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The summer Caitlyn and Vi started dating was magical. Though technically it was the end of summer, it sure felt like a magical summer romance to Caitlyn.
Vi had told Caitlyn she would be planning their first date. It made Caitlyn a bit nervous but she trusted Vi. She struggled to trust people anymore but this was Vi, her best friend from childhood. They had been through so much together. Vi wasn’t like him.
So she found herself getting dressed for a “very casual” date according to Vi. Caitlyn went with what she normally wore to town, a pair of cutoff jean shorts and a tank top. It was one of her nicer tanktops though at least. She would grab a light flannel just in case the night got cool. It was late July so she doubted it would but she’d rather be safe than sorry.
“Caitlyn dear, Vi is here!” Tobias called. Caitlyn felt her nerves rise and took a deep breath to steady herself.
“Coming!” She called before leaving her room, grabbing the aforementioned flannel and her purse on the way out.
Vi was standing just inside the door with hands shoved into the pockets of her jeans. She was wearing a flannel with the sleeves cut off with a rather nice white t-shirt beneath it. By Vi standards this was dressing up and Caitlyn was touched.
“Well, you look handsome.” Caitlyn smiled. A faint blush rose on Vi’s cheeks as she shuffled her feet.
“You look nice too. But you always look nice.” Vi smiled that crooked grin that Caitlyn had always loved. A memory rose in her mind unbidden, of sitting on Vi’s bed and feeling butterflies in her stomach as Vi flashed that grin at her while she played some song Caitlyn had long since forgotten the name of. It brought a blush to Caitlyn’s own cheeks.
“So where are we headed?” Caitlyn asked. She didn’t need to be dwelling on feelings from middle school. Vi grabbed the door to hold it open for her and they both stepped outside.
“It’s a surprise.” Vi winked. “But we will be late if we don’t hurry up.” She gestured to her red beat-up pickup truck behind Caitlyn and her parents’ cars. Caitlyn was surprised when Vi led the way and even opened Caitlyn’s door for her.
“You’re extra chivalrous tonight. This is a nice change from the other day when you put cold mud down my shirt.” Caitlyn raised an eyebrow, watching as Vi climbed into the truck with her. The windows were rolled all the way down and let in the cool night breeze.
“Hey, I can clean up and be a gentlewoman. What you get helping me on the farm is another thing entirely!” Vi started the truck and pulled out of the driveway.
“Oh okay, my mistake.” Caitlyn playfully rolled her eyes.
“Besides, you totally had that coming.”
“Oh, I did?”
“Yup.” Vi popped the p dramatically. Caitlyn just laughed and shook her head at how ridiculous Vi could be sometimes. She had been since they were kids. It wasn’t like she didn’t have a serious and mature side, but she was mostly a huge goofball. Vi’s sense of humor was part of what made Caitlyn like Vi so much.
“I’ll remember this next time you get on my nerves while we’re working,” Caitlyn smirked.
“I’m in for it now.”
Conversation with Vi was always so easy. From the day they had met, Caitlyn had never struggled to talk to Vi. The only time it hadn’t was when they stopped talking to each other altogether which if you asked Caitlyn, didn’t count. The conversation can’t come if you aren’t having a conversation. When Caitlyn had come back from her estrangement she had thought it might be hard to get back to a point where they could talk freely again. But it hadn’t. Vi had spoken to her and it had felt like slipping on well-worn shoes.
And fuck, Caitlyn had missed conversation. At her loneliest, she had only had Catherine and her husband, the former who was a toddler and the latter who only spoke to her harshly to insult or demean her in some way. Being back at the ranch with her parents and then consequently seeing Vi had been like sticking her head out of the water and finally breathing again.
So it came as no surprise that their conversation on their ride to Vi’s date plan just flowed. They talked, laughed, joked, and flirted until suddenly they were pulling in a line of cars at the local Drive-In Movie Theater.
“I haven’t been to a Drive-In in ages.” Caitlyn smiled, feeling warmth bloom in her chest.
“Yeah, I remember you loved this place when we were kids. I figured you hadn’t gotten around to going while you were gone.” Vi said it casually enough that it didn’t tug at Caitlyn’s heart like the mention of her absence usually did.
“You’re so sweet.” Caitlyn leaned over to press a kiss to Vi’s cheek.
