Breaking New Grounds Read online

  I just smile and hand out each of the memory boxes to my wives. Awenasa, Jaime, and Shannon quickly stand up and set our babies down in a playpen next to the couch and come back to accept their boxes.

  All of them open their boxes and release adorable laughs, cries, and gasps while they get distracted with looking at the contents. Madison looks like she’s trying so hard not to explode in excitement while she waits for the rest of them to find the same jewelry box. Her eyes meet mine and she laughs and hides her face behind her hands for a moment. She’s so cute.

  Each of them finally lifts their matching velvet jewelry box. They look at each other smiling really big and release small giggles before looking at the box again.

  “Ok, open them.”

  They lift the spring-loaded lids and release a collective gasp of awe. They place their hands on the necklaces and quickly look between each other to see if they’re the same, which they are. The chain is an anchor style with a domino charm about two inches long with seven diamonds – one for each one of us.

  “So, I’ve been trying to think of a way to finally expose my big secret and share this box with all of you for a while. I knew I wanted to share it with you around Maddi’s and Sam’s graduation, because like I said, coming to college is what really started everything. I kept playing everything over in my head and I kept thinking about dominos. I know it’s an odd choice for a charm, but…”

  “No, it’s gorgeous.”

  “Yeah, this is beautiful.”

  “I love it.”

  I smile really big as each of my wives wipe their happy tears out of their eyes and tell me they love the necklace.

  “I’m glad you like them. We’ve been through a lot – both good and bad. But no matter which tile falls first, we all go down together to comfort each other. And when we rise, we rise together to share in each other’s happiness and achievements. Something that powerful felt like it needed be immortalized. I thought about getting a time capsule, but then we can’t open it and look at the memories till years later, and that’s not acceptable to me.”

  My wives laugh, but then quickly look down at their necklaces to inspect them better.

  “Tug down on the bottom of the domino.” Each of them quickly pulls the pieces apart and smile really big. “Each USB has been downloaded with thousands of pictures, videos, notes, and songs and are organized by events in chronological order. Pretty much everything that helped bring us to this point is on those flash drives. The metal is platinum, which is one of the least corrosive metals possible and it’s very strong, so it will help keep our memories safe for a very long time.”

  “This is… I mean… How did you…? I love this.” I smile really big at Madison and lean forward to meet her halfway to kiss her. “You never cease to amaze me. I can’t believe you were able to keep these boxes hidden all this time, let alone come up with this memory vault necklace and… God, I love you so much, Kayla. Thank you for jumping in front of that puck.”

  “I love you too, baby. I love all of you more than I can ever attempt to express. With you and Sam graduating soon, I know we’ll all be at that teetering moment, waiting to see who will be leading the rest of us into a new journey. So, I want all of you to know that your whole box of dominos is waiting to tumble with you.”

  All of my wives set their boxes aside and all of them pull me into a hug, sandwiching me between them. The chorus of loving comments from all of them melts my heart and my emotion surges up my chest, pooling in my eyes. I close my eyes and lay my head on Madison’s shoulder.

  “This is the best graduation present. Thank you.”

  I smile at Sam and shake my head. “This isn’t your graduation present, baby. This is just because I’m madly in love with all of you.”

  All of my wives squeeze me tighter and their faces light up with the most brilliant smiles ever.

  “Ok, I want to see what’s in everyone else’s box now.”

  Everyone giggles at Sam’s excitement and they give her kisses. We disentangle, and everyone regains their seat on the couch to share the contents and memories I tucked away in their boxes.

  I really wanted to wait till after Sam and Madison graduate to give them these boxes to symbolize the start of our next chapter together, but this felt like the right moment after finding Madison in the barn.

  It took me about six months to compile everything to save to the USB flash drives. It was hard finding the time to work on it with our busy schedules, but it was even harder keeping the project a secret because I’m almost never alone.

