Things ran well when it was quiet.
I resumed the painting of the fence that had gone untouched. The tray and roller had been stashed out of sight with the paint tins, possibly to also keep the bad memories from lingering.
Ethel was my shadow when I worked on covering up the guilt I felt when staring at the unfinished licks of paint stained on the pickets.
Quinton had been furious, like I had hoped. I just hadn't expected him to act like that.
"Daddy will be so proud" I chimed to Ethel, mainly to keep my thoughts distracted "and everything will look so pretty for him."
Ethel clicked in agreement, wiggling her body excitedly. The skin growing back on it flapped with her movements.
"It'll be just a little longer until he comes back. Then we can all be together again."
She wiggled again and watched the roller smear back into the tray.
I coated the pickets then went to refill when I saw Ethel dabbing her legs into the paint excitedly. She already had managed to get it through the fur on her face.
Her leg extended slowly, deliberately watching me keep my eyes on her, as she pressed the paint to my arm to mark me.
I chuckled and continued to work, her legs spotting paint up my arm closest to her.
"You are terrible, you know that?" I smiled down at her and spotted her forehead with my finger.
Ethel was a kaleidoscope of red, pink, and purple. She looked like an entirely new breed of demon.
She backed up to dodge my fingers then waved both her front arms in the air.
It was adorable to see her attempt at trying to be intimidating.
"Higher!" I encouraged her and raised my own arms when she wavered on her back legs to pull her torso upwards "good girl!"
"Silas."
I jolted at the noise and looked up to see Carter leaning over the fence. My eyes darted back to Ethel who still kept her position.
She had been trying to warn me.
"You can't be here!" I hissed to Carter in panic now, checking the forestry for signs of Quinton rushing back.
He would be hundreds of kilometers away. Still, having Carter here made me nervous; like I was being caught in the act again.
"I know that" he checked the trees too then lowered his arm over the fence, holding out a plastic-wrapped teacake "I bought this for you as a way of saying I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done what I did when I knew you were taken. It was just so long since anyone showed me they wanted me like that."
I looked down at the teacake. It was a little flat and had a crack down the top. The orange scent through it was rich, while the poppyseeds coating the top were layered on much too thickly.
He had made it himself.
It made me laugh, though not at his kind gesture.
He looked offended when he saw how amused I was with the offering.
"You came all this was to bring me a cake after fucking me" I snorted at him and pointed it at him as he opened his mouth "this is a fuck cake."
He snorted now as he tried to hold back his laughter that tumbled out. When we regained ourselves, he wiped his eyes then trained them on Ethel who was trying to hide behind me.
"You did become Spider Bait after all" he commented and shook his head in disbelief "I'll be damned. To be honest, I was picturing a little girl when you said you had a daughter."
"She's getting there" I rested a hand on her to give her some comfort "we just haven't mastered keeping the skin on yet."
Carter was in disbelief at what he was hearing. He peered at Ethel who kept close to my back.
"Did...you need help? Purely as friends, nothing else. I hope I didn't make it seem like I was here for you."
I noticed how much painting I needed to complete. With the overcast weather in the distance rolling steadily closer, I was running out of time.
"I'll get Ethel into the bath before the paint dries" I decided when I handed Carter the roller "you really don't have to do this, you know."
"I want to" he replied sternly "to make up for everything. As long as I don't get chased by a giant spider again, then we will be good."
"No demons here" I chuckled and lifted Ethel up who didn't fight against me as she was distracted by the teacake in my other hand "thank you for this."
Carter only smiled when I left him there to retreat inside.
Ethel remained snuggled against me when I dropped off the cake on the kitchen bench and carried her to the bathroom. It was quite unusual, seeing as she was usually bolting around the house to avoid my hands coming near her.
I even filled up the bath without her moving an inch. Once the taps were off, I started to get worried, until I tried to lower her towards the water.
Ethel screeched and kicked while bucking in my hands. Her arms and legs failed around and gripped onto anything that was close to help tear herself from me.
It sounded like I was trying to drown her as she continued to scream out and thrash against the water. I struggled with her body, barely dipping it below the surface.
"CARTER!" I screamed out, forcing my hands around her scrabbling legs to keep her under control "HELP ME OUT!"
He didn't come running like Quinton would have. Instead, he took his time while I screamed for him, and poked his head around the doorframe to laugh at my helpless struggle.
He closed the bathroom door and wrapped his hands around Ethel's back legs under my command. I kept mine around her front which still thrashed to free themselves.
It looked like we were trying to torture her. I was thankful I didn't have concerned neighbour's to listen to what was going to be normal routine.
After several moments of relentless struggle, Carter frowned up at me.
"You should get in the bath too" he grunted out his suggestion, taking a leg to the chin "is this a normal thing you have to do?"
Get in with her? The bath barely held me, let alone the both of us. And if I did manage to get in after unhooking my prosthetic, what would stop her from using my soaking body as her ladder to escape?
