Brei Betzold - Tribal

“Cris,” I called, “breakfast is ready.”  Then I went about making myself a plate and second cup of coffee.  There would be no more stalling, and I had an idea of what I wanted but I wanted to hear what he had to say first.

I sat down at the table and started eating when he walked in, fixed his own plate and coffee, and sat across from me.  We both ate with  only the sound of forks scraping across plates to disturb the uncomfortable silence.

Finally I dropped my fork on my empty plate and looked at him.  “I get why you have concerns, but I think it would be best if we put our relationship ahead of all the other stuff.”

He looked up at me.  “I agree, we should talk about what’s going on in our lives without the fear of it affecting our other relationship.”

I nodded.  “Yes, and I have my own concerns about the other side of us as well.”

Cris

“You do?” I asked concerned she’d been withholding from me as well.

She bit her lip and nodded.  “I know it’s not likely to happen, but I do worry that the Dom/sub relationship we have will leak into our daily relationship.  That you’ll want or expect me to always do what you say, or what you want.  I can’t and won’t do that.”

“I wouldn’t want you to.”

“Okay,” she mumbled.

“Have I done that before?”

She shook her head.  “No, but it’s still a concern.”

I thought about that for a minute and I could see where the concern would come from.  This was going to be more difficult than I thought.  Only I knew if we laid out ground rules like we did at the beginning of our Dom/sub relationship it could work.

“We need rules, guidelines per se, so we can keep everything clear.”

“Yeah, that might work.” Then she looked at me intently. “No lying and no more withholding information.”

“No lying.”

“We need to be able to talk freely about everything without fear of it affecting the other.”

“Yeah, but how do we do that?”

She reached over and grabbed my hand.  “Cris, you won’t look weak to me for telling me things.  I want to be your friend as well as your partner.”

“Okay.” Then we went on to talk about the things I had been holding back—fears about the shop, my relationship with Devi.  We talked, both of us trying to break down the walls that had been closing us off.  We spent the morning just talking, laughing, and enjoying each other.  It was the first time we’d had this since our relationship started, and it was perfect.

After lunch we both received texts from Devi, telling us that there was a family meeting at her place in an hour, and not to be late.

“What’s that about?” I asked.

She shrugged.  “Probably getting everyone ready for the guys leaving on Monday.”

“Makes sense.”

We got in my car and were driving to Devi and Seth’s when I asked, “Will you think about moving in with me?”

“I don’t know if that’s such a good idea, we’ve just now started to really work things out.”

“I know, but I want you with me.”

“I’ll think about it.”

We left it at that.  I was just happy that she was willing to think about it, finally. 

Ash

We walked into the house hand and hand.  I was happy with the way things were going.  I still wasn’t sure about moving in together, but I would think about like I promised.  I jerked to a stop noticing everyone was staring at us—Devi smiling smugly.

“Yeah yeah, shut up,” I muttered.

We found a seat on the floor and I looked around noticing everyone from the band plus Mags, Drake, Max, and Jules sitting around.  I wasn’t sure what to expect from her impromptu meeting.

“Since everyone has finally decided to show,” Devi said looking at me, “let’s get to it.  Ash, you know I love you, right?”

I nodded.

“Good, you’re fired.”

“What?” I yelled.

“You’re fired.  I’ve already hired a new nanny; she’ll be here in a week.  So I need you to clean out your stuff in a week’s time.  Good, glad that’s settled,” she said smiling at all the gawking faces.

“What the fuck, Devi?” Cris yelled.

Seth held out his hand towards Cris.  “That’s enough, just listen.”

We all looked back at Devi.  “So I’m pregnant,” she announced, “with twins.”

“Ah fuck man, you promised not to do this to us again,” X whined.

Devi glared at him.  “Do this to you?” she screeched.

X shrunk back and I would have giggled if I wasn’t trying to process the fact that Devi fired me.

“Things around here are changing.  Ash, I need a house mom in essence—someone to help with the kids when needed, do the grocery shopping, and help keep everything organized, paid, and running.  You need a job, so you’re hired.”  She nodded like this was a done deal and I just stared at her.

