Chapter 24 pt 3

**Alexis**

Luke clung to the bed crying for his mommy. I laughed until I saw the look on Johnnie’s face. He was shaking and trying to endure. I kissed his forehead, “You are doing great. I am proud of you.”

Tina teases, “Just a few more hours of this if you all want the real experience.”  I love how into this Tina is. She isn’t so bad once her mean girl was exorcised. 

Clint says, “No! Fuck that.”

James says, “Hours? Fuck no. You ladies win.”

I turned the nob to level nine and Johnnie bent like some crazy contortionist. “Fuck. Baby, it hurts so bad. I feel like my ass is going to rip open along with my stomach.”

Dean cries out, “Fuck! My anus is ripping or my stomach is. There's too much pain to tell which.” Luke begs for us to shoot him. James asked if he could die too. I laughed internally because I had never seen grown men whine so much. “Fuck, you ladies are fucking crazy. Having one, having more than one insane. You fucking win,” Dean cries out.

I caress Johnnie’s cheek, “Last one, you got this. I am so proud of you.” He opens his eyes and he has tears in them.

“Okay, one more. I trust you,” he says. I turn it to ten and he buckles in the bed shaking, “Fuck me!” I kissed him as I turned off the machine. “That was insane. Baby, take the drugs if they offer you them, please.”

“You did it. Pain is temporary. The end is what matters.” I kissed him as he was unhooked from the machine. 

Luke asked, “Is it bad that my jaw hurts and I can't tell if I'm shitting myself?” We all laughed like one huge family. 

Johnnie got up but fell back against the bed. “Are you okay?”

He tries to smile, “My legs feel like Jello.” I help him up and we walk out slowly. The guys look a little starry-eyed. I think I helped them respect what a woman goes through when she decides to have children. I am proud of them all, but Johnnie makes me the proudest. I think he did it out of curiosity and to test himself. I admire that. How we handle pain is a direct reflection of our strength. If we don't allow pain to cripple us, then we can survive anything. We head back to the hotel and we all decided to go our separate ways. Once we got back into our room, Johnnie called his family and let them know to be expecting us. I am so nervous. We will join up with the others when the boat leaves the day after Valentine's Day, which is Johnnie's birthday.