Becoming the Storm

Copyright ©2015 2021 by Elder Road LLC

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This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental and highly improbable.

Cover photo by Alenavlad ID 162480920 licensed from Shutterstock.com

Second Edition

ISBN 978-1-939275-39-4

Designed by Nathan Everett
ElderRoadBooks@outlook.com

Part I:
Community

1
Stormy Weather

I SNEEZED, grabbed a tissue, and groaned. What a crappy way to wake up. It took about five seconds for Dani to have a glass of water and an aspirin for me. She held a hand to my forehead and shook her head.

“You still have a fever. I’ll get some more tea,” she said.

“You shouldn’t be in here. I don’t want anyone else getting sick.”

“I volunteered and no one else is coming in.” She flicked on one of our handhelds. “Kitchen, this is Nursemaid. Can you get me some of that Throat Coat tea? I think he’s ready for chicken soup, too. Just knock.”

“Yes, Nursemaid,” a voice answered. I couldn’t identify who she was. “Theresa brought some vitamins with instructions on how to administer a megadose. I’ll bring that, too.”

“Who’s that?” I croaked.

“Renee. She volunteered to keep our kitchen running so everyone was tended to and we didn’t have to stop production completely,” Dani said. I was really creating problems for everyone.

Well, I wasn’t the only problem. I was lying in bed in my room on the last day of the wettest July on record. It was Friday and I should have been shooting two Young Cooking episodes. We were already two days behind in shooting. Twice we’d lost half a day of shooting because of tornado warnings. Fortunately, the studio was one of the designated storm shelters on the ranch. But we’d lost power both days and had to close up shop. We had a cutting of hay rotting in the field. As soon as the ground firmed up enough to support the tractors, we’d be out raking and composting the entire cutting.

Then I got sick. I’d been fighting it all week, but when I woke up that morning, I had a fever and no voice. Production canceled. Another day of shooting lost. Lonnie was going crazy. Hannah was going crazier. Sora was doubling up and doing four shows today. If I couldn’t cook by Monday, Elaine was preparing to do four shows in a row. The only person who had been allowed in my room was Dani, and while I loved the girl intensely, I was also feeling abandoned by my hearthmates. I couldn’t blame them. Usually we all sleep in one room—pretty much one big bed. Illness could whip through our entire casa overnight. The minute I said I was fighting something off, I was isolated.

Oh, poor me.

“Fifty?” Dani said at the door. “Really?”

“Don’t worry. It’s 5,000 IU per drop. But drop it right on his tongue so he doesn’t lose any. Again tomorrow and then 10,000 a day for the duration. Theresa says we should have told her on Monday. He’d never have gotten sick,” Renee said at the door.

“Thank you, Renee. You’re a love,” Dani said.

“Let me know if you want someone else to sleep with him. You know I’ll volunteer to keep him warm at night,” Renee laughed. Dani closed the door and brought the tray to the bed. She took her mask off.

“Shouldn’t you keep that on so you don’t get sick?”

“It’s to protect those who come to the door, not me. I’ve been breathing your air all week. If I’m going to get it, I’ll get it. We don’t want it getting to anyone else,” Dani said. She opened a small bottle and looked at the dropper. “Open up. You get ten drops of this on your tongue.” I opened. The droplets were so small that I hardly felt them at all.

“What is it?”

“Vitamin D3. Theresa says. She hasn’t been wrong about a natural remedy yet.” Well, that was true enough. She was the one who gave me my first jar of arnica cream when I was just fifteen. Just remembering applying that to the bare butts of Jennifer, Courtney, Samantha, and Hannah was enough to cause a stirring beneath the sheets, no matter how fevered I was. I wasn’t used to doing without for five days!

“Dani?” I gasped. I’d awakened to the unmistakable feeling of having my cock sucked. I was a little disoriented but I didn’t feel feverish any more. It took me a minute to figure out who was beneath the sheets. “Dani, what are you doing down there?” My hands got tangled in the sheet trying to reach her. She lifted up, taking the sheet with her. She was so pretty.

“I think I’m giving you a blowjob. I’m not very good at it, but it can’t be so bad you couldn’t figure out what I was doing.”

“But why, honey? You don’t have to do that. I like just cuddling with you.”

“I know, Brian. I like just cuddling with you, too. But you haven’t had an orgasm for nearly a week and you’ve been hard all night. Just relax and let me do this for you. Then we can cuddle up and go back to sleep.” She returned to her task and being the guy that I am, I lay back and just enjoyed it like she told me to. I was really happy to have Dani just to cuddle with and pet. I seldom had a hard on that lasted more than a few seconds with her. Hard all night? I glanced at my digital clock and it said 4:30.

What am I doing, honey? Hell, I know what I’m doing. I’m letting Dani give me a blowjob. It has been a long week. I sure hope I’m well by Monday morning and can get back to the show. But Dani… Shit! I’m going to come.

I awoke much later in the morning. I was lying half on top of Dani. She had her arm wrapped around me and was holding my face against her breast. My hand cupped her other breast. My left leg was between hers. She petted the back of my head and hummed. Her nipple was right by my lips, so I took it in my mouth as she held me there. Always her humming… Like a lullaby… Sleep.

“I think he’s going to be better today. The worst is definitely past. He’ll like this,” Dani said at the door. I sat in bed watching her bare bottom as she talked to Renee. “It’s probably time to send Angela or Dawn in to take his vitals.”

“I’ll let them know. Remember, just two drops today. Theresa says 10,000 IU a day for the next week. It will build up his immune system,” Renee said.

“He’ll drink the tea, but I think he’d like a cup of coffee. Any chance someone could make some?”

“Only about fifteen someones. That’s the best sign yet.”

Dani came to the bed and removed her hospital mask.

“Look at this!” she said as she scooted forward with the tray. “Scrambled egg sandwich with little bits of bacon in it. And watermelon! Aren’t you a lucky boy?”

“Dani!” I laughed. “I’m not six. Did you really ask for coffee for me? I love you so much!”

“Yes, and I love you, too. Now take a big bite of your sandwich.” She wouldn’t let me hold my own sandwich but continued to feed me a bite at a time. She was giggling like a ten-year-old playing nurse.

“You must be going stir-crazy,” I said. “You’ve been locked in this room with me for a week!”

“Is that what this kind of crazy is called?” she said with wide eyes, letting her head roll from side to side. “I was going to ask Nikki what it was called. I’m so glad I have a name for it!”

“Dani, you are the sweetest person I know. I love you.”

“I love you, Brian. I’m so glad you are feeling better this morning. I’m going to get you all scrubbed up in the shower after breakfast and then Angela and Dawn will come in and say you can join the family again. I think you should still take another day off work, though. Your voice is still like gravel,” Dani said.

I finished eating and drank the coffee that was delivered with a note that said, “Get well soon! I’m horny!” It was signed by all the other women in the casa. Shit! I showered with Dani. She made sure I was especially clean and didn’t have any backed up fluids. After the first time, I’d given up and just let her have her way with me. And as we slept at night, my hand was either petting her breasts or cupped over her pussy—wherever she put it. But she hadn’t let me reciprocate by giving her pleasure.

The entire nursing staff showed up—Angela, Dawn, Cathy, and Theresa. Theresa stayed over by the door and wore a hospital mask. She, of course, wanted to know if I’d been drinking orange or tomato juice each morning. I had. Dawn took my temperature and blood pressure. Angela looked in my mouth and throat. Cathy pulled the sheet off me so they could all see better. What?

“I don’t think you’re contagious anymore. I wouldn’t go back to work tomorrow, though. You need to let your voice heal,” Angela said.

“Does that mean I can rejoin the family?” I asked.

“I wouldn’t breathe on the babies yet,” Angela said. “Otherwise, come on downstairs when you’re ready.”

“Unless you’d like us to stay here and nurse you for a while,” Dawn said suggestively.

“Tempting as it is to nurse on you, Dawn, I’d really like to see my family,” I said. All three naked women looked good enough to nurse on.

“I think you should wear a gi so you don’t frighten anyone,” Dani laughed seeing my reaction.

There was a lot of stroking and petting, but no kisses when I finally went downstairs. It was just so good to reach out and touch my cónyuge and hug everyone. They all agreed, though, that I’d be taking one more day off. Hannah said they’d give me the rest of the week with just one show a day, but next week, I’d have to do three a day. Fuck! I was thinking seriously about getting sick again.

“Rose, since I’m not taping today and I was laid up all weekend, I need to go into town. Would you like to go?” I asked about the middle of Monday morning. I was thrilled that I would be able to move back to the common room tonight. I just wanted to hold my cónyuge close to me.

“Sure, but you need to be back for your two o’clock meeting,” Rose said.

“My what?”

“Your production schedule is completely out of whack,” Rose said. “Sora is doing two shows this morning and two this afternoon with Elaine sandwiched between so the poor girl can breathe. As soon as they finish taping Chick Chat, you have to meet with your producers and staff to go over how to organize your return to the big time.”

“Who all do I have to meet with?”

“Jackie and Patti, your producers. Then there’s your kitchen staff, Mary and the three goddesses. Angela, of course. She has to give input on what can be harvested. And Hannah and Samantha. You need to be sharp.”

“I suppose so. I guess that means we need to go soon.”

“Cassie is getting ready to do the grocery shopping for the casa this week. We can ride with her.”

