Chapter 19

Ebenezer sent a message to the Personalia, asking them to organise a personal friend's itinery to visit him in the near future. He sent them her name and phone number, to identify the lady. He knew they would phone her with all the details she needed, and answer any questions she had about luggage limits, clothing advice for travelling, etc.

Next, he enquired of the nursing staff whether he could have a minute or so to impart some personal news to Isabella, should she still be awake. They went to check, and returned saying, "Very well, but make it quick." He rushed through to her room.

"Isabella, my love! I have phoned Euphemia, on Earth, and made it clear to her that either I marry both of you, or just you. Your participation, as my wife, is non-negotiable. If she marries me, she marries us. Do I make myself clear, Isabella?"

"Yes, Ebenezer."

"Now, she has agreed to take a trip to meet you, before she says whether she will marry US, the pair of us."

Isabella gave him a wan smile, and declared softly, "I can live with that, Ebenezer. Sorry I did what I did; I thought I had lost you, and my life was over."

Ebenezer told her, "I was blind to your love, my darling. You certainly misunderstood my words, but I forgive you. It was my stupid fault for not making myself clear; a major failing in my former profession. Now, to get back to us. I have to return to the farm, my darling, to attend to a few things, so that we stay in business. I shall be back tomorrow, to see you and clarify when you can be returned to our home." He leaned over and kissed her tenderly. She responded willingly.

In the Defreitas household, Dinah was becoming fretful. Tracy was not much better. Trevor noticed, and enquired, "Girls, what is wrong with you? I can see you are not your usual selves, but I don't know why. Is it to do with your pregnancy?"

Tracy responded, "No, my darling. It is the usual teenage frustration. We miss our school friends and their chat; and being at home we don't even get a chance to brag about our impending babies. You can't do much about it."

Trevor put a finger to his chin as he considered the problem. "As your husband, I am the person responsible for you, in every way; I must find a solution to your problem. As a former teacher, I now see the difficulty you have, and I suggest the Mahomet solution."

"What's that, Trevor?"

"If the mountain will not come to Mahomet, then Mahomet must go to the mountain. In other words, as you can't go to school in your present condition, why don't we invite your school friends here? Make it a party: a girls-only party. You deserve one."

Dinah's face lit up. "Why didn't we think of that? Trevor, you are a lovely man. You always want what is best for us. It is a great suggestion. Can we make it a slumber party? With finger food, games, and so on?" She noticed Annabel and Amelia hovering in the background. "You older girls can join us, as you are not THAT much older." She paused, and brightened. "Well, if you want, you can be surrogate mothers, to keep the girls under control – if you can!"

Annabel looked at Amelia. "Why not, Amelia? I have to go to the hospital soon, so it may be my last chance of fun for a while, to let my hair down. Twins will keep me busy in the near future." Amelia answered, "Why not? I missed a lot of that when I was their age. My father wouldn't let me go to anything of that nature. It would be loss of control, you see. Let's do it!"

Dinah and Tracy made a list of all the girls they wanted to come, and Trevor gulped when he saw the draft list. So many? He hoped some of the parents would not agree. He intervened, "Tracy? Dinah? Make sure that EVERY girl has specific approval from her parents to come; and no "extras", please. I don't want to have older or younger siblings joining in. There's enough in that list that we'll have to order in food and drink supplies for a battleship's crew! I suppose I could set up a barbecue in the back garden, and do burgers and such. And I don't want the event to run too late: you girls need a decent sleep these days." He turned to Amelia. "Do you think you could be "Mum", running the barbecue, once I get it into operation? I want to steer clear of a pack of screaming teenage girls!"

It only took a couple of days to round up and confirm the attendees. They started arriving at the house door within an hour of school finishing. Most had taken their party gear to school with them, so remained dressed in formal school wear. Trevor was still at work, so Tracy and Dinah were the door greeters, showing the arriving girls where to go to change into their party things. As the arrivals became more frequent, Annabel and Amelia had to step in to greet some of the girls, apologising for their classmates absence. "Tracy and Dinah are in organising mode at present." The older girls introduced themselves, "I am Amelia Defreitas, the senior wife, and this is Annabel Defreitas, Tracy and Dinah's big sister. The two of us are the supervisors for your party, but we won't interfere unless it gets TOO boisterous. Our babies are all due around the same time, in a few weeks, so we know when Tracy and Dinah will have had enough and need a rest. We have a curfew time to be observed for that reason, determined by our husband, so enjoy the time you have here with the girls."

The arriving girls were sympathetic, and promised to be careful. "We don't want Dinah or Tracy to go into labour during the party – that would be gross!" One of them did whisper to Amelia and Annabel that one of the other girls in Dinah's year, Peggy Carruthers, was pregnant, too. "She isn't showing yet, but we were told. She had been offered alcohol by a couple of older boys, and ended up having sex with them. She didn't use protection, the stupid cow. Peggy doesn't even know which one did the dirty on her, and both are refusing to admit to anything, she says."

"Poor girl. She must feel terrible," said Amelia, adopting her tour guide persona. "If there is anything we can do to help, do let us know."

"We'll tell her to speak to you, Mrs Defreitas."

Amelia sighed, and said, "Girls, there are four of us who are Mrs Defreitas, so please note we stick to first names for clarity. I am Amelia, this is Annabel, and you know Tracy and Dinah. Pass the word, everyone to use first names for us, please."

