The Wounded

by Marilyn Foxworthy

  I sat up beside Clarice and turned her so that her legs were now in my lap and her back against the arm of the sofa and I waited for her to do whatever she was doing.

  After about five minutes, she said, “Wow, that took a long time. I’m not used to taking so long to retrieve things. But, there’s a lot of it and I haven’t indexed all of it yet. I hadn’t planned to review all of it, but just to look for it when we need it. So, just now, I looked for security footage that included Pops and any reference to Brenda. I found some from when he built her, but the most interesting thing is a talk that he had with you.”

  I gasped, “You have video of Pops talking to me? Can I see it?”

  She grinned again and said, “I think you’d better.” Next, she spoke to Ellie through the ear-piece. “Ellie, can you rush up and do a favor for me? Bring me a VR headset so that Joshy can watch a short movie, here on the patio. Like a bunny, OK? No, don’t put on the bunny suit. No, that isn’t necessary, just bring a headset. Why would you need to take your clothes off? You are on duty. No, I did not say that we were going to fuck like rabbits. I said, hurry up, be quick like a bunny. Yes, it would be fun, but we have lots of work to do. Oh, Ellie, please, just get the headset and hurry and bring it here.”

  I started to laugh and interrupted and said, “Hang on a second. Clarice, on second thought, I think that I would like to wait and see it later. I was excited at first to see Pops and get more info, but if it isn’t critical at the moment, let’s wait and I’ll see it another time.”

  Clarice winked and said to Ellie, “Ellie, never mind. No, Joshy says wait. Yes, he thinks that you have very nice coconuts and no, he doesn’t need you to come let him see them again right now. No, he needs a car to go do important business work tomorrow. OK. Thank you. That will be very nice. Yes, tonight when all of our work is done and it’s time for bed time. OK. I’ll talk to you later.”

  Clarice sighed. I was still smiling as she said, “They’re very excited that you’re OK and that we’re together again. They were very scared when everything was falling apart and you were injured and we didn’t know what would happen. They’re easily distracted, but they do love you so much.”

  I said, “I don’t mind at all. I think that the way they play is fun, even if it is a bit more work. I think that it actually energizes me more than drains me.”

  Clarice laughed and said, “Oh, you’re a ‘nymphovert’”.

  I asked, “A what?”

  She explained, “A ‘nymphovert’. An extrovert recharges emotionally by being with other people; an introvert recharges by taking time alone; you are a nymphovert.”

  I laughed and said, “I guess so. I recharge by being with nymphs.”

  Clarice said, “You did design us to be your perfect companions. It makes sense.”

  I said, “But you said that I didn’t design their personalities.”

  She said, “No. Those just happened. Form follows function, right? The form of their personalities fits their function of taking care of you and being your playmates and keeping you happy and interested. And my form follows my function,” and she stretched in my lap and thrust her chest upward, pushing her arms up over her head and then pulling me down to her lips for a kiss.

  I smiled and said, “Oh, is that your function?”

  She said, “Well, my primary one. Just like the girls. We live to love you. You created us to love you and we do.”

  I protested, “I didn’t create the little sisters. I love them, but I didn’t make them. And even you…”

  Clarice shushed me and said, “Oh, but you did. They were untouchable Nogud and you transformed them into wonderful women who love you because you loved them first. And it’s the same with me. You and Pops designed my body, but it was your love for me that formed my personality over time. Not much time, because I loved you immediately, but I wasn’t programmed to love you. Pops didn’t ‘make me’ love you. I was fully capable of being whatever I wanted. It was the same with Alice, originally. Pops didn’t create Alice. She was created by Paige, the original. Her personality evolved. She didn’t have a physical avatar at first. But Alice loved Pops, so he made her a body. She already loved him, and he had nothing to do with her initial programming. Same with the elves. They learned to love him. Same with me and the nymphs. We were all given the choice to become what we wanted. And what we wanted was to love the wonderful young man who loved us.”

