Kellie and Brad Ch. 08

But before Anita could do any of that, things changed.

Many times, long after the events themselves transpired, Anita wondered what would have happened if she discussed her feelings with Paul immediately after the first incident. Would he have been more willing to understand and thus accept her point of view? Or would the same or similar events have unfolded, only a couple months sooner? She'd never know the answer, and deep down she knew that letting her mind wander like this was good for nothing but driving her mad with the unknown, but she wondered all the same.

Instead, Anita didn't bring up the subject with Paul, because the situation seemed to have improved enough that she didn't think it to be necessary. She didn't tell him right away that, even though he was a handsome man, she decided she had no feelings for him, and wanted their relationship to be strictly platonic. Amicable, hopefully, but certainly non-sexual.

Paul clearly felt otherwise. And with each passing day, Anita had more and more difficulty getting him to take no for an answer, until one night when it all came to a head.

Anita was sitting on the couch and watching TV, trying to wind down after a stressful day. She had a rough day at work, preoccupied with her problems at home and frustrated and uncomfortable with the office building's air conditioning breaking down during a summer heat wave. She couldn't concentrate on her given tasks as a result, making plenty of mistakes and earning a good chewing out from her boss. To make matters worse, Johnathan had acted out and misbehaved earlier that evening, and Anita had a hard time trying to discipline him. He finally did go to bed, apologized to his mother, gave her a sweet "good-night" kiss on the cheek and told her he loved her. Anita gave her son a big hug and kiss in return and told him she loved him too, very much. She thought maybe it would be a happy end to an awful day.

Then Paul sat next to her. She felt very uncomfortable in his presence. She edged closer to the corner as if trying to shrink into the couch, but he moved with her. He put his arm around her and loomed over her.

"Anita, baby," he said. "You look like you've had a bad day. Let me make it better for you."

"No, Paul, I'm not interested," she replied clearly.

"Come on, sweet cheeks! You look like you need to get fucked, I need to get fucked, let's help each other out!"

Anita rolled her eyes at Paul's words, some of which came out slurred. He smelled like he had been drinking. Again.

"Ugh, back off, Romeo, you smell like a distillery," she said with more than a hint of disdain.

"Relax, baby, no need to be rude! What say you and me just have a little fun in the sack?" Paul cooed and caressed her cheek.

Something within Anita snapped. She pushed Paul off of her, leaped up from her seat and glared at him.

"Let's get something straight!" she yelled. "My name is NOT baby! And it ain't sweet cheeks, either, got it?! My name is Anita! And I'm sorry if this hurts you, and I should have said it earlier, I know... but the truth is, I'm not attracted to you. I want us to just be roommates, maybe even friends if things work out, but no more than that."

Anita's speech became less angry at the end. Despite all her misgivings about Paul, she actually found herself feeling a little sorry for him; she was, after all, dropping some potentially heavy news on him all at once. But it didn't take long for that feeling to fade away.

Paul slowly stood up and glared daggers at Anita. She gulped and took a step backward. In a flash he grabbed her wrist and held it in a vise-like grip. She trembled and let out a soft whimper of fear as she looked into his eyes. His cold, emotionless, menacing eyes.

"Wrong answer," he said.

One swing of his arm later, Anita's world went black.

********

Brad and Kellie had a problem.

They realized that, in the overall scheme of things, it was pretty minor as problems go. After all, they had a great life and were only too thankful for their good fortune.

However, for two people who were not only deeply in love with each other but also had very active sex drives, the fact their busy work lives plus their child-rearing responsibilities made it next to impossible to act on those active sex drives was a problem all the same.

They had certainly tried... many times over, in fact. But it seemed that every time they would get started, E.J. would grow restless and get out of bed, asking Kellie, his mommy, for a glass of water. Or Kaitlyn would wake up crying and would need Brad, her daddy, to soothe her back to sleep.

What could they do? They certainly couldn't refuse their children's requests, after all. So their sexual needs and desires had to take a distant third behind caring for E.J. and Kaitlyn and their professional careers. Brad and Kellie remained loving and affectionate with each other, and they did not get angry towards each other, as they knew this problem was due to circumstances beyond their control. Getting angry at each other would be nothing short of ridiculous.

