Xander

It’s Saturday in sunny California. Sasha is still asleep next to me. I should have been out of bed hours ago, but I couldn’t pull myself away from her. She’s so beautiful with her long, black hair spread over the pillow and her peaceful, relaxed face.

The past few days I’ve sensed something going on with her. I asked about it, but she tells me I’m imagining things. I’m not.

I’ve decided to take our little tribe on a vacation. I want Sasha to relax and stop worrying about Enrique’s next move, if there even is going to be one. I’m starting to think this guy is a whack job full of empty threats.

“You’re staring at me,” she murmurs against her pillow without opening her eyes.

I reach out and smooth her eyebrow. “How do you know that?”

“I can feel it.”

“Oh, yeah?” I scoot closer and roll her onto her side pressing my morning erection against her. “How about that? Do you feel that?” I kiss her nose and then her eyelids, her forehead, and finally her lips.

She moans and threads her fingers of her free hand through my hair. “Yes, I do, but there’s a certain little someone who will be charging in here any moment, so I’m sorry I won’t be able to make that particular dream come true. What time is it anyway?”

“Eight.”

Her eyes fly open. “Eight? Oh my God, Victoria never sleeps this late, is she okay?” She starts to get out of bed, but I hold her in place.

“I was up about thirty minutes ago to check on her. She’s fine.”

“She’s still worn out from surfing. She worked hard yesterday. I’m so proud of her progress.”

“You’re a great teacher, ever think of doing that part-time?” Her brow furrows in an adorable tiny letter M.

“No, I don’t have the patience to teach.”

“Yes you do, you have unlimited patience with Tori.”

“That’s because I love her.”

“Is that why you’re patient with me, too?” I ask with the ulterior motive of hearing her say she loves me.

Her face relaxes, and she looks into my eyes. “I don’t think I’m particularly patient or impatient with you, but yes, I do love you.”

The corners of my mouth lift in a small satisfied smile. “I love you, too.”

We’ve said this before, but I can’t seem to get enough of it. I know now that I’ve never loved a woman before Sasha because I’ve never felt the way I feel now. It’s so much more than I’d ever imagined. She’s like a life aphrodisiac. She makes me want to get out of bed in the morning and squeeze every ounce of positive energy from every minute of the day. Everything I do, I do with the two women in my life in mind.

I kiss her nose again, and she nuzzles into the crook of my neck. “I have a proposition,” I say.

“I already told you, Victoria…”

“No, not sex, something else.”

“Oh, okay what is it?”

“I want to go on vacation for a couple of weeks.”

“Oh, okay, where are you going?”

“Where are we going, you mean, and I was thinking Rome or Paris or London. Wherever you want to go as long as it’s across the ocean far from your worries here at home.”

“You want to take me to Rome?” Her voice is high-pitched and her tone incredulous.

“Yes, is that so hard to believe?”

“I, I’ve never been outside the country other than Mexico, and that doesn’t count because it’s attached.”

“Good, then your first time will be with me.”

“I don’t know what to say.”

“That’s easy. Say, yes, when do we leave?”

“You know his reach is far and wide. I wouldn’t put it past Enrique to follow us.”

I shake my head and sigh. “He hasn’t done anything other than make a few text threats and watch you from the beach. I’m beginning to think he’s all bark and no bite.”

She sucks in her full bottom lip and holds it between her teeth. Her eyes dart back and forth between mine as if she’s trying to find something there.

“That’s what he wants you to think. This is how he works. It’s a game to him, a sick game. When he hit me with his car, he had been playing cat and mouse with me for six weeks. Calling and hanging up at all times of the day and night, and then suddenly, for weeks he would be quiet trying to make me think he was finished harassing me. Just when I would start to feel safe again, he would show up with some freaky-ass gift asking to take me skiing in Colorado or hiking in the mountains.”

“Then what happened?”

“When I told him no? He would get agitated or furious… it depended on where he was in his mania. At the beginning of an upswing in his mood, he would be agitated and upset asking what he did wrong, but if he were full-on manic, he would attack me.”

“Attack as in physically assault you?”

“Yes.”

“How many times did that happen?”

She shrugs. “A lot, I can’t remember.”

“So, he was full-on manic when he hit you in his car?”

“Oh, yeah, for sure.”

“How long do the stages last?”

“It’s never the same way twice. There were times he would go from deeply depressed to crazy manic in a matter of one week. Other times, it was much longer… weeks of staying in bed and then more weeks running around like he was in a race.”

“So there’s no telling how he’s feeling right now.”

“Nope.”

“I still think a vacation will do us all some good. If he follows us, we will have Tito and Matt and Mark. He can’t do anything.”

“Famous last words.”

“Ye of little faith. I’ll book a flight to leave as soon as possible.”

“What about the clinic? You can’t just up and leave.”

