Sharing my first ever attempt at a story. It started as a commission I paid another author for but they only shared half of the story before disappearing. Found out that at least I wasn't the only one that they had scammed. Apologies for so much backstory before the actual fight but I had always envisioned this as the first in a potential series. Any and all feedback is welcome for a first timer. Hope you like it.
Sisters' Birthday Bash
"That's good honey, now…oof! Okay, yeah. Almost like you haven't forgotten a thing."
"I haven't, you just got rusty."
"Well you'd better hope Jeanette has gotten rusty, or you're screwed next week."
These were the words that the four Palmer sisters heard as they wandered into their family garage. They had all been dismissed from their various after school extracurriculars a bit earlier than usual today, and had been driven home by Ariel, the oldest of the sisters who had been given the privilege of borrowing the family SUV today.
That wasn't unheard of, but it was uncommon. Usually their parents would only loan the extra vehicle to the girls for school if they had things they needed to do that would prevent them from being able to pick them up.
Now, it appeared that the girls were seeing exactly what had given them the privilege today. In front of them in their empty garage, they saw an improvised boxing ring made of gymnastics mats and a few posts with ropes tying them off. In the center were their parents, and they were actually throwing punches at each other! They wore thick boxing gloves and exercise clothes. A black sports bra and leggings for their mom, while dad wore a pair of gray gym shorts and a white tank top. Both appeared to be sweating heavily, and it seemed they had been at this a while.
The girls might have been a little concerned if not for the enormous smiles on both of their parents' faces. Even as their dad snapped their mom's head to the side with a quick cross, they saw her grin and come back at him.
"Uh…hey?" Amber, the second oldest sister of the four of them said, figuring it was time to make their presence known. Their parents both jumped, more startled than they had ever seen the two of them before. Their mother even let out a little yelp of surprise.
"GIRLS!" Mom said as both parents turned to face them. "You aren't supposed to be back for hours!"
"Um…yeah…practices all let out a little early for a pep rally. We didn't really want to go….you two wanna tell us what you're fighting about?" Asked Alia, the youngest sister.
"Oh….oh no honey we aren't fighting. We're just…boxing. That's all. It's all for fun." Their father said a bit awkwardly.
"Your dad used to be a boxer, you know?" Mom said affectionately. "He's just…teaching me some stuff. It's good exercise after all."
"Uh huh." Ariel smirked. "So first time then?"
"Well, we've sparred with each other before." Dad chuckled. "It's just been a while."
"Who's Jeanette then? You mean Leslie's mom from down the street?" Asked Avery, the third oldest and last to speak.
"Fuck." They barely heard their mother mutter.
"Can't get anything past you four then huh?" Sighed their dad as he began to unlace his boxing gloves, looking a bit annoyed but also amused. "Alright then, let's go into the living room and we can talk. You're going to pester us until we tell you everything."
And so it was that their parents, Allen and Cassie sat the four sisters down and began to tell the story. Allen did most of the talking, though Cassie occasionally added a detail here and there.
"Back when I was Ariel's age…well, a little younger. I was 15…I picked up boxing. I found I was pretty good at it, but I didn't really want to pursue a career in it. I don't think I was anywhere near good enough to go professional anyway. But that's besides the point. During one tournament, about a year into it all…I had a match with your mom's boyfriend at the time…I won, and that's how we met."
"Wait," Amber interjected. "So mom left her boyfriend because you beat him up?"
"No…" Cassie said as she chuckled just a bit. "I left him because he threw an absolute bitch fit over losing. He was a real jerk. I met your father that day. We didn't start dating until months later."
"Anyway," Allen cut back into the conversation, sounding like he was eager to get the details out of the way quickly. "When we did get together, she wanted me to train her a little. I wasn't going to say no, so I did. The problem came when I suggested she try competing with other people besides some light sparring with me."
"I didn't want to be in anything formal." Cassie said with a shrug. "I liked your dad being the one to train me, and I didn't want to get into any serious tournaments or anything like that. So I said no."
"So…" Allen spoke again. "I arranged for some of the other guys I trained with to set her up with some competition. They were doing the same thing with their girlfriends after all. So we had a little….backyard league I guess you'd call it? Your mom would fight with some of the girls, and I'd have a match with the boys. We'd have a handful of spectators and it was just a good time really."
"But then we got married. And then I was pregnant with you Ariel. So, boxing had to stop." Cassie shrugged. "We didn't do it for years. Only recently did we decide to try it again. Your dad found a few people who were interested in picking it all up again like we were, and….that's that." She gave an apologetic smile. "We didn't want to hide it from you girls, but we didn't want to worry you. Boxing can be a kind of scary sport."
"Sooo Leslie's mom…." Amber said, letting the question hang in the air.
Allen sighed and threw his hands up as if defeated. "Yes, Jeanette is going to be your mother's opponent in about a week. We've got a little tournament happening at their house next weekend."
The room was silent for a few moments. Allen and Cassie were certain that they had absolutely disgusted or terrified their teenage daughters at this point.
"Sounds fun." Ariel perked up, breaking the silence. "When can you start teaching me??"
"What? N-" Allen began, but was abruptly interrupted.
"Oh yeah! Me too!" Amber said immediately.
"Hold on now…"
"Oh no, you two aren't leaving me out!" Avery interjected, always the one to never allow her sisters to leave her behind.
"Oh for God's sake…" Allen groaned.
"It does sound pretty fun." Smiled Alia, surprising everyone in the room. Alia was the one sister who preferred books to sports, and competition to her usually meant behind the desk of her gaming PC. Everyone had to raise an eyebrow at her proclamation.
