Quake
Copyright© 2025 by Gordon Johnson
Chapter 6
Ill spakI confirmed that I was he, and the man went on, “Roy Thomson of the Argus. Is it true your were near the epicentre of the earthquake the other day, and got out with only a few scratches?”
“More than just a few scratches, I can say, for I landed on some rubble and got bashed about, but nothing important or permanent in the way of injury.”
“Your father said you rescued a couple of people from a yacht in the harbour. That makes you a hero, doesn’t it?”
“A hero? Not to my mind. I just ferried them back to dry land, using a rowing boat that was handy. The two of them later rescued a shop assistant from a collapsed shop so they were more heroes than I was.”
“Were they people from this area, mister Pursell?”
“Sorry, no. and neither was the girl they rescued. No local connection at all from the point of view of your paper.”
Disappointed, he returned to me.”How did you get out of the disaster zone?”
“A coastguard helicopter found us, picked up some other victims and took us all to a hospital some distance away. My father sent a vehicle to fetch me home, so I never even caught the name of the hospital. My father might know, as he sent the transport for us. We were treated for our cuts and bruises, then released.”
“Ah, thank you. That is useful to know for the story. Are you fine now or still suffering from your injuries?”
I admitted, “My bruises are more of a problem now, colourful and sore but the cuts and scrapes are much improved. I expect to be off work for a few days to recover.”
“No other episodes that might interest our readers?” he pushed.
“Not really. The actual earthquake was very frightening. I thought I was dead, but the collapsing hotel sort of spat me out instead of falling on me, and I got away with only abrasions to my skin in many places.”
“So it was more or less a miraculous escape? That is how I would see it.”
I grunted, “No miracle, just a shocking surprise to find myself still alive, one of only a few survivors in the whole town.”
“Sounds a miracle to me, mister Pursell. Congratulations on getting home safely.”
“Safely, yes perhaps, but stiff and sore all over this morning. That enough for your story? I want to get back to my breakfast, then take it easy for a bit.”
“Oh. Sorry to disturb your breakfast, mister Pursell. Get well soon, and thanks for the information.”
I bid him farewell and put the phone down. I think I avoided any details that would have been awkward to explain.
Returning to the dining room, I found that James had finished his cereal and was now tucking in to bacon and egg, made for him by Doris. She regarded me with a condescending smile and forestalled any objection.
“We have a growing boy here, mister Paul. He needs lots of sustenance to keep him going. Remember to feed him well.”
“Yes, Doris. What about the ladies? Are they up yet?”
“Yes. They are showered, I think, and are now getting dressed and putting their make-up on. They want to look good at breakfast, as such young and radiant ladies should, to look their best in your home. They didn’t get a chance to look their best after the earthquake, they tell me, yet you were enamoured of them even then. They must have made quite an impact on you, young man.”
“They did that, Doris. But they were quick to see what needed done, and get on with it. Their ability to cope with life as it is, despite a disaster, made me sit up and notice them. I am already finding I cannot envisage life without them.”
“You have got it bad then, mister Paul, but from what I have seen, these girls reciprocate your feelings. Being thrown together has stimulated you – all of you – in unexpected ways. You are a lucky man and they are lucky women.”
We had a day of getting to know each other in normal domestic surroundings, in the house and the garden, combined with assimilating James into our developing household. I persuaded Doris to stay for the full day, and she phoned home to inform her family of where she would be. She recognised her usefulness in getting me and my girls to assimilate with each other.
Pat and Sylvia managed to speak by phone with their parents on the cruise ship, and assured them that after the earthquake they were now safe and using a recovery facility to get their minds round what had happened to them. Thus far, they were doing well they thought, but wanted to spend more time working through the recovery procedure. The anxious parents’ concerns were mollified, and they wished their daughters well in their recovery. Pat told them that they should continue their cruise and she would bring them up to date at a later stage.