"yes, ma'am," said the girl.

Amelia added, "There are too many of you girls for us to remember everyone's name, so any time you want to ask us anything, just remember to say your name so we can help you best. And, it is Amelia, not ma'am."

Yes, ma'am - Amelia. Sorry, force of habit."

At this point, Tracy appeared and took over the welcoming ceremony, with squeals of delight all round. Tracy showed off her bulging tummy to the girls, as she prepared to escort them away; saying, "Not long now before I become a mum. Trevor gets more anxious as time goes on, I can tell you. A typical husband, he is. Do you know..." her voice dropped as she started to impart another confidence while taking the arms of her two friends and dragging them towards the dressing room.

Amelia sighed, theatrically. Adopting a clown face, she looked sadly at Annabel, saying, "youngsters..." she shook her head in despair. Annabel burst into giggles, smoothing her hand over her own large belly, whispering, "Not long now before I become a mum... !!! My little sister, trying to be so adult..."

Amelia nodded, declaring, "Yup. Whereas, us old ladies..." and giggled, herself, as she too smoothed over her own bulge.

At that point, Dinah returned, ready to do her door duty again. Annabel put a hand on her arm on the younger girl, saying, "You know a girl in your year called Peggy?"

Dinah nodded. "Yes. Peggy Carruthers. Nice girl, surprisingly not so bright in schoolwork, and a bit too subservient, but nice all the same. Why?"

"You do know she is pregnant, don't you?"

Dinah blinked in surprise, but assumed a bland, shocked, face. "No! A teenage girl, pregnant? Whatever next!" She laughed at her joke, then became more serious. "There have been rumours, but there are always rumours..." Annabel cut her off. "One of the girls in Tracy's year says Peggy is expecting, and doesn't know who the father is. Apparently both suspects are denying culpability."

"So it is true, then. Last time I was in school, it was just talk, rumour, about them getting her drunk. Poor Peggy, with parents like hers, too!"

Annabel was curious. "How do you mean, Dinah?"

"Oh, she and her family are not long here, and they had planned her future for her in the colony. They were scheming for an advantageous marriage to suit them. Peggy was to be a means to an end, as far as they were concerned: that was what I heard from Peggy. Motherhood was not in the immediate picture, I gather, so her Mum and Dad will be furious."

Amelia had been listening. "Well, Dinah, make a point of being nice to her tonight. Make sure she enjoys the party, and doesn't mope around. Invite her to come another day, and we can commiserate with her. In fact, if we already have our babies, we can start her on practical training for motherhood; making sure she doesn't get false tales from her friends about the process of giving birth. Can we leave you to do that?"

Dinah was blasé and self-confident. "Of course. She is one of my friends, so I can do that. I haven't seen her yet; is she here?"

"How the heck would we know, Dinah? No-one has introduced herself to us as "Peggy", I can say that; but when a bunch arrives at once, who knows?" There was a knock at the door as another girl arrived, so the topic was dropped while Dinah went back to party host mode.

Almost everyone was here before they heard a timid knock, and Tracy opened the door to find a shy girl, taller than most of her age, and fairly buxom. "Hi, I'm Peggy. Is it all right to come in?"

Tracy was slightly shocked at the plainness of Peggy's clothes. Her hair was o.k., but obviously not done by a professional hairdresser. What shocked her most was the frightened appearance of the girl, as if everything was scary to her. Tracy switched to her "impending mother" demeanour.

"Come in, come in, Peggy. We are delighted to see you. Were you delayed at home?"

The girl hesitated, stepped inside, then blurted out, "Yes. Dad was not keen on me coming at all. I don't usually get to go to parties! I told them this was a school event. It is, isn't it? We are all in the same classes at school, which makes it a school event!"

Tracy was all hostess. " I am sure it can be described as such, Peggy. Then you must enjoy this one, girl! Shall I take your coat? You can take your bag to ... where is the bag with your party dress?"

"Tracy ... I ... don't have a party dress. I am most terribly sorry!"

Tracy looked her up and down. "Don 't worry. It is no bother. Hmm ... you are about the size I used to be before I swelled up. I wonder ... why don't you come upstairs with me, and we can see if one of my dresses will fit?" She slung the coat on the nearest hook, and dragged Peggy by the hand. As she left the door, Tracy shouted, "Someone cover the front door, please!" She gave a big grin to Peggy, who was suddenly much brighter. "Right, young lady: fun time." Tracy announced, and escorted her upstairs to show her the wardrobe.

In her bedroom, Tracy opened the long wardrobe, and looked carefully at her selection of dresses. She pulled few out to look at the colours and style, and then glancing at Peggy, thinking about suitability. She decided, and pulled one out, holding it against herself. "What do you think, Peggy? Would this suit you, for tonight?"

The girl was open-mouthed. "It is a lovely dress, Tracy. You actually want ME to wear it?"

"I certainly do. Can't have you wearing something that doesn't do you justice. A nice girl like you needs a good dress to show herself to best advantage, even among other girls. Try it on for size."

Within seconds, Peggy stripped off her own dress, exposing a body that was encased in a basic, cheap bra and panties. Tracy stopped her, and turned her to the mirror, and stood side by side with her, looking at both of them. She turned back and rummaged in a chest of drawers, coming up with an unopened pack of panties, and then an unopened bra package.