by Frank Downey
"It wasn't meaningless. Harmless, maybe-in theory, anyhow-but never meaningless. Why did you want to sleep with me, Jess?"
"Because I thought it would be good."
"Why'd you think that?"
"Sophia's descriptions."
"Is that all?" Jessie just looked at him. "If Sophie was describing all her fantastic sex, but you hated me, would you still have wanted to?"
"No. No I wouldn't."
"Right. Jess, I'm the second person you've ever slept with. You don't sleep around. You held Aaron off for two years."
"True."
He looked at her. "Jess, it's called making love, remember? Now, you didn't get all I have to give. There's no way you could've; your name is not Sophie. There's a huge part of me that is reserved for her. But you got as much as I could give to anyone not named Sophie. And you have to understand one thing, that there is not a single other person in the universe that I would have trusted enough to do that with."
"I think I've just been complimented."
Warren just laughed. "Y'know what, Jess? I can see behind the She-Devil exterior. I always have been able to, from the first day we met. Remember that day?"
"Yeah."
"One of my first impressions of you was that this girl is a whole lot sweeter than she lets on."
"Prep Boy, there you go, ruining my rep again," she said with a smile.
"Uh-huh. But I have to confess that sometimes seeing behind the She-Devil is hard work."
"Yeah."
"So, what are you and Jay going to do?"
"It really turned out to be a nice talk, after all the bad stuff was out on the table. We've made a commitment to open up to one another. Now I have to get over my extreme hatred of appearing vulnerable, that's all."
"Vulnerable to the outside world and vulnerable to your boyfriend are two different things, Jess."
"I know. That's why we ended up on the couch last night. We never made love. The last person I made love with was you, and that's an obstacle right now, because I do believe we're both scared. However, we ended up on the couch. We cuddled, we talked. I even gave him a foot massage, because his feet were cramping. We even eschewed the only romantic thing we ever do-the grapes-because it would fall back into the old pattern. He rubbed my back. We kissed more than we usually do."
"How was it?"
"Soft and warm and very nice and absolutely terrifying." Warren laughed. "At first. Then it got better."
"I think you'll be OK, Jess."
"I do too." She thought for a minute. "If we can make this work, I would say that you gave me a wonderful gift the other night."
"The biggest problem is this-most of me believes that Jay and I can work this out, and then it will be better than ever, and that's a worthy goal to be working on. But the evil part of me just wants you again."
Warren laughed. "Work out things with Jay, will you please? Then we can talk. I'm not going anywhere."
"You'd do it again?"
"Maybe. We'll see. Not before some of this crap gets cleared up, though."
Jessie leaned in conspiratorially towards Warren. "Did you know that Sophie's deepest, darkest, sexual fantasy is a threesome?" Warren stared at her, and then cracked up laughing. "Mine is, too." Jess added.
"That sounds intriguing." Warren said with a grin.
"PIG!" She laughed. Then she stood up. "Now I have to go drop this load on Sophie." She leaned over and kissed Warren. "Thanks, Warren. You're the second-best."
Warren cracked up laughing, "Same goes for you."
She smiled at him, and then headed up the path.
He sat out there for quite a long time, just thinking and enjoying the morning. A couple birds kept him company from a tree branch above. He thought about going up for his fishing pole, but just didn't feel like getting up. He knew Jess-and probably Crash-were talking to Sophia now, and he didn't want to interrupt.
After a while, he heard footsteps coming down the path, and he looked up.
"Hi Pookie."
"Hi Snugglebear." She sat down next to him, and wrapped her arm around his. "You OK?"
"Yeah. A little stunned, but OK."
"I know. Who knew we were that good?" They both laughed. Then Sophie got serious. "I just hope we didn't ruin things for them forever."
"I don't think we did. Was Crash there when you guys were talking?"
"Yeah. I think he's a little afraid to face you."
"Ah, fuck that. I'll have to fix that, pronto."
"Listen, here's the deal. We're going to go up there and get properly dressed, then you and I are taking the car and getting lost for the day."
