by J G Jerome
I retrieve my iPad later in the afternoon. Audrey and Erica are out shopping for something. Rebecca and Josie are settling in to study together at the dining tables. They were out letting Rebecca practice driving while I was playing with the imps. Marissa and Carla are on the couch in the living room. They are talking quietly while leaning against opposite arms of the couch with feet in laps. The play of emotions across their faces indicates we need to give them room, so I sit down next to Josie across from Rebecca.
36
Cramming for the test
Rebecca says, “Aunt Judith is going to start her rejuvenation soon. She needs a legend. She says it’s not as easy as it was in the 1960s. Can we ask Bernadette for help?”
I shrug, “Of course. We will need a current photo.” I open my email on my iPad looking for a message from Judith. There is nothing yet.
Rebecca answers, “She said she’ll send her most youthful one from the sixties.” That’s when I notice Josie and Rebecca are both dressed in an unusual fashion. They both are wearing sweaters, shirts, sweats, skirts, Rebecca has on foot warmers, and Josie has on boots.
I ask, “Um...are you cold? We could turn up the heat.”
Their expressions tell me I caught them in something else.
Josie answers, “Um. We’re studying for the GED.”
“Okay-ay-ay,” I drawl.
Rebecca says, “We’re testing each other.”
Josie slides a piece of paper to me. “Here are the rules,” she says.
This is definitely a serious contest. They have a stack of index cards with questions. It looks like a four inch stack of cards. They will rotate asking questions while the other answers. Neither looks at the answer on the card. The questioning person can challenge the answer before looking at the answer. A wrong answer from either party removes an article of clothing. A challenge winner can put on a previously removed article of clothing. The last one wearing an article of clothing wins.
Josie says, “It's a variant of the strip poker game Marissa taught us.”
I wonder when she taught them that. I almost hate to ask. “What’s the prize?”
They bite their lips and look at each other.
Rebecca says, “The loser gives the winner an orgasm using her mouth. The loser has to forego orgasms until daylight tomorrow morning.”
I’m surprised. Those are very high stakes indeed considering how reticent Josie is about muff munching.
Josie says, “Maybe we should change the prize.” She bites her lip again.
Rebecca says, “How so? I’m gonna win, and you will FINALLY use that talented tongue on me again. You relied on your fingers more than your mouth last night.”
Josie’s face hardens. “As if! And I did nothing but tongue on you. My arms were pinned. You are going down, slut.” She takes a breath. She says dreamily, “I was just thinking I would like to have Will alone in bed for a couple of hours as my prize.” She’s back to combat mode after that. “You will have to watch, be quiet, and not touch yourself while our big man drives me, and me alone, absolutely wild.” She is leaning into Rebecca’s face.
Rebecca’s face takes on an ‘a-ha’ expression. I know she relished our alone time in North Carolina. She leans toward Josie and stares in her eyes like a prizefighter. She kisses her quickly and says, “You’re on. You are going DOWN, strumpet.”
I am in the unenviable position of being the judge on a couple of essay question answers, but both young ladies are doing very well on getting their answers correct. I’m proud of them both.
You would think a four-inch stack of cards would take forever to work through, but my ladies fly through it.
They both do well in math, basic science, early American history and literature. Rebecca does better on reading comprehension - she learns early to ask to see the question. They struggle with contemporary history. Rebecca has an advantage in biology, whereas Josie seems to intuitively understand geometry and physics at the high school level.
One hour later, the ladies have cycled through all of the cards. Both are wearing only t-shirts over bras, no skirts, no shoes. Rebecca shed her sweat pants in favor of keeping the footwarmers, one of which she won back in a challenge. Despite Josie’s claim to not be a good student, it looks to me like she is up by two articles of clothing. Rebecca has no socks. Josie has both socks and her sweatpants.
I shuffle the deck as Marissa and Carla join us. Marissa crawls on my lap, and Carla stands behind me and wraps her arms around us both. I explain the game and where we are in it.
We change the game, so that Marissa and Carla read the questions. They still don’t look at the answers before asking for a challenge. Then they read the answer, and I judge.
