Rating:

Explicit

Archive Warning:

No Archive Warnings Apply

Category:

Multi

Fandom:

Heated Rivalry (TV)

Relationships:

Cliff Marlow | Cliff Marleau/Hayden Pike/Jackie Pike, Shane Hollander/Ilya Rozanov

Characters:

Cliff Marlow | Cliff Marleau, Hayden Pike, Jackie Pike, Shane Hollander, Ilya Rozanov

Additional Tags:

Halloween, Halloween Costumes, Ghost Stories, Bonfires, Trick or Treating, halloween party, Sex, Explicit Sexual Content, Breeding, Breeding Kink, Cliff POV, Co-Parenting, Jackie pov, Slurs, Fights

Language:

English

Series:

Part 3 of The Hayden/Jackie/Cliff Cinematic Universe

Stats:

Published: 2026-05-17 Completed: 2026-07-18 Words: 26,237 Chapters: 4/4

Season of Halloween

Summary

Cliff, Jackie, and Hayden navigate Halloween together as a (growing) family.

Chapter 1: The Bonfire

Chapter Notes

I hate that I have to say this and taint my work with this disclaimer, but these days, it has to be said.

I do not, and will never, use AI. Fuck AI into the fucking ground. I will never support AI or support people who do. Do not interact with my fics with AI in any way, shape, or form. I respect you as readers enough to publish my own work, and I would ask that you grant me the same level of respect.

October 25th, 11:58 a.m.

Sunshine poured in through the open blinds opposite the bed, revealing kicked-up dust while brightening Jackie's nipples as they were peaking under Cliff's thumbs.

Cliff loved to slap Jackie's tits. 

He loved the way they bounced in place, rocking back and forth like water balloons. He loved the way her mouth fell open with surprise and her face got red. He loved the way he could hardly see the blue in Hayden's eyes because his pupils would blow so wide while he watched, drool collecting at the corners of his mouth.

Cliff couldn't see Hayden drool now, though, with his face buried between his wife's legs as he ate Cliff's jizz out of her pussy.

He thought he could see a bit of it smeared over Hayden's cheekbone, but surely he was imagining things. Sure, Hayden did dive into pussy-eating, but Cliff had come pretty deep inside Jackie, he had no idea how any of it could end up on Hayden's face.

Leave it to Hayden to figure out how to get as filthy as possible, though. His love for them turned him into a devoted horndog. 

Cliff, himself, was spent, having just come in his partner after some truly glorious sex.

He was just having fun now; doing one of his favorite activities, making Jackie's tits bounce, watching her pink and whine and moan, overstimulated while Hayden tongue-fucked her.

He imagined doing this in a few months, when all the raw sex they had been having finally caught up to them, and Cliff almost whined as his spent-dick conveyed interest.

He thought about saying something close to his thoughts, but he didn't have Jackie's gift for talking dirty, which was a shame, because he knew it would drive her crazy.

Her breeding kink had been a happy surprise. Apparently, Hayden barely knew she had one. 

"I know what a breeding kink is, man. I've, like, watched porn before. It's all over the websites. And I know that Jackie loves it when I come inside her, we just never discussed the exact terminology!"

Hayden was so cute.

He didn't like the term, and he winced whenever he or Jackie said the word "breed" outside of sex. To be fair, they really didn't. It was firmly a sex word. Hayden felt like the kink had misogynistic undertones, and Cliff had to agree with him, even after he was amused at Hayden's ability to identify misogynistic things. He knew his lovers were smart, but Hayden was a hockey player, after all. Then again, so was Cliff.

"I taught you what that meant," Jackie replied, "And it makes me wet, so, get over it."

Argument won.

Besides, Hayden had no problem coming in his wife like he did earlier. Jackie's IUD had been out for a few months now, but her cycle was still regulating, adjusting to the hormonal changes after years of birth control. 

They weren't trying seriously. 

Well, they were. But they weren't talking to a doctor about it or anything. They were fucking. A lot. As much as possible, and Jackie was usually taking it inside her. Because the three of them wanted a baby, sure, but also because Jackie was a freak.

"Think you guys can go again?" Jackie asked after Hayden made her finish. He emerged from between her legs, and yeah, there was a suspicious smear of white on his cheek. 

"Four orgasms not enough, baby?" Hayden breathed, pretending to complain. Cliff knew he would happily spend his entire life under his wife if he had the choice. Cliff could relate.

"I'm good, probably, I just wanted to feel you guys come on my face."

Cliff buried his face in a pillow and groaned. 

The other day, she was riding Hayden. Cliff was fresh out of the shower, watching with exhausted interest. It was late, the Metros had played a game. Cliff started involved, but came quickly and his exhaustion begged him off to the shower so he could sleep as soon as possible.

While she was riding Hayden, she was talking to him with her deadly forked-tongue, and Hayden looked like she had blasted him to la la land. She was holding his hands up against the headboard so he couldn't do anything but feel her as she grinded her hips against his. He was drooling then, and crying. It was precious.

"I wish you guys could come constantly. Back-to-back. I love to feel you guys come on me, I just wish we could do it more."

"What do you like more, Jacks? On or in?" Cliff asked, stirring the pot.

"Oh god, love, don't make me choose."

"I like it too," Hayden's voice was wrecked, it sounded like every word cost him. "When Cliff comes on me, it's so hot."

"Mm, fuck, I know you like it, baby. You take it so well."

They got up early Friday morning, got the kids together, took them to school, and got back in bed.

They had decided, after Cliff moved in, that everyone was getting up in the morning. Mornings were chaotic, wrangling four kids in a time crunch for school. Establishing a routine was important to Cliff. He really wanted the kids to feel comfortable with him. He wanted to create some version of normalcy for them, because this was a deeply abnormal situation.

Months ago, when the three of them sat the four kids down and explained the situation, it went better than expected.

Arthur and Amber went from mostly uncaring to excited at the prospect of hanging out with Cliff more. Ruby and Jade were wary, but as accepting as two teenagers could be.

"So do we have to, like, listen to him now?" Jade asked.

"I don't think I can call him dad, no offense, Cliff."

"No, that's-no, that's okay. Your dad is your dad." Cliff replied before either parent could.

"Cliff is another adult in your life, but you will still come to your dad or I when you want to ask for something, alright?"

Jade shrugged and picked at her nails.

"People don't know, though, right?"

"That's right."

"Because the league is homophobic?" Ruby asked, which made Jade frown.

"The league is getting better." Cliff said, "You know your uncles, they are accepted." 

That was both an understatement and an overstatement. Shane and Ilya were more than accepted, they were celebrated. They were protected, as they were, still, the two best players in the NHL. Their skill made them virtually untouchable. But there were still think pieces about them, about two players being romantically involved, both on the same team and on different teams. They questioned the ethics, like that was the real reason they wrote their disgusting articles. 

And coming out had still been a challenge for players more of Cliff and Hayden's caliber. A guy was let go from Toronto last year after he made a Valentine's Day post with his boyfriend. He was traded somewhere out west. They didn't come out and say that it was because the guy was queer, of course, but everyone knew. That was the reality. 

They couldn't explain all this to the kids, of course. They didn't want to scare them. Or maybe they were still attempting to shield them from the realities of homophobia. But they were all getting older, and Cliff knew the girls, at the very least, had encountered it in their own lives.

"It is simpler if we remain as we are now. We aren't hiding, but we aren't announcing it, understand?" Jackie asked, smiling at her inquisitive daughters. 

Neither twin was smiling back. Their frowny faces reminded Cliff of Hayden during games they were sure to lose.

"So dad, you've been, like, bi this entire time?"

"Uh, yeah," Hayden said, "I'm sorry, I thought you kids knew?" A pause. "I never thought I'd have to come out to my kids," Hayden whispered to himself, confused, baffled.

"You thought we just knew?" Ruby asked.

Cliff glanced at the two younger kids, but Amber was gone, and Arthur was playing with one of his fidget toys, eyes firmly on his lap.

"We're all bi, kids." Jackie said, purposely injecting casual into her tone.

"We knew about you, mom. Just not dad."

"Is it alright?" Hayden asked, then winced. "I mean-"

"It's fine." Ruby replied, crossing her arms. "I just think it's stupid you assumed we knew."

"Thanks, sweetheart," Hayden replied, reaching out to squeeze her shoulder. She dropped her arms and leaned into him. 

"So you three are?" Jade asked, staring up at them with her brown eyes. The twins both had puppy dog eyes, and Cliff knew that when they were younger, they definitely weaponized them against their father. 

"Yes," Hayden responded.

Jade ran her fingers through her hair.

"Good," she said, "good. Me too."

She looked away when she said it. Cliff was beside Jackie, he felt her stiffen against him. He chanced a glance at the two parents. Hayden's wide, unblinking eyes were firmly on the younger twin. Jackie was smiling faintly.

"Yeah?" Jackie asked, hopefully, reaching out, taking Jade's hand. 

"Mhm," she responded, blushing and not looking at them. She let Jackie hold her hand for an entire minute before she shook her off. "I have homework."

Cliff realized that Ruby was sitting there, stiff, frowning, staring at the stairs where Jade escaped to her room.

"Ruby-" but Ruby was off, taking the stairs two at a time. 

They did talk to Ruby later, or, rather, Jackie did, and reported back. She wasn't upset with them, or with Jade. 

"Jade's shut her out," Jackie said, frowning deeply. "I don't know what to do, I don't know why they're not getting along."

"They were never particularly close, for twins, anyway." Hayden commented.

"Yeah, sure, but they were close like siblings were. It's like they barely talk to each other anymore." 

Whatever cold war was being fought between the twins had begun long before Cliff came around, and it was still fizzling by the end of October.

Cliff and Hayden both had to be at the arena before the kids got home from school, they had an afternoon game against Jersey, home, thankfully, meaning they could make the bonfire at the O'Brian's later that night.

That season started with mix-ups of the guy's stalls. There had been a few changes to the Metros' roster over the summer with even more young guys coming in. Cliff was now, officially, the oldest guy on the team. 

He would be bothered by that fact. When he was much younger and hungrier, still chasing glory, he refused to imagine the end of his career. It felt like the end of everything; the end of his life. He couldn't imagine doing anything else, or wanting anything else. The ice, the blood, the rush. Feeling an elbow land in his ribs, his fist connecting with someone's nose. The sound of the crowd when the puck flew into the net. What other reasons were there to live?

He wasn't twenty-three anymore, that was for certain. With age and time came perspective. For the first time ever, hockey was not the most important thing to Cliff Marlow.

He was beaten down and on the verge of being ready to go and hang up his skates for good. He had attended a few of Jade and Ruby's games. Their season started the same time as the professional one, though, so Hayden and Cliff could only make it to two. The girls were exceptional players. Ruby was back on defense and she was fucking brutal out there in a way that made her opponents parent's fucking angry at the Pikes, but it warmed the violent streak in Cliff's heart. 

It was satisfying, to watch her play. It was enough, he thought.

Jade definitely played with less passion than Ruby, that was what he noticed by game two, and Ruby was openly furious with her about it. He remembered their promise. They were going to the Olympics one day for a gold medal. 

The changes to the locker room set up put younger players alongside older ones, JJ said it was good for bonding, but also that the "little chicks need us to impart our wisdom, before the concussions kill it all."

Hayden was one stall over, separated by Oliver Cohen, a twenty-one-year-old new to the NHL, plucked out of an undergraduate degree somewhere in upstate New York. 

The kid had a tendency of dropping things whenever Cliff so much as breathed in his direction, which was annoying. Ten years ago, when rookies as young as nineteen would join the team and trip over themselves for Cliff's attention, he loved it. He felt he earned the adoration, it was new and exciting and earned.

Now, it just felt bothersome. Cliff was, truly, just some guy. He was a great hockey player when he was much, much younger. Now, he was an acceptable hockey player, but mostly, a fucking relic. 

Hayden had JJ directly beside him in the corner stall, so he could talk to him instead of the starry-eyed child. 

"Marlow," he said after he stopped and started about a dozen times. Cliff could see his aborted attempts at conversation out of the corner of his eye. Cliff sighed to himself, he knew JJ was pairing the younger guys with the older guys for a good reason, even if he didn't like it. Cliff could be nice to this infant.

"Mr. Marlow-"

"No," Cliff said, "No. Marlow, Marly, Cliff, hey-you, just not Mr. Marlow, okay?"

The kid's green-brown eyes were wide and fearful. Cliff had checked his tone, he didn't think he was being particularly menacing, but his general appearance often undid his hard work. He was always trying his best to seem nice and unthreatening. 

Except on the ice.

On the ice, he was very threatening. 

Hayden was smiling into his stall as he slapped his gear on. Cliff's heart fluttered like he was a stupid blushing teenager. Hayden had a very pretty smile. Cliff wanted to squish his cheeks together until his lips puffed like a fish.

"Okay, sorry, M-Cliff? Cliff, sorry."

"That's okay, Oliver," Cliff was surprised at the choice of the first name, but he could match it easily enough. Hockey was ever-evolving, thank fucking god. Maybe first names were normal among the younger crowd. He wasn't such an old dog that he couldn't learn new trick.

Oliver was now red as a cherry. Good fucking lord. 

Cliff prayed to no one, a lifelong non-believer. He wished he could call on some strength now.

"Cohen, what is it?" 

"Just-I just wanted you to know that growing up, my family were big fans of two teams, Buffalo and Boston. Buffalo because we were from near there, and Boston because, well, they were an actual good team-"

"Hey!" Hayden protested, his jersey half over his head, hair askew. "Of all the good teams, you pick Boston? What about Montreal?"

"Uh, well, Boston had Ilya Rozanov and Cliff Marlow."

"Oh Jesus fucking Christ," Hayden rolled his eyes theatrically. He was so cute, Cliff could hardly stand it.

"Ignore him, finish your thought, Cohen, we have a game to play."

"It's just that, my brothers and I were-are-really big fans of yours. We had your poster in our room, and all the trading cards."

"Oh my god, kid, please," Clemens was across the room laughing so hard he was clutching his stomach. "You're killing us, we have a game to play."

"Sorry, it's just an honor to play with you," then, because god DEFINITELY was not real, Cohen tacked on a "sir."

Several of the old guard were inconsolable with laughter. Cliff just finished getting ready, ignoring everything happening around him.

"You know," Hayden said as they were walking out as a team later, the two of them side-by-side, "None of the kids ever tell me I'm their favorite player. You could be more gracious and take the compliment."

Cliff's massive gloved hand found the back of Hayden's neck, a friendly gesture, but because Cliff was obsessive and insane, he swore he could feel the tendons and muscle through the layers separating them, the flesh that was his lover. God, Cliff was fucking ridiculous when he was in love.

"You're my favorite hockey player," he said, smiling as he chewed his mouth guard.

Hayden looked up at him. Cliff couldn't help himself.

"Will you sign my trading cards?"

"Shut up," Hayden shook his head, concealing a smile.

In the second period, Jersey was up by one, which was fucking annoying. They injured Cohen as soon as he got a second of ice time, the kid got himself his very first NHL broken nose. 

Cliff was in the penalty box only a minute after getting on the ice to replace him. The guy who hit Cohen was only a year or two younger than Cliff, and he was embarrassingly smug about knocking a literal baby on his ass. So, Cliff broke his nose. There, even.

In the third, the score was 2-2. Jersey had a lot of young talent, and they were all, it seemed, angry bastards. Cliff spent a while just watching on the bench, but when Hayden went on, Cliff was tapped too.

Montreal was struggling, and Cliff knew it would plague them all season. A lot of their talent was gone, and their veteran players were good, but they weren't All-stars. The coaches were relying on the under twenty-five crowd to get better fast, and the over thirty crowd to make room for them.

Hayden wasn't as willing to go to pasture as Cliff was, though, and he played like he did a decade ago. The man showed little signs of slowing down, it was respectable. Cliff could not buy that he wasn't someone's favorite player. He was cute and a good winger. What wasn't there to like?

Hayden had a scoring opportunity with very little time on the clock, and he made it. The goal was dirty, the puck bounced off an opponent's skate and into the net. Hayden had practiced that on Shane's ice over the summer, Cliff saw him do it. 

It was pretty sweet watching it in action; to see the numbers on the board change in their favor.

Montreal would win this game, he knew that as soon as Cliff turned to celebrate the goal.

Hayden was not where Cliff left him, though. No. 

Cliff looked away for a second, and Hayden was in a fight.