James did not know of any relatives that should be informed about his whereabouts, so I said I would start the process of formally making him my son. I realised that this meant making Pat his official adopted mother. Thinking about this, I rang the company’s lawyer and asked him what the legal requirements were for adopting an orphan boy in the UK. He was swift to reassure me that the main requirement was a stable home environment. His adoptive parents needn’t be married, just be in a long-term relationship and go before a court to have the adoption legally approved. I reckoned that I should get the girls to leave that to Pat, and they would treat her as the official Mum for legal requirements.
They didn’t want me to formally marry Pat, so that they could instead all regard themselves as my wives. I told them that I was happy that they should all three of them regard me as their husband.
With that out of the way, I broached with them as a group of the matter of consummation of our unofficial marriages, and that caused a few blushes to appear on their cheeks. There was no objection raised to the impending fact of the matter, so I suggested we start by me kissing them one by one. That would be the start of our sexual relationship and we could progress from there.
There was no obvious reaction at first, but during the rest of the day I was occasionally greeted with a kiss when I met one of them. Each kiss developed to a greater intensity each time, and they allowed me to put my arms round them and fondle them a little. I could tell that they were not very familiar with this courtship routine, but then neither was I. It had been a long time since I last tried this, as learning the business was my priority once I got my business degree.
At the end of the day, Doris informed me she had to go home, and I assented to this family demand.
“Can we see you most days for a little while, Doris? My ladies could do with some of your expertise of marriage partners.”
“I can do that, sir, but I will have to put off a couple of other clients to manage it.”
“I understand, Doris. If I say time and a half for these days, would that help to compensate?”
She cheered up, saying, “That sounds admirable, mister Paul. I shall say to other clients that I have to help some folk who were in the earthquake, and that will make them feel better about it. The extra cash will help as well.”
“Good, Doris. I appreciate all your assistance.”
Pat came up to me later in the evening, and plonked herself on my lap, stating, “Paul, can I come and sleep in your bed for the night, without anything happening? I want to see how it feels with a man sleeping beside me. Once I get used to that, we can progress to sex, if you don’t mind waiting until then.”
“Not a problem, Pat. We are all still almost strangers to each other, despite recent events. I am happy with a slow process of getting to know each other more intimately.”
“Thanks, Paul. I thought you would see it that way, and I was right. You are indeed the man for me; and also for Sylvia and Tracy, I am pretty sure.”
We retired to bed a little earlier than I had expected, so that Pat and I could take the time to settle in bed together. I thought it would take us both some time to sleep, but even with us on our own sides of the double bed, we both dropped off before long; certainly I did.
Some time during the night I was woken by Pat rolling over and placing her voluptuous body against me while sound asleep, or so it appeared. I was pleased at this move, and soon was able to drop off again.
Come morning, Pat must have woken first and got up to shower, for I heard the shower running. Perhaps that was what had woken me, for I could feel the warmth at my side where she had slept. I waited in bed until Pat had completed showering, dried herself and got dressed, and I heard the door open and close. I then got up, drained my bladder then showered and got dressed. I had laid out my fresh clothes the night before – it was a routine – and I presumed Pat had done the same.
When I arrived for breakfast all three girls were eating and greeted me as best they could with their mouths full. Pat asked if I wanted a cooked breakfast, but I said I only wanted a bowl of porridge oats. “By the way, where’s James?”
Sylvia answered, “I looked in on him and he was still sound asleep, so I left him to sleep longer.”
“Most times I would say fine, but I want him to become used to getting up at a regular time to be ready for primary school, once I have got him registered. I’ll wake him now and explain my reasoning, I think he will understand; he is a bright boy.”
Tracy intervened, “Paul? Is it true that Pat spent the night in bed with you?”
I looked her in the face and said calmly, “Yes, she did. You can join me another night. Sylvia is less keen on getting together with me, but I think she will get there eventually.”
As I spoke I could see Pat and Sylvia behind her, looking in my direction. Pat was smirking while Sylvia had her mouth open in shock or surprise. Tracy had said the right thing for my purposes, and Pat had connived as well, to allow a conclusion to be drawn that was not truly warranted.