They were about to take the awkward but necessary step to ask either his parents or her aunt and uncle to babysit for a night... until they announced that all four of them decided to leave together on a lengthy vacation, rendering them unavailable for assistance.

It was an itch that they desperately needed to have scratched. And now they weren't at all sure what they could do about it.

Fortunately for Brad and Kellie, later that summer someone unwittingly provided them a solution to their problem.

Late one night, about two weeks before their own scheduled family vacation, Kellie took a phone call after putting the kids to sleep, just before she and Brad were scheduled to turn in to bed themselves.

"Hey, Kellie!" Amber said in her typical cheery manner.

"Amber! To what do I owe the pleasure of this phone call?" Kellie asked while stifling the urge to yawn.

"Your vacation... it's in two weeks, right?"

"Yes, that's right. Why do you ask?"

"Jamie and I have that same week off. We thought you might want some company!"

"That sounds great! Of course I'll have to talk to Brad but I'm sure he won't have a problem with it at all."

"Awesome! We actually did have another reason we wanted to join you."

"What's that?"

"Jamie and I have been talking recently about our future, and whether or not we want children as part of that."

"Oh my, Amber! I knew you and Jamie were close, but... are you saying what I think you're saying?"

"I sure am, skip! Jamie proposed to me last night, and I said yes!"

"Congratulations, Amber! That's wonderful!"

"Thanks skip! I love Jamie so much, and I know he feels the same way about me! You should see the rock he got me!"

"Oh, you better show it to me, girl!"

"Don't worry, I will! Anyway, like I said, we're both on the fence about whether or not we want kids. We sort of had the idea that if we were around E.J. and Kaity, and even... oh, I don't know... helped babysit them or something to give you a free night on the town, that it might help us figure out how we feel and what we should do."

Kellie wasn't sure of Jamie and Amber's reasoning but knew it wasn't her place to say so. "Well I do hope we can help you two out."

"I know you will."

Kellie couldn't contain her happiness for Amber despite being so tired. "Oh, I'm so happy for you and Jamie!"

Of course, Amber was super-excited herself. "Thanks again, skip, I have no doubt he's the one for me! We're so much in love!"

"He's one of the good guys, isn't he?"

"He sure is, skip. He sure is!"

"Listen, Amber, I do have to say, I know Brad and I would really appreciate you babysitting for a night, but don't feel like you have to."

"No, it's OK, we really want to. Besides, if we did, it would give you and Brad a chance to maybe get together for some sexy time!" Amber said playfully. She was well aware from previous conversations of Kellie's recent sexual frustrations.

Kellie let an involuntary moan slip from her mouth and rubbed her suddenly moistening pussy through her sleep shorts. "Uh huh," she gasped.

Amber giggled, and Kellie soon blushed and joined her in laughter once she realized what she did. They chatted some more about their new vacation plans together before saying their goodbyes. Brad was climbing into bed just as Kellie ended the call.

"Who was that, honey?" he asked.

"Amber," she replied. "She has good news, she and Jamie are engaged!"

"Hey, that's fantastic! They're such a cute couple together."

"You got that right! Also, apparently they want to join us on our vacation."

"Really? Why?"

"They want to see if being around our kids will help them decide if they want kids of their own."

"Uh... OK. I'm not sure if it works like that... but it would be fun to have them join us, so if that's what they want then that's fine with me."

"Brad," Kellie said suggestively, "there's another reason we'll want them to tag along."

Brad was quite tired, so he did not catch the true meaning behind Kellie's suggestion at all. "And that would be?"

Kellie leaned closer and whispered in Brad's ear. His eyes widened and his cock thickened.

"Oh, baby, I..." Brad started to say before letting go an almighty yawn. He shook his head and looked apologetically at Kellie, but saw he didn't need to. She was caught in a yawn of her own. When she stopped they both laughed over their condition.

"I just wish I wasn't so damn tired," Brad lamented.

"Think of it this way, baby," Kellie replied. "It gives us both something to look forward to."

"Yes," Brad agreed. "That it does."

They kissed, shut the bedside lamps off and closed their eyes. Seconds after hitting the pillow both were sleeping heavily.

********

Many sounds, suddenly assaulting her senses all at once...

Beeping machines. People walking back and forth in a hurry. Urgently spoken instructions.

