“Whatcha doing, Star? You being a good girl for your aunt?” Sex Piston cooed, going back to take her seat on the couch.
Sitting the girl on her lap, the little girl’s hands went over her leather jacket, playing with the zipper. Sex Piston baby talked with her for several minutes until she saw a movement from the kitchen doorway.
“Dinner’s ready,” Katy said with a smile. “Why don’t you put Star in her highchair and I’ll give you her bowl to feed her?”
“Sounds good,” Sex Piston said, rising with the little girl in her arms.
Going into the kitchen, she put Star in the highchair that was already placed at the table. Sex Piston sat down in the chair next to it, taking the bowl of vegetable soup that Stud’s aunt handed her.
“I already let it cool,” she said in amusement when she saw Sex Piston testing the warmth of the soup.
“Okay.”
Sex Piston was feeding Star her third spoonful when Stud walked in with Meri and Keri by his side.
“I see you’ve met,” Stud said while he and his daughters took their place at the table.
“Yes,” Katy answered, placing bowls of soup in front of each of them. A big plate of cornbread followed with a big plate of club sandwiches.
Katy took her own seat, while Sex Piston continued to feed Star as she ate her own food. When the little girl became restless, Sex Piston handed her a cracker to play with.
“Do you have any children, Sex Piston?” Stud’s aunt asked casually.
“No,” She answered.
“You’re very good with children,” Katy remarked.
“I babysat while I was in high school. I have a lot of cousins who are younger than me.” She shrugged.
“How was school today, girls?” Stud asked, taking another piece of cornbread.
“Good,” Meri said, looking at Sex Piston from underneath her lashes.
“It’s nice of your friend to pick the girls up from school. Now that I’m here with Stud, they can ride the bus. I could pick them up, but I don’t like driving with Star in the car. I get distracted when she gets fussy.”
“It’s no problem. Killyama doesn’t mind,” Sex Piston said, getting up from the table to get paper towels to clean the mess that Star was making with her cracker.
“Kill-ya-ma?” Katy asked with a concerned look.
“She’s great, Aunt Katy. She’s kind of scary, but she’s really nice. She lets us stop on the way home to get an ice cream cone,” Keri said.
“You’re not supposed to tell. She said Aunt Katy might not like us eating ice cream every day,” Meri scolded her sister, concerned she would lose the special treat.
Katy smothered her laughter, her concerned look gone. “Yes, well, it’s not very good for dinner, but I don’t suppose it will hurt if you play for thirty minutes when you both get home instead of watching television.”
Meri and Keri looked glumly at each other while their aunt began to gather the dirty bowls, placing them in the sink.
“I’ll do the dishes,” Sex Piston volunteered.
“That will be a help. I’ll give Star her bath.” Katy carried a fussy Star out of the room.
“We have homework,” Meri said as her and her sister left the kitchen.
“You came earlier than we planned,” Stud stated as he began doing the dishes.
“I finished early at work.”
“You go by the hospital first?”
“Yeah.” Sex Piston wiped down the table then tossed the cloth onto the counter.
“How was Lily?”
“One fucked up mess.” She could still picture Lily’s frozen expression in her mind as she left the hospital surrounded by The Last Riders. Her hand was in a cast that seemed to weigh a ton on the delicate woman.
“Fat Louise?”
“Working it for everything she can. She’s so spoilt she doesn’t want to leave the hospital.” Sex Piston’s expression lightened.
Stud laughed. “You sleeping in her room all night is a little excessive.”
“Fat Louise gets lonely.”
“When would she get lonely with one of you always around.” He placed the dishtowel down on the counter. Sex Piston wiped down the counters while Stud moved the highchair back into the corner.
“You need to find a bigger place now that your aunt has moved in.” Sex Piston watched his reaction from the corner of her eye.
“No need to. My place in West Virginia is big enough for us all,” Stud said, putting the leftover soup into the fridge.
Sex Piston paused after putting the cloth on the counter.
“What are we doing here, Stud?”
Stud looked at her quizzically. “We’re cleaning the kitchen?”
“No.” Beginning to get angry, she pointed first at him then at herself. “Me and you. Where are we going? You said we’re not fuck buddies, yet you intend to go back to West Virginia?”
Stud stared back at her intently until Sex Piston had enough when he remained silent.
“Fuck this.” Spinning around, she was about to leave, but his voice stopped her.
“Sex Piston, I own my home in West Virginia. It’s big enough for all of us. My family and the Blue Horsemen are there, not here.”