"Oh come on!" Alia pouted. "You're ALL telling me I need to be more active. Well…I can do something with all of you this way!"
All of the sisters could see that this last argument had completely broken their father's resolve.
"I don't like the idea of my little girls in a ring." Allen said, though everyone in the room could tell he actually loved the idea of training them all together.
"I'm on the wrestling team." Avery pointed out. "You actually argued with the principal to get me on the team. I think you said…" and here, the 14 year old took on a mocking version of their father's deep voice, saying "girls can do whatever boys can do, and if you don't let her tryout just because she's a girl, good luck staying in that office of yours." All of the sisters chuckled at that. It was true, their third sister was probably the scrappiest and most combative of any of them, and she had excelled during the last wrestling season.
"She's got you there." Cassie laughed. "I think we have to."
"We?" Allen asked.
"Well yeah us!" Cassie said, sounding mock offended. "I know enough by now that I can teach them plenty!"
Allen knew he was outnumbered five to one then. Despite his reluctance however, he couldn't help but feel a growing sense of pride in his girls. He knew that deep down, he actually always wanted to teach them how to fight. It would, after all, be a good form of self defense, and they could develop some useful skills. Finally, after a few moments of reflection, he couldn't help but grin.
"Alright then. Go get into some gym clothes and meet me in the garage. We'll start right now."
There was a collective squeal as all four sisters jumped up and sprinted for the stairs to their bedrooms, ready to start this new adventure.
SEVEN MONTHS LATER:
Since the beginning of their training, all four sisters had celebrated a birthday. Ariel was now 18, Amber 17, Avery 15, and Alia, the youngest at 14.
All four had also stuck with their boxing training with their parents, and not only refused to neglect their studies or school sports, but seemed to actually excel since they started. What was more, all four of the girls seemed to be complete naturals for the sport itself.
"That's good Amber, keep on her, back her up!" Allen was saying as he oversaw his two oldest daughters in one of their many sparring matches. Amber was currently driving her older sister back against the "ropes", which in this case was a spray painted line in their backyard. No need to haul out the ring for every single practice session after all. Likewise, Alia and Avery were at their own sparring match just a few feet away in their own spray painted ring overseen by Cassie.
"Ariel, get your hands-"
WHAP, WHAP!
A solid one two counter from Ariel sent Amber whirling back and falling to her rear end in the grass.
"Ariel, this is a sparring match! How many times do I have to tell you-" but he was interrupted as Amber leapt to her feet and charged, both sisters swinging heavy punches now, whirling about the ring and trying to slug each other to the ground. There was no anger, and no risk of real injury with their headgear, but the match was getting a little too heated, and Allen stepped into the ring and between them, pushing his oldest daughters apart.
"UGHH!" Amber Exclaimed as she backed away to her corner and ripped her gloves off, throwing them to the ground.
"The FUCK dad??" Ariel asked as she likewise tossed her gloves aside. "Let us BOX!"
"FIRST OF ALL…" Allen said sharply "you are grounded for a week for that language. SECOND, you aren't trying to box, you're trying to FIGHT. That's not what we're doing here."
The girls looked indignant. Mutinous even. Across the yard, Alia and Avery stopped their own sparring match to watch what was going on.
"Isn't that what boxing is though dad?" Amber reasoned. "If Ariel and I wanna fight, let us fight! None of the headgear, none of the coaching. Come ON!"
Allen gritted his teeth. "No. Absolutely not. You can train, you can spar, you can practice, but I will not have you two in a boxing match."
"Dad." Ariel said, almost whining. "What's the point of all the training and the sparring and the bag work and the drills If we can't COMPETE? It's not like we're asking to fight some random girl from down the street." Those last words struck a chord with their parents. After all, Allen himself was sporting a broken rib from their last neighborhood tournament. "This is me and Amber. We're not exactly gonna be out to kill each other."
Allen made to speak, but Amber cut him off. "Daddy, let us have this. You ALWAYS stop us just when we start having FUN! We just want to see what a real boxing match is like."
Ariel couldn't help but smile. Amber was a genius. Not only had she called their father "daddy" but she added just the right amount of 'whine' to her voice that she knew would make him start to crumble.
But Allen was stoic. "No. No, ABSOLUTELY NOT. I KNOW you two, and you are TOO competitive! You catch bruises over a fight for the REMOTE for God's sake! I won't have you ACTUALLY trying to fight each other! Shut up about it! If you want a competition, join the boxing gym. NO." He added the last word like a stamp on a proclamation.
"Dad…can I say something?" Alia spoke up as she stepped forward, her purple boxing gloves still on her fists. "If Amber and Ariel really want to fight, wouldn't it be better if you and mom were the ones watching? If it's someone else, who knows what could happen. You can jump in anytime if you want to."
"Alia…." Allen sighed and placed his forefinger onto his right temple to rub as if he had a headache. He had had about enough of being teamed up on.
"EXACTLY!" Ariel beamed and pointed at Alia. "Dad you HAVE to!"
"Alright, Alright. Let's compromise." Said Cassie as she stepped forward and leaned into Allen's ear. She whispered an idea and Allen nodded as she talked. All four sisters watched with bated breath as their parents talked in hushed whispers.
"Okay." Allen said when they were done whispering. "New family rule. We’ll allow you girls to take part in real boxing matches, against one another if you really want." The two oldest sisters let their excitement show on their faces as they quickly snatched up their gloves.
"But not until you’re 18." Allen smirked. The girls' faces fell and their shoulders slumped.