  I was kind of worried they wouldn’t care much for the domino charm, but I’m really glad they love it. They’re all wearing their necklaces and keep reaching up to run their fingers over them while they share what’s in their boxes. I pull my phone out and push the record button – their happiness is too amazing right now not to capture it.

  “Hi, puppy.” My cheeks blush and I laugh a little. Awenasa caught me. Our wives look up and flash me incredible smiles. “Put that away and get over here. You need to explain some of this.”

  Chapter Two

  A small weight lands on my chest and a tiny hand grabs my bottom lip and one smacks my cheek. A shrieking giggle follows a second smack. I carefully open my eyes and grab the small hands.

  “Good morning, baby girl. How is my little Malana today?”

  I sit up holding Malana to my chest and she releases another cute giggle as I wiggle my fingers under her armpits. As I blow on her bare tummy, she shrieks and giggles as she slams her tiny hands on my head. I laugh and nibble her little belly, eliciting more giggles.

  “Here, puppy, watch the babies for us.”

  Awenasa places Helaku on the bed next to me, and Shannon places Montana on the bed on my other side. I smile really big and quickly grab pillows to create a pen in front of myself. I lay each of the babies inside and tickle their tummies.

  “To what do I owe the pleasure of getting all of the babies to myself this morning?”

  Awenasa runs a hand over my head. “You slept in late so we’re the only one’s home. Madison and Sam are at school, and Symone went with Jaime to teach a workshop at each of the three dance studios today. We’re going to get a shower, then you can get yours.”

  “Ok, have fun in there because we’re going to have lots of fun out here. Aren’t we, babies? Yeah, that’s right.”

  All of them giggle and squirm under my nibbling and tickling assault. Helaku releases a loud screaming laugh as I nibble his little foot. I laugh hard and kiss him on the forehead.

  “We won’t be long.”

  “No, don’t rush. Seriously, we’re going to be ok. If I don’t hear moans come out of that door, I’m going to be insulted, thinking you don’t believe I can handle this.”

  Awenasa and Shannon laugh a little and bend down to kiss my lips, and Shannon says, “Ok, sweetie. Thank you.” They walk to the bathroom, and before they walk inside, Shannon stops and looks back at me with a loving smile. “By the way, we know you can handle them all by yourself.”

  She doesn’t wait for a response before she follows Awenasa into the bathroom, leaving the door open. A few moments later, I hear the water turn on and the glass door to the shower closes.

  “Well, it’s just the four of us now. So, let’s see, what should we learn today? A Cherokee legend? The alphabet?”

  I nuzzle in the babies’ bellies and all three of them wiggle and make adorable noises. Malana tries to roll over to crawl, but I tickle her and get her on her back again. She grabs her toes and looks up at me with a beautiful wide smile.

  “Let’s do your alphabet and animals, ok? A is for armadillo. The armadillo is a funny looking creature native to the southwest and has a hard shell, like armor. B is for bear – your Mommy Sam’s totem. There are many kinds of bears all over the world, but on this continent, the most commonly known is the American brown bear. It’s a massive majestic creature with sharp teeth and claws and it’s very furry and cuddly looking – but
they’re not. Never try to cuddle with a real bear – it’s not wise. But you can cuddle with Mommy Sam – she’s a really good cuddly bear. Ok, C is for cat. There’s a ton of different cats, big and small. They’re very interesting but very unpredictable creatures – always approach them with caution.”

  Malana stretches out and shrieks loudly, causing Helaku and Montana to wiggle and make gurgling noises.

  “Ok, you’re bored with the alphabet and animals. How about a story then?” Malana grins at me, making me smile really big. “Ok, a story. Let’s see… I know, I’ll tell you about your Grandma Lena, my mommy. You haven’t been there yet, but your Grandma Lena was born and raised on the Cherokee reservation in North Carolina, just like your Mommy Awenasa was.”

  “Mama.”

  I laugh at Malana’s cute little voice and kiss each of them again. Helaku giggles and places a hand on my nose.

  “Mom!”