He wasn't really in the fight. Cliff hadn't seen it start, but he suspected Edwards surprised him. He was on the other side of the goal when Hayden scored, so he skated over just to pin Hayden against the boards and hit him.

Cliff was there in two strides. His gloves were off before Edwards even saw him coming. He fisted a hand in his jersey and Cliff, very easily, yanked the large man back.

Not that large, really. An inch shorter than Hayden made him quite a lot shorter than Cliff, but he was burly. He was also a fucking prick, a loud supporter of Kent even after all these years. He wasn't an especially impressive player, either.

"Let me go, you big bitch!" Okay, that was a little funny. Cliff tried not to laugh, he had a menacing image to maintain, after all. 

Cliff let the man's jersey go after he scanned Hayden. He didn't seem hurt, just angry. Injuries could hide under their gear, though. Cliff would need to conduct a thorough inspection later to be satisfied. 

"Don't be a sore loser, Edwards," Cliff said as other guys from his team began to surround them. JJ was also there, and two younger Metros, but the fight was over-

Edwards' punch was surprising. Pain bloomed over Cliff's jaw, his helmet knocked against his skull. Later, in the video, he would see the little man jump to hit him properly, and laugh at the comments flaming him for it.

Hayden removed himself from the wall to throw himself at Edwards. The two hit the ice hard, and the brawl began.

There was still time on the clock. About a minute, but still, they didn't have time for this.

Cliff ignored the assorted hockey fights and refs around him to deal with his hockey player, who was on top of Edwards fucking whaling on him-

"Hayden, Hayden, you're going to get barred from the next game, get up."

Hayden had only removed one of his gloves in his haste to attack Edwards, and it wasn't even the glove on his dominate hand, so he couldn't do too much damage. Despite this, Edwards still looked a little scared, or, at the very least, surprised, under him.

Cliff pulled Hayden up, grateful for his strength. Hayden sagged against him before stepping back, both of them hyper-aware this fight would be gifed a million times over. One of Edwards teammates helped him up, and Cliff and Hayden both found themselves in the penalty box for the last minute of the game.

"How's your hand?"

"Good, since I didn't get my fucking glove off. Jesus, that's embarrassing." 

"It's alright, people know you can fight. You got your gloves off for our fight."

"Don't remind me of that," Hayden squirted more water in his mouth. They both removed their helmets. 

"You got a bruise."

"Great, the in-laws are gonna love that," Cliff sighed, he really wanted Jackie's parents to like him. They seemed to, but they were still a bit nervous about the entire situation. 

"They've seen worse over the years," Hayden said. "Anything broken in your face?"

Cliff pressed a thumb into the affected area and breathed a gasp.

"Nah, I'm good."

They sat in silence for a beat.

"You picked him up like a cat. By his scruff."

They laughed until the clock ran out.

Hayden and Cliff left the arena together and drove straight to the O'Brian's. They would be the last to arrive. Cliff shucked off his suit jacket and button-up off as soon as they got on the road, changing swiftly into a deeply faded Nirvana tee.

"Do not take your pants off while I'm driving."

"Too late," Cliff responded, his pants already halfway down his legs as he awkwardly wiggled out of his slacks and into jeans.

"Now I'm gonna look weird, showing up in my fucking funeral director suit."

Cliff snorted. "You look distinguished."

"I'm throwing this suit on the fire."

Cliff laughed at his pouty lip. Before he re-buckled, he zipped across the center console to press a kiss to his cheek. 

"What was that for?" Hayden asked, smiling bashfully. 

"I wanted to all night. You're extra cute today." 

"I am not cute." Hayden insisted, forcing his smile away, which only undermined his statement. Adorable. 

"You are cute."

"I am a two-hundred pound hockey player."

Cliff squinted at him, knowing he was rounding up. "Two hundred?"

"Shut up. We aren't all born giants."

"Ugh," Hayden said after they parked. It was cool night. Sometimes, summer in Philly could stretch far into October. That was unfortunately not the case in Canada. "You look cool, I hate you."

Cliff was wearing a t-shirt the same age as his niece and a random pair of jeans, but he didn't mind the compliment. 

"Just change out here, love."

Hayden didn't bother changing out of his slacks, but he switched out his jacket, tie, and shirt for a soft black sweater he may have stolen from Cliff. 

Jackie stole it first.

"Stop looking at me like that," Cliff said as they walked up to the front of the house. Like last time, the house was dark, save for a lamp in the sitting room. Everyone was in the backyard. Cliff could hear the kids playing. 

"Stop looking like that." Hayden voice was heavy with what Cliff had begun to detect as want. Now was, unfortunately, not the time.

"What do you want me to do?"

Hayden raised an eyebrow at him.

"You want me to answer that? We're at a family function, baby."

Cliff shook his head. Insatiable, both of them. 

Hayden and Cliff found the family in the yard gathered around a roaring fire. All were accounted for except Megan, who had been changing little Levi on the sofa when they passed through the house. 

"Hey guys!" It was Hannah that noticed them first, but the enthused greetings spread around the crowd quickly. Cliff found two chairs on the patio and dragged them over to sit beside Jackie, who was curled up on a lounger in a hoodie and leggings. A bunch of the kids were huddled behind their grandmother watching something on Jimmy's phone. Izzy was asleep on Hannah's lap. 

"How was the game?"

"I told you they won, grandpa," Ruby said, not bothering to look up from her game. 

"Well, I know, dear, but I was being polite."

"It was good, Derek. Not super interesting."

"Except that dad got a goal, and then got in a fight," Ruby reported.

"Wow, Hayden in a fight, I'd like to see that," Drew laughed into his beer.

Hayden sat beside Jackie, the chair on the other side of her was clearly Megan's, so Cliff dragged his chair between Hayden and Drew. The fire crackled and popped in front of them. There was a large stack of wood beside Derek's chair. Cliff never loved the smell of a campfire. He was not a very rugged guy, a city boy through and through. 

"You guys alright?" Jackie asked, not super worried. She knew if something serious had happened, she would have gotten a call. Hockey wives get desensitized to fights long before they walk down the aisle. Maddie certainly had.

"We're good. Edwards, that-guy from Jersey City," Cliff just barely stopped himself from calling Edwards a dickhead in front of the children and Jackie's parents.

"He punched Cliff, and then dad took him down," Ruby said, pausing her game to inspect Cliff's face. "You got a bruise. Does it hurt?"

"Not really," Cliff responded.

"You get used to it?"

"Eventually, yeah."

She nodded, he wondered how injured she got in hockey, or if she ever had been. He's never seen her seriously injured, or heard of her getting hurt. The thought seemed so immediately wrong, he had to push it from his mind.

Cliff recalled getting his first concussion playing the sport. He was twelve. Lara almost didn't let him go back to practice, but when he was cleared by the doctor, he took the bus until Marcus intervened. 

"Let the boy play the stupid game," he said, "he doesn't have anything else going for him."

Rest in hell, Marcus.

The moon was a sliver over the kid's heads, Cliff found himself staring at it for so long, he missed that someone asked him something.

"Sorry, what's that?" Cliff asked, slightly embarrassed. 

"We were just about to get started with our scary stories," Jackie's mom smiled mischievously. "Do you want to start?"

"Oh, I don't really have any scary stories-"

"Oh please, Cliff, you have to have something. Otherwise, everyone is gonna tell the same shit we hear every year."

"Drew!" His parents scolded in unison. "Language, there are young minds around."

Cliff sighed, racking his brain for something while the kids gathered around the fire for the story. Amber and Arthur plopped themselves at the feet of Cliff and Hayden. Cliff eyed them, making sure they weren't too close to the fire. Arthur would be smart and make good choices, but Amber was very unpredictable. 

"I have a ghost story. But it's a true story. Do you think you guys can handle that?" He directed the question at the children, but he looked to several adults, trying to gauge their reaction. He wasn't sure how scary their "scary" stories got, especially since some of the kids were very little. But all the adults were leaning forward in their chairs, attention firmly on Cliff.

"Yes!" The kids chorused. Ruby even fully put her game down to watch him.

"So, I only met my dad's siblings once, after his mother, my grandmother, died. The family wasn't super close."

Cliff paused, wondering how, exactly, to tell the ghost story while leaving out just how weird the situation was with his dad's side of the family.

"My dad's brother, Gary, and his wife lived in the country. A tiny town about an hour away from where I grew up. My father carts my mom and my brothers to this big, six bedroom farmhouse. It is full of family members. Cousins and aunts and uncles we were meeting for the first time. Nice people, but very superstitious."

"What is superstitious?" Amber asked, working slowly through each syllable of the word.

"It's like when mom throws spilled salt over her shoulder," Hayden told Amber.

"Yeah, or when hockey players refuse to wash their socks when they're on a win streak."

"Hey, we don't do that!" Hayden objected. Jackie scoffed.

"Anymore."

"The entire family," Cliff continued, tearing his eyes away from his bickering partners to the rapt attention of more children than he had ever been around in his life, "believed in ghosts, demons, monsters, and the like. They all had a story. And they all said the house was haunted."

"Was it?" Aiden asked, mouth hanging open in wonder. Or maybe the kid was just a mouth-breather. Cliff didn't think he was such a good storyteller to enrapture everyone yet.

"If you asked my mom, no. Mom doesn't believe in these things, she never has, and she never will. After the first day in the house, she sat my brothers and I down and firmly told us that everyone was crazy, none of what they believed in was real, and we shouldn't believe them."

"I bet she told them that at every available opportunity, too," Jackie was grinning, Cliff nodded at her, remembering the horror and rage of his Aunt Stacey after she got corrected for the tenth time by Lara.

"We were only there a few days. On the last day, mom had to go to work, so she went back to the city. My brothers and I were in the care of various other family members. Dad was out. My brothers and I were playing in this long hallway upstairs. All our cousins were outside playing baseball in the field behind the house. Mikey, my younger brother, didn't want to play, so we didn't either."

"What happened, what happened?" That was Aiden again. 

"He's getting to it, stop interrupting," Jimmy scolded his son, making Jackie and Drew laugh. 

"We hear this loud banging noise, like something hitting the wall. Mikey is terrified. The family's stories had gotten to him. Tony and I were also scared of the house, but we were pretending to be brave. Mikey is shaking, saying it's a ghost. He's on the verge of tears. Downstairs, various aunts were in the kitchen talking. We were alone on the second floor.

"Suddenly, a second bang. Tony and I get up. Tony goes first. Mikey doesn't want to be left behind, so I hold his hand and trail behind Tony as we approach the end of the hall. As we get halfway there, the last bedroom door by the open window swings open."

"A breeze from the window!" Drew announces, causing everyone to glare and loudly shush him. Cliff has them now. They're on the edges of their seats. Jordan and Aiden are holding onto each other. Cliff really didn't want to give the kids nightmares.

"Maybe I should stop, it's too scary." Cliff sat back in his seat.

"No!" Ruby and Jade objected in unison, then looked extremely irritated that they did so. 

There was a sea of disappointed faces in the crowd.

"Cliff, son, you have to finish the story. Or we'll kick you out." Derek said, pretending to be serious.

"The kids will have nightmares anyway. It's Halloween!" 

"Real responsible, mom," Drew snickered.

"Shut up, you don't have kids. No vote for Drew. Finish the story," Jimmy insisted. Hannah, Hayden, and Jackie nodded profusely. So Cliff sighed and nodded.

"Okay. When the door swings open, Mikey tries to run away but I hold onto him. Tony gets to the door first. He grabs it, the door was painted white, but it was chipped and old, like the house. He gets a splinter immediately, then bit-cries about it all day. Anyway, Tony goes inside. Mikey and I follow him.

"Inside is a perfectly normal bedroom. There was an open suitcase on the bed. A quilt on the floor. It was a very hot summer. The room was stuffy. But across from the door, where the three of us gathered, was a mirror."

"Oh god," Hayden looked genuinely scared. It was as adorable as it was concerning. 

"It was one of those large, antique mirrors on a stand. Oval-shaped. I would love to find one at an estate sale. But not this mirror. Mikey saw it first, but we saw it immediately after. The mirror had this weird, shimmering haze over it. As a group, we got closer to the mirror. When we were about two feet away, suddenly the figure of a boy appeared in the mirror."

"No way!"

"An actual ghost?"

"You saw a real ghost, Uncle Cliff?" 

"We were frozen, the three of us, looking at the fourth boy in the mirror. He was as big as Mikey, so only around five, with dark hair. Mikey was shaking and crying, trying to run away. I kept looking over my shoulder, but there was no one there. It was just in the mirror. And suddenly-BAM!"

Cliff clapped his hands, causing several children and adults to jump.

"A loud thud on the side of the house. That was what got the three of us to run out of there. Tony was running so fast, he fell down the last three stairs and skinned his knee. We told an aunt about it. She said it was probably the ghost of Jacob. Apparently, Jacob was a regular upstairs. Oh, and she was so smug we saw the ghost. She told us to make sure we went and told our mama."

"Did you?" Janet asked, amused.

"Yeah, she is convinced to this day that the family put the stories in our heads, made us see something. We found out later that the kids out back playing baseball hit the ball into the side of the house, that was the thud we heard. As for the boy in the mirror..."

Cliff sat back and shrugged.

"Wait, so do you actually believe in ghosts?" Jackie asked a bit later, when the kids dispersed after Jimmy's particularly lame telling of a chair getting knocked over in a room that already sounded exceptionally windy.

"Not really," Cliff said. 

"So it's just a story."

"It's a real story. Tony and I talk about it, sometimes. Mikey seems to have blacked the whole thing out. Tony still gets real freaked out. I kinda think one of the other kids in the house must have snuck in behind us, and we inflated the amount of time we looked in the mirror. We were kids, after all."

"You're still so scientific about it all. What was it you said? We exist by chance?"

Cliff nodded. That was a perfectly logical answer to the question of human existence to him.  

"It's a good story," Hannah said. "Jimmy will probably have nightmares instead of the kids."

"I will not," was Jimmy's highly convincing reply. 

"My mom thinks that ghosts are glimpses into the future," she said. "She thinks the past, present, and future all overlap, and sometimes they bleed together."

"Karen is kooky," Jimmy replied.

"Hush, you," Hannah scolded. "I don't know if I believe that, exactly, but sometimes, when you hear ghost stories like the one you just told, I could see it."

Cliff pondered it for about ten seconds before writing it off. The past is gone, the future is not written. The present is all we have.

"Cynical," Derek said. "It's a much more romantic notion to believe in ghosts. Speaking of, it's time for my story."

Stories went on for the rest of the night, but it was Drew's that became an issue. Janet tried to stop it immediately, the family had a rule for first-hand accounts only. Drew was ripping something from a movie about a demon that had Arthur in tears.

He ended up laying down spread across Cliff and Hayden's laps. Cliff had his legs, he kept a firm, grounding hand on the kid's little ankle while he soaked Hayden's pants with tears. Hayden kept asking, but Arthur kept insisting he did not want to go inside.

Ghost stories over, everyone started packing up to go. Jackie had walked Megan, Jeremy, and baby Levi to her car, and Cliff realized, as he helped Hayden stand up, holding a sleeping Arthur, that he hadn't seen her for a minute. Nor had they seen Jade and Ruby.

Derek doused the fire. Hannah and Jimmy quit their quiet conversation, and that's when they heard it, slightly raised, but definitely angry voices, at the edge of the yard, by the gate.

"Shit, Cliff, will you take him?"

Arthur was not the little guy he once was, but Cliff could still manage to hold him, shifting his weight as awkwardly as the hand-off had been. He understood not wanting to put the kid down, Drew's story had caused him to cry himself to sleep. Cliff hoped Art had good dreams.

"Are we leaving?" Amber was at his right, but everyone was lingering, as whatever was happening by the gate was curious enough to delay exiting through the house.

"We're just waiting for your parents."

"I'm bored."

"I know, Amber. We won't be long."

"All they do is fight," Amber grumbled, leaving him to sit beside Aiden, who was half falling asleep himself. 

"Screw you!"

"Jade!" The voices raised much more considerably. Cliff caught Drew and Jimmy's eyes. Derek and Janet started carrying trash into the house. Cliff urged to help them, but his hands were full. 

"I don't care! I don't fucking care! I don't want to play anymore, and you can't make me!"

Hearing Jade swear was shocking. Cliff was aware, of course, that the twins were teenagers now, but hearing language that echoed in their locker room come out of a little girl was difficult. 

