Seven Words
Written by: Ren
Part 9
Gods!!! How crazy were we??? Kira shook her head at the memory. She couldn’t believe how quickly it had all happened. In just a few short months of knowing this woman, her whole life had changed. It sure was a crazy week we had. Me going back down there…realizing I didn’t want to be away from you…you not wanting to be away from me…and then suddenly deciding to make a major cross county move. I gotta give us credit Morgan…we had guts.
Kira had a gentle smile play across her lips as her fingers once again found their way to the keyboard and began to fly across the keys.
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Morgan had made arrangements to have Dawn and Jem come and stay with the kids. They were in Kira’s truck, headed for Wisconsin. They had Morgan’s son Michael with them. Morgan still couldn’t believe it. She’s really going to do it….isn’t she? Nobody in Morgan’s life had ever done anything close to what Kira was thinking of doing. Nobody had ever cared enough. She’s leaving everything she’s ever known….and she’s doing it for me? How did I get so damn lucky?
Kira glanced over at her quiet companion. Morgan was staring out the window with a strange look on her face.
“Hey…How come so quiet?”
“Huh?” Morgan turned to look at Kira. “Did you say something?”
Kira was concerned. “I asked how come you’re so quiet. Is something bothering you?”
Morgan saw the scared look on Kira’s face and realized she had put it there. “No!” she reached out and gave Kira’s leg a reassuring squeeze. “Nothing’s wrong.”
Kira wasn’t buying it. “You sure?”
“I just can’t believe you’re really going to do this.”
Kira smiled as she reached and took Morgan’s hand in her own. “Believe it. We’re on our way to Wisconsin…we’re gonna pack my stuff…and then I’m yours forever.”
They were suddenly interrupted by Morgan’s cell phone. Morgan laughed. “I bet it’s the kids.”
“Already?” Kira chuckled. “We’ve only been on the road for an hour.”
Morgan looked at her caller ID. It wasn’t one of the kids. Oh shit!!! This isn’t going to go over well. “Um….” Morgan started to say.
“Don’t tell me. I don’t even want to know.” Kira rolled her eyes. “It’s Lynnette isn’t it?”
Lynnette was Morgan’s ex and she was having a really hard time believing that Morgan had moved on. Morgan had told her that she and Kira were together. She just wasn’t getting it. It was the only thing Morgan and Kira had disagreements about. They were small disagreements…and Morgan hoped they stayed that way.
“I don’t have to answer it.” Morgan said hopefully.
“You better answer it or she’ll be calling every five minutes until you do pick up.” Kira responded irritably. That woman is really beginning to get on my nerves. Why does Morgan keep talking to her?
Michael wisely stayed quiet. He knew all about Lynnette and the shit she had pulled. Looks like she was up to her old tricks, but it wasn’t up to him to say anything. It was for his mom to deal with. He hoped she came clean with Kira soon or things were going to get ugly.
Kira kept her eyes firmly on the road as Morgan accepted the call. Morgan let her eyes fall on her partner. Damn it! I know this really bothers her but if I don’t talk to Lynnette I’m gonna have all kinds of hell to pay. Why doesn’t she understand that? She turned her head until she was once again gazing out the window.
“Hello.” Morgan barked into the phone. “Hi Lynnette,” she said more quietly.
“I’m in Kira’s truck. I’m on my way to her place.”
Well at least she told her that much. Kira was angry. Morgan had told Lynnette that they were together, but she hadn’t told her the whole truth about their relationship. It irked Kira a bit. Why doesn’t she just tell her and get it over with?
“Yeah I’m going to visit.” Morgan said. “I’ll be back in a couple of days.”
A visit? Tell her Morgan. Tell her why you’re really going to Wisconsin. To help me move into your house. Tell her. Kira knew it was useless to hope for that much. There was something about Lynnette and Morgan’s relationship that Morgan wasn’t telling her. When she had asked Morgan about it, she had gotten little information. Just that they had been together and that it was over. Well if it’s so over, then why does she keep calling you? She trusted Morgan so she had let it rest, but now, hearing this conversation, she wasn’t so sure about things anymore. I think Morgan and I are going to have to really talk about this whole ‘Lynnette’ thing.
