Chapter 38

When we got home from school the girls went into prep mode, tonight was my date with Vicki, and Zoe's date with Tami. I had a pretty good plan for Vicki and what we were going to do, tonight. I was really looking forward to it.

I stopped Vicki as she was following the other two up the stairs, "Dress casually. We are going to be doing stuff, outside."

She turned and looked at me with a smirk, "What are you planning?"

"You'll see," I said as I turned her around and swatted her butt.

She came down a little later, well ahead of the other two girls, in jeans and a t-shirt with very minimal makeup.

I gave her a kiss on the cheek and said, "Perfect. Megan just pulled up so let's get going."

I hollered up the stairs that we were leaving and both Tami and Zoe appeared, still only half dressed, to say goodbye. We hurried out to the suburban and hopped in. Vicki immediately started grilling Megan on what my plan was, but I had seen that coming and warned her not to give anything away.

We drove a few miles away from the house and pulled into a small sports complex. Vicki was looking at me sideways when we hopped out. Megan gave us both hugs and wandered off, although I tapped my watch to remind her of step two of my plan. She gave a half wave, before disappearing from sight.

Vicki was standing with arms crossed, "What exactly are we doing?"

I pulled her with me, managing to get her arms loose, and taking one of her hands. I led her around to the far side of the complex, where the batting cages were. Even though both the other girls are cheerleaders, Vicki is by far the most athletic of the three of them. While she likes nice clothes dressing up, she is the most aggressive of the three and loves to compete. When her mom dropped a bit of information at Thanksgiving, it had planted some ideas in my head about stuff Vicki would enjoy.

When we stopped in front of the batting cages, she turned and asked, "Batting cages?"

"Yep. Your mom mentioned at Thanksgiving how you used to love playing baseball. So much so, that they fought to get you into Little League. It's not what you normally do on dates, but I thought you would enjoy spending some time getting reacquainted with your old passion."

She squealed and hugged my neck, "Cas that is so thoughtful. No one ever takes me to stuff like this. I can't remember the last time I got to play."

I just smiled at her as I walked us up to the attendant, paid, got bats, helmets and the small lecture they give you to keep your helmet on at all times in the cage.

When we got to our assigned spot I asked, "Do you want to go first?"

She shook her head and half pointed with her bat, "No, you go."

I plopped the helmet on my head and went in. I hadn't used a cage before, but the instructions were pretty clear. I set it for a fairly fast, but not MLB fast, and hit the button to start the machine. I missed the first several swings. I understood the mechanics of baseball, and enjoyed watching it, but this was the first time I had ever even picked up a bat.

"You're overpowering it. Don't swing away like you are chopping wood. You have to predict where the ball is going to be and try and connect there, not swing once you see the ball at the plate. By then it's too late," Vicki said from behind me on the other side of the chain-link cage.

I just nodded and let two balls sail by while I tried to gauge the timing of it. Of course, this only works on a machine that methodically shoots the ball at the same place every time. I started to really concentrate, and felt the moment when I slipped into slow motion. Every other time it just sort of happened, and was an involuntary reaction. This was the first time I really felt the change taking place. It was a weird sensation.

I started to focus and unfocus trying to drop in and out of slow motion. This of course did nothing to help me on my swing, since I was barely paying attention to connecting with the ball. But after a few minutes I found that sweet spot, where I could force myself into slow motion. The only real downside to being able to do it on command was, with as much focus as I needed to make the change happen, I ended up with a splitting headache.

I turned the machine off and waved Vicki in. She was just shaking her head, laughing.

"Wow, you really suck at this," she said and then paused after looking at my face. "What's wrong?"

I shook my head, "Terrible headache. While batting, I figured out how to go in and out of the slow motion thing I told y'all about."

"Really? That's so cool," She said excitedly.

"Yeah, but it comes with a massive headache."

She took off my batting helmet and rubbed one hand gently across my temple, "Do you want to call it a night and go home?"

"No, you go ahead and bat. I just need to sit down for a minute," I said shaking my head.