Her parents were being quiet with her. It was dark in the yard, but he could see her standing with her arms crossed. Hayden had his hand on her shoulder. Ruby was visibly buzzing with something. Anger, Cliff guessed.

"You promised!" That was Ruby, throwing her hands up. From back here, their voices were so similar in their teenage rage, that he could really only tell them apart by their haircuts. 

"I changed my mind!"

"You promised! You're a fucking LIAR!"

"Ruby!"

"I don't care. I fucking QUIT!"

To puncuate her statement, she threw open the gate and stormed off.

Ruby, desiring her own dramatic walk-off, went the other way, wiping tears off her cheeks as she yanked open the back door of the house and disappeared inside.

"Whoa. What's that about?" Jimmy asked.

"I don't know." Cliff replied, but he had an idea.

"Are we home?" Arthur woke up in his arms.

"Hey, buddy, not yet. Can you stand?" Cliff was able to put him down and shake out his arms. As that happened, one parent went after one twin, and the second parent got the other. 

Arthur was on his feet for about ten seconds when Amber took the opportunity to jump out from where she was crouched behind a folding chair with Jordan, shouting a "RAHHH" at Arthur.

Arthur jumped out of his skin, his bottom lip wobbled, but he valiantly held back tears. Still, he clung to Cliff's leg. Cliff could feel him shaking.

"Amber, that wasn't nice," Janet swooped in, taking the difficult situation, thankfully, out of Cliff's hands. He had no idea how to parent. He had no idea how to talk to Amber about what she had done. He didn't even really understand how severe the situation even was, or if it warranted a discussion at all. 

Surely she knew Arthur was already upset, so why push it?

But, Cliff knew better. Growing up with Tony and Mikey had taught him that it was just sibling stuff. Probably harmless.

"Apologize to your brother."

"But I'm not-"

"Amber," Cliff said before he could think about it. His tone sounded remarkably like Hayden's dad voice.

"I'm sorry, Artie," Amber said, then hugged him, because she was a good performer. 

The car was unlocked, Cliff knew. He decided to get the kids loaded in. He shut the door after they were buckled, the night air was cold without the bonfire. He wished he had a jacket over his t-shirt.

Jackie and Jade appeared next. Jade climbed into the back, tear tracks on her face. She curled up, refusing to look at anyone.

He met Jackie on the other side of the SUV. She looked exhausted, she may have cried too.

"You okay?"

"No, can you drive? Ruby is going to ride back with Hayden."

"Yeah, of course." 

Hayden had been crying. Cliff could see it the moment the man stood in front of the van's headlights. Ruby climbed into the passenger seat and stared at her lap.

"Talk later?" Jackie and Cliff nodded.

It was brutal, getting everyone home, bathed, dressed, and in bed. Arthur was exhausted, but refused to go to bed without washing the smell of smoke out of his hair. Cliff understood that, but it meant they had to wait for him to finish AND blow dry his long hair before they could shut themselves in their room and discuss the explosion. 

Jade and Ruby went into their room together. Cliff was sure they wouldn't. When they got in the house, the girls wouldn't so much as look at each other. They wouldn't stand within five feet of each other.

It was obvious, within the first minute of closing their bedroom door, that the parents were at a loss.

"Ruby already knew Jade was feeling like quitting." Jackie said. She was sitting at the vanity, loose hairs around her face from a wrecked ponytail. Cliff hovered near the door while Hayden changed.

"Had been brewing a while," Cliff said in the extended silence.

Jackie nodded sadly, but Hayden seemed a bit surprised.

"That Jade wanted to quit hockey?"

"She hasn't been as into it as Ruby for years," Jackie replied. "I knew this would be a problem. Fuck, I should've talked to them forever ago."

"No, baby, we're doing our best."

"Still. Maybe it would have prevented this." Jackie's eyes were filling with tears. Cliff and Hayden both crossed the room to her, each man taking a shoulder to rest a gentle hand. "My babies won't even look at each other. They're sisters."

"It's not your fault, Jackie. What could you have said? Jade wasn't ready to quit then. Now...now she is. I didn't even notice there was a problem with hockey."

Cliff wiped a tear off her cheek. She was staring at a fixed point, far off in the room, devastated. Cliff felt heartbroken just seeing them like this.

"They were so vicious to each other." She wiped her nose with her wrist. "Meg and I had our moments, but fuck."

Cliff could hardly stand it, he was at risk of crying, now. He had to be strong, for Jackie and Hayden. Parenting the kids would only get harder as they got older. Cliff wanted to be their rock. 

"One time I cracked one of Tony's ribs." Cliff said, for lack of a better thing to say.

Hayden and Jackie stared at him, perplexed.

"We were playing field hockey. He kept calling me a pansy whenever he blocked one of my shots. I swung at him with my stick. Cracked a rib."

"Jesus."

"So that's pretty bad. He didn't hang out with me for the rest of that summer. But we got through it."

"It's not the same," Jackie said, sounding so defeated.

"No, but it's not that different, either. They are family. They will get through this. It'll just be tough for a while."

Jackie breathed, the tension exiting her body at once. She needed to sleep.

"I know." She squeezed her eyes shut. Cliff felt her bone-deep exhaustion as though it were his own. He took her hand, Hayden held her other. "I know we'll get through this. But it's so hard. They're growing up. And...I think we might need to look into getting a counselor for Jade. Maybe Ruby too."

Hayden nodded. "We can do that."

"She's so unhappy, and I can't reach her, and it fucking kills me, Hayden."

"Finding her someone she can talk to is how we reach her, probably."

Jackie nodded. "Will you talk to her about it? About when you were seeing a therapist?"

That was news to Cliff. He wanted to ask Hayden about it, but wasn't sure if asking was rude or not. Now was not the time, anyway.

"Of course. I'll talk to her tomorrow."

"We can't sweep it under the rug," Jackie decided, squaring her shoulders. She stood up. "Ignore it, hope it goes away."

"No," Cliff agreed. Jackie nodded firmly and left them to get ready for bed.

Chapter End Notes

Titling this fic became one of the hardest experiences of my goddamn life. That is why it took so long. Anyway, I have four chapters outlined. I promise they aren't all as much of a bummer as this one. I just enjoy writing about the whole family AND all the romance stuff. I hope the balance is there. Thanks for reading!

Chapter 2: Trick-or-Treating

Chapter Notes

Thank you everyone for all the lovely comments!!!!

Cliff Marlow you feel things so intensely I love you I love you I love you

Cliff thought he might have to go down on Ilya for gift he was giving them.

The thought was mostly unappealing. Cliff felt his face scrunch up in disgust as he tried to wave the image away. Jackie shot him a questioning look, but didn't have the opportunity to ask.

"One, two, three...where's four? There are four of them, aren't there? My math is usually good."

Hayden sighed and Jackie grimaced. Shane was busy loading Jade, Arthur, and Amber into his SUV. He would be driving, thank god. Ilya was great with kids, it was remarkable, truly, but he was a bit too unsafe behind the wheel for Cliff's liking. Especially when his kids were involved.

Three kids, each carrying a backpack filled with their Halloween costumes. It hadn't even been their idea. Shane asked them if they could take the kids trick-or-treating in Ottawa.

"Ilya hasn't been, obviously. I know he's curious about it."

"You want to take your thirty-something husband trick-or-treating and use my kids as an excuse to do it?" Was Jackie's response, but she was smiling fondly at the phone. 

The kids were excited by the idea a week ago when Shane offered. Now, Ruby was in the house, a bag packed without a costume, waiting for a ride to a sleepover at her friend's house.

"Trick-or-treating is for little kids," Ruby sneered. Hayden had tried to argue with her. A year ago, Ruby would have never passed up an opportunity to spend time with her uncles.

However, the fight. Tensions were high. The girls were still barely speaking to each other. Cliff had been sure they couldn't hold a grudge that long, but they were proving him wrong. He had spoken to Jade, but she brushed him off, which he understood. Jackie and Hayden tried speaking to both of them individually, then together, but practically nothing changed. It was weighing on everyone.

"Ruby is staying at her friend's house." Hayden explained. Shane shut the car door, which meant the kids were sufficiently buckled and the bags were stored. Cliff loved his friend's responsible husband.

Said responsible husband probably wouldn't like the expression of gratitude Cliff previously thought up. A handmade card, instead. Imported cheeses. A new dining room set. Something. 

The kids were going to be out of the house all night. That hadn't happened since...well...before Cliff moved in. And he loved the kids. He couldn't believe how much he loved the kids. He would die for them.

But god, was he grateful to have Jackie and Hayden all to himself for an evening. 

"They're still fighting?" Shane asked.

"Yeah. They're getting better, though. Jade looked at Ruby during breakfast this morning, so that's a step in the right direction."

Shane did not look amused by Hayden's sarcasm. Neither did Jackie.

"We have to go if we want to be ready by six. Pick up in the morning?"

"I can be there around noon?" 

"That's fine. Ilya and I don't have to be at practice until 2:00."

"2:30," Ilya corrected, nudging Shane. Shane rolled his eyes.

"Two o'clock, Ilya. You should always be early."

Cliff snorted. Ilya, when captaining the Bears, used to roll in ten minutes late with an extra large iced latte from Dunkin. If he was more than ten minutes late, he always had an extra for Cliff and coach as apology. 

"Better get in early as you can, Rozanov. You're going to need the practice for our game in a few weeks."

Ilya rolled his eyes and started urging Shane to the car. His hands landed on his husband's hips, walking him backwards to the driver's side.

"Pike, you should be nicer to me while I have your children. I might not give them back."

Shane shoved Ilya off then before climbing into the car, a fond smile on his face. Cliff still struggled to understand that the person who loved Ilya, in all his infinite weirdness, was Shane Hollander. 

Hayden took Ruby to her friend's at 6:30 after a light dinner. The house was so quiet when the two of them left that Cliff felt unsettled. He and Jackie sat beside each other on the couch and took it in.

"It's weird."

"I've been a mom for so long that it has fucked up my nervous system. Silence is the enemy."

Jackie flicked the TV on. It was on ESPN already, because of course it was. They weren't covering hockey, though, which was both a nice change of pace and also woefully uninteresting to the both of them.

Jackie's legs landed in his lap first. He rubbed her ankle, where her leggings met her cherry red fluffy socks. 

"I love Halloween."

Cliff smiled. He knew that about her. The house was decked out for the holiday, but they would keep the porch lights firmly off. They were too busy to pass out candy tonight. 

"I met Hayden on Halloween. Well, the Saturday after. I think it was the first. He approached me, but I saw him come in."

"Oh yeah? He was just so handsome?"

"Ha, no. He and Shane were one of three Mario and Luigi duos I had seen all night. My friends were doing shots for every basic couple's costume that walked through the doors. Lucky I left with him, or I would've been broke by the end of the night."

"And you wouldn't have married him."

"That too." She smiled, leaning back against an orange and purple throw pillow, her hair sprawled around her. 

"I did see he was cute, though. When he approached me. Even with the fake mustache."

Cliff laughed, picturing a much younger Hayden, a Hayden he knew intimately, dressed like the cartoon character, dancing against a much younger Jackie in the club. He wished he knew them both then, together. He wished they didn't lose so much time. 

He both knew that Hayden very well, and not at all. They had one night, and Cliff left the next morning, holding back a grin so wide, he only let it slip for a second in the stairwell of Hayden's crumby building. After that night, he spent his time orbiting the memory of Hayden; calling the man his name on the ice a couple times a year just to see him startle...remembering how he blushed under Cliff's hands. How easily he came apart, how easily Cliff came apart.

"My friends picked on me ruthlessly. Don't tell him that. I never said. I defended him, because he was so sweet. He was just the sweetest man I had ever met. And fucking good in bed. I didn't know one-night-stands could be that good in bed. I was totally obsessed with him after one night. They said I went home to fuck the most basic man alive. I said 'shut the fuck up, that's the father of my children you're talking about.'"

"You just knew right away?" The question was automatic, but Cliff understood why she felt that way. Hayden was the kind of calm, easy, sweet partner that people spent their lives hunting down. Jackie was similar, but also sort of larger-than-life, with her massive brain, heart, personality...Where Hayden was settled, Jackie rippled like tiny waves on a lake. They complimented each other. They were made for each other. Cliff believed that. 

Jackie nodded, eyes heavy. The room was quite warm, the lights were dim, and Cliff's hand wandered under the cuff of her leggings so he could touch her bare skin. The setting was ripe for a nap. 

"Yeah, it was easy as anything. Not during the sex. I mean, I was thinking it was great, that I wanted to fuck him again sometime. But we spent the entire next day together. It felt so easy. Like he was always there, you know? He didn't feel like some guy I met the night before. I started believing in fate."

Cliff frowned as he traced a circle on Jackie's ankle. He was happy for her, but he was envious. Nothing in his life had ever felt so simple, so obvious, so perfect. He was happy now, of course, with Hayden and Jackie, but their relationship was far from simple, and he didn't know he wanted to spend his life with them right away. He wished he had. 

During his morose trip down memory lane, Jackie's eyes slipped shut.

He could hardly blame her, a bit of sleepiness had begun to leach into him the minute the kids took off, but she couldn't nap now. They had plans. 

Cliff shifted her legs off his lap and stood. Her nose crinkled at the movement. Cliff was careful not to hurt her, slotting his knee between the couch cushion and the back, with his other leg braced on the floor so he could hover over his resting partner. She had not fallen asleep, but she was close. Her eyelids were droopy and she smiled up at him sleepily.

"Don't fall asleep," he said, his large hand cupping the side of her face. Her eyes were so dark and beautiful...when Jackie gave him her undivided attention, it felt like he was being stared down by a god. He resisted a shiver. 

"Wake me up."

He kissed her as he heard Hayden's key turn in the lock. Jackie's tongue slid over his bottom lip. Hayden called out, but they couldn't break away a second to respond. Jackie shoved her hands in his hair, and he got busy pushing one of his own under her sweater.

"You guys couldn't wait twenty minutes?" Hayden asked from nearby, the smile in his tone made Cliff's stomach flutter. 

"It was thirty," Cliff said after taking another second to indulge in Jackie's mouth. Hayden stood beside the couch, his face only showed amusement, not that Cliff was expecting anything else. Except, maybe, lust. Cliff was certain that Hayden was turned on by 'catching' them. 

"There's not enough room for me on the couch," Hayden pouted. Cliff looked back to Jackie, who's lips were shiny from Cliff's tongue. Hayden, in comparison, looked unfortunately dry. That would have to be fixed. 

Jackie patted Cliff's face with her palm.

"Up. Time to go to bed."

Cliff Marlow liked to fuck every way you could think of.

He liked to be on top, he liked to be on bottom, he liked to be in the center. He liked to sit off to the side and watch, but only after he exhausted himself during, first. 

He had an ex into bondage, and he enjoyed that. Another had a piss thing, which he happily indulged. Cliff was a team player because he was a slutty mess. He didn't, necessarily, have his own kinks and preferences (with one or two exceptions), because he enjoyed everything, but most of all, he enjoyed making his partners happy.

Cliff enjoyed every way a person could have sex.

But the sex with Hayden and Jackie? That was his favorite. That was the sex he loved.

He loved to be overwhelmed by them, writhing together in the dark, trying to guess whose mouth was on him by the shape of their tongue. He loved Hayden's fingers in his ass and Jackie's nails scraping his scalp while he sucked on her titties. 

He loved sinking deep into Jackie, pressing her hips into the mattress, fucking his come as deep as he possibly could into her. Bonus points if Hayden was fucking him while he was doing it. 

They had all night to themselves, now. They could do it every possible way and then some. Cliff was like a kid in a candy store. He was hungry for it.

More often than not, Jackie would direct them. The boys would happily take her instructions because she was a creative fucking visionary. Cliff loved this stage, the foreplay, as much as he loved to be rushing toward the end with his brain turned off, vision blurry, and throat raw. 

Hayden's hands brushed over his shoulders as the bedroom door shut.

"We have all night," Jackie said, pressing a kiss to the back of Hayden's neck. "We're gonna go very, very slow."

Hayden whined impatiently, which made Jackie laugh and squeeze his hip.

Jackie outlined her plans for the evening. She stepped around Hayden as she finished describing "round one," and Cliff was hard in his pants at just the thought of hours of uninterrupted pleasure.

"You and Cliff have been so good, indulging me. But poor Cliff hasn't been fucked in so long."

