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Barters N Garters Library Sometimes I feel I've got to Chapter One As always the yellow rays of the new morning streamed through the window much sooner than Calla ever wanted them too. Raising a hand to her forehead to try and ease the twitching muscle at her right temple and to shield her bloodshot eyes from the light she sat up. Taking one glance at the new day and remembering the night before she flounced down under the covers again with a heavy thud against mattress and box spring while pulling the heavy blankets over her head. The bed was empty. Daniel was angry with her and he’d slept in the guest room last night. The temple that ached dully just a moment ago now only began to pound. “Ohhhh.” Calla groaned and buried her head beneath the pillow. Pulling the covers down just enough so that one green eye could peek from beneath them she glanced at the clock; 8:37 and the alarm had not gone off. That meant it was Sunday. Just as she was about to pull the covers back over that red eye a sound came to her one that made her pulsing pounding temple beat double time. Not only that but this particular sound that put a nasty little shock in the base of her spine. Try as she did to ignore it and the reality it brought with it she just couldn’t. Finally she tossed the covers off, swung her legs over the side of the bed and tried to stand up. Abruptly Calla sat back down gathered herself and waited for the dizziness to subside. Her stomach bubbled and churned, if she didn’t get up quickly… Oh, no…too late…. Her hand came up to her mouth in an effort to keep the vomit down. No good. She puked onto the bedroom floor. The nasty stench of bourbon and vomit rose hotly in the air making her stomach turn again. One more she failed to stop herself and up-chucked another load of liquid onto the green carpet. Daniel will have something to say about that. Calla fell back against the mattress and wanted nothing more than to crawl under the blankets and sleep off the hangover. But that annoying, irritating, gut-wrenching sound wouldn’t let her! Worse still, no one—especially not DANIEL—was doing anything to stop it! “I’m going to kill your father.” She mumbled and planted her feet on the floor right in a steaming puddle of her vomit. “Oh…..just lovely.” Calla complained. “Where the hell is your goddamn father?” Stumbling to her feet and dragging the wet one on the rug to clean it off she fumbled out of the bedroom and down the hall to Lilly’s room. Passing the guest room she gave it a nasty glance but kept on going. Daniel never was one for getting up with the twins when they were infants. No doubt Brigid was hungry and she was shit out of luck since there wasn’t any formula in the house and Calla just wasn’t expressing milk at the moment. Wandering into Lilly’s room she found the pitifully small baby kicking her scrawny legs and crying to beat the band. Other than being hungry she had a full diaper but once again Brigid the Tiny was SOL, Lilly’s diapers were far too big for her. Trying to keep her weak shaking hands under control Calla lifted the premature infant out of the crib. “I suppose it’s nice to meet you, Brigid.” She stuttered and weaved an unsteady path to Lilly’s changing table. Stripping the blanket away from the baby Calla found little Brigid naked beneath except for the besotted diaper on her scrawny tush. “He didn’t even dress you? You must have been cold all night.” With the diaper gone the crying baby she stopped squirming and then she stopped crying, with piercing blue eyes Brigid looked up at Calla and smiled a happy toothless grin. Callas’ heart stopped as she tossed the diaper into the pail. “Stop that. I am not your mother.” She chided. Nimue said that they would have another child sooner than Calla thought, she should have known the old witch was talking in riddles. Grabbing the changing wipes she cleaned off the little baby’s behind and did her best to fasten one of Lilly’s diapers onto her. It was far too big but it would have to suffice. Holding the baby to the table with one hand she bent down and rummaged around in the open drawers beneath grabbing a onesie t-shirt of Lilly’s. Bridgid looked comical in the t-shirt but it was all they had. Her little legs swam in the leg holes and if it wasn’t for the snaps at the crotch surely her tiny head would slip through the head hole and her entire body would just fall of the shirt completely. “For now, this will have to do, when Daniel is out finding you formula and