Chapter 104: Belated April Fool's

After that little sex-capade, the flight time flew by. Hath spent the whole time obsessing about the trick they were going to play on Richie. David told her to just relax, but while she was confident that he would handle her come-ons with aplomb, she wasn’t so sure he would appreciate David being all over Lucy. She was also wincing at the ribbing he was sure to give her for the "spit swap" with Jon last night.

“For heaven’s sake, just don’t call her ‘Lucia’,” Hath said to him, as they got their bags from the carousel. "And do NOT talk about what happened last night."

David laughed. “But baby, that’s gonna take away all my fun!”

Hath rolled her eyes, and they went outside. She groaned. Richie came with Lucy to collect them. She thought she’d have more time in the cab to prepare before seeing Richie. She should have known better. Lucy lowered her sunglasses and smiled. “Jesus, Hath, you’re HUGE!” she said sarcastically.

“Thanks a lot,” Hath answered, sticking her tongue out at her friend. “C’mere and give me a hug. See if you can’t touch your hands together behind my back.”

Lucy laughed and started toward Hath, but David intercepted her and swung her in a big circle before planting a slightly lingering kiss on her lips. Richie’s eyes narrowed, but he didn’t say anything. Chuckling at Richie’s reaction, David released Lucy and she went to hug Hath. “He’s starting already,” Lucy whispered.

Hath just smiled. When she and Lucy parted, Hath went to Richie. “Can I come get me a candy bar, darlin’?” Richie asked puckering up, and Hath colored.

“Jesus, do you have a death wish for me?” she answered, then lowered her voice. “Clinching with the three of you in twenty-four hours would most surely kill me.” Richie barked with laughter.

Hath smiled at him and took his hands. “You look real good, my friend. I’m glad everything worked out,” she said simply, then opened her arms.

Richie wrapped her in a big hug and said, “Thanks for everything. The little cards and notes you sent were very thoughtful and made me smile.” He looked down into Hath’s smiling face. “It’s good to see you, darlin’. You look absolutely radiant.” He bent to kiss Hath lightly, and she traced his lips with her tongue. It was brief, and Richie was a little stunned, sure that couldn’t have just happened. Not after what had happened with Jon, and what she had just said to him. He snapped out of it and laughed when he felt a poke in his stomach. “What was that? Was that…?” Hath smiled and nodded at Richie. He splayed his big hand over Hath’s abdomen, and Lucy rolled her eyes. “Don’t start, Rich,” she said.

“Lucia,” Richie said, “You’ve got to feel this.” Reluctantly, Lucy went over and put her hands on Hath’s bulging abdomen. Her eyes widened with wonder when she felt a tiny little foot press into her hand. Richie and Hath shared a smile over Lucy’s head.

“Well, the LJs and I are hungry,” Hath said, giving Richie’s ass a pat. She went to David and looped an arm around his waist. “Told you we have a daughter in there,” Hath crowed. David just rolled his eyes.

“What do you mean?” Lucy asked. “I thought the ultrasound was next week?”

“It is, but this is the second time LeftBaby reacted to one of the Dynamic Duo. She kicked like mad when she heard Jon’s voice, and just now, she poked at Richie.” Hath laughed. “I’ve GOT to have a girl in there…”

The foursome went for lunch. All through the meal, David kept making eyes at Lucy, and Hath kept sliding Richie looks, and Richie suddenly remembered the wife-swapping chatter from the board. He smiled. They wanted to play, huh? He was onto them.

They had been back at the house for a short time when the doorbell rang. David and Hath went to go answer it, knowing it would be Ava. “Uncle David!” the little girl shouted when she saw him. She launched herself into his arms, and he swung her around; the two of them laughing and chattering like fools.

“Hey, Heather,” he said to the woman who had brought her. “Thanks for letting Ava come and visit for a few days.”

“I’m not a monster,” Heather replied quietly. “No matter what some people might say.” She was referring to Jon, who had been distant and cold since she and Richie had split. “And you must be Jenilee,” she said to Hath, smirking.

