Page 119 of Echoes

On top of that, they’d kept a couple of small pieces for themselves. They were two basic pieces of corroded metal now, but to them, they were a part of their lives. These pieces had been at least partially the reason they now had what they had, so they’d had them melted down and mixed with some nickel. The jeweler had been confused, but he’d done as they’d asked and created two custom lockets for them to wear. The photos within them were different in each locket.Lydia had chosen a picture of their children and a picture of Eliza on the other side, and Eliza had chosen a picture of her parents with her as a young child and a picture of their three children and Lydia in the other. She often held it between her thumb and forefinger, rubbing it as a way to calm herself whenever she got nervous.

When the kids finished playing with the bubbles, Lydia told them to go in and wash up for dinner, which they hadn’t started making yet. She knew the kids would just run to their rooms and spend some time alone for a bit before they’d call them back downstairs to eat.

Eliza went outside and down the driveway to check the mail, which was something she hadn’t done in a few days since they typically only got junk and copies of the bills they already paid online. This time, though, there was an envelope with no return address. It had her name and her address handwritten on it, and the postmark was from Virginia. She grabbed the rest of the mail and carried it inside, finding her wife staring into the refrigerator.

“We have nothing to cook for dinner,” Lydia announced.

“I highly doubt that,” Eliza replied.

“Okay. I don’twantto cook dinner. Is that better?”

Eliza laughed and set the mail on the counter.

“I can cook. What do you want?”

“The kids all want tacos.”

“All of them? They agreed onone thingfor dinner? How is that possible?”

“I told them that I want tacos, and they said yes.” Lydia closed the fridge. “Therewasa debate if we do beef or chicken tacos; you should know.” She moved into Eliza and placed her hands on both sides of her on the counter, trapping her between the counter and her body.

“Where are these children right now?” Eliza asked with a lifted eyebrow.

“Oh, one of them said she was going to take a shower, which means thirty minutes, at least. Another is playing video games with those massive headphones on. And I just caught the third one asleep on her bed. She got no sleep at that sleepover last night.”

“That’s just too bad,” Eliza teased as she wrapped her arms around Lydia’s neck. “Because I was so hoping they’d rush back downstairs and argue with me over that whole beef and chicken thing.”

“I think we have at least fifteen minutes before one of them–”

Eliza cut her off with a kiss and reached for the button on herwife’s shorts, undoing it and then unzipping them.

“Best not waste any time, then,” she said and slipped her hand inside her wife’s underwear.

“Babe, we’re in the kitchen,” Lydia noted.

“I’ll be quick.”

Lydia chuckled against her neck, but she let Eliza stroke her, building her up and then making her come as Lydia pressed against her body and tried to get her breathing back under control.

“I want to go down on you right now, but I know the moment I do, someone is running down those stairs.”

“You know the one place they never go? It’s nearby,” Eliza suggested.

“Where?”

“The laundry room.”

Lydia laughed, pulled Eliza into the laundry room off the kitchen, and closed the door that also locked behind them. Within seconds, Eliza’s shorts and underwear were on the floor, and Lydia was kneeling on the rug in front of her. It had been a minute since they’d done this, had a quickie in a room that wasn’t their bedroom, with the kids at home, and it was still just as exciting and always good. Eliza had to bite her lower lip when Lydia’s tongue danced around her clit because her wife was trying to do that slow-build thing that Eliza loved.

“Babe, no time,” she pointed out.

“There’s time. Let me enjoy this.” Lydia kissed her clit.

“I thoughtIwas supposed to enjoy this,” she teased.

“Pretty sure we’rebothsupposed to enjoy this,” Lydia shot back before she let Eliza enjoy every minute.

“Mom!” their son yelled.