Not bound by honey

Two pairs of feet are pitter pattering along my hallway. My thoughts are all over the place, thinking back of me and my husbands history, our trips across the world all the places in this house where we went down on each other, yet I am still managing to start a bath. I lean down and stir the water here and there, thinking about his touch, his caresses whilst opening and closing the left and right faucets, waiting for it to be just the right temperature. My daughter comes crashing into me, trying to take cover from her little brother’s terrorism. Frustrated, he tries to wedge himself between us to get her loose. We all tumble down and start laughing. Suddenly he realises he must be a bit more careful with me. “Mom, are you okay? Did I hurt the baby?” Seven months along, I wobble back to my feet. “No worries, Timothy. We are just fine.” Jocelyn makes a break for it and darts to her room, but long gone are the days when she can outrun her brother. I take a deep breath and salvag

Joce is doing amazing and of course Tim has no problem obliging her. The next moment we find ourselves passing a familiar home with a familiar face standing by the driveway.Little Blake. He and his sister are Joce and Tim’s best friends.“Morning, Blake. It is kind of you to join.”Blake is a handsome young fella, which I have tried to point out to Jocie. She just rolls her eyes and tells me she knows, but at least he will not break her heart because they will always be best friends, unlike girlfriends who come and go. Who is going to tell her that it is more complicated than that?Blake, running backwards, taps Joce on the head. “Auntie Rae, it is not kindness. How is Jocelyn going to beat her record if she cannot even beat me?”Joce, infuriated, pounces for Blake and we all share a laugh.“You coming, Tim? I still need to give you a note from Hailey. She said she is sorry she could not make it, but she forgot to do her reading and my mom refused to sign her book after Mrs Shields’

Ally and I have found a new rhythm in the past few weeks, although we have always been close. It is very rare to stay in the same street as your best friend, and we take full advantage of it.Joce and Blake do their runs and have breakfast with me, and Tim and Hailey do their reading with her. I take the two older kids with me and she takes the two younger ones. Once we get to school, we as moms decide where we go first. Sometimes we have pit stops in town. We split up and get things for each other. That way I can go to the hardware store and skip the grocery store, and vice versa. Sometimes we have time to do everything together and stop somewhere for coffee. Or we end up at each other’s homes and have coffee there. Sometimes we walk back and forth between our houses up to six times, cooking, doing chores, and getting to the admin for our jobs.Ally runs a décor business and seven factories. She employs anyone with a disability or a disadvantage in life. Her factories produce décor i

Ally encouraged me to lie down after our moment in Chris’s office. She woke me up around half past one, with the kids’ lunch packed and even the laundry organized and folded. “Rachel, do you need to prep for today’s meeting?” Staring at the clock, it dawned on me that I might be seeing him for the first time in over four months. As if reading my mind, Ally added, “Not that you don’t always look stunning, but this pregnancy is giving you a glow. Never mind your hair, it’s like it’s ready for a shampoo commercial. You’re so lucky to have such a beautiful natural blond.” Flattered and shaken, I could only respond in kind, “Thanks Ally. I was just starting to pick myself up, but today was a blow. Does it look like I’ve been crying all day?” Ally shook her head, brushing my hair. “No, my dear, you look well rested.” This far along, dresses are all that work for me. I’m bustier than usual, and the only one that felt appropriate was a flowing dress with ruffle straps. “Oh yes, go

She looked stunning in that dress but I swear she wore it on purpose. We have history in that dress. I remember inviting her to one of my documentaries opening nights. We went shopping together and Rachel locked her eyes on it. Without her even putting it on I knew I did not want us to buy it, no one would bat an eye on my work, they would all be transfixed on her. We had a massive fight, and I still remember the playful challenging look that she gave me, toying with me. That day we got home, she waited for the garage door to close and told me that she just wants to put it on one last time, if I still didn’t like it she would let me take it back and choose a dress for her. I knew it was a bad idea, she needs to wear nothing underneath, as it has its own built in system. I guess thats an incentive for her, my wife has always hated underwear. I remember seeing her beautiful body while she was getting dressed and I almost gave in and didn’t want to let her even get into the dress. By then