“I try.” Vi shrugged, her face flushing slightly. After paying Vi drove them to one of the screens and backed in so the tailgate was facing the screen. “Wait here a minute.” She told Caitlyn and hopped out. Caitlyn watched as she walked around to the bed of the truck and opened the tailgate to pull out a huge lumpy black duffel. From the duffel, she pulled an impossible-seeming amount of blankets and pillows. She laid the blankets out and then sort of chucked the pillows haphazardly on top.
“I could have helped you,” Caitlyn said as she climbed out of the truck.
“No way, I planned this date. I’ll do the hard labor.” Vi shook her head.
“Hard labor?” Caitlyn raised an eyebrow.
“The hardest.” Vi snickered and then patted the bottom-most blanket. “Hop on in while I get the radio figured out.”
“Where was this behavior when we were kids? I distinctly remember you claiming you didn’t know how to make a bed at every sleepover.” Caitlyn commented, climbing into the back and settling against some pillows. She shifted a couple so Vi could be next to her.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Vi fiddled with the radio to get it to the right station and opened the back windows so the sound could reach them in the bed.
“Uh uh.” Caitlyn rolled her eyes. She stared up at the sky as she waited for Vi to join her. The sun was just setting but there were a few twinkling stars managing to peek out in the darker parts.
“Whatcha lookin’ at?” Vi slid in next to her, pulling a blanket over their legs. Not that it was really cold enough for it but as it got darker it would get cooler.
“Just the stars. Where I lived in the city you couldn’t see any.” Caitlyn pointed up at them. Vi followed her gesture to look up as well.
“I definitely don’t appreciate them as much as I used to. I do remember how many facts you used to ramble.” Vi chuckled.
“I found them fascinating.” Caitlyn glanced at Vi and couldn’t help the smile that formed at seeing the way Vi looked at the stars. “Your eyes remind me of stars when they twinkle in the sun.”
“That’s pretty gay, Cait.” Vi turned back to look at Caitlyn. She reached up and brushed a stray strand of hair behind Caitlyn’s ear.
“Is it? I never would have guessed.”
“Yeah you better be careful, people will get ideas.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Your eyes have always reminded me of the sky,” Vi admitted. “They’re so blue and beautiful. They’re my second favorite thing about you.”
“What's your favorite?” Caitlyn tilted her head.
“Your smile,” Vi said.
“Oh.” Caitlyn flushed. “That is not something I’m used to being complimented over.”
“I know, which is stupid. Your smile is gorgeous and anyone who thinks otherwise is an idiot.” Vi huffed, obviously feeling very strongly about this. Wow, Caitlyn was already head over heels for this girl and Vi was determined to just make Caitlyn swoon harder.
“Well, thank you.” Caitlyn leaned forward to kiss Vi lightly. Vi leaned in as well to deepen the kiss and the two found happiness in each other’s presence.
“You drive me wild, Cait.” Vi shyly ducked her head into the crook of Caitlyn’s neck.
“And you make my heart flutter like I’m a teenager again. The feeling is very much mutual.”
“How did I get so lucky.” Vi pulled away to put an arm around Caitlyn, allowing the taller woman to tuck herself into Vi’s side. She laid her head on the redhead’s chest and wrapped her arms around Vi’s waist.
“I think I’m the lucky one.”
Never let it be said that all of Vi’s ideas were good. She’d had a number of bad ideas in her time and this was definitely up there, but she was convinced this was a great idea. Vander had done this with her and Powder all the time growing up! It was perfectly safe.
“Vwoom vwoom.” Cather’s little hands gripped the steering wheel, turning it as much as would be allowed under the strength of a two-year-old. She was perched atop Vi’s lap and the two sat inside a dune buggy, the seatbelt pulled taut over Catherine on Vi’s lap and the shoulder strap was pushed uselessly to the side.
“Are you ready, Caddy?” Vi grinned, ruffling the toddler’s hair. She turned the ignition and Catherine squealed excitedly.
“We go fast!” Catherine tilted her head back to look at Vi with a big grin.
“We sure will.” Vi chuckled. With that they were off, racing towards the woods behind the farm. There were a number of trails wide enough for the dune buggy they could take and Vi loved the area. It was always so full of life and greenery. The wind whipped their hair back as they drove at a decent clip, Vi very comfortable with the paths. Catherine was practically vibrating in Vi’s lap, head turning this way and that trying to take everything in. She was also cackling with delight. Caitlyn seemed to have a mini adrenaline junkie on her hands.