"What?! That's nearly a year away!!" Amber protested. “And even longer for us” both Avery and Alia added.
"And that gives you all plenty of time to train." Cassie smiled, looking a bit smug at her own idea. "We aren't going to let you have a fight on an impulse and this is an adult decision, hence 18. So take it or leave it."
There was a series of groans and complaints at this, but their parents would not yield on this. Sooner or later, the sisters had to relent and agree that they would just have to wait.
Over the course of the next year, the girls resumed training as normal, if perhaps a bit more enthusiastically than before. As Amber's June birthday got closer and closer however, it appeared that the oldest Palmer sisters may have forgotten all about their desire to meet each other in a legitimate, all out boxing match. They seemed more and more content to stick with sparring and training as time went on.
Ariel went on to turn 19 the month before Amber's 18th. And after that occasion had passed, it came time to ask Amber the same question they had asked her older sister just before she had turned 18.
"Alright honey. You're officially an adult in just a couple more weeks." Their mother asked her with a smile. "What would you like for your birthday? We can try to pull off basically anything besides a car, but other than that, we'll do whatever we can to give you whatever you want."
Amber didn't hesitate. She felt her face split into a grin and leaned forward a few inches closer to her parents…
"I want my match with Ariel. The one you said we could have when we were both 18. And I wanna make a big deal out of it. A real event. Like your tournaments, you know?"
Well, they were caught out now. They didn't have much choice but to say yes.
"What does Ariel say about it?" Allen said quizzically as he crossed his arms.
"Oh, we’ve been talking about it for months now. She's all for it. We’ve got it all planned out. And we want you two in the corners. I want Dad, and Ariel gets Mom." She smirked.
That was it then. There was no wiggling out of this now. They were going to have to let their eldest daughters have their match whether they liked it now or not.
"Well, I guess this will be a good chance for you to both see what you're made of. So, alright. It's a deal." Allen shrugged. "We’ve got your party with friends on the Friday right? How about we set everything up for your big match on that Sunday afternoon. We can invite some family to come celebrate your birthday and then watch you two duke it out. We'll make a whole day of it. A second round of cake, presents, and then the main event" He smiled.
"YES!" Amber exclaimed as she jumped up from her seat. "ARIEL! THEY SAID YES!" She yelled into the other room where her sister could hear her. Ariel bounded into the room with a squeal of delight and hugged her sister, followed closely by their two younger siblings who looked almost just as excited at the prospect of watching the spectacle.
"Alright, alright." Cassie laughed as she watched her four girls gush in overwhelming excitement. "But a word of warning girls. It all sounds like fun and games until you take a real punch to the face." She smirked as she and Allen left their daughters to their revelry.
The Friday that Amber turned 18, shortly after Amber's invited friends milled out from the large party they had thrown, Ariel and Amber found themselves called into the living room by their father.
"Yeah dad?" Amber asked as she and her older sister filed into the room. They were surprised to see two identical packages sitting on the coffee table as their parents sat on the couch with smiles on their faces. They said nothing, but handed one of them to each of the girls who opened them quickly. Inside were several items for each of them. Brand new boxing gloves, Nike sports bras in their sizes with matching tight Nike Pro spandex shorts, new mouthguards and fresh satin robes that looked close enough to what the professional fighters wore. Both girls looked amazed, and were struck entirely speechless. Amber's gloves and shorts were bright red, and Ariel’s, a shade of royal blue. Their sports bras were each a matching white.
"We thought you might want to look the part after all." Allen grinned as the girls gushed over the items with evident glee. They each tried out the mouthguards, put the robes on, and laid out the sports bras and shorts. Allen then spoke up, “We held off on proper boxing shoes for now. We weren’t sure what you two had planned for in terms of footwear.” Ariel chimed in, “Oh, we’re just going to go barefoot since we’ll be on mats and it’s what we’re used to from training.” “And looking at these outfits, now we know what color to paint our toenails,” Amber said while giggling. They spent a couple more minutes checking everything out and grinning contentedly until something came up. “The gloves look smaller than our other ones.” Ariel commented while inspecting one of them in her hands. “That’s right.” Allen answered. “These ones are 8 oz. Official competition sized gloves for your weight class. Your usual ones for training and sparring are 16 oz so a bit of a difference.” A silence hung in the air between the sisters as they knew what it meant….smaller gloves means less padding so punches will definitely hurt more. “We could always just use your regular training gloves if you’d rather…” Allen said but both girls quickly chimed in, “No! We want to do this for real.”
When Sunday came, the day was a blur of activity. The fight was to be an event for family only. While the girls had expected two or three faces outside of their own household, they were surprised to see that all of their aunts, uncles, and cousins of varying ages came to fill the backyard as the ring was set up in the center. They did a weigh in two hours before they were set to begin. They had wanted this to be just like the real thing so the girls were announced, walked out and stripped down to bikinis to step on the scale. After their weights were read out and the girls posed flexing on the scale, the family were treated to a formal looking face off between Amber and Ariel. Tech savvy Alia had been filming it all, including the last few days of training for the girls, as she planned to edit a video of the whole ordeal as her birthday gift to Amber. It was becoming real now. This was about to happen.
Both sisters tried to find a quiet place to corner each other and talk one last time before the match but family member after family member kept pulling them aside to express their excitement and wish the girls luck. Their mother eventually picked up on this, tore the girls away from their relatives, and ushered them inside, aiding in their escape.
"It's time to go change and get ready anyway, you're on in thirty minutes." Cassie winked at them.
