddle and put it on the small table beside him (another piece of furniture put in the woodshed solely for spanking purposes.) He guided her down over his lap and shifted her until her bottom was over his right thigh and her head was close to the ground. She put her hands out in front of her to keep her balance, but her legs dangled behind her.
He smoothed her dress over her bottom and started to spank her, slowly and methodically. He knew how to drive her just crazy enough. She squirmed a little under his striking hand, her bottom growing warm. She also knew how to drive him crazy. She felt his hand tighten around her waist, and she wiggled more, adding a few soft moans for him. He groaned a little and began to spank her a bit harder, stopping to put his hand between her legs and rub just a little. They were always mutual in their teasing of each other.
Derek eased his hand up Julie’s dress and gripped the back of her thigh when he felt her garter.
"Two surprises in one night- I’m pretty lucky," he said, softly, rubbing the back of her thigh. He raised her skirt. "Have you been walking around with no panties, young lady?"
"It’s a thong," she said.
"Still, we go out for the evening and you’re not wearing panties?" he said, lightly scolding her with a teasing tone. She jumped when he sent a sharp slap across her bottom. "I guess it won’t take as long to redden you up."
"No!" she said, kicking her legs a little.
"Yes," he said, picking the paddle up off the table.
He rubbed the paddle against her bottom, and she groaned from the familiar smoothness of the wood and the anticipation of what was to come. He raised the paddle and brought it down firmly on her sweet spot. She moaned and wiggled as he peppered her bottom with firm, rhythmic spanks. He stopped in between sessions to rub her reddening bottom and to give her a few spanks with his hand, but then continued her paddling.
He stopped for a moment to feel the warmth and moisture between her legs. She jumped up and straddled her legs over his lap and unzipped his pants.
"I thought about you all day," she said in a breathy voice, kissing him forcefully on the mouth. He cupped his hands around her freshly reddened bottom and squeezed as she positioned herself right over him, easing his throbbing lingam into her slowly. He clutched her bottom tightly and kissed between her breasts. The spaghetti straps had fallen off her shoulders, and Derek undid her strapless bra. He cupped one of her breasts in his hand and began to tenderly suck on the nipple. She groaned a little tightening her yoni muscles around him and allowing him to thrust.
"I want to come," he said, breathlessly.
"Me, too," she said, moaning softly. She could feel him, holding back, waiting for her. She helped him thrust, rubbing her clitoris against him. She released a loud moan, and then soaked him with her orgasm. A few moments later, she felt him throbbing inside of her.
"So when do I get to spank your bottom?" she said, after catching her breath, and he started laughing the way he always did after a good orgasm.
"Uh, no?" he said, still laughing. She grabbed his chin and kissed him on the mouth again.
"Maybe we should go back inside," she said.
"Only if there’s more kissing," he said.
She kissed him again, softly and sweetly.