“Only to people who don’t know me,” Hath replied with a warm smile. “My friends call me ‘Hath’.” Hath put out a hand to shake with Heather, and the other woman took it hesitantly. “I like to make up my own mind about people,” Hath told her, and Heather relaxed.

David introduced Ava to Hath then sent her to go find her father and Lucy. “You wanna come in?” David asked, but Heather shook her head.

“No, but thanks.” She handed David a suitcase. “Tell Lucy and Rich I asked after them.”

They all had a fun evening playing games with Ava, but all too soon, her little eyelids were drooping. Richie and Lucy took her up to bed, and Hath and David snuggled up on the couch.

After Richie and Lucy had tucked Ava into bed, each of them giving her a hug and kiss goodnight, they started back downstairs to join Hath and David again.

Stopping for a second in the hallway, Lucy turned to Richie.

"Did Ava kick Heather like that when you were near her?" Lucy asked.

"Yeah, she did...pretty cool wasn't it?"

"Yeah it was...but don't start getting any ideas there Rich...I'm still not ready."

"I know...but you really don't know what your missing out on. Heather used to say there wasn't a better, greater thing then the feel of a life growing inside you."

Purposely ignoring what Richie had just said, Lucy started back down the hall.

"We'd better get back downstairs; if we leave Hath too long she may start in trying to eat the plastic fruit."

Laughing, Richie laid his arm around Lucy’s shoulder giving her a kiss on her temple. His plan was working, she hadn't completely come around, but he could see curiosity starting to show.

“Are you SURE you’re OK with this?” Hath asked David when Richie and Lucy went upstairs.

He just smiled. “Baby, I’m not worried. It’ll be fine.” He leaned in to kiss Hath, and that’s how Richie and Lucy found them, some minutes later.

“Jesus you two, you DO have a room,” Richie lamented, rolling his eyes.

“Fuck you,” David answered, good naturedly.

“Not my type, asshole,” Richie answered.

“How ‘bout me?” Hath asked, looking at Lucy with an evil twinkle in her eye.

Richie smiled. She was starting in on him again. Two could play that game. “You, my dear,” he said, waggling his eyebrows, “could definitely be my type.”

“I was talking to Lucy,” Hath answered, and Richie’s eyes bugged out.

Lucy laughed and went over to sit between Hath and David, hip-checking him so he’d move over. She laid a hand on Hath’s abdomen and pouted. “They aren’t moving,” she said.

“They’re sleeping. Hang on, Luce. Richie, darlin’, c’mere,” Hath said, crooking a finger. David snickered when Richie obeyed. “Come talk to my daughter,” she said. He knelt on the floor in front of Lucy, and leaned over to murmur against Hath’s belly. After a minute, Lucy felt a kick.

“Does it hurt when she kicks?” Lucy asked.

Hath smiled. “Nope, it feels just like you feel it. A little gentle nudge. The first time I felt them moving it was like I had a butterfly fluttering around.” Hath smiled at David. “I cried, I was so happy.” David blew her a kiss.

“Aren’t you worried about the birth?” Lucy asked. She still hadn’t taken her hand off of Hath’s babies, and gasped when one pushed hard against her hand. Hath quickly lifted the hem of her blouse, and Lucy saw a little foot-shaped lump receding. “Whoa,” she said, covering the little bump with her hand.

Hath laughed. “I’m scared as shit. Once they’re birthed, I have to take care of them!” David and Richie laughed. “And I don’t know about you, but my, erm, you know, is about this big,” Hath made a loose fist with her hand and peeked through it, “and a baby’s head is about this big,” she said, spanning her hands to about cantaloupe size. “I’m sure it will be fine. Everyone I’ve talked to say it’s never as bad as people say.”

“Are you really nervous about taking care of them?” she asked. Richie reached for Lucy’s hand and squeezed.

“A little,” Hath admitted, “but I’m just so excited to meet them. I think being nervous is normal. At least my mother said it is. I spent a lot of time with my niece when she was first born, helping my sister-in-law when my brother had to go back to work.” Hath smiled, remembering. “The first time Sue had me give Joanna a bath, she nearly pissed herself laughing. I was barely swiping the washcloth over her little teeny body, and Sue said, ‘you’ll never get the stink off her that way’. Babies are tough little critters.”