“Caddy wike go fast.” Catherine patted Vi’s arm so she had the woman’s attention. She apparently thought this very important for Vi to know.
“Yeah, you having fun?”
“Yeah, yeah!”
“Awesome, I’ll have to tell your mama you like fast.” Maybe Vi would be able to talk Caitlyn into joining them for a ride in the dune buggy. They’d never been able to ride together before. By the time Vi was old enough to drive one herself in high school, they weren’t really friends anymore. They had new friends.
“I wike fast.”
Unfortunately, nature had other plans for their fun which is how this came to light as a very bad decision. A deer darted into the path of the dune buggy and Vi had limited time to make a choice. She could A, jerk the wheel and end up hitting a tree really hard, B, hit the deer really hard, or C, hit the brakes really hard. Vi chose C as the option of least damage and hit the brakes as fast as she could. Thankfully the brakes on the dune buggy were good (for a reason) and the deer was fast and they didn’t hit the deer. Not so thankfully the sudden stop had Vi and Catherine jerking forward, the toddler’s head banging into the steering wheel before bouncing back and hitting Vi square in the sternum. Vi’s neck twinged as her head went forward before slamming back into the seat.
As soon as all movement stopped Vi sat there for a moment, trying to get her bearings. She had no such luck with that as Catherine burst into tears and a quick look showed a nice gash on her head from the impact.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck.” Vi unbuckled them and scooped Catherine into her arms. “Shh, it’s okay. I’ve got you.” She cradled the toddler against her chest, blood soaking into her grey t-shirt. Vi would have run them back but getting to her truck would be faster in the dune buggy so she whipped the thing around and sped back towards the farm.
Caitlyn was going to kill her.
“Violet Hailey Lane!”
Oh yeah, Vi was definitely going to die.
The trip to the ER had been uneventful really. Catherine had calmed down when Vi got her buckled into her carseat and Vi had put in the CD of children’s songs she liked. She was still crying, and bleeding through the towel that Vi had tied around her head, but she had stopped wailing like she was going to die. It had given time for Vi to call Caitlyn and that conversation had been short. The ER had gotten them out of the waiting room pretty quickly and settled Catherine. She had stopped crying and was very content to watch Bluey on Vi’s phone. Vi was mentally patting herself on the back for managing not to panic. Then Caitlyn showed up and everything went downhill from there.
“Okay in my defense-”
“She needs stitches, Vi!”
“But she’ll be okay.” Tobias interrupted from where he was stitching up Catherine’s head. “Children get hurt, sweetie.”
“Not usually from riding in a dune buggy!” Caitlyn was obviously not pleased with Vi. This was the angriest she’d seen Caitlyn get since they were kids. But Vi could see the fear in Caitlyn’s eyes that was the guiding force of her anger. She had to be pretty upset if she was like this with Catherine right there. Not that Catherine was paying any attention to any of them. She still had Vi’s phone and was living her best life.
“Vander did it with me and Powder all the time as kids. I honestly didn’t think anything of it.” Vi rubbed at the back of her neck sheepishly. She felt awful. There probably wasn’t anything Caitlyn could say that would make Vi feel worse than she already felt. She had sworn to Caitlyn she would always keep her daughter safe. And now?
“We did stupid things all the time as kids but you don’t see me still doing them. I know better now.” Caitlyn pinched the bridge of her nose. Vi knew she had seriously fucked up and it hurt her to see Caitlyn so worried. She wasn’t supposed to hurt either of them! That was what she had been trusted not to do.
“Yeah I know, I’m sorry.” Vi chewed her lip. Was this the moment Caitlyn called everything off? Realized Vi was no good for her?
“All done.” Tobias stood up with a smile. Catherine looked up at him curiously. “Twenty tiny stitches that shouldn’t leave much of a scar at all.” Catherine reached up to pat the bandage Tobias had put over it to keep her from hurting herself. Caitlyn had paled considerably as she finally looked at her daughter and Tobias gave her the number of stitches.
“Caddy go fast ‘gain?” Catherine asked hopefully.
“Not for a while, I’m afraid.” Tobias chuckled and ruffled his granddaughter’s hair.
“Wow, she really is a tiny adrenaline junkie.” Vi blurted out, earning a glare from Caitlyn.