We rode with Cassie in my car. The old Suburban was pretty much the casa’s transportation and delivery wagon. Insurance was a bear with everyone in the casa listed as a driver.

“What’s the errand, lover?” Cassie asked.

“Birthdays,” I said. “Four this week.”

“I thought it was just Danielle,” Rose said.

“How could I prepare something for Danielle and not include Dorothy and Debbie?” I asked. “I need to do something for all three.”

“I see the sense in that,” Cassie said. “They spend most of their time with us in the big house anyway, even though they usually go back to the dorm to sleep.”

“Usually?”

“They’ve hung around a lot this week while you and Dani were holed up doing who knows what,” Rose laughed.

“And I’m not telling!” I said.

“Brian, anything the two of you do together is your choice, either in private or with the rest of us. Dani is a part of all of us. I can’t imagine life without her. We’ve missed her this week as much as you,” Rose said. “Now who else do you need a present for?”

“Just a card,” I said. “For Pam. She’s the youngest of the clan until you get to the babies and will be eighteen on Thursday. Her parents and brother are coming down for her birthday, so we need to alert everyone on the ranch that there will be no nudity Thursday night.”

“So where first?” Cassie asked.

“That new kitchen store over on College Avenue,” I said. “You can drop me there while you do the groceries. I’ll sit at the coffee shop if I’m done before you are.”

Of course, setting me loose in a kitchen store has predictable results. I was nowhere near done when Cassie and Rose got back. I wanted unique gifts for the three girls, not to just give them all the same thing. I’m sure they got plenty of that. I ended up with a nice set of spice grinders for Dorothy. She had really gotten into the herbs and spices we were able to grow in the garden and the back wall of the kitchen prep area was hung with drying herbs. I was a little nervous when I picked out Debbie’s gift. I’d noticed that her set of knives was missing a cleaver. Every cook has his or her own preferred set of knives and if the whole clan had been observant when we met the girls, we’d all have been able to tell them apart in the kitchen. Knives was where they differed. Dorothy used Wusthoff knives and it was a beautiful, well cared-for stainless set. Dani had a set of Henckels that were carefully cleaned and individually wrapped in a chamois after each use. Debbie was hard on her knives. She approached cutting and chopping with—shall we say—vigor. She used Chicago Cutlery carbon steel knives and kept the edges honed to razor sharpness. The cleaver I got for her set would probably be sharpened a dozen times before she used it.

And that brought me to Danielle. I’d toured the entire store half a dozen times before I found the right gift. Then it was there. It was so obvious that I was surprised I hadn’t seen it immediately. I made my purchases and we grabbed a bite to eat in the mall. It didn’t take long to find a cute card for Pam. I knew what I would write in the card and chuckled about it. We barely got back in time for my meeting.

“I’ll take care of the gifts,” Rose said. “Are you sure you want to give Debbie a cleaver?” she laughed. I rolled my eyes and ran to the studio.

2
Unhappy Birthday

IT WAS A TIGHT FIT to get all of us in Stall One. Rhiannon, sadly, had moved her architectural office to the guest room in their duplex. I knew they were crowded over there. With four adults and a baby in their little three-bedroom, taking up the guest room meant no one had a place to escape.

Offices.

We needed more offices. Where were we going to put Designed by Leonard? We’d already maximized what we could do with the old stalls. Laundry and utilities in Stall Six. The expanded kitchen pantry and what storage we had was in Stall Five. Stall Four was the production and editing room. We’d put a huge window into that room that looked out on the studio. It was soundproof and there were computers all over. I was going to have to move the three fireproof file cabinets that contained Heaven’s photos and Nikki’s poetry and writing. We needed the space.

Stall Three was no longer a guest room. It was a dressing room. We couldn’t keep using the upstairs as a dressing room because we needed the space for people to sleep. There were fifty-six of us resident on the ranch. It was insane! We’d even cut a door from the new dressing room into the bathroom in Stall Two so stars didn’t need to walk into the studio to get from the dressing room to the bathroom.

And then there was Stall One, where it all started. It was crammed with four desks, computers, phones, and extra chairs. Hannah’s desk was in the corner. Samantha and Louise shared a desk for administration and accounting. Jennifer had a desk and whiteboard as she charted sales and marketing data non-stop. The fourth desk was shared by all the student producers for the shows and Lonnie.

Oh. My desk. I did most of my work from Jingo’s back. If I needed a phone, I borrowed Hannah’s.

So with Hannah, Samantha, Jackie, Patti, my four kitchen helpers, Angela, and me in the room, it got uncomfortable quickly.

“There’s good news and there’s bad news,” Hannah said. Shit! What a way to start. “The good news is that Brian’s voice will sound almost normal by tomorrow. And everyone is happy to see you back on set. The bad news is that we are now eight episodes behind our scheduled shoot and will fall back another four before this week is over. That is a lot better than trying to catch up and having our star with no voice by the end of the week. Next week we need to start catching up. That will be three Young Cooking shows a day for the week. Hard, but not undoable.”

“Whew. I think I can do that,” I said. “I don’t want to let any of you down.”

“That was all the good news,” Hannah said. “When we finish next week, the summer production camp will be over. We’ll still be seven episodes behind. We need to catch those up on Monday and Tuesday the following week.”

“Shit! We’ve got to get on the phone to our guests and audiences,” Jackie said.

“I’m going to be out a cameraman,” Patti added. “I know he already has a ticket to Europe and is supposed to leave after we finish filming Friday. How are we going to schedule all those shoots on Monday and Tuesday?” I just sat there, sort of stunned. Mary reached over and took my hand from one side and Dani from the other.

“Sam and Jennifer will help you with scheduling,” Hannah said. “April and Jason will fill in for missing cameramen. And we’ll pay a $100 per day bonus for all the students who are here and working the extra two days.”

“Two hundred bucks?” Patti said. “I could use that. Thank you.”

“What about our kitchen staff?” Jackie asked. “They aren’t enrolled in the summer program.”

“Each of them receives a per-episode stipend,” Hannah said. “They’ll just earn more of them in a shorter period of time.”

Well, that was the end of the business news. Hannah left. The rest of us had to coordinate what shows with what menus we’d plan for the rest of the week and the next two. Angela was fairly flexible, but complained that we had vegetables ready to rot in the field. If we weren’t saving them for a show, we needed to get out and pick them and serve them. It seemed we really had a bumper crop of tomatoes this year. They liked the alternating days of sunshine and rain.

I made formal invitations to Debbie, Dorothy, and Danielle to be our guests of honor at dinner Tuesday night in the big house. After dinner, dessert would be served from the studio kitchen.

After we’d finished the show Tuesday afternoon, we went together to the big house. The triplets were twenty-one today. As soon as we walked in, the casa yelled ‘Happy Birthday’ and began singing to them. Everyone was naked and it took only a few minutes for the five of us from the show to join them. In celebration of the event, Tim made cocktails for those over twenty-one. He served the girls a vodka-cranberry martini. It was pretty much just a martini with a bit of cranberry juice in it to turn it pink. We all grabbed whatever we had to drink—mostly Cokes and Sprite—and toasted our newest adults. It was a one-drink night and as soon as Tim had all the ‘adults’ served, he closed the bar.

Cassie, Sarah, and Sora had put together the evening meal. We ate antipasto with our cocktails. When we were seated, we had a huge salad, insisted on by Angela, followed by Vichyssoise—a cold potato soup. The main course was Fettucine Florentine with chicken tenderloins. It was a very good meal.

The general rule in the clan was no gifts for birthdays and holidays, but it seemed I routinely broke the rule for my lovers. We put the three girls on the sofa and I gave them each their present. Then I went back to the big chair. It was very funny that the triplets opened their gifts in order of their ages. I don’t think there was a half-hour difference between Dorothy and Danielle, but they still took turns. Dorothy was thrilled with the spice jars and grinders.

“Fresh pepper,” she started saying, then looked at the others. “Oh! There are different kinds. It’s not just grinding. These have blades. Fresh chopping of basil, sage, rosemary. Oh! I want to go put herbs in them!” She was a happy girl and turned to Debbie to see what she got. Debbie was a careful package unwrapper. She slit the tape with her fingernail and slid the paper neatly off the box and folded it. She opened the box and screamed.

“A cleaver!” She immediately removed the instrument from the box and cut her finger testing the edge. It required a Band-Aid. “They don’t usually come from the store sharp enough!” she said by way of explanation. That reminded me to put cutting gloves on my list of things to acquire for the kitchen. It was Danielle’s turn. She opened the long narrow box and squealed as loudly as either of her sisters. She rushed to my lap and started peppering my face with little kisses, narrowly missing clubbing me.

“You gave her a rolling pin?” Elaine said. “Nikki, there has to be a monologue in this one. What man gives his wife or girlfriend a rolling pin for her birthday?”

“No!” Danielle squealed. “Not a rolling pin. A pasta cutter. When we’ve made pasta, the biggest problem has always been getting it the same size and thickness. See how this roller is grooved with sharp ridges? You roll the pasta dough out to a near thickness, then roll it with this. It cuts it to the same width and if anything is a little thick, it just pushes it out and evens up the thickness. It’s wonderful! I’m going to make pasta tomorrow!”

It was a big hit and we sat around talking until it was almost time to go have birthday cake with the rest of the clan. Dani put her pin in the box carefully so it wouldn’t get nicked. Then she cuddled up in my lap and we petted each other and continued to put little kisses on each other’s face.

