Scraps - A Life Worth Living

If there was one thing that Emily Frazier was absolutely sure of, it was that she never wanted children. They were gross and smelly and caused all kinds of messes everywhere. Not to mention how much it cost to raise one of those things. Diapers alone were outrageously priced. 

That was before though. A different life than she was leading now. Before she met Rebecca, before she became Emily Knox, and much, much further before the tiny boys that were her whole heart. 

Emily watched on from the steps of the back deck as Rebecca pushed their sons Maxson and Marcus -- or Max and Marc, as they were more commonly known as -- on the swing set in the backyard. Her wife alternated between pushing one boy and then the other in a steady rhythm, back and forth. The boys' identical white blonde hair blew wildly from the force of the swing, and they both laughed hysterically in similar -- and yet distinctively different -- squeals of laughter. 

Emily chuckled, imagining that this was as much of a parental workout as a physical one for Rebecca. Which was most likely the exact point in Rebecca's mind when she thought of this exercise. My wife does love taking down a flock with a single stone when it's possible, Emily thought as another chuckle escaped her. 

Emily took a small sip from the steaming mug of coffee she had brought with her and let out a content hum. She really did have a good life now. One that her younger self wouldn't be able to believe in, let alone comprehend. 

That girl didn't understand anything, Emily thought a tad too aggressively for her own liking. She wasn't fond of thinking of that girl she once was though. There was too much hate in her heart then. So much she was so blinded by it… 

Emily's green eyes lifted from her mug as she shook off these negative thoughts. There was no place for them here, on this chill spring morning, where all was right with her little family. That girl was a million miles away, locked up somewhere with the evil counterpart that used to inhabit her wife, surely. 

“Hey, Emmy!”

Speak of the devil… Emily thought sarcastically and looked up to meet Rebecca's eyes with a touch of a grin. 

“Yeah?” Emily shouted back and took one more deep swig from her coffee. Something told her she would be leaving it soon, so she needed to pull out as much caffeine as she could now. 

“You wanna give me a hand?” Rebecca's asked, pitifully rubbing her right shoulder in between pushing the boys with her left hand. “I'm getting a little sore over here.”

Emily laughed and shook her head as she deposited her cup on the deck and stood up from her spot. Knew I would have to get up soon, she thought, rather smugly, to herself. Despite her snarky inner thoughts, it didn't mean that Emily was at all adverse to helping Rebecca in the slightest. In fact, she loved when she got to be mommy. 

“What can I do for you, dear?” Emily asked her wife as she came to stand next to the tall brunette. 

Emily knew exactly what Rebecca wanted from her, but if she didn't poke Rebecca's buttons a little, what fun was life? 

Rebecca lifted her chin to the swing in front of Emily. “Push Marc for a bit?” she asked with a low desperation clinging to her voice. 

Emily flicked her gaze to her pathetic wife where Rebecca's big brown eyes were pleading with her to just do as she asked and not make anything difficult. Oh, but I want to… So, so bad… In the end Emily just smiled a little wider and leaned up to kiss Rebecca on the cheek, before taking over pushing their son in the swing set. 

Rebecca let out a sigh of relief and threw Emily a grateful smile. “Thank you, babe.”

“Mm-hm,” Emily hummed and used both hands to give the boy an extra hard push, getting him to scream with laughter. 

“Shoulder just started killing me out of nowhere,” Rebecca muttered and rotated her right arm with a wince. “I think I might have over extended it or something…”

Emily frowned as she caught the painful expression her wife was making out of the corner of her eye. “You gotta be careful, Becca. You're not twenty five anymore. Your body doesn't heal like it used to.”

A bark of laughter left Rebecca as she set Emily with a lopsided grin. “My body hasn't worked since I was eighteen, love. Who am I really kidding, right?”

The frown on Emily's face deepened and she leaned over and pressed a kiss to Rebecca's arm, right below where she had been rubbing. “They've gotta go down for a nap after lunch,” Emily said softly and nodded between the boys. “You can take a hot shower while I take care of it and afterward I’ll rub you down. What do you say?” 

“Mm,” Rebecca hummed, the noise coming out as a deep rumble from the brunette's chest. “I would like that quite a bit.”

“I bet you will,” Emily said, her voice pitching lower so that only Rebecca could hear. “And maybe once you're all clean and limbered up, we can talk about maybe getting dirty again.”

Granted, the boys were nowhere near the level of comprehension needed to understand their mom's innuendo, but Emily wasn't taking any chances. 

“Oh yeah?” Rebecca quirked up a single eyebrow. “I'm intrigued, Mrs. Knox. Please, tell me more.”

“Well…” Emily drawled as she considered how she could be flirty with her wife in a child friendly manner. It was difficult seeing how nothing regarding Rebecca could be considered child friendly in Emily’s mind. 

“Mommy!” Max cried from his place in front of Rebecca. His brown eyes weren't shining with joy anymore though. There was a furrow to his tiny golden brows and his bottom lip hung out in a pout. “I'm hungry!” 

Emily smiled at her son before looking up at Rebecca with an apologetic shrug. “You'll just have to wait and see, I suppose. Duty calls.”

Rebecca let out a groan of frustration and hung her head before a sigh of defeat escaped her. After the minor tantrum, she helped Emily free the boys from their respective swings without so much as a grumble. Each of them took a hold of one of the toddlers hands, Emily taking Marc's and Rebecca grabbing Max's, as they walked them back up into the little two bedroom house that those same children forced their hand in buying. Emily slid open the patio door and ushered her little family inside -- all three of them were exclaiming how hungry they were now -- and smiled in a way that touched her evergreen eyes softly. 

And I wouldn't have it any other way.

***

AN/Update: Alrighty guys, it's been a scrappy week hasn't it? You see, I have the tenth chapter done and edited and ready to go but I'm about to take another small vacation so I'm giving y'all something to chew on in the intern. Don't worry though, Brad and Trent -- heh, Branton -- will be back next week. And for those of you have been keeping up with the story, trust me, you're not gonna wanna miss it. Also keep an eye on it on the horizon for a drabble featuring a couple of Blitz newer idea character and another short story in the works involving Lil and Katie. Honestly, guys, if you knew what my work schedule looked like, all the stuff I have lined up... Someday, I'll finish it all. 

Until then, happy reading!