“I liked it, more than liked it. That was amazing. I can understand why people do that.”
“Yeah.” He reached between them as she moved off him. “I have to toss the condom.”
“So do we really have to use that?”
“Until we can come up with another form of birth control we do.”
“Oh, yeah. I have no idea what to do about that. I guess I should go see a doctor.”
He tossed the condom then moved back to the bed. “It depends on how permanent you want the solution to be.”
“I really don’t need to have kids. I can’t imagine having to take care of them. My childhood was so screwed up, and I can’t pass any of that on to another person.”
He took her hand in his. “I understand. We can look into solutions. I could get a vasectomy.”
“What’s that?”
“It’s where they do two little incisions then cut the tube that delivers sperm.”
“Ouch.”
“Yeah, it might be painful for a few days, but it’s much less invasive than permanent solutions for women.”
“As you can imagine, no one in the cult ever used any form of birth control.”
“Yeah, doesn’t sound like a place where women get to make decisions.”
She shook her head. “No, it wasn’t.”
“Would you like something to eat?”
Her lips pulled up on one side as she thought about food. “I could eat.”
“Good. How about sandwiches?”
“Sure.”
They pulled on underwear and he gave her one of his shirts to pull on. It fell to about mid-thigh on her. When she turned to face him, she saw the satisfied smile on his face.
“You like?”
“Yeah. You look cute in my clothes.”
She laughed. “I don’t think you could ever fit into my clothes.”
That got him laughing. “No way. I could never fit in your clothes.”
Being with Jump was great. She liked that they could laugh together. Laughter wasn’t a big part of her family growing up because laughing at the wrong time was dangerous. She’d come so far since leaving the cult, and she wanted to go further, and she knew life with Jump would get her there.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
The sun still hadn’t risen when Blakely woke. She tried to get back to sleep, but it was no use. When she slid from bed, she thought Jump was going to wake, too, but she guessed the pain exhausted him.
She heated some water for tea and turned off the alarm to sit on the back patio and wait for the sun to rise. She liked Wave’s house. It was comfortable outside, not too cold.
Back when she was younger, her favorite time was morning when she could sit outside without interruption. If her father had known she liked spending time by herself before the day began, he would have punished her.
Idle hands were equated with sinning. Sitting outside waiting for the sun to start the day was seen as a waste of time. She was supposed to always be busy with something. Being on her own was so easy. Maybe it was selfish of her to not want children, but she’d learned when living alone how easy it was to take care of all her chores when there were fewer people dependent on her.