“Caitlyn dear, she’s going to be just fine.” Tobias addressed his daughter soothingly. “Goodness knows how many times I patched you up as a kid. Like when you stubbornly insisted you could climb that old oak all by yourself and fell. Your mother was hysterical when they told us how many stitches you needed.” He poked a spot on the back of her head where beneath the hair lay a faint scar. Caitlyn didn’t say anything as he turned to Vi. “I have to get back to work but you two take care.” And then he was gone.
“You were pretty brave, munchkin.” Vi decided to address Catherine while Caitlyn stood there having her crisis. She didn’t move closer though in case Caitlyn wanted her to stay away from her daughter.
“Uh-huh.” Catherine bobbed her head. She reached out a tiny fist and made a grabbing motion. “Vi hug.” She demanded.
“Oh uh-” Vi’s eyes flicked to Caitlyn nervously.
“I’m not going to stop you from hugging her, Vi.” Caitlyn huffed, apparently affronted at the very idea. Vi breathed a small sigh of relief and walked over to scoop Catherine into her arms.
“You know I’d never do anything to purposely hurt either of you, right?” Vi kissed the crown of Catherine’s head and then looked up at Caitlyn. Caitlyn finally looked at her again.
“Yes, I know you wouldn’t.” Caitlyn breathed, moving forward to stroke Catherine’s cheek while she snuggled in Vi’s arms. “I was furious at first but I’m realizing it was more fear than anger. I left in order to keep her safe so her getting hurt feels like a failure on my part.”
“You’re the most amazing mom, Caitlyn. I’m the one who messed up.” Vi shook her head. “I probably should look a little more closely at Vander’s parenting practices.”
“It’s easy to look at things you survived as a child and think it’s safe enough for your own child. I won’t say I’ve never made that mistake.” Caitlyn admitted.
“Well, if you’ll still have me I’d like to have a chance to make it up to both of you. I promise to be the most helicopter caregiver ever.” Vi looked at Caitlyn hopefully. She would understand if Caitlyn said no though.
“Of course, I’ll still have you,” Caitlyn assured. “Parenting is unfortunately all about making mistakes and as upset as I was, I’d be a hypocrite to punish you so harshly for it.” Vi could see the flash of regret in Caitlyn’s eyes when she thought too much of staying with her ex. Vi herself was mostly caught up in how Caitlyn said parenting in regards to Vi.
“Then I guess we can just do our best, I guess.” Vi shrugged.
“Exactly, now let’s get home.” Caitlyn first kissed Vi’s head and then Catherine’s.
“Sounds great. The adrenaline has definitely worn off and I’m exhausted.” Vi chuckled awkwardly. Catherine for her part had decided to go to sleep in Vi’s arms, apparently tuckered out by her very big day.
On the far east side of Kiramman Ranch, there is a creek running the length of the border between the ranch and Benzo's land. Benzo's property is smaller than Lane Family Farm or the ranch. It's not a farm or ranch like most of the surrounding land and instead, Benzo uses it for his mechanic's shop and beekeeping (the latter done because Ekko asked). Ultimately Benzo had no interest in the creek and let Caitlyn lay claim to it even though it technically might be on his land? It was never entirely clear to anyone.
That creek is where Caitlyn and Vi found themselves most days when they were kids, especially in the summer when it was disgustingly hot. Since trees sat along the banks on either side of the creek it left the water shaded and much cooler than it might have otherwise been. Caitlyn and Vi would strip to their underwear and splash around in the cool water. They liked trying to catch crawdads and tadpoles or looking for smooth rocks to shove in their pockets to later go skip at the duck pond by Vi's house.
It was their favorite place.
“Hurry up, Caity!” Ten-year-old Vi skid to a stop at the edge of the creek. She yanked off her shirt and chucked it onto a large rock. It sat in the sun and was where they usually perched to dry off when they were done.
“You cheated!” Nine-year-old Caitlyn appeared, pouting. “You had a headstart.”
“Nuh-uh.” Vi stuck out her tongue, kicking her shorts off. Caitlyn huffed and joined her, pulling her own clothes off.
“Meanie,” Caitlyn muttered. Vi grinned and reached out to tickle Caitlyn’s sides, causing the younger girl to squeal.
“Big talk for someone so tickle-able.” Vi teased, not letting up as Caitlyn tried to squirm away.
