Hannah was sitting under the docks on the beach, looking at various seashells, thinking. Thinking about how great it would be to be free. To be old enough to not be hindered by her parents whims about her personhood. To be who she was, and be with who she wanted to be. She heard footsteps approaching the docks and saw Laura peaking through the legs of the dock in a tanktop and white shorts. Hannah smiled as Laura seated herself next to her.

"I didn't know if you'd come," Hannah said, "after, ya know, the wonderful example of parental ineptitude my parents put on display."

"Why wouldn't I?" Laura said, as Hannah turned to face her.

"Put your wrist out," Hannah said, and Laura did just that. Hannah then tied a little homemade bracelet around her wrists, made of tiny seashells and sea rocks and glass. Laura smiled widely at it as Hannah said, "I did this yesterday, cause I wasn't allowed to see you, so, ya know, had to do something to pass the time."

"You couldn't see me but you couldn't stop thinking about me?" Laura asked, grinning and Hannah laughed.

"Yeah, guess I'm kinda in love with you like that," Hannah said, leaning in and kissing Laura, making her laugh more. No matter what barriers might be put between them, it seemed like Hannah wasn't interested in letting anyone or anything stop her from being with Laura, and Laura...Laura couldn't help but appreciate that. Laura, now lying on her back with Hannah lying on her side beside her, pushing Laura's hair from her face, couldn't imagine a life more perfect than this.

"When do you leave?" Laura asked, "to go home?"

"A few days," Hannah said, shrugging, "you?"

"Same."

"Then I guess we have to make the most of the time we have," Hannah said, leaning down and kissing her again, whispering against her lips, "you taste what I imagine joy tastes like."

"That's the cheesiest goddamn thing I've ever heard," Laura replied, giggling, before adding, "keep going."

                                                                           ***

Gayle was sitting in a diner, checking her watch, anxiously tapping her foot on the floor beneath the booth table. She looked up at her waitor as he put a new drink down in front of her and she thanked him before pulling it in, dropping a straw into it and taking a long sip. Suddenly she looked up to see Sasha seating herself across from her, and Gayle coughed, pushing her drink away.

"Don't stop hydrating yourself on my account," Sasha said, laughing.

"I just...I didn't even hear you come to the table," Gayle said, coughing, "that's all, surprised me."

"You're the one full of surprises," Sasha replied, taking her jacket off, letting her bare shoulders in her strapless crop top come out on full display, catching Gayle off guard; she continued, "I mean, first you let me go down on you in my bedroom, then you wanna meet again? I was sure after your husband walking in that-"

"Yeah, that was...fucked, sorry," Gayle said, "hopefully that wasn't too upsetting for you, or your husband."

"Nah, he's seen me in far more embarrassing situations, trust me," Sasha said, laughing, "so what did you wanna meet with me for?"

Gayle hesitated, opening her mouth to respond only to shut it again just as quickly. The waitor stopped by and took Sasha's drink order. Gayle didn't know how to approach this. Everything was so jumbled up. This entire vacation had spiraled out of control and brought to the forefront a lot of things she'd never expected to have to deal with, or at least hadn't expected to deal with so suddenly. Gayle exhaled deeply, shut her eyes, and put her palms flat on the table.

"Okay," Gayle said, "I'm gonna level with you...I don't...fuck...I didn't...ever think that, uh...that I would follow through with anything like that. I mean, I...I had always had interest in other women, especially in college, but, ya know, I never acted on anything. But you were so pretty, and so nice, it was like, impossible not to go for it."

"Well that's a compliment!" Sasha said, laughing loudly, "seriously, that's the nicest thing I'm gonna get told all year, so thank you!"

"You're welcome, glad to help," Gayle said, also laughing, but anxiously as she continued, "and uh...anyway, it was...it was nice, to finally kind of come through the other side of that curiosity, but now...now I don't know what to do. I love my husband, I do, I don't want a divorce, but at the same time..."

The waitor put Sasha's drink down, and she thanked him, then started sipping on it as Gayle sighed again.

"...my daughter came out to me the other night," Gayle said, "it was...not the way anyone would want to come out, but it happened, and...and I was so proud of her for being herself, but at the same time, so weirdly jealous? She's got her whole life ahead of her, in a generation where it's acceptable for her to be openly queer, and...I started thinking how sick that is, to be jealous of my daughters potential. But I was. I laid in bed that night just thinking about how I could attain some kind of the same happiness, but it's hard. I'm tied to a family. Tied to a man that I love...most of the time."

Sasha laughed, which made Gayle smirk.

"And for the most part," Gayle said, "life is good. We have a good home, a good existence. We've worked hard to carve out a niche for ourselves that works for us, and we can give our children everything they need and then more, but...what do you do when enough isn't enough? You know what I mean?"