"Meet me in my room when you change." Amber grinned as they bolted upstairs to get ready. Within ten minutes, they were standing face to face in Amber's room, looking at each other in their fighting outfits after having helped finish each other’s hair. Whether they were going to admit it or not, the two of them were already sizing each other up now, gaging their chances. They were both beautiful girls but they were also fit, strong, and skilled enough after almost two years of training to do some damage to each other.
Ariel had weighed in at 125 lbs when their grandfather had directed her to the scale. He had agreed to referee the fight since their father would be cornering for Amber. He had after all been their dad’s original trainer. She had her dark brown hair tied back into a ponytail, and the tight boxing outfit showed off her physique quite well. Between being on the local field hockey and softball teams, along with her training in boxing, she had a solid build, though it couldn't be said that she was overly muscular, just toned enough to show off a flat stomach and some definition in her arms. Her C cup breasts required a slightly larger sports bra than Amber's B cups.
Amber had come in at 120 but was almost two full inches taller at 5’ 7”. Being a soccer and track athlete herself, she didn’t quite have as defined of biceps as her sister but she did have a hint of a six pack. Her overall build was a bit more slender than Ariel's, but not by enough to concern her. Besides, she knew she was faster than Ariel, and that would count for a lot. Her own dirty blonde hair, inherited from their mother, was braided into two neat ponytails.
For several long seconds, they looked each other up and down. Barely aware that as they did, they were inching closer to each other centimeters at a time as if they were being gravitated toward each other.
"You know…" Ariel broke the silence. "Everyone out there expects us to get in the ring and have a cutesy little slap fight right?"
"Guess they're gonna be surprised." Amber smirked. "Look sis…I love you. But we've been training for so long and we’re both desperate to see what a real boxing match is like. Find out what we can dish out and what we can take. Finally without having to hold anything back. But this has to be real from both of us. I don’t want you holding back at all either."
The girls were practically bumping their chests together now, ever so lightly. There was no hatred or animosity between the two. They’d always gotten along and were the best of friends but they both were eager for the chance to finally throw real punches and see what they could do.
Behind a grin Ariel said, "I'm gonna try to hurt you out there Amber. I'm not gonna take it easy on you, birthday girl."
"Neither am I. And I don’t just want to win, I’m going to do everything I can to knock you out. You're going down hard." Amber said, trying to scowl despite smiling on the inside from their fun, trash talk.
Whatever Ariel was going to say in response was cut off with a knock on the door which sent them jumping apart with a start. The door opened, and their grandfather walked in with a smile.
"Interrupting something girls?" He asked. Both girls shook their heads quickly, still feeling a bit startled. "Good. Have a seat on the bed quickly. I just wanted to have a word with both of you. You do know that no one expects this fight to be serious right?" He asked with his arms crossed.
"Yeah…" Amber said a little warily.
"But you two have been boxing for a while now and know what you’re doing. And neither of you has any intention of holding anything back just cause you’re sisters, right?" He chuckled at their expressions and shook his head. "You don't have to answer. Years and years ago my brother and I went through the same thing. Train for so long and itching to try out a real match…and who better to fight than each other. So I know exactly how you feel. I support you and I have no intention of being the overly protective ref and grandfather. You're both determined to fight to your fullest and do everything you can to win. And since we don’t have anyone here to properly judge your fight, the only real way to determine a true winner is with a knockout if possible, so…I’ll do what I can to give you every chance to do just that. In fact, I wanted you to know….if one of you ends up in a bad spot, I plan on letting the fight play out rather than stepping in to save you." He smiled. "Are you okay with that?"
The sisters’ eyes quickly turned away from their grandpa and towards each other and both smiled instantly. "You bet we are!" Ariel said a little too excitedly as Amber enthusiastically nodded her agreement as they both ran to hug their grandfather.
"Good. Now grab your robes. It's time to go."
A couple of minutes later, with their hands taped and gloves tied on, the outdoor surround sound began to blare out entrance songs as both sisters made their way into the back yard where the rented regulation boxing ring awaited them.
Ariel took her corner and shrugged off her robe to the tune of "The Violence" by Rise Against. Ever the rock music enthusiast.
Amber came out second to the song "All of the Lights" by Kanye West. Their family all cheered them both on enthusiastically as they took their places on opposite sides of the ring and stared each other down.
"Ready to go?" Allen asked while helping to take off her robe and apply some Vaseline. Amber only nodded as she watched her mother giving her older sister some sort of encouragement from the other side of the ring. "She's a bit stronger than you, but you're faster. Just keep her on her toes and keep her back and you'll be fine sweetie."
Grandpa Mike waved for the two combatants to come to the center. Both girls felt their hearts flutter with excitement and nerves as he put a hand on each of their shoulders and raised his voice for everyone to hear.
"This is going to be a less formal boxing match than you're all used to seeing on TV. Since we don't have three capable judges, there will be no scoring. The fight will continue for five rounds. That being said, while these two sisters love each other very much, they have both agreed to test themselves today and hold nothing back. So a winner can only be determined by knockout. If the fight goes all the way with no knockout, it will be considered a draw. Do you understand?" Both girls nodded.
"As such, there are some changes to the normal rules. I will not separate a clinch for ten seconds, and you are allowed to fight inside it. Second, there will not be any standing eight counts. If your opponent drops their guard but remains standing, even if they are just hanging on the ropes, you can continue to fight and try to put them down. And lastly, the bell cannot save anyone in the case of a knockdown. Understood?" Again, both girls nodded, now trying their hardest to stare the other down without smirking. There was a small ripple of surprise through the assembled crowd at that announcement, but Mike simply held his hand up as if to say 'no arguing'.