“That’s not a word!” Caitlyn gasped out between giggles. It took her a moment to finally get the upper hand and wrap her arms around Vi, pinning the redhead’s arms to her sides.
“It’s definitely a word.”
“It most definitely is not!”
“You know what else is a word.” Vi broke into a mischievous look and Caitlyn’s eyes widened.
“Lettie wait-”
“CANNONBALL.”
The creek was most certainly not deep enough for a cannonball and wasn’t really deep enough for jumping in. If they weren’t one of the less rocky areas they surely would have had bruises after Vi’s stunt.
She used her weight to throw them both towards the water, both of them hitting with a loud splash. Vi for her part at least took the brunt of the fall since the water didn’t cushion them all that much.
“Lettie!”
Vi couldn’t respond as she tried to catch her breath, partially out of breath from the fall and partially because she was laughing so hard.
So they took Caddy to the creek.
“Up annnnnnnd down,” Vi said, swinging her arm in time with her words. Catherine was between her and Caitlyn, each holding a hand, to swing her forward as they walked. Caitlyn admittedly loved spending this time with her daughter and Vi. It made them feel like a little family, a secret thought she kept to herself.
“Looks like we made it.” Caitlyn nodded at the creek that had come into full view.
“Is pitty!” Catherine pointed towards the gently running crystal clear water.
“Wanna see if we can find some tadpoles, Caddy?” Vi offered, releasing the toddler’s hand. Catherine pulled free of Caitlyn and ran to the edge of the creek, crouching down to splash her hands on top of some rocks.
“Watsat?” Catherine tilted her head as Vi crouched next to her.
“Tadpoles are baby frogs. They grow up to be big frogs someday.”
“Wike Caddy?” Catherine asked.
“Yup, just like you. One day you’ll be as big as your mama.”
“Maybe even taller with how fast she’s growing.” Caitlyn chuckled, joining the two at the edge of the creek. She loved watching them interact and seeing how patient Vi was with Catherine. She didn’t baby talk or talk to Catherine like she was stupid, just talked to her like a tiny adult who was still learning.
“Tadbole?” Catherine pointed to a piece of debris under the water that was moving slightly in the current.
“Nope, but I’ll help you look.” Vi scanned the water before turning over a rock. She spotted a crawdad and scooped it up into her hands. “This isn’t a tadpole but it is still pretty cool.”
“Das yucky.” Catherine apparently did not like the crawdad and looked to Caitlyn skeptically, like Vi had lost her mind.
“It’s a crawdad. Vi and I used to catch them and try to keep them as pets. Nana and Papa always made me put them back.” Caitlyn chuckled, taking Catherine’s hand and guiding her to touch the crawdad.
“No!” Catherine pulled away as soon as she touched, clearly disgusted. “Don’t want it.”
“Eh, we’ll get you there eventually.” Vi joked before releasing the crawdad.
“Oh look, Caddy. There’s some fish.” Caitlyn pointed slightly farther downstream to a couple of small darting fish.
“Your mama used to be scared of the fish.” Vi said, grinning.
“I wasn’t scared, I just didn’t want to touch them.” Caitlyn protested.
“Whatever you say.”
“Tadbole?” Catherine asked, pointing at the fish.
“No they aren’t tadpoles,” Caitlyn said and earned a fairly impressive glare from the toddler. She knew her child well enough to know what that look said. They were talking about things that weren’t tadpoles and this was very frustrating. Catherine was only interested in the tadpoles. Why would they distract her with other menial things?
“I think if we don’t find her some tadpoles she’s going to put both of us in a very terrible retirement home.” Vi laughed and Caitlyn laughed with her.
“You have to look for little black dots with tails, Caddy.” Caitlyn offered in an attempt to be helpful. Catherine squinted very hard at the water and her mother tried to assist as best she could.
Vi must have seen an opportunity with the way Caitlyn was crouched and focused because she moved from her position to a spot behind Caitlyn and gently shoved at her lower back. Caitlyn tipped off balance and fell right into the water, only just managing not to faceplant.
“Vi!” Caitlyn sputtered, quite a bit of her front now drenched. Vi doubled over laughing, clutching her sides.
“Just as funny as when we were kids.” Vi gasped out.
“Oh wanna play!” Catherine chimed in and jumped into the water next to Caitlyn, sending up a decent splash of water. “Vi come!”
