Hannah's Hope

Chapter 3 – Plans?

Chapter 3 – Plans?Mel

Sunday Evening, February 15th

While I showered, Dana leaned against the bathroom sink. It was the first chance we’d had to talk alone all day.

“I’m afraid,” I said, “that Katie’s baby was fathered by a family member.”

“Really?”

“Unfortunately, there are known incest problems inside the Amish community around here. They’re such a pacifist, peace loving Order to the outside world but, inside, a lot of their young women are sexually abused.”

“Do you think that’s why she’s unwilling to name the father and why she’s so scared?”

“It’s the only thing that really makes sense. Think about it; Why or why else would the father be after her, trying to take Jef? If this was really about shunning and he went back into that community with that baby, with or without her, he’d be shunned too.” I tossed my head around in the spray, trying to get the shampoo out. Dana was quiet. “Are you still out there?”

“Yeah, just thinking. She doesn’t have anywhere else to go Mel. She’s like Hannah when she first left that life. She has no education, few skills and no money and, she’s just so naive.” She echoed my previous thoughts. “We can’t just send her off anywhere. It’s rough out there for anyone but for her...”

“We didn’t get to discuss it,” I interrupted. “How do you feel about them being here, possibly long term?” I worked in conditioner and waited, holding my breath.

“We have the room.”

After blowing the air out, I said, “That’s not what I asked.”

“Mel, I’m not going to turn her out on the street.”

“But you’d rather they went somewhere else?”

“No; not at all. This is the best thing for them. It was a parade of the entire family over here today. Everyone’s excited and wants to help. Hell, I think Beth thinks she gained a sister and a baby brother. No question, she’ll get all the help she needs here.”

“You just sound so unsure...”

“Okay...honestly? Having a teenager around, I have no issue with but having a baby around scares me, personally, to death. I’ve never been around babies. Nate and I put our careers first and then...well, I’m with you now so there’s that. And, we lived in Chicago when Nicco and Jenny had Shannon back in Pittsburgh. I saw her twice before she was out of diapers.”

“Did you want kids; I mean, when you were with Nate?”

“Yeah...I...we talked about it but it was first things first with us. He was in law school and then trying to get his career started and I was on the road a lot with Young doing consulting and such. The timing just wasn’t right.” She waved a hand dismissively. “I’ll adjust. I mean, we’ll figure it out. What about you though? I mean...I don’t know...do you, er, did you ever want kids?”

“It’s been different for me babe. Beth and Cole have always been right here and J.D. was never around. Kris and I and my folks raised them. Before you, my whole world revolved around those two kids.” I grimaced to myself. “You see that a lot of it still does.”

“I get that but now that gives me another thing to worry about. How do you think they’ll handle it with Katie here for what could be months or years even and a baby that everyone fawns over? I mean, Katie’s barely older than them.”

“Beth will be just fine. My concern is with Cole falling for Katie. She’s adorable and as naïve as he is. Now though, He’s 16 and he’s starting to take a lot of interest in girls.”

“Huh,” Dana said. “I hadn’t thought of that. There’s the potential for a mess there.” We both laughed a little uneasily.

I turned off the water, slid the curtain aside and reached out for my towel. Dana, who would normally try to take advantage of my dripping wet, slightly vulnerable state to mess with me, was staring past me, lost in thought. “Penny for them,” I asked her.

“It is what it is babe. I’ll talk to Katie and Hannah tomorrow but especially Hannah and find out what she did to get set up to finish high school and we’ll get Katie going on that. She’ll need to do at least that much to have any hope of ever making a life for herself and Jef. And, maybe for now, she can help out in the store or on the farm or something.”

I nodded. “We have plenty of time to talk about all of that and work it all out.”

I tried to slide into bed and snuggle Dana the same way I always do but I couldn’t get situated. My sweats were binding me in the crease where my pelvis met my thigh. I flopped around a bit as I tried to rearrange the pants. Dana just laughed.

“Stop; it’s not funny. I’m not used to wearing clothes to bed anymore.”

“You don’t have to, you know?”

“It just wouldn’t feel right. I didn’t sleep nude when I lived with Kris and the kids either. You never knew when one or the other of them would be up in the night.”

“So, you’re going to dress like a mummy every night for as long as they’re here?”

“I don’t know. I suppose so or, at least until it warms up.”

“What about...you know?” Dana’s cheeks colored just a little bit.

“What about it?”

“Mel? Seriously?”

“Seriously what?” I was teasing her.

“We’re not going to have s*x for as long as we have house guests?”

“Probably not for a while. You can go without it for a few months or so. It will do you good...builds character,” I teased.

“Character my ass,” she snarled back at me. “I’m not going months, or even weeks, for that matter.”

“You know, if you could be quiet during s*x, it wouldn’t be a problem.”

“I’m not loud.”

I guffawed at that.

“I’m not!”

“Yes you are. You moan and moan and, quite frankly, sometimes you’re a screamer.”

“Oh, I am not!”

“Are too.”

“I can be really quiet.” She lowered her voice to tell me that but I wasn’t buying it.

“No you can’t.”

“Yes I can and I’ll prove it.”

“How?”

“Let’s go hot shot. Give me all you got. You won’t get a peep out of me.”

“Yeah right!”

“Is the big bad Sheriff lady afraid of little old me?”

“Don’t even try it. You’re not going to con me into it.”

Dana knows just what buttons to push. She knows I usually can’t back down from a challenge but I vowed to myself that I was going to stand my ground on this one.

She had other ideas. She reached over her head, flipped a pillow to stand vertically and then slid her body up into more of a sitting up position than she had been in letting the sheet that had been covering her bare breasts fall away. They were creamy white and her n*****s were hard and perky already.

“You play dirty.” I moved to raise the sheet. She grabbed my hand and stopped me.

“Can’t take it, baby?”

My lips felt dry. I licked them and tried to look away. She let go of my hand and raised the hand that had held it to my face.

Turning me back to look at her she whispered, “I want you now.”

“Babe,” I pleaded, “they can’t possibly even be asleep yet.”

“They’ll never hear us. That’s a promise.”

We made love and she managed to stay pretty quiet, but the bite marks on my shoulder were going to be hard to explain if anyone ever saw them.