  “God, I love all of you so much. Ok, back to story time. That’s why I know and love your Mommy Awenasa. Grandma Lena and Grandma Sequoia were very good friends growing up. Grandma Lena didn’t want to leave the reservation, but she fell in love with Grandpa Kent, my dad. Grandpa Kent had to relocate to Maryland for work so Grandma Lena went with him. That’s what you do when you’re in love – you stand by your partner and your family. Grandma Lena is a brilliant medicine woman and she has been teaching your Mommy Awenasa and Mommy Shannon to be medicine women too. Mommy Shannon used to be a nurse at the local hospital. That’s where Mommy Madison and I first met her. Mommy Awenasa is a priestess in the Cherokee Nation. She’s very good with spiritual medicine and she’s clairvoyant. Keep that in mind when you’re older and you think you’ll be able to be naughty or something. She’ll figure it out before you can finish the thought.”

  I hear a giggle come from the bathroom and smile to myself. I don’t know if my wives are laughing at me or at each other, but I love to hear them enjoying themselves.

  “I think I got off track. Anyway, Grandma Lena was born to River and Joseph Barrett. Your Uncle Joey was named after my Grandpa Joseph, who would be your great-grandpa. Grandma Lena has two sisters, my Aunts Erika and Selma. We don’t get to see them that often because they still live on the reservation, but you’ll get to see them this summer. Your Grandma Lena was a young girl, I think around seven, when the family first realized she has a knack for medicine. Grandma Lena loves the woods and since she could walk and talk, she would try to escape into the woods like a wild one every chance she got and she would collect all sorts of plants and mix them in little bowls. She didn’t really know what she was doing at that age, but the family helped her to learn. You are little wild ones too, aren’t you?”

  I tickle them and blow raspberries on their tummies and on their armpits, causing them to squirm, giggle, and shriek. Helaku rolls over to face Montana, who is eight months younger so she’s about half of his size. He places a hand on her tummy and garbles something as if he’s trying to have a side-conversation with her.

  “Yeah, you’re going to be wild ones. We have lots of woods here for you to be wild in and learn the ways of our ancestors. You’ll learn to love and respect all life. You’ll learn about plants and rocks and animals, and you’ll learn about how you fit into all of it. When it’s warm enough, we’re going to go for a hike in the woods and I’m going to let you play in the dirt. Yes, I am. Do you know why? Dirt is life. Dirt gets a bad rap, but it’s really an amazing substance and a lot of complex processes go into making it. Dirt is a combination of many things – decomposed plants, animal and insect droppings, decomposed animals and insects, a ton of minerals and other natural chemicals. Do you know what all of that adds up to? Yeah, you guessed it, life.”

  I hear a quiet moan from the bathroom and smile to myself. Good, my wives are taking the time to enjoy this break.

  I bend down to kiss each of the babies on their foreheads. I love getting this alone time with our babies. I love talking to them and playing with them. I love how they just lay here smiling and giggling while I talk to them about anything and everything.

  Supposedly, the more you talk to babies and children as if they’re adults, the faster they learn how to talk and their speech will be better. Our babies are very vocal and like to try to talk back when we talk to them. They haven’t formulated any real sentences yet, but Malana and Helaku are still pretty advanced for their age and can already say mom, mama, and wolf pretty clearly. They even try to say a variation of all of our names, even if it’s only one syllable. They really love to try to talk and can make gurgle and garble sounds for a long time. It’s very entertaining.

  “Each of you is a product of the never-ending cycle of life. Millions of years of complex natural processes went into making it possible for us to have the three of you. Your mommies spent nine months growing you inside themselves, but you have been in the making for far longer than that. So, if you think about it, you’re really very ancient.”

  Malana gives me a face like I insulted her, as if she really understood me. I laugh hard and kiss her lips.