Every time Carla reads, Marissa holds the card up, and Carla bends over to put her face next to mine. There is something about her scent that is alluring. Marissa tries to look innocent each time, but I can tell she is working to build my desire for Carla.
Apparently having different readers makes a difference. It may be that having a bigger audience induces nerves, too. Either way Josie rapidly loses both socks and her sweatpants. Rebecca doesn’t do much better - she’s sitting in her bra, panties, and footwarmers having lost her shorts and t-shirt.
Rebecca gets a trigonometry question, that I would have failed. She does too, but Josie challenges and gets a sock back. Rebecca whips her bra off.
Josie murmurs, “Slut.”
Rebecca responds, “Bring it, strumpet.”
The game continues.
In the end, it’s an upset win by Rebecca coming from behind by two articles of clothing. She is wearing only one foot warmer at the end.
Rebecca giggles, “I knew you would get distracted looking at my little titties.” She gets up and dances around, mesmerizing us all with the aforementioned ‘little titties.’ She looks svelte, sexy, and healthy - so much better than the malnourished spectre I met three months ago.
We all stand up and cheer the combatants as Audrey and Erica walk in the door with toys.
Josie grins, “You cheated. I wouldn’t have that kind of distraction in the test.” She gently slaps one bobbing nipple. Rebecca squeals and skips away before Josie turns to me. “Can I take the test? I know I officially took it before, but I would like to take it for real. I want to know that I can do this.”
“Sure,” I tell her. “I’m fairly sure the state of Arizona won’t mind you taking it. It was in New Mexico before.”
Rebecca pulls on her other foot warmer, stands, and extends her hand. “I’m ready for my prize, husband.”
Audrey calls out, “Wait, wait, wait! Come look what we bought!” She’s giddy. She and Erica brought back an electronic drum kit, a Squire short scale bass, and a small Gallien-Krueger kicked-back bass amp. Audrey says, “I learned cello, but I have played bass before. Erica has a kit in Phoenix, so we got some inexpensive instruments. We can be a family band!” We’re all a little stunned. Audrey bites her lip before asking tentatively, “Is that okay?”
Rebecca, holding my hand, says, “Sure. Sounds fun.” She raises a finger into the air. “Now, I get alone time with William. Josie has to watch and not touch herself. You should all watch to ensure she doesn’t. We can talk later.” She starts dragging me toward the bedroom. “Let’s go, husband.”
I scoop her up and carry her off to the bedroom, and she squeals in pleasure. We have a trail of stragglers following as we go.
Erica and Carla plan to stay with us for the week. Monday morning, Carla leads us through a yoga routine. I shower and go to work through the 'passage' in Josie’s closet to work.
I find the email from Judith. She copied Rebecca. There is a link for me and a photo for Rebecca.
I pull up the link and get the code, but instructions are that I need to text the location with latitude and longitude. I look up Bernadette’s address and put the text together. After reviewing the location, date and time in Greenwich Mean Time, and the code, I send it off.
Nex
t, I get on a call with my team, and we do an after action review for the Friday night deployment. I write up my notes, finishing up just before a one-on-one call with my boss, Susan Rey. I’m still surprised when she gets on video, but she’s been doing a lot more of that since our little interlude at the hotel. Her blouse is unbuttoned to the point where I can see the white lace peeking out of the gap. She gives me a wicked grin before she buttons two buttons. At that point, we get to business. We talk through the release and what the next major release looks like. I only have two more releases left on this project, and we should wrap up mid-December. Susan has three options for my next big software project, and wants me to take on a small business process project, too. I agree, and we schedule some meetings for the week I’m in Chicago to meet with business stakeholders.
Rebecca brings lunch. She tells me that despite being on vacation for the week, Carla got a call for an issue this morning right before lunch. She had been hanging out with Rebecca, Josie, Audrey, and Erica at the house helping Rebecca and Josie study for their test. I have to ask if there was another contest. Rebecca tries to look innocent, but she eventually says, “I will unfortunately be sleeping downstairs this evening.”
We chuckle over that. Rebecca adds, “Carla took lunch home and is working from there.”
