Cloud

Zes had babysat his twin nephews a few times already. He was prepared for everything — except for three blowouts and no extra outfits. Thank goodness for Miranda. In less than five minutes she was creating a whole new costume for the handful-of-months-old poop-machines from old bed sheets.

“And done! Tada! Caveman babies!” She handed one of the boys over to Zes. “They needed a real Halloween costume anyway. A dog onesie doesn’t count. That’s like a girl wearing lingerie and cat ears and calling that a costume.”

“Aw, that explains all of the authenticity in yours.” He looked over her cat costume which was a full body suit of fluff.

Miranda winked and blew him a kiss. “Don’t worry, I got the noncostume for later. I’m not above wearing it. Just not for Halloween!”

“C-cool.” He swallowed. “It wouldn’t surprise me if he did this on purpose.”

“Did what?”

“Load up his kids then dumping them on me so they could…dump on me.” He scrunched up his nose. “I don’t know if I can save this shirt.” He pulled it off and tossed it into the trash.

She gave him a sympathetic smile. “We’ll get him back and then some later.”

Did that mean she wanted to have his children? He had heard correctly, right? What did he say? Did he point it out? Ignore it? “For sure.”

“What?” She tilted her head to the side.

“Like usual, you’ve rendered me speechless.”

With her free hand, she gave him a sideway hug. Then she leaned up to kiss his cheek. “We’ll wait a few years so your brother thinks he’s safe. Then it’ll be a full on assault.”

Yup, she did mean it. A future. She saw a real future with him. So easy. Too easy? Just keep hanging on for the ride. Don’t get off. Don’t spoil it.

How could his life be real? Zes kept having a hard time wrapping his mind around it. One month down, one big date, three little ones, two fights, and he wasn’t regretting one moment with Miranda. No red flags were popping up, and he knew for a fact he wasn’t blinded by her feminine charms or the giddy feelings of puppy love. Actually, he was almost positive there was never a puppy love stage. It kind of scared him.

He clung to what she said before. Take it one thing at a time and don’t hold back for stupid reasons. He followed his heart and followed her cues. This time when he jumped into bed so soon into a relationship, he didn’t feel the same reservations after the fact. With Chey, he had a sinking feeling in his gut telling him it probably wasn’t the best decision to make. Miranda didn’t leave him with any kind of regret, though his brain tried to fight with him and tell him all the reasons it was stupid to do. What if they broke up? A “what if” that could happen no matter how far into his relationship he’d progressed.

Anj would chastise him for not having more self-control, or perhaps do that thing where he was supportive of the decision but only because they were brothers. Deep down, he’d worry. ”Are you sure? Just be careful. Remember what happened last time.” But what had made Cheyenne so devastating was the fact that she didn’t actually love him back, she’d just used him to convince herself she wasn’t in love with another guy. Zes had known it all along, and let himself believe the lie.

Miranda wasn’t lying. He’d felt every ounce of her devotion and love, and the moment with her was so drastic from the one he’d had with Chey.

He placed a kiss on her forehead and then gazed up at the ceiling of his room. Soon, she’d be meeting his family, and maybe Anj might tell him if there was a place for her in his future.

Zes peeked out the window for Miranda. They didn’t have a date, but if she showed up at the front door and someone else answered it, it’d be assumed they were going on a date and he’d be teased mercilessly by the upperclassmen on his way out. He had to be the one who answered. Of course, his pacing in the entryway of the house was a giveaway that something was up so everyone’s attention was on him anyway. If he was there and ready, he’d be able to slip out fast at least.

Soon, he saw her walking up the sidewalk toward the door. As much as he wanted to conveniently leave and meet her outside, that seemed too obvious and weird. Not natural. She rang the bell, he counted to five, and then answered the door.

“Hey!” He gave a wave to the guys just as some of them started to whistle. “How much are you not looking forward to this?”

( Read more... )

When I first started writing, I was involved in the world of fan fiction. It's my gateway into writing, and I'll always have a soft spot for it in my heart.

One of the things fan fiction writers participate in are prompt challenges. The prompts are collected in what is called a Table of Doom. The goal? Finish the table for your chosen fandom. Sometimes, this involved claiming a favorite couple or character to focus on their adventures.

It's been a long time since I've done this. Recently, there's been a revival of the challenge on DreamWidth where I keep this blog. The goal? Write fifteen stories involving a kiss between your two chosen characters. In this particular challenge, I'm allowed to claim an original setting. So I did. I claimed three different couples from three different universes and I'll be using three different prompt tables.

Here are the prompt tables:

Timber/Chevelle: Aquarius

001.	Challenge	002.	Straight	003.	Boat	004.	Manipulate	005.	Petite
006.	Rose	007.	Tempt	008.	Oppose	009.	Exuberant	010.	Anger
011.	Deafening	012.	Tea	013.	Weakness	014.	Deep	015.	Blue

Orlando/Angela: Aries

001.	Squeal	002.	Curse	003.	Repulsive	004.	Endure	005.	Repress
006.	Thunderstruck	007.	Fire	008.	Dance	009.	Wings	010.	Peace
011.	Resplendent	012.	Luxury	013.	Genuflect	014.	Empire	015.	Dusk

Darien/Tai: Virgo

001.	Heaven	002.	Vulgar	003.	Dignity	004.	Restraint	005.	Reprimand
006.	Stingy	007.	Generous	008.	Bliss	009.	Blind	010.	Heavy
011.	Burden	012.	Mystery	013.	Curiosity	014.	Mystify	015.	Obsequious

Zes/Miranda: Libra

Libra

001.	Balance	002.	Support	003.	Terrify	004.	Wilderness	005.	Justice
006.	Barrier	007.	Lavish	008.	Unassuming	009.	Wishful	010.	Resourceful
011.	Unchecked	012.	Reality	013.	Thirteen	014.	Window	015.	Tumultuous

I hope you enjoy this adventure as much as I do.