diapers he can get you clothing as well, can’t he? Of course he can. He’s a big boy.” With a big dick that he can’t keep in his pants is what Calla thought but did not say as she wrapped a fresh blanket around the baby and picked the little girl up gingerly. “You’re awfully small, aren’t you?” She asked walking the baby around the room but two passes was all she could mange before sitting down in the rocking chair. “I know you’re hungry. We’ll send your rotten father to the store just as soon as we get his lousy ass out of bed.” She said in a happy voice. The baby wouldn’t understand what she said. Holding the baby in her arms, the little bundle soft and warm, now that she was wearing a new diaper, baby Brigid had that heavenly new baby smell. Calla couldn’t help but stare down into those familiar eyes and as she did she smelled Zeus on Brigid. In fact, Zeus was all over her, he’d given the tiny infant some of his power and energy so that she would live whereas other mortal babies her size probably would not. Calla wondered what Ares had to do or promise to get his Father to help the baby. Surely such a gift wasn’t free. If anyone knew about the enormously high price of Olympian Gifts certainly it was her. That led her to wonder what bargain Daniel struck with Ares to get the baby back here. Certainly it wasn’t one she wanted the details of. Ares must have had other plans for this baby or her Father would have marched himself straight up to her months ago and told her everything about Enya’s pregnancy and baby. Whatever plan he had, Daniel offered him something better. What was it? A cold creep went down her back and she turned away from the thought. With everything else Ares had done of late she was finding it harder and harder to keep forgiving him. Barely finding the strength, Calla pushed her body out of the rocker and carried the tiny baby down the hall to the guest room. With one hand she opened the door to find Daniel sitting bolt upright staring straight ahead and bathed in a heavy sweat. “Are you all right?” Her voice was cold, the question was just that, a mere question without any hint of true concern for his well-being. “What?” Daniel mumbled. “Where’s David?” He shot suddenly. “David?” She returned. “I’m sure I don’t know where your brother is. But here’s your daughter, she’s hungry, why don’t you get up, go to the store and get her some formula? Some clothes would be good. Assorted sundries as well, bottles, diapers and such.” Calla laid the baby in his arms and walked out of the room. “And someone will have to make a doctors’ appointment for her!” raising her voice made her head hurt again. Calla rubbed her fingertips against her temples as she entered the bedroom wanting nothing more than to flop down in her own bed once more. On the floor by the bed was a cooling pool of vomit, “Gross.” Calla stumbled to the bathroom, dug a dirty towel out of the hamper and cleaned up the mess she’d made. The stench was awful, her stomach heaved several times before she was finished. “Disgusting.” Dumping the now dirtier rag into the hamper another, thankfully smaller, bout of nausea hit and Calla threw up whatever was left in her stomach into the toilet bowl. Afterwards she brushed her teeth to get rid of the horrible aftertaste of puke floating around in her mouth. With a heavy heart and killer headache she crawled back under the covers of their bed. A few moments later Daniel was standing in the doorway with the squirming baby in his arms. “What do you want?” She asked him. “I’m too tired to…..” “You mean you’re too hung over to deal with it right now.” Daniel corrected. “Even so, do you think you could just watch her for a few minutes while I jump in the shower? Then I’ll take her with me.” Calla rolled her eyes and let out a huffing groan. “If I came to you and said, ‘Daniel, it’s really not my fault that I’m pregnant with another man’s child, really it isn’t, but I want you to let me have the baby and I want you raise it as your own so we can all be one big happy family.’” She mocked in a wicked tone. “What would you say?” “Yeah, ok, I get it. I’m asking way too much of you. I’m sorry, Cal!” “Just a tad too much, yes, I would think so.” She rolled over on her side and away from him. “Put her in the crib, she’ll be fine while you shower.” Daniel didn’t want to argue with her, most of all he just didn’t have the strength or the presence of mind after that dream. He wandered out into the hall and down to Lilly’s room, Daniel dragged the old bassinet out and back down the