“See what you’ve done.” Caitlyn huffed, standing up so she wasn’t kneeling in the creek.
“A little water won’t hurt her.” Vi shrugged and waded in beside them. Caitlyn scooped up a handful of water to splash directly in her face.
“Oh really?” Caitlyn grinned. Vi was surprised by the water to her face but recovered quickly, splashing Caitlyn right back.
“Splash splash splash.” Catherine cheered as she valiantly tried to splash them both as well. Vi grabbed her around the waist to swing her midair and send the water from her feet right at Caitlyn.
“Using my own child against me? That’s the utmost betrayal.” Caitlyn gasped. She saw how big Catherine was smiling though and this moment felt like everything. It was beautiful honestly. She wanted to capture it like a photograph and save it forever.
“TADBOLE!” Catherine shrieked and scared the living daylights out of both of them. They both turned to where she was looking and pointing frantically.
Sure enough not far from where the fish had been was a little swarm of tadpoles.
“Nice catch! You finally found some tadpoles.” Vi laughed, letting her down.
“Don't run over there or you’ll scare them away.” Caitlyn cautioned. Catherine nodded very seriously and moved slowly closer, stopping when her movements splashed a little too close to the tadpoles.
“We keep ‘dem?” Catherine turned to both of them.
“They have to stay here so they can get big like you get big at home. But we can come back and see them.” Caitlyn wanted to let her daughter down gently. Catherine looked disappointed but the look didn’t last long as Vi grabbed her again, hefting her on her shoulders.
“And now that you’ve seen your first tadpoles it’s time to celebrate with ice cream!” Vi said and suddenly all was right in the world again. Ice cream could fix anything apparently.
Vi loved everything about Caitlyn’s body. She felt like the luckiest girl in the world getting to see it, let alone touch it. It had taken them time to get to the point where they could have sex but Vi would have waited forever for Caitlyn. When they were kids they had been around each other without clothes all the time but once they hit puberty a certain level of shyness had set in. So Vi got to learn the ins and outs of Caitlyn’s body properly and find out what had changed.
As they lay in bed, face to face and each on their side, Vi skirted calloused fingertips over soft skin. There were the stretchmarks from growing, pale stripes on shoulders, hips, and breasts that Vi was somewhat familiar with. The stretchmarks on Caitlyn’s stomach were new but a badge worn from being pregnant.
There was the scar on her abdomen from getting her appendix out and the one on her left arm from getting caught on a fence. Freckles mottled her shoulders and Caitlyn had a large birthmark on the inside of her thigh.
Vi’s fingertips stuttered as she ran over a scar she didn’t recognize. It was jagged and uneven, running along Caitlyn’s lower back.
“He pushed me into a glass coffee table,” Caitlyn murmured, nuzzling into Vi’s neck sleepily. Vi reached up to stroke her thumb over Caitlyn’s cheekbone where a faint scar was just barely visible.
“And this one?”
“His wedding ring when he backhanded me.”
“I’d kill him you know.” Vi offered, pressing a kiss to her girlfriend’s forehead. There wasn’t anything that Vi wouldn’t do for Caitlyn or Catherine. She’d ride to hell and back for them.
“He’s not worth it.” Caitlyn sighed, the hand not tucked under her head wrapped around Vi’s waist.
Vi had her own scars for sure. She had fallen out of trees and off fences. The stuff she’d done as a kid hadn’t always been the smartest. She’d gotten scars as an adult just from accidents around the farm too. But not a single one of her scars was made by someone trying to hurt her. Now the scar on her eyebrow was from Powder accidentally clocking her in the head with a two-by-four, but that had been an accident.
“You’re worth it.” Vi took Caitlyn’s chin in her fingers and tipped it upward so she could look at her. It was like little pieces of summer sky right there in Caitlyn’s eyes, full of emotion like the sky was full of clouds. How had she gotten so lucky to have this woman in her arms? “I love you.”
“Wh-” Caitlyn gasped, eyes widening. Vi hadn’t said that before and she hadn’t exactly meant to say it then, but the words had bubbled up and spilled out before Vi could stop them. She didn’t regret it.
“I love you, Caity.” The nickname slipped out too, a homage to their youth. A nickname Vi hadn’t used since they were kids. “I think I always have.”