Sasha nodded slowly, setting her glass down and tapping her perfectly manicured nails on the tabletop.

"I do, I get it," Sasha said calmly, "and I wish I had an answer for you. Jason and I, we have a lifestyle that fits us, but not every couple is lucky enough to be flexible enough to have that. Some men...a lot of men, actually, just aren't confident enough to have an open marriage, even if it's what could save their marriage. And it isn't right for everyone either, I recognize that. Do you think Steven would be okay with you seeing women?"

"I don't know, we kinda talked about it," Gayle said, scratching her forehead, "um, but I also don't wanna confuse our life anymore than it already is. As it stands right now we have a very hesitantly openly queer daughter and a developmentally disabled daughter who's much younger and, like, life is complicated enough without adding in my own wants and needs."

"Just cause you have children doesn't mean your needs stop being needs," Sasha said, "I realize that, to parents, that sounds like such a selfish thing to think, but fuck, Gayle, you were a person before them and guess what, when they're gone, when they're grown and have moved on, you'll still be a person. Don't throw yourself under the bus at the expense of others, even your own kids."

Gayle nodded, and she knew that on some level Sasha was right, but...she just couldn't bring herself to do it. Besides, with her work schedule the way it was, when they got home she wasn't gonna have time for dates or meet ups or anything. Hell, she barely had time for the family as it was already.

"Can we-" Gayle started, before Sasha interrupted.

"We absolutely can," Sasha said, grinning, "I've already got a room."

                                                                             ***

"I don't wanna go back to school," Hannah said, "I mean, I don't hate school, and I do fine at it, but like...all this pressure and expectation to be the model student, to be little miss perfect when I am so fucking far from that. Exhausting. I don't even know that I wanna go to college."

Laura shifted in the sand, sitting up against the pier leg.

"What do you wanna do?" Laura asked, and Hannah shrugged.

"I don't really know," Hannah said, "all I know at the moment is that whatever kind of future I get to have, I want it to involve you."

Laura blushed again. The way Hannah spoke of the future, it was as if she was going to will it into existence no matter what, that they would be together. Laura didn't mind this one bit. She wanted that as much as Hannah seemed to. Hannah leaned up on her elbows and tossed her hair a bit, trying to get some sand out of it.

"I don't really know what I wanna do either," Laura said, shrugging, "I have a few things that interest me, but overall, nothing I'm too obsessed over, like, as a career. I like reading so I thought maybe I'd be a writer, but I've been trying to write for a few years and I'm just not very good so that likely isn't going to happen. I also like animals, so maybe a veterinarian? But do I have the stomach to...well...stomach all that blood and guts? And what if they die and I can't save them? I'd feel so bad."

"Fair enough," Hannah replied, looking towards the water, "...what really bothers me is knowing that if I want to be myself, I'll lose my family. They won't want to have anything to do with me. I just really want my mom and dad to love me no matter who I am or who I wanna be with."

"Well, there's always room in my family," Laura said, shrugging, "You're free to join."

Hannah smiled and looked at the sand. Laura was right. She could always start a new family with someone else. But still...she wanted her parents. Not someone elses. And if there was anyone who knew how that felt, it was Erin.

                                                                              ***

"I'm scared," Erin said, sitting upright in her hospital bed, "I'm just scared. I know that's normal, all things considered, but still. What if I go back and they try to paint me as some weird sicko? Some kind of pervert? Would be ironic, given what my father actually did to me, but still, those kinds of people are all about projection aren't they?"

Steven nodded, writing something down in a little notebook.

"You really sure your wife won't mind helping me?" Erin asked, and Steven looked up and grinned at her.

"Not one bit, she lives to help people from bad families," Steven said, "she didn't have the best parents either, so she's gone the extra mile to not only be a good parent but help others who have bad parents. She says it's a calling. So yeah, I'm sure she won't mind helping you, especially if, as you said, you have a sister like our daughter. That alone would net her interest."

Erin smile weakly and looked down at her hands in her lap. She wasn't used to people older than her being nice to her and wanting to help, and it almost felt like...like a manipulative tactic, like at some point Steven was going to ask something of her, but she knew that was just her experience with her father seeping into her relationships with other older men.

"Steven," Erin said, "...what if nothing can be done? I mean...people already don't believe victims as it is, what if I do nothing but just make things worse for her by trying to make them better? What if, somehow, it just makes him hurt her more? Or start hurting her to punish me, if he hasn't already?"

"All valid fears to have, but Erin, nobody ever got anywhere by not doing anything," Steven said, "and I know that sounds like a bullshit pseudo intellectual positivity movement slogan, but it's true. Because at least, even if you don't succeed, you tried, and that alone makes you a good person. Wanting to try is just wanting. You're still good for wanting. But you're better for trying. And trust me, from what you've told me, you're eons better than that piece of trash you call a father."