The babies had settled down, and Lucy pushed Richie’s head closer to Hath’s belly. “Make her kick again,” she said, and Richie murmured against Hath’s skin, making her flinch a little. Her daughter had no qualms about getting closer to him though, and punched him in the mouth.

“Your skin is so soft,” Richie said.

“Yeah, well, David spends a lot of time rubbing lotion into my belly, to help with the stretch marks.” David moved to sit on Hath’s other side, and kissed her tenderly. “Though I don’t think anything is gonna keep them away. I mean, there IS a watermelon in there.”

“Oh, it isn’t that bad,” Richie said, and Leftie kicked him again.

“Yep, there’s definitely a girl in there. No woman could resist you, baby,” Lucy said to her man.

David picked up on the not-so-subtle change of subject. “Either that, or she is on to his bullshit; I saw how she slugged him. Anyway, my daughter will have more sense than to succumb to his evil charms. After all, Hath resisted,” he said.

“Hah!” Richie laughed. “Just barely,” he teased, “and that’s just because I didn’t try.” Richie laughed at Hath’s blushing. “After all, I have Lucia. How could I want another woman, even one as lovely as Goddess?” He slid a glance at David and put his hand on Hath’s thigh.

“What’s that smell?” Hath asked. “Is that bullshit?” She lowered her shirt, and was trying to cover for her increased heart rate. She’d told Lucy that she would have a problem with Richie touching her, mostly because he had been her fantasy long before she met David, and the last half hour had been almost too much for her to handle.

Lucy sensed her friend’s discomfort and flicked Richie. “Hey! Take your hands off my Hath,” she said.

Richie pouted. “Oh, but putting my mouth on her was okay? Anyway, I thought this was swap week?” he said, eyes shining with mirth.

“I thought you didn’t want to share Lucia?” David asked, purposefully using her full name.

The banter continued, getting more outrageous as the evening went on. Finally, Hath stood. “I don’t care who it is,” she said, locking eyes with each in turn, “but one of you better be following me to bed.” She lowered her voice to a purr. “And I mean NOW.” She winked at Lucy and licked her lips then turned to flounce from the room.

“Hath!” Richie called, and she stopped and turned. “Lucia is taking Ava to school in the morning,” he said with a lascivious wink. “You wanna know what a real man looks and feels like, you come to Richie when she’s gone.”

Hath narrowed her eyes. “Dammit, you’re making me wait?” she asked on a regretful sigh, and left the room.

Lucy looked at Richie. “Now’s your chance if you’re going to take it,” she said, and Richie gaped.

David chuckled. “C’mon, Rich, you know she’s lusted after you for years,” he said, then burst into full belly laughter at his friend’s expression. “Man, if you showed up at her door, she’d probably pass out from shock. She knows this was just a game.”

The next morning, Lucy rose to get Ava off to school. Other than an unconscious grab for his woman, Richie was unaware of her leaving. She met David and Hath in the kitchen. Like she told Lucy last week in PMs, Hath was wearing a mostly modest peach slip nightie. She had biker shorts on under it. Lucy raised an eyebrow at her friend.

“I’m not taking any chances,” Hath said, making David laugh. He crossed the room to take Lucy in his arms.

“So, you’ll come crawl in bed with me when you get back?” David said softly, nuzzling her neck.

She laughed loudly and pushed at his chest. “Crawl, yes; cum, no,” she said, intentionally misunderstanding him.

“Wouldn’t be for lack of trying,” David said with a wink.

When Lucy got back from dropping Ava at school, the three of them went upstairs. Lucy changed into her beach cover-up which was strapless, so it would like she didn’t have anything on when she was in bed with David. She and Hath went down the hall to Lucy’s room. Peeking inside, they confirmed that Richie was still asleep, and Lucy made sure he hadn’t shucked his pants. They set up the camera on a tripod, and ran the trigger to under Lucy’s pillow.

