Chapter 31

Harry opened his eyes slowly, at peace with himself and the world. He was home. He was back in the arms of his family. He was where he belonged.

He looked to his left and saw the beautiful and naked forms of Kelly, Carol and Margo still asleep, all entwined together. It was a sight to make anyone's heart burst with joy.

"Mornin' bro," Nicki whispered from his right side where she was curled up next to him.

"Morning ... what are you doing awake?"

"Oh, planning out my day's activities ... moving out, stuff like that."

"What?" he said, much louder than he'd meant to.

"Quiet, you'll wake the sleeping beauties ... yeah, got me an apartment and everything. Carol had Daggett draw up an employment contract for me and between you, me and the bedposts, she's a pretty generous boss. So I'm moving out."

Harry rolled over to face her, marveling at the previous night's memories.

"But why, God knows we've got plenty of room..."

"Yes, yes you do ... but I had a nice long talk with the three bodacious ones over there and they begrudgingly had to admit that I might be right in what I was thinking ... the quickest way for me to wear out my welcome in y'all's bed was to continue to live here.

"Harry, I love you, and I love them, but I'm not a part of this marriage and never will be ... that's too kinky even for me, I think. The four of you are a unit, solid as a rock. I'm just a tasty piece of tail on the side for all of you and I'm blissfully happy with things that way ... trust me. Ask Carol, your hoodoo woman; I'm not another Kelly, protesting too much, I'm someone looking for her own fairy tale now ... and I believe I'm going to find it or make it for myself.

"Carol and I will continue to work with each other, courtesy of the internet as well as me spending a lot of time over here during the week. You won't be able to keep me away from parties and family get-togethers ... I just won't live here. You understand?"

"Yeah, yeah I think I do," he said. "So, where you moving to?"

"Oh, just down Trousdale, about eight blocks ... still almost in the neighborhood. A guy has renovated an old house into four good-sized apartments. So later today with the help of manly men like Eddy ... and Karen ... as well as the three Graces over there and Patricia and Tamara, I'll be out of here and into there.

"I am gonna miss that bathroom though..."

"Well, come on sis, who wouldn't?"

"Good point..."

"And you're always welcome to come over and use it ... just as long as I don't see you over here every time you need to go the john," he added, smiling.

The two of them made a bathroom visit and then lay in bed cuddling and talking softly until signs of life appeared in the pile of bodies next to them.

Kelly cracked an eyelid open and muttered, "Harry ... honey ... if you're awake, why the fuck don't I smell coffee?"

"Didn't want to wake anyone prematurely ... the smell of coffee's been known to do that."

"Good point ... but I'm awake now ... sorta ... and if I don't have coffee soon ... my love, things could get ugly."

Chuckling to himself he got up and pulled on a robe. "Come on Nicki, help me get some coffee and food started for these poor dears ... Kelly, can you wake up your wives ... gently please."

"Right ... gently..."

Harry was not at all surprised to see Kelly being carried, kicking and screaming, into the kitchen by Margo and Carol ... all three of them naked as the day they were born.

"Nicki darling, be a dear and get the back door for us," Margo asked.

"NICKI, IF YOU DO I'LL..."

"You'll what, oh about-to-be-wet Princess?" Carol inquired, grinning evilly.

"I'LL..."

"You'll lose coffee privileges for the morning if that sentence goes much further," Harry replied calmly.

"OPEN THE GODDAMN DOOR ALREADY THEN!"

A few moments later, after a scream and a splash, Margo and Carol came back in, dusting off their hands to signify a job well done.

"Well, we're off to grab robes and then we'll be back," Margo said. "I hope that coffee's ready."

"It is," Harry replied. "Tickled you?"

"Ahyup," Carol said, "shoulda known better."

"Harry!" came a call from outside. He went to the back door and looked out.

"Yes?"

"Would you be a love and fetch me a towel, please?" Kelly said, leaning her head on her arms as they rested on the edge of the pool, her beautiful form floating on the water behind.

"Of course my darling, and there'll be a robe and coffee for you in the kitchen when you get in."

"You are a god ... as well as a traitorous scum ... but I'll forgive you for that ... for now."

"You are too good to me, my love."

"I know."

