The Drive Home

After your call with Cassie, Tanya comes back from the restroom and you tell her about what you and Cassie talked about over the phone. Tanya agreed that talking with Cassie tonight might be best, as to not prolong the inevitable; but, also, after hearing what happened to Stella, she agreed you should spend some time taking care of your daughter.

As the two of you decide it’s time to go as to not keep the girls waiting, you asked for the bill from your waitress. Surprisingly, your neighbor drops by your table instead. “Hey Viv!” Tanya greets her.

Viv! Okay, you need to remember her name now.

“Hey T.” She greets Tanya back. “Hi. Jay, right?” she asks you, and you nod. You offer the handshake like you did that night and Vivian gladly accepts it this time. Similar to Brooke, she seemed surprised about something in your handshake. You’re going to have to get used to that.

“Food’s on the house tonight. As an apology for cutting your night short last Sunday.” Viv tells the both of you, to which Tanya just gives you a knowing smile.

“Sunday? We were together Saturday. He was making bedroom noises last Sunday?” Tanya asks Viv with pretend shock. Yours and Viv’s eyes widen when you both realize what Tanya was implying. Your eyes widen in panic, but Viv’s seem to widen in anger.

Tanya laughs before either of you could act on your respective emotions. “Don’t worry Viv. We’re cool here. Just glad to know you have my back.” Tanya tells Viv.

Viv visibly calms down and says, “Of course mami, you know you’re like my only friend in that building right?” Vivian sweetly tells Tanya, before doing the ‘I’m watching you’ hand gesture towards you, making Tanya laugh again.

“Food’s still on the house even if I wasn’t the one you interrupted right?” Tanya asks jokingly.

Viv looks at you menacingly before looking back at Tanya, “I’d say now it’s just 50% off.” Viv replies, before breaking into laughter herself. You realize they’re both just joking around now and you let your guard down. “Of course. You guys have a good night!” Viv says before giving Tanya a peck on the cheek before walking back to the kitchen.

“Shall we go?” Tanya asks. You nod your head and leave what you estimate is the price of the meal as a tip.

You and Tanya are back in the car, on your way to pick up Cassie and Stella from their Girls’ Night Out. You’re surprised at how early their night ended, as you remember the plan was that they wouldn’t be back until way past midnight. Well, at least Tanya said she doesn’t want to go any further until she’s spoken with Cassie, so the girls’ ‘making her fall in love with you in the bedroom’ plan isn’t going to happen tonight anyway.

You and Tanya are both nervous for the talk that she and Cassie will have tonight, as it’s basically two people who have never met each other before, figuring things out in relation to how this weird three person relationship will work. You know you’ll have your say in this eventually, but you don’t want to impose yourself on what kind of talk they’ll have as it’s you who’s being greedy and not them. You just really wish that you have ‘Normalized Polyamory’ now, now that you know they’re both naturally open to the idea, since you really want their talk to work out.

Once you arrive at the 24-Seven near L Street, you see Cassie and Stella sitting on an outside table. You park your car on the side of the street so you can go out and help Cassie support Stella on the way back. Tanya goes out the car to come with you just in case they need help with anything else.

Cassie gives you a kiss upon seeing you, but then gets visibly embarrassed when she sees Tanya with you. You can only hope they work that out in some capacity tonight. You look towards Stella who’s still sitting down, with her head in her hands. You approach her, “Baby?” you call out, but she seems unresponsive.

“She’s been going in and out of consciousness after puking again since we talked over the phone. I’ve been giving her sports drinks to stay hydrated since she puked earlier.” Cassie informs you. Not wanting to wait this out and get the girls out of this area as soon as possible, you place Stella’s arm around your shoulder and lift her up like that. Once she’s in an upright position, you lift her legs up with your arm and carry her like she was a princess. Tanya takes off her blazer to cover Stella’s legs as her dress is way too short to cover her underwear like this.

You all make your way back to the car and you seat Stella in the back and buckle her seatbelt. “I’ll drive.” Tanya tells you. “Sit with her, she probably needs her Dad right now. Plus, it makes it easier later going out of the car.” Tanya suggests. You give her the keys and sit with your daughter in the back.

As you guys make your way back home, Stella’s head is to the side, so you decide to put your arm around her and let her rest her head on your shoulder. She regains consciousness somewhat and you can see her look at you with glassy eyes, and takes off her seatbelt. She lifts her legs up on top of yours and starts hugging you with one of her arms around the back of your neck, while her head rests on your shoulder.

Now that Stella seems to be sleeping comfortably in your lap, you now notice the tension of the girls in front. They haven’t spoken to each other the whole drive or asked questions about each other’s night. You decide to break that tension and ask Cassie how’d their night go before Stella drank too much. Cassie told you the story of where they went and what they did at first, then she asks Tanya how her date went with you. The two of them slowly build a rapport just talking about tonight, until you all arrive on the street of the apartment building.

Tanya stops right in front of the apartment building so you don’t have to carry Stella down the street. Cassie gets out to help you support Stella, as you get out of the car while still carrying her. “I’ll park it somewhere nearby, get your daughter to bed papi.” Tanya tells you before driving away to find a parking spot.

“I’ll wait for Ms. Tanya. You should talk to Stella alone when she’s feeling better.” Cassie tells you. You give Cassie Stella’s purse where you assume the spare keys you gave her are located, and tell her to get them so she can come back to the apartment after she and Tanya talk.

Before you can make it up the stoop, Cassie calls out to you, “Jay —” and you turn around towards her. “When she tells you what she needs to tell you, once she’s sober, know that I love both of you and want both of you to be happy; and I’ll try to convince Ms. Tanya to do the same.” Cassie says, sincerely, and with a smile on her face. You immediately become concerned as you have no clue what the hell she’s talking about.

“Just listen to Stella, when it happens. You’ll get it.” she assures you.

“Go. Take care of her.”