  “Ok, you’re not ancient. You’re just a tiny little baby. Guess what, your first birthday is in less than two months. What do you want for your birthday? We should do something fun and adventurous. I think you’d enjoy the aquarium. You can touch all sorts of interesting things in there – stingrays, starfish, seaweed, coral, and other little fish. You want to do that? Yeah? Ok, we’ll do that. How about the zoo? Do you want to pet the goats and donkeys? Yeah? They can be smelly and their fur is a bit rough, but it’s still fun. Hey, Montana, what do you think we should do for your big sister’s and brother’s birthday?”

  I wiggle little Montana and she stretches out with a big yawn, then smacks her hands down on mine that’s holding her little torso. She blinks several times, and as I get closer to kiss her little mouth, she grins and throws her arms up, hitting me in the face, then shrieks. I laugh and kiss her slobbery lips.

  “I love you, baby girl. I love the three of you more than the earth is big. You know, I think that’s why outer space is so massive with unfathomable distances between everything. Humans have such an intensely strong capacity for love that it needs all of that extra space to overflow into.”

  Montana gets a grip on my finger and pulls it up to her mouth to suck on, but then pushes it away and releases a small cry.

  “Sorry, baby girl, my finger doesn’t produce milk. Thank god. That would be so freaking weird.”

  “Is she hungry already?”

  Shannon walks out completely naked with her head tilted to the side, drying her long dirty blond hair with a towel.

  “I think so. She was chewing on my finger.”

  Shannon smiles and turns towards the dresser. “Ok, let me get dressed really quick.”

  Awenasa walks out naked with her hair wrapped up in her towel and gives me a loving smile and an air kiss.

  “Did you have fun talking to the babies?”

  “Yeah, I did. You got done too quickly.”

  After they’re in a bra and panties, Shannon and Awenasa walk over to give me and the babies kisses. All three of them put their arms up for their mommies and release adorable gurgling giggles.

  “Your mommies are teases, aren’t they?”

  My wives smile in an amused proud way and walk back to the dresser to get dressed. Both of them look incredible. Aside from their breasts, they both have lost all of their pregnancy weight. Their breasts are still a bit larger than they were before because they breast feed and pump to bottle feed.

  Malana releases a loud scream, hurting my ears and startling me. I look down at her and she grins and blows a slobber bubble between her lips then garbles something.

  “Oh, I’m so sorry, Malana. I got distracted by your beautiful mommies. What do you want to talk about now?”

  She screams again, followed by Helaku and Montana. I laugh and tickle each of them.

  “Ok, puppy, you can go get your shower.”

  I pout and be
nd down to kiss and nibble on our babies. I blow raspberries on their tummies and armpits, making them laugh and smack my head and rip at my ears.

  “Ok, babies, I’m going to get smelling good like your mommies. Behave.”

  Shannon lifts Montana in her arms and I hand Malana and Helaku to Awenasa. Both of them give me a kiss on my lips and tell me they’ll see me downstairs.

  When I walk into the bathroom, I start to reach for a towel out of the cabinet but notice they already laid a fresh towel over the bar outside of the shower for me and there’s a folded note over top of it. I unfold the note and my cheeks ache with the huge smile it puts on my face. It simply reads, Date day today? We love you. – A&S.

  I jump in the shower and take one of the fastest showers I’ve ever taken. I brush my teeth then quickly blow dry my long black hair while I brush it out. It’s still damp, but it shouldn’t soak my shirt or cause me to get a brain freeze by going outside.

  I put on a pair of soft faded black jeans, a blue, gray, white, and black striped sweater my wives bought me for Christmas, and a pair of my black leather moccasins. I change my earrings from the small diamond studs I currently have in to a pair of sapphire studs to match my sweater. After a few swipes of deodorant and spritzes of my cologne, Wolf Fire, I grab my phone and wallet, then rush down the stairs two at a time.

  “Yes, I want to go on a date day.”

  Shannon and Awenasa look up from filling the diaper bag and smile really big.

  “That was fast, sweetie.”

  “Well, you gave me incredible motivation. So, where are we going?”

  They giggle at my excitement and Shannon pinches my ass as she walks by me to get to the fridge, saying, “It’s getting late, so we thought we’d go get some lunch.”