Rebecca and I have a quickie for lunch, and I swear a solemn oath I won’t tell Josie she cheated. I eat at my desk afterward. Rebecca goes home to study for her test tomorrow.
I finish at 4:30, and hurry home. We all get into gym togs and go to the gym. Carla meets us there. Audrey is at volleyball practice in Phoenix, but the rest of us warm up on cardio machines, and then Marissa takes us through a powerlifting workout. The goon squad hanging out at the free weights grouses a bit at five of us working out together, but we only tie up two stations. Eventually they figure out that we are moving rapidly through our workout and bugger off.
We finish in time for the ladies to join the dance class they wanted to take. I take a couple of rounds on the heavy bag, then hit the pool for laps. I do 200m for warm up, do twenty sprints, and finish with a 400m relaxed swim. I pop out to find a very crowded hot tub. The ladies are all there in very skimpy bikinis, and they have attracted a fair number of boys.
I laugh and wave as I run to empty my bladder. I tuck myself away with a sigh and wash up before heading back out. I grab my towel and water bottle from the bench by my lane, and join my ladies at the hot tub.
One of the big lunks swarming around Carla stands up and barks. “Hey dad, there’s no more room here, so fuck off.”
I chuckle. “Boy, I’m not nearly tired enough for you to keep me from my lady.”
He laughs, “What? You’re dating one of these hot little things?” He turns to look at them and back to me. “Really?” he asks incredulously. “Which one?”
Five female voices respond. “Me!”
All the males are shocked. The bully looks around and repeats himself, “Which one?”
All five raise a hand.
Marissa stands up and launches herself up onto the deck. She punches the guy in his impressive right pec. She says, “And I’m last in the rotation tonight, so you damn well better not make him expend energy kicking your ass. If he does, then I’m going to kick it again when he’s done.”
She wraps her arms around my neck and presses her firm, bikini clad body against mine before devouring my mouth.
I look into her eyes. “You know Marissa. If I don’t loosen up in the hot tub for a few minutes, I’ll probably lock up in the middle of…” I look over her shoulder to the other ladies of our house. “...I’m sorry, loves. I forget who number four is tonight.”
Josie and Erica both raise their hands. Josie says, “No, Erica. You’re number three. I was number five last night.”
Carla says matter-of-factly, “All I know is that I’m first tonight.” Her expression is the perfectly deadpan zombie look she’s had all her life. She crooks a finger at me. “William darling, come hold me. I’m getting a chill from all these cool guys hanging about turning the water tepid.”
The other ladies all call out variants of “No, William. It’s colder here.”
The guys start getting fed up and get out of the water and trail away in disgust. The bully watches unbelievingly as I step down into the pool to kiss my way around the circle of beauties.
He finally gets disgusted and stomps off as I collect a kiss from Rebecca.
Carla murmurs, “Don’t miss any. We must keep up appearances. I chuckle as I pull Erica into a passionate kiss. She’s either a great actress or open to the idea.
Josie is next. She works to ensure she outdoes Erica’s performance. Her generous breasts are barely contained by the skimpy bikini top.
After Josie, I hook Carla’s chin and devour her mouth. She wraps one hand around my neck and cups my package with the other.
Rebecca laughs and says, “I guess I better tell Tori she’s going to miss out on number five.
Carla tugs me to sit next to her, and Marissa sits on my other side. Carla says, “No hurry. I can wait my turn. It’s all very new to me, but I find myself rather swamped by the emotions you all elicit in me.”
I nod. “Carla, I think we need to give you some time to get used to all that. I do appreciate your affection, and I think highly of you. We have all the time in the world to get to know each other and have fun.”
I look across to Erica. “That applies to you even more, Erica. Carla is an old soul. You’re not. We can talk more at home about it.”
She nods quickly, “That makes sense. I gotta tell you, though...that was a nice kiss.” She smiles brightly at me.
“So, I don’t frighten you any longer?” She shakes her head, maintaining that bright smile.
At that point I do stretch in the warm water before sitting back to cuddle with Carla and Marissa. After a while, I move to the other side of Carla and continue to rotate until the spa’s timer runs out. We all get out and head to the locker room. I shower quickly and meet the ladies at the front lounge area.