"Quinton usually gets her to wash when they go hunting" I recalled "I don't know how he does it without forcing her in."
"Just get in" Carter insisted when Ethel started snapping at me, tearing up the ends of my stitches along one of my arms "I really don't see any other choice here."
I started to unhook myself while Carter kept Ethel pinned down. He was barely controlling her, almost losing her entirely when I lifted myself into the bath.
Ethel immediately jerked from Carter's grasp to scuttle onto me. Her mandibles bit at my shirt and yanked at the fabric furiously before they sank into my neck and stayed there.
I wrapped my arms around Ethel who was shivering. Carter smiled at the success of his plan then started to fill the bath around us since most of it was now over the tiles.
"I'm here" I soothed Ethel who struck my shirt again and tried to break free from the rising water "shh, it's okay."
Carter followed my guidance and found the shampoo bottle. He even found a rubber duck that he squeezed in amusement at me.
I had never had the chance to use the childish toys I had bought. None of them had been catered towards baby spiders.
"Ethel" Carter cooed and squeezed the duck again while I lathered up her fur "look here!"
She only turned when Carter's fingers lightly touched her, instantly trying to climb over me to make her way for the door before I pulled her back.
"You need this" I scolded her "how are we going to explain all this paint to Daddy?"
Carter chuckled at the name and turned off the water. He sat on the edge of the bath to watch me massage the shampoo into Ethel's back.
"Her legs are twitching" he pointed when I scrubbed the back of her head "she must like it."
I moved to her back again to see her shiver again and her legs kick out. She crooned and nipped at my hand when I focused elsewhere.
At least she had stopped fighting what she loved and was enjoying it in peace.
It was building something between us that I didn't know what was missing. The trust would be shaken for a while as she realised I wasn't trying to drown her each bath time, but would eventually strength to a time when I wouldn't have to coddle her as she bathed.
I had to enjoy moments like these while they lasted and while Ethel was still my baby.
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The fence was gleaming with its protective coat when we retreated inside to enjoy the teacake away from the darkening sky and growing winds.
The humidity from the oncoming storm was thick and uncomfortable. Ceiling fans were all I had to try and buffer the heat and give us some breathing space around the table.
The teacake didn't offer any sort of refreshment. It was much too rich and tasted like I was eating the bitter rind of an orange that had fallen into a bed of pebbles.
"I'll bring something better tomorrow" Carter giggled when he lowered his plate to the floor for Ethel "something I haven't made."
"Tomorrow?" I pondered when my plate also found its home on the floor "but the fence is done."
"What about decorations?" Carter offered "I've got that dumb wheel at home you can have. Turns out, it didn't fit what I needed it to. You can put some flowers or something around it."
Flowers. Quinton would like to be brightened up by the things he loved most when he returned. I was sure Ethel would enjoy them too, if she didn't eat them all first.
But poppies were not in season and weren't a common flower to find here. And wildflowers didn't seem personal when they grew so rapidly everywhere else.
I could make some poppies. We still had some red paint left, although not much, to turn them into something that resembled natural blooms. It would brighten everything around here and last much longer.
"Tomorrow sounds good" I agreed promptly "and so does fake flowers."
"Fake flowers it is then" Carter grinned back as he prepared to leave once again.
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Carter was eagerly waiting outside the fence for me when I rushed to him the next morning.
He carried a store-bought banana cake that he proudly held out before entering the front yard. He also carried the wagon wheel that had two planks of wood and a handle still secured to the back of it.
He had ripped it down from his own garden just for me. I saw through his lie but accepted the gift with fake obliviousness and hung it off the fence.
Along with the wheel was a bag of sliced soft drink cans that were unrolled with the tops and bottoms removed.
Carter knew about my plans for fake flowers, but wasn't sure about what this was supposed to be.
He soon revealed it when he started cutting the thin sheets to form circles that he notched and splayed outwards to make the flower petals.
It was such an ingenious idea that he was quite proud of.
"Fake flowers" he boasted as he held one out for me "some wire and you can make stems too."
I wanted to praise him but held back. It could be interpreted as flirtation if I wanted to give him all the recognition he deserved.
"Good job" I simply said with a small smile and directed him to the wheel that we started to garnish.
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Another day was gone in no time. Carter was back again for the next, this time with a maple and lavender teacake.
Ethel was quickly warming up to his presence as well. She was still unsure on his movements but was revealing more of herself from behind me the braver she grew.
We worked on the already finished nursery next. A flat packed rocking chair was added into the corner that I struggled to build because of Ethel dragging away the pieces in her games.
We repainted the walls too. The light yellow that had become riddled with scratches along the bottom was replaced with a softer mint green.
It was all coming together perfectly.
I couldn't wait for Quinton to see it all.
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Another day and another teacake arrived.
I was running out of room to put the leftovers. Quinton was going to be suspicious for sure of why there were so many damn cakes suddenly shown up in our a fridge.