"If there are no questions girls, touch gloves and go to your corners to wait for the bell."
The sisters did as commanded, bumping gloves together but delaying for a second until they both went in for a hug and gave each other a good squeeze.
"You ready for this little sis?" Ariel said quietly, so only Amber could hear.
They had hugged plenty of times before but this time was different. Neither sister could help but have a little fear creep in as they felt the solid muscle that filled out each other’s bodies from their training and was made all the more evident with the minimal nature of their outfits.
"You have no fucking idea. Best birthday present ever sis. I love you."
“Love you too.”
They separated and Amber couldn’t help but smirk at her sister. With one more quick bump of their gloves, the girls turned their backs and headed to their respective corners.
In the space that followed, time seemed to both slow down and speed up at the same time. As the sisters placed in their mouth guards, the sounds of their murmuring family faded into silence. They only had eyes and ears for each other now. They bounced on the balls of their bare feet and waited what felt like hours and only a second all at once.
DING!!
The sisters raced out of their corners and immediately put to bed the notion that this would be a light-hearted little sparring session. All eyes, now widened toward the ring, instantly turned to focus on the two teen warriors.
Ariel and Amber crashed together with a mutual right hook that caught each of them in the cheek with a solid THUMP and sent both of them staggering back a step. At that moment, both girls knew their mother had been right. All plans go out the door when you get hit. They also knew as they felt their heads snap to the side and heard the collective gasp of their audience, that they weren't going to let that stop them.
Shouts from both parents in their respective corners reminded them to actually use their training and got them refocused quickly. The girls circled each other now and started to showcase their skills and technique. Amber kept her distance and was pumping out double jabs to sting her sister’s face. Ariel looked to use her footwork to cut off the ring and close the distance. They had been fighting for no more than 30 seconds and the entire backyard was silent except for the sound of leather hitting flesh. As the first round wore on, Amber started to follow up her jabs with well-placed shots to Ariel’s abs and chest. Ariel only seemed interested in attacking her sister’s head, firing off countless 1-2’s with a few hooks added in. The combination of a solid straight right from Amber to Ariel’s left boob and Avery, who was acting as timekeeper, tapping the mat to indicate there were 10 seconds left sent Ariel into a frenzy. She bull rushed Amber into a corner and unloaded on her, connecting with several hard hooks to her sister’s pride and joy, her chiseled abs. As Avery dinged the bell to end the round, Ariel threw a final shot right into Amber’s face before their grandfather could jump in between them. While Amber had been able to control the majority of the first round, she was the one shaken up a bit on the walk back to their corners.
“Great end to the round Ariel. She’ll be thinking twice before hitting you in the chest again.” Her mom told her with a little chuckle while removing Ariel’s mouthguard and giving her a sip of water. Ariel couldn’t help but smile at hearing that praise. She knew if this fight was being judged that she probably would have still lost that round on points but knowing that the only way to win today would come by a knockout, she felt that she now had the edge in that regard.
Amber was a little slower in getting to her corner and sitting down on her stool but her first ever competitive round had gone pretty well, apart from the final ten seconds. “Deep breaths, try to relax and recover a bit after those shots.” Her dad had always been good at helping her stay focused in her other sports and she was glad to have him in her corner today. “She knows she hurt you a bit there at the end, so be ready for her to come out quickly to start the round. Be on your toes and use that jab in case she charges in again.” Allen said with a slight smile as he couldn’t hide both his pride and concern for each of his daughters. But this was what they wanted, and had wanted for some time, so he was ok with giving them this opportunity. No matter how it turned out.
“Seconds out!” Shouted Avery. Followed by DING!!!
As expected, Ariel was already halfway across the ring as the bell rang but Amber was ready. She was able to duck under Ariel’s heavy overhand right, slipping to her left while throwing a right uppercut to her sister’s breadbasket. This caught her completely off guard and Amber’s gut punch buckled her knees. She would have gone down if as she stumbled she hadn’t reached out a hand to catch herself on one of the ropes near Amber’s corner. But Amber was also caught a little by surprise, not having anticipated her punch landing so well. So while Ariel was hunched over and holding the ropes to stay up, Amber stood back for a second until her grandfather spoke up, “fight on Amber, put her down.” This snapped Amber back to reality and with a small grin on her face she threw a heavy jab cross 1-2 to her defenseless sister on the ropes. As their entire family gasped, Ariel went down to her hands and knees. Grandpa Mike now stepped in and directed Amber to a neutral corner and began to count. Ariel was more stunned than actually hurt but her mother’s reminder to take her time registered and she stayed on one knee, looking at her grandpa until he reached the count of 7 before she stood back up. “You ok? Still want to continue?” He asked. She nodded enthusiastically while bringing her hands back up and bouncing on her feet. Grandpa Mike wiped her gloves off on his shirt and shouted “FIGHT.”
“Fight smart Amber.” Was the callout from her father. She didn’t want to make a similar mistake and rush in to try and finish the fight. So their normal boxing resumed then. Amber flicking out jabs and some occasional follow ups. Ariel kept moving to close the distance to land her strikes. All of their family that came to celebrate Amber’s birthday and watch these two lovely sisters put on a show were absolutely mesmerized by the display happening in front of them. They’d seen these girls grow up throughout the years. They knew how smart and athletic the sisters were in their respective sports but they couldn’t have dreamed of them being such capable boxers. And it wasn’t just their skill, drive and beauty that was obvious for all to see. It was also unmistakable that both Amber and Ariel couldn’t hold back their smiles while fighting each other. They were clearly having fun in the ring. Finally able to let themselves go and see what they could do, even if it was against their own sister.
