Chapter 35: Expediency

Carolina’s house was the smallest, with only two bedrooms for her and Abel. Collectively, they decided that the grieving Soares children should stay in their current bedrooms in Bea’s house. Therefore, Carolina moved into Bea’s master bedroom, and Abel slept on the living room sofa.

That is, he tried to. It was so massively uncomfortable for him that they purchased a standard twin size foam mattress and made a bed for him.

Ted started a lobbying campaign: it should be him on the foam mattress instead of Abel. Then Abel and Val could be together more, and he could be with Nan.

Needless to say, Ted’s idea was shot down in flames. There was no way, Leah knew, to keep Val away from being intimate with Abel if they lived in the same house. The same would be true with Nan and Ted when she started feeling better, and Nan’s birth control status was unknown.

“After all, look what happened with me and Drew,” she mused. “So, where IS Drew, I’m horny.”

After a few months, Carolina made a difficult decision. She emptied her house and listed it for sale. Because it was smaller, it attracted extra interest and sold quickly for an amount that astonished her. No longer would she worry about funding Abel’s college expenses. And, her new children were already being well-funded by their absentee father, so there were no worries for them as well.

Every few weeks, the four middles (Ted, Val, Abel, and Nan) would split differently. Val would have a day and evening with Nan; the same for Abel with Ted. On this particular occasion, Ted, Drew, and Tim were off with the twins to see the latest Marvel movie. It was called “Avengers: The Next Generation.” The film featured an all-female (and appearing to be less than age 25) cast, except for actor Clark Gregg as the re-re-resurrected Phil Coulson.

Meanwhile, Val was hanging out in Fernanda’s bedroom. Most of the cutesy stuff from her childhood was gone, but a few stuffed animals still lurked in the corners of her bed.

“Val, I don’t want to make you mad, but would you tell me, are you and Abel having sex?”

“It’s OK, Nan, but I think you know already. Sure we do; when we can. He makes me happy. I wish...”

“What?”

“I wish we could sleep together. I mean, overnight. With his warm body up against me, skin to skin.”

“You sleep naked?”

“Sure, I do, doesn’t everybody?”

“I don’t even think about it, but I think lots of people wear nightgowns and pajamas. There’s lots of ‘sleepwear’ in the stores, after all. I guess, though, ah, sleeping naked with Ted, ooh.

“Now you’ve derailed me. I was talking about sex, not cuddling. You said, ‘when we can.’ How do you ... is it when you go running?”

“Yes, there’s a place we go that has privacy.”

“And you’re naked, out there all exposed? Him too? Oh, wow. I don’t want to sound like a bimbo, but that’s hot. But I’m wondering. You ‘run’ together all the time. Aren’t you risking getting pregnant?”

“No, I have an implant. See this match-sized thing under the skin of my arm? It leaks hormones that prevent pregnancy. After it’s been in for a month, it’s good for a couple of years.”

“That is so cool! So, if I can get one of those, I won’t have to use condoms?”

“Nan, you don’t use condoms; HE does, but you are otherwise correct. It’s definitely more fun without condoms. But you have to get these implanted at the gynecologist. When was the last time your lady parts went to one of those doctor’s offices?”