Within another fifteen minutes everyone was seated at the table, digging into one of Harry's breakfasts and they were almost through the second pot of coffee.

The evening at Jessica and Quan's hadn't really ended as of the next morning, even though it'd been interrupted by a few naps. All three of them had decided to call in sick.

"Oh yes, Jessica loves her little girl ... oh ... God ... that's good," Jessica moaned as Wendy fucked her for the fourth or fifth time, no one was really sure anymore.

Quan was curled up next to her, arms wrapped around her waist, mouth firmly attached to her breast.

"Quan baby, are you sure you don't want to try her? She's very ... energetic..."

Quan shook her head, never breaking suction on Jess' breast. Her needs had been met earlier in the evening both orally and with the help of a strap-on that Jess had driven into her like she was trying to split her in half.

"Well then, little girl, I guess I'm just going to keep you all to myself," Jessica said, pulling Wendy down to kiss her.

After the kiss ended, Jess looked down and caressed Quan's face. "Sweetie, are you sober enough to make a run to the Walgreens? I think this is the last condom in the house and I know I'm gonna need another before too much longer."

"Uh ... yeah ... I can walk it ... I guess I better pick up the economy pack, huh?"

"It would probably be a good idea." She nuzzled her lover's ear. "And when you get back, I'm thinking it's time to take the little girl's virginity."

"You mean..."

"Oh yeah..."

Breakfast finished and the plans for the closet renovations inspected and approved, Harry wrapped himself in a towel and slowly walked out to the pool. Shucking the towel scant millimeters before it would have gotten wet his nude body slipped into the pool and he began to swim laps.

As he did so, he thought about the physical therapy on his leg that was yet to come.

He thought about what Dr. Lowry, Helen McReady and he had discussed ... what he had asked Mike not to tell anyone else.

When Quan stumbled back in from the drug store, Jessica was in the shower and Wendy was stretched out asleep on the bed. Quan put down the large box of condoms and grabbed the bottle of Jack before making her way to the bathroom.

"Keep your ass in that shower, bitch, I'll be joinin' you in a minute," she said, pulling off her clothes.

"Not a problem ... feels good in here."

"Me and Mr. Daniels about to make it feel a whole lot better."

After the two naked women shared several mouthfuls of liquor, Quan began soaping her lover's back.

"So, what's up?"

"What do you mean?"

"Bitch, don't treat me like I'm some mental defective ... everything's slow and there's a whole lot of 'maybes' between you and Wendy ... whole lot of 'probably nots' between you and me ... then all of a sudden you're more than willing to play Queen Bee in our little hive. Not that I'm complaining," she leaned over, kissing Jessica's neck while massaging her breasts, "but even tired, drunk, well-fucked and still horny, I'm not blind."

"Quan ... I ... I guess I realized that ... there I was, two people, beautiful people, people I find attractive, wanting me ... and I was all wrapped up in what I didn't have ... and I get this invitation from Harry and the others to a party...

"For fuck's sake, they're happy, Quan! Not that they shouldn't be but ... it really pissed me off. And for awhile I didn't know why, and then it hit me. I was mad because they were going on with their lives ... and I couldn't believe I was being that stupid and petty. Why was I sitting there being less than happy, trying to hold on to something that wasn't mine anymore, when the two of you were right here? I figure the chances of the three of us, or either you and I or Wendy and I, working out long term are pretty low ... but hell, the four of them are fighting tougher odds and they're still in there swinging and they're really happy. Maybe we can be happy too..."

"You mean ... this isn't just a 'fuck' thing ... you'd like to try something serious?" Quan asked, her voice trembling ever so slightly.

"Baby, why not? I wanted to be somebody's 'one and only' ... now I'm two peoples' 'one and only' ... a lot of folks would agree I should stop my whining and realize how lucky I am."

"Let's get outta this shower, Jess, and you come on to bed with me ... taking Wendy's ass can wait till she wakes up on her own. I want some time being held."

"You got it, lover."

"Bevy, property management says we're two months behind on our rent. Time to deal with the mail. Best two out of three, loser has to handle it!" Perry said, coming in from the parking lot.

The two of them settled down on the couch with video game controllers in hand and a short time later, Perry was lugging the garbage can where they dumped their mail over to his chair.