This time, when Avery slapped the mat, both girls made the decision to stand and trade. Each throwing a dozen heavy punches in the final ten seconds of the round and stinging each other’s faces and bodies before time was called.
“Well done that round.” Amber’s dad told her as she sat down. “You almost had her there but we’ve got three more rounds so you don’t need to rush things. Keep picking your spots but be ready to pick it up if you catch her with a good one again. And keep your left up, we both know how much she likes her overhand right.” Amber just nodded while her dad rubbed ice on her left cheek. A small mouse was starting to form after Ariel had landed a strong right in their final flurry of punches. It was the only real mark on Amber so far though it was likely that her nicely tanned skin was hiding a few red spots on her ribs and abs.
Ariel sat down and whether it was due to her having spent less time than her sister sunbathing this summer or not, there was a lovely red mark for all to see right next to her navel where Amber’s uppercut had drilled her . “You got a little ahead of yourself and got caught good there, but you recovered well.” Cassie told her daughter while rubbing an ice pack on Ariel’s stomach. “I know she’s got those washboard abs but maybe see if you can slow her down a little by working the body more this round. It could set you up to catch her later on in the fight.” Ariel smiled and thought about how proud her sister was of those abs. Amber loved to show them off, whether on her Instagram or even in public. This will be a great test for them, she thought.
Both girls had worked up a good sweat after the first two rounds in this June afternoon heat but all of their training had them both still looking quite fresh as they got up off their stools to start round three.
DING!!!
The pace this round was much higher as the sisters had settled into the fight now. After circling and trading blocked punches for the first 30 seconds of the round Ariel struck first, catching Amber with a 1-2 that knocked her gloves back into her face and opened her up for a sweet left hook to the body. That one stung. Amber tried to regain some distance by throwing out her long jabs but Ariel stayed in and took the punches on her nose while landing two more hits to her sister’s abs. These weren’t enough to really hurt Amber but they did succeed in getting her to drop her gloves enough for Ariel to land two hooks to the temples of her sister.
Amber quickly moved in closer to tie up Ariel in a clinch, hoping for a moment's respite but Ariel was able to keep both arms inside of Amber’s and proceeded to club rights and lefts into the midsection and drive Amber back onto the ropes. After what seemed like way more than ten seconds, their grandfather reached in between the girls and broke the clinch. Ariel rushed back in and spent the remainder of the round keeping Amber trapped along the ropes and alternating shots to the body and head. Ariel’s strength appeared to be winning out over Amber’s speed and reach. Despite having her punches be outnumbered by at least 3 to 1 that round, Amber was still able to take away a small victory when the bell ended the round as she noticed a trickle of blood coming from her sister’s nose due to her crisp jabs.
Ariel’s mom quickly went to work to stop her bloody nose before offering advice. “That was your best round yet. Great job attacking the body and then keeping her guessing by mixing in those hooks to the head.” She had definitely gotten the better of that round but the effort had Ariel breathing a bit heavy.
Across the ring Amber was still feeling the effects of all those punches as she sat down. The ice pack placed on the back of her neck was a good shock to her system to help reset. “She got you pretty good that round kiddo. But it looks like she’s feeling it a bit too after exerting all of that effort. She’s going to try to put you under pressure and use the ropes to keep you there. If she traps you again, you may have to try for a couple of shots to her boobs again. She didn’t seem to like them earlier so she’ll get pissed but it might give you enough of a break to circle out of trouble.”
Sweat was now freely dripping off both sisters and they leaned back into their corners more this break than the previous two. But each bounced up to their feet once mouth guards were put back in and looked as ready as ever to get back to it.
DING!!
As Ariel moved forward to start round 4, Amber focused on circling around the ring and keeping her sister at a distance. Jabs were traded and a nice one from Amber started a fresh but small flow of blood again from Ariel’s nose. Literally seeing red, Amber jumped in to see if she could take some control this round and began throwing heavier shots to Ariel’s ribs and head. Power shots weren’t necessarily her game and Ariel was able to capitalize on a mistake. Following up another solid jab to the nose and right to the body, Amber overcommitted on a left hook that, had it connected, could have put her sister down. But it was telegraphed and Ariel was able to duck under the punch and take advantage of an opening for her favorite overhand right. The right hand landed squarely on the cheek of Amber and spun her violently around and into the ropes. You could hear the whole of their extended family suck in a big breath of air as they watched Ariel follow her sister and land a straight right to the belly and a sweet left hook to the side of Amber’s head. She was already on her way down after the first punch and the hook left no doubt as Amber was dropped straight onto her backside. It seemed only the ropes had kept her from being laid out flat on her back.
Ariel jumped a little in celebration at scoring the knockdown before remembering she had to go to a neutral corner for the count to start. Grandpa Mike moved in and bent down in front of Amber and began his count. “1…2…3…4” Amber slowly started to move and got up to one knee with the aid of the ropes. “5…6…7…8” At the count of 8 she rose up to her feet, her legs still a little unsteady. “Amber? You ok? Can you continue?” her grandfather asked. She nodded slowly and stepped towards him when asked. He wiped her gloves on his shirt, moved to the side and waved Ariel back in. “Fight.”