Tracy eyed me carefully, and made her decision. “Is tonight too soon for bedding me, Paul?”
“Not at all; sounds fine to me. Pat, do you object to Tracy being with me tonight?”
Pat smiled graciously as she replied, “No objection, Paul dear. Tracy should have her time with you to consummate our agreement as spouses.”
Sylvia was mute at first, then ventured softly, “Can I book a time with you, Paul? Big sister should not have all the fun.”
“Assuming Tracy and Pat are willing to let you have a fair share, then any night after Tracy is fine with me,” I declared confidently, despite my internal doubts about myself.
I headed off to get James up, and found him already stirring.
“Morning, James. How are you doing this morning?”
“Okay, I think. I keep expecting Mummy to call for me to get up for breakfast then school; but Mummy is not here now, is she?”
“No, I am sorry to say that she is gone, James, but now I am your new Daddy and I get to say when you get up for breakfast and ready for school. We have still to get you enrolled in a local primary school, so today you get a day off, but I think you should get up all the same and get a regular routine established that you get up, have breakfast and get ready as if for school. Today I will act as your teacher, and we will learn a few new things during the day. How does that sound?”
“Good, I think. Can we have you be my teacher every day, Paul?”
“Nice idea, James, but the law of the land says that all children have to go to school, so we are stuck with that for now. Nothing stops you from learning other things outside school, so you and I can work at that bit of learning. You will probably learn a lot more than your fellow pupils at school that way. I want you, as my son, to be top of your class every year. You willing to try for that, James?”
“Gosh, yes. Can you tell me about dinosaurs and other scary things that the school might not tell me about?”
“Yes, sure. To start with, do you think the school might tell you about birds?”
“Well, of course. Everybody knows about birds and their nests and eggs and stuff.”
“Possibly so, but here is a bit of news for you: birds are dinosaurs!”
James halted on his way to the bathroom and stared at me with a little laugh, asking, “You are making a joke, Paul?”
“No joke, James. The more we find out about dinosaurs, the more we realise that some of them were almost identical to our birds. Dinosaurs had hollow bones to make their bodies lighter, and some even stored air in cavities inside some bones. Birds have hollow bones to allow them to fly. The dinosaur breathing system was also similar to birds, and most of them also had three toes on their feet. Birds mostly have three toes as well. Most other animals have five fingers and five toes. All the evidence we are collecting suggests that birds are descended from dinosaurs. Interesting, eh?”
“Interesting? That’s great!” he burst out with, and I had to redirect his attention to more mundane topics.
“Meantime, get yourself to the toilet, my boy, then wash your hands and face before breakfast. You still want sugar frosties? I am having porridge oats for my breakfast; much healthier than all that sugar.”
“Really? Can I have porridge as well?”
“I’ll go see if your new mummies can make enough for the two of us while you get finished in the bathroom.”
I went through to the dining room, and was told that Pat was in the kitchen making my porridge, so I rushed through to ask if she could add some extra to give some to James. If I could get him to switch to porridge oats, I felt, that would be much healthier for him and myself. Most breakfast cereals are loaded with sugar, fat and salt purely to make it appeal to the taste buds even if it was not healthy to have so much sugar fat and salt in your diet.
Pat explained that my portion was too far cooked to add extra, but she could make another portion in a separate pot for James. It would only take another few minutes, she said. I kissed her on the cheek and said ‘Thank you, my sweet.”
She grinned and answered, “I wish I had fucked you last night after all. You have used our night together to encourage the other two to look for a fuck now.”
“Hopefully you will be looking for the same later, Pat.”
“You can count on it, my man.”
I rang the county education department and asked about the closest primary school where I could enroll my six-year-old son. The man asked my address and postcode, and quickly was able to say that Hillhead Primary had spaces available according to his records. He gave me the address of the school. I just had to arrive with my son and arrange his registration with the Head Teacher, Mrs. Shawfield.
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