I knew the headache wasn't going to go away any time soon, but she had been looking forward to our date all week, and I didn't want to disappoint her. I watched her wail away in the cage for a long time. She was really into it and didn't seem to get bored at all. After almost thirty minutes, the pitching machine shut itself off. She looked over at me with an unsaid question.

I shrugged and said, "That was it for our allotted time. You did really good in there."

She came through the door of the batting cage and gave me a sweaty hug, "Thanks. I wasn't expecting to do that good. I always enjoyed baseball and softball, but I wasn't amazing or anything."

"Well, remember you are working with much better reflexes and muscles than you used to have."

She stopped walking for a second, looking up and thinking, "Huh, I guess you're right. I didn't really consider that. So, what's next?"

"Back to the car to get dinner."

"Shouldn't we go shower or something first?"

"I think we will be okay."

We got to the suburban, and found Megan waiting, holding a basket. She handed it over to me, gave me a high five, and walked off, never saying a word.

"Ha, you have her well trained."

"Megan has always been nice to us. Buuutt, her willingness to do extra stuff, may stem from the fact that I agreed to give her what she wants."

Vicki stopped dead in her tracks and asked, "You are going to alter her?"

I put my arm through her elbow, getting her moving again as I replied, "Yes. Alex told Mom yesterday she has the battery of tests ready. We are going to do it tomorrow, giving us Sunday for her to recuperate at our house."

"What made you decide to go ahead and do it?" she asked.

We sat down at a picnic table away from other people. I started spreading out a cloth and putting out the food, which included fried chicken, coleslaw and potato salad. A good, old fashioned Southern style picnic.

As I handed her a plate I said, "Both she and Alex made excellent points. We need to track the personality changes, and she is more aware of the potential risks than anyone else we could include. The problem I face is my reluctance doesn't really have anything substantial behind it ... besides not liking the idea I might be controlling people. But, we won't know that until we test to see what level of control is there. I really don't have a leg to stand on; so, since it was my own hang-ups, I gave in."

"Well, I am glad you decided to do it. Megan has been very good to us," she said between bites.

We wound down the conversation as we ate, sticking to lighter subjects. When all the food was finished I reached in and grabbed two small, wrapped, pieces of pie. Handing one to Vicki, I opened the other as my brain shifted to another topic that had been bugging me.

"Vicki, could you help me understand something?" I asked while I pushed my pie around with a fork.

"Sure," she said with her mouth half full of pie.

"You said your dad is a CPA; but my understanding, backed by doing a little research afterwards, is that CPAs don't make nearly enough money for the lifestyle your family leads. Plus, your mom doesn't work. You can tell me if this is none of my business, but, I just don't get it."

I let out a big puff of air. I had been holding that question in since thanksgiving, and it was driving me mad.

Vicki looked thoughtfully as she ate another bite of pie. I was starting to worry that I had upset her since she was silent for so long, but she eventually started talking.

"I'm not sure. I never really thought about it, since we have had money for as long as I can remember. It's not an inheritance or anything. My dad always made a big deal of being a self-made man. Maybe he has investments, or something."

I wasn't convinced, but decided to let it drop for now.

"Maybe. I guess it's not a big deal, I was just curious."

By that point, we had both finished our pie, and I started packing all the stuff back into the basket. She seemed to brush off my question and stayed in a good mood. We met up with Megan and she drove us back home. It wasn't all that late and Zoe and Tami weren't back from their date, wherever that was, yet.

Like Zoe the weekend before, Vicki didn't even slow down as we entered the house. She waved to Mom ... who was sitting in the kitchen, drinking something, and having a snack ... and just pulled me upstairs behind her. We moved past the room I normally shared with Zoe, and into the 'extra' room. I wasn't sure how the girls decided who slept in which room; but, knowing them, I was sure there was some kind of system.

As soon as the door to the room was closed, she was all over me. Of my three girlfriends, Vicki was by far the most aggressive, although Zoe's actions the week before would have given her a run for her money. Tami was on the other end of the spectrum, and preferred our time together to be slow and gentle. Tami would almost always stick to missionary position, so she could look into my eyes. Vicki however seemed like she was going down a checklist of the Kama Sutra! She was always wanting to try something new, either with me or one of the girls.