hall while holding onto Brigid with one arm. Coming back into the bedroom he looked at the angry red and gray haired lump under the covers. “You don’t mind if I use….” “It’s your house Daniel.” She snapped. “Right.” He laid the baby in the basinet and she started to fuss just as soon as he put her down. “Just be quiet, Brigid, be a good girl for Daddy.” Under the blankets Calla’s body stiffened. “Daddy’ll be out of the shower in a minute.” Daniel promised. “You don’t have to tend her, ok?” She didn’t answer him. “Is this it for us, Cal?” Daniel sat down on the edge of the bed. “Is it over? Our marriage. Is there no getting back to good from here?” “I dunno, you tell me…..Master Daniel. Is that really what you want to do with me?” She asked without turning to look at him. “You and David? You think I’m a horrible unruly woman, a slut, a whore, whose only purpose in life is to please her Master?” Even more than the events of last night that helped to explain her sunny disposition this morning. “You saw it, huh? My dream?” “Answer me. Do you think I still owe you something for Andy and Ares and god knows what else? That I haven’t paid my dues to the Almighty Doctor Daniel Jackson Rescuer of Damsels in Distress Everywhere?” Shit. I hate it when she takes that tone with me! “Kitty, listen…..” “Just fucking answer me! Is that what you want? Is that what you think?” “No,” he mumbled and hoped he wasn’t lying. The dream left him with so many unsettled emotions. “It was just a dream. A terrible dream.” He qualified. “I was angry, I’m still angry with you, Calla. Why did you go to David last night?” “I have more of a right to be angry with you and I told you already, David had answers.” “And I don’t?” “Not these answers.” “Well, what were the goddamn questions?!” “Why don’t you ask your brother when you go and pay him off?” She threw the covers over her head. It was clear he wasn’t going to get anywhere with her just now. “Five minutes,” he mumbled, “I’ll be in the shower five minutes, in that time…..” “If she starts bleeding or something I’ll let you know.” She grumbled from under the blankets. Daniel let out a loud aggravated grunt and stormed off to the master bathroom. The baby didn’t stop fussing. Calla hid her head under the pillows, she stuffed more blankets around her ears and even started to humming to herself. Still, Brigid wailed on. Though she didn’t want to, she kicked the covers off and marched over to the bassinet. “What do you want?” Calla yelled down at the small infant. “What is it???” This, of course, only brought about a series of louder more urgent cries from the helpless baby. “All right, I’m sorry.” She said in a softer voice. “You’re father is an asshole but you’re not, ok, Brig? I know you’re hungry.” The water was running in the shower, Calla reached into the bassinet and picked the baby up. She was still very tired and her head was still pounding, the baby still crying and squirming in her arms wasn’t helping her head in the slightest. If Calla could get the baby to calm down a bit then perhaps her head wouldn’t hurt so much. She took Brigid back to the bed and lay down with her. “I have nothing to feed you, I’m sorry, I don’t know why you’re airhead father didn’t think of…well any of this… before he brought you home, little lady.” There was a possible solution to the immediate problem. Lilly took a bottle. Colleen had bottles of breast milk in the refrigerator for when she was out and someone was babysitting. Was it wrong to give Brigid Lilly’s bottles? Calla didn’t know the answer to that question but she did know that a bottle would stop the little girls’ cries and thereby soothe her own aching head. “Good enough. What do you say we stumble down the stairs and give it a try?” That’s what they did. With the sounds of the shower running at full tilt behind them in the bathroom, Calla took the baby down to the kitchen, holding onto the banister tightly with one hand and onto Brigid a little looser with the other. Lilly’s bouncy chair was in the living room, Calla grabbed it on her way to the kitchen. Putting it on the hard rock maple preparing table, she tried to strap little Brigid into the seat but the baby was so small she slipped through the safety straps. “Well, that’s not going to work, is it?” All right then. Calla reached around behind the baby chair and folded it to more of a laying position, the strap was still too big but at least this way the baby wasn’t likely to slip out of it completely and then onto the cold floor. “Stay right there.” She