Chapter 6

Meagan fetched her cell phone from her room, put it on speaker mode, and called her mother.

Before she or Peter could even say hello, Debbie started talking quickly. "Meagan, what's wrong? Is Peter still there? If so, tell him to leave. Did the two of you argue? Has he left? Tell him to come back and apologize again. For that matter, I'll apologize again. Is there anything you need while I'm out?"

In disgust, Meagan yelled, "Fuck Mom! Stop babbling!" and hung up the phone. She sent her mother a text message saying: If U promise to B quiet & listen, I'll call U back.

The teen received a message back saying OK almost instantly, so she redialed her mother.

There was a deep breath from the other end of the phone, and Peter said, "Just chill out Mrs. D."

"Yeah, you promised to be quiet!"

"I'll be good," Debbie said quietly.

After waiting a moment to make sure her mother was really listening, Meagan continued, "You can come home. Peter and I will pose for you again."

There was a squeal of delight followed by a thud.

"I think she dropped the damn phone," Meagan stated, and Peter nodded in agreement.

"Are you still there? I dropped the phone and cracked the LCD, but it seems like it might still be working."

"You're coming through loud and clear Mrs. D," Peter said.

"That's great news! People are looking at me like I'm crazy, but I don't care. I'll be home as quickly as I can. No, I'll be home faster than that!"

"They're looking at you like you're crazy because you are crazy," Meagan muttered after hanging up. "We did agree my mom was crazy, right?"

Peter laughed, "We mentioned it a time or three."

Debbie made a great deal of noise unlocking the door, then rushed down to her studio. "How come you decided to pose again Meagan? Wait, I don't care; I'm just happy I get to paint again. Pose however you want, I'll paint it. No, no, we should come up with something good."

"Mom! Calm down. You're going all ADD on us," Meagan scolded. "Besides, we've got a question before we pose again."

"Oh no!" Debbie wailed. "You're not going to pose if you don't like my answer!"

"Maybe," Meagan admitted. "But I want an honest answer. That painting where Peter and I were nude at a beach, did you doctor it to have Peter ejaculating in his sleep?"

Debbie gasped, "How did you find out? Did you take a key and drive over to the storage area?"

"Mom! We're not stalkers! I don't know where your storage area is, but I'll take that as a yes then."

Debbie nodded looking very nervous, "Does that mean you're going to refuse to pose?"

"Hmm, I'll have to consult with my fellow model," Meagan stated. "You didn't try to hide the fact that you altered the painting after we last saw it, but that was more panic than honesty." Peter and Meagan huddled and whispered while making gestures with both hands. Finally Meagan said out loud, "That sounds fair."

So, what's the verdict?" Debbie asked.

"We'll pose, but you have to bring that paining back in here so we can see the new, um ... enhanced, version of the painting Mrs. D," Peter explained.

"Oh, that's a relief. You guys had me so worried. I promise I'll fetch it after we get done posing."

"Actually, I've got another question." Peter stated.

Debbie's eyes bulged. "Are you two trying to give me a heart attack?"

"Well, no. However, I can't figure out why you want to paint me with a hard on pointed at your daughter so badly. The reason we're posing again is that both Meagan and I miss it, but we can't figure out why this is so important to you."

"It's hard to put into words," Debbie protested.

"Well, go grab a thesaurus if you have to Mom, but now that Peter brought that up, I want to hear the answer to this one too!"

"I don't even know where to start."

"Mother! Just start at the beginning."

"Fine, well, in college, I had some female problems, and I had to have an operation. After that, I was never really interested in guys. But in my art classes, I loved painting nudes. It was like I could get a piece of something I wasn't normally interested in any longer and transfer it to the canvas. It wasn't the same as before, but it was both exciting and satisfying nonetheless."

"So painting me with a boner for Meagan satisfies you somehow?"

"Oh, it sounds awful when you put it that way!" Debbie protested.

"Well, it sounds pretty fucking freaky! How would you put it, Mother?"

Debbie sighed and considered her words carefully. "Painting nudes allowed me to recapture, in a way, something I lost, but when Peter got that huge erection, it was like finding something I never knew I was missing. It's not all about me missing out on something though. Painting in general is about doing something creative and capturing some spark of life and preserving it for others to see. Painting the two of you just doesn't have a bit of a spark; it's like a high voltage power line, or a thunderstorm or something. On top of that, I've never felt more creative than when I paint you and Peter."