Cliff's heart beat funny, as it always did whenever either Jackie or Hayden talked about fucking him. He bottomed with them more than he ever had in his life, and he fucking loved it, but he still hadn't gotten used to the fact that he could have it whenever he wanted it, without shame. 

"Two weeks about?" Hayden asked, hand rubbing Cliff's arm, maintaining contact in the cool room. 

"Ten days," Jackie said.

"You just know that?" Hayden asked, chuckling lightly at her. "Do you have a calendar tracking when we all bottom?"

"Yes, you dick. I also write on it how often you beg for your mouth fucked, and when you wake up hard and humping one of our legs like a dog."

"Okay," Hayden said in a tone that meant 'enough' as he shuffled in place, embarrassed. 

Jackie's hand slid over his face. He had shaved that morning, but hours had passed and the persistent stubble had started to grow in. He bent forward to kiss her, melting under her gentle touch. 

Cliff loved fucking of every flavor. Caresses were what he lived for. He loved the feather-light touch of their hands on him. They treated him like he was precious, and it broke his brain every night. For so long, Cliff's body only knew rough contact. It only knew the ice, pushing his muscles to the limit, and large, violent bodies hurtling towards his, intent on hurting him. At home, it knew sex, yes. Sex he enjoyed. Sex where he gave his ex-wife exactly what she wanted, with very few lingering touches or deep kisses. Sex that felt like an extension of work. 

He never really knew he wanted to be treated so kindly, or that he needed to be treated so kindly, until they took him to pieces. Now, he longed for sly brushes to a fully-clothed arm, or, god help him, a held hand.

Cliff was on his back, Hayden's tongue was pressing onto his own, and his fingers were catching in Cliff's chest hair as Jackie settled between his legs with the lube. Hayden's strong hand held up his right leg, Cliff handled his left as Hayden's kisses turned his brain off. 

Jackie's fingers pressed into him. Sometimes she did this part, sometimes Hayden did, sometimes Cliff did it himself. She wasn't doing it for his pleasure, but for hers. Her fingers were not quite long enough to satisfy him, but Jackie enjoyed the act of fingering him, and Cliff liked that she liked it. A lot.

Hayden broke away from his lips to kiss Cliff's cheek. His one hand was digging into the meat of Cliff's leg, and his arm was under Cliff's head, hand in his hair. 

He kissed his forehead, his eyelids, his jaw, his chin, his ear, the side of his neck, until Cliff was shivering and feeling thoroughly loved. 

"Taking my fingers so well, honey. Your body knows what to do. You're so relaxed."

Cliff felt boneless. He was hard against his stomach. Hayden kept eyeing his erection, and Cliff thought he saw drool at the corners of his mouth, but he didn't move from Cliff's face. The furthest south he moved was his neck to suck a hickey into Cliff's sweet spot. 

Cliff whimpered; vulnerable, comfortable, and desperate all at the same time. 

They switched positions when Jackie determined he was finished.

"Your legs ache?" Hayden asked from between Cliff's spread thighs. They did ache a little from being held up. He wanted to say no, that he could handle it, because missionary was very appealing in that moment, but he couldn't put up with the pain like he used to. "Yeah, I can tell. Turn over, Cliff. Let me take care of you."

Cliff did as he was told, and Hayden shoved his tongue in Cliff's hole almost immediately. Cliff's contented sigh was mostly a gasp, and he couldn't stop himself from arching back at his lover.

"Is that flavored lube?" Hayden asked, pulling away.

"Peach," Jackie said. "It was on sale. A travel sized bottle."

"Peach," Hayden repeated, laughing, squeezing Cliff's left ass cheek.

"Hayden," Cliff urged, clutching Jackie's pillow. It smelled like her shampoo. 

"Impatient," Hayden replied, squeezing him harder. 

"He had to wait ten whole days, Hayden," Jackie snickered. Her hand slid up the arch of his back, stopping to squeeze his shoulder. "And he's been so good."

Hayden didn't torture him for long. Cliff almost thanked him as he pushed in, but he refrained. Jackie continued to squeeze his shoulder as Hayden bottomed out, but moved away as Hayden started fucking him properly. 

"Fuck, touch me," Cliff begged, on the precipice after a short amount of time. "Please."

"No," Jackie denied, as Hayden ground into him, whining around Jackie's fingers stuffing his mouth. "Hayden is going to come in you, he's gonna breed your needy hole. Then, when you've been edged and desperate for it, you're going to breed me. Get it? While you're doing that, Hayden is going to clean up so he can fuck a load into me too. And after that? We have the rest of the night."

"Jackie, please," pleasure was a blinding light, he was lost. "Please, I need it. I'm so close."

"Do not come. You can waste a load later, but your first one is for me." Hayden tried to say something to her, he heard vague syllables attempt to form words, but he couldn't manage a coherent sentence while sucking on her fingers.

"Come on, baby boy," she's talking to Hayden now, ignoring Cliff's desperate whimpering. "You wanna breed him, don't you? You love filling him up. Look at him, he's begging for it."

The sensation of Hayden coming inside him very nearly sent him over the edge. It was hot; he was so turned on he would probably explode if someone so much as breathed near his dick. Hayden's thrusts slowed and finally stopped. Cliff heard his breathing change as Jackie took her fingers out of his mouth. 

"Pull out. I can't wait a second."

Hayden did as he was told. Cliff turned over, feeling Hayden's come leak out of him. His cock was hard, leaking against his stomach. It had already spread onto the bedding. Hayden's lips were swollen, he looked wrecked. He sat at the foot of the bed, breathing, as Jackie hopped onto Cliff.

"Don't come right away, either."

"Jackie," Cliff whimpered. "Please, I don't think I can wait."

"You can. Be good, love."

She grabbed him by the base. Cliff choked off a moan. Hayden left them, but he didn't close the door of the bathroom as he cleaned up. 

She lowered herself on his cock painfully slowly, eventually bracing herself on his shoulders. Cliff's eyes were filled with tears. He was so desperate to come he wanted to sob.

"Aw, Cliff, baby, have I been too mean?" 

Cliff's moan stuck in his throat as she took as much of him as she possibly could. She was so wet, so wet and warm and wonderful, he could feel her moisture seeping down onto his upper thighs. Slowly, she began to rock back and forth on him. Cliff was doing everything in his power to hold his orgasm off.

"I'm sorry, baby. You can cry if you need to. You're so pretty when you cry."

A tear did slip down his face. He stared into her eyes, so warm, so full of love and longing. She was, currently, the center of his entire universe. The low lamp light gave her frizzy curls a halo. 

"I love you," Cliff said, but it was an understatement, truly. He did love her. He did love them. But what he felt for them was deeper than a cheap grocery store occasion card "I love you" message. He wanted to marry them both every day of his life; he wanted to purchase plots in a cemetery for them so their bones would lay beside each other eternally.

He never wanted to separate from her body, he never wanted to come, he wanted them to get stuck together like this. He wanted paramedics to come and whisper and hide their laughter at their mishap. He wouldn't be embarrassed, not really. He wanted everyone to witness this, to witness his devotion. 

Maybe he just really needed to come. Jesus. 

"I love you too, you feel so good, Cliff. You're gonna come with me, okay? Together."

"Yes," Cliff said, wanting that, needing that, as he always felt, a bit, like sharing an orgasm felt like something cosmic. God, he really needed to come, he was getting ridiculous. "Yes, please."

Hayden was back on the bed when Jackie's eyes started to glaze over, when the pleasure was getting too much for her horny brain to send unhinged sentences to her perfect mouth. He was petting Cliff's chest hair again, lazily swirling his right nipple with his tongue. 

"Jackie, please, I can't-"

"Fuck, yes, beg-" 

"Please, please Jackie, let me come. Let me come in you. Please-"

"Fuck!" He felt her gush around him, tightening, squeezing him, milking him, as she came.

Hayden leaned so close to Cliff, his breath gave him goosebumps.

"Now, Cliff. Come now." He whispered, low, in his ear. Cliff was a fucking goner. 

Reality came back to him in jagged shards. He had been steadily leaking Hayden's jizz out of his ass the entire time Jackie was riding him. The bedding was beyond fucked. He couldn't bring himself to move off the soiled side of the bed.

Jackie was laying on her back with her legs propped up against the headboard, her head was on Hayden's thigh, which meant Hayden's half-hard cock was standing against her face. She didn't seem to mind. 

Cliff's brain was really struggling to put itself back together.

"Spread your legs a bit, Jacks. It's leaking out."

Jackie kept her legs elevated, but she opened her thighs to allow Hayden to shove two fingers in her pussy, fucking Cliff's come back into her.

"An old trick for getting pregnant," Jackie said while Cliff stared. "Using gravity to do the work."

"Right," Cliff replied, dizzy. 

Jackie shuffled, a contented smile on her face, eyes closed. She puckered her lips and pressed a kiss to Hayden's shaft. 

Fuck, that was so hot. Cliff couldn't look away.

Cliff turned onto his belly, cringing at the wet bedding touching his knee as he crawled the necessary inches to his partners.

"I'm just gonna-" Cliff cut himself off to close his mouth over the tip of Hayden's dick.

"Oh."

Cliff didn't move, as Jackie was just under him, and he wouldn't dream of asking her to move her pretty head. He suckled at the tip, holding his mouth there, just warming him. His eyes slid closed as he held himself up on one elbow, tasting Hayden has he grew fully hard between his stretched lips.

Shuffling under him forced Cliff to investigate. He didn't move from the pretty tip of Hayden's precious dick, though. Hayden was looking down at him with his pink lips open and his ocean blue eyes steadily disappearing behind blown-out pupils. 

Jackie shifted onto her side so she could mouth and tongue at Hayden's shaft, getting him nice and wet with her spit.

"Jesus Christ, guys, wow."

Neither of them moved to give him a real blowjob. They were just playing with him. Jackie moved to suck his balls a little before going back to licking him, just below Cliff, who was drooling down his length.

"H-ha, ah, fuck," he moaned and whined so nicely. A bit of pre leaked into Cliff's mouth. "You're too good to me."

They were torturing him, but they were being very loving about it. 

"Fuck, can you, I love this, but I really need-"

"Hold on, love, just another minute or so." Jackie encouraged, still resting on his thigh. 

Cliff tongued the leaking slit, earning a gasp from above him. 

"I really-it's so good. Need more, please..."

Jackie pulled away and sat up, allowing Cliff to fully take Hayden's length into his mouth so he could properly cockwarm him.

"Oh god, Cliff."

"Open," Jackie ordered, Cliff knew she was shoving her fingers in his mouth again. Cliff kept his eyes shut, drowning himself in the weight of Hayden in his mouth. 

"You need more?"

Cliff thought he heard a 'uh huh," around her index and middle fingers. 

"You wanna fuck me? Hm? You wanna mix your come with Cliff's?"

"Mmm! Yes!" Cliff could hear the muffled yes. He hated to, but he had to pull away, he had to watch this.

Hayden's eyes were firmly trained on his wife, but he looked to Cliff when Cliff abandoned his post to stare. His cock twitched, seeking Cliff's warm mouth.

Jackie's knees were denting the mattress, her fingers were fully in Hayden's mouth, probably in his throat. There was jizz on her thighs.

"It's leaking out of me. Need you to fuck it back in, think you can, Mr. Pike? Or are you gonna blow immediately?" She took her fingers away quickly, tearing an embarrassing noise out of Hayden's throat as she did so. "Answer."

"I'll be good, Jackie. I'll give you what you need."

"A baby?"

"Yes, please," Hayden sobbed. "Lay down, let me give it to you. I can do it."

"Do what? Say it."

"Get you pregnant, give you a baby, I can do it. Please let me."

Cliff rested and watched as Jackie climbed onto all fours, facing him. He was soft, but there was a familiar stirring in his belly as he watched Hayden get into position behind her.

"You're a mess," he said. "So wet. Cliff came so much."

"Such a big load. Felt amazing, thank you, Cliff."

"Thank you," He replied, smiling at her. 

Hayden gave it to her desperately, he was always a little rougher in doggy than he was in missionary. 

"Cliff-honey," she gasped. "Can you reach in that drawer and grab my rose gold colored bullet?" 

Cliff, lazily stroking his tired cock, did as he was asked and passed the toy to Hayden. 

"The wand would be better."

"It's dead," Jackie moaned. "Fuck, turn it on, Hayden. I need to come."

Her mischievous gaze slid from Cliff's dick to his face, then back to his dick.

"Think you can come on my face in time?"

Cliff grabbed the peach lube from the nightstand. His answer was a firm maybe, but he wasn't sure it was possible in a time crunch. 

"Think you boys will have more rounds in you after this?" Jackie asked, smiling at Cliff. "Because there was this new position I read about-"

"Oh god, Jackie, I don't know-" Hayden complained, and Cliff was, unfortunately, right there with him. 

"Aw, quitters."

"That doesn't mean you have to stop, Jacks," Cliff said, "Hayden and I can eat you out until you're satisfied. How many do you need? 8? 9? I know ovulating gets you all worked up."

"Fuck. Fuck, Hayden stop with the vibrator. Give it to Cliff."

Hayden tossed the bullet onto the bed. Cliff took it, it was small, hard to hold onto. He wasn't sure what the little thing could do for him.

"Use it, I need you to come with us. Want it all over my face."

"Fuck, Jackie, you have the dirtiest fucking mouth." 

Jackie's grin was one of pride. 

Cliff did manage it, sliding the vibrating toy over the slit of his cock on the lowest setting made him jolt. He always forgot about how fun vibrators could be, even when they made Jackie howl like an animal in front of him regularly. 

Cliff climbed onto his knees so he could reach Jackie. Jackie's mouth fell open. One hand sped up movements on his length while the other teased the head with the toy.

"You gonna come, Cliff? Give it to me, mark me."

Cliff came before Hayden, grunting as he painted Jackie's face white. It was a smaller load than his first, but ropes clung to her eyebrow, her chin, the tip of her nose, and her bottom lip, which she immediately sucked into her mouth.

"Fuck, fuck-" Hayden and Jackie followed only a moment later. Hayden shoved himself in deep and held there as they breathed through their come down. Cliff laid back and watched, satisfied, happy. 

"You were right," Jackie said several minutes later as Hayden cleaned Cliff's jizz off her face with a tissue. She was laying across them. Hayden got her face in his lap, and Cliff got her legs. She would need a proper shower soon, the tissue wouldn't be enough to actually clean her, but they all liked to sit in the mess and bask in the afterglow for a bit before fully handling things. 

"Right about what?" He asked, squeezing her ankle. Hayden's come pooled under her. Cliff was trying not to leer. 

"Ovulation does make me crazy. Or, crazier than usual. I like facials, sure, but I never want it all over me like I do during this part of my cycle." 

"It seems impossible that you can get more feral than you usually are."

"I'm gifted," Jackie replied, smiling as Hayden played with her hair. 

They sat in comfortable silence for a minute. Jackie was squirming a little. Hayden and Cliff looked at each other knowingly. 

"I think it'll take this time," Cliff said, resting a hand over her abdomen. "I felt it take, I swear."

"Uh, no, I felt it take. When I came in her."

Cliff raised an eyebrow at him.

"No, I'm pretty sure I did it first. I knocked Jackie up, ha ha," he teased childishly, making them both laugh. They didn't actually care which of them biologically fathered their future baby. The kid would consider both of them their dads, that had long been decided. It was just fun to play competitive on occasion. 

"It'll probably be twins again, one of each."

"God, I hope not." 

Jackie frowned at Hayden. "You knew that was a risk when we had Arthur and Amber. Twins run in the family."

Cliff briefly considered the possibility of two babies instead of one. It was terrifying, but not unwelcome.

"Six kids would make us look like weirdos." 

Jackie frowned. 

"What, we're stopping after this one?"

Hayden's eyes widened, unsure if she was joking. Jackie could extend a bit for a long time if she wanted, but she cracked, finally, smiling at him so Hayden could exhale.

"You know, I really like looking at your dicks when they're soft. I once asked my friend if she felt like that with her boyfriend, and she said no, that his soft dick weirded her out. But I just think they're so cute. Like, there they are, they could get hard and fuck me until I forget my name but right now they're just chilling. They're fun to play with too."

"Jackie-" Hayden tried to stop her, but her hand found his cock. She gave him a few lazy, teasing jerks before releasing him as Hayden swore. 

"I'm too sensitive, Jacks. You're gonna kill me someday."