Erin smiled weakly, nodding in agreement as she looked back down at her hands. She wanted to believe him, but her father had dug the claws of worthlessness in so deep that she had a hard time even attempting to believe someone might want to help her, let alone that someone being another father figure.

"And what happens if I fail? Failure feels almost worse than doing nothing, because it'll prove they're right, and I'm not strong enough," Erin said. Steven looked up again and sighed.

"Yeah, failure...failure sucks," he said, "there's no sugarcoating that turd, but...you need to look at it from the perspective of your sister. To her, good and bad is binary. It's black and white. I know, because that's how our daughter sees things. There's no room for grey. So she knows what her father is doing is bad, and she'll know - even if you fail - that what you were trying to do was good, and she'll be so grateful for you just trying."

Erin thought about this. Steven wasn't wrong. Her sister did have that mindset. She was impressed, because he wasn't in education, far as she knew anyway, and yet he seemed to have a pretty decent grasp on the mind development of a mentally challenged child.

"You should go into childcare," Erin said, "You'd be really good at it. You understand them."

Steven nodded, and thought about this. Maybe he should. He wasn't happy with his current job, and he did like taking care of Jasmine. Maybe he should do something better. Something more real. Something where, like his wife, he could help people, people who can't help themselves. And he smiled to himself.

                                                                               ***

Sasha opened the hotel room door, and Gayle followed her in. It was a normal little hotel room, nothing overly fancy, but also nothing gross. As plain as can be. Sasha tossed her purse on the chair and began removing her blazer as Gayle stood in the center of the room, feeling anxious, picking at her nails.

"I...I don't know, maybe this was a mistake," Gayle said, "I'm not good with-"

Sasha walked up behind Gayle and put her hands on her shoulders, whispering in her ear.

"Just calm down," she said softly, "everything is fine. Just relax."

Gayle felt her muscles unclench, her tension melt a bit, as Sasha pressed her lips against her neck. Gayle shut her eyes and started breathing faster. This was what she really wanted, but she felt bad about it. Then again, this whole vacation had been Steven's idea, and he'd insisted she do what she need to to be happy. Gayle turned to face Sasha, who took her gingerly by the hand and led her to the couch. Gayle sat down and Sasha carefully sat in her lap, continuing to kiss her neck, biting her earlobe.

"There is no shame in doing what you want," Sasha whispered, "don't let society dictate what you need or want."

"I'm a mother, a wife," Gayle muttered through her hard breathing as Sasha ran a hand down between her legs and rubbed her fingertips against her; Gayle's eyes widened and she added, "but I...I need this."

"Then let me give it to you," Sasha said, kissing her on the lips, "and then, this way, when you get back home, you'll have one hell of a good memory of a vacation."

Gayle nodded and shut her eyes as Sasha knelt in front of her on the couch. The thing was, Gayle was realizing, it wasn't just that Sasha was a woman - though she didn't mind having a beautiful woman between her legs - but moreso that she did things Steven never did, or even thought to do. Women took better care of women than men ever did in bed, and that's the high Gayle was after. Gayle felt Sasha grab her wrist and pull her hand into her hair as she pushed her legs open and started licking her, and Gayle grinned, letting herself go. The problem wasn't that Steven was a man. It was that men don't think like women.

But thankfully, that was something Steven was getting better at every day.

                                                                              ***

Hannah and Laura were walking down the beach, heading back in the direction of the hotel, hand in hand. As Laura kicked sand a little bit ahead of her, Hannah looked out towards the water and blushed. She thought about what they had talked about, and thought about the possible future they could have. If nothing else, Hannah promised herself she'd do a better job at being in love than her parents ever had.

"Tomorrow," Hannah said, "my parents are going on a date for their anniversary."

"Oh?" Laura asked.

"Yeah, so if you wanna come by the suite and hang out, that would be cool," Hannah said, "I'd like it if you did."

"I'd like to," Laura replied, smiling.

Laura thought about it. About being alone with Hannah, in a private room, with a bed...her heart began to race. Was she ready for that sort of thing, if that's something in fact that Hannah was planning? She didn't know. She felt like she might be, but she also felt like she was still too young. Only time could tell, she guessed. But for right now, right here, on the beach, she was happy with just the way things were. Laura stopped walking and looked at the water, and Hannah hugged her from behind, resting her chin on her shoulder, making Laura giggle.

"I like the sunset," Hannah said, "but I like it even more seeing it with you."

"God you're sappy," Laura replied, laughing, as Hannah kissed her cheek.

Yes. Right now things were exactly as she wanted them.