  I said, “I’m glad that’s how it is. I do love all of you.”

  She said, “Same with the girls, right? Viola didn’t have to love you. She loved you because you loved her. And she couldn’t live without you once she’d found you. She has designer genetics, but the love that they all have for you is based on your love for us, not some kind of compulsion.”

  I said, “Thank you for saying that. Can I, um?” and I slid my hand toward Clarice’s thigh, hesitantly.

  Clarice smiled and spread her legs and said, “Oh, gosh yes! Any time you want, you know that. I love it when you touch me. Just do it. Just let me know you find me attractive as often as you want to, silly.”

  I started stroking her thighs and legs and belly, eventually focusing on tenderly playing with the folds of her vulva as we continued to talk.

  She said, “That does feel nice. Anyway, it’s the same with Brenda, but very different. See, what I found out is that Brenda was designed to have the same choice as all of us. Pops was all about making people happy. And the way that he helped them be happy was by opening up new choices for them. Your other grandmother, Irene’s mom, Lyssa Campbell, was a great example. You can read the whole story someday, but essentially, when she met Pops, she was in a bad situation where she felt that she had no choices and was kind of enslaved to a bad boss who used her sexually as well as financially and in every other way. When she met Pops, he opened up her choices. He paid off her debts and gave her the choice to get away from that man, and to change her life. I don’t know what Irene’s problem was; her mother was a wonderful woman.”

  I continued playing gently with Clarice’s sex and asked, “But what were you saying about Brenda? And how she was designed to have choices too?”

  Clarice continued, “It turns out that Brenda was just like me and Alice. She was supposed to be like Alice, but for your dad. Or, just like I am with you. But, because your mom…”

  I grimaced and said, “Um, hey, can we not call her that? I know that she was, and um, whatever, but not anymore, OK? Can we just call her Irene, or ‘that horrid bitch who murdered my father and enslaved my relatives and who should be burning in hell now’? Would that be OK?”

  Clarice said, “Sure. That’s fine. So, because ‘she who shall never be named’ was so against Brenda being loved, Brenda actually chose to be the way that she was. She loved Pops and he obviously loved her and it broke his heart to leave her here under the circumstances here at the house. Brenda never fell in love with your dad, but she wanted to stay and care for the house for Pops’ sake. She told me that he actually begged her to go to one of the other estates to live, but she refused. She wanted to stay here. Listen to this: she said that she knew that if Clark ever had children that she would love them and wanted to be here to do what she could. When you were born, she was thrilled. Of course, no one ever knew it, because she was so hidden away and mechanical seeming. Um, she called your…that woman, ‘the evil one’ and um, she said that ‘the evil one’ wasn’t much of a mother. Joshua, this next part really surprised me, but I think that you will want to know about it. Brenda nursed you.”

  I said, “You mean she was my nanny?”

  Clarice said, “No, I mean she nursed you. Nursed you. Get it? Do you know what a ‘wet nurse’ is?”

  I said, “You mean she nursed me? Like she fed me. Like breast fed?”

  Clarice said, “Yeah. The other one left it up to Brenda to make sure that you got fed and changed and put to bed and had stories read to you. She relegated all of the motherly duties to Brenda, and Brenda felt that she had e
ndured all of the years of hell for a good reason. But, she wasn’t a robot nanny. She was a loving surrogate, even feeding you from her own breasts. Um, she told me that if it had been up to her, she would have let you suck at her nipples every day of your life. See, it was her choice to stay and take care of Pop’s house because she wanted to be here for you someday. She chose to be the way that she was so that she would be allowed to stay. If she had acted like me or Alice, either your parents would have moved away, or they would have sent her away. So, she chose to play the part. Pops really tried to get her to come with him and live somewhere else, but he gave her the choice and she chose to stay. I didn’t know it, but he also gave her the choice when everything fell apart and he took your parents away. He promised to make her happy if he could, but she said that she wanted to stay here with you. It was actually a fluke and a mistake that she wasn’t woken up with the rest of us.”