"No, I'm going to preserve you like they did with Walt Disney's head, or whatever. Or press you in a scrapbook like I do with pretty flowers. You will never escape me."

Cliff smiled at him, watching the pair of them grin lovingly at each other. His heart almost hurt, but mostly, he was happy at the display. The loved they shared was beautiful. 

"You're so weird."

"Love makes people weird," Jackie said. "I will press you and Cliff into the pages of my journal right next to my poem about how it feels when you're both licking my clit. In a few hundred years, someone will find the journal and put it in a museum so everyone can see how much I loved you both. And everyone will know about your head game."

Hayden was tearing up.

"Shut up, freak."

Her laugh was wet. She reached out to Cliff so she could hold his hand.

"I want everyone to know. I want it to last. I don't want to hide anymore. This shouldn't be hidden. It isn't right."

Cliff's heart stuttered in his chest. 

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I want to stand on a street corner and pass out flyers detailing how badly I love you and Hayden. I want to get a megaphone and stand in the middle of the mall and profess my love." Jackie breathed, she squeezed his hand. "But we can start with a subtle Instagram post."

"But, work, it's not-" Hayden started, but Cliff, suddenly, couldn't hear his worries about their careers. Fuck his career. Hockey didn't matter, not here. Not anymore.

"I'll retire," Cliff said. "I don't care, I will retire if I have to. If they have problems."

Hayden and Cliff stared at each other. It hurt, but Cliff knew Hayden wasn't ready to retire. He loved the game, he loved the glory, and he loved the security. Starting over was terrifying. But Cliff wasn't afraid, not now. Not when he was this loved. 

"Shower?" Cliff asked, changing the subject for Hayden's sake. "Maybe Hayden and I can give you some material for your next poem."

Jackie sighed dreamily.

"Yes, please. Give me some inspiration."

Chapter End Notes

Finals week again :( my head will never be on straight
If you liked the chapter, let me know! Hopefully I won't take as long with the next two.
Happy pride!

Chapter 3: The Dance

Chapter Notes

Originally this entire fic was going to be in Cliff's POV, but that one chapter I wrote from Jackie's in the last installment made me miss her. So you're getting both.

"When Amber was a newborn, there were a few times Hayden had to take her for rides in the car at night to get her to go down," Jackie said through a bobby pin clenched between her teeth. Through the crackle of her iPhone speaker, she heard her baby nephew screaming his head off. 

"He's just gotten worse! He's not even a newborn anymore. He used to sleep through the night. Jeremy-hey, Jer, please take him. I have to talk to Jack."

The sound of Levi's cries receded as Jackie shoved the pin through the back of Ruby's hair. Her curls were half up, now. Progress. Jackie's arms were already exhausted. She hated doing hair, but when Ruby came to her and asked her to do her hair for her school's Halloween dance, how could she deny the request? As time passes, how many opportunities will she have to bond her with daughter like this? 

Then Megan called, which was fine, because Ruby had been ignoring her in favor of texting with the brightness all the way down through the entire process. 

(Not that Jackie would ever invade her child's privacy. She would never, ever, read over her shoulder, that intrusion was unthinkable. She just happened to notice the steps Ruby was taking to prevent Jackie from doing so, if she were so inclined, which she was not).

"How's Ruby's hair coming?" Jackie glanced at the dark screen of her phone. That was code for 'is there still a child in the room?' She began to speed up her pinning. She didn't want to rush through this, but she also wanted to be there for her sister, in whatever way Megan needed her.

"We're nearly there."

"It's so tight," Ruby complained, not looking up from her phone.

"That's how it stays, sugar," Megan replied. "You will send me pictures when you're done, right?"

"Yeah, mom's using the pins with the little pearls on the end."

"Aw, that will be so pretty! Are you excited about the dance?" 

Ruby shrugged. Jackie could see the lines of her face turned down as she studied her child's side profile. Her chest hurt.

"Bella says they just play monster mash on repeat and serve stale cupcakes."

"Bella sounds like a Negative Nancy," Megan replied, making Jackie smirk. Before Levi was born, Megan probably called Ruby's friend a 'fucking bitch.' Parenthood has changed her.

Ruby said nothing and went back to texting.

At breakfast that morning, Ruby asked Jade if she had finished her English project.

Jade said yes, and then she freely offered the information that she wrote her essay about chapters 3-6 of the assigned reading. 

Ruby replied by saying she did her paper on chapters 7-10.

Jackie's heart had never felt so hopeful. She did everything she could to keep the beaming smile at bay, but she ended up having to excuse herself to the kitchen under the guise of dishes so she could calm down in private. 

"What's your costume again, Ruby?" 

"It's just a princess costume. Grandma bought one for me and Jade. They come with the pointy hats. Jade is going as Frankenstein instead."

The monster, Jackie replied in her head, knowing her moody child would not want to hear the correction. 

"Frankenstein, wow," was Megan's noncommittal reply.

"Dad and Cliff are painting her face green. She's going to look stupid." 

"Ruby," Jackie said, "Stop it. It's a Halloween costume."

Ruby shifted in place and mumbled something.

"What's that, Rubes? The phone cut out." Oh, bless Megan. If Jackie stayed quiet and pretended like she wasn't here, Ruby was ten times more likely to open up to Meg.

"I said, I don't know how she expects to get Lane's attention with her face green while wearing old cut up clothes."

Mic drop. Megan broke the silence, Jackie was too stunned, her brain was still processing. 

"Who is Lane?" Jackie stared at the phone, thanking Megan for the question and begging god to make Ruby answer. Jackie's hand shook as she pushed one of the last pins in her hair. Boys? Already?

Boys. Oh god. She and Megan were all about boys when they were fourteen. Jackie felt the need to sit down. She had totally missed it. 

She had the talk with the girls, obviously. Just like she would with the others. Every talk, puberty, dating, sex (which made Hayden dry heave in their bathroom). She knew they knew. She was supportive, she was open, she was there for them to come and talk to her about this stuff.

And Jade knew a boy. Or, was dating a boy? Crushing on a boy? Something. Jade was something, and she had not come to Jackie about it. Or Hayden, or anyone.

It made sense, Jackie knew that, she wasn't delusional about these things. Jackie hadn't gone to her mom for dating advice; she never freely shared info about her crushes or who she kissed or anything with her. Her mother's anxiety would have spoiled the entire thing. But...she went to her sister. She went to Megan. 

Just like Jade, apparently, had. 

That was something, at least.

"A boy," Ruby said dismissively. But, Jackie saw the mean smirk her daughter sometimes got when she was being a catty teenager. Her anger and betrayal was still prevalent enough to make her happily gossip about her twin. "He was new this year. Jade's been crushing on him from day one."

"Oh? Are they...is he her boyfriend?"

Ruby snorted meanly.

"He doesn't even know she exists. He probably thinks she's a lesbian, with her hair like that."

"Ruby," Jackie's anger flared. She let go of a pin and let it clatter to the floor. Those were not her daughter's words. If she had to guess, the stereotyping came from Bitchy Bella.

"Her hair is short like a boy, mom!"

"A hair cut defines absolutely nothing about what is inside a person. You know that. We do not stereotype in this house, you also know that. And I do not like the implication that sexuality is something to be mocked."

Ruby had the decency to look guilty for a half-second before her defensive child brain took over.

"I wasn't-"

"You were, and it isn't fair to Jade or to anyone else. I don't ever want to hear that come out of your mouth again, understand?"

Ruby glared at her mother with so much hatred that Jackie had to suppress a shiver, but she held Ruby's eye contact until the girl wilted, guilt clouding her entire face.

"I'm sorry, mom."  

"Apology accepted, but remember-"

"Apology without action is meaningless."

"That's right," Jackie said, proud of her for remembering. She went back to sliding pins in her hair.

Jackie was finished with her hair quickly after that. Megan talked about how Levi's babbling sometimes sounds like he's trying to sing a Chappell Roan song, which got Ruby smiling again. By the time she was pinning the large cone hat to her hair, the three girls were laughing and having fun again.

Jackie checked the time, "6:30, that's when your dad-"

"Ladies! You almost finished in here?" Hayden's voice called from the hallway. They turned as he appeared in the bedroom doorway, swinging keys on his index finger.

"Dad!" Ruby laughed, "Your hands are green!"

Hayden's hands were, in fact, stained bright green. He even had a smear on his chin, somehow. 

"I gotta use the special soap, the one we bought for Jade's face. But only when I'm sure there's enough in the bottle to get the stuff off her face."

"She's gonna be stained green too?" Ruby asked, amused.

"Nah, we bought the good paint, is all. I think they use it for movies. The soap will take care of it."

"Shame," Ruby replied, hopping off the chair. She swished the long bit of silky fabric that flowed from the tip of the cone hat. 

"You look very pretty, Ruby. Very regal. Let's get in the car," Hayden had to jerk away to avoid the cone hat stabbing his nose as she passed.

Jackie hung up on Megan to see the twins off, promising she would call back in five.

Jade was fully green to her slicked-back hairline and down her neck. Her hair was gelled down to her skull, probably Cliff's doing, if the smell of the product was any indication, but one unruly curl had sprung free and sat against her forehead. Jackie knew that their hair texture had a mind of its own. Cliff probably fought with it for an hour before giving up. 

"Okay, go stand in front of the mantle. Quickly, your dad wants to get going."

Jade and Ruby both looked like they were being held at gun point as they stood in front of the fireplace. Arthur and Amber were watching from the couch, dipping chicken tenders in ketchup while making faces at them. 

Jackie took about a thousand photos before allowing Hayden to leave for their school. 

"Ruby looks so grown up with makeup on." Jackie mumbled as she stood next to Cliff at the door, watching Ruby struggle to get her puffy skirt into the SUV. 

"Hm. You did great with her hair," Cliff said, laughing as it became abundantly obvious that she could not sit in the SUV while wearing the hat. Jackie had to rush over and unpin it, then quickly show Hayden how to redo the style when he got to the drop off.

After confirming Cliff had a handle on the other two kids "I just need to call Meg back. Five minutes, I promise" Jackie sprinted up the stairs and pressed the call button.

Megan had clearly wanted to talk about something serious when she called earlier, and she was disappointed when she learned Ruby was still in the room. Jackie could hear it in her voice the entire time she was doing Ruby's hair.

The call connected immediately.

"Hey, Ruby's gone. I'm alone, what's up?"

"Oh, nothing," Megan lied. "I just wanted to see how you were doing. Maybe gossip about your hot sex life."

"Shut up, that's not why you called."

"It's partially why I called. It's too bad you got Cliff first. I think if I were to ask Jer for a third, Cliff Marlow would be the only person he allowed in."

"Megan."

Megan sighed.

"Are you still trying to get pregnant?" She asked, sounding a bit wilted.

"Uh, yeah. Hasn't happened yet." Jackie placed a hand over her tummy, pressing on the plush that stayed after three pregnancies. It hadn't taken yet. Their last time trying was only a few days ago, weeks would have to pass before she could test again. But she felt...something. She thought, maybe, they got lucky the last time.

She wouldn't know for a few weeks, anyway. And she was probably wrong. She wasn't super intuitive when it came to her body.

"Why do you want another one? After four?"

"I like being a mom, Meg. You know that. I love the kids."

"I know you love them, I just...I thought I'd be one and done. At most."

Jackie's heart leapt. She attempted to do some math, but her head was getting to fuzzy.

"Meg-"

"I'm worried I'm pregnant again. And If I am, it happened in September, which means it will be born in, like, June, which means Levi will be less than a full year older than it, and I'm going to look like one of those women who can't keep their husbands off of them, or worse, hyper-religious, when in reality, I fucking jumped Jeremy in September when mom agreed to take Levi for a couple days, and we didn't leave our bedroom for anything, and I think a condom broke-"

"Okay, okay, Meg, you need to slow down. You need to breathe."

"Oh god, I'm so late, Jack. And I know my periods have been weird since giving birth, but I think I'm pregnant. I feel exactly how I felt when I tested for Levi."

"Okay, so, that's okay. It's not the end of the world if you are pregnant." Wrong thing to say, absolutely wrong thing to say. Fucking idiot, Jackie. 

"It feels like the end of the world! My body is unrecognizable to me and Levi won't sleep! He just won't sleep, isn't he tired? He has to be fucking tired!"

"I know, Meg. I know. So, here's what we're going to do. Tomorrow, I'm going to pick you up in the morning. Jeremy's not working, right?"

"Yeah."

"So Jeremy is on Levi duty. We're getting breakfast, and we're buying three early detection tests. And if they're positive, we'll discuss your options, alright?"

Megan sniffled into the phone. So she was crying, then. Jackie felt like crying too. 

"Okay. Jeremy doesn't know yet. I told you first."

Jackie felt quietly smug at that. Sisters before misters, bitch.

"He's your partner, but it's your body, he can be involved in your choice as much as you want."

"Do you think I'm a terrible mother? For being so scared?"

"Fuck no. I think you're exhausted and overwhelmed. You remember what I was like when we brought the twins home. Everything was okay until the season started. Then Hayden was gone all the time, and I felt like I was underwater. You saved my life back then."

Megan mumbled something like 'it was nothing.'

"It wasn't nothing. Adjusting to having a baby is terrible, I really felt like I was losing my mind. And...if you are pregnant and you decide to go through with it, you know I will return the favor. I'll come over, I'll stay with it and Levi so you can rest. It takes a village, right?"

Megan made a small noise, Jackie thought maybe it was a snort.

"Not if you'll have your own baby to deal with."

Jackie chuckled, touching her abdomen again. God, she hoped so.

"We'll go crazy together. And then we will throw them at our men and run off into the woods. Build a cabin like we always talked about. Live off the land."

"Only if Levi can come."

"Deal." Jackie said, her eyes a little watery. "And the twins, and Art and Amber. And Cliff and Hayden."

"The cabin has gotten a little too full."

"We'll have to expand the dream a little," The sisters laughed. 

"I'm such an emotional wreck anymore. Jeremy doesn't know what to do with me. I'm just grateful he's here to take Levi when the crying starts to feel like a hammer to my skull."

"I'm glad he's there too." Jackie had been afraid that Megan's boyfriend would be useless, as many boyfriends and husbands are. She was very glad to be wrong.

Jackie confirmed that she would be at Megan's door at nine the next morning. They said their goodbyes. Jackie sat in the haze of the conversation for two minutes, realized the five minute conversation actually took twenty, and went in search of her family. 

Arthur was sitting on the coffee table reading a story to Cliff and Amber. Amber was curled up, asleep against Cliff's arm. Cliff looked like he was five seconds from the sandman taking him too.

Cliff's left hand was stained green a little lighter than Hayden's two were. Jackie wondered if that meant Jade had the paint in her hair as well as on her face. 

When Hayden got back, he scooped Amber off the couch. Cliff was fully asleep now, snoring softly. Arthur only looked partially disappointed that his story would go unfinished. 

"I'll read it to you after you go brush your teeth," Jackie offered.

"That's okay. I'll do it. I read faster than you."

Jackie frowned at the back of her son's head. His hair looked a little greasy. He would have to wash it tomorrow. Straight hair needed more maintenance than she expected. If Art was going to insist on keeping his hair long, Jackie was going to have to do some research. 

It wasn't long before both kids were in bed for the evening (Amber sleeping, Arthur reading), that Jackie's phone rang.

"Ruby, baby, what's up?"

Immediately, she heard the sounds of one of them sobbing. And, as Ruby had called her, she figured it was Jade. She sat up, a chill going down her spine.

"Can you come pick us up now? We're outside the school. Um. I might be suspended. Oh, Mr. Davis wants to talk to you."

Oh god, their principal. 

"Mrs. Pike? This is Bernard Davis. There was an incident at the dance. We don't have all the details yet. This will have to be reviewed on Monday."

"What happened?"

She was in the hall by the door, Jackie already had her keys in her hand and she was shoving her feet in a pair of slides, the sounds of her kid crying echoing in the background of the call. Hayden was staring at her with concern, but she didn't think to put the phone on speaker.

"We aren't completely sure, but Ruby was in a fight. She punched another kid. Our school, as you know, has a zero tolerance policy for bullying and violence. I'm afraid she is right, this will likely result in a suspension. Possibly expulsion. Likely, she will be barred from activities, including sports-"

"You're kicking me off the team? Fuck you! You can't kick me off the team, they need me!"

"Oh god, Ruby just swore at the principal." Jackie said, running for the door, trying to get to her daughter before she could do any more damage. The principal was admonishing her, but Ruby was arguing back. Jade was still crying.