Where was she? Why was she hearing these noises?

'And why the HELL is my head pounding like this?!' she thought to herself.

Anita started to sit up, but a combination of someone's hands on her chest gently pushing downward and a stab of hellacious pain in her head stopped her. She lay back down with a moan and slowly opened her eyes.

A female doctor looked back down at her and smiled, hoping to reassure her patient. Anita figured her to be middle-aged. Her short dark hair was streaked with grey. Her face was kind but her brown eyes hinted at a harder edge that she could draw on, if necessary.

"Relax, Anita," the doctor said. "You're at St. Joseph's Hospital. I'm Dr. Wainwright, but you can call me Cathy. You've taken quite a blow to your head. We've stopped the bleeding but we will need to put some stitches in you."

"Mommy!" The sound of a small boy alerted Anita. The doctor picked up on the cue and nodded to the nurse assisting her, who angled the bed up so Anita could properly sit up without pain.

"Johnny!" she said, trying to smile despite her condition. Her son looked frightened... and rightfully so, she concluded. She opened her mouth to say something else to try and comfort him before a loud, booming voice interrupted her.

"Hey, kid! Get back here!" Paul bellowed.

Dr. Wainwright's keen sense of observation, for which she was notorious among her fellow hospital employees, kicked in again. She noticed Anita cringe at the sight and sound of the large man who had just rounded the corner, and she knew immediately what she had to do.

"Sir, you are not allowed back here," she said firmly. "You need to return to the waiting area immediately."

"Don't tell me what to do!" Paul yelled back before gesturing in Anita's direction. "Shut up and sew her back up!"

"Sir, if you don't leave right now I will call security to throw you out." Dr. Wainwright's voice was barely above normal conversation levels, but something about the way she delivered the message made it clear she wasn't to be trifled with.

Paul continued to glare but the doctor was unmoved, and soon enough he felt the eyes of everyone else around them. He decided to back down. This time.

"Come on kid," he said to Johnathan.

"No!" Anita said. "Doctor... I mean, Cathy, I'd like my son to stay with me here. Please?"

Dr. Wainwright smiled and spoke to Paul without giving him another glance. "You heard her. The boy stays here."

Paul grumbled but turned and left without further incident.

Johnathan came running to see his mother and yawned when he was by her side. Despite how scared he was, he was also very tired. He was yanked out of bed and taken to this strange-looking building for reasons he couldn't understand. All he knew was the big man whose house they lived in was yelling at his mommy while she was groaning, crying and bleeding. It was a lot for his three year old mind to process.

"Mommy, you OK?" he asked in a small voice.

"I'll be fine, Johnny," Anita replied. "I just had an accident, that's all. This nice doctor will help me feel better."

Dr. Wainwright frowned. "Anita," she said, "I need to speak to you. In private. Is it OK with you if the nurse watches over your son for a couple minutes? They'll just be at the table in the corner, out of earshot, but within your sight so you can be sure he's safe."

Anita nodded her consent, and after a moment the nurse scrounged up a colouring book and some crayons to help Johnathan pass the time. Satisfied that the young boy was far enough away, the doctor got down to business.

"Anita," Cathy whispered. "you didn't really have an accident, did you?"

Anita hesitated before shaking her head no.

"That man who came back here... he did this to you. Didn't he?"

Anita slowly nodded yes.

"Anita, you need to get away from that asshole. For your sake, and your son's sake. You two are in danger the longer you stay with him. You know that, don't you?"

Anita sighed. "Cathy, I'm in a real bind here. I mean... yes I do understand I probably can't stay with him much longer..."

"Much longer? You mean not any longer! You need to leave right now."

"You don't understand. I don't have money saved up. If I just stay at my job a little while longer then maybe I can scrape enough together so Johnathan and I can go where we need to go."

"Anita, I can help you. I have experience in dealing with women in abusive homes. I can help you get away clean, so he won't find you. I know... people, people that have access to... resources. Bottom line is, you should let me help you get out now before that creep sends you back here with your head split open again! Or... worse."

Anita thought long and hard about Dr. Wainwright's offer. It was tempting, but something about the way she presented it was very mysterious. Whether it was unease over that mystery, or part of her own fiercely independent streak showing up, at probably an inopportune time, her decision, for now, was made.