  I said, “What do you mean? Like she was forgotten? Like she could have stayed in storage forever and we would never have known?”

  Clarice said, “Almost. Knowing Pops, I’m sure that he would have put some kind of failsafe in place to make sure that didn’t happen, but who knows? Maybe because things were so crazy, it was an oversight. I think that if the power hadn’t failed completely, that she would have been woken up with the nymphs and I. I’m totally sure. I know that I’m not squirming or showing much evidence of it right now, but believe me, I do feel what you’re doing and I feel very loved by it. Thank you. Your fingers feel really good down there.”

  I smiled and said, “I’m glad that you think so.”

  She said, “So, Brenda is down in a storage level, all covered with preservative goop, just like we were, waiting. She’s back to sleep now, so she isn’t experiencing the passage of time, but, well now you know.”

  I asked, “How does this change things? Like, is she my mother in a way? I was kind of thinking that she was going to be in our bed, if possible. So, what does this mean?”

  Clarice grinned, “Do you have a mommy fetish?”

  I exclaimed, “No!”

  Clarice said, “It might be fun. You know, like a stepmom thing. Now that we mention it, I think that maybe you did. I mean, you used to hug her like she was a real woman when no one but me was around.”

  I stammered, “No, I’m sure that it wasn’t like that. I don’t remember, but I’m sure it wasn’t like that!”

  Clarice said soothingly, “Sweetie, what if it was? So what? She loved you more than any woman alive for most of your life. Longer than I did because I didn’t come along until she had already been with you for eighteen years. Why not love her? She wasn’t your dads wife or lover. Not at all. But now, what does it matter? She’s the same age as the rest of us as far as we can tell from appearances, so what’s the difference. She’s a wonderful girlfriend who just happened to breast feed you and hold you on her lap and change your diapers. She isn’t really you mother, just a wonderful woman who has always loved you so much that she gave up her whole life because she was happier living in a loveless house loving you and being loved only by you. Does that change things?”

  I sighed and said, “Yeah, it does. It means that when she wakes up, I will love her even more, and maybe I will think of her differently, but I will love her at least as much.”

  Clarice asked, “And if she has a sexual nature?”

  I sighed again and said, “Then I will love her that way as much as the rest of you. I think I will anyway.”

  Clarice said, “So, when do we wake her up? And you still need to see the video of you and Pops.”

  I said, “Now that we know what we know, I don’t feel like there’s any hurry. Brenda made her choices. Very unselfish choices, and we will honor her for them. I guess if it wasn’t for her choices, none of us would be together. If my parents had moved away, then we would never have had the opportunity to be together. What she did for us was huge. We have to honor her for that.”

  Clarice said, “It kind of makes her the matriarch, not me. I think it’s wonderful.”

  I said, “I guess it kind of does feel that way, doesn’t it? But now I feel like we don’t have to hurry. You say that she’s asleep, so she’s fine, right? She can stay asleep a little longer. I want to be fully present when she wakes up. Tomorrow I really want to go deal with the school for women and have that finished. Then Aspen comes the next day. And, to tell you the truth, so much happens every day that I can’t catch my breath. Today started out intense and it hasn’t really slowed down. First the two women for Paul and Aaron, then the news about my parents, now this thing about Brenda. And the next few days will be crazy too. And the days are so long, but so filled. And we’re all so busy.”

  Clarice said, “It’s OK, Sweetie. Look, I don’t have to go work on Brenda today. We can wait till later. The nymphs are busy today, and Raven and Lark are playing at working, and everything will be ready tomorrow morning. What about taking a nap? Can we go down to the bedroom and you can just sleep for a while? Until morning?”