"I shoulda known better'n to let you choose the game," he muttered to a silent and serene Bevy. "Well, least you can do is get that work done on the webcomic you been putting off!"

Bevy nodded and went to the computer while Perry started wading through several months' worth of mail. "If the damn apartment complex could do automatic payments outta the account, wouldn't have to worry about this shit ... never see the utilities not getting' their money ... ever'body that can get paid online never misses their money ... all of 'em get paid right promptly ... goddamn apartment complex still livin' in the stone age..."

Envelopes were ripped open and while ninety per cent of the accumulated mail ended up in another garbage can, one that was being used for its original purpose, there was the remaining ten per cent.

"Bevy! Your sister had her baby ... you got a niece ... they named her Bobbie Sue Ellen ... letter from my grandma ... says she looked at an ep of 'Dinosaur Ho' on my cousin Clyde's computer ... says we're goin' to Hell, but she still loves us ... got a couple o' checks here from them oil shares your daddy left ya, put them in the 'take to the bank' pile ... got another batch o' solicitations from that televangelist you're fuckin' with, let you handle them ... my brother writes, says the chow at Huntsville ain't bad, asks if I can put a little more in his account every month, one o' the guys in his cellblock is shakin' him down fer cigarettes ... I figger I will, it's better'n listenin' to him whine about bein' somebody's bitch ... again...

"Hey Bevy ... we got us an invite to a party for freaks and weirdoes at Harry's place, last Saturday in September. I'm in if'n you are..."

Bevy's enthusiastic nods had Perry on his computer, sending their acceptance in no time at all.

Jessica and Quan laid in bed together, the sleeping Wendy by their side.

"So you think Wendy's pretty serious about you?" Quan asked, her mouth taking a break from nuzzling Jessica's neck.

"I got that impression from the way she was talking," Jessica replied. "I mean, she's already refusing to consider seeing anyone else ... I don't expect that to change now that we've become lovers."

"It won't," Wendy replied sleepily. "Why are you wondering, Quan sweetie?"

"Well, I was just thinking ... if we're all really serious about this, then we probably want to think about moving my mattress in here with yours so we can all have enough space to sleep."

Two sets of excited squeals let Quan know the idea met with her roommates' approval.

By the end of the afternoon, it was done. All of her stuff was out of the house; all that she wanted out of storage was in the apartment as well. Her living room was full of friends and family, tired, from the moving or in her brother's case supervising, eating pizza and relaxing.

And Nicki Grimes was in her bathroom, sitting on the toilet, crying.

There was a knock on the door. "Anybody in there?" Tamara asked softly.

"Uh ... yeah, yeah ... lemme ... gimme a few minutes..."

"Nicki, are you okay?"

"Yeah ... no ... no, I'm not."

"Can I come in?"

"I guess."

Tamara closed the door behind her and moved past Nicki to sit on the edge of the tub.

"So, what's not good right now?"

"I ... I guess ... it's all well and good," Nicki finally stammered out, "to be brave and talk about writing your own fairy tale and making your own life ... all that. It's another thing when it's time to actually start doing it. Tonight's going to be the first night since all this went down that I'm gonna be left with just myself ... well, me and all the fears and doubts ... you know, the insecurities sleep-over I'm evidently having."

"Nicki, you know if you're not ready for this yet, Harry and the family won't raise an eyebrow if you move back in, even if you do it right now, this instant. There'd be some bitching and I'm pretty sure you'd be owing people backrubs and such for quite awhile, but nobody would think less of you. We'd have your stuff packed up and back to the house before you could say ... well, something that it'd take awhile to say, but you get the picture. You've made some big changes in your life and it seems to me what you're feeling is perfectly normal."

"I couldn't ... I mean, I could, but I can't ... I can't let myself."

"Well, would you trust me to go talk to Carol, see what she thinks?"

"Yeah ... I feel like a fourteen-year-old, but yeah ... go see what the hoodoo woman has to say. I'm gonna try to get my shit together and then come out and be sociable."

"Okay ... Nicki, the most important thing for you to remember, now and always, is that you're among friends ... and that means you never have to sit in the bathroom, crying alone, when you're sad."

