The innocent act of tying the belt on her robe had her mind racing back to the first time they were intimate. It wasn’t an experience Kelly ever wanted to repeat, nor would she change it. Thankfully, her horror story had a happy ending.

The past year hadn’t been all smooth sailing. Buying a house was stressful shit, throw-in rambunctious twins and life couldn’t be more chaotic, or rewarding.

After a quick pitstop, Kelly padded from the bathroom to the kitchen. The hardwood floor was cool beneath her feet.

“Hey,” she said softly. “What are you doing up so early?”

“Look at them.” Lucy’s face lit up like a proud parent. “They’re so cute. I just wanna snuggle them all day.”

She slid down the wall and patted her thigh. A drop of kitten milk dripped off Tabitha’s tabby grey chin as she climbed into Lucy’s lap, and plonked her furry backside down.

Possum, who had the bushiest tail Kelly had ever seen, took a playful swipe at his sister.

“Hey, play nice.”  Kelly scooped him up and kissed his cute little nose. He responded with a high-pitched meow.

Kelly chuckled. “Don’t sass your mamma. You should be looking after your sister, not tormenting her.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Kelly saw Lucy grinning. It was hard not to; her smile was so big it almost split her face in two.

Unsure why she was being laughed at, Kelly harrumphed. “What’s so funny?”

“Do you realize what you just said?”

“What?” Kelly asked, unsure what part of her sentence Lucy found amusing.

After putting Tabitha in the basket beside her, Lucy stood. Her sheer nighty clung to her curves, making Kelly want to drag her down the hall, toss her on the bed, and ravish her like a woman possessed.

“Up here.” Lucy pointed to her eyes drawing Kelly’s gaze from her voluptuous breasts to her smiling face.  Eyes twinkling, she slipped her hands inside Kelly’s robe.

“You’re playing with fire.” Kelly growled, a deep rumble rising in her chest.

Two pudgy kittens eyed her curiously, heads tilted to the side.

“So, Miss-I-don’t-get-it-when-pet-owners-call-themselves-mum-or-dad. What changed?”

Kelly was finding it hard to concentrate on anything other than Lucy’s soft, warm hands resting innocently on her hips. “Huh?”

“You referred to yourself as mamma.”

“Oh shit, I did, didn’t I? It just felt right.” Kelly shrugged. “Like your hands on me.” She pushed a thigh between Lucy’s legs.

Looking the picture of innocence, Lucy bit her lip and batted her beautiful green eyes. “Am I in trouble, Miss?”

In the corner of the kitchen, Possum and Tabitha had fallen asleep, a tangle of grey and white forming one big fur ball.

Love for the woman before her, their home, and, yes, their fur-babies, bloomed in Kelly’s chest. Overcome with emotion, she put a lid on her libido.