"Sounds like a plan. We've barely left the cabin since we got up here."
"Right. Let's go exploring. And let's leave the cuddling to them."
Warren laughed. "Interesting twist after interesting twist."
Sophia and Warren had a very nice day out, exploring that part of Maine, and just generally being two kids in love enjoying the day. And, when they came back, something was definitely different.
"Warren," Sophia said when the other two were out of earshot, "I don't think I've ever seen Jess grin that much."
"I know. And Jay looks pretty satisfied with himself. Y'think those two old dogs taught themselves a couple of new tricks, or what?"
Things loosened up considerably after that. Sophia and Warren ended up naked-dancing again, but this time to fast music, and this time with an audience. "After all that's happened, I still think that my enduring memory of this cabin is going to be Sophie shaking her groove thang bare-assed to Little Brown Jug," Jessie quipped. "Just like I told you, Warren-exhibitionists."
And they did experiment a little more. They kind of made an agreement that as long as it happened there, in the cabin, it was all right. There was one night when they all ended up in the same bed-"Crowded, but cozy" was Sophie's verdict-doing the opposite partner, until after about two hours when they were right in the middle and Jason yelled "Switch!" and he and Warren did. "Shit, and I don't think they even missed a stroke," Jess observed. And there was a second night, shortly before they left, that they did experiment with three-way, with the fourth person close at hand to be groped. " Now I think I've had every fantasy fulfilled," Sophia observed.
"Except for that whole Fenway park thing, of course," Warren quipped.
By the time they left, the four of them were closer than ever.
"Y'know," Crash observed, "I'm pretty sure I can get this place for these two weeks just about any year I want it, as long as I tell my Uncle early enough."
"Make that reservation for next year now!" Jess exclaimed.
Chapter 45 - Changes In The Family
Right after they got back, Sophia was waiting for Warren to come to her house so they could go to the ice rink. He had gotten his license right after they had gotten back. "Finally, I'm not the only child around here," he quipped.
They got to the rink and they were putting their skates on. June was there, waiting for them.
"Guys, I've got an idea. I want to scrap the Sinatra program." Warren said.
"Huh?" Sophia asked. "It's half way choreographed!"
"Yeah, I know, and if you don't want to, we won't. But I really like the big band free we're doing for the Junior series, and I thought I wanted to do something similar for the Senior Free we're doing at nationals. So, I made a couple cuts, all Glenn Miller, and I really like it. No slow stuff, just mid-tempo and fast."
"What cuts?"
"String of Pearls and Little Brown Jug."
"Got it?" Warren nodded at her. "Put it in."
They got on the ice, and Warren popped the CD of the cuts he had made into the CD player. As was their habit, they played it a couple of times, just skating around together on the ice, and playing with a few basic ideas.
"You're right," Sophia agreed, "I like this better. June?"
"I agree. That's a killer cut, Warren."
"And just think," Sophia said mischievously, "I'll be s
haking my grove thang to the end of Little Brown Jug. Jess oughtta like that."
Warren laughed. "You just keep your costume on, Pookie."
"Whassamatter, lover boy, you don't want to naked ice dance in front of 15 thousand paying customers and a nationwide TV audience at Nationals?"
"Actually, I'd love to, but we'd lose a couple tenths on the presentation mark when the judges find out that you can't properly point your tits like you do your toes."
"Lessee-ice dancing nude in front of thousands with my sweetie in a cold ice rink. I guarantee my tits would be pointed."
"Yeah, but can you make them bounce and jiggle in unison?" She just hit him that time.
They walked into Sophia's house, and found Dan, her mother's boyfriend, there, along with a girl a couple years younger than Sophia.
"I'm glad you're home," Ellen said. "Hi Warren. Sophia, we figured it was time you two finally met. This is Dan's daughter, Katherine."
"Hi, Sophia, I've heard so much about you."
"Me, too," Sophia smiled warmly. "This is Warren, my sweetie."
"Hi, Warren. I've heard a lot about you, too."
"My reputation precedes me," Warren grinned.
"How was skating?" Ellen asked.