There was only about 30 seconds left in the round for Amber to survive but Ariel was going to do everything she could to not let that happen. She moved in fast to keep Amber close to the ropes and threw four quick jabs to her head to keep her sister’s gloves focused up high. A heavy straight right from Ariel landed squarely on Amber’s belly button and Ariel felt her sister’s abs give to the strong punch. But despite how much it hurt, Amber didn’t drop her hands. Ariel swarmed in and tried throwing hooks to her head but nothing landed cleanly. Well Ariel thought, if she’s going to keep her gloves up high then I’m gonna have to punish those abs she loves so much and went to work with body shots. The round ended with Amber having taken almost 15 unanswered punches to the body, blocking some, but she had survived.
Lucky for her, she was only a few steps away from her corner and plopped down onto her stool right away as her dad put an ice pack on her left eye and another on her stomach. “You doing ok? Those were some heavy hits you took that round. Just take advantage of every second this break to recover. Then you’ve only got to make it through one more round.”
Amber turned her head at this last comment. Was her dad saying that the only thing she could do was try to survive the last round? Had he given up hope for her?
Ariel strutted over to her corner with a clear air of confidence. She’d landed her best shots of the fight that round and put her sister on her ass. It seemed only a matter of time til she was able to finish the fight and knock Amber out. “Great round honey. I don’t know how your sister got back up and made it through the round. Keep doing exactly what you did, pick your shots, don’t get greedy and you can win this.”
As the call for seconds out was made, both girls got to their feet and Grandpa Mike beckoned them to the middle, putting a hand on each of their shoulders, grinning and speaking softly enough for just them to hear. “This is it. Final round girls. You two still want me to let you go for that ending we talked about?.” Amber and Ariel chuckled and nodded, then went in for one final hug. Appreciative that they had someone close to share this experience with, no matter how this last round went. They held onto each other for a while until their grandpa had to break them up. “Alright, alright. Don’t get all lovey dovey now. You two still need to beat each other up some more. Let’s go.”
DING!!
As expected, Ariel was the aggressor early on but Amber was determined to show her dad and everyone around that she wasn’t finished yet. It was almost as if there was an unspoken agreement between the sisters for this final round as the girls abandoned all sense of dancing around and simply began trading combinations in the center of the ring. This went on for over a minute but only a few punches were landing for each during this exchange before Ariel faked an overhand right and instead struck with a left uppercut to her sister’s exposed chest, stunning her for a second. A straight right hand to Amber’s already swelling left eye backed her up a few steps. Ariel sensing blood in the water charged in to try and end the fight, but instead of retreating as expected, Amber set her feet and threw an overhand right of her own, putting everything she had behind it, and landing flush on the jaw. Ariel’s charge came to a dead stop, her knees wobbling and her hands momentarily dropped to her sides. Amber made sure not to hesitate this time. She had hurt her sister and moved straight in to throw a lovely left-right-left combo to her sister’s unprotected head, dropping her to the canvas. Amber stood over her sister for a couple seconds before remembering that the count wouldn’t start until she went to a corner and so she now ran.
Their grandpa began his count while trying to look into Ariel’s eyes and gauge how hurt she was. “1…2…3…4…5” rattled off before Ariel began to stir. At 8 she had managed to get her feet under her, though clearly still a little wobbly. “Are you ok? Do you want to continue?” Grandpa Mike asked but before she could respond, both parents spoke up. “Ariel, just stay down honey” her mom pleaded. “Dad, she’s had enough. Call the fight.” her father shouted to his dad in the ring. During their own experiences boxing, they had seen plenty of fighters get rocked like this and knew there was no coming back from that. Ariel was essentially out on her feet. Grandpa Mike looked at both of them and then back at Ariel. He could tell she was done for this fight but her eyes were clearly begging him not to end it this way. She nodded that she wanted to continue, whispering “Please.” He had promised them both that he would give them every chance possible to end their match properly. And so he wiped her gloves off, stepped back and waved Amber back in. “Fight.”
Amber couldn’t hold back her smile. They loved each other but she knew that this is what they both wanted. A real match and the chance to truly end it if possible. So she moved in, stalking her prey and forcing Ariel back into a corner with her textbook jabbing. Ariel knew she was in trouble once her back bumped into the ropes but it was taking the majority of her effort just to stay up on her feet and keep her gloves high. Amber was now able to pick her shots and started with a light left hook to paw Ariel’s gloves aside before crashing a vicious straight right that split open her sister’s lip. Ariel’s hands quickly came back up to cover her face, exposing her belly for three hard hooks to sink in deep, just barely above the waistband of her shorts. With Ariel now hunched over and gasping for air, Amber reached way back and unleashed an uppercut that split her sister's gloves and almost lifted her off her feet. It did succeed in straightening Ariel up and the only reason she was able to stay on her feet now was because both of her arms were draped over the top ropes.
As everyone in the backyard watched on, both Allen and Cassie couldn’t help but be conflicted at how this match was ending. Their two oldest girls, who they watched grow up their whole lives and were so proud of the women that they were becoming, were showcasing the brutal skills that they themselves had taught them, and doing so against each other. But this was boxing and they both knew all too well from their own experiences that this was a tough sport and if you climbed into the ring and lost, you were going to get a good thrashing. This was the gift their daughters wanted. And so they watched on.
Amber took her time ending it, knowing that her sister was now totally defenseless. She moved in and threw a couple of tight hooks into Ariel’s exposed belly. Four straight shots to her sister’s boobs followed, each one compressing the ample flesh into her body. Amber then stepped back and unleashed a right uppercut squarely onto Ariel’s chin to lift her completely up and off the ropes and a sweet left hook to the jaw as her sister began to fall. Ariel spun on her way down, landing with a thud flat on her back. Everyone knew the fight was over, the count was just a formality but Amber backed off into the opposite corner and watched her grandfather move in and count Ariel out. Ariel had hardly moved a muscle by the time he had reached 8 but was able to look up to see her grandfather call “9…10…You’re out” before he reached over to cradle her head and sit her up against the ropes.