“Brian?” I looked up to see Debbie and Dorothy standing in front of me. They had their gifts in their hands and were holding them out to me. Both had tears streaming from their eyes.

“What?” I asked. “What’s wrong? Don’t you like them?”

“Yes,” Dorothy answered. “But they aren’t what we want for our birthday. We want our sister back.”

Well, the evening went to hell in a handbasket. Dani hung onto my neck tight enough to strangle me. Debbie and Dorothy dropped their presents and hung onto each other. Rose swept in and picked up everything that could be used as a weapon, including all three gifts. Whitney stepped up and held the two older twins in her arms.

“She’s always here with you and never with us,” Debbie complained.

“We miss her being with us,” Dolly added.

“I’m not holding her here against her will,” I said. “You kept trying to make her do things she didn’t want to do.” Well, not being accusative lasted about five seconds.

“But she kept us from doing things we shouldn’t do,” Debbie responded. “Now no one holds us back. We’ve fucked all the younger guys in the dormitory and none of them even like us. We’ve…”

“What?” I yelled. That was enough. I was going to throw their asses off the ranch. All the younger? Leonard doesn’t even like girls. Of course, that still left five others. Shit!

“Patrón, calmly,” Rose said stepping between us. “We need to take this upstairs to the master bedroom so we all talk. Whitney, would you come with us and our friends?” Rose was so sweet. Whitney turned the older sisters toward the stairs and Rose followed them. Dani was clinging to me so tightly that I finally picked her up in my arms and carried her to the bedroom. I could see Rose’s reasoning. I had a huge bed. Rose sat beside Dolly. Whitney sat between Dolly and Debbie, separating them. I crawled onto the bed and set Dani down between Rose and me so I was next to Debbie. I kind of regretted giving her a cleaver, but at least it was downstairs.

“I don’t know what to say,” I said with a shrug. Dani still held my hand, but she was looking at her sisters now.

“I hear a lot of emotion being vented,” Rose said. “Let’s just take a deep breath and see if I can replay what I’m hearing.” We did as she directed. God! I love this woman! “So, as I understand it, Debbie and Dorothy feel that they have been abandoned by Danielle and they miss her.” The two girls nodded vigorously. “And you blame Brian, or maybe all of us for taking her away from you.” The nods were still there, but a little less emphatic. “I haven’t heard what Dani believes,” Rose continued. “Honey, have you abandoned your sisters?”

“No,” Dani squeaked. “But I’m in love. Why don’t they understand that?”

“With Brian?” Dolly demanded.

“With all of the casa. I’m happy here. I wanted you to join the clan, too,” Dani said. “You wouldn’t.”

“Joining the clan isn’t a prerequisite for being included with us. We’ve tried to make you welcome in everything here,” I said.

“But joining your clan is like this big deal. We’ve lived here for two months with everyone, but we’re still outsiders,” Debbie said.

“Okay,” Rose said. “Let’s get back on track. Danielle did not intend to abandon you, but she is in love. What do you think a sister in love should do and be, Debbie? Dolly? Did you never anticipate that any of you would ever fall in love?”

“I never thought about it,” Debbie said. “We were always together. Until she moved away, I didn’t realize… I didn’t realize how much I love my baby sister.”

“And now she’s off having sex with someone who’s off-limits to us. She doesn’t sleep with us. She scampers off to be with her lover,” Dolly said.

“Um… I don’t like to talk about what I do with anyone else, but Dani and I haven’t had sex,” I said. “We sleep together most of the time, or she sleeps with our group, but I don’t think she’s having sex with any of us.”

“But… That’s impossible!” Debbie burst out.

“Why not, Danielle?” Dolly asked.

“I… Sex hurt when we did it last year. It was awful and meaningless. I hated it. And I hated you for making me do it. But I still love you,” Dani cried. She turned and put her face against my shoulder.

“Oh, no!” Debbie cried. Dolly joined in the bawling and Whitney wrapped an arm around each and held them to her. “I thought you wanted… I didn’t listen. I let him rape my sister. I didn’t mean to! I didn’t mean to.”

“And now you’ll never have sex again?” Dolly said. “That’s terrible!” Dani shook her head.

“I’ll have sex,” Dani said. “Stop being all angsty about it. I love Brian and sometime when it’s right, I’ll welcome him into me. I know I’ll welcome Rose and Hannah and Doreen, too. And you know very well that I’ve had sex with you since I started living here. I just don’t want to fight about it and have to keep saying no. I have never, ever had to stop someone in the casa. I feel safe with everyone in the clan. I don’t feel safe with you.”

It was a blow for them to hear that their sister didn’t feel safe with them. That even shocked me.

“You always calmed us down,” Dorothy said. “You kept us from going too wild, no matter how we tried to convince you. I feel like I don’t have a rudder anymore.”

“Danielle, I’m sorry. I love you like crazy. I love you like I love Dorothy,” Debbie said. “I’ve always known you didn’t love me like that, but you pretended and I let myself believe it. Brian, you asked what was going to happen when we fell in love. I thought we were in love. I was selfish and chose to assume that everyone wanted what I wanted. Now I don’t know. I don’t know if Dolly even wants what I want now.” Dolly crawled over Whitney and grabbed her sister in a hug that let us all know that she wanted what Debbie wanted. Whitney extracted herself and scooted over by Rose. Pretty soon they quit kissing and Dolly rolled back to look at Dani.

“We never meant to gang up on you, Danielle. But I know now that Debbie and I shared something that you didn’t. And now we’re jealous of what you have, too. I don’t want you to be afraid of me. I’m happy for you, because you have love like I have love. I just wanted you to love us like that,” Dolly said. “If you can’t love us like that, can you at least still love us like sisters? Please?”

Dani crawled over me and hugged her sisters as I slid next to Rose.

“We used to do all kinds of things,” Dani said. “We cooked and played volleyball. Sure, we still do that. But when we got to college, everything was suddenly about sex. We had to go find a boy. And when we didn’t find one, then we went home and had sex with each other. And don’t get me wrong. I still like having sex with you and we can do that tonight, right here in this bed. But at the end of the night, I’m not going to go prowl around the boys’ dormitory hunting for a stiffy. The only boy I’m interested in is right here waiting for me to cuddle up with him.”

“Will you share?” Debbie asked. Dani stopped to consider for a second before she answered.

“I don’t think so,” she said at last. “Of course, Brian doesn’t belong to me and he can decide whatever he wants to. But making love to Brian wouldn’t be special to you. And that wouldn’t be right. I’ll make love to Brian one day. Well, we already have gotten each other off. But sometime, we’ll have sex. And even though we probably won’t even realize it’s happening until it’s happening, it will still be special. It will always be special.” Dani kissed each of her sisters and crawled back to sit in my lap.

“How about birthday cake?” Rose asked. “You have an awful lot of friends here who want to give you good wishes. A lot of friends, ladies.”

3
A Happy Birthday

FRIDAY NIGHT, we celebrated Pam’s birthday in the studio. Her parents and little brother, Brett, came down for the weekend. Her brother wasn’t really that little. He was sixteen and I could understand why he’d be interested if Pam was showing off too much skin around home. I’d probably have gotten out a hose, like her mother had last year. The thing was, I didn’t think Pam was really full-grown yet. She had that kind of cute, coltish look that I associated with Cassie before she’d really blossomed. Bonnie, her mom, was practical. Her dad, Jack, was obviously having trouble letting go of his baby. He insisted on an inspection of the dormitories and his daughter’s living arrangements. Then he wanted a tour of the whole ranch. Since they didn’t get in until dinner time, we persuaded him to wait for the rest of the tour until Saturday. Brett stayed in the guys’ dorm and was very enthusiastic.

“Can I live here when I come to college?” he asked his sister. “This place is just so cool!”

“This place is a lot of work, young man,” Bonnie broke in before Pam could answer. “And if you don’t get your grades up this year, you’ll be digging sewers and not going to college.” He huffed a little, but a glance from his father shut him up. I could just see adding another generation to the clan! This summer, there were nine guys in the dorm on one side, and thirteen women on the other. I guessed that would pretty much continue when school started because only Geoff, Kevin, and Robyn would be leaving.

Jack and Bonnie were guests of Theresa and Larry, who had plenty of room in the lower part of the barn duplex. They often hosted parents now that there was no guest room in the studio. It kind of gave the appearance that we had some responsible adults around. As ranch managers, Larry coordinated everything about the grounds now and Theresa coordinated everything about the people. She acted as our gracious hostess for birthday parties and big meals. If there were guests on the ranch who weren’t a part of the production, then Theresa was with them. She was so cute! And in just a week, little Eleanor would be a year old. I was already beginning to feel like time was flying. My son was nine months old. He was crawling as fast as his little knees would let him—which wasn’t very fast. He was still so chubby from drinking all that fresh mommy milk that his knees barely reached the floor around his tummy.

After the Irvings and the Owenses had retired, I pulled Pam aside and gave her the little card I carried.

“Happy birthday, PJ,” I said. “I remembered what you asked for and… well, I’m here to grant your wish.” Her eyes popped open and after verifying that her parents had left the studio and her brother had gone to the dormitory, she jumped on me and kissed me into instant arousal.

“Hey there, hot pants,” Rose said, slapping her on the butt. “You’d better read the card before you get too carried away.” Pam put her feet back on the ground and I reluctantly let go of her. She was blushing and tore open the card.

