Page 72 of The Dom with the Kink Monsters

Now she waited, like she always did, for the door to open and her life to walk in again. Not being able to greet Master properly was irksome and the feeling gnawed at her. He didn’t expect it of her, but it was their way. All of this made her re-examine what they did together. There had never been any question in her mind that they’d eventually have children, but having Spider with them showed her how it would be impossible to maintain their current way of life. She had to watch how she addressed him in front of the child, she couldn’t kneel, she wore clothes all day – the worst was having no sex at lunch. It was dreadful.

But the boy, himself, was sweet, if a bit odd. He was too old for his age, and too concerned with things he shouldn’t be thinking of. Spider often went into the pantry, browsing through the cans and suggesting what he could make for supper. He knew how to use the can opener, and was tidy when he did things like pouring his own milk and cereal. When he was done he insisted on washing his own dishes. Shouldn’t a child his age be relatively irresponsible? Before they went out, he would open the front door and look outside so he could decide whether he should bring a jacket. He was always surprised when Saya made recommendations about his clothing and thought it was odd when she explained she would be making supper for them every night.

The key turned in the lock and her heart hammered in her chest. A need to be kneeling in her place drove her anxiety through the roof. She ran to the door and stoodwhere she usually knelt, her hands twisting together. Master entered, kissed her lips and winked. He didn’t look angry, of course, but she was disappointed in herself for not coming up with another way to greet him that wouldn’t look peculiar to a child. Master’s Uncle Donny walked in on his heels, hugged her and kissed the top of her head.

“Will you stay for supper, Uncle Donny?”

“No, Saya. I just dropped by to see Bronwyn’s little guy. I’ve never seen him other than in Christmas cards, and she didn’t send one last year.”

Ramsay looked over Spider’s work and preened. “Those are excellent S’s.”

“Some of them are backward, but I never know that will happen until they come out of my pencil.”

“Writing gets easier, Spider. You just need practice. We all have to practice something.” He tousled the boy’s hair. “This is our Uncle Donny. He’s your grandma’s brother.”

Spider eyed him and grinned. “Your eyebrows look like hungry caterpillars.”

“You don’t say!” Donny said incredulously.

Master’s laugh boomed in the small apartment, making Spider look wary. He went on anyway.

“They’re funny. I hope I have eyebrows like yours when I’m an old man.”

Uncle Donny patted the boy on the head and looked at Master wistfully. “I wish your Aunt Emma and I had some grandkids, but I don’t know if it’ll ever happen. Jenny is so busy being a lawyer that having a family hasn’t been a priority for her. Don’t get me wrong – I couldn’t be more proud of her – but proud doesn’t make you laugh like this.”

“It’s too bad Mom doesn’t live closer to Bronwyn. She’s so busy with the boyfriend, though, that even if she lived next door she probably wouldn’t have time to help out.” Ramsay grimaced. “I’m a fine one to talk, though. First time I ever laid eyes on him was the day before yesterday.”

Saya washed some fruit and cut it up, then brought it to Spider in a bowl with a little fork. He’d started coloring and wasn’t paying any attention to the adult conversation.

“Well, this will be a good time to get to know each other, then. It’s nice that Auntie Saya is home to watch him. If you two need a sitter while he’s here, you let us know. It’d be fun to have him running around our place, and I know you probably have practices and shows lining up for that heavy metal thing you’re doing.”

“Thanks, Donny.” He offered the man a soda, which was declined. “Hey, what’s going on with the upstairs apartment? Did that woman ever pay the back rent she owed you?”

“Nope. She called a few days ago and told me she wasn’t coming back and didn’t have the money to pay me. I have to go in and see if anything needs doing before I put it back up for rent.” He sucked at his teeth. “Never saw her move much in there, so I’m guessing it won’t be long before I can list it again. I’ve never been able to rent that place long. It’s a shame – nice apartment, but the location is shit... er... unpopular. Are you sure you two don’t want it? I know you said it’s too big for you, but there’s three bedrooms. It could come in handy when you decide to have your own rugrats. I’ll give you a deal just so I don’t have to keep trying to find responsible tenants. Give me a hundred dollars more a month to cover the bills and I’ll let you have the whole building to yourselves. Saya could have her dance studio downstairs or you could set up your band equipment.”

“A hundred more? That’ll barely pay the utilities.”

Uncle Donny rolled his eyes. “I don’t really need the money for anything. The shop is booming, Aunt Emma makes good money at the hospital, we have no grandkids to spoil. You’d be ridding me of a hassle, really.”

Master settled in his chair and Saya was disappointed she couldn’t sit in his lap or kneel at his feet like she usually did. “You’re crazy. We’ll take it if you’re serious, but talk it over with Aunt Emma first and make sure you’re not going to end up in the doghouse.”

“Just because Saya wears the pants inyourrelationship doesn’t mean that life is the same for other men.” He winked at Saya. “She’s quiet, but I can tell who’s really in charge.”

She blushed, knowing that he heard more than he wanted to with his garage so close to their house. If he only knew what kind of naughty pictures Master had taken of her last night. He’d suddenly decided her nightgown was an article of clothing that deserved to be defiled, and he’d put her in all sorts of compromising positions with it yanked up or unbuttoned and falling off her shoulder. Dirty, dirty man.

Uncle Donny left and Master sat to color with Spider. They chatted while he had his snack. Spider told him all about his day, enthusiastic about their trip to the park.

“Too bad there were no big kids there. They were all babies.”

“Most almost four-year-olds are at preschool at that time of day. Maybe we can go again after dinner to see if bigger kids are around. Would that be cool?”

“Yes, cool.” Spider smiled broadly.

Master flipped on the television and quickly changed the channel off of the news. “He doesn’t need to see that,” he murmured to Saya.

“Kids’ shows are on channel sixteen.”

He flipped to the channel and seemed content with the puppets that were dancing around the screen. Spider’s gaze drifted over at the noise and he was quickly very engaged in the song about how to brush your teeth.

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