Sorry about the wait...
I was still in shock. Despite the passing of several month since my daughters were born, they were still the first thing on my mind, and each time I saw their faces I knew could never deserve something like this. It was absolute pure love, unconditional and inimitable. Along with love came concern, or maybe fear is more accurate. Constant fear loomed around me that anything could happen to hurt them. Luckily, I had so many amazing women with me to make sure my angelic daughters received the best parenting a child could ask for.
My sister Elizabeth gave birth to our darling Emily, and my mother gave birth to our beloved twins Jane and Jennifer, all three born mere minutes apart. Sally and Amanda, my aunt and cousin, were both beautifully pregnant and helping with the babies that had already arrived. The prior mothers were already quite experienced, though clearly Elizabeth and Amanda had inherited their motherly instincts.
The former lesbians Trisha and Karen had since moved in, glowingly pregnant themselves and excited for the gift of motherhood they did not think they would ever receive. They too were a great help for the babies who had already arrived, so despite my overall lack of fatherly instincts, the little ones never experienced a moment without attention and affection.
On that particular morning Sally and Amanda dealt the doting as everyone else was getting ready for work. I was excited as buzz around the office suggested big news for the company. Our team, consisting of Elizabeth and myself alongside the lesbo duo, typically took care of data entry under the leadership of our bitch-in-recovery boss Martha. Recently, however, I had been moved to handle certain side projects to help facilitate the expansions the company made to handle the surging growth of business.
Rumor had it that there would be a big announcement today, so my excitement was by no means unique. We piled into the minivan we had recently purchased and drove off. Elizabeth and mom were not pregnant at this point, as we had been taking precautions against having even more kids so soon. We still planned to have more of course, but we sought to ensure we had the time and space to accommodate all of them.
We pulled up and darted inside, gathering in the auditorium with the other employees. The owner of the company stepped up to the lectern and gave us a bright smile. Mrs. Gertrude Moody was an elderly woman with short gray hair and no shortage of wrinkles. She wore clothes that would only look in place in old silent movies, and she was well known as a shrewd business woman. Despite this, any time I spoke with her she had a warm grandma-like demeanor.
"Thank you for joining me today, and thank you for your hard work that has made this company what it is." She went on for a bit about the particulars of our hard work and the growth of the company, and how the few dozen employees currently working here would eventually be joined by hundreds or even thousands more. "It really is all thanks to you, and I believe that actions mean more than words, so rather than just telling you how much your work means to me, I'd like to show you.
"The specific amounts for each person will be delivered privately later on, but I am happy to announce that every person in this room will receive a raise!" Cheers rang throughout the room, then she continued. "Many of you will also receive promotions in the coming weeks and months as we hire more employees who will need training and leadership." More cheers rang out. "Finally, I'm sending each team on an all-expenses-paid beach vacation!" Once again applause and cheers filled the room. While I was elated hearing all the good news, I was also concerned about how our vacation would go with Martha present.
As the presentation ended and we all went back to our workroom Martha said she wanted to talk with us. I was afraid of what she might say even though she was overall better behaved since I confronted her, but she still slipped sometimes and said some seriously bitchy shit. I was afraid she might say that Karen and Trisha should not feel too excited as their lackluster performance certainly did not contribute to the growth of the company. It definitely felt like something she would say. I crossed my fingers as Martha started.
"I wanted to let you know, Mrs. Moody is one-hundred percent correct. Everyone has done a great job in these last few months. I'm really proud of all of you. I haven't been the best boss, but even despite that each of you have gone above and beyond. Trisha, Karen, I've always said the worst stuff about you and never gave you the help you needed to grow. Thankfully Ray and Elizabeth gave you the help I should have been giving you, and now you're model employees. I wanted you to know I'm sorry I let you down."
I noticed Trisha was pale and jittering anxiously, then she suddenly dropped her bottle of water on the floor and started crying. I hurried to her side, "Are you okay?"
"No I'm fine!" Trisha sputtered, "Maybe it was all too much to hear at once. It really is good news! And Martha saying all that... I just got emotional."
I rubbed her shoulders to help her calm down as Karen said, "Yeah, thank you Martha, we accept your apology." Karen paused and sighed, as if she was thinking about her next words carefully. I thought she might tell Martha never mind, one little apology does not mean much and it's too little too late. To my surprise, Karen's next words had nothing to do with Martha. "I'm not sure we should go on a trip like this while we're pregnant. Might not be good for the babies."
"I think it should be fine," I replied, "I've never heard anything like that before. And both of you deserve to go more than anyone."
Elizabeth cut in, "She's right Ray, it's probably for the best that they skip out on the trip. We'll miss you for sure, but we aren't going to be upset if you can't go."
Trisha mouthed a thank you, and to be honest I had no idea what was going on in her head. I knew my sister well, though, and I could tell she had picked up on something that I missed, so I did not press the issue further as Karen addressed Martha.
"I really do appreciate what you said. I know you've been trying hard to treat us better. Since we have five tickets for the vacation and the two of us are going to miss out, would you like to invite your sisters to go instead? I know they're still working hard at college and I'm sure they need a break."
Martha looked shocked, I guess she did not know what to say, so she started crying and hugged Karen. I almost brought up the fact that one of Martha's sisters was pregnant, so if that is the reason Karen and Trisha cannot go, then she probably will not be able to go either. As soon as my lips parted, Elizabeth gently stepped on my foot, so I just shut up and let the two embrace in peace.
A few hours later, I was called to meet with Mrs. Gertrude in her office. The girls all giggled and suggested that I must be in trouble. I started to get worried, but my fears were quickly abated. I returned to announce that I was being promoted. Over the next couple of hours everybody got pulled one by one, coming back to report they got the figures on how much their raise would be. The rest of the day was rather unproductive as everyone was much too distracted by all of the good news.
As we were leaving work for the day, Elizabeth found a moment to speak in private as we ambled out towards the car. "Serious congrats on the promotion bro. With all the good work you've done on those side projects while keeping up with your normal work, you definitely earned it."
"Thanks sis, I think you deserve one too." I replied.
"Actually, she did offer me a promotion. I didn't want to take up a ton of new responsibility right now with all the babies. Not to mention we have more on the way."
"That makes sense. I was wondering why they didn't give you one. I think it's smart to focus on what's important to you."
"Yep, plus I don't need to work my way up anyway. That's your job Mr. Breadwinner!"
"Fair enough, I'll do my best!" I smiled and posed with flexed arms, eliciting a giggle from Elizabeth. "By the way, what was going on this morning? You know, with Karen, Trish, and Martha. I don't get why they can't go because of the pregnancies. I mean one of Martha's sisters is pregnant too and nobody brought up that she can't go."
"Haha Ray, you really didn't pick up on what was going on, did you?" Elizabeth teased.
"So you knew everything?"
"Not everything, at least not at the time, but I could tell she had a different reason, and she really didn't want to go. I spoke with Karen in private during lunch and it turns out Trisha is super scared of the ocean. She doesn't want to go anywhere near it."
"Why the random excuse?"
"She's embarrassed about it. She's so cute!"
"Well what about all the hugging and crying?"
