“If you don’t mind. That’d be great.” She sighed. “Part of me feels it’s stupid. I mean, it’s sex, right? I can live without it for a few months.”

“Of course you could,” I assured her. “But why do it if you don’t have to? Sex is a need, and it doesn’t go away simply because you’re pregnant.”

“Thanks, Abby.”

“Don’t even think about it. I’ll do some digging tonight and see what I can find.” I drummed my fingers on the table as another thought came to me. “You know, I could talk to Nathaniel. See if he could have a chat with Jeff.”

“I don’t want to put him on the spot and I don’t want him to feel like I’m using him.”

I waved my hand, brushing away her comment. “It’s no big deal. I’d actually suggest a group talk on the topic if you weren’t the only pregnant couple and probably the only couple that will be any time soon.”

“Yeah,” she said with a half laugh. “That would be awkward.”

“Maybe one day, if the group gets a few more long-term couples that move in that direction.”

“This is why I’m so glad you and Nathaniel are joining the group. You guys have been through things a lot of us haven’t.”

“Right? That’s why I should at least put a bug in Nathaniel’s ear about talking to Jeff. He can make it sound like it’s his idea. Just kind of a ‘So, how’s it going with the pregnancy?’ thing.”

“I think that would be great. Thank you and thank him for me.”

I winked at her. “I will.”

“I have something else I want to talk to you about,” she said, her face growing serious.

“What’s up?”

“Jeff said you and Nathaniel were going to be looking at ways to make the group safer and more secure.”

I nodded. “Nathaniel mostly. I’m just going to be giving him my opinion as a submissive.”

“That’s perfect. I need a submissive’s viewpoint on this. At least one that isn’t as personally involved as I am.”

I waited for her to continue, horribly curious as to where this was going.

“This is group knowledge, so I’m not breaking anyone’s confidentiality in telling you this. You know Julie’s business partner, Sasha?” she asked me.

“Yes, we met before. Briefly.” I knew from listening to various murmurings around the group that Sasha had been whipped badly.

“She was with one of the group’s Doms, Peter.” She raised an eyebrow in question.

I nodded. I’d seen him at a group meeting, but had never been introduced.

“He wanted to do a scene with her,” she continued. “I’m not sure of all the details, but what ended up happening was she was bound and gagged while he used a bullwhip on her. And he didn’t give her a way to safe word.”

I fell back against my seat, and my jaw dropped. It was inconceivable to me that a Dom could possibly do that. I finally asked, “She didn’t say anything to him before he started?”

“From what I gather, he had mentioned collaring her. She’d never been collared and thought it was romantic that they could play without safe words.”

“Holy hell.”

“Right? She wound up in the hospital and dropped out of the group.” Dena’s forehead wrinkled in thought. “She did come to a group meeting shortly after, but she had a panic attack and never came back.”

“That’s horrible.”

Dena nodded. “I recommended a therapist and she’s been seeing her for a while now.”

“Is she better?”

“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. When I went by her place to ask her to stand with me at the wedding and told her about the baby, she mentioned she was kicking around the idea of rejoining the group.”

I could see both the positive and negative in that. For her to have not only the desire, but the strength and courage to face coming back to the group was amazing. On the other hand, with Peter also around, it would be hard. “I think I see where you’re going.”

“I worry for her.”

I put my hand over hers. “I’m sure you do.”

“I want her to be back in the group, because she’s a submissive and she needs it. But I’m so scared something’s going to happen that will leave her in a worse place than she was before.”

“And since Nathaniel’s going to be working toward restructuring things …” I let the statement hang in the air.

“I know keeping everyone safe is his top priority,” she said. “I just thought it’d be a good idea for you to know in more detail who you’re keeping safe.”

I thought for a few seconds. “Do you think she wants back in the group for social reasons or physical? I mean, do you see her wanting to play?”

“To be honest, for a long time, I thought she’d never want to play again. It seemed like men were the lowest thing on her priority list. And I can’t say I blame her. But recently, she expressed interest in a Dom.”

“Oh, well, that sounds positive.”

“You don’t know who she expressed interest in.”

“Is he a bad Dom? Do we need to kick him out of the group?”

“No, nothing like that. He’s just”—she searched for the right word—“tough. I’m not sure that’s what Sasha needs.”

But tough with a purpose could be beneficial. “Or it might be exactly what she needs.”

“As long as she’s with someone kind.” Dena smiled. “Jeff can be tough, but I’ve never doubted his inherent kindness.”

“Funny, I normally don’t associate kindness with a Dom, but I think you’re right. At least with Nathaniel. He can be a grade-A ass, but I know inside I’m the most important thing to him.”

She nodded. “That’s what I want for Sasha.”

Sasha was a fortunate woman to have such a good friend in Dena. And Julie was fiercely devoted to her as well. Both women would be needed for support, if and when Sasha rejoined the group. “I’d like to spend some more time with Sasha. Get to know her.”

“I know! I was going to go by their shop this weekend. Why don’t I come by here first and pick you up? We can go together.”

“That’s a great idea,” I said. “I just need to make sure Nathaniel can watch the kids.” We really needed to find a sitter in Delaware. I added that to my mental to-do list.

“Sounds great. Just call me.” She looked at her watch. “I better be going. Jeff and I have a date tonight. He’s taking me to a new bistro. They have fish stew on the menu. With calamari. I don’t know, must be the baby.”

I laughed. “I craved peaches.”

I stood to walk her to the door. I’d wanted to ask her for her opinion about Charlene, to see if I was overreacting, but it wasn’t going to happen today. I felt that it was more important to discuss her concerns about pregnancy. And Sasha was important, too. Especially since Nathaniel would be working in the group to hopefully avoid situations like hers. Compared to that, my problem with Charlene seemed very small.

It was fortunate I had the extra week of work done from the previous weekend, because I found that even though the boxes weren’t around for long, there was still plenty to do. The night after Dena stopped by, I collapsed into the couch in our new living room.

“The kids are in bed,” I announced to Nathaniel. “I’m ready to do nothing for about three hours. Scratch that. Make it thirty.”

He slipped his arm around me and kissed my forehead. “You know, I was thinking. We might need to rethink our position on hiring a nanny. Especially when we’re in Delaware. It’s not like we have Linda nearby to take them.”

I nodded. “The thought’s crossed my mind a few times, too. I think it’s a good idea.”

“We need to decide if we want a live-in or not.”

I thought about the bedroom we were in the process of converting to a playroom. It was almost complete. “Off the top of my head, I’m thinking no live-in. It’s not like we need a babysitter every day.”

“True, but if you had a little help, it’d be easier for you to work on the blog and show.”

“That would be nice.” Those benefits of a live-in would be great. “I just don’t think I’m at the point where I want someone unrelated to us in the house twenty-four/seven.”