Soul Belongings

Summers and vacations the three of them would always spend together. Roger and Miranda grew even more distant from their parents. Even with Julie’s urging to try and keep in touch with them, the relationship with their parents just became more and more constrained. When Julie quit working at the same company as their father, that pretty much reduced Roger’s and Miranda’s contact with their parents to a phone call once in a while and occasional visits that became less and less frequent. It was like their parents had become strangers to them. Roger felt his parents didn’t try hard enough and was angry that they had always projected an attitude that they saw bringing them up more as a duty than a joy, but Julie helped him and Miranda get through their feelings of resentment and abandonment and come to an acceptance that some people just weren’t meant to get along together even, and sometimes especially, when they are family. Roger knew it was actually rarer for people to get along really well, which was one of the reasons he valued so dearly his relationship with Miranda and Julie.

As much as they would have enjoyed proudly presenting their relationship to the world, they knew they had to be practical and keep it secret until the time, if it ever came, that the world in general became a more tolerant place. Roger, Miranda, and Julie each had their own circle of friends, and some of their friends may have been curious as to why they never seemed to be in a relationship or talked about being in one, but the topic was rarely pursued. They were close to some of their friends, but their best friends were one another. They were each approached many times by people who asked them out, or hinted that they wanted to go out, but the commitment Roger, Miranda, and Julie had made to one another was enduring; all they wanted were each other.

Roger got his law degree and Miranda her M.B.A. Once they were both out of school, they permanently set up residence in Julie’s house. Roger quickly established a name for himself as a formidable litigator and defense attorney, specializing in Ninth Amendment cases, infringement of people’s rights not expressly stated in the Constitution but inherent nonetheless, and most specifically people’s right to privacy. Roger owed a lot of his success as a lawyer to Miranda and Julie. They would often have deep discussions late into the night and it was great having them as a sounding board when he was preparing arguments for court. Miranda was excellent at catching holes in his logic, her analytical mind could always break down his arguments showing him the weaker points he needed to build up and the stronger points he could stress. Julie was so open to new ideas, it shown through in her artwork, her conversation, and just the way she carried herself, being exposed to her opened Roger’s mind to new horizons and allowed him to come up with brilliant and inventive interpretations that helped him win cases.

Miranda and Julie started their own graphic design company, Beach House Designs, and with Julie’s talent and Miranda’s adeptness at business, not only was the company a big success but Julie’s paintings became widely popular as well. Even though Roger was a defense attorney, he had enough familiarity with business law to be a great help in protecting the legal interests of their company and what he didn’t know personally, he knew other lawyers that specialized in business and were excellent sources for advice and counsel when they needed it. One of the first things they bought with their profits was the beach house. It was the symbol for their company but it also held such sentimental value to them, they had to own it.

After they became financially secure, Roger’s father actually asked to be paid back for sending him and Miranda to college, with interest. He stated that their mother and he had invested in them, and now that they were prosperous, they expected a return on their investment. Roger and Miranda acquiesced and paid their parents back, after that they pretty much had nothing to do with their parents again.

Once Beach House started making a real profit, and Roger’s career was taking off, they all started talking about raising a family. After serious discussions on the risks to a child conceived by parents who were closely related, they came to the decision that the safest way to have a child would be if the biological parents could be Roger and Julie.

Roger had done a lot of research into genetic engineering, specifically in regard to In Vitro fertilization. After consultations with the top doctors in the field, they had decided to try to have a child by implanting Miranda with genetic material from Roger and Julie. The first attempt was unsuccessful, but after the second try, Miranda did indeed become pregnant.

It was an incredibly exciting time for all of them. Julie was overwhelmed with joy that she was actually going to be a mother, something she thought would never happen. Throughout the pregnancy she coddled Miranda, who was also in a state of supreme elation over the expected arrival. Roger was quite engulfed by happiness himself at the prospect of being a father and that they had found a way to accomplish this.

When they found out the child was going to be a boy, the three of them unanimously decided he should be named Joseph, after Julie’s father. Joseph came into the world healthy and lively. He was a treasure to behold, Roger broke down in tears the instant he saw him. He couldn’t believe how much he could love someone who had only just been born. Julie was speechless and in tears, she hugged Miranda fiercely after birth, and when her voice returned she kept saying “Thank you,” over and over. Miranda, herself in tears and hugging Julie back, told her they had done it together.