Lunk is talking and gesticulating next to a Jeep CJ parked in the middle of the center lane of the parking lot. He calls out, “You don’t deserve them, old man.”
I detour and walk over to him and his two buddies. I smile and tell him, “You’re right. I don’t deserve one of them, let alone all of them. I suspect they’ll get tired of my suboptimal self over time, but I’m not dumb enough to chase them off before then. Would you?” I waggle my eyebrows and walk away. They all chuckle and shrug at my logic.
Carla, Marissa, and Josie all brought vehicles. The ladies split up, and we drive home. Rebecca sits next to me, grinning. I tell her, “You looked very enticing in that bikini, baby.”
Her grin gets bigger. “I wanted to be naked with you, but that was the closest I thought I could do without getting arrested for indecency.”
I shake my head. “Definitely not indecent. Hot? You bet! Not indecent at all, baby.”
The rest of the week goes quickly. I have a fairly normal work week with just the normal ‘oh shits’ associated with IT projects. Carla goes to Phoenix Tuesday through Thursday to meet with executives about a combined Equal Opportunity and Sexual Harassment complaint about one of her company’s executives. She gets back Thursday night late, but only grabs some clothes at her condo before coming over to stay the night and taking Friday off. She thinks she will have to go to New York next week with the CEO, COO, and Head of HR - the executive in question is out of that office.
Audrey and Erica study during the day. Audrey gets back from Volleyball practice around 6:00 each night. She and Erica go back Phoenix Tuesday and Thursday for Master Hiromatsu’s class, so they miss our family training sessions with the Jeromes. Audrey and Erica get back by 9:45 after their classes.
Wednesday, Josie and Rebecca pass their GEDs. I take the five ladies to the gym. They go to their dance class, and I swim. No lunks bother us. Audrey joins us for dinner at Farm Provisions afterward to celebr
ate Rebecca’s and Josie's achievements.
We usually play music in the evening. I’m supposed to play a solo show at Lonesome Valley Brewery on November 23rd. Audrey has a volleyball tournament that weekend, but the ladies are planning to sit in the next time I play after Audrey’s season is done. Audrey will be on bass, Erica on drums, Josie on mandolin, and Rebecca on piano. Marissa and Carla plan to sing along. Carla says she isn’t ready to play violin in public yet. She does promise to bring it over and play with us at the house. Regardless, we have a great time playing at home. It will be fun to get them up in front of a crowd.
37
Eve of battle
Friday I wrap up about four o’clock, grab my laptop bag, and head home through the 'passage.'
Rebecca has a bag laid out on the bed with her wardrobe recommendations for the trip. I root through the bag and nod. I give her a kiss of thanks, and Rebecca giggles before running off to drag her bag to the door. I grab my shaving kit and toss it in before I zip it closed. We all meet in the living room, and review the plan for tonight and tomorrow.
Once I’m sure everyone is clear, Marissa, Rebecca, Carla, and I kiss Josie and Erica goodbye before they crawl through the 'passage' to Audrey and Erica’s apartment. Audrey is at volleyball practice, but will meet them at the apartment afterward.
We pile everything into my CRV, and Rebecca drives us to Bernadette’s house. Marissa and Carla sit in the back. Rebecca does a great job driving despite stressing a bit once we hit Phoenix traffic. I navigate, so she doesn’t have to worry about how to get there. We get there quickly and safely.
Luis rushes out to meet us as Rebecca shuts off the vehicle. He seems a little stressed. “Sorry, Lord. I was just parking Ms. Cheung’s vehicle when you pulled in.”
I pull him into a hug and tell him, “Relax, Luis. You don’t need to spoil us.” He man-hugs me nervously and lets me go.
He murmurs, “Mistress is nervous. The house is closed. Any staff with a place to go, are gone. Serena, Michelle, and Cindy are each staying at a patron’s house. Chantelle and Rosalie are hosting a party in a hotel suite at Biltmore for the weekend. Tanu is visiting family in San Francisco. I tried to get Manny to leave, but he wouldn’t leave me here alone. Jack’s coming early tomorrow morning to help with security.”