“This certificate entitles you to a one-week residency in the Fuego Master Suite, to be coordinated with the casa to confirm availability. Fresh towels and linens will be provided as will breakfast in bed on your first morning. Anything else you wish to have in the room you will need to provide yourself,” she read. “You mean it doesn’t come equipped with a lover?” she asked. “I’m going to have so much work to do on campus this fall!” We all laughed and I got one more very inviting kiss before we all headed to our own beds.

The next week was exhausting, taping three episodes per day of Young Cooking. Jackie and Patti had worked out an arrangement where I taped one show with Jackie’s audience and two with Patti’s. The whole process of having two different producers had been a little confusing, but the result was that we were able to catch up all of Patti’s production, leaving only Jackie’s for the extended two days the next week. Patti was a little sad that she wasn’t going to get the extended bonus for the last two days of shooting, but understood that we wouldn’t have to pay extra for cameramen, as well. Lonnie and Hannah kept secret the fact that we paid out bonuses to everyone who worked on the show at the end of camp.

I was thankful that Friday night I had Courtney to help me with celebrating Jennifer’s twenty-first birthday. Tim wasn’t able to be there to make cocktails for Jen’s first legal drink. He was down in Scottsburg getting settled into his new apartment and working with the football team. Sora was going down in the morning to ‘help’ him and attend the coaches’ welcome dinner.

Jennifer had a couple drinks pretty quickly. I was worried that she was going to overdo it. She’d been on pins and needles all day. I’d given her a ruby necklace as a birthday present. It was an exact match for the one I gave Courtney on her birthday.

But Jennifer was less interested in drinking than in sex.

She practically dragged Courtney and me up the stairs to my room as soon as it didn’t seem inhospitable. Mom, Dad, and Anna would be coming down to celebrate tomorrow. We were going to have to air out the master bedroom before they got there. I’d never smelled Jennifer so aroused and excited. When we were in the room, Jennifer closed and locked the door behind us. I was glad Dani planned to spend the night with her sisters. Jennifer leaned against the door.

“Is there something bothering you, precious?” I asked. Courtney and I stood at the foot of the bed watching her. Jen took a deep breath.

“Brian, I give you explicit permission to put your cock in my bottom tonight,” she said in a rush. “Courtney, please help me. Please, get me ready.” I glanced over at Courtney and her mouth was hanging open the same as mine.

“Jenny baby, are you sure?” Courtney squeaked.

“I want to know what you feel,” Jen said. “I might not like it and probably will never do it again, but I just want to know how loved you feel when Brian takes you there. I like it when you play with me there, but… Oh, God! It’s going to hurt because I can’t relax my bottom. It’s worse than getting spanked.” I’m not positive, but I think that even as she said that, Jen came. Court rushed to her and Jennifer sagged against her.

“Come to bed, honey. Nothing will get forced up your bottom that you aren’t ready for. Before you ever get Brian’s cock near it, you’re going to have my tongue. I love you, baby. I’m going to make this the best ever.”

She did.

We made love for nearly an hour. Courtney and I just focused on pleasuring Jennifer with our fingers and our tongues. I slid into her pussy with my cock and rocked her to another orgasm. All the time, we kept playing with her bottom. Each time we touched her little brown hole with a tongue or finger, Jennifer would tense and hold her breath. We’d focus on some other part and she would relax and have another orgasm. Eventually, she quit noticing that we were touching her asshole, even pushing a finger into her a little.

Courtney and I nodded to each other and I sheathed myself. By this time, I was so hard that it hurt. We attacked Jennifer’s clit together and then rolled her legs back as I pushed into her pussy. Courtney kissed Jen and played with her nipples as I stroked in and out, touching her clit as much as I could. When Jen was nearly at her peak again, I pulled back. Courtney guided me to Jennifer’s star and I pushed in slowly but firmly. Her bottom opened up for me and I kept pushing as Jen began climaxing over and over.

“Oh! Ohmygod! You’re in my bottom. You’re fucking my bottom! It hurts! Don’t stop! I’m a nasty, naughty Girl Scout. You’re fucking my nasty bottom! Spank me. I’m so naughty. Spank my dirty Girl Scout bottom!”

Jen had a wild look in her eyes, throwing her head back and forth as she climaxed again. I’d never heard her talk so dirty. She was a little wild, but this was way over the top. Well, she asked for it. I reached back and swatted her bottom hard as I drove my cock in to its full depth.

Jen screamed. She convulsed so hard that the spasm in her rectum choked off my first spurt of come and sent it rocketing back up my own tubes. Oh damn! My prostate didn’t process the message and fired again. The second shot met no resistance at all as Jen went limp and passed out. There were four more spasms in my cock as I drained my balls. Everything was so tender I couldn’t move, even to pull out of her. I was gasping for breath. Courtney was holding both Jen and me in her arms and was gasping just as much as me. I finally managed to withdraw, not without some few jerks as ripples ran through my softening cock. I rolled to the side. Jennifer started snoring. It was obvious she wasn’t waking up any time soon.

“Wow!” Courtney and I said at the same time. We started laughing. Courtney rolled out of bed and ran to get a washcloth to clean me up.

“When you’re capable again, I’d like a little of that, too,” she said as she bathed me. We moved Jennifer over slightly and then Court lay down half on top of me. “A little rough for my tastes, but was that ever intense!”

“I’ve never heard her like that,” I breathed.

“She’s been building up to this for weeks. I couldn’t figure out what she was heading toward. Now we know. I love you, Brian. You always give us just what we need.”

“Even if it kills me,” I said. We laughed and then kissed some more.

“So, are you going to plunder every bottom in the casa?” Courtney giggled. “You got my anal cherry before my pussy.”

“It was my first as well,” I reminded her.

“Then there’s been Brenda. She bragged about it for weeks. Then Elaine. We could all tell by the way she was walking when you brought her home. Then Cassie…”

“I’ve never actually been in Cassie’s bottom. Not all the way,” I defended.

“Just far enough to shoot your stuff up inside. The rest is coming soon, though, I have to admit that sensation is pretty awesome and completely different than having you all the way in. And now Jennifer. Who would have thought that?”

“Just so you know, I’m not planning to make a career of butt-fucking. Every one of those has been very special.” My cock, under Courtney’s patient ministry, was hardening. I’d been in her bottom more frequently than all the others added together. Now, though, she slotted me into her wet pussy and we moved together slowly.

“I love you so much, Brian. I love making love to you any way we do it. I love being held in your arms. I love holding our bodies close together. I love living together and loving together.”

“You’re telling me something, my courtesan. Are you all right?”

“Oh, yes. But things are going to be difficult this fall. We’re all taking heavy loads. Dr. Hanratty has asked me to be his student assistant in the new C Plus Plus class. I’d be thrilled if it weren’t for the fact that he’s asked Wayne Enders to assist him in the UNIX class. I need that class for my degree. My nemesis,” she sighed as she continued small thrusts with her hips.

“He never found out about your ruse last year, did he? In the Easter Egg hunt?”

“Not for sure, but he suspects. He also suspects I know it was him who changed all the grades the spring before. He scares me,” she said.

“I don’t like the fact that you are so often alone near him,” I said. “He even creeps me out.”

“I think Ross is going to take computer classes this fall. I’ll try to coordinate my schedule with him or you. And Lamar is just in the next building. I’ll talk to him, too. It seems like every time I turn around, the creep is watching me from somewhere,” Courtney sighed. “Love me, Brian. Make these thoughts go away.”

4
A Little Ride

BECAUSE LABOR DAY wasn’t until the seventh this year, we had two full weeks of school before the holiday. That also meant that we had only three days off after my two days of extra shooting before classes started.

I decided that I needed to survey the realm from an extra five feet up. I headed to the pasture Saturday morning to saddle Jingo.

“Morning, Brian,” Larry said when I got to the pasture.

“Hey, Larry. Riding lessons this morning?” I asked. Jingo trotted up to me before I even whistled and nuzzled my arm looking for carrots.

“Yes. The younger kids have been all over the horses since they got here. Every one of them has been taking part in caring for them, learning to groom them, and learning to ride,” Larry said. “We need more horses.”

“Holy shit! Are you serious? Do we have enough pasture and hay production for more horses? We scraped and ground an entire cutting this month. Are we even going to have enough to feed the guys we’ve got?” Damn! There I go again. I really needed to get control of myself. Larry wouldn’t suggest more horses if we couldn’t support them.

“Yes. If you want. Let me saddle Diablo and we’ll go for a ride. I know you want to get out and look at the whole ranch. You’ve been pretty busy this summer.”

“No kidding. I’d love to have you ride with me. I’ve got a ton of questions.”

“I’ll bet you do. And I’ve got a few myself,” Larry asked.

“Hey, you dudes!” Theresa yelled at us. “Don’t you ride off without me.” I turned to look at her. Damn! She sure got her shape back after Eleanor was born. Of course, Doreen snapped back into shape pretty quickly, too. She was a little softer in the tummy than she used to be, but she looked great. I resolved to visit the mother of my child later that day.

“Who’s the hot lady, Larry?” I asked.

“That’s no lady. That’s my wife.” We laughed as Theresa scowled at us. I couldn’t let it go.

“You got a new one? What happened to the nice matronly mother of your child? I can’t believe you went out and got a trophy wife already!” Theresa slugged me in the arm—pretty firmly.