Kira’s thoughts were interrupted by Morgan’s voice. “Yeah I’ll be careful. Love you too. Bye.”
Kira raised an eyebrow and shot Morgan a look. “Love you too?” she said sarcastically.
“She’s still a friend that I care about.” she said defensively. “I love her as a friend. I’ve told you that.”
“Yes, you’ve told me that, but I still don’t understand why you are so…..Oh I don’t know…wrapped up in her and her deluded little world.” Kira shot back.
“I’m not ‘wrapped up’ in her world.” Morgan was getting mad. “She was and still is an important person in my life. I’m not going to let go of the friendship just because her and I aren’t ‘together’ anymore. Her and I were friends long before we became lovers and now we’re back to being friends. I don’t know why this bothers you so much.”
“It bothers me because,” Kira stated hotly, “you won’t tell her the real reason you’re going to Wisconsin. Why won’t you tell her that we are engaged to be married? Can you? I’m beginning to think you can’t.”
How did this turn into an argument??? Morgan sighed. “Look, I don’t want to hurt her by throwing our relationship in her face. Is that such a bad thing?”
Kira pulled her hand away from Morgan‘s and placed it on the steering wheel. “I think it is when you can’t be honest Morgan.” Kira stated flatly. “What is it about her that you’re not telling me?” There I finally said it.
“What do you mean?” Morgan asked carefully.
“There’s something else that I don’t know about isn’t there.? I mean, what kind of hold does she have on you anyway?”
Morgan was surprised…and angry. “There is nothing she has over me. She is a friend, that’s all!” she said vehemently. “I can’t believe it.” Realization dawned on Morgan. She continued with some surprise in her voice now instead of anger. “You’re jealous of her. There’s nothing to be jealous of hon. It’s over between her and I. I’m with you now.” Her voice gentled and she took a deep breath. “I love you with my whole body and soul. I could never love her that way.”
She had to admit it. Morgan was right. “Yeah…I guess I am jealous,” Kira stated. “But can you blame me? Gods Morgan, she’s always calling you and interrupting our time together. It gets irritating, especially when you sit on the phone with her forever.”
Morgan stared down at her empty hand, still resting on Kira’s leg. “I know…I’m sorry.” she said quietly. “You’re right. I shouldn’t spend so much time on the phone with her. I will try to keep our conversations short from now on ok?”
“There’s one more thing I’d like you to do Morgan besides the phone call thing.” Kira stated.
“What’s that?” Morgan asked.
“Tell her the truth Morgan. Simple and to the point. The truth about us and our relationship.” Kira’s voice was flat but firm.
Morgan felt her insides turn inside out. “I can’t do that.” she said weakly.
Kira glared over at her. “Why the hell not?”
“I told you. I don’t want to hurt her.”
“Oh so you hurt me instead?” Kira said sadly. “That’s just great.”
Morgan finally pulled her hand from Kira’s leg and then threw both hands in the air. “I can’t win can I?”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Kira wanted to know.
“Well let’s see. If I don’t tell her, you’re going to be pissed off.” Morgan started. “If I do tell her, that makes you happy and her miserable. That’s it in a nutshell. I can‘t win.”
Both women were quiet for a long time. Kira hated it. She never did like fighting and she realized that she really hated fighting with Morgan. It tore her apart. Ok..she’s gonna keep the calls short and sweet. Lynnette will find out about us in due time anyway. It’s not like Morgan’s going to be able to keep the fact that I’m living with her a secret for long. That way, she’s off the hook with Lynnette. She won’t have to tell her. She’ll find out on her own. Kira sighed. This is what being in a relationship means….compromise. Right?
She broke the silence. “Hey.”
Morgan looked over at her partner. I hope she’s not going to yell at me anymore. “Yeah? What?” she said softly.
“I’m sorry.”
The relief poured from Morgan. Gods I just realized how much I don’t like fighting with her. It hurts. Her eyes grew soft. “I’m sorry too.” she said quietly. “I really will try to keep Lynnette from bugging us too much ok?”
“Fair enough.” Kira said simply. “Are we done fighting now?” she asked hopefully.
That brought a smile to Morgan’s face. “Gods, I sure hope so.” she said as she released the breath she hadn’t realized she was holding in. “I hate fighting.”