chided in a soft voice and reached into the fridge for a bottle, taking the nipple off she popped the breast milk into the microwave and fumbled a bottle of ibuprofen from the shelf while it warmed. Behind her little Brigid happily cooed and kicked her scrawny legs. Ding. Four ibuprofens down with a huge glass of ice water—something Calla would never ordinarily touch but her throat was really burning this morning—and just as she went for the bottle the telephone rang. “Be right back.” She said and dashed out to the hallway for the cordless phone, she dashed back to the kitchen making sure Brigid was exactly where she was supposed to be before answering the phone and taking the bottle out of the microwave. She didn’t look at the caller-id first. “Hello.” “Hi, Callie.” Capping the bottle her heart froze and her throat seemed to do the same. “What do you want?” Calla finally forced the words out of her mouth. “Daniel knows I went to see you last night, he’s very upset.” She shook the contents of the bottle onto her wrist making sure it wasn’t too hot. David let out a cackle….”Yeah, I bet he is!” David cleared his throat, he also had a bit of a hangover this morning. “I shouldn’t talk to you.” She whispered and popped the nipple into Brigid’s mouth. The baby sucked on it but then starting pushing it away. “So Danny come home last night from his trip, hey?” David asked ignoring her comment. “How’d dat go?” He was dying to just come right out and ask her if Danny brought any special little packages with him but he didn’t want Calla to know that he knew about Brigid before she did. She wouldn’t like that and if she found the twins knew before her well in that case sweet li’l Callie was likely to hit the roof. Through the phone line he heard a baby crying. “Dat my niece? Dat, Lilly?” There was a logical question and a good way to find out what he wanted to know. “No, this is Daniel’s daughter, Brigid.” She said in a cold voice. “Do you want to talk to him? He’s in the shower. I’m sure he’ll get your money today.” “Nah, he won’t.” David cracked. “It’s Sunday.” So it was. She promised Annie they would go out shopping for a few new outfits for school which began tomorrow. What the hell was wrong with this baby?! Every time Calla put the bottle in her mouth she sucked then pushed it away. “Really, I don’t have the time…” “A’ight, Callie. I just callin’ ta make sure yur doin’ ok.” Doing ok? “Why wouldn’t I?” Other than a pounding headache, dry throat, churning stomach and an unfaithful husband, she was right as rain. “Is it was a dream, den, Callie?” David asked and she heard him light a cigarette. “It wasn’t real?” It was on the tip of her tongue to ask him but she already knew. Not only had she seen it but David had also. “Daniel had a nightmare, that’s all it was, David. It wasn’t real.” “Dat’s sum nightmare, Callie.” He remarked swiftly and drew in a drag of smoke. “Jus’ answer me one question; is he really like dat? Cuz I’m havin’ a hard time seein’ dat in Danny.” Me too. “It’s really not your concern.” Calla told him. Nope it wasn’t and he figured he’d stepped over the line just asking but what the hell. Nothing ventured nothing gained, right? “A’ight, Callie. Looky here, if yew need anything yew jus’ call me, k?” “Oh, yes, I’m very likely to call upon you to help me,” she said in a snide tone. “When Danny gets out of the shower I’ll tell him you called.” Calla didn’t wait she just hung up. “A’ight,” she mocked with her hands on her hips, “just what is your problem?” The baby just cried and then began to wail. Calla tipped the bottle over and shook it. There wasn’t much coming out of the nipple and Brigid’s mouth was just as small as she was. “I know it’s too big, I’m sorry. I promise I will make your father get you everything you need….today.” It wasn’t just that the nipple was overly large for the preemies mouth but, since it was and since not much was coming out of the nipple, Calla figured the baby probably had to expend more energy trying to eat than she was actually receiving from the breast milk. “Just hold on.” Calla opened drawers and rummaged around for something sharp. Finally she hit up a few turkey skewers. “This will do it.” Cleaning it off with hot soapy water and then drying the sharp object well, Calla plunged it through the rubber nipple a few times. When she turned the bottle over again the contents came out in a slow steady stream. “There. Try that.” This time when she put the bottle in the little girls mouth, she greedy and very happily sucked the contents