“Just watch it you! I’ll cut off your supply of vitamins and butt cream,” she laughed.

“Oh, please don’t do that! Where’s Ellie?”

“La Madrina has her. Along with your son. She and Samantha and the triplets are playing school.”

“She’s only a year old!” I said. “And Matthew is only nine months.”

“And he will not let his cousin get ahead of him. I’ve never seen a little one progress so quickly. Have you seen them sign to each other?”

“Yes. Which reminds me that I need to enroll in that sign language course this fall. I’m no further along than they are,” I said. We’d all decided to learn sign language and teach it to the kids. Renee and Cassie had taken the lead. Renee was actually collecting data for her Masters’ thesis. I could finger spell and say “I love you.” That’s about it. We finished saddling our horses and headed out toward the woods.

Instead of entering the shelter of the trees, though, Larry turned and led us to the gate into the expansion pasture.

“By monitoring them closely, we were able to keep damage to the second pasture to a minimum during the wet spell. It’s on higher ground and drains a little better than the front pasture. We’ll have to till and seed the front pasture when it’s a little drier. They really tore it up,” Larry said.

“You actually had to cut this one?” I said, looking at how even the grass was all around.

“Carl and George came out and baled yesterday. Even with summer grazing, we put up fifty bales. The past two weeks of dry weather really let us get out and get some work done. By late September I expect to get another full cutting done on the production field. We’ll still be selling overage in November.”

“That’s amazing. So, we could support some more horses,” I said. We rode up toward the front of the property and toured the new development. Ron and his crew had laid out the roads and sewer and were going to try to have them in before winter weather got too bad. There was a much longer construction season down here than in Mishawaka. Three foundations were scheduled to be poured so NMH could deliver three houses before Christmas. Marshall and Martha were very excited that they might be in their new home by the holiday. It was the first one slated for delivery.

“It’s… Brian, we need to tell you something that will be hard,” Theresa said. “Most of your horses are rescues. We sold them to you. I know you chose the ones you wanted, but… They are getting old.”

“That’s not a problem,” I said. “Silk is getting pretty old, too. She must be…”

“Thirty-two, Brian,” Larry said softly. “Jingo is thirty years old. Jubal and Timber are only twenty-three. The rest of the horses, except Rika, are between them. Rika is practically a filly by comparison. She’s only sixteen.”

“Are you… are you saying we shouldn’t be riding them any longer?” I asked. I reached down and petted Jingo’s neck. He was my buddy. Dad brought him home for me just… Shit! Five years ago.

“No,” Theresa said. “It’s not like that. But we need to take it easy on them. As long as Jingo wants to get out and go, then by all means ride him. You are the only one who does. Just like Hannah is the only one who ever gets on Silk. Well, except the babies.”

“Well, Maddie isn’t here that often.”

“No, but Ellie has already been on her as we walked her around the corral. And Hannah took Matthew in the Snugli. These old horses will love teaching our children to ride. But they aren’t ready to race the barrels anymore. And we shouldn’t take them out for miles and miles, even though that doesn’t happen as often here on the ranch as it did at Starbridge,” Theresa said.

“On the other hand, with thirty or forty people wanting to ride, all the horses get a workout—especially on weekends,” Larry said. We picked our way across the field toward Marshall and Martha’s house while I thought over what they said. I kept thinking I was growing up and getting old because I was almost twenty-one. Well, Silk had been a mature horse when I was four and Dad put me on her for the first time. Rika was only a spirited three-year-old when Betts got her dream horse. And Theresa and Larry were telling me they were old. They’d die. Sure, some horses live as long as forty, but it’s not that common. Especially for horses who have been working horses all their lives. I reached down and petted Jingo again and tried not to let my tears escape.

“Looks like Marshall and Martha have company,” I said. “We’d better not disturb them.”

“They’d shoot us on sight the next time if we didn’t stop and say hi,” Theresa said. We dismounted and were barely on the ground when Martha came out the door to welcome us.

“I just love it when you folks ride up on your big horses!” Martha said. “I feel like I’m in a Gunsmoke movie. Come in and have a cuppa with us. Del is here, too. He’ll want to meet you.”

We tromped into the house, all making sure we used the boot scraper next to the porch before we came up. Then we looked at our boots and all kicked them off outside the front door.

“If it isn’t the landlord,” Marshall laughed looking at me. “Brian, come meet Del Swanson. He was one of my son’s best friends.” I reached out to shake hands with the guy who I estimated was about the same age as my parents—maybe in his mid-forties. He had a big bushy beard and long hair. He had a high forehead, but his hair was still dark.

“This is my old lady, Maribelle,” he said, pulling a woman toward me. Holy shit! Sandy needed to meet these people. They were genuine hippies! She had long straight brown hair and wore a peasant blouse and a grannie skirt. She was very obviously braless. The fabric of her blouse was not heavy enough nor opaque enough to hide either the color or the definite points of her nipples.

“Very happy to meet you both, Mr. and Mrs. Swanson,” I said.

“Could you teach my kid some manners?” Maribelle said. “And my husband? Please, call me Maribelle.”

“And I’m Del, Brian. Marshall has been telling me all kinds of things about your ranch. You took over the old Wilkerson place,” Del said. Martha set cups of coffee in front of each of us and we settled in for a chat. I nodded to Del. “Too bad Rochelle turned into such a stick in the mud. Damn! We used to have fun.”

“You kids were all crazy,” Marshall said. “Max would hardly get home from school before he had a horse saddled to meet you two and Rochelle and her brother David. Didn’t your brother ride, too, Maribelle?”

“Yes, but he was five years younger, so most of the time it was the big kids trying to get away from him.”

“Same as it was with me and Junior,” Del said. “He was always trying to lose me tagging along. Didn’t succeed until he went to Nam. Damn it!”

“Del’s brother didn’t come back from that awful war,” Martha explained to us.

“It crushed Mom and Dad. Especially when I acted out as a drugged-up hippie protester. We ran off to a commune in California and spent six years hiding from cops, rangers, FBI agents, and military informers,” Del said. “After January of ’73, they quit looking for us. Then in September of ’74, Ford offered us all conditional amnesty. I took it. I was tired of hiding out.”

“What was the condition?” I asked.

“Two years public service. I’d met a Forest Ranger named Dick Raybould up near where we were squatted near Guatay. He was a decent guy and stopped by when he was on patrol to make sure we were keeping our place clean and not destroying anything. He was there that morning when he got a call on his CB that some power lines were down and had started a fire. It was being whipped up by the Santa Ana winds and was spreading fast. All rangers were being called in for fire suppression. He jumped in his jeep and looked straight at me. ‘You coming?’ he said. It was like he knew something. I jumped in the jeep and we took off just like that. I was on a fire line for two months.”

“He never even said goodbye,” Maribelle said. “For two months I sat up in that commune with our four-year-old wondering if I was ever going to see him again. The bastard.”

“Well, it got me interested in forestry,” Del continued, patting Maribelle on her thigh. She grabbed hold of his hand like she never wanted to let go. “When Ford offered amnesty, I took it and put in for service with the Forest Service. I didn’t have a degree in forestry, but Dick became my mentor and I finally did get a degree. We spent a lot of lonely time up in a fire tower,” he laughed.

“Are you still a Ranger?” I asked. His story was pretty cool in my mind. He looked at his wife and put his arm around her.

“Maribelle has been fighting some cancer and we decided we needed to come home. Treatment is going well, though. Look! She still has her hair,” Del laughed. She rolled her eyes.

“For Pete’s sake, Del. They aren’t treating me with radiation,” she said. “They just went in and cut the shit out and said I’m fine now. It wasn’t that bad. We can go back to the woods if you want to.” Del took her hand and brought it to his lips.

“Honey, you’re the only thing in this world I love more than the forest. I think we’ll stay here where you can be checked on regularly. The job over in Brown County is going to do us fine.” He leaned over and kissed her forehead. “I love you, old lady.” There was an awkward silence for a minute as they looked at each other and we looked anywhere else.

“Well, I was telling Del and Maribelle that our new home was going to be finished by the holiday and you’d be looking for a renter for this old place. Seems the two of them like the idea,” Marshall said.

“I hadn’t even thought that far ahead. You sound like our kind of people,” I said. “You know we are attempting to create a community out here with the intention of incorporating eventually. Would you be in favor of that?”

“Well, if there were stipulations protecting forest and farmland, then yes,” Del said. “In fact, I’d agree to having our quarter annexed into the community.”

“Your quarter?” I said.

“Del and Maribelle own the quarter section, 160 acres, directly behind our place. You’ve been riding through their woods on a regular basis,” Marshall said. “That means that we’d probably have near enough votes to include the entire section plus a little in the community.”

“Well, we’ve been having some difficulty with the folks in the development in the southeast corner. There’s twenty houses on that property and only about half have expressed an interest in joining the community,” I said. The vote was slated for the spring primary and we were still short the required supermajority, even with the division of the original ranch and the new village we were creating. There were specific rules regarding who could vote on this kind of issue. Some people in the clan weren’t eligible to vote.

“I’ll help get them on our side,” Maribelle said. “My dad made it possible for a lot of those people to have their little ranch houses and horse acres. And he still owns three-quarters of that corner. I’ll tell him supporting the community is a requirement to get me to move back. Or to move out.”