Kira smiled back and reached for Morgan’s hand putting it back on her leg and holding it there. “Me too. I say we make a pact right now not to do that anymore.”
“Sounds good to me.”
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It was our first ‘real fight’…but we made it through it without any battle scars. Those came later. Kira cringed a bit and sighed. I’m getting ahead of myself here. Back to the story Kira. She read over what she had written so far. The move. That was sure fun wasn’t it? Kira actually had to laugh. The move was something she wasn’t sure people were going to believe…story or no story. It was definitely something she would never forget. Kira smiled and began typing.
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They were about a hundred miles from Kira’s house when the sleet started.
“Well I guess the guy at the gas station was right. We’re going to hit nasty weather.” Morgan said quietly.
“Yeah….” Kira mumbled. Oh shit. This is just great! A snowstorm. Wonderful. I have precious cargo here and that guy at the station said this was going to be bad. I wonder just how bad it’s going to be?
“Hey…earth to Kira?” Morgan teased.
“Huh? Oh sorry.”
Morgan saw the tense lines on Kira’s face. “Hey…you ok?”
Kira dared a quick glance at Morgan. She didn’t want to worry her but she had to tell her the truth. “No hon, I’m not.” she stated grimly. “We’re headed into some nasty weather. I’m worried about driving us through it.” Even as she spoke the wind was driving the tiny ice pellets into her windshield. She didn’t like it, not one bit.
Morgan reached out and gave Kira’s arm a squeeze. “It’s going to be ok. We trust you. You’ll get us there.”
“Morgan, have you ever seen how bad the weather can get here?” Kira shot out. She didn’t mean to be short but this weather was scaring her. The roads were getting slippery and although she had a truck with 4 wheel drive, she knew that was not enough to stop them from going in the ditch if she didn’t play her cards right. “Of course you haven’t…you’ve never been here.”
“Hey…..it can’t be that bad.” Morgan stared at Kira’s face. She could see how nervous Kira had become. “Can it?” she asked.
“I’m going to be honest with you. It can get very bad. And when I say very bad…I mean just that.” Kira cringed. “I’ve driven in weather like this before, but I’ve never had to worry about passengers, because I didn’t have any. I would never forgive myself if something happened to either one of you. We can stop and get a hotel.”
“Do you think we can make it?” Morgan asked.
“Yeah, I think we can. If we’re careful. It’s gonna be one hell of a long drive though.” she responded slowly.
Morgan looked behind them at her son. “What do you think Michael? You ready for a snowy adventure?” She grinned.
“Hell ya! Let’s do it.” Michael gleefully replied.
“You heard him. Keep going.” Morgan smiled.
“Are you two sure? I mean….” she trailed off.
“We trust you. You’ll get us there.”
Kira shook her head. “You two are crazier than I am!!” She smiled. “Ok, let’s do it then.”
The roads continued to worsen and so did Kira’s mood. She went from being simply nervous to absolutely terrified. They had passed a good many vehicles already in the ditch, including several trucks. The freezing rain had changed to snow and it was hard to see where the road was. To top it off, it was starting to get dark.
Michael called from the back seat, “How much further?”
Morgan answered him. “We’ve still got a ways to go.”
“About 45 miles. In snow and it’s getting dark. Damn it!” Kira snapped.
Morgan had never seen Kira’s mood so dark. It scared her a little. “Hey…it’s going to be ok. We’ve only got a little bit further to go. We’ve done ok so far…”
Kira’s hands were white knuckled on the steering wheel. “We’re traveling no faster than 30-35 miles an hour. It’s gonna take us forever to get there.”
“You want me to drive for a little bit?” Morgan asked gently.
That got a laugh from Kira. “You? Drive my truck in this? Hell no. Sweetheart…I love you dearly, but you’re not used to this kind of weather. I’ll drive thanks.”
Morgan was relieved to see that the light banter had relaxed Kira a tad. She was still white knuckled on the wheel but at least her shoulders had dropped down away from her ears. She decided to keep up the light ribbing.
“Hey, I drive just fine don’t I Michael?” she said in mock defense.
Michael laughed. “Sorry mom, but I have to agree with Kira on this one. You wouldn’t know how to drive in this shit and we both know it.”