“Oh...” Caitlyn breathed, eyes flittering and searching Vi’s face for something. After a moment a small smile tugged at her lips. “I love you too, Lettie.”
Caitlyn hadn’t called her that in a long time and there was a point Vi thought it embarrassing. But at that moment, hearing that nickname had made her almost happier than the ‘I love you’ itself.
“I’ll never hurt you like he did,” Vi promised, pouring every ounce of sincerity into her words as she could. “Either of you.”
“No, you wouldn’t.” Caitlyn pressed a soft kiss to Vi’s lips. “You’re a hundred times better a partner than he ever could be.”
“Only a hundred? I’ll need to work on that.” Vi teased. Caitlyn shook her head and rolled her eyes.
“I take it back, you’re insufferable.”
“But you loveeeee me.”
“And you seem to be trying to change that!”
Their conversation dissolved into laughter and the two cuddled close to one another.
“Mama, Mommy, hurry up.” Catherine may be only five years old, but she was big for her age, so she was pretty sure she could push the coffee table on her own. It didn’t look that heavy. The couches would be a lot harder though and she definitely needed Mommy for that.
“Coming, coming!” Vi laughed walking into the living room. Catherine pointed to the big yellow couch that Caitlyn absolutely hated. Powder had gifted it to them when they had moved into their newly built house that sat half on each family’s land. And since it was a gift, they had to take it and Catherine had always loved it so Caitlyn couldn’t just get rid of it.
“Push that against the wall, please.” Catherine grabbed the edge of the coffee table and put her entire body weight into pushing it in front of the unlit fireplace.
“Okay bossy britches.” Vi snorted but did as she was told. “Caity! Our daughter is in here bossing me around. She gets it from you!”
“Bold statement from someone who does a lot of bossing around.” Caitlyn joined them, a playful glare on her face.
“You both said we could have a dance party! We can’t dance with everything in the way.” Catherine pouted.
“You’re right, Caddy. Mommy just doesn’t want to put in the work.” Caitlyn teased. Vi stuck her tongue out at her.
“Do you see how Mama treats me? I think I should go live with your nana and papa.” Vi huffed. Catherine giggled and jumped on Vi’s back, earning a small groan from the woman at the unexpected eight.
“Nopeee, you’re stuck with us!”
“Now that she gets from you.” Caitlyn picked up one of the end tables to set it next to the couch. “I’m pretty sure you just said that yesterday.” Then she grabbed the other one, leaving the middle of the living room empty of furniture in the middle.
“Yeah, probably,” Vi admitted, reaching back to tickle Catherine’s sides. The girl laughed and tried to dodge the attack while staying on Vi’s back.
“Alright you two, we have some dancing to do!” Caitlyn laughed at their antics as she pulled up the music on her phone. It was already connected to their blue tooth speakers and the beginning notes of an upbeat country song started playing. It was Catherine’s favorite.
“Yes!” Catherine scrambled off Vi’s back and ran into the middle of the living room, jumping up and down. “Let’s dance.”
“Shall we, m’lady?” Vi bowed dramatically and held out a hand for Caitlyn to take. Caitlyn took it and was pulled into the middle of the room with Catherine. Catherine knew Mommy couldn’t dance, Mama said she had no rhythm, but it sure did look funny when she tried.
Caitlyn tried to help Vi match the beat of the music but it mostly turned into Vi purposely knocking Caitlyn out of rhythm so that they both looked ridiculous. Vi also pulled Catherine into it. The three ended up looking like drunk penguins thanks to Vi’s antics.
“Wow Mommy, did you get badder at dancing?” Catherine giggled.
“The word is worse and yes I’m pretty sure she gets worse every day.” Caitlyn chuckled, picking up her phone. She glanced at Vi and raised an eyebrow. Vi gave her a thumbs up and Catherine was confused. “Why don’t you pick the next song, Caddy?”
“Okay!” Catherine eagerly took the phone with a million ideas of songs to pick. But the phone wasn’t on the music app, there was a black and white picture of a blob instead. “Mama, what’s this?”
“What does it look like, squirt?” Vi asked.
“A blob.” Catherine frowned.
“Look a little closer.” Caitlyn laughed. Catherine looked at her mama like she was crazy because she probably was. Caitlyn nodded in encouragement so Catherine squinted and peered at the image really, really, really hard.
“OH IS THAT A BABY?”