down without turning it away even once. “Good, that’s better, huh?” Calla soothed the little girls’ head with the palm of her hand and then sat down at the table. Upstairs Daniel shut off the water and jumped out of the shower. He was not looking forward to another conversation with Calla but upon exiting the bathroom in nothing but a towel and finding it empty his heart jumped. Where did she take the baby? “Calla?” He called out softly and then looked around the empty room. “Calla?” Daniel left the bedroom securing the towel around his waist and looked in Lilly’s room, empty. Guest room, empty. For some reason that he later hoped he never understood he ran to the nearest window fearing that he would find them outside in the cold and snow. Perhaps Calla was….. He bit the thought off before it could complete in his head and ran down the stairs. “That’s good, isn’t it? Yes, drink up, fill your little belly.” Calla sighed holding the bottle and waiting for her headache to subside but it showed no signs of slowing. At the sound of her voice, pleasant and soothing, he stopped on the stairs and peeked over the banister, he could just about see them in the kitchen. Quiet as a mouse, Daniel crept down the last few steps and then peered around the corner to get a better view of them. Maybe he over reacted. More than that, maybe there was some hope for all of them after all. There she was feeding Brigid and talking calmly to the baby, almost lovingly. Then the sweet little moment of serenity was over, Calla looked up and saw him. “Your brother called.” She threw the cordless telephone more at him than to him. “I imagine he’s looking for his money.” When she stood up Daniel expected the next thing to be tossed at him was either going to be the bottle, the baby, or both. “I’ll finish feeding Brigid in the living room. I expect you will get dressed soon and take her out to get the things she needs. I’m taking Annie out today to get things she needs for school so I can’t baby sit for you.” “Ok,” he mumbled. “I’ll get dressed and take her with me.” Scooping up the baby in her arms she found it very hard to be angry with him. Not when he was standing there dripping wet in nothing but a towel. Almost twenty years together and the site of his warm skin still drove her crazy no matter how pissed off she was. Calla brushed past him on her way to the living room. Once there she conjured up a roaring fire with her mind and then sat in the chair closest to it so that little Brigid would not be cold. Daniel looked at the caller-id and called back the number with Name Unknown and got the front desk of the Motel 6. “David Jackson’s room please.” Just saying his name after so many years was strange it didn’t quite roll off Daniel’s tongue. One, two, three, four, rings. How big is the room? Daniel asked himself. Five. Just as he was about to hang up Davy’s voice came through the line. “You called.” “Hey, Danny. Yeah, I did.” Davy said. “I didn’t call ta talk ta yew. I wanted ta see if Callie’s a’ight.” “Why wouldn’t she be?” Daniel asked with suspicion. “I dunno, cudd be dat dream I had last night. Ya know, da one where yew ‘n me is tearin’ her up good. Callie said yew and her had the same dream.” Holy fuck! Why would Davy see the dream? They weren’t connected. There hadn’t been any ritual between Calla and David. Then again, David and he were twins and twins sometimes were reported to have certain Connections of their own. They experienced weird stuff like that when they were kids a time or two but it had been so damn long since either of them was a part of the others life Daniel just couldn’t say what the deal was here. However, he did wish that if David had to see a dream, that one had not been it. Then again, maybe he saw it because he was in it. “Look, Davy, I gotta go out today, mind if I swing by your room?” “Wot’s dis about?” “Do you mind or not?” David thought about it for a moment. “Nah, ‘s a’ight wit me.” “I’ll see ya in, I don’t know, a little over an hour.” “Ok, hey, Danny! How’d da bomb go over? Yew got Callie takin’ care of that brat a yours?” “Bye, Davy.” Daniel hung up the phone. Quietly he peeked into the living room to watch Calla holding Brigid, gently rocking her back and forth in her arms by the fire. Was she…yes, she was even singing a little lullaby to the baby. With any luck at all, this could go much better than Daniel had originally imagined. Then again he should have realized one very important fact about his wife long before now and that fact was that she was a natural