Morgan leaned back and playfully swatted at her son. “Traitor!” she growled.
Kira giggled. “Thanks you two. I know what you’re trying to do and I appreciate it. Trust me, I’ll be fine.” She smirked a bit. “Once I get us out of this shit and into a nice warm house.”
It took them another two hours to reach home. Kira was exhausted but she had gotten them there in one piece. They all climbed gratefully out of the truck and into 7 inches of fresh snow.
“Oh shit!!!! That’s cold!!!” Michael screeched. “Where’s the door?”
“What’s the matter Michael? Snow too much for ya?” Kira was laughing as she watched Michael prance around.
“No, it’s not too much for me.” He stated. “It’s just that I don’t have any socks on and my ankles are freezing.” he said with a sheepish grin.
Morgan rolled her eyes. “You don’t have any socks on? You goon! Why not?”
“I didn’t think I’d be getting out of the truck into all this damn snow!” he grinned.
Morgan looked over to where Kira was patiently standing. There was a look on Kira’s face she knew all too well.
“What are you thinking about Kira?” she asked hesitantly.
“Oh nothing really…” she replied innocently.
“Uh huh. Right.”
“No, really. I’m not THINKING of anything right now…” An impish grin appeared on her face.
Morgan glanced over at Michael. “If you never listen to another word I say son, listen to me now. RUN!!”
“Wh….” He was interrupted by the sudden appearance of something very cold and very wet hitting his face.
“Whoops!” Kira cringed. “Sorry ‘bout that. Guess my aim is a little off.”
“See?” Morgan laughed. “You should have listened to me.”
Michael wiped the snow from his face. “You think that’s funny huh mom?” He bent over and scooped some snow up into his hands. He was grinning from ear to ear.
Morgan saw the look on his face and started backing away. “Well, I did tell you to…”
Splat! The snowball caught Morgan on the side of her head.
“Ooooh…I’m going to get you for that!”
And the fight was on. Snowballs started flying furiously around the parking lot. Kira stood back and watched the two go at it. She loved watching Morgan move. She moves so gracefully… A snowball took Morgan in the back. Even when getting pelted by snowballs. Kira laughed out loud.
The two snow covered forms stopped in mid throw. They looked at each other and turned their attentions to the laughing form.
Kira saw them both turn towards her, arms raised, ready to launch. “Um….C’mon you guys…You wouldn’t.” She started backing away. “You wouldn’t?” she repeated. She turned and ran.
Morgan yelled, “Get her!”
“Noooooo!” Kira yelled playfully. Two snowballs found their mark.
“I guess you would.” Kira said through her laughter.
They weren’t done with her yet. Morgan came at her in a dead run and tackled her. They landed in a tangled heap. You couldn’t tell where the snow ended and they began. Morgan was laying on top of Kira and was helping her brush the snow off her face. She was suddenly overcome with the love she felt for the smaller woman.
“I love you.” she said gently.
Kira brushed some snow from Morgan’s dark hair. “I love you too.”
Morgan’s lips found Kira’s and for a moment neither of them cared that they were laying in a pile of cold, wet snow.
Michael’s voice brought them back. “Can we go in now? It’s really getting cold out here.”
Morgan pushed herself up and held a hand out. “C’mon, let’s go inside shall we?”
Kira smiled and grabbed Morgan‘s hand. “Works for me.”
They helped each other brush off the snow clinging to them, grabbed their things from the truck, and headed into the house.
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Kira chuckled. That had been a memorable drive. One she didn’t care to repeat, not in this lifetime anyway, but they had made it. She remembered their faces, flushed from their exertions and the cold, the look of love on Morgan’s face when she had kissed her in the snow. I’d give anything to have that back. Wouldn’t I?
Move on Kira! People want to know what happened next. Yeah…ok…damn noisy muse. Kira took a minute to gather her thoughts. She smiled. Well if they liked the snowball fight, they should really get a kick out of what happened next. Kira wasn’t sure SHE believed it. Only in the movies right? Yeah right.
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Hey folks...yeah it's me again. <grin> Could you, if you happen to get a moment, take some time and let me know if you are enjoying the story? You can find me at [email protected] Thanks so much for taking the time to read my story!!!!!!