Tonight was no different. If anything, she was ramped up. We kissed passionately, leaned into each other as our hands roamed up and down each other's bodies. I slowly walked us over to the bed, maintaining our connection the whole time, until we were able to flop onto the bed together. We started pulling at each other's clothes, not ripping, as Zoe had, but still pretty aggressively. As soon as my pants were off, and I managed to manhandle her panties off, she pulled me on top of her.

I tried to slide down her body and give her some focused attention, but she held onto me, tightly.

"Not tonight, baby. I need you in me."

She was also far from subtle, sometimes. As I maneuvered back into position, she pulled her legs up and placed her ankles on my shoulders. I slipped inside her. For a moment, I reveled in the silky texture. No matter how many times I did this, that feeling never seemed to stop amazing me. I started to lean back to allow her legs some bending room, and not smash them into her chest. Once again, she pulled on my arms, bringing me down tight on top of her.

"Press against me. I want to feel your weight!"

Not one to argue I leaned into and onto her. It seemed she was practically folded in half by my weight. This was novel, but I have to say it wasn't my favorite position. Because of the added obstacle, I couldn't kiss her while we made love, and I wasn't crazy about that.

"Harder baby ... harder..." she panted.

I picked up my sped and started putting more force behind it. With each thrust, her legs pressed further into her chest and she let out a 'oaff' as air was pushed out of her lungs.

"Oh god ... oh god ... it's so good ... I'm almost there."

The pace I was keeping had me almost there, too. I tried with all my might to hold back, so I could take her over the top.

Another five thrusts and she pushed up with her shoulders, lifting her back up off the bed and pushing her groin fully against mine.

She let out a stuttered "uggh ... ugghhhh ... ugghhhhhh," and then her body dropped back down against the bed.

I pulled her legs off my shoulders and rolled off to lie next to her. I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her to me. She had a slight smile on her lips and a glassy look to her eyes. I nuzzled into her neck and let her regain her composure.

After a moment she said, "Damn, baby, that was so good."

"Are you and Zoe in some kind of competition for who can have the most aggressive sex?"

She gave me a kiss then a goofy grin.

"What can I say, Cas? Sometimes a girl just likes to have the shit fucked out of her."

I just laughed and said, "Nice mouth, there, sailor."

"I won't apologize for liking sex, and even less so for liking it with you. Now lie on your back, I want some cuddle time and sleep, and I need my pillow."

I lay on my back and she molded her body against mine, with her head lying in the crook of my arm. We whispered a few endearments and 'I love yous, ' and we both drifted off to sleep.

Vicki liked to sleep in, so I managed to slide out of bed without waking her, and got my morning run in. I did peek in and see Zoe and Tami. They had the covers thrown off, and were nude, cuddled tightly together. I stood there a moment, just looking at them, before I went out.

When I got back, I checked on them again, and was surprised to see Vicki was now pressed up against them. I guess she woke up, noticed I was gone, and went to find other people to sleep with.

I just shook my head and went downstairs to get breakfast ready. Mom was already in the kitchen cooking.

"Morning," I said, starting to clean up the detritus spread around her.

She turned to me, gave me a loving smile and said, "Morning sweetie. Did you guys sleep okay?"

"Yeah, pretty good. Do you want some help?"

"No, I got it. Go sit at the table and keep Megan company."

I stopped and looked at her in surprise as I asked, "Megan's here? She is really early."

Mom just shrugged and said, "I know. I guess she is excited about what is going to happen today."

I let a frown cloud my face, but Mom just patted me on the shoulder.

"Go keep the girl company, Cas. This is a big thing for her."

I gave a single nod, seeing that she was right. Megan was nervously fidgeting.

"Couldn't sleep?" I asked, walking up behind her.

She jumped a foot out of her chair, or at least it seemed that way, "Holy crap, Cas. You scared the hell out of me."

I chuckled and slid into the seat next to her, "I would say I was sorry, but it was too good of an opportunity. Besides, I did it on purpose. You got some nice air on that one."

She gave me a baneful glare, "You're a mean man, Cas."

"What can I say? A fella has to get his joy somewhere," I said, giving her a sly grin.

She dropped back into silence.