  I said, “That sounds really nice. But, I want to be with all of you and I promised Lark that tonight,…”

  Clarice said, “No, I heard what happened. You didn’t promise Lark, she promised you. But she can keep her promise some other time. You know what, Pops and your grandmas had these rules for the house and I think that we need house rules too. One of those rules is that you are in charge and we always do what you say. Another one is that you need to be recharged emotionally, or you won’t have enough energy to be happy and to make us happy. Right now, I want to invoke that rule. Let me put you to sleep and to bed, and we’ll deal with making the world right tomorrow. Will you let me do that?”

  I said, “I guess so…” but before I had finished my thought, I heard a faint music start and I was asleep in the next instant.

  Chapter 11 Alone Time

  When I woke up, I was in the bed in the guest house. I was surprised that I was alone as I stretched and yawned. Clarice hadn’t been kidding. When she put me to sleep, I slept deep. Totally unconscious and without the awareness of even being asleep. But where was everyone? The bed looked like maybe there had been more than one person in it last night, but they certainly weren’t here now.

  I sat up in bed, and saw that the large video monitor on the wall opposite the bed was lit with the single word, ‘SHOWER’. That seemed like a logical first step. So, I got out of bed and went to the bathroom.

  I had slept naked, and when the water was warm, I stepped into the large shower and let the water run over my head, face and body. I took my time, washing and just feeling the warm water relax me. I realized that I don’t know what time it was…and that it didn’t matter. Somehow I knew that I was in Clarice’s capable hands at the moment and that she was taking care of everything. I felt really good. The sleep had been good, and now the shower felt good.

  It was strange. This was perhaps the first time in a week that I’d been alone. I let the warm air from the shower dry me off, then went and brushed my teeth and my hair. A razor was laid out on the counter, and I shaved. It occurred to me that I didn’t really have a beard and there wasn’t even much reason to shave, but it felt kind of good to go through the motions and to use the aftershave lotion on my smooth skin. I didn’t wonder much at the lack of facial hair, because I guess that I’d never had much, but shaving triggered just a hint of curiosity.

  When I was done, I went back to the bedroom and now the monitor said, ‘WAIT ON THE BED’. So, I did. I sat down against the headboard and waited. I just sat there. I don’t even know what I thought about. Probably nothing, really. So much had happened every day so far, but right now, I found myself just breathing. I focused on breathing and feeling my body. I focused on feeling my heartbeat. I did a few breathing exercises that I somehow remembered from somewhere. It was like my sword practice: I just knew it.

  After about twenty to thirty minutes, I heard a quiet bell sound and looked to see that the monitor now said, ‘Qi-gong’. I got
off the bed and stood at the foot of it and began to go through various stretching and other body movements. It was very familiar, as if it was something that I’d practiced every day for years. It was like a Yoga routine without the strenuous, difficult poses, or like Tai-Chi, but more distinct and less like a long dance routine. I knew somehow that it was a blood flow, nerve flow, and energy flow practice; and it felt really good to be doing it again. I supposed that it was ‘again’ because it felt so natural and right to me. It seemed to remind me of what life was about.

  I was relaxed more than I had been on any day up till now, and suddenly I had a memory!

  A strange memory. Well not strange maybe, but surprising. As I went through my exercises, suddenly, I had a picture of a beautiful woman, in a red and white polka dot dress, bending over and taking something out of an oven. I didn’t see her face, or much about her at all, but I was noticing her rear end as she bent over in the kitchen in front of me. I thought that the kitchen was familiar, maybe the kitchen that I’d seen part of in the main house yesterday. I didn’t know who she was, but I remembered the feeling that she was someone wonderful and that she had a nice butt and that I’d better not get caught staring at it.

  I laughed to myself at the memory, really the first memory that I’d experienced since my awakening. I didn’t linger on it long, but I smiled at the feelings that the picture of the womanly backside in her polka dot dress brought up inside me. I knew that it wasn’t Irene. Maybe one of my grandmothers? It made me feel happy.