We talked so long that Martha finally convinced us all to stay for lunch. She had a big steamy casserole in the oven and somehow I didn’t think our meeting with the Swansons was a complete accident. In fact, I was pretty sure Larry and Theresa were in on it.

By the end, I’d agreed to rent Marshall and Martha’s place to them after the new home was finished. They were eager to get it done as they were currently staying with Maribelle’s parents and it was driving them both crazy. We were trying to figure out how we could best integrate the southeast development with the new village and the ranch. It worried me a little.

5
Additions

LARRY, THERESA, AND I continued our ride, cutting back through the woods and crossing over onto Del and Maribelle’s property. We’d only ever ridden on the main trail through this property because it was so overgrown.

“You set all that meeting up, didn’t you,” I accused when we were out of earshot. Larry laughed.

“Well, I met Del and Maribelle a couple weeks ago. I held them off until after you were done taping your summer shows. One of the things he wants to do is start managing his own forest here. On the four properties, we have nearly 300 acres of woodlot. The group that owns the property on the other side of us clear-cut the woods there as soon as they bought the place. Del says the understory through the whole 300 acres is a fire hazard and needs to be thinned out. He’s thinking that goats may be needed, but there is a lot of downed firewood back here, too,” Larry said.

“It will take more than carting firewood, though,” Theresa said. “The slash that is left over will have to be removed. It used to be that they’d just haul that stuff into a field and burn it. But we’re looking at getting a wood chipper and turning it into bedding for animals.”

“That’s one thing you need to understand about Del and Maribelle,” Larry said. “When they move into Marshall’s place, they’ll be keeping animals. And Maribelle is a fanatic gardener and can’t wait to add to the ranch gardens. They were pretty much self-sufficient when they lived in the mountains.”

“What happened to the house? I assume they lived here, didn’t they?” I said.

“Del says his dad let the place get run down after Junior died. Apparently, it was pretty much a junk yard. When his folks passed away, the County condemned the buildings and had them torn down. Of course, that was when it looked like the land would go for back taxes. Del found out about it and mortgaged pretty much everything they owned to save the property. He had to pay for the demolition, too,” Theresa said. “They’re good people, Brian. We’d be doing ourselves a favor to help them get reestablished here.”

I had so much to do to get the ranch and the community pulled together. Even as I headed to my first classes on Monday, I was caught up in thinking about the future. Maybe grad school wasn’t such a good idea for me. The clan needed me. Especially if we were going to try to pull twenty more families into our community who were unrelated and had no history with us. That scared me, frankly.

We were all buzzing Monday night with new work from our classes. It was fun to have the casa gather together at dinner and share the excitement. Elaine, Nikki, Liz, and Hannah were taking the rest of August off before they started looking at their next season. Nikki and Liz planned to take a week on their motorcycles and go to the Great Smoky Mountains. We had enough Chick Chat taped for the coming season and Elaine’s distribution had increased. Her show would be shown five days a week in most markets. Hannah was maintaining tighter control over the shipping schedules and contracts this year so we didn’t get caught by stations just running the shows before their release dates.

Sarah had started grad school at IU, so she joined us as a Hoosier. There was a field of anthropology that dealt with public opinion and she was very excited that it would even be possible to help with the television shows. Apparently, some of the big networks and survey companies used anthropologists to determine everything from the ratings of our shows to who was ahead in the presidential race. She was working on a research team that would chart how demographics played a role in the election this fall.

Five of us were officially seniors, headed for graduation in the spring. Well, make that seven. Even though they were sleeping in the dorm, Dolly and Debbie were spending most of their evenings with the casa now. The three girls had gone home to Louisville after I finished taping on Tuesday to visit their parents. Sunday, they’d informed us that their parents wanted to visit the ranch this fall. Maybe over Labor Day.

After dinner was cleaned up and we all kissed the cooks, led by Elaine for today’s meal, we settled into the family room for study time. It was really great that we all studied together. Of course, the family room wasn’t the only place we studied. Courtney and three others were already in the computer/study room. Sam curled up in my lap for a while in the big chair as we each read our textbooks. After about half an hour, she moved and Whitney cuddled up. I glanced over and discovered that everyone in the room seemed to be shifting about every thirty minutes or so. I was surprised to find Dani cuddled up against Josh with Jennifer leaning on his other arm as they studied. Hannah and Elaine were helping Rose explain something to Dolly and Debbie. After half an hour, Sora and Cassie both squeezed into the big chair with me.

Of course, there were little kisses and some fondling that went along with all of us being naked together as we studied, but mostly we stayed focused on our work.

About nine o’clock, Hannah and Dani crawled into my lap with Matthew. That was my cue to stop studying. Dani held the book while I read to Matthew, and Hannah encouraged him to “Pat the Bunny.” It’s funny how reading time with the baby sort of evolved into a whole family affair. By the time I’d finished telling the story of “Good Dog Carl” and Matthew tried to eat the book, everyone was sitting around us, textbooks laid aside.

“Now it’s time for baby to go back to Mommy and get all milky and go to sleep,” Hannah said as she took Matthew from my arms. “Dor wants special time with you tomorrow night, if it’s okay, love. She needed to be with her other hearthmates tonight, so don’t even think about coming with me now.” I kissed my love and kissed my baby. Dolly and Debbie joined Hannah to walk over to the dorms. Eventually, we all made our way to bed. I slept in the big room with all my lovers and family as they came to bed between ten and midnight.

It’s going to be a good year.

6
Meet the Parents

BY LABOR DAY WEEKEND, we were all pretty much in the groove of school and ready for a day off and a big celebration. Not only that, but I was looking forward to several visits from parents and dreading one. The triplets were hosting their parents this weekend. I had absolutely no idea what to expect. But first, there was John.

“Are you sure this is okay, Brian?” John asked as we toured the new development. He’d asked the same question every weekend this summer. We walked around the trenches for septic systems and water lines. Flags stuck up where the electric and telephone lines would be buried. There was so much infrastructure that had to be completed before construction could begin.

“You know, John, I have no idea how we got to this point in our relationship. When I first met you, I was scared to death. I just wanted to take your little girl to a party. Now… I truly feel you are like a second father to me,” I said. “I couldn’t be happier that you are moving down here.”

“Well, the feeling is mutual. It might surprise you, but when I met you, I was scared of you, too,” he said thoughtfully. The first three lots that would be developed would include a new home for John and Bea. Marshall and Martha would have the first one. Dinita Kimes was planning to move into the third house. Hers was a little more isolated than the first two and was tucked up against the back of our property. Her lifestyle required a little more privacy and access to what had been termed ‘the nudist ranch.’

“How could I scare you?” I laughed.

“I looked at you and saw the boy that would take my little girl away from me,” he said, shaking his head. “I wanted to chase you away. I wanted to build a wall around our property so you couldn’t get to her. You were a threat to everything I had and everything I believed.”

“I guess we both had to do some growing, didn’t we.”

“Yes. But Brian, when I eventually realized that you and Josh would be my sons and that Mary would be another daughter… That changed everything. Moving here… It’s not that I want to keep my daughter under my wing. It’s that I want to be closer to my children… and my grandchildren.” We walked out to the road and past the front of the ranch. “Do you know how to calculate the value of a cornfield this size in yield and land value?” he asked. “I think I want to buy it if the clan is amenable. That would enable us to extend the perimeter of the community.”

“You can do that? I mean, just buy a farm?” I asked. Wow! We’d maxed out our borrowing power to develop the village infrastructure. Of course, the investment in infrastructure was added into the cost of each unit and there was a moderate tax on the ranch as well since we’d be upgrading our power and water sources. The frame for the new water tower was the major expense. That tank would end up costing us close to two hundred grand. But we couldn’t just sink a dozen wells all over the property and expect that we wouldn’t have conflicts or drain the aquifer. The water tower was not all that high as it was being built on the highest point of the land we had available. Still, the well that would fill it was nearly two hundred feet deep.

“Well, I’ve been thinking that I’m not ready to give up my little hobby. Don’t you think the town of Corazón, Indiana needs an airstrip?” He grinned at me. Well, hell, yeah.

“You know,” I said, “I can’t imagine it at the moment. Maybe if I could get a look at it from the sky I could see what you mean.”

“Son, let’s go flying,” he said.

We went into the little office at the Monroe County Airport and John put in his request. He picked up a little book from the person behind the counter and handed it to me.

“You should start keeping a log of your time in the air,” he said. What? I looked through the little book. It looked almost like the mileage book my dad kept in his car. “Now let’s do the walk around on the aircraft and you can read my checklist for me.”

And that, to my surprise, started my first flying lesson in John’s little plane.

I got so caught up in the flying and talking to John that I almost forgot my purpose in photographing our community. Jennifer had provided the camera and two rolls of color film. When we finished our survey, John gave me instructions on landing and we called in our approach. I watched the runway approach as John told me what was happening. I was surprised when he told me to log two hours in my log book and he signed off on the level of instruction. When we went back into the airport office, he bought a student instruction book and told me that I needed to read it before I went up again.

“So, is there enough room in that field to put in a landing strip?” I asked. “I did look at the markings as we were coming in and BMG has a 3500-foot runway. That’s more than half a mile and it’s just barely half a mile from the road to the tree line in that field,” I said. Of course, I was rattling back information that John had given me as we were flying, but he was pleased that I’d paid attention.

