Chapter 19: Preliminaries to the Show

The visit to the hospital seemed to end a frantic first week of life after the announcement. Julio led us to the hospital's administration desk where he and Jason, supported by my mother in person and Jason's mother via a cellphone, worked out the terms of Leticia's remaining care and her discharge. Ashley and I spent the hour cuddled in a comfortable chair exchanging loving kisses.

After that, Jason and Ashley had to return home, and Mom brought me home to face my brother's demands. The fight with the door guard had left my brother with strained tendons in his wrist and a torn ligament in the elbow of his right arm. The arm was strapped to his chest, and the doctor had informed him and my mother that surgery would be required to repair the elbow. Mike did not take the news well, and his angry curses would fill the house for the next week as he waited for his turn in the operating room of the local hospital.

My father appeared oblivious to the injuries his eldest son had suffered. He never returned home that Monday, and when he arrived on Tuesday he was singing old songs of revolution. He seemed to be inspired about something and spent hours locked in his office talking on the phone.

Matti was the only member of the family who did not change much. She clung to me when Mom finally brought me home late Monday, but remained a cheerful girl hoping that every day would be better than the previous one.

The return to school was more than a bit anti-climatic. The teachers had received some kind of notice on Monday, and they seemed to be struggling to interpret the new instructions. Classes continued to concentrate on the basics, but more than one teacher was heard screaming at the administration about something.

Lunchtime as well as our morning break became a retreat to sanity. The table out near the blacktop was soon the regular gathering location for a growing circle of friends. Kelsey always showed up, and made sure she sat as close to me as I would allow. More than once I found her on my lap once the table started to get crowded.

Jessica and Jason were also there every day. Jessica always brought Kathy. Tommy also found his way over to the table most days; although he usually would be coaxed out onto the basketball courts once he was done eating. As we marked off the nights leading to the anticipated special, those others who showed up varied, although Julio and Millicent were there more days than they missed.

The two weeks leading up to the special were hard on me for one reason. I found that the first weekend spent with Ashley had helped us form a strong bond. I missed her when she was not around and often felt a bit melancholy at lunchtime as I watched Jessica and Kathy flirt with each other. Kelsey was a very pleasant companion, but in my mind she was off limits until she turned fourteen in December, so I kept her from becoming too close. Only the fact that I was able to sneak away to the treehouse on more than one afternoon to spend a few hours cuddling with Ashley made the wait for the televised special bearable.

Fortunately when the night came, Jason was able to offer to have me spend the night. Mother happily assented and also arranged for Matti to spend the night with Kelsey's family. I arrived at Jason's house right after a late dinner and rang the doorbell.

The door opened and Ashley jumped out, throwing her arms around my neck as she hugged me. My arms instinctively went around her waist, and I found my hands holding her bare ass.

"Ash?' I asked.

My blonde lover giggled and put her feet on the ground long enough to step back. She was wearing a new miniskirt that was really no more than a wide belt. While she was standing it covered her pussy, but it was clear that any movement would reveal her panties, or as I just discovered with my hands, her lack of underwear. "Do you like?" she asked shyly.

"Very much, but what about all the visitors you have tonight?" I asked.

Ashley giggled. "Morgan won't mind too much as my mother is going to be wearing a short skirt too. Not as short as this, but short. Letty is starting to relax a bit. She'll try to pretend that nothing is happening.

"How is she doing here?" I asked as we entered the house and immediately started down the steps to Ashley's basement bedroom. I tossed my duffle bag to the floor next to Ashley's bed and then pulled her close for another long kiss. Ashley started grinding her pussy against my thigh. She moaned into my mouth as our tongues dueled for dominance.

Ashley held the liplock for a full minute before pulling away. We were both gasping for breath. She sagged against me and sighed. "She's adjusting. It helps that she seems to find my brother fascinating."

"Oh?" I asked.