"What? What do you mean, what's happening?" Hayden asked, the chaos was getting to be, frankly, a lot.

"Stay here. I'm going to get them." She snapped at him before slamming the front door.

"Why is my daughter crying, Mr. Davis?"

No answer, he was lecturing Ruby, who was still talking over him.

"DAVIS! WHY IS JADE CRYING?"

Silence.

"Well, that we're not really sure."

"I'm sure! I'm fucking sure! Give me my phone back, old man. Give it! I need to talk to my mom!"

"Ruby," Jackie said first and foremost. "Stop talking to him like that. He might expel you. You're not in trouble with us. Tell me what happened."

"That little asshole called Jade a-" she hesitated, which caused fear in Jackie like she never experienced before. Her bold, potty-mouthed, hockey player teenager just hesitated to say whatever the fuck some prick at their school said to Jade. Jackie stepped on it, she was going to kill someone at that school, possibly a fourteen-year-old.

"What, Ruby?"

"It was bad, okay? Hey, Jade, it's okay. He doesn't know what he's talking about. He's some ugly, mouth-breathing, good-for-nothing, no-future having loser. You're too cool to worry about what Lane Barnett has to say."

Oh, that fucking name again. 

"I'm five minutes away, give the phone back to Mr. Davis. Don't say anything else to him."

"Mrs. Pike-"

"You have a zero-tolerance policy against bullying?"

"Now, like I said, what happened tonight will have to be reviewed on Monday for a decision to made-"

"What the hell do you need to review? It's pretty obvious this Lane Barnett kid bullied my daughter. Zero tolerance policy against bullying."

"Bullying and violence, Mrs. Pike. We don't know what was said to Jade-"

"I told you! I told you what he said! Bella and Mariah heard it too-"

"-but we do know that Ruby gave the boy a bloody nose. She will be in trouble for that."

"For defending her sister?" Jackie asked, but she already knew it was a losing battle. Ruby would be suspended for this, you can't answer words with fists. Life isn't hockey. 

The battle now would be for Jade. If Ruby was going to be suspended, that boy should be too, for bullying. There would be hell to pay if he wasn't. 

When Jackie pulled up to the mostly deserted pickup area of the girl's school, Jade and Ruby were sitting on the curb. Ruby's arm was firmly around Jade. Jade wasn't crying like she was earlier. She was hiccupping softly on her twin's shoulder, tear tracks evident as they cut through the green face paint. 

Ruby's knuckles were bloody. There were three little drops of blood on her dress. Her cone hat was sitting on the ground beside her, fabric blowing sadly in the breeze.

The principal stood waiting with a stern look on his face, arms crossed like he could intimidate Jackie, as if she were one of his students.

The girls stood up. She went to them first. She cupped Jade's face in her hands, and tears started to spill from her daughter's eyes again. She pressed a kiss to her forehead, then did the same motion with Ruby. It was supposed to be grounding, loving. The girls just looked tired.

"Get in the car."

Once the girls shut the doors, she turned to face Mr. Davis, glaring at him with the same level of intensity he tried on her. He dropped his arms to his sides.

"What was said?" She asked, tone even.

"We don't know what was said-"

"Ruby said she told you what that boy said to Jade. What was it?"

Mr. Davis looked exasperated. 

"We can't corroborate her story yet-"

"Tell me what my daughter said, Davis. Now."

He sighed.

"Ruby said that Lane called Jade a...Jesus...a 'freaky dyke.'"

Davis was stuttering and stumbling through some bullshit story that hate speech was absolutely not allowed on their campus, and if that's what the boy said, then he would be dealt with, as Jackie's blood boiled. She had to interrupt him.

"Is he still here?"

"His mother came to get him already."

His mother. Jackie would love to speak with her.

"And calling my child a 'freaky dyke,' that's not bullying under your school's definition?"

"It would be, Mrs. Pike, but we need to review the incident on Monday, as I've said. It's probably best to keep your daughters home that day. I've advised Lane's mother to do the same."

"Jade hasn't done anything wrong, why are you telling me to keep her home? Why is she being punished?"

"Jade is not being punished. She was just very upset by the entire evening. She was more upset after Ruby punched the boy. Does your daughter suffer from panic attacks? I'm not an expert, but her reaction to Ruby getting in trouble was concerning."

Jackie stared at this man, wishing him dead.

"You will call me on Monday with a decision."

"Yes."

"I understand Ruby has to be punished, Mr. Davis. I just hope the boy throwing around slurs at a middle school dance doesn't get away with it."

The man looked tired, he visibly bit back what Jackie expected to be an automatic dismissal. 

The girls were silent on the way home. Jackie finally broke it at a red light.

"Neither of you are in trouble with me or your father, understand? Not at all. You were defending Jade. It's going to be okay. We're just going to have to have a conversation."

"Can we have it tomorrow?" Ruby asked, she had been pulling pins out of her hair and dropping them on the floor for most of the drive. "We're both tired."

Jackie didn't respond. She was going to have to talk to Jade. Tonight, probably. Ruby needed to ice her hand before bed too. She prayed nothing was broken in it. 

Hayden and Cliff were both awake, waiting on the couch in silence. 

Jade tried to escape upstairs quickly, breaking away from where Ruby's arm was draped over her shoulders.

"Go to our bathroom and wait for me, honey. We need to get that face paint off before bed."

"Okay," Jade replied sullenly, sprinting up the stairs. 

"What happened?" Hayden asked Jackie first before turning his gaze on Ruby. "What happened?"

"There was a fight," Jackie said when Ruby wasn't being forthcoming. "Ruby needs to ice her hand. Make sure nothing is broken. I'll clean up Jade."

Hayden and Cliff led Ruby into the kitchen. Jackie watched them nervously, wondering if the perspectives of two NHL players were the best for this particular parenting moment. When the kids were babies, Hayden and Jackie talked about what values they wanted to instill in them. They were sure to teach that violence was never the answer. But, Jackie was pretty sure her men were as inclined to side with Ruby's actions as she was. 

Jade was sitting on the edge of the tub, stripped down to her undershirt and the old sweatpants she wore as part of the costume.

"I don't want to talk about it, mom."

Jackie nodded and began to clear off space at the sink.

"You can talk or not talk as much as you want. Sit."

Jade hopped up on the counter top as Jackie retrieved the softest wash cloth from the bunch, running it under hot water. She could see that there was paint in her hair after all. She was going to have to wash it out before bed.

She massaged the soap into the cloth before turning to her daughter's face. Her eyes were puffy and red still, she had cried really hard, maybe in front of most of her class. She was embarrassed, devastated, the victim of bullying and slurs at just fourteen. 

Jackie wished revenge on that stupid boy. She knew it was irrational. He was as much of a scared kid as Jade was. Misguided. Definitely trying to fit in. Lashing out for validation, for attention. Jackie knew all these things to be true, yet, she hated him anyway.

"I am sorry this happened to you."

"Mom-"

"You don't have to talk, but I'm going to. This never should have happened."

Jackie smoothed the warm cloth down her daughter's cheek, the green leaving streaks on pallid skin. 

"There are a lot of ignorant people in this world. Some grow out of it, some don't. Some let ignorance and fear run their lives. They have children and they teach them to react with hatred and malice, rather than compassion and empathy."

"I know, mom. I know this."

"It's one thing to know it, and another to have it directed at you."

Silence as Jackie wiped the paint off, her child slowly being revealed to her. Minty drops of diluted paint peppered the sink. 

"He said it in front of everyone," Jade said, eyes firmly on the floor.

Jackie did not pause her movements as her heart clenched in her chest. 

"I heard it before. People have said...similar things since the school year began."

That did give Jackie pause.

"Why didn't you say anything? We could have handled it."

"Because I was handling it. I could take it. I didn't care what most of them had to say. It's always the dumb kids saying that shit."

Jackie let that slide.

"It was just...it was different. The music was quiet, he practically shouted it. Everyone laughed, mom. Everyone."

Tears again. Jackie put down the cloth to pull Jade into her arms. Her wet face would definitely ruin Jackie's shirt, but she would survive. 

"And now Ruby's gonna get kicked out of school, and I'm gonna be all alone. She's gonna get kicked out of hockey and she's gonna hate me even more."

The tears were turning into sobs. All Jackie could do was hold her, assuring her, quietly, that Ruby did not, and would never, hate her. No matter what.

Jackie wasn't sure how long it took her sobs to subside, but Jackie let her cry her fill, hoping she didn't feel the few stray tears that leaked from Jackie's eyes as they slid into her hair.

When she calmed, Jackie finished with her face, then had her stick her head under the tap so she could wash her hair. She ran the dye brand's soap through it before using her own curly products. In relative silence, she gave a relaxed version of her curly hair routine to her daughter as they both calmed down. 

Finally, she was clean. Pale-faced with prominent dark circles and a quivering bottom lip, Jackie took her hand.

"That boy will grow up to regret his actions, or he won't. He, and every other bully, are of no concern to you. If you go back to school and anyone else says or does anything, you come home and tell me immediately, okay? And listen to me Jade, are you listening?"

"Yes."

"You aren't a freak. You aren't wrong or freaky or weird or gross or whatever for expressing yourself. I am so fucking proud of you, baby. Every day, I am so proud of the person you've become. You're...you're cool. You're cool and interesting. You're brilliant, you're beautiful, and you're way ahead of those fucking kids, because you know who you are. I love you, okay?"

"Okay," Jade said, the word muffled into Jackie's shoulder as they hugged. "I love you, mom."

Ruby was still in the kitchen with Cliff and Hayden when Jackie made it downstairs. They were in the bathroom over an hour, probably. Ruby had most of her makeup wiped off, there were wipes scattered around the counter, along with the hairpins she missed in the car. She was sipping from a juice box. Cliff and Hayden were also having juice boxes, apparently. Jackie hoped they were fortifying. 

"Well?"

"Yeah, I know. I can't punch people who are mean. I knew that when I punched him. And I'd probably do it again, so."

Hayden looked weary. He had been trying, she knew, but they were in a tough spot. If this had happened to any of their loved ones, Cliff, Hayden, and Jackie probably all would have reacted the same way.

"How about, you can't punch mean people in front of your teachers and classmates?"

"Cliff," Jackie and Hayden sighed. Cliff frowned.

"That was dumb of me, I should have waited until he was outside. But I wasn't thinking. Jade had started to cry, and he was laughing at her. He has these stupid crooked front teeth. I thought I'd do him a favor. Free dental care. But I missed and got his nose."

"We need to pray it isn't broken," Hayden said.

"I'll pray the opposite," Ruby mumbled.

"Ruby, we can't just fight everyone-"

"It doesn't matter. They aren't going to let me play anymore. The hockey team is going to go to shit, because it is shit already. Defense is the only thing it has going for it, and I am defense. I'm going to be behind an entire year now. I'll never go pro."

"Even if they kick you off the team, this won't stop you from going pro. You're too good, Ruby. You said it yourself, you're the only good player on your team."

"You're going to give her an ego problem," Hayden said to Cliff, who just shrugged.

"Objectively, I am right. They need talented players like Ruby. A few months not playing on a team won't change that." 

Tonight was such a shit show, Jackie was scrambling for something to say. Anything, really.

"I know I can't punch people, okay? I know that. Can we be done? My heard hurts." 

She pulled her hand out from under the watery ice pack. Her knuckles were split. Jesus, her little girl looked like some kind of brawler. 

"Anything broken?"

"No," Cliff said, "Trust me, I know a broken hand. And fingers. It was a clean hit. Someone taught her to throw a punch."

"Hockey YouTube." Ruby sighed, "Don't tuck your thumb."

The men nodded.

"You can go up. Your principal asked us to keep you both home Monday. They're deciding what to do Monday morning. Whatever happens, we will get through it."

She kissed the side of Ruby's head as she attempted to skirt around her mother.

"Love you, bug," Jackie mumbled to her, Ruby repeated it and left.

Jackie slumped down in a chair as soon as she heard her feet on the stairs.

"Jade?" Hayden asked.

"She's devasted. I'm calling it right now, Hayden. She needs to talk to someone. Maybe they both do, but Jade definitely does. Especially after tonight. She was publicly humiliated by that kid."

"Ruby told us everything. That kid should be expelled, not Ruby."

"That's not how it works, and you know it." Jackie replied and snagged his juice box, inhaling the sugary liquid.

"If I had to guess, it will be a suspension. Davis himself mentioned barring her from participating in sports and activities, so I think he's basically guaranteed to pull that shit. That will be the punishment over total expulsion." 

"Yeah, well, they would stop getting tuition from us if they expelled her."

"I don't think they're really hurting for it, Hayden."

"You wouldn't think that, based on all their emails begging for donations. Which we frequently give, might I add."

"Jade is getting bullied there. More than this. She told me it happened a little bit, which probably means it is happening a lot. I will be bringing it up with the principal, but she wants us to stay out of it."

"Fuck." Hayden put his head in hands. Cliff rested a comforting hand on his back.

"Right now, what I want to do is move the kids school districts. I know this one is close to home, but..."

"But, we already talked about moving if you got pregnant." They discussed it loosely. A fifth kid would make their current home a little too cramped. 

"Right. I think we should start looking for a place regardless. Otherwise, the kids would have an even longer commute to school. And I don't want Arthur and Amber going to a school that allows this sort of behavior. Arthur would be going there next year if we stayed. They pretend like they have a zero tolerance policy, but I don't believe them. Maybe I'm just emotional right now, but this is what I want."

"Then we start looking." Hayden said, "Easy enough."

"Do we let the kids finish school in this district?" Cliff asked, "Because sending Jade back to a school where she's being bullied makes me nervous."

Jackie and Hayden looked at each other.

"We'll have to discuss it with her. Maybe there's a virtual option, I don't know. I don't fucking know. This is all so fucked up." Jackie dug the heels of her palm into her eyes, her head was pounding. Bursts of white erupted under them, she settled into the lightshow and attempted to calm herself. 

"I have to go see Megan for a bit tomorrow. I'm sorry, I promised her I'd come over first thing."

"We got it," Hayden said. "Maybe we will watch movies in the morning, or something. Play outside."

"Take their minds off it all," Cliff said.

"Right. What's going on with Megan?"

"Sister stuff," Jackie said, dismissing the question. 

"Can I say something inappropriate, now that the girls are gone?" Cliff asked, sitting back in his chair with a sly smile tugging at his mouth. Jackie was already amused.

"What?"

"Ruby gave that kid a hell of a hit. Right in the nose? Hard enough that he bled? I'd pay to see it."

"Oh my god, Cliff."

"She barely hurt her own hand! Don't deny it, you want to see that little shit cry."

"No, I can't deny that." Then, "Maybe there's a video. Kids do that, don't they? Record fights?"

"I hope there isn't a video. I'm a bit concerned about his mother pressing charges," Jackie said, knowing she was killing the vibe but doing it anyway.

"She can fucking try," Hayden replied, sobering, "I'd like see anyone side with that fuckhead after they hear what he said to my daughter."

Jackie rested her head on the table and groaned.

"Parenting is so hard."

"Hey," Hayden said, "We're gonna get through this, baby. This is just a blip. It'll be a funny story to tell at Ruby's wedding in twenty years."

Jackie's laughter was silent and started out of nowhere. 

"Jackie, oh god, don't cry, it's going to be okay."

His hand smoothed over her back. She sat up slowly and watched him realize she was laughing, not crying

"What? What is it?" Hayden asked, smiling hesitantly, eyes a bit fearful. 

"She-she said 'fuck you' to the principal and called that boy a mouth-breathing loser."

Jackie roughly rubbed her face, pushing the tears back, into her hair. 

"Oh god, it was so funny. I couldn't laugh at the time. I didn't know what was happening."

"She really said that to the principal?" Hayden laughed, "Fuck, that's really bad."

"She's crazy," Cliff said, grinning, "She's the perfect combination of both of you. 50% Hayden, 50% Jackie."

"Mouth-breathing loser is all you, Jacks," Hayden laughed pulling her hair off her neck for her. 

There were a lot of things that needed to be done tomorrow. Megan, Jade, Ruby (another discussion about fighting), researching school districts, possibly scrolling zillow. Oh god, Shane and Ilya's party! She wasn't even sure they could go to that, not after this mess.

"Tomorrow will be better," Hayden said, nodding at her, and at Cliff. 

