✅ My Cousin's Keeper [NaNoWriMo 2021]

153. Her Baby Cousin

This bonus chapter is dedicated to Jordan. Thank you for all your support!

"Okay, baby?" Ffrances asked. My eyes were still closed, but I could tell from the firmness beneath me that I was lying back on the futon in my home office. In the moment of blissful confusion immediately after waking, I still wasn't quite sure what we had done last night, but I was sure that when the memories came back I would be so...

I hesitated, and froze. This wasn't just some kinky game. This wasn't a fun evening. I'd done something wrong; I'd been cruel to Tess, and I had earned a punishment for that. I knew that I should be scared, but I was also sure that anything Ffrances imposed on me would have to be fair.

I forced my eyes open then, and sat up. Ffrances was sitting on the chair opposite, not beside me. And I could tell from her expression that she wasn't happy with me. I must have done something really bad to merit that kind of reaction even after I'd accepted my punishment. My head was still fuzzy, and I wasn't sure exactly what had happened, but I knew that I was in the doghouse. And I knew this was something that would take me a long time to make up for.

"My head's all fuzzy," I said. Not a complaint, just speculation. Trying to reconstruct the barrier between thought and speech in my brain.

"I had you pretty deep," she said. "Your punishment is likely to take some time."

"Okay. I'll bear with it. I can't actually remember..."

"Yeah. I thought that in the circumstances, it would be better if it can be a surprise for you when it happens. You won't be able to remember what the punishment is until one of us tells you."

"Us?" I asked, still feeling lost at sea.

"Tess is in charge," she said. "This is her choice. When I found out how much you lied to get me to help you manipulate her, I was determined to kick you out so I could keep my little ones safe. But Tess convinced me to give you a second chance. You owe her. And you're going to find that Tess is the one in charge from now on."

"You already told me..." I said, trying to get the thoughts in my head back into some kind of order. "I'm not allowed to say no to her, right? I have to check with you."

"That was before. Now, you can't lie to her. I'm hoping you won't try, but pretty sure that you'll find out as soon as you attempt it that you have to tell the truth. We've gone way beyond losing your veto over her decisions. Now you do whatever she says, without question. And if you don't like that, you shouldn't have started on the whole gaslighting thing you've had going. That is not permissible anymore. But... there's a few things that I should warn you, just in case it's relevant. I don't like that you lied to me, and I don't want to do it again. But I know that if you were completely honest, you couldn't have given me wonderful surprises like that proposal. So... from now on, if you wish to deceive me, or keep any secret from me, you will need to get permission from Tess first."

"Wait, how can I do that? She's still a baby, she's not ready to know–" This time, she cut me off with a slap.

"Wake up, Gabby. Tess is not a baby. And you need to learn that. Don't you dare say that again. Do you seriously expect me to believe that now?"

"But..." I argued. I'd thought she was convinced on that; even if she didn't trust my word, I was sure that she'd seen the FriendSpace reviews by herself, effectively confirming that Tess wanted this stuff. "What about those reviews I posted on her FriendSpace account? Don't they convince you she's into that stuff?"

"No. Because you posted them. How did you do that?"

"I went into her room while she was downstairs a few times, checked her messages. She's so trusting, she never thinks to lock her computer."