Samantha had never seen bubbles before.
Caroline did not know phones were now wireless.
It wasn’t just introducing them to Hawai‘ian culture, but tolife. Even after a month of being free of Weatherby Dalton-JonesIV, there were habits and customs that I was still trying to break them of.
Caroline thought she had to clean up after everyone, like she was the club’s servant. Fuck that! After I saw her cleaning the kitchen while two Prospects were just on their phones in the living room, I fucked up that kitchen, tossing dishes, pans, and food everywhere. Caroline likely thought I’d gone mad. I didn’t want to scare her, but I did want to make a point. I made the Prospects clean up my mess while I took Caroline and Samantha out for ice cream.
Ice cream, just one more food neither of them had ever tried, or remembered in Caroline’s case. After the various times Caroline had confided in me about what their life was like trapped in that basement, I had to leave them and go for a walk to cool off. Aloiki had skinned Weatherby Dalton-Jones IV alive a week after we arrived back in Hawai‘i. I knew it was his right. Nishi had been Aloiki’s Ol’ Lady’s best friend. But it pissed me off to no end that I hadn’t gottenmyjust desserts formygirls.
Because they weremine.
My feelings for Caroline had not changed, and in my darker thoughts when I was alone at night, I dreamed of doing things to her no father wouldeverthink to do to their daughter. But they were just dreams, fantasies. She might as well havekapu, forbidden or taboo, tattooed to her forehead. I could not, and would not, ever touch her, and I made sure I was rarely alone with her.
But, fuck, she was beautiful.
Both she and Samantha had gotten a clean bill of health from the doctor I took them to when we arrived home. I was extremely grateful for that. While neither one was underfed, the doctor did mention increasing their carbs and natural fat intake, as well as calcium for Samantha. Both were also on a daily vitamin regiment, and we had a follow-up appointment in another month or so.
Each week I took Caroline and Samantha to see a therapist,both together and separately. I did not go in with them, never wanting them to feel like I was invading their privacy or their trauma, but their therapist did give me information on signs to look for, like suicidal thoughts or how to help them through a panic attack.
I did not allow Caroline to cook. I hadn’t figured out yet if she wanted to cook because she liked cooking or if she felt she needed to do it. Honestly, she wasn’t sure either. Which was why I kept her out of the kitchen as much as possible, or sat her and Samantha at the counter while I cooked for them. Slowly, both were starting to fill out more.
And I was a dirty, disgusting, old bastard for even noticing.
It didn’t fucking matter that the age of consent in Hawai‘i was sixteen. I had no business thinking or even dreaming about touching her.
Aloiki and I hadn’t spoken much since we returned. He’d spent the entire flight back to O‘ahu trying to figure out how to tell Lu about Nishi. After he’d used the term “murder” for what he’d done to help Nishi’s passing, I knew his guilt was worse than even I suspected. I took matters into my own hands and called Bacon while we were on the plane, telling him everything that had happened. Aloiki needed Lu as soon as possible, and he didn’t deserve to feel guilty over aiding Nishi to end her suffering.
But Aloiki being Aloiki saw what I’d done as a betrayal. Not to him, but to Lu. She was pregnant, only three months along then, and Aloiki didn’t want anything to upset her. His logic was failing him in his own grief, because her best friend had just died. She was going to be upset regardless of when she found out, and he needed her. It was my job as VP to look after him, so he could look after the club.
It also helped that Lu was on my side in the argument and got Aloiki to agree not to punish me. I would have taken it willinglyeven if he hadn’t, because I knew I’d done the right thing for my ex-brother-in-law.
He and Lu had been busy getting ready for their wedding in two months anyway, and I was busy getting Caroline and Samantha acclimated. Despite living across the hall from each other, we were both walking our own paths right now.
There were no private beaches in Hawai‘i, but the land here might as well be. With the cliff at our backs and the crescent landscape, it was like our own little slice of paradise. Since Caroline and Samantha had moved into Bacon’s house with me, the rules had changed. No sex in open spaces inside or outside the house. Any explicit activity was now restricted to the barn, where Aloiki’s new porn studio was. Since none of the brothers had moved out of Bacon’s house, even after construction finished, the rooms that had been designed to be for the brothers were now different scenes for recording. Like a teacher’s desk or a fuck chair with thrusting dildo or a kitchen setup or a church altar or a laundry room for stuck fucks… Everything was removable so the rooms could be switched around and reused as needed.
Club Cunts and Prospects were restricted to sleeping in the barn. While Prospects were allowed up to Bacon’s house during the day, Club Cunts were not. To make things even more trying for the Prospects, they weren’t allowed to sleep with the Club Cunts. The twins, who had lived in the barn since being hired by Aloiki years ago, had returned to their old room in the loft now that construction was done, so they also kept an eye on the Prospects to ensure that none broke the no-fuck rule.
If any of the couples wanted to use the beach for some private time now, they had to ensure that neither Samantha nor Caroline were anywhere around. It was the same when I took the girls to the barn to see the horses; I had to do it at a time when no porn shoots were scheduled. Life with a four-year-old and a seventeen-year-old around was certainly different, but Itruly wouldn’t have it any other way. Additionally, everyone was going to have to get used to having a baby around once Lu popped.
I wasn’t the only one who was working to curb my language more. Aloiki wasn’t going to change for anyone, and often laughed that his son’s first word was going to be “fuck”. Lu, however, had adopted quite the mom look recently, and she was the first to scold one of us for letting an F-bomb fly. I thought it a bit hypocritical that Aloiki offered to punish us for her but wouldn’t change his own language.
I’d learned to be quick to cover up Samantha’s ears when Aloiki was around.
Samantha was… Well, she was incredible. Once she realized she wasn’t going to get in trouble for speaking up, or for making any sounds really, it was hard getting hertobe silent. And I fucking loved it. Caroline often had to translate, as my Japanese sucked and Samantha’s English was broken, but it was inspiring, seeing the world through her innocent eyes.
I’d forgotten. I hadn’t looked for joy since that paternity test had been handed to me. But watching Samantha’s face light up for something as simple as bubbles made me realize just how dark my world had become in recent years.
After our tea party had been interrupted before, I promised both Samantha and Caroline that I would take them to the beach when I got back. Neither of them knew how to swim, and while I was teaching them, they were not ready to be down at the water without me yet. The club knew this, and they kept an eye on them too.
For seventeen, Caroline was very responsible. Personally, I wanted to see her break free of her shell, do something crazy or act like a rebellious teenager. I got that she was a mom, genetically or not, and had a responsibility to Samantha, but I desperately wanted to see her carelessly happy too. Until then, I didn’t have toworry about Caroline disobeying one of the safety rules—theonlyrules I had put in place for them.
I never wanted either Samantha or Caroline to ever compare me to Weatherby Dalton-Jones IV.
Education was still something we were going to have to discuss, but honestly, there were more important things in life than learning. Emotionally and physically, Caroline was not ready to attend any public school.
The two of us sat on the sand, a single towel beneath us, as we watched Samantha, barefoot and wearing a bathing suit, run back and forth with the electronic bubble maker wand I’d bought her. Caroline was wearing a one-piece suit and a sarong. She wasn’t comfortable showing off any more of her body than that, which wasperfectlyfine by me. I might be attracted to her, but I wasn’t a total monster. I wouldneverpush her to wear or do anything she wasn’t comfortable with.
The dying sunlight caught her brunette hair, which was actually naturally curly, and showed off her lighter highlights. More than making her dress in traditional Japanese clothing, she’d also been forced to keep her hair straight for years.