Jackie sighed and quietly agreed, hoping he was right. She knew, logically, they would get through this, but the sheer amount of changes coming for their family was frightening. 

"It will be, eventually," she said, believing it, even if she was scared. Their family unit was strong and secure, the three of them just had to put in a little extra work. They would manage fine. Loving each other was never the hard part.

They would do more than manage, she knew. They would thrive, even if it took a few months, or a year. 

Find a supportive school district and a home to fit their needs. Research a therapist that specializes in queer teens for Jade. Help Megan. Have a baby (hopefully). Reachable goals. They would be fine, even if it currently felt like she was gearing up to climb a mountain. She held her partners and melted into the comfortable silence, sipping from Hayden's juice box until it was empty. It was fortifying. 

Chapter End Notes

Another parenting-heavy chapter. Next chapter will be just the adults. I hope you enjoyed!

Chapter 4: The Halloween Party

Chapter Notes

Ilya was far too attached to his 2000s-2010s house party playlist, in Jackie's professional opinion. She huddled in a hallway as Fetty Wap played in the room directly beside her, where Hayden and Ilya were locked in a competition of flip cup with way more intensity then two men in their thirties should have.

No texts, no messages. 

Her parents had strict instructions to call her if the girls needed her.

They hadn't.

Jackie swallowed, her lips a little sticky from the one wine cooler she had been nursing. 

It had been a miserable decision, coming to the Halloween party the day after the fight happened at school. The girls, the entire family, was in limbo over the weekend, anxiously awaiting the decision from the school.

Jackie was mostly anxiously awaiting Monday morning so she could give school officials hell if the boy was not properly punished. She's already practiced her speech a dozen times. 

"Jackie," her body reacted to her husband's voice before her mind did. Tension eased, but did not fully dissipate. It couldn't, not until all this business was over.

God, she felt like shit for going out tonight.

The kid's planned stay at their grandparents was in the books for weeks so the trio could go to Shane and Ilya's party. They were very excited about it, Janet was going to make kitchen sink cookies, and Amber was going to help Derek dig for worms and go fishing in the morning. 

Both of these things were shrieked violently at the set of parents when they told the kids they weren't sure about the visit to grandma and grandpa's after all. The little ones put up a valiant effort, but Jackie was not swayed. She would not abandon her children during their hour of need. Sure, the twins had stayed mostly in their room, Ruby only coming out for enough food for the both of them once that day, but she needed to be on standby if they changed their minds and wanted to talk.

But, just before five in the afternoon, the girls came downstairs with their bags packed, expecting to uphold the calendar event that had been set before the school dance explosion. 

"I want to go," Jade said to both her parents, eyes pleading. "Please?"

Hayden argued it might be good for the twins to be away, their grandparents would keep them busy with activities to distract their minds. Jackie could concede that, but leaving Montreal for their friend's Halloween Party just felt wrong.

"We could all use a bit of relaxation," Hayden said, nudging Cliff, who nodded, but had earlier expressed his apprehension with being away from the girls. 

"We could relax at home."

"No we can't, Jacks. You'll be pacing all night and adding lines to your speech you've been practicing," Cliff said, which took the wind out of Jackie.

Stop being a fucking martyr, Jack. That, of course, was Meg's voice in her head. Whenever she got a little irrational or dramatic, it was Megan who dragged her back down to earth. She had expressed these feelings while at breakfast with her sister that morning, attempting to distract her from the decision that weighed on her. You barely get time to yourself. I sure as fuck don't. If you don't take advantage, I'll kill you.

The three of them had not bought costumes or even attempted to coordinate outfits. Cliff ended up with an vampire cape and what was left of an old torn open two-pack of glow-in-the-dark fangs, and Hayden wore an old plastic tiara and slung a child's sized set of fairy wings over one shoulder, as he was too broad to properly wear them.

Jackie painted some triangles on her face and the tip of her nose red and threw on some clothes that she wears often, in real life, that have clashing patterns, and called herself a clown. It was lazy and an insult to clowns everywhere, but it would have to do. She would not be posting any photos on social media, her clown friends didn't need to see her like this. 

Shane and Ilya specially reserved them space in their driveway, which was a sweet gesture that had Jackie a little emotional. What if they hadn't shown up? The spot would remain empty, like some kind of sad monument to their shitty friendship. 

"The fuck is up with me tonight?" Jackie muttered to herself as she climbed out of the backseat of Hayden's car. She took the back so she could lay down for the entirety of the two hour journey. Cliff stretched his arm behind the seat so he could hold her hand through it, which had made her tear up more than once. He never dropped her hand, even when his arm was probably going numb, because she needed the contact. She loved him so much.

"Everything okay?" Hayden asked. Jackie sighed, feeling caught. The truth was, they were all on edge, all a little nervous. They had been very excited about this night out, but Jackie had caught both Hayden and Cliff checking their phones more than once since they arrived. 

"Yeah," she had last heard from her mom right after they made it to the party, about an hour ago, showing the last dregs of a spaghetti dinner. Amber, apparently, mostly ate garlic bread. She couldn't blame the kid, Jackie was the same way during the spaghetti nights of her childhood.

She had texted Jade, privately, about a half hour after that, reminding her to let her know if she wanted to talk, or come home. They were all drinking lightly that evening, Jackie the least, just in case they had to break traffic laws and teleport between Ottawa and Montreal. 

Jade only replied that she was fine.

She also texted Ruby.

Ruby also said "I'm fine."

Jackie shoved her phone in her pocket. 

"I haven't seen Cliff in a minute."

"Oh," was all Jackie said. "Who won at flip cup?"

"Rozanov cheats."

"At flip cup?" Jackie asked, striding towards him to slide her arm around his middle, shifting the mostly broken wings that clung to Hayden's sweater.

"At everything," Jackie laughed at his petulant tone. "Let's go find Cliff."

Ilya was holding court where the music was the loudest, drunkenly gesticulating while he told a story to three young men, likely hockey players. They were sat on the floor at his feet, staring up at him with wide, unblinking eyes. 

"Jackie!" Ilya called as they tried to pass, "Jackie, tell your husband he is sorest loser in all of North America."

"Jackie, tell your friend Ilya that he is the biggest cheater on the planet," Hayden yelled, because he had to over the music. 

This was the only loud room in the house, granted. It was more of a secondary living room. The couches had been pushed to the walls to accomdate the couples dancing. There was a small bar cart, but the main stash was in the kitchen, on the other side of the house, where people's ears were less likely to bleed. That is where Jackie last saw Shane, when the man greeted the three of them as they arrived. It was odd to see Ilya alone now. Those two were rarely seen apart.

"Jackie, beautiful, intelligent Jackie, tell your husband he is as good at flip cup as he is hockey, and if Metros ever want to win another cup, he should have retired three seasons ago."

The three boys on the floor ooed and laughed at Ilya's tired chirp. 

"Jackie, tell-"

"Enough!" Jackie yelled, laughing. "Ilya, where is our boyfriend?"

"Ah, he is outside with my husband. I have been banished while Cliff fills his head with untrue stories of when we played together. Maybe you can distract him."

"Shane banished you?"

"Mm. Cliff started telling story of one time we took Stanley Cup to the harbor to pretend to throw it in, but then we actually did-"

"No you did not. Cap. You did not drop the fucking cup in the Boston Harbor!" One of the boys yelled, shellshocked. 

"And I immediately jumped in after it! It barely touched the water! But Shane was so scandalized, he begged Marly for more. So now he is spreading lies to my sweet Shaney. This is problem, yes? You go fix it."

"Oh my god," Hayden was shaking his head as he pulled Jackie away. 

Shane was outside on the patio furniture. He was wearing white shorts, it was way too cold to be outside dressed in such skimpy clothing. He had on a winter coat, but still. He was also wearing white sneakers with tube socks and a backwards hat. She had no idea what his costume was supposed to be, but he was dressed similarly enough to Ilya that she figured it had to be a couple's costume.

There was Cliff beside him, his vampire cape draped elegantly over his shoulders. It really complimented his black hair.

"Hey, there you are." Jackie said, Hayden took the spot on the couch beside Shane. Cliff was sitting in a chair, so she sat gently down in his lap, his hands immediately finding her hips to steady her. 

"Were you looking for me?"

"We thought you turned into a bat," Hayden said.

"Any word from home?"

Jackie shook her head and rested against his shoulder, her arm draping around him so she could cup the back of his neck and gently play with his hair.

"Cliff was just telling me about the time he and Ilya accidentally set Carmichael's yard on fire with a tiki torch and a bottle of vodka."

"It really was an accident. Carmichael got it into his head he could breathe fire, he had the torch, I was trying to get the bottle from him and Rozy was trying to get the torch. He released when I pulled too hard and the vodka went everywhere, and Roz dropped the torch. It was funny, some of the firefighters who showed up were some of the same ones who came when Connors got stuck on my roof after we won the cup. They were pretty sick of us. You can only autograph so much stuff, you know?"

"How did Connors get stuck on your roof?" Hayden asked innocently.

"Ilya dared him to climb up there."

"Jesus Christ," Shane swore. "Hayden, listen to this shit."

Shane began to tell, both Hayden and Jackie, a story about Ilya and Cliff hotwiring Cliff's car, just to see if they could do it, but he was mostly staring at the table while he told the story, and Hayden was locked in, giving Shane all his attention, so Jackie didn't feel too bad about tuning it out.

"Having fun?" She asked Cliff.

"Yeah, it's a nice party. Except most of the Centaur's under twenty-five roster are so drunk it's scary. I found one of them in a closet skyping someone. Pretty sure his hand was down his pants."

"Wow."

"Yeah, kids."

Her hand slid deeper into his hair. His strong arm was around her, she was resting against it, and the arm of the chair, her thighs over his. They were alone in the yard, it was too cold for anyone to linger, to stare.

"That's nice," Cliff purred, quietly. Shane was still telling the story, it was more involved than she expected. She focused on the pleasant sigh Cliff released as she played with the silky strands of his hair.

"I need a distraction," Jackie said. She was at peace, in that moment, more than she had been all day, but she was still humming with restless energy and anxiety. It was a dangerous combination. 

"Ready to go already?" Cliff asked, his eyes had fallen shut but he opened one to look at her for a second. They hadn't been at the party long enough to leave, and she wasn't ready, anyway.

"Not necessarily."

Making out with Cliff on the deck chair was a natural solution. His head was already turned towards hers, it was no hardship to sit up a little and lean in, slotting her lips with his while the sounds of Shane and Hayden's conversation and Kid Cudi covered her tiny sigh of relief.

Cliff clearly felt as comfortable as she did with public displays of affection. Her tongue arrived in his mouth before his did in hers, but he was quick to follow, and then escalate with a gentle boob grab that made her smile against his mouth.

"Oh," Shane said, Jackie could imagine he was blushing, but Cliff clearly did not hear, or care, that they now had an audience, as he cupped the back of her head and slid a hand fully under her top.

"There they go," Hayden said, fondly, "Is that all Cliff told you?"

Shane started talking again, and Jackie lost herself in the bliss of Cliff's kisses.

It was Ilya who got them to separate for real.

"No more storytelling! I will not let my husband be tricked into-oh am I interrupting? Marly, hello?" 

Cliff broke away first, a string of spit briefly connecting their lips. Jackie licked her swollen lips and stared at Cliff, who was looking up at Ilya smugly as Ilya played at mad.

"What is this? You tell my husband exaggerated stories and then put on a show for him? Is this a sex party I am not invited to?"

"Ilya," Shane said, exasperated, "did you really kidnap your coach's dog and rehome it with Svetlana's cousin?"

Cliff stood up, taking Jackie's hand and gesturing to Hayden, they went inside to Ilya's response of:

"It was our assistant coach's dog, sweetheart, and he was neglecting it. Sveta's cousin had a big farm it could run around on..."

"How many crimes did you commit while you were in Boston?" Hayden asked as the three of them passed through the door, pushing through the loud room on their way to the primary living area, which was much less noisy. 

"Do you want a rough estimate or..."

The three of them found themselves, briefly, in a game of poker with a few Centaurs, Zane Boodram, his wife Cassie, Tanner Dillon, and Lisa Hayes.

Hayden did not want to play, but Jackie had little interest in him wandering away, so he took a chair and she took his lap, Cliff beside them. She slung an arm over Hayden's shoulders and sat sideways so her feet could rest on Cliff as she chatted with the others at the table.

Lisa Hayes took everyone's money pretty quickly, which amused her giant Viking of a husband, who was dressed in a superhero costume that looked like it was pulled right from a movie set. He rounded everyone up for shots, swishing his cape with gusto that could not be ignored. 

She allowed herself one, as she only had one drink earlier. The three of them agreed it would be their last, and they stuck to it. 

"Honey, your makeup is running a bit," that was Lisa Hayes, the proud owner of Jackie's ten bucks. "Let me get it before it goes into your eyes. It's hot as hell in here. I haven't been to such a big party since college."

Lisa licked her thumb and wiped away a bead of sweat that was laced with red face paint that would have surely stung if it met Jackie's eyeball. 

"You should probably wipe that off soon, it's really melting."

"Yeah, it's just old lipstick, I can't say I'm surprised." Lisa smiled at her gently, she was really quite pretty, Jackie couldn't help but notice.

"Last minute costume?"

Jackie nodded, "Last second, more like, we almost didn't come."

"Aw, well, I'm glad you did, or I wouldn't have taken your money at poker. Or Cliff's."

Jackie's lips pressed together in a thin smile. She knew people knew, but hearing it still released butterflies into her tummy.

"Speaking of, I should go find him, and my husband." 

Lisa smiled and Jackie took off for the bathroom. It wasn't her actual intention to find them, but the first bathroom she came across was locked, so she said fuck it and booked it for Shane and Ilya's private bathroom. 

The light was on but the door was ajar. She pushed it open, and there they were. Hayden had Cliff pressed against the counter as they made out. His fairy wings had been discarded next to the toilet and his tiara was about to fall off. His hand was clutched adorably in Cliff's cape.

"Budge over, you two," They had broken apart at the intrusion, both a little fuzzy behind the eyes. The men moved away from the sink so she could dip her head into the basin and scrub the makeup off her face with her hands.

She picked her head up. Cliff and Hayden were leaning against the wall together, Hayden's thumb was flicking across his phone screen.

"Janet sent some pictures."

Jackie shoved beside him to see. He scrolled back to the first one, which was Arthur wrist-deep in a mixing bowl of way too many cookie ingredients. The second was the entire family (minus Janet) at the dinner table. Amber was actively chomping down on garlic bread. The third was of Jade and Ruby playing a game with Jackie's brother on the TV, and the fourth was the four kids having fallen asleep together on the couch during a movie. It was an adorable picture, they were all cuddled together, and someone had thrown a blanket over the pile of siblings.

"They're okay," Jackie smiled, the knot in her chest finally loosening. 

Three bubbles popped up on Janet's text thread with her, Hayden, Cliff, and Derek.

Janet: They're all in bed! It was such a fun night! Arthur will be bring home LOTS of cookies, love you dears!!!

"So many exclamation points," Cliff said. 

"That's Janet," Hayden replied fondly. 

"Party was fun," Jackie said, stating the obvious, "Can we get out of here? There's a hotel room calling my name."

In the room, they decided to take it slow and easy. They didn't have to rush, they had all night to be as gentle and loving with each other as they needed.

As Jackie needed, really. She needed to forget, for a few hours, that there was a world outside her body and the bodies of her lovers. Her eyes had slipped shut in the elevator as they made their way up, but she was wet and throbbing in anticipation of the evening. It's been way too long since her last orgasm. She desperately needed the feeling of her pussy stuffed, and maybe her mouth fucked. 

The thought was appealing, but her partners could get a little over-excited in that position. She understood, she loved it too, but she really just wanted to lay down with them, idly touch each other, and come with a force that would keep her shaking long after.

Jackie took care to properly wash her face with soap in the bathroom before stripping out of her costume, leaving the clothes in a pile on the floor. She also removed her bra herself in the bathroom, needing the godawful wire to stop digging into her flesh. She rubbed the red rings on her skin and shivered. She kept her panties on, though, always getting a little thrill in her gut from the act of someone else removing them. 

In the bedroom, Cliff was sprawled out on the bed flicking through muted TV channels, and Hayden was digging around in their bag, pulling out pajamas.

She just sort of stood there, pulling on a nipple, looking at them. The hard line of Hayden's jaw and the bulge of a bicep under his shirt sleeve. Cliff's long legs, too long for the king sized bed as they laid fully spread out.