mother. After all, that’s what she was born to be, an OLYMPIAN Mother Goddess, babies and family always did suit her so well. It was all she wanted to be and it seemed it didn’t matter whose baby she mothered just so long as there was one in her arms she was happy. That didn’t mean he should open his stupid mouth and stick his foot in it during this peaceful moment, not at all! However, it gave him a glimmer of hope, a little light at the end of a very dark tunnel. Getting to it would difficult, she was bound to be pissed about this for a long time to come but she wouldn’t take it out on Brigid as he originally feared. That was stupid of him, to think she would ever harm an innocent baby. It was really just ridiculous. “I’m gonna get dressed, I’ll be down in a minute.” “You’ll need something warmer if you’re going to take her outside. AND you need to make a doctor’s appointment for her, Daniel. Babies this small have very special needs.” Calla reminded him then took her eyes away from him to stare back down at the tiny baby in her arms. “Right, I will do that first thing tomorrow.” He promised. “Lilly’s extra car seat is in my car!” Calla called after him as he wound his way up the stairs. “Though I’m not sure you’ll fit in it, little lady.” She added in a much softer voice. “You’re father is an idiot, but I won’t hold it against you, it’s not your fault, Brigid.” The front door opened and in walked Nicholas and Annie. Both of them froze in their tracks at the site of Calla holding Brigid. “What’cha got there?” Nicholas asked in a croaking voice. Geez, that was a stupid thing to say! Oh, Christ, look away from her, if Dad hasn’t told her then she’s gonna know I knew before she did and….. “Nicholas Ares Jackson!” Calla admonished. “Why didn’t you tell me?” Awwwwwwww…….FUCK! “Wanna go out to breakfast, Annie?” “HOLD IT!” Calla bellowed as he tried to lead her to the door. “You just sit right down.” “Ma,” he began cautiously, “I know you’re gonna ask, so yeah, Cole knew too and so did Uncle David.” “WHAT?” The baby jumped and began to cry. She spit up breast milk all over the place. “You’re goddamn uncle knew before I did?” Daniel could hear them screaming from upstairs. Well, so much for the peace and serenity. Yeah, well, couldn’t expect much else, now could I? Nope. That was true, Daniel knew the second she realized that she was the last to know Calla was going to explode. The fact that David knew before she did was royally pissing her off. As he threw the sweater over his head and hurried down the stairs he heard her telling Nicholas to take the baby. “Calla.” “Don’t you talk to me! Don’t you even LOOK at me!” She shoved him hard out of her path and ran up the stairs. “I’m sorry, Dad.” “It’s not your fault, Nick. I should have told her.” Looking at the empty stairs. “I really should have told her.” That was true and he almost did not ten minutes ago but he didn’t want to disrupt the few blissful moments of quiet. “Watch her for a minute? I’m going to go talk to your Mother.” Daniel didn’t wait for a reply he just dashed up the stairs and found Calla crying on their bed. “Kitty?” He said from the doorway. “Go ‘way.” She demanded without looking at him. “All right, I will, I just want you to know one thing, ok? I didn’t tell them before I told you, Nick and Cole told me about Brigid and then Ares confirmed it. I swear to God, I wasn’t trying to hide it from you.” “I don’t believe you.” “I don’t blame you.” He stammered. “I have to go out and get things for her. Promise me you’ll stay here and we’ll talk when I get home.” Calla sat up on the bed, reached over to the nightstand and heaved the clock radio in his direction. “Get out!” Yeah, ok, no need to say it twice. No one had to tell him what was going through her mind or how she felt as Daniel walked away. Everyone had kept a very big secret from her she felt cuckolded and betrayed by those she loved most. Slowly walking down the steps he realized he could understand that and wondered why she should feel any other way. End Chapter One Of This story and all stories in the Barters N Garters Library are copyrighted to Lisa Beth Darling these stories
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Thy Brother's Wife
Parts 1 & 2 Combined
by
Moon Mistress
a/k/a
Lisa Beth Darling
Run away I've got to
Get away
From the pain that you drive into the heart of me
The love we share
Seems to go nowhere
And I've lost my light
For I toss and turn I can't sleep at night
Tainted Love
Soft Cell
Thy Brother's Wife
Continue to
Chapter Two