“You’ve lost your mind,” I stated.

She tilted her head.  “That is a possibility.”

She looked over at Cris.  “I’ll need to cut my hours at the shop soon.”

He nodded looking at her wearily.

“Okay, I think that’s all.” She stood up and started walking out of the room.

“Don’t you want my answer?” I called after her.

“It’s not a choice,” she called back.  “Oh and Cris, Ash needs a place to live, want a roommate?”

“God, she’s scary when she’s knocked up,” X muttered.

“I heard that X.  And Seth, after I have these babies you’re getting snipped or I will do it for you.”

“I know, you’ve already warned me,” he shouted back.

“So, who’s the new nanny?”

Seth went pale and jumped up.  “Ask Devi,” he said over his shoulder as he practically ran out of the room.

Cris

“What just happened?” asked Sam.

“I don’t have a clue,” Eli murmured.

“You okay?” I asked Ash who was sitting beside me still shell-shocked.

“Was I fired?”

I nodded my head.

“Then I was given a new job?”

I nodded again.

She looked at me blankly.  “I guess I will move in with you.”

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to, we can find you something else.”

“You can stay with Jules at my place if you want,” Sam offered.

I shook my head.  “No, I want to move in with you, I think.”

“You think?”

“Just give me a minute.”

X groaned, “We’re screwed.”

“How so?” Max asked.

“Do you not remember how Devi is pregnant?”

He nodded.

“Now think of that times two.”

We all groaned and cursed.

Drake looked over at Mags.  “We’re moving back home as soon as possible.  I am talking like this week.”

Mags nodded.  “It’s safer.”

Ash stood up and grabbed my hand.  “Come on, let’s go home.”

I smiled up at her and nodded.  “Sounds good.”

“I wonder who the new nanny is,” she mused as we headed out the door. 

Ash

I looked around the bedroom I now shared with Cris.  We’d moved everything in this weekend.  I still had a storage unit of things from before I started working for Devi, but I was just going to leave it for now.  I needed to go through it and figure out what I wanted to keep versus what to get rid of.  I didn’t have the time for that now.  I stayed on as the nanny for the past week while I packed, but starting next week Devi was ‘training’ me for my new job.  I was nervous yet excited about it, she’d gone about it in a devious way, but I knew she had the best intentions.

Strong tattooed arms wrapped around me.  “Happy?”

I snuggled into his chest.  “Very.”

“You’re sure this is what you want?”

“Yeah, this is what I want.”

He kissed my hair and held me tighter.  “You’ll let me know if—”

“Yes, Cris,” I said interrupting him.  He’d been asking me all week if this is what I really wanted, or if I felt pressured into it.  In all honesty, it felt right.  After I let go of everything else and just thought about what I wanted, I realized I wanted to be here with him.  Everything else could and would work itself out.  For now, I was just going to be happy.

“So is X talking to Devi yet?”

“Nope,” I answered, “not since he found out his sister was leaving school and going to be working for Devi.”

“That woman is insane.”

“Nah, she just wants to take care of what’s hers.”

“And X’s sister is hers how?”

“They’ve known each other for years, or so I was told.”

“They have.”

“When she decided to take a semester off, it just clicked into place for Devi.  It’s what she does.”

“Like the new job?”

“Haven’t really started it yet, but yeah, I think I will.  I still get to hang out with the kids and she’s right, she will need more help with twins.”

“Okay, enough talk about Devi,” he growled.  “It’s time to christen our house.”

Cris

I watched as Ash slept in our bed.  It still amazed me that she agreed to this.  I pushed a lock her blonde hair from her forehead and just gazed at her.  I wasn’t sure what I did to deserve her, I knew I would screw up again.  That I would piss her off at times, but I vowed to both of us not to push her away again.  I wasn’t sure I could handle living a life that didn’t have Ash in it.

My cell rang and I rolled over to answer it.  “Yeah.”

I listened to Max speaking frantically on the other end, once he told me what was going on I was up and moving.  I quickly got dressed and woke up Ash in the process.