FOURTEEN

MAGGIE

I never shared this part of my life with anyone before. 

It felt oddly intimate bringing Kaine to meet Marie and Jeremy. Only Angie and I ever talked about them or even acknowledged they existed for that matter. They were like my dirty little secret family, not that I wanted it to be that way. Everyone else insisted on acting like they didn't exist and I refused to do that to the only family I cared about. 

With every step I walked to the camp, it felt like my clit pulsed with every heartbeat. 

I felt that way ever since Kaine and I kissed at church on Sunday, almost a whole week ago. No one ever kissed me like that before, and an erection pressed so hard against me never felt so good before. 

It was like he awoke a new sense of life within my body. Sure I've touched myself and felt turned on before but never like that. 

Ever since then, my insides felt hollowed out with an aching need to be filled. My body became so sensitive, every mundane movement became hot and arousing. The bed sheets against my bare, erect nipples at night. The vibrations from the car rumbling across my clit. I never felt any of it before and now it was all around me. It was like Kaine rewired my whole body chemistry to need and crave him every minute of every day. 

I turned a corner and saw his tall, imposing figure waiting for me at the streetlight. 

Right on time. With his own duffel bag to match mine and a Styrofoam tray of coffee in his other hand.

Really, even if he hadn't turned me on so much before, he'd have me swooning at coffee.  

"Morning," I greeted. 

"Good morning, Maggie. Coffee?"

"Thank you." I accepted one sleeved paper cup from him. "Why'd you bring four?" I nodded at his full tray. 

He shrugged. "Just in case anyone at the camp wanted some." 

"They probably already had theirs," I remarked as I continued walking with him following my lead. "They tend to be up pretty early." 

"Well, more for us, then."

We walked together quietly to another streetlight.  

"Thanks for coming along," I said after a few moments of silence. "It is nice to not be the only one visiting them. I think they'll appreciate it."

"I wouldn't dream of missing a chance to help local folks out." He cast a lopsided smirk at me before returning his attention to the road in front of him. 

"Can I ask an obvious question?"

"Such as why is my sister homeless?" I asked tensely, tightening my grip around my coffee cup. 

He nodded and hesitated before speaking again. "I asked your mother if she had any other kids and she said you were her only one." 

"That doesn't surprise me in the slightest," I muttered angrily. "She and Dad pretend Marie doesn't exist. There aren't even any pictures of her in our house." 

"How could they do such a thing?" he asked with genuine bewilderment. 

"Long story short, she got pregnant at sixteen," I said. "By the time she had her son at seventeen, they had already kicked her out. She gave birth in a free clinic and was living in a shelter later that same week."

“How terrible for her.” Kaine’s tone matched the anger that I felt. “Times like that are when you need your family’s support the most.” 

A breath hitched in my chest as I felt his fingers slide across my back. The pressure was warm and reassuring. 

“At least she had you.” 

“Yeah, I guess.” 

“Is she older or younger than you?” 

“Same age.” I shot a sideways grin at him. “We’re fraternal twins. How about that?”

He smiled back. “No wonder you take such good care of her. I’m sure she’d do the same for you.” 

“Absolutely,” I replied. “We shared a womb and supposedly came out holding hands. Our bond is strong.” 

“That’s wonderful.” He said it with a smile but his tone sounded sad to me. 

“Do you have any siblings?” I asked. 

“Probably,” he said wryly. “My dad liked to stick his dick into anything that moved so I’ve likely got tons of half-siblings.” 

“That’s rough,” I said, feeling a sympathetic ache for him in my chest. My dad also wasn’t great but at least he wasn’t actively an asshole. 

“Yeah, my childhood was rough for a bit. I even lived like this for a little while as a teenager.” He pointed to the tents of the homeless camp in the distance. 

“You were homeless too?” I asked, bewildered. 

“I prefer to call it home-free,” he said with another dry laugh. “It was by choice, not that it was easy. But I hitchhiked with my dog across the country for about a year and did odd jobs for money here and there. Fortunately, I was able to find a steady job and slowly get back to my feet with a normal life.”

“So you essentially lived like Jesus for a year,” I observed. 

“I never claimed to be a prophet,” he chuckled. “But yes. I owned literally nothing but two changes of clothes and was the happiest I’d ever been. That experience solidified my faith, for sure.”

A newfound sense of awe and respect for him came over me. The reason why I told so few people about my sister was because no one could truly understand my situation, even if they were sympathetic or pretended to. 

I appreciated Kaine wanting to come with me and figured he would be able to stomach it better than most, but knowing he understood the experience made it that more meaningful. 

And it also made my stomach do flip flops. I wanted to stop and kiss him but still felt so unsure about… us. Whatever we were. 

Not to mention Marie could probably see us from this distance and would definitely ask questions I wasn’t prepared to answer.

As customary, Jeremy yelled, "Maggie!" and began sprinting toward me. 

Even while living homeless, he had no concept of bad or harmful people. All the adults watched cautiously as I approached with this strange man, but my adorable nephew ran straight into my arms without a care in the world. 