“I already talked to Mickey about it. We cover each other’s vacations. It’s no problem.”

“I don’t have a passport.”

“We can get you one today if we hurry.”

“Hurry where?” Tori says coming into the bedroom dragging her pink princess blanket behind her. I sit up in bed, and Sasha turns over so she can see Tori.

“The post office to get Sasha a passport. We’re going on vacation.”

Her sleepy eyes snap to attention. “Vacation? Can we go to Disney World? I love Disney World, Daddy.”

“No, bug, we’re going all the way across the ocean to Europe. You don’t remember, but you went to Paris with Daddy when you were two years old.”

“Why?” she asks not able to remember a thing about that trip. It’s obvious she’s disappointed we aren’t going to Disney World when the spark in her eyes dims.

“I had a conference, and I brought you and Zion with me.”

“Oh,” she says crawling up into bed with us nuzzling in to snuggle with Sasha and not me. I can’t blame her, though. If I were her, I’d prefer Sasha’s soft curves to my hard, muscular body any day. “Daddy, why are we hiding?”

Dammit, I knew she was going to catch on eventually. I hoped she would just accept that things were going to be different for a while and not question the bodyguards and heightened security.

I look at Sasha. She opens her eyes wide and shrugs.

“We aren’t hiding, princess. We’re being cautious and careful.”

“But why?”

Good question. Enrique’s lack of interest has me wondering the same thing. “Daddy just wants to be sure no one bothers you or Sasha or Zion.”

“The shadow man on the beach?”

“Well, yes, but I don’t think he’s coming back.”

“Is Tito gonna live with us forever?”

“I don’t know.”

“Is he coming with us on vacation?”

“Yes, so are Mark and Matt and Zion. It’ll be fun.”

“I wanna go to Disney World with just you and Sasha.” She burrows into the curve of Sasha’s body, and she wraps her arms around my little girl.

“What about Zion?” I ask, curious as to why she isn’t including her.

“Zion doesn’t like Disney World. She’s old.”

“That’s not nice, Tori. She might still want to go.”

She twists in Sasha’s arms to face me. “So we’re going to Disney World?” she asks excitedly.

“No, I mean if we were going, she might want to go.”

“Huh?” She’s still confused.

“I think Disney World sounds fun. I’ve never been,” Sasha says looking sheepish. “Sorry.”

“You’d rather go to Florida than Europe?”

“Yeah!” the two of them cheer in unison. I scrub my hand up and down my face. This wasn’t what I had in mind. I wanted to be as far away from California as possible, not a quick flight across the country. But I can’t very well say anything in front of Tori, or she’ll know the real reason behind our vacation.

“Okay then, I guess we don’t have to worry about a passport. And I can probably get us a flight out tonight, and we can go to Disney World tomorrow.”

Tori pops up jumping up and down on the bed yelling, “Hurray! We’re going to Disney World!”

“Yay,” I say less than enthusiastically, but happy that my girls are happy. Sasha stands up and takes Tori’s hands so they can jump and celebrate together.

“When you’re done here, you need to get packing,” I tell the squealing pair. “I’ll go tell Zion and the guys and book a flight.”

“Okay!” Sasha says giggling with Tori.

On my way down the hall, I knock on Tito’s door. He opens it immediately and follows me into my office where I fill him in on what’s going on. Then I get online and book seven first-class tickets to Orlando leaving at 6:00 p.m. this evening.

I don’t have to tell Zion about our trip. Tori’s been racing around the house like a maniac yelling, “We’re going to Disney, we’re going to Disney!” for an hour straight. If the house weren’t soundproof, I’d worry that the neighbors and anyone within two miles up and down the beach would know we are going on vacation.

I walk into my bedroom and find Sasha making little piles of clothes to pack. “I’ll get you a suitcase.”

“Thanks. I might have to run home and get some more clothes. I’m sure you’ve noticed I only have a couple of outfits here. I’m usually in a swimsuit, and we don’t go anywhere, so I haven’t needed much.”

“Pack what you have, and I’ll take you shopping when we get there. I don’t want you going back to that apartment.” I don’t like that she still refers to it as home. I know it’s irrational, but I want her to think of this as home.

“That’s silly, Tito can come with me. You don’t need to spend a bunch of money on new clothes.”

“I have more money than I know what to do with, Sasha. You’re not going back there, and that’s final.”

She straightens up from her folding and places her hands on her hips. “Oh really?” she quips.

“Yes. Really. I’m going downstairs to get the suitcases, I’ll be right back.”

She makes a little harrumph sound and continues to stare at me as I leave the room. I don’t care if she thinks I’m being stubborn. Her safety comes first, and if her ex is as unstable as she says, there’s no way in hell I’m letting her go back to her apartment.

