Katie sighed. A week. A whole fucking week of Chance and Chase. On the one hand, it had been wonderful having four extra hands to manage everything. They were especially good at 'policing the perimeter' as they called setting boundaries for her mother's clients. If her mother was not doing well, they had no problem merely saying, "Another time, dude."
Even when Joy did feel up to visitors, the two hulking brutes always stood just outside the doorway with massive arms crossed over those spectacular chests. One look would send even the most devoted groupie scurrying like a cockroach when the lights came on. They were also surprisingly well house trained. They cooked, cleaned, and generally looked after the two women.
The one thing that she refused to allow them to do was to take over the primary care for her mother. Katie had become increasingly territorial about maintaining her vigil at the woman's bedside as she felt what precious time she had with her mother slipping away. Even when the hospice nurse Melody came, she usually remained by her mother's side.
But that was all right. What else did she have to do? The school was out for the summer anyway. Sleep? Was highly overrated. Especially, as every time she closed her eyes, it was futile, naughty fantasies of them. So other than a brief shower break each morning after coffee, Katie stayed glued to her mother's side.
"Katy-did, how about we go for a walk after dinner?" Chance asked from the doorway.
How could the man, men, both of them, looking so fucking hot in nothing more than jeans and black t-shirts. It seemed to be all they ever wore though. But it perfectly accentuated the almost shoulder-length hair that curled about their chiseled faces and the deep blue of those eyes.
Damn it; she might need an extra shower today. Either a cold one or a bit longer to...take care of business as her sexually enlightened mother had always called it. The sexual frustration of just being around these two was enough to drive any woman to a Hitachi.
She smiled and shook her head as she whispered, "Maybe another time. Thanks."
"Go dear, I promise I won't die while you are gone," her mother laughed weakly.
Katie frowned at her mother's attempt at macabre humor, "That was not funny, Mom."
Her mother shook her head that still had more blonde hair, like her own, than grey. How could this be happening? Her mother was only fifty-three. She should have had another twenty years with her at least. Weddings and grandchildren, Christmases and anniversaries, too many milestones that she would miss. She fought back the tears once more. How would she survive without her?
She could see that her mother tapped into her waning energy reserves to lift her hand and brush away her tears. "I taught you better than that, Kaitlin. When life gives us lemons, we make lemonade, lemon meringue pie, and tarts. We are the only ones that determine our Fates. And yours has always been to be a light in this dark world. So, no more hiding under bushels, beautiful."
Her mother's lips were turning whiter with each word. She knew the pain that each breath took now that cancer had reached her mother's lungs. Ironic that she, who had never smoked, never polluted her body with such things would die of lung cancer. Although the tumor growing larger by the day in her head might beat it to the final knock-out punch.
"Chance, put my daughter to bed. She is so tired that she has lost not only all perspective but her sense of humor as well," her mother tried her best to smile, but her own light was dwindling too fast.
Katie swallowed the lump in her throat as she shook her head, "No, Mom, I'm fine. I get enough sleep here next to you."
Joy chuckled, "Did you hear me say anything about sleep? I told him to put you to bed. The damned things have more than one purpose you know."
"Mother," she scolded with a blush. Then again what else did she expect from the woman upon whom a writer friend had modeled the outrageous sex-therapist, yoga diva mother-in-law for one of Hollywood's most popular comedy movies?
Katie had even gotten to meet the famous singer and actress cast for the role. The woman was a method actor and spent hours sipping herb tea and laughing in this very house. The place held so many memories, she thought.
As if her mother had read her earlier thoughts, "Don't mother me. When was the last time you took care of business, young lady?"
Katie blushed so deeply that she feared she might burst into flames, especially since she knew damned good and well that Chance knew exactly what her mother was talking about.
This woman had taken it upon herself to fill in all the gaps that busy or uptight parents and public school health classes missed with her daughter's friends. It did not help though that she could hear the low and partially stifled laughter behind her.
"Have you forgotten how, sweetie? Or why? You know how important it is to keep the sacral chakra open. Without your second chakra, your life force and energy cannot flow upwards. You become blocked, your whole life constipated, dear. You know that is not the legacy I want for you."