"Has anyone told you you're priceless today?" Nicki said, giving the tiny woman a hug.

"My master assured me of it not more than an hour ago, but the opinions of others are always welcome," Tamara said, hugging her back.

"Now, I've got you loosened up," Jessica said, sliding three fingers in and out of her lover's butt, lubricant dripping from her hand and pooling around Wendy's ass, "but there's still probably going to be some pain. Are you ready for this?"

"I'm ... ready," Wendy said, although the quaver in her voice gave the lie to her words.

She lay across a pile of pillows with her already erect prick bent back towards her feet.

"Now sweetie, try to let me know when you're going to come ... if you give me enough time, I'll pull out and wrap my lips around that pretty cock of yours ... this is going to be a load I don't want wasted, not a drop, okay?"

"Okay ... I'll try."

In the corner of the bed, Quan sat against the wall, a large vibrator buried deep in her cunt. Her eyes were half-closed as she watched her lover prepare to take her roommate's virginity.

"Now Wendy, as someone who has had both, this isn't exactly like when you slide that pretty cock of yours in and out of my cunt," Jessica said as she caressed her lover's back in long, smooth strokes, "but it's somewhat similar, and as close as you and I can manage ... unless you ever decide you want a sex change."

"Umm ... no... , " Wendy replied, reveling in the feel of her lover's skin upon hers, "I enjoy my prick way too much to get rid of it ... feels too good sliding in and out of you."

"Fine with me, darling ... I'm not wanting you to lose it ... I've grown to love it." She pulled her fingers out and cleaned them on the damp towel she'd brought in. "Now then, relax," she said as she brought the tip of her strap-on to Wendy's ass. "Don't be thinking of this as an invasion, don't clamp down on it like it's something you want to expel ... relax around it, accept it ... know that I love you." And she pushed the head into her lover.

Slowly, pausing from time to time, she inched the shaft into Wendy's bowels, whispering to her the entire time. "That's my beautiful girl ... oh, you're doing so well ... mmm, such soft skin you have, my love ... just relax, the pain passes, trust me ... yes, isn't that better?"

And finally Wendy replied, "Mmm, yes ... you're right ... that's ... very nice ... oh ... oh ... slowly ... please ... oooooh ... have you ever ... tried this ... Quan?"

"No ... but I'm watching your face ... put me on the sign-up sheet..." the dark-haired beauty replied as she quivered on the edge of an orgasm.

"Oh Wendy baby ... I wish you could see the view from back here ... this big black shaft, glistening wet, sliding in and out of your beautiful butt ... damn ... I may not be swallowing that load ... I may have to slap a rubber on you..."

Wendy squirmed in pleasure on the bed beneath her large lover. "Oh baby ... break my heart ... make me bury myself ... in that hot, wet, plump pussy of yours."

"You mind if I went face down in Quan while you did?"

"Not at all ... I'll just wrap my hands ... around that beautiful ass of yours ... and think about the day ... you let me do you ... like this ... oh God ... we better stop talking ... or you'd best get that rubber ready..."

"How fast do you think you can recover?"

"With you? Pretty ... fast..."

Jessica pulled the strap-on out of Wendy's ass and slid down, kissing an ass cheek on the way and wrapped her lips around her lover's cock. Her tongue had barely brushed across the bottom before she felt the spasming begin in Wendy's balls as they bounced against her cheek. She opened her throat, relaxing it as Wendy's prick swelled and began to convulse, pumping out a load that subjectively seemed to go on forever. As Wendy trembled above her, balls jerking up and down, Jessica pulled her back off the pillow, pivoting beneath her so that she wasn't sucking her lover sideways. Wendy tried to hold herself up but her knees were weakening and she slowly sank lower and lower, her cock deflating in the aftermath of her climax, Jessica gently and tentatively sucking on it like it was a pacifier. Periodically an after-shock shuddered through Wendy's body and Jessica smiled around the half-limp dick in her mouth.

"My ... God ... Jess ... I feel so ... empty ... front and back..."