"Great, considering I had to put up with yet another brainstorm from Christopher Dean over here. Scrap the partially choreographed free dance, I've got a better idea. And, since it was him, it was a better idea, because he's always right, infuriating as that is." Sophia was grinning the whole time.
"Hey, what can I say. I've got Glenn Miller on the brain. And that music will lend itself to a killer ending."
"Let's go out into the living room," Ellen suggested.
"This seems like a family thing. You want I should get lost?" Warren whispered in Ellen's ear.
"Of course not, Warren, you are family," she smiled at him.
"I saw you guys on TV this winter at Nationals. I'm a figure skating freak, you know," Katherine confessed. "I was watching it with a couple of friends and got all goofy 'Hey, that's my Dad's girlfriend's daughter! Wow!'"
Everyone laughed. "The funny thing is," Warren told her, "they almost never show juniors on TV, and nobody told us they were showing us. We're watching what we thought was going to be the Senior free dance, and there we were. We got as goofy as you did."
"It's a good thing my sweetie here has a compulsion about videotaping all televised figure skating, or we might have missed getting it on tape," Sophie said.
Katherine giggled. "I've been looking forward to meeting you guys. I've met Eric and Tara, but kept missing you."
"My impossible schedule," Sophia laughed. "Our coach keeps begging us to train more, and we keep telling her, not until they come up with the thirty hour day. So, Katherine, how old are you again?"
"I turned fourteen in January. Oh, and call me Kate, everyone else does."
"January? What date?" Sophia asked.
"The fourteenth."
"Cool. Exactly three days after Warren's."
"We Capricorns have to stick together," Warren grinned.
"How old are you?" Kate asked. "I don't remember if Dad ever told me that."
"I turned seventeen in May. Baby-face, here, turned sixteen in January. I'm a cradle-robber, you see," she said to Kate's laughter.
"I'm going to be a freshman this fall-I take it you're going to be a senior?" Sophia nodded. "And Warren's going to be a junior?"
"No, Warren's going to be a senior."
"So, he's almost exactly two years older than I am but he's three grades ahead of me?"
"I started school a year early," Warren told her.
"Y'see, Kate," Sophia told her, "if you stick around long enough, you will find out, that when God was passing out brains, Warren kept sneaking back into line and got seconds. And thirds. And fourths." Kate giggled, while Warren hit Sophia with a pillow.
"You guys go to Oceanview, too?"
"I do. Warren goes to St. Mike's."
"Aaah. A preppy."
"Yup."
"Well," Ellen interjected, "there was a reason we wanted to make sure you guys met as soon as possible, because you're going to be seeing a lot more of each other." She smiled at Dan. "We're getting married."
"WHAT?" Sophie jumped up and wrapped her mother in a bear hug. "Mom, that's fantastic!" She walked over to Dan, and gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Welcome to the crazy family, Dan."
"Congratulations, you guys," Warren echoed.
Then everyone noticed that Kate was not sharing in the enthusiasm. "Married?" she said hesitantly.
"Are you all right, honey?" Dan asked.
"I don't know."
"I thought you liked Ellen."
"I love Ellen, I really do. But married? I mean... I'm happy for you guys... I do want you to be happy, Dad... but... I..." she faltered.
Sophie looked at Kate. "Your mom left when you were five, and you don't see her much, right?"
"Yeah. She's whacko. I prefer to avoid her if at all possible."
"So," Sophia continued, "For nine years, it's been You and Dad Against The World, right?"
Kate relaxed and smiled. "Yeah. Yeah, that's it. I am happy for you guys, but this is a huge change."
"Sophia, you're an insightful young lady," Dan supplied.
"I keep telling her she should go into psychology instead of meteorology," Warren said.
"Ah, I'm gonna combine the two and become The Weather Shrink. I'll have my own radio show. 'You need to explore your inner child, so I suggest you go run barefoot through the park tomorrow, when it will be 75 degrees and sunny with a light breeze from the northwest.'" Everyone cracked up at that.