“BMG is a commercial, publicly owned airport. We landed on their short runway. You noticed the intersecting one as we came past it. It’s 6,500 feet long. You flew from there in the University’s plane this spring. I’ve brought the plane we were flying down in less than 1000 feet. I’m not talking about a commercial airport, but a grass strip. We’d have plenty of room for a 1400-foot runway and that would accommodate almost any STOL aircraft,” he said.

“I like the idea. I’ll bet as many of our people would like to learn to fly as want to ride horses,” I said. “The biggest problem I see is that there might be County restrictions on the development of agricultural land for what would be seen as a commercial purpose. We had to answer a lot of questions when we subdivided. We didn’t have as much problem with the ranch because we were maintaining the twenty acres of agricultural land as garden and pasture and the ten acres of woodland. Taking a ten-acre chunk out of the Jacobs’ place was a different matter. We need to have Rex check it out for you.”

“You’re a good man, Brian. Let’s drop your film off to be processed on the way back.”

That was fine with me. I wasn’t sure I wanted to hurry back and meet the triplets’ parents.

I was happy to see my parents were at the house. Moral support! I didn’t see any Kentucky license plates in the parking area.

“Did you take pictures of us while you were flying around?” Jennifer squealed as Courtney bounced beside her. “We waved.”

“Um… I don’t know. I wasn’t paying attention to which people were in the picture.”

“Just like I said,” Courtney jumped in. “He was only interested in taking pictures of Lexi and Samantha sunbathing nude on the deck.”

“They weren’t!” I said. I was horrified. Had John seen them? Everyone laughed.

“Of course they weren’t, silly,” Rose said, giving me a kiss. “We were all waving, though.”

“Hi, Mom, Dad, Anna. Don’t mind me. I’m just uh… surrounded by crazy.”

“Well, you won’t mind knowing, then, that we’re moving down here, too,” Anna said. I moaned.

“Just not yet,” Dad added. “We are reserving one of the lots, though, and have commissioned Rhiannon to design us a retirement home.”

“But you’re too young to retire,” I said.

“That’s for sure,” Dad agreed. “But it’s an investment for the future. If we don’t get in on the ground floor, the prices will be too high for us to afford when we retire. Isn’t that what the broker said, honey?” Mom nodded vigorously.

“Besides, we need a place to stay when we come down to visit our grandchildren,” Mom said. “Where are you hiding my grandson?”

“Say ‘I’m right here, Grandma’,” Hannah said as she bounced Matthew around and handed him off to Mom.

“And where’s his mommy?” Anna asked. “We want to hug her, too.” She was already hugging Hannah and Hannah was returning the gesture with vigor.

“She just drifted off to sleep after she fed Matthew,” Hannah said. “He sucks the energy right out her boobs. She always naps after he eats.”

“And the baby doesn’t sleep?”

“Sometimes. He was just too excited to see his grandmas.”

A very nervous Dani slipped her hand in mine. I turned and kissed her chin. It was easier to reach than her nose.

“I think they’re here,” she whispered. It must have been twin sense, or triplet sense. About five seconds later we heard voices on the deck and the door opened.

“We can’t just barge in the back door,” a woman said. “What will they think of us?”

“If you went to the front door you’d have to stand there for an hour while they try to find the key to open it. Everyone uses this door, Mam,” Debbie said.

“Where’s my baby girl?” a big voice said as they came through the door.

“Pap!” Dani yelled as she rushed to him and hugged him. Wow! He was a mountain. He even dwarfed the triplets. But his wife! She was no taller than Rose. You could sure see where the girls got their good looks. “Come with us. We’ll meet everyone in the family room.”

“None of the family greets us at the door?” he boomed.

“I greeted you at the door!” Dani protested. “I’m family. And besides, what do you think this is behind me?” In fact, Rose and I were right behind Danielle since she’d dragged me halfway to the door when she ran to her father. Hannah, Samantha, Whitney, Jennifer, and Courtney were right behind us. Then there was Nikki, Liz, Elaine, Sarah, Sora, Cassie, Mary, and Angela. Of course, my parents, Josh, Tim, and the Clintons were standing right behind them. Doreen came downstairs and took Matthew from Mom.

“Lordy! They’ve got a big clan!” Mr. Wood said. “Now who is the boy who wants to marry my daughters?” What?

“Ida swan!” Mrs. Wood said. “I can’t take you anywhere, Bart. Now hush and let the girls introduce us. They’ll think we were raised hillbillies.”

“I was,” he answered.

“Mother! Father! Be quiet and let Danielle introduce you to her family,” Dolly commanded.

“Brian and Rose,” Dani squeaked. “If you haven’t figured it out yet, these are my father and mother, Bart and Sylvia Wood. Mother and Father,” she said speaking a little more distinctly—perhaps to emphasize that she was not as backwoodsy as her parents. “Please let me introduce you to my Patrón and love of my life, Brian Frost, and to my Matrón, Rose Davis. If you can be civil to them, I’ll introduce you to the rest of my casa.” Dani stepped to my side and put her arm protectively around my waist.

“I’m so pleased to meet you, Patrón. Matrón,” Mrs. Woods said. She suddenly had very little accent. “Please forgive the lumbering oaf behind me. If his family hadn’t raised chickens, I’m sure he’d never have learned to walk.” She could barely contain her smile as she reached for Rose’s and my hands. The rest of the casa held it together for almost five seconds before they all burst out laughing.

“Please, Mrs. Wood, it’s Brian and Rose. Welcome to our home,” I said.

“It will be much easier to introduce you all if we actually do retreat to the family room,” Rose added.

“I never did get used to being Mrs. Wood,” she said. “Please call me Sylvia, or join the family and call us Mam and Pap.”

“I’m the Pap part of that,” the big man said. “I’ve heard nothing from my daughters for nine months now that didn’t sing the praises of Brian Frost. I somehow expected you to be bigger than me,” he said, holding out his meaty paw for me to shake. If he wanted to crush me, it would have been easy, but it was just a good firm handshake.

“Welcome to Casa del Fuego,” I said. “Please come in and let us introduce the rest of the family.” I didn’t distinguish people by saying cónyuge or compañera. We were all wearing our house gis. Mom, Dad, Anna, John, and Bea, even had white gis with gray belts. Doreen edged up to me and handed me my son. I about choked when I saw that he was wearing a little white gi with a blue belt. So cute!

It took a while to get everyone introduced and Elaine had once again organized afternoon snacks, iced tea, and lemonade. I relinquished the big chair to Bart.

“Did they tell you I was coming?” he said. “This is the first time I’ve ever been invited into a home that actually had a chair big enough for me.”

“That’s Brian’s chair,” Dani said. “But there are usually one or two other of us in it with him.”

“Now about your intentions, young man,” Bart said. Dani gasped and buried her face against my shoulder. “I understand you and Danielle have something special going on, but I have a fine still that I’ll give you…”

“Pappy! Not the still!” Dolly and Debbie both said at once.

“You do love me!” Dani said, straightening up. “You’d give Brian your still instead of letting him have me?”

“Um… Well… Uh… I was actually going to offer him the still if he’d take all three of you.”

It was a good thing we’d tested that chair out with a lot of people. All three girls attacked their father and wrestled with him in the chair. I was laughing when Sylvia came and planted herself in my lap.

“I know a good thing when I see it,” she said loudly. The four wrestlers looked over at us and saw Sylvia on me. The girls jumped up immediately and Bart started to struggle forward. I stood, carrying Sylvia with me and went to Bart before he could get out of the chair.

“Excuse me, sir,” I said. “I think you dropped this.” I set Sylvia in his lap and the two started laughing. These folks did like to have a good time. I turned and scooped Dani up in my arms and returned to my seat with her on my lap. I planted a kiss on her with considerably more intensity than I planned. Her arms wrapped around my neck and she returned the kiss with enthusiasm.

“Oh, my God!” Debbie yelled. “They never do that!” I pulled away from Dani and looked into her eyes. That girl can smile with her whole body. We both blushed.

“So you have a still,” I said conversationally as I caught my breath. “Is it back in the hills? Louisville seems a little crowded to be safe from the revenuers.” Bart laughed.

“Well, you are right about that. It’s down in Bardstown. In fact, I brought a bottle with me and thought we could all share a snort if you’d like.” He reached down beside him and brought out a paper bag. He pulled out a very professionally labeled bottle. Dolly brought me the bottle. I looked at it.

“This doesn’t really look like moonshine,” I said. Not that I’d know moonshine, but I’d heard it usually came in a Mason jar.

“Who said anything about moonshine?” Bart asked, surprised. “That is the finest, smoothest, twenty-one-year-old Kentucky bourbon that’s ever been distilled.”

“But that’s not a still. That’s a distillery,” I said. I was passing the bottle around. Dad whistled.

“Indeed. One of the best of Bardstown. I put one barrel aside when these three were born. Warned everyone that they were not to touch it. Sealed it with red wax. A month ago, I cracked that old oak barrel and siphoned off 201 bottles of ‘Triple Crown Aged Kentucky Bourbon’ in honor of the twenty-first birthday of my daughters.”

“Wow!”

“Tell me, Mr. Wood,” Mom said. “Do you have other children as well? Did you put away a barrel for each one?”

“Oh! No!” Bart said. “I saw my tiny little wife struggle to expel these three Amazons in half an hour’s time. I went straight out the next morning and got snipped. I’d never put her through that again!”