A few hours later, the seven of us are boarding a plane to the land of Mickey Mouse and overpriced everything. Flying isn’t my favorite thing to do. It doesn’t seem right that something so enormous can be airborne. When I fly alone, I medicate, but I have to have my wits about me when I’m traveling with Tori.

“You okay there, big guy?” Sasha says threading her fingers through mine.

“I’m fine, I just don’t care for flying.”

“Aw, that’s cute.”

I give her a side glare, and she giggles. “I’ve only flown three times, but I love it.”

Tori hears Sasha’s comment and leans around Zion to look at us. Tori is in the window seat across the aisle with Zion. Sasha has our window seat and I’m on the aisle so I can get up if I get panicky.

“Me, too, flying is fun!” She stands up in her seat to say hello to Tito who is sitting behind her. “Hi Tito, isn’t this fun?” Tito looks at me with raised eyebrows.

“Tori, sit down in your seat. The flight attendant is going to kick us off the plane, and you’ll never meet Mickey Mouse,” I order.

She turns and drops into her seat pulling the seatbelt around her little waist. She leans forward again to look at Sasha and me with her angelic you know you love me expression, and Sasha tries unsuccessfully to hold in a laugh.

A little over four hours later, we are leaving the airport in Orlando on our way to Tito’s house. Tito is from Miami originally but settled in Orlando. It couldn’t have worked out better for all of us. We have a great house to stay in instead of a hotel, and Tito gets to come home for a while not to mention the fact that we will be staying in the home of the Lord of security. We couldn’t be in better hands or a better, safer environment.

It’s dark when we arrive, so the house is hard to see, but I can tell it’s going to be spectacular in the daylight. Tito is from money, lots of money. He works because he enjoys it not because he has to.

“Welcome to my place, make yourself at home, drop your stuff, and grab a bedroom. There’s a pool out back if you want to swim in the morning. As for me, I’m going to sleep in my bed for the first time in months. Adios, y’all,” Tito says strolling down a long hall off the spacious foyer.

I flick on a light, and a chandelier twinkles overhead guiding us upstairs where five bedrooms and two bathrooms await us.

“What a beautiful home. Maybe I should think about retiring here. Maybe Tito would rent me a room?” Zion says in her lovely African accent.

“You would leave us for this?” I say spreading out my arms in the luxurious hallway.

“Yes, yes, I would,” she says nodding her head and opening the first door on the right. “You want me to take Tori with me so you two can get some sleep?” Zion chuckles.

“No, that’s okay, you go ahead. We will take her to our room with us.”

“You take the child, there’s no funny business, yeah?”

I look at Sasha reading her expression. It says you do as you please, I’m fine either way. I want Zion to rest after a long day of surprise packing and traveling so I offer to take her with us.

Sasha and I choose the large room at the end of the hall. I carry Tori in and lay her on the king-size bed on the far right side so Sasha and I can have the center and the left.

“This house is amazing. I can’t believe it’s Tito’s,” Sasha gushes opening a set of French doors that lead out onto a patio overlooking the swimming pool.

“Why? Because he works in security?”

“No, because it’s decorated so beautifully. It looks like a woman lives here. Do you think Tito’s gay?”

I join her on the balcony. “Sasha, you’re kidding, right?”

“What?”

“Of course, Tito’s gay. You didn’t pick up on that?”

She wrinkles her nose in the cute way she does when she’s thinking. “No. I mean he’s hot, and he dresses well, and I’ve never seen…” she trails off when the light bulb goes on.

“Him with a woman? No, you haven’t, and you never will unless it’s his mama.”

“Wow. Does he have a boyfriend?”

“Not that I know of, but I don’t talk to him about personal things like that.”

“Oh. I can see it now. It’s not natural for a man to have better fingernails than a woman.” She holds out her hands showing me her nails. “I should have known.”

“Regardless of his sexual orientation, he’s the best damn security officer in the country.”

She places her hands on the railing and leans forward to look down at the water. “It’s so humid here. We should swim.”

“Aren’t you tired?”

“Yes, but I’m never too tired to get wet.” She wiggles her eyebrows suggestively.

“I can’t leave Tori up here alone. She’ll be scared if she wakes up in a strange place.”

“Okay, but before we go home, I want a night of skinny dipping in that pool.”

“Then a night skinny dipping in that pool you shall have. But for now, we should probably go inside and lock those doors because if I know Tito, he will be setting the security system soon.”

She hustles inside, and I close the doors as well as the curtains. The room is too dark, and I find a small lamp on the dresser to keep on all night. Sasha kicks off her shoes and crawls into bed with her clothes on, and I do the same. Tori has rolled to the center of the bed, so we lay facing each other with Tori between us.

“Thanks for bringing us here,” she says yawning.

“Thanks for coming.”

Sometimes a vacation is just what the family needs.