Hath whispered, “You sure about this?”

“Suck it up, and get into bed with Richie Sambora!” she hissed back, making Hath laugh. Never in a zillion years would she think she’d be apprehensive about climbing into bed with this man. Lucy kissed Hath’s cheek, and left to go crawl into bed with David.

Hath raised the covers and slid into bed. Richie was laying on his back, the covers bunched at his waist. She caught herself staring at Richie’s broad chest, and nearly reached out to touch it, but quickly rolled onto her back. She figured she had about ten minutes of laying like this before the LJs squeezed all the air out of her lungs. She didn’t have to wait that long.

“Hey baby,” Richie rumbled, rolling toward Hath. “You came back to bed.” Hath held her breath and grabbed the camera trigger, waiting for Richie to open his eyes. When he didn’t, and he didn’t make any move to grab her, she relaxed. “Why’re you so far away, darlin’?” he growled. “C’mere and give me a little sugar.”

Hath made her voice a low murmur. “As tempting as you make that, gorgeous, I’d prefer you were all the way awake before I have my way with you.” Open your eyes, she said to herself. Open your eyes, dammit.

He didn’t. Instead, he inched closer and Hath had to back away when the obvious desired recipient of Lucy’s “sugar” poked her leg. “Oh shit,” Hath said softly, and Richie chuckled.

He grabbed for his woman’s breast, and Hath kicked him in the shin. Hard. “Ow!” he complained, and opened his eyes. >click< Hath caught an expression of shock, incredulity, embarrassment, and a little bit of “oh-my-God”.

“I told you I want you wide awake before this gets started,” Hath said softly and blew him a kiss.

“What the hell? When did you…? Where is …” his eyes went wide. “LUCIA!” he bellowed, and pointed at Hath. “Hath, darlin’, I’m sorry,” he said. “Jesus, we were just kidding. I didn’t mean. . .” He leapt from the bed, totally didn’t see the camera, and stopped in the doorway, looking at Hath in his bed. “Jesus,” he said again, and ran down the hall. He burst into David and Hath’s room, and found Lucy cuddled up to David, feigning sleep.

Richie saw David’s half smile, and saw Lucy’s bare shoulder covered by David’s hand. “Lucia!” he yelled, making the two of them jump.

“Hey, baby,” Lucy said sleepily. “Hey, Hath,” she said, spotting her friend over Richie’s shoulder. “Well?” she said, raising her eyebrows.

“It wasn’t exactly what I had it built up as in my mind.” Hath said seriously. “I mean being in bed with Richie Sambora? I expected a little more bang for my buck, if you get my drift.”

Richie turned around and saw Hath standing there, with her nightie and shorts under it. “What the hell?” and Hath started laughing. He turned to David and Lucy, and they were laughing, too. He watched them climb out of bed, the two of them fully dressed.

“Baby, you were in no shape to take an April Fool’s Day joke when it counted,” Lucy said, smiling. “Gotcha!”

Son of a bitch!” Richie swore, then burst into laughter. “Jesus, I was trying to figure out a way to let Hath down easy without getting in trouble.” His eyes went wide. “You kicked me!” he shouted at her.

“You poked me with your, well, THAT,” she said, pointing at Richie’s pants, “and you were going to grab Thelma!” Hath yelled back, tears streaming down her face.

“You called me ‘gorgeous’!” Richie said, doubled over.

Hath snickered. “Yeah, well, you are,” she said, then started laughing again. “You should have seen your face,” Hath said.

“Did you get it?” Lucy asked.

“You bet,” Hath answered, and the girls ran down the hall. The men followed, and saw their women huddled around a camera laughing. They showed Richie the picture of his face. You could see enough of Hath in the frame that you knew it was her. The dragonfly tattoo was a dead giveaway.

“Jesus,” Richie said. “You took my picture.?”

“Well,” Hath said. “My friends will never believe I was in bed with you otherwise.”

“Neither will Jon,” David said, and grabbed the camera.

“Get back here, asshole!” Richie shouted, and chased after him.