After Joseph was a few years old, they decided to try to have another child in the same fashion. It was an expensive procedure, but they could afford it, and producing a brother or sister for Joseph would be the best money they ever spent.

This time they were successful after the first try, and it looked like Joseph would be getting a brotherand a sister, Miranda was pregnant with twins. Darwin and Emma were born a month premature but strong and healthy nonetheless. Unfortunately this birth didn’t go as smoothly as Joseph’s; Miranda had internal hemorrhaging and lost a lot of blood. She almost died. Roger shuddered when he thought back on that moment, he had never been so scared in his life; it had felt as if his heart was ripping apart. Julie stayed strong for the sake of him and Joseph, but Roger knew that she must have been going through torture, first to lose her father, and then Miranda’s life hanging in the balance.

Miranda did make it through and affected a staunch recovery. Unfortunately though, she would never be able to have anymore children. However, they had been favored with three beautiful, strong, and healthy children and they felt extremely happy and privileged to have Joseph, Emma, and Darwin. They were truly the greatest accomplishments of their lives.

The children were a handful at times, and Roger considered himself fortunate that they were evenly matched three to three, if the kids had outnumbered the parents, he was sure his hair would have been a lot grayer by now, or not there altogether. Julie and Miranda seemed to be naturally gifted at being mothers. There was no ranking between them, they were both “Mommy” to the children, although sometimes it had been “Mommy Julie” or “Mommy Manda” to clear up any confusion, but they were both equally the mothers to the children. Julie seemed to have been preparing all her life for the role, and she was excellent at it, but what pleasantly surprised Roger was how quickly and ably Miranda took to it. Roger got a lump in his throat every time he saw one or both of the women teaching a child something, or playing with them, or just expressing love and tenderness in anyway to these people that they had all created together, it simply and profoundly touched him.

Parenthood agreed with Roger in a way he never would have imagined. Roger loved their children more than he ever thought he would before they were born. He learned from Julie and Miranda how to be a clement parent. Julie talked about her own father often, about the way he raised her as a child, and after a time, Roger felt as if he had known the man. He developed an everlasting respect, adoration, and admiration for Joseph Thaliana; he had produced Julie and brought her up to be the insightful, free thinking, and caring person he loved so abundantly. The man had become a role model to him in regard to parenting; after all, he had done such a good job with Julie, she was such a wonderful parent, and she readily admitted that much of her methods were remembered from how her father treated her when she was a child.

Roger did retain one parenting attribute from his own parents. They had instilled in him and Miranda a strong work ethic, because of that they both were successful, and due to their success they were able to afford the procedures that produced Joseph, Emma, and Darwin. If for nothing else, he was thankful to his parents for that. So he had tried to instill in his children the same work ethic, but while he stressed the importance of being responsible and working hard, he also made time to play with them, do things together, and most importantly, make sure that they knew that no matter what he loved them, and he always would.

The sun had almost completely sunk into the ocean, the sky had taken on a deep purplish hue, and the stars had started to come out when Roger broke out of his reverie and caught sight of two figures on the beach walking toward him. He recognized the heavenly visions of Julie and Miranda as they walked hand in hand up towards the beach house, smiling and giving each other intimate looks. Roger’s heart thumped faster as it always did when he saw them. He loved them more and more every day and he would continue to do so until the day he died.

The years had been kind to him, more than kind, downright munificent. Miranda and Julie’s company had become so successful that they branched into other businesses. Beach House Designs became Beach House Incorporated. Roger retired from the law and took a position on the board of directors of the corporation along with Miranda and Julie. Miranda’s business talent coupled with Julie’s empathy made Beach House not only one of the most successful corporations, but it was also recognized as the most benevolent. They provided many jobs, they were active in the local communities, and they focused much of their energy at improving the environment. One of their biggest projects had been this very beach. Over the years the water had become more and more polluted and the beach more eroded. It broke their hearts to see this land become so run down, so they sponsored a huge restoration project, and now this was one of the most pristine and ameliorated beaches in the world.