Jessica released Wendy's prick and brought her lover down to lie next to her. She smiled at the young woman evilly, then kissed her, swirling the remnants of Wendy's own cum in with her kiss. She felt Wendy stiffen, then relax as she accepted the natural end of the act, tasting herself and her lover together. The two of them lay together peacefully until Quan finished her own lonely, orgasm and crawled over to settle in on the other side of Jessica.

"Bitch," she said as she unstrapped the harness from her lover's plump thighs and waist, "you better hope Wendy darling there recovers damn fast or you'd better not plan on waiting for her before you start on me." Quan's dark skin lay in sharp contrast to Jessica's pale color as Quan draped herself over her lover. She nuzzled Jess' ear and whispered, "You know, you're going to be one busy woman, taking care of the needs of two lovers ... I hope you're up to it."

A soft snore, almost lady-like, issued from Wendy.

"Well," Jessica replied, "I'm in luck that one of you is more male than she wants to admit. Head for the bathroom, I'll join you in a minute."

Galena Pessino was a good girl, everyone in her family told her so. She was projected to graduate early, took every AP course the high school offered, worked hard helping her mother clean at Ms. Karen's and Mr. Harry's on those rare occasions she needed help ... she was a good girl.

And she was desperately tired of hearing everyone tell her so. She was even more tired of hearing how smart she was, how talented, how lucky to have a family that supported her ambition to go to college.

What she really wanted were the normal things a sixteen-year old girl wanted ... a boyfriend, some measure of popularity, the occasional outrageous night that she could write in her blog about.

It wasn't that she wasn't pretty, she was ... in a quiet way that was even further muffled by the clothes her mother bought for her ... the most frumpish, unappealing, form-hiding possible ... and the glasses she'd worn since she was seven. Her mother never let her change the style of her glasses too much ... variations on black plastic frames guaranteed to scare away any guy who might be even remotely interested in her.

"You don't need to be worrying about boys, boys will come whether you worry about them or not. You need to worry about your grades."

Her mother couldn't understand that even in the AP courses, she didn't really have to worry ... or work all that hard. She spent the mandatory study hours her mother dictated pursuing her own interests on the Web, writing boring entries into her LiveJournal that almost no one ever read, and occasionally visiting chat rooms devoted to her academic subjects. She'd visited a few social chat rooms, but she'd felt as out of place there as she felt in any social situation. She'd thought about getting a page on MySpace, but figured why should she enter a whole new arena where she could be ignored?

An unexpected blessing for Galena from her mother getting fired by Ms. Angie was that it led to her mother agreeing that Galena could take care of Mr. Harry's pool. Galena's mother knew nothing about swimming pools or the maintenance thereof. And since Galena was the 'pool-girl', she had an immense amount of freedom to spend necessary, and unnecessary, time at the Grimes house. Carol and she had become fast friends even though a lot of things about Carol's lifestyle had shocked Galena at first. Carol's tendency to cover her nakedness with only a t-shirt when Galena was over and her sexual predilections, which had come out in a girl-talk conversation that would have had her mother dragging her to church by her hair for confession, had been among them. Despite them all, she had realized that Carol was just about her best friend in the whole world.

So it was that Saturday night Galena had ridden the bus to the Grimes house, desperate to get away from her family, to 'clean the pool'.

And found the house empty. Well, she had her mother's key, and she knew to lock the door behind her.

Maybe it had been the lure of the pool, silent and dark in the night, which had started the whole thing.

Galena had stood by the pool and in a moment of unbelievable daring had undressed, slowly, calmly. First she removed the dress which came down to her knees and covered her arms to just above the elbow (if Galena was honest with herself she understood that her mother's rigid attitude towards her youngest daughter's clothing was formed by the unfortunate ordeal of her older sister, Elena, who at fourteen made their mother a grandmother). Then she took off her shoes and socks, socks which came up to her knees. For a moment Galena had paused, feeling the air tease her exposed skin as she stood by the pool in her bra and panties. Slender with breasts that were still deciding if they would take after her mother's and grow to earthy, sensuous, man-hypnotizing size, or take after her grandmother's and remain rather average; hips and butt that were well on their way to developing the curves that would announce her full-blown womanhood; skin that fairly glowed under the faint moonlight, soft and smooth the way a young girl's skin should be. She threw her head back, stretched her arms out to her sides and twirled in place.