I loved that Marie could keep his childhood innocence intact while having to live the way they did. Even in his situation, he was too young to learn how mean the world could be. 

"Hey, Jer-bear! I missed you." 

I tickled him and planted kisses on his cheeks as Marie approached us, wary but curious. 

"He hasn't stopped begging for that candy you brought last time," she said, looking at him adoringly. 

"We'll have to get Auntie Angie to bring you some more," I replied, bouncing him on my hip a few times before making introductions. 

"Sis, this is Kaine Cross, the pastor at our church. Kaine, this is my sister Marie, and my nephew Jeremy." 

"A pleasure to meet you," Kaine said warmly, reaching out to shake her hand. 

"You as well, pastor." She returned his handshake with a polite, proud smile while looking him straight in the eye. That was one thing I loved about my sister. Despite her situation, she treated herself as an equal and never acted embarrassed and ashamed. It was one of the reasons why Mom couldn't stand to compete with her. 

"I'll let you three catch up," Kaine said to excuse himself. "I think this guy could use a bit of a pick-me-up." 

I looked in the direction where he jerked his head and saw the same young man from last week. His face was even dirtier now and he began to grow a scraggly, unkempt beard. The suit he wore was dusty and stained. Again, he sat motionless on the ground with a bottle of Mickey's in his hand. 

Kaine started toward him and I followed Marie back to her campsite. She wasted no time in digging for details.

"Pastor, huh?" she grinned. "Never thought you were the church type but with a pastor like that, I'd become a church girl too."

"Still not a church girl," I insisted as we sat down at her cinderblock fire pit. "The way he and I met was pretty... unorthodox."

Over coffee, I told her the story of how Angie and I tried getting into bars, seeing if he would pretend to know us, and even how I offered to sleep with him before he took us to his place to drink in a "safe" environment. 

"So let me get this straight," she began. "You straight-up offered to sleep with him, went to his apartment, got drunk, then got naked, and it still didn't happen?" 

"Yep." 

Her eyebrows shot up as she chuckled. "Well he's got a strong sense of self-discipline, that's for sure." 

"And who knew losing my virginity would be harder than I ever knew possible," I muttered and swallowed a mouthful of coffee. "But um, I think it's going to happen soon." 

"So are you guys like a thing?" 

"No. I mean, I don't know.” I chewed my lip nervously. “The extent of our relationship so far is making out at church when no one is around." 

"Sounds hot," she laughed before looking at me seriously. "Just be careful, sis. I know it's no big thing but with your first, it's easy to catch feelings and get hurt. I'm speaking from experience here." 

"Thanks. I'll be careful." 

Marie patted my hand like she was my wise, old grandmother giving me sage wisdom. 

She had a point. I couldn't just look at Kaine through rose-colored glasses. 

Everyone thought Marie’s boyfriend was perfect. Handsome, athletic, and a perfect gentleman. Our parents were convinced they'd get married right after high school. When she got pregnant, he made a big show of sticking around and supporting her, until he disappeared. 

He blocked her on all social media, changed his phone number and just became a ghost. We later found out he went to college across the country but never said a word of it to Marie. 

He should have been with her in the clinic as his son was being born. If not him, then our parents should have been there. But they abandoned her too, so it was only me with her. Until Jeremy, I was all she had. 

"So how are our dear old mom and dad?" she asked without a hint of maliciousness. 

“The same as always.” I stared at her and blinked. “Why do you even care?”

“They’re still my family, Maggie.” She hoisted Jeremy into her lap and snuggled him fiercely. “If they ever want to get to know their grandson, I don’t want him to miss out on having a relationship with his grandparents.”

“Well you know what’s best for your son,” I said. “But whenever I’m out of that house, I’m not looking back. They’re never getting anywhere near my kids.”

“Keep your head down and don’t get knocked up then,” she said with a wink. “Take care of yourself first. You can’t always trust a man to do it.”

“Yeah, I know.” 

I looked over at Kaine who knelt in front of the man with the dirty suit. The man actually looked at him and responded when Kaine spoke. Through the beard, I even thought I saw the man smile. 

“I’ll be damned,” Marie breathed. “We all thought Carl was mute and definitely never saw him smile before.” 

Kaine shook Carl’s hand and patted his shoulder before he stood and began walking back toward us. 

“Want to head back?” I asked when he approached our fire, desperately hoping he would say yes. The urge to be alone with him was overwhelming.

“Sure, if you’re ready.” He turned to Marie. “It was nice to meet you. You too, little man.” 

He waved at Jeremy as Marie and I hugged goodbye. 

“Love you, sis. See you soon.” 

“You too. Remember what I said,” she whispered into my hair. 

Kaine and I walked silently away from the camp until we were out of earshot until he turned to me, cupping my neck with his hand. 

“Everything alright?” he asked with heartfelt concern in his eyes. 

My sister’s warning was a tiny whisper compared to what my heart and body told me I wanted. 

What I needed. 

“I don’t want to go home.” 

Kaine stepped in closer as he caressed his thumb over the apple of my cheekbone and said the words I needed so desperately. 

“Come home with me, then.”