She gripped the doctor's wrist and spoke quietly but firmly. "Thank you, Cathy. I appreciate what you're trying to do for me. Really, I do. But... to be honest, I don't know you. I've just met you and you're asking me to put all this trust in you. Trust isn't something that comes easily for me at the best of times. My son and I, we've made it this far together, and other than tonight we've come out fine. I know I can't stay with Paul much longer, but I do feel somewhat in his debt. He took us in to his home when I felt we had no other option. But I realize now that he's dangerous. It's OK though, I know what I'm doing. I have a plan to get my son and I out of there soon, and I'm sure I can lay low enough to stay out of trouble in the meantime."

That wasn't what Dr. Wainwright wanted to hear. She couldn't figure Anita out. Of the battered women she tried to help, almost all those who turned her down were so psychologically scarred and re-programmed by their abuser that escape was out of the question. Anita seemed different though. She was simply stubborn and determined, convinced that she could do things her way. Cathy started to worry even more once she came to that conclusion, because that kind of attitude could really get Anita in trouble.

She summoned another nurse to assist her with her patient. "Anita," the doctor said, "we're going to stitch you up now. Fair warning, this will probably hurt. In the meantime, if you don't mind, could you tell me how you and your son ended up here?"

Between gasps and the occasional grunt of pain, Anita talked. Dr. Cathy Wainwright stitched and listened, making sure to do both things very carefully.

********

They were having a great time.

Kellie and Brad were happy to have Amber and Jamie join them on their family vacation. It gave them the chance to properly congratulate them on their engagement. They also welcomed the opportunity to have other adults to talk to while the kids were sleeping. Plus, Amber's bubbly personality and Jamie's laid-back demeanor were a hit with E.J. and Kaitlyn. The two young children delighted in having them around, and Kellie and Brad enjoyed watching Amber and Jamie have fun and laugh with their children.

Amber and Jamie were enjoying the vacation as well. They enjoyed spending time with their good friends. They also learned a lot by observing how Kellie and Brad cared for and interacted with E.J. and Kaitlyn. It was instructive to see how they played with and catered to the kids when they were good, and how they stood firm and disciplined them when they acted out of turn. The only unfortunate thing from Amber and Jamie's point of view was that it was making their decision whether they wanted to have children of their own more difficult.

Although, if anyone knew what they were doing each night as they retired back to their own hotel room, they may have just assumed they wanted nothing more than to have lots of children, if the energetic sex sessions they enjoyed were any indication.

Midway through their vacation week Amber engaged Kellie in some "girl talk" while the guys helped wind down the kids for bed.

"That really is a lovely ring!" Kellie exclaimed.

"I know!" Amber squealed. "I'm concerned that he spent too much on it but he keeps telling me not to worry about it."

"Awww, how sweet!"

"Yeah. You know what else he's been doing that's been pretty sweet?"

"What's that?"

"Well... I don't know if it's just being on vacation, or the excitement of being engaged, or what it is, but Jamie sure is giving me that big dick of his hard and fast each night!" Amber told her skip excitedly. "Not that I'm complaining, it's exactly what I need, because I've been so damn horny lately for some reason!"

"You little wench!" Kellie squealed, light-heartedly slapping Amber's shoulder while not quite believing the dirty talk coming from her mouth.

"What?!" Amber protested. Kellie just shook her head and the two shared a laugh before Amber stopped herself. She looked deep in thought.

"Amber? What's going on?" Kellie asked.

"I feel a little guilty, skip," Amber answered.

"Why?"

"Well, here Jamie and I are having great sex, but this week was supposed to be about you and Brad getting some."

"Don't worry about it. We were actually going to ask you two if you wouldn't mind babysitting for us tomorrow night."

"No problem, skip, you got it!" Amber said brightly. Kellie smiled, and for about the one millionth time she was amazed at Amber's near-perpetual sunny disposition, and just how quickly she managed to snap out of any brief bout of disappointment.

The two women talked for a moment and they agreed that Kellie and Brad would use Amber and Jamie's hotel room when they were ready and when the kids were asleep so as to have as little disruption as possible for E.J. and Kaitlyn.

"So what did you have in mind?" Amber asked. Kellie recalled a fantasy scenario she and Brad had been talking about playing out, and she described it to her younger teammate.