“The first thing he said when the third came out was, ‘But she’s only got two tits!’ These three have been the joy of our existence,” Sylvia said. I began to breathe easier. I guessed we were all going to get along fine. Dani snuggled tighter.

7
Wedding

WE ELECTED to take a tour of the ranch and the new development as we all got to know each other. I was really thankful that Dad and John were with us as they engaged Bart and gave him some of the background of the ranch. Mom, Anna, and Bea adopted tiny Sylvia. Six-six, 300-pound Bart was a little surprised when he met and had to look up at Lionel and Lamar.

“Well, I guess that brings the average height up around here,” Bart said. “You see those two girls over there? It seems they still need to find men they can look up to. I have a still that I’d offer…” Sugar—a very pregnant Sugar—came up beside Lionel and he bent to kiss her. “Well, maybe that won’t work. I hear polygamy is an in-thing up here, though. I knew a man down near Hazard once who had three wives. Of course, down there you never know how things match up. I think one of them was his sister and one was his daughter. Still, I raised my girls to share.”

“Bart, must you?” Sylvia moaned. I saw Dolly and Debbie whispering and they pushed in front of their father. They both latched onto Lamar’s neck and pulled him down for a sizzling three-way kiss. Bart stepped back a step. The girls turned around.

“Lamar’s our friend, Pap,” Debbie said.

“And he’s going to be a lawyer,” Dolly added. “You should be careful about offering your still as a bride price. He might consider it a verbal contract.”

“Well, I sure stuck my foot in the shit that time,” Bart laughed. We continued the tour. Of course, Sylvia was immediately enamored of the kitchen.

“Oh, the girls made me record every episode of Young Cooking while they were seniors in high school,” Sylvia said. “We love to cook in our family and have a big mouth to feed over there.”

“There was the year they decided to be vegetarians, though,” Bart added. “I like some fried okra as well as the next guy, but even the Catholics get fish on Friday. These girls would fix a vegetarian meal and I’d grill a steak to go with it.”

“It was the first time since I’d known him that his weight fell below 300 pounds and his cholesterol dropped below 180,” Sylvia said.

“Well, I love having them work with me on the show now,” I said. “With these three doing the prep and Mary doing the kitchen management, the shows practically run themselves. I’m thinking of putting them in front of the camera more when we start taping next weekend.”

“I can tell you that all three are happy to be working with you,” Sylvia whispered. “One, especially.” I grinned at her.

The girls had coached us on what to prepare for dinner and we went with the easiest thing we could manage with such a big group. I have never seen so much ham disappear at one meal in my life. And after dinner, we had a sip of the smooth bourbon. We simply didn’t have enough guest rooms on the ranch anymore for everyone who was visiting this week. Malcolm and Regina Evars, Cecile Carver, and Doris Trane were all being housed with Casa del Sol and Casa de los Caballos. Jim and Jill Swift had come for the weekend and Casa de la Tierra was hosting them in the guest room since Casa del Agua no longer had a guest room. Mom, Dad, and Anna were in the master in our house. John and Bea chose a local hotel, but Dinita Kimes was in our only other functioning bedroom. Bart and Sylvia had booked a room at the same hotel as the Clintons, as had Samantha’s parents.

There would be a flood of guests on Sunday—possibly more people than had ever been at the ranch at one time.

It was a big day.

All the clan except Casa del Arco Iris was home. They just couldn’t come back from Pullman for the weekend. They really didn’t have much money to spare. We went to the sports field and did forms at six o’clock before people started arriving. Then we swung into gear. Every kitchen on the ranch was pressed into service. Non-residents were told to bring their own lunch, but we’d be serving dinner. Four ovens had huge turkeys in them by nine o’clock. That was all we could fit in the studio and our house. But the other four kitchens on the ranch were also occupied with casseroles, bread, and vegetables. Martha Jacobs had pies baking in her kitchen next door all morning long. I was happy to see that Maribelle volunteered to help her, but noticed Jennifer and Courtney went to help as well.

By noon, the tribe had begun to arrive. I hoped no one needed to get out before everyone was ready to leave. We parked the cars in the studio parking area in row after row. I was really moved when I saw all the tribe of elders dressed in white gis with gray belts. After they met last night, Leonard had cut yards of material into a gi for Bart. He had to fix suspenders for the pants. Dolly and Debbie wore white gis with gray belts, as well. They technically weren’t part of the clan, but they were definitely part of the tribe.

Of course, the rest of us were resplendent in our gis of red, green, blue, yellow and tan. All the residents of the dorms wore various pastel gis with either the belt of their casa or the white belt of the clan.

Then the guests started to arrive. We parked them all in the new development and Larry drove a tractor with a cart behind it to collect people and drive them to the celebration. He’d gone to the fairgrounds and managed to borrow one of the people moving carts they used out there. The fair was over, so it wasn’t a problem. It was clean and polished so no one had to worry about snagging a dress or getting a suit dirty.

The whole basketball team was there, and even some of the guys from our teams in high school. It was fun to see Jeff and Camellia Lincoln, Birdman, and Troy. When Coach Hancock and his wife showed up I couldn’t get to them, but hoped they’d be staying for dinner. There were 150-200 people gathered when Elaine ran to get me and usher me upstairs. “Rose needs you,” was all she said.

Rose was standing naked in the middle of the big bedroom. Hannah was holding her, but wasn’t latched onto a nipple.

“Fuck me right now, cónyuge!” Rose declared. “I can’t stand it!” Elaine was stripping my gi off.

“Easy, my love,” I said as I approached her. I kissed her and had never felt Rose so needy. She clutched at me and sucked my tongue into her mouth. “What is it, darling?” I asked. “What is it you need?”

“I’ve never done this before. Look at all the people out there! What if they don’t like it? What if it’s not legal? My parents are there! Your parents! Hannah’s parents! My God! He should be doing this!”

She pulled me back on the bed and into her with one stroke. Hannah latched onto a nipple and began to suck. At one time, that was how Hannah got comfort. Today, it was what Rose needed. She gasped and screamed and her pussy clutched me so hard that it drew the come from me. Rose was crying and I felt another calm presence beside me. Dani had stripped her gi off and reached to pull Rose to her. In a few minutes, Rose was calm again. Dani just kept petting her and Rose turned to stroke Dani. Hannah got a warm washcloth and wiped Rose’s face, then cleaned us up as I withdrew.

“Thank you,” Rose whispered. “I’m some example for others. I can’t even hold myself together.”

“Hey, Hannah and I have both needed that before we performed,” Elaine said. “Nothing to settle your nerves like an ear-splitting orgasm.”

“Ohmygod! Do you suppose anyone heard?” Rose gasped. We all started laughing.

“No one farther away than the kitchen,” Dani said. “It’s all family.” Rose groaned.

“I need to get dressed,” she said. “I guess all of us do.”

We started scrambling to reclaim our gis. Rose slid her pants on, but the jacket she put on was nothing—or at least little—like our usual gi. It hung below her knees and was tailored to show her beautiful figure. Even though it was red, like the rest of my cónyuge, it had a satin finish. Instead of being belted, Elaine and Hannah arranged belts from each of the casa, the clan, and the tribe to hang down the front of her robe.

“I sure hope Leonard was right about this and no one expects their cleric’s robes to hide her figure,” Rose laughed. “God! Even my nipples are poking out.”

“Wait until you see Lionel and Sugar,” Dani said. “You won’t be the center of attention.”

“You’ve seen them?”

“Renee called and asked me to stop over. They needed a little help calming the bride and her mother.”

“You are such a blessing to our clan,” Rose said. “Such a calming influence on us.”

“I’m just so boring everyone wants to sleep when they see me,” Dani laughed.

“I’m seriously thinking of sleeping with you myself,” I said as I squeezed her to me. She kissed me lightly on the lips and smiled.

When we were all dressed and looked decent, we headed downstairs. Everyone was gathered in front of the firepit with a blaze roaring. No one noticed us slip out the door onto the deck. All eyes were focused on the barn duplex where Warren had organized a drum corps to lead the procession. This was no snare-drum march. They all had congas strapped to their bodies and danced their way from the duplex to the fire. While they were on their way, Rose and I went to the fire to greet them. Brenda, Doug, Theresa, and Adam stepped up beside us to represent the other casa for the ceremony. Adam wore the rainbow belt of Casa del Arco Iris, though I was told he was merely representing them, not joining the casa.

Behind the drummers came Rich and Susan in pastel yellow robes and bright yellow belts. The parents, Malcolm, Regina, and Doris followed. Malcolm was wiping tears from his eyes. Then came Renee and Lamar. Lionel and Sugar swayed happily back and forth as they danced from the barn while the dorm residents in their pastel gis threw flower petals around them.

When I finally got a good look at Lionel and Sugar, I saw why Dani said Rose would not be noticed. Both sported floral print robes belted with their yellow belts. Leonard made them from an iridescent fabric that shimmered in the light. Both of them had flowers woven into their hair and they cascaded down Sugar’s back.

Shortly they were arranged in front of us. Renee and Susan stood beside Sugar. Lamar and Rich stood beside Lionel. Their parents stood behind them. Around us were all our clan, tribe, and friends. I helped Rose up on the little platform Josh had built for her so most people could see her, except those blocked by Lionel and Lamar. She started to speak, then cleared her throat and spoke louder.

That was a preview of Becoming the Storm. To read the rest purchase the book.

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