"Not that way!" Ashley snapped as she pushed me toward her bed. "Or at least not yet. Jason just seems to confuse her. He is willing to help her and never shouts at her or gives her orders. Morgan doesn't either, but he isn't here until time for dinner."

I nodded. "Yes, if Julio told us the truth, Letty might be a bit surprised to run into a man who doesn't try to run everything."

Ashley giggled. "Well, I'm a bad example then. You run everything about my life."

"I didn't choose your skirt for this evening," I pointed out. "I like it, but I don't remember us purchasing it."

"I went out and got this earlier today," Ashley admitted. "I wanted something sexy."

"I think this skirt is more slutty than sexy. I mean, if I want to put my fingers in your cunny I just have to slip them in. And anyone can look at your ass if you bend over."

Ashley just nodded. "Don't worry; no one has seen anything yet. I was hiding on the stairs and waiting for you to arrive. I was hoping you'd like it."

I pushed Ashley down on the bed and then climbed so I was kneeling above her. She put her arms around my neck and pulled me down to kiss her tenderly. "I always like how you look. You are sexy and smart. You don't have to dress special to bring that out."

"Mark! Ashley did Mark arrive yet? We were going to turn the news on. Supposedly they have some more information. We only have an hour until the special begins," Mrs. Roberts called out.

I rolled off of Ashley. "We should go and watch," I told her.

Ashley snorted, but pushed herself to the edge of the bed and then stood up. I grabbed her around the waist and slid a hand between her legs teasing her pussy lips with my fingers. "No fair," she muttered when I released her and stood up.

"You offered it up to me," I said with a smirk.

Ashley laughed and hugged me. "It's only for you. But you realize that I'm already wet and ready. You better fuck me hard at some point tonight."

"I've created a monster," I muttered. I gave Ashley a kiss before she released me to run up the stairs. "You realize that people will say you must be crazy."

"The gods must be crazy to have sent aliens to Earth looking for mercenary warriors. Although I guess if they are offering citizenship, it's more like they want to create some form of the French Foreign Legion," Ashley chirped as we reached the top of the stairs.

I followed Ashley into the room the family used for watching television. The television was set up in a corner of the room and was already on. I could see a familiar commercial for a popular beer being shown. There were two long couches in the room. On the one against a wall, Morgan sat between Mrs. Roberts and a big breasted brunette that I guessed had to be Becky. Becky had a sour expression on her face as Morgan and Mrs. Roberts sat and exchanged kisses.

The second couch sat at a right angle to the first, but was about eight feet into the room. Jason was sitting on the left side of this couch. I wondered where Letty was until we walked up to the back of the couch. I found her kneeling on the floor directly in front of Jason as he used a brush on her long black hair.

"Hey all!" Ashley chirped as she leaned against the back of the couch. "Look what I found in the front yard. Mom can I keep him? Please?"

Beatrice and Morgan paused in their kissing. Mrs. Roberts looked at me and smiled. "Well Mark, do you take my daughter?"

Before I could answer the show in the television switched back to a newsroom. The man sitting behind the desk was a young anchor clearly chosen to inspire trust by not being tied to any previous organization. He looked directly at the camera. "Good evening. I am Martin Sherman. Tonight the administration has promised that the Average Joes Special set to begin live in about one hour will demonstrate the procedure for being picked up as a volunteer to the Confederacy Military. They have led in with several announcements. The first is that this morning at ten, the president signed into law an update to the laws making the age of consent fourteen for all citizens of the United States. This is a follow up to the announcement that came out when the existence of the Confederacy was first announced."

"Fourteen?" Becky said scornfully. "At that age what boy knows what he's doing?"

I shook my head as Ashley held me. She was standing at the back of the couch and refused to move. I could feel her pushing me to stand behind her as we continued to watch the announcer speak.

"Tonight the special will last two hours. The second half of the show will be on our cable affiliate that has promised to provide live coverage to anyone with cable or satellite television. I understand that the streaming services have also confirmed that the show will be carried live," the announcer continued.