Of course there had been hardships in his life, moments of despair, tragedies, and devastations, some that only affected him and the ones he was close to, some that affected the whole world. But through it all he had his family to lean on, and that was what he was most grateful for, he was lucky enough that through all the changes he had gone through personally or the world had gone through in general, he still had the ones he held dearest in his life. There had been some close calls; Miranda’s difficult birth with the twins, Julie’s own bout with cancer, Joseph’s being wounded in the war, Darwin’s plane crash, and his heart attack. But they had come through it all and all made full recoveries. Roger found that remarkable. He didn’t know what he had done to deserve the life he had led, but he was forever grateful for it and he never let a day go by that he didn’t tell Miranda, Julie, and his children that he loved them, whether they were there to hear him or not.

Roger looked up at the sky as one star after another kept popping into sight as it got darker. Looking at the stars always reminded him of his children. He missed Joseph, Emma, and Darwin, they were all grown up now and living away from home finding their own ways through life, but he also felt a surge of pride when he thought about them. He had done all he could to prepare them for life and while they didn’t always make the decisions he thought they should, they always took responsibility for the choices they made. They still kept in touch and he saw them pretty much on a regular basis, Joseph was married and had children of his own, and Roger, Julie, and Miranda were always overjoyed to see the grandkids, and they all knew that whenever they needed it, they could always come home and be greeted with warmth and love.

Miranda and Julie had now made it up on the deck and were standing in front of him still holding hands. He drank in the sight of them that still took his breath away after all these years.

“Where have you two been?” He inquired.

“We decided to go for a walk on the beach.” Miranda answered gazing into Julie’s eyes.

“Why didn’t you ask me to come?” Roger asked.

“You were asleep, you looked so sweet and cute we didn’t want to bother you.” Julie said.

“Aw, I would have liked to have gone.”

“Don’t worry, my love, there will be many more chances for walks on the beach.” Julie said, and then she asked, “Did you enjoy your nap, Sweetheart?”

“I dreamed of you two, so of course I did.” Roger answered.

“Yeah, I’ll bet you did. You’re insatiable, you know that?” Julie said with a wry grin. Then she turned to Miranda and asked. “What are we going to do with him?”

“I guess the only thing we can do, love him with all our hearts.” Miranda said smiling.

Julie sighed dramatically. “I suppose you’re right.” She said, “Come on inside, Baby, we have a whole night of celebrating ahead of us. I’m glad you got some rest because you’re going to need it.” Now he was receiving those looks of intimacy from Miranda and Julie.

“I’m right behind you,” Roger said grinning in anticipation. Miranda and Julie headed inside and as he got up form the lounge chair, Roger’s cock gave that familiar twitch as he watched them from behind. Miranda was close to sixty and Julie was close to eighty, yet each of them looked at least twenty years younger than they actually were. Roger was sixty-one and he still felt in the prime of his life. He supposed some of it had to do with the great leaps in medical advancement over the last four decades, people were living longer than ever now and with a good quality of life, but for Roger he knew that the main thing that kept him young was Miranda and Julie. Their love kept him invigorated.

As Roger made his way into the house, he took note of the song that was playing on the net. It was a song that was considered an oldie even when he was a kid, but in the wake of the latest and most ambitious wave of space exploration, modern classical music was becoming quite popular on the net waves. These old dreamy crooner songs from a century ago struck a cord with the spacefarers who have left behind their old lives to go on long journeys through the cold blackness of space, to settle on new worlds, and make new lives for themselves. These songs were reminders of home, and they are wistful yet optimistic which reflects many a star voyager’s state of mind.

For Roger, however, the song only reminded him of Miranda and Julie. Tonight they were celebrating forty years of being together, forty years of their souls belonging to one another. He was ready to celebrate all night, and he was ready for another forty years with the loves of his life. Roger hummed along sentimentally with the song as it played.

“See the pyramids along the Nile

Watch the sun rise on a tropic isle

Just remember darlin’ all the while,

You belong to me…”

* "Can't Fight This Feeling" written by Kevin Cronin

* "You Belong To Me" written by Pee Wee King, Chilton Price and Redd Stewart