Kate smiled. "I'll be fine. Congratulations, guys. I just need to adjust." She thought for a minute. "When?"
"ASAP. Before the summer is out. Small ceremony, just you kids," Ellen offered.
"That's fast. Where are we going to live?" Kate asked.
"Here," Ellen smiled. "Plenty of room."
"Can I ask a selfish question?" Kate asked.
"Sure," Dan said.
"Is there a room for me? I'm used to having my own room."
"We don't, at the moment, have an extra room. We thought about putting you in with Tara, but she's eight and that wouldn't be fair to you. We also thought about putting you in with Sophia-her room is huge-but that probably wouldn't work, either, because Sophia needs her privacy."
"Uh-huh," Kate said with a huge grin, looking back and forth at Sophia and Warren.
"So, this is what we came up with. We have a basement, that we started finishing part of, and never finished."
"Yeah," interjected Sophia, "there's a room down there, and it's huge, but there's nothing in it."
"It needs a finished ceiling, and a few other touches. We were going to make it into a playroom, but we never did. But it's heated, there's electricity in there, we just have to touch it up. It even has its own entrance from the outside. It would make a terrific bachelorette pad."
"I've got some guys that are going to come help," Dan said. "We're going to fix it all up."
"However," Ellen looked at Kate, "Sophia gets first dibs on that room."
"That's fair. She's got a boyfriend, she needs a bachelorette pad more than I do," Kate smiled.
"I was hoping you'd say that." Sophia smiled.
"You're old enough," Ellen said, "and I know what's going on. The house is going to be a lot more crowded now. You need your privacy. Nobody will bother you down there. I expect Warren will practically move in, now." Everyone cracked up at that.
"And, you, Kate, will get Sophie's room," Ellen said.
"You'll love it," Sophia said.
"Can I see?"
"Sure. C'mon, Warren, let's show the kid the make-out pad we're bequeathing to her."
Kate loved the room-"it's huge!"-and seemed to be a lot more at ease, now that the living arrangements were coming together.
"It will be weird, though. From two people in a house to six will
be a big adjustment."
"Luckily, it's a big house," Sophia laughed. "And it's six-and-a-half, because Warren's here a lot."
Warren was reading a book. "I even have half my book collection here, because I read more here than I do in my own house. This one's Sophie's, though."
"I must admit, I do enjoy the thought of having a big sister. I don't have a sister, I don't have a mother, I just have Dad. And there's certain things a girl can't ask her Dad."
"About what?" Sophia asked.
"About... well... you know." She blushed and glanced at Warren.
Warren picked up on it. "You ladies want me to make myself scarce?" he grinned.
"No," Kate smiled. "I don't want to intrude."
"First of all," Sophia said, "it is not intruding, and Warren is never upset if I send him away to have girl talk, and he will leave now if we want him to. Second, though, you have to understand that you don't have to send Warren away. He's not like most guys, he has more female friends than male friends, and he gets involved in more girl talk than most girls. Plus, he's a great listener, offers great advice, and will never make fun of you or say that a question you ask is silly."
"OK. I suppose I have to get used to him." Kate smiled at Warren, then turned back to Sophia. "You guys... you know... do it?"
Sophia smiled. "Every chance we get."
"What does your mother say."
"'Change your own sheets, dear, '" Warren cracked up, as Kate looked at Sophia in amazement. "She's known all along."
"And she doesn't mind?"
"Nope."
"Wow," Kate said. "I think if I was having sex, my Dad would kill me."
"I am not you, trust me. I have a little bit of a past." She outlined most of it for Kate.
"Wow. And you're so healthy now, or so it seems."
"It's real. I have changed a whole hell of a lot since I was your age."
"And I take it, after all that, your Mom figured that having sex with a guy that really loved you was no big deal?"
"Exactly. Plus, she loves Warren to death, that makes a difference."
"So you guys weren't virgins when you hooked up?"
" I was not a virgin," Sophia offered.
Kate looked at Warren. "You were?"
"Guilty as charged," Warren quipped. "Pookie over there was my first. And, oh, what a first it was."