Today the garden was accentuated with real flowers around the abundance of metal ones. Lavender was the centerpiece with sprays of chrysanthemums around it.
Of course, Ethel was soon devouring the heads before we stopped her. It was such an amusing sight to see half of the flowers standing tall while the other half were mutilated stumps.
It was also the last day before Quinton's expected arrival back. Tomorrow was when we had planned for me to carry his children again and pray it worked.
Carter didn't quite understand my eagerness for it all when we shared the honeycake. He found the whole idea disturbing more than anything.
But I was just overjoyed that we could be complete. I was already guessing how many I would be able to wrap my arms around and hold close.
Quinton would want a big brood. I wouldn't stop him either. I wanted the sounds of little feet to never leave these walls. The feeling of tiny fingers wrapped around mine only made my heart ache for it to all come true.
I was ready for it all.
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Carter decided he was not going to get in the way of my dream when night fell once more. He bid his farewell for the last time and quickly head to his own house, saving his return for when my expected children had been born and were ready to be introduced to the world.
He had the patience I did not. He would not interfere any longer, and I was grateful for that.
I didn't need it to all go wrong so close to when it was about to go right.
Ethel was bathed and fed in record time before being put to sleep in my bed. I curled around her, savoring the feeling of her nestled into my middle that I wrapped my arms around.
This was a beautiful feeling to be protecting something so dependant. Tomorrow it would all change.
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Quinton's calling voice was what sent my heart racing when the day steadily dragged by.
I was in the bath with Ethel when I heard the front door close and him sing out to me. Ethel immediately abandoned me and bolted out of the room, still soaking and leaving a trail of water and loose skin behind her.
I tried to keep up, but had to peel off my wet clothes and reattach my leg under its multiple layers of protective socks.
I heard laughter from the front of the house when Ethel screeched out her greeting. A woman's voice chuckled along as well.
It was all happening.
Today was the day.
I fixed myself and hurried out to see Quinton leaning against one of the kitchen chairs. He wore new clothes, likely stolen, and smiled when he saw me to freeze me in my tracks.
His right eye had been gouged through and was filled with blood. The crimson eyeball was still in its socket but carved straight down the middle where the claw marks raked down his face.
He had tried to patch it up the best he could. Webs stitched up the claws but should do nothing to repair his eye.
Quinton also had teeth torn through his flesh down one arm. I saw his brown shirt was stained at the side from where more must have pierced through him. His black longs were shredded, with one fragment up his leg barely holding on from its thread.
The woman standing beside him only had a gouge running from under her chin to the clothing covering her. A thick blanket covered most of her body, possibly to try and smother the glistening white spores floating around it. She had on a off-the-shoulder striped shirt that was missing one shoulder and was stained down the front, and baggy black shorts that looked much too big for her slender frame.
Everything about this woman looked delicate. Her light brown skin looked like smooth caramel that was speckled white from her fingertips and up her arms.
Her skin glowed like Quinton's; small white rings accompanying the speckles on her body.
Her hair was short and a faint silvery-blue shade. It ended at the back of her head neatly and was fuzzy like Ethel's fur. Even her soft silver eyes gave the illusion that she could do no harm.
But I knew she had a fierce demon lurking beneath that skin.
Quinton guided her to the bathroom with Ethel following close behind. As the woman passed, the spores flitted through the air and soaked it with its aroma.
It smelled just like the lavender sprigs outside with creamy vanilla smothered over it. Delicate, warm spices nipped on the edges to make my nostrils tingle with each breath I took.
It awakened something within me that made my body buzz for more. I just wanted to breathe in the scent forever and keep it for myself.
My cock flexed and I diverted my attention elsewhere just as Quinton returned alone and tried and kiss me.
His lips missed mine and pressed to my cheek instead.
"Sorry" he mumbled at his mistake "it's a bit difficult."
I moved from his only eye into the path of his gouged one. His whole head turned to track me and force a smile.
He was completely blind in that eye.
Throwing on the tough facade; as usual.
"I have no children for you yet" Quinton wrapped his hands around my fingertips before I adjusted him "but I will have them ready for you soon. I'm sorry I couldn't give them to you now. There was no time."
"You should be more worried about yourself" I peered up at him and ran my hand over his cheek that he savoured "you look like you fought a whole army just to come back to me."
His forehead pressed to mine and he inhaled deeply.
"I'd do it again" he spoke softly "just for you, Silas."
I felt my insides melt at his declaration and my body react again.
"I made you something for you" I beamed.
I took Quinton's hand and guided him out the front door and into the garden where the painted poppies were. He stood there, turning his head so he could take in the sight before him.
"Do you li...?"
I saw the silent tears snaking down from Quinton's glistening eye. He just stared at what I had made him as the memories flooded back to him.
My heart melted all over again when I saw him doing something so... human.
So, demons did cry.
What a nice sight that was.
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