A mix of stunned silence and applause filled the backyard as Amber jumped up and down for only a brief second before running over to Ariel. “It’s over dear.” Grandpa Mike said while putting a hand up in front of Amber as she got close. “I know Grandpa. I want to be the one to help her up.” Both he and her parents, who had also entered the ring, couldn’t help but smile at the immediate switch back to loving sisters from rival warriors. Together, Cassie and Amber helped Ariel to her feet and over to the stool in her corner. Ariel stayed on her stool, leaning back against the ropes as she watched Grandpa Mike grab Amber by the wrist and walk her to the center of the ring. “Your winner by knockout in the 5th round, the birthday girl Amber!!” he declared and raised her arm. Alia had snuck into the ring as well and was filming Amber in all her glory, both arms raised while also sporting what was sure to be a lovely black eye tomorrow.
Allen then gathered everyone’s attention and spoke up for all to hear, “Thank you all for coming to celebrate and support our two oldest girls. As you can see, they’ve put in the time and commitment and sure know what they are doing in the ring. We couldn’t be prouder. But clearly the girls are going to need plenty of time to get cleaned up, rest and recover after the show they just put on. So please excuse us as we’re going to tend to them and hope to see you all again soon. Thanks again.”
Before leaving the ring, Ariel was able to get to her feet and give her sister one more hug. “Congrats birthday girl.” “Thanks big sis.” They then climbed through the ropes and began to walk back up to the house with their parents, arm in arm with Amber supporting Ariel most of the way. Alia raced past both girls on her way inside to get straight to work editing her footage. Once they were inside, their immediate family took their time in packing up chairs while replaying the amazing bout they just witnessed. It was clear that an interest in boxing had been sparked amongst all of the family, especially in the cousins.
Post-Fight
After the girls got showered up and tended to, a nice massage from their mom to ease their muscles and ice for their war wounds, the girls laid down for a nap. When it was time to wake them for dinner, Avery was sent up and discovered that Amber wasn’t in her room as she had apparently gotten up and went over to Ariel’s to lay down together with Amber cuddled in tight as the big spoon. The girls slowly arose and gingerly made their way down the stairs. After dinner, they all settled down onto the big couch in the family room as Alia got set up to show off her present to Amber. As she hit play Avery chimed in that she had a present for Amber too but she’d show it later.
The family was all snuggled up on the couch, Amber and Ariel in the middle, with a parent on either side of them. Though this time it was Allen with an arm around Ariel and Cassie cuddling with Amber. Alia had gone all out. The video began with a training montage for each girl and quick interviews, the weigh in and faceoff, their ring entrances and then the fight. She was quick to point out all of the extras she added in: switches between a camera set up on a tripod and her handheld moving around, audience reactions, and an added overlay that labeled Amber in red, Ariel in blue with a round timer counting down. Alia’s work was excellent but everyone just stayed quiet and watched these two lovelies fight to their fullest again. No comments were made as the fight progressed to its eventual finish. Both parents smiled and squeezed their girls as the image of them walking together back to the house faded away on screen.
Avery had been jittery for a while on her end of the couch and finally jumped up once the video ended. “So, did you guys notice my present for Amber?” Everyone looked around at each other puzzled. No one had spotted anything. “Gimme the remote.” Avery said as she proceeded to rewind the video to just before the final knockdown of the fight. She had paused it right as Amber’s uppercut sent Ariel up to land with arms draped over the ropes. “Well?” She asked again. It was then that Allen spotted it. “No. You didn’t?” Avery couldn’t hide her cheeky grin anymore and moved closer to the screen and pointed. Alia’s graphic for the round timer was showing 0:00 left on the clock. Avery then spoke up, “I knew you both wanted a winner from your fight so my gift to Amber was a few extra seconds to make it happen.” Everyone was shocked at the revelation and slowly turned their gaze onto Ariel, unsure of what her reaction would be to finding out that although she had been knocked out, it was after the bell should have been rung. Silence hung in the air for a few seconds until Ariel surprised everyone by beginning to laugh. “Avery, you little shit. I hope you would have done the same for me if it was the other way around.” Avery smiled and said that she would have. Then ran over and gave Ariel a hug. Followed by one for Amber too. In return, her mother gave her a nice swat on the butt. “Alright girls, it’s been quite the day. Time for bed.” Cassie said and they all got up off the couch, Ariel and Amber a little slower than the others and headed off to their rooms.
A few minutes later, Ariel heard a quiet knock on her door and then Amber poked her head in. Ariel waved her in and they both sat on the bed. “I just wanted to check on you after Avery’s “present.” You’re not mad?” Amber turned and asked Ariel. “You know, surprisingly I’m not really. You had me beat. I would have been down anyway if I hadn’t landed on the ropes. And we both wanted there to be a clear winner so I guess I’m ok with it.” Amber turned and gave her sister yet another hug and a kiss on the forehead for good measure. “I am a little annoyed that you threw those extra punches to my boobs when you didn’t have to.” Amber smirked a little, “Yeah, sorry about that but they were right there out in the open so…” Ariel grinned as well. “You know this just means that the rematch will be even better now.” Both girls couldn’t help but smile and laugh at that. They just had quite the punch up, with their entire family there to witness it, and both sisters couldn’t wait for the chance to do it all again. And they weren’t the only ones dreaming about the boxing matches that were inevitably to come within the family.