Then, feeling delightfully wicked, she added her bra, panties and glasses to the pile of clothing by the pool and dove in, scarcely disturbing the water as she did so.

Skinny-dipping was something she'd never even considered doing before. She reveled in the freedom of gliding through the water unencumbered by clothing, and decided that if she had her way she'd never swim covered again. She knew she'd have to, but it was wonderful to dream. At last she understood why Carol went around naked, and would only throw on the most minimal of clothing for Galena and her mother, although when her mother was there, Carol did add panties to the ensemble.

After a few minutes of getting her nerve up, she climbed out of the pool and, while forcing herself to walk, not run, refusing to give in to her embarrassment, she made her way to the diving board and stood naked on the end of it, out in the open, visible to anyone who could see over the twelve-foot fence. While that fence removed some of the sense of daring, it did make her feel a whole lot safer. Almost dancing on the end of the board, she dove deep into the water, reveling in its sensual caress of her entire body.

Another fifteen minutes in the pool's embrace and she felt a need of a different sort. She continued her evening of wild adventure by drying herself off as best she could, then going inside and making herself a weak rum and coke. She took it to the 'bathroom of doom', as Carol called it, and positioning herself on one of the bidets, played with the controls until she found just the settings she craved. The warms jets of water gently started her on her way towards an orgasm as she sipped her drink with a Mona Lisa-like grin decorating her face.

"Harry, Kelly and I are going to stay over here tonight, help get some things squared away in the apartment," Margo said, sometime later.

"Yeah, help her break in the bedroom," Kelly added, chuckling evilly. "Let you and Baby Girl have some together time."

A little puzzled, Harry realized that it was another of those situations in life where the best course of action was to agree and find out what was going on at a later date and time.

"We'll be back in the morning," Margo continued. "Think you can get Eddie and Tamara to give y'all a ride back to the house?"

"Shouldn't be a problem," Harry responded. "HEY EDDIE, you got two riding in the back o' the truck."

"Alright."

"See, no problem. Nicki ... there's something you and I need to discuss about Dad and Mom ... not tonight, but some evening soon, just you and me, okay?"

"Sure ... uh, how's tomorrow night sound? I know you're off on Monday, so that'll give us plenty of time to talk, just in case things run long."

"Works for me."

After another hour or so of visiting, everyone went their separate ways. As they neared the park, Harry had a sudden inspiration.

"Eddie, stop and let us out at the park, we'll walk from there."

"You sure?"

"Yeah ... I think I am," Harry smiled. "At least I'm pretty well assured this walk will end better than the last one."

"God I hope so," Carol said from where she was snuggled up next to him. "I could live a long, a very long and fruitful life and never have another evening like that."

They climbed out of the back of the truck, and waved at Eddie and Tamara as the two of them drove slowly off into the night, Eddie watching them in the rearview mirror all the while.

"Got your cellphone, got your whistle, got your straight razor?"

"Damn straight, sir ... loaded for bear."

"Let's go then."

Hand in hand they walked to the swings, took seats and started swinging back and forth slowly.

"Did you know this place is haunted now?" Carol asked, a look of pain in her eyes belying the smile on her face.

"Oh really ... by whom?"

"You ... Nicki and I started taking walks in the evening, heard some kids talking. In the 'neighborhood legend' version of events, you didn't live. That's why you haunt the swing set where you were brutally murdered by a man with a hook."

"Wow ... mixing all our urban legends in, I see."

"Oh yeah ... I'm surprised you're not mourned by a woman in white."

"Give me a few years, I will be ... we haven't really talked about how you're doing, sweetheart. All the attention's been on my recovery, Margo's therapy, Kelly joining the family ... Margo told me about the talk the two of you had, but that was pretty close on the heels of the attack. How are you doing?"

They swung in silence for awhile, then Carol said, "You die, two or three nights a week ... in my dreams, I mean. Sometimes the two of them follow me back to the house and kill everybody there ... sometimes they just catch me and kill me ... those are the best of a bad lot, as far as those dreams go. When they kill me, that's where it stops, they can't follow me back to the house. Nobody dies but you and me. If I didn't have the freedom to take naps in the afternoon, I don't know how I'd make it on as little sleep as I get sometimes."