She went to Hayden first, distracting him from his task. 

"Hey, you alright? Oh," his 'oh' was a delicate, sweet noise of surprise as she put her arms around him and pulled him in for a kiss. His hands met her mostly bare hips and tightened their hold, igniting her.

God, she burned for him. She was still desperate for her husband after over a decade of marriage, four kids...and her body still needed him like it did that first night. 

On the bed, Cliff's hand was resting over his bulge, the sight alone set her brain on fucking fire. During sex, she wasn't herself. Or, maybe she was more herself, she would probably never know, and she didn't care to analyze it. She felt like she became this other being, this horny, insatiable, irresponsible weirdo. She would be embarrassed if it didn't feel so damn good, and if her lovers did like it. 

Hayden followed her to the bed. Jackie climbed on Cliff, thought about kissing him, but decided to pull his cock out of his black jeans instead. He was half hard and heavy in her hand. She licked her lips, needing to drool on it.

She hovered over it for a minute, just looking at the reddish tip. Her mouth was open. The three of them watched a bit of spit slide out and land on the side of his dick. 

"Jesus, Jacks," Hayden swore beside her, watching. Yeah, this was usually his game, but she liked to play here too on occasion. 

Encouraged, she gathered more salvia in her mouth and spit on it, her hand coming around to grip him and rub it into the tender skin. 

She wasn't here for a handjob. Cliff was staring down at her with heavy eyes, his mouth open, full lips begging for a tongue between them. Still, she was busy. She could kiss him (almost) whenever she wanted. 

"Hayden, lay down next to Cliff, please."

"Sure," Hayden said, easy. So easy. So eager to please. 

She only took Cliff into her mouth for a few seconds when she slid off to take Hayden's fully hard cock out. 

"Take off your shirts please."

The men very quickly discarded their shirts. Hayden managed to get his off a split second before Cliff, so she rewarded him with her tongue.

She used very little finesse here, gearing up for something specific, her goal was to get her husband's cock as slobbery as possible, which was easy when she was constantly salivating for him. 

Cliff was whimpering beside them, ignored. She continued to ignore him as she pushed herself up, spitting on Hayden's twitching dick one more time, she squeezed her breasts together around him. Hayden's mouth fell open, a surprised moan and a "fuck yes" was music to her ears.

What did she get out of giving a titjob? Physically, not much. Psychically? She got to watch Hayden's hips desperately buck upwards, his cock head just visible through the fat of her tits. Her boobs have only gotten bigger in the last decade thanks to three pregnancies and just, generally, getting older and gaining weight. It had been a little hard to reckon with her changing body. She didn't bring up any insecurities that surfaced to Hayden, ever, because Hayden just seemed to take the changes in stride. The extra flesh hanging off her stomach and hips was often groped and squeezed and bitten. It didn't take her long to get over the oddness of her new body. Not when it was such a fun fair for her husband.

Cliff, too, seemed to like it, even though he never knew her body a different way. 

His eyes were boring into her. She couldn't keep up the act for very long, even with Hayden's dick leaking all over her, it was getting too dry. Her salvia wasn't slick enough, and she couldn't be bothered to get the lube out of the bag that was across the room. Another day, she would give him a titjob that ended with him erupting all over her chest and face. She was still being greedy with their jizz, she only wanted it inside her.

Cliff didn't allow the same treatment, instead, he hauled her up so she was hovering over him as they kissed.

Hayden's hand caressed down her back as Cliff hugged her to his body, her legs spread open, Hayden's gentle touch slipped down her side and between their bodies. She lifted up instinctively, giving him some room as he ran his fingers through her curls before plunging a finger into her wetness.

Cliff's tongue was pressing down on hers. The slide of his lips was dizzying. She scratched her palm along his stubble, and then she was being moved, moved, moved, she was falling-

On her side, sandwiched between them, Cliff in front of her, Hayden behind her. Her lips only disconnected from Cliff's for a second as he rolled her. She was pinned, her one arm was under Cliff's head, the other rested over his ribs as he held her faced and kissed her.

Hayden's weight briefly disappeared from the bed and when he returned, he was fully naked. Cliff still had his jeans on, even if his cock was hanging out. Hayden shoved a strong, bare leg between hers, opening them just enough to get his hand back where he wanted it, lazily running through her wetness, not touching where she needed it the most.

Jackie whined into Cliff's mouth, breaking the kiss.

"Hayden, please. Please touch me."

"Give her to me, Cliff."

Cliff untangled himself from her. She missed him immediately, her nipples hardening in the cold air, so absent of his body. Hayden got her to turn over and face him. She threw a leg over his hips and smiled at her husband.

"Hi pretty," she said, her thumb on his lips. 

"Hi beautiful." 

They kissed somewhat similarly these days, but the shape of his mouth was all Hayden, and it was as comforting as climbing into bed after a long day. She wiggled against him, his hand was just, once again, petting her bush like it was a cat and not a patch of body hair.

"Hayden," She complained, desperate. "Please touch me?"

Cliff climbed back into bed behind her, his hand squeezing the meat of her ass as Hayden's fingers finally found her clit. 

"So wet for us, baby."

"Because I love you," she said, melting under his gentle circling of her clit.

"You know what I'm thinking about right now?" 

Cliff's hands were spreading her cheeks open, her heart stuttered in her chest. He had been away from the bed for longer than she thought necessary...

"Thinking about how horny you got when you were pregnant the last two times. You were so wet 24 hours a day."

It was true, for most of her pregnancies, she was soaking every pair of underwear she owned and rubbing herself silly whenever her husband couldn't be there to take care of it for her. She would have three or four orgasms a day if she could manage it, but it became harder when her family expectations grew. 

"Thinking about that time I came home early and you were rubbing your pussy on the arm of the couch. Remember that? How you came all over it just as I walked in?"

She did. Her parents had the twins for the day, giving her a much needed break. She kept coming and coming all morning, but it just wasn't enough, it was never enough. 

Hayden was so sweet, he had planned to come home and take her out for a date night. He had flowers and chocolates and a new dress for her to wear. 

They didn't go out. They couldn't. Jackie came again but still wasn't satisfied. It took multiple rounds of Hayden's cock (then, a dildo when he physically couldn't anymore) before the ache went away. 

"That's what we're in for, Cliff, nine months of Jackie the sex monster."

"She's not one already?" Cliff muttered, and Jackie was coming with a loud moan, leaning into Hayden as she shook. 

Cliff was rubbing a lubed finger on her hole, that was the first thing she felt as she came back. The second was a persist throbbing in her cunt. She needed more. Many, many more.

She pushed back against Cliff.

"Yes, please." They hadn't been able to do double penetration in a while. They needed total privacy and security, which was hard to achieve with four kids. Plus, Cliff and Hayden were busy with games and practices constantly. The memories were not enough to sustain Jackie. She needed to be totally filled. 

Cliff pushed his finger inside. She could feel the hard length of his cock against her back. Hayden's pretty dick dribbled a little pre against his stomach, which she collected on her thumb and pressed into his mouth.

Hayden moaned around her thumb. He seemed to be enjoying it, so she took it away from him just to hear him whine. 

As he slid two fingers into her pussy, she shoved two in his mouth, which made him hum with pleasure. Cliff was methodically working her open, dotting her shoulders with scratchy pecks, occasionally running his teeth along her skin.

"How are we gonna do this?" Cliff asked, but he wasn't talking to her. She took her fingers out of her husband's mouth so he could answer.

"Just like this. Good?"

"Yeah," two fingers in her ass, "good, Jackie?"

"Uh huh," she breathed, Hayden's fingers sliding in and out of her soaked pussy combined with the pressure of Cliff's in her ass was unreal. She knew it was about to get ten times more intense, but she could barely fathom feeling any more than she was right then.

When Cliff deemed her ready, Jackie was about to come again. Instead, the boys pulled away, effectively edging her. They ignored her whiny pleas as they bullied her body into a position that worked. She was still sandwiched between them, but Hayden was more on his back than his side, and her leg was over his. It was up to him to hold his cock in place so she could sink down on it.

His hands found her hair as she buried her face in his shoulder, pussy stuffed full. She was shaking with her need to come. He lifted the curtain of hair off her face so he could kiss her cheek. 

"Feel so good, Hayden, baby, I wanna come again," Jackie's voice was small, desperate. She wasn't herself, she was totally at their mercy. Control was not something she preferred to give up in the bedroom. Once in a great great while, she handed the reins over, but it wasn't her first choice.

But god, it felt good sometimes. To just be handled. To just take.

Cliff had done the work to open her up, she wasn't sure how many fingers he shoved inside her before he couldn't take it anymore. Three? Four? She had been wiggling back on them, the stretch making her head spin. She was ready for it, but Cliff pushing into her would always feel like a lot.

"So fucking tight, Jacks, Jesus."

"Her ass is amazing," Hayden said, reaching back to grab at it, which made Cliff chuckle. Jackie felt his big hand land on Hayden's. Two sets of fingers dug roughly into her ass cheek, causing another whine.

All the while, Cliff was pushing in. She felt so wet and full and taken care of, she could cry. She was so close it would take a strong breeze to make her come, so when Hayden grabbed her hips to rock her against him for a second, she was crying out, biting down on his shoulder to muffle herself as he pet her hair, cooing softly.

"Jesus, Jackie," Hayden said sixty seconds later, when she was humping against him, her needy pussy still begging to be fucked. Cliff was as far in as he possibly could be, she was sure, and it was making her crazy. She loved to be taken like this, she wanted to live like this. Morning noon and night, two cocks stuffed in her holes, coming endlessly until she died of dehydration or a heart attack. "Already? Don't you get overstimulated?"

Yes, and he knew she did. It was all so fucking much, and yet, her clit was throbbing, she was so wet that it was all over Hayden, and she was fully out of her mind.

"Sex demon, that's what you said?" Cliff asked with a knowing chuckle, which irritated the fuck out of her. What was this? A fucking business meeting?

"Can you both stop talking and fucking fuck me? Fuck, hard. I need it, please." 

"I wonder if I could lean over her and kiss you," Cliff mused, ignoring her. Jackie picked her head up, blocking his view of Hayden's face to glare at their lover. 

"If looks could kill," Cliff smiled, which made Hayden laugh, and fuck, is no one as affected as her? 

Cliff took pity on her after her death-glare and began fucking into her ass, pushing her on Hayden perfectly, just what she needed. Cliff's strong hockey-player hands dug into her hips, holding on for the ride as his cock moved inside her.

Pinned between two huge men who loved her, Jackie could finally let go and fucking relax. The million tasks on her to do list didn't exist anymore, she had no responsibilities, no worries, no shame. She was barely Jaqueline Pike anymore, she was just holes, just sensation, just pure pleasure licking up her spine; endorphins and muscle and fucking love.

"Fuck, fuck, love this, so fucking good. So fucking good. Baby you feel so fucking good in my ass. In my pussy. Perfect. Perfect boys."

"Fuck," Hayden whined, which worried her, because if he was close now, she was going to die of too few orgasms. She needed to feel him throbbing inside her for a little while longer. 

"Don't fucking come, Mr. Pike," she warned, "don't you fucking come yet."

"Be good for your wife, Mr. Pike," Cliff said, his voice playing at stern, but he stuttered on the word 'good.'

"I'll be good, you feel amazing. You're so fucking-fuck."

"Fuck," Jackie whined, this orgasm was smaller, less intense than the others. It only left her needier, knowing she could get more out of her body. She needed the big one, the one that would shut off her brain, the one that would blind her to anything except ecstasy. 

They maneuvered her again. No more of this side business, they were in the position they were the first time they did this, Jackie shoved on Hayden by Cliff holding her down, hands on her hips, hauling her body back to meet his thrusts. Jackie kissed Hayden's ear, but she was too far gone to really even pucker her lips, so she licked it instead, then chewed on his earlobe a little.  

Hands everywhere, lips, teeth. Cliff was jiggling her ass, his hand under her cheek. 

"Such a nice ass, Jackie. So fun to grab."

"Slap it," Jackie moaned. "Do it."

Cliff did, though not as hard as he could. 

"Again."

Cliff spanked her again, this time a little harder. He roughly kneaded her flesh after, and she could feel it, the big one building, low in her gut, she locked onto the feeling.

"So good, Hayden, you gonna come in me in a minute, yeah? With me, need your come. Need you to get me pregnant."

Hayden mumbled something, his eyes distant, flushed with pleasure.

"What?" Jackie asked, kissing his neck. "What was that, baby?"

"You're already pregnant."

Cliff's laughter was startled. 

"What do you-"

"I can tell. How many times have you come tonight? Your pussy still isn't satisfied."

"Shut up," fuck, she was close. "You don't know."

"Oh, I know. Cliff and I got you good and knocked up, and now we're gonna have our own personal sex toy for the next nine months."

The words made her heart beat like crazy. Talk, just talk. He didn't actually know, because she didn't know, but the thought lit up her brain, turning her on even more, if that was even possible. 

"This for nine months? We might all end up in the hospital," Cliff joked. "Worth it, though."

"Cliff and I knocked you up, and everyone is gonna know. They're gonna have questions, and they're gonna see how much you like getting stuffed with our come."

"Fuck," Jackie cried, "oh, fuck!" 

It built and built and built and then snap. Sometimes it was like a wave crashing on a shore, inevitable. Sometimes it was like the drop on a rollercoaster, exciting. Sometimes it was like breaking a pencil in half, abrupt. 

She was suddenly transported, and then she was riding it out, barely registering the sensation of Hayden coming inside her, or of Cliff pulling out and coming on her bare back. 

Mostly, she felt sticky afterwards, and heavy limbed. Her mind was silent, her body, satisfied. 

She would shower this off if they were at home, but they pulled her in between their bodies, Cliff roughly collected the jizz he sprayed on her back and wiped it on the ruined bedding, and she decided that was good enough for now. The rest could wait a bit. 

"You don't actually know," Cliff said, his head was tucked on her shoulder, his stubbly chin scratchy on her skin. Her eyes slipped closed for a second, losing her husband's pretty eye contact. He could still feel the love and adoration he was looking at her with. 

Cliff pulled her tighter against him, she sighed. Hayden burrowed a little closer himself, so Jackie hooked her leg over his hip, feeling his come leak out of her.

"I don't actually know," Hayden said. "Just talk. You know she's always horny as fuck, it's not just when pregnant."

"Careful," Jackie said, "You might wake her up."

"Her?" Cliff asked.

"My pussy. You guys finally put her to sleep."

Her lovers laughed. Heavy-limbed, she was slowly but surely drifting off, even as she felt Hayden's hand on her lower stomach, cupping her gently.

In the morning, they stripped the bedding so the housekeepers didn't have to and took turns showering the night off. They had to pick up the kids in three hours when they finally left Ottawa. 

"Can we make a quick stop?" Jackie asked urgently as she caught sight of something out the window. 

Cliff pulled over, parking roughly on the side of the road. They started to question her as she jumped out of the car and into the small drug store that sat on the corner.

She got deja vu, only having done this a few days prior with her sister. She picked up two early detection tests and smiled at the cashier who nodded pointedly at them.

"Good luck," she said, a statement that fit for either possible result.

She was fairly certain they would be negative, but she got excited anyway, skipping back to where the SUV was idling. She tossed the bag in the backseat to Hayden, who caught it with a startle.

Jackie sighed, resting her head against the glass as Cliff pulled back onto the road. They would be negative. Probably. Maybe not. Who knew, really? 

"Even if they are, they won't be soon," Hayden said when Jackie voiced her beliefs.

She smiled at him and watched the scenery as the three of them headed home, her hand on her abdomen. 

Soon. That was a promise. 

Chapter End Notes

Sometimes I worry that my sex scenes are too repetitive, idk. Anyway, that has been this installment. In totally keeping it real with y'all, I have no idea when the next one will be. I know what it is, the baby is here, but it just might take a while. Also, the next one is likely the conclusion to the series. I have so much I could write for these characters, but I need to end it somewhere.

I have ideas for two other Heated Rivalry fics I really want to do, both multiple chapters. I hope I can do them. I wanted to ask, because I'm not totally sure. One is another "rare pair" but, with more than a "pair" of some of the centaurs. Is there any interest for that? Because I've been toying with the idea for a while and it's sooo delicious.

Thank you all so much for reading and commenting and sticking by this series, it genuinely means the world to me.