Chapter 14: Seconds and Thirds

Sophia watched him as he dressed, one hand twirling a lock of her short auburn hair absently. She had her hair cut rather short at the moment. It was still sort of long, but she'd worn it down her back most of her life and now it just curled around her face just under her jaw. She kind of liked it at first but she hated it now; she'd needed to change something after what happened at the Dukes and her hair was the easiest. Maybe she shouldn't have, though, because it was going to take for-fucking-ever to grow back.

Of course, one of the reasons she hated having her hair short was fucking around with his clothes right in front of her. She smiled as she watched him squirm; he always needed everything to be just right. It was yet another reason why she loved him.

When she'd asked him about her hair he'd said he liked it but she could tell he didn't and she called him on it. He went on about how he had always liked running his fingers through her long hair. He even said he'd liked to brush it when he 'spent time' with her. Those were the words he used. 'Spent time'. She'd have said something like 'fucked the shit out of her' or maybe just 'had sex' with her. It almost made her cry when she figured out that she would have been wrong.

Calix had never simply had sex with her. He'd never simply fucked her. There had always been a before to the sex and always an after; unlike some of her boyfriends – and even some of the other Cholos – he didn't just come in and take her, only to leave when he was done using her. Where all of the other men she'd been with had used her as nothing more than a cum-dump, Calix had treated her with love and care and understanding. It was one of the many, many things she loved about him.

That was when she figured out that, for Calix, it really was all about spending time with her. It was just how he saw it. Sure, she knew the fucking was a big part of it – he was a teen after all – but that wasn't only why he came to her. It was 'spending time' with her – simply being with her, holding her, sharing with her. Brushing her hair. She smiled again as she thought about it and decided right then that she was going to miss it just as much as he did. Maybe even more.

Now, she was with him. She couldn't believe it. She'd never been 'with' someone. She'd had boyfriends in the past but it seemed she'd always just 'belonged' to them; she'd never truly been 'with' them.

She'd had a lot of time to think during her time at Doc's. She'd had a lot of time to talk with Maria and Inez and cry with them while they were there after the drugs wore off. Maria had declared that Sophia was submissive – though she'd had to explain the word. And teach her to pronounce it right. When they'd talked about it, though, she knew that Maria was right. The meaning of the word that Maria gave her fit her to a 'T'. She wanted someone to take care of her. She wanted someone to tell her what to do. She didn't want to have to make all the choices by herself, she wanted someone to do that for her. She wanted someone to make the big choices for her, anyway. She didn't want someone to tell her how to dress every day – okay, maybe sometimes, but not every day. She didn't want someone to tell her to stick a tampon up her cooch on her monthlies or to eat or shit or whatever. She just wanted someone to make the big decisions for her.

Calix could do that. Some of her other boyfriends had kind of tried but they'd always just used her as a door mat and walked all over her. Once they'd figured her out, they just forced her to do shit – even shit she didn't like. Calix was different. He didn't order her around, he just kind of steered her where he wanted her to go. He made all of the decisions and told her what to do, which is what she wanted. Well, he didn't exactly order her like that; he kind of always asked her to do stuff but she'd just taken his asking as orders instead ... and it worked. He asked her to do things and she did it. It was perfect.

Well, maybe not completely perfect. Cal didn't really take charge enough in the bedroom for her. Oh, she liked his gentle fucking most of the time – but sometimes, especially when she was really, really horny, she just wanted to be used. She wanted him to fuck her; fuck her cooch, fuck her face – hell, even fuck her ass if that was what he wanted though she'd never done that before. She wanted him to just fucking TAKE her. Not always, just once in a while. And not hurt her – she wasn't into pain; that was one of the things all her other boyfriends never understood. Sex was about loving, not hurting. She just, sometimes, wanted to know she BELONGED to him, body and soul. Maybe it was silly – but she couldn't help how she felt sometimes.

But that was only sometimes. Maybe, like, once every ten or twenty times. All the other times, she wanted to be fucked just the way he did – soft and sweet and with plenty of passion. Plus, he had no problem sticking his tongue in her cunt which was something she fucking LOVED but none of her other boyfriends would ever do. They said it was nasty and wouldn't put their faces anywhere near her cooch. Calix almost fucking lived there he spent so much time eating her out. If she had to do without the being used stuff and only fuck like Calix fucked her, she knew she could be happy. He loved her. That was enough.

Now, he was getting ready to leave her – for a date, of all things. She thought that she should be jealous; maybe even angry. Strangely, she found she wasn't. She knew he loved her. Knew it. There wasn't even a question in her mind. She'd known it for a while now – but he'd finally said it and that made it all the more real.

Besides, he was going to have five other women when he took her to the stars. She was surprised when the thought of sharing him with five other women didn't really bother her. Calix was larger than life; he deserved more than a single woman. He probably deserved more than six women – but six women would do.

She giggled. A woman for every night of the week and on the seventh night, an orgy.

The thought of an orgy got her thinking about what it would entail. It was one of the things she'd never done; the orgy thing, not the multiple partners thing. She'd had plenty of multiple partner times, mostly because her boyfriend-of-the-moment wanted to have another girl. It was really hot, pleasing a guy and a girl at the same time. She'd enjoyed herself a lot. She could only imagine how much more she'd enjoy an orgy.

The thought of fucking and sucking another woman didn't bother her. The practice didn't either. She'd figured out she was bi a long time ago; with the shit in her past, she'd almost had to learn to love it – she had had her face buried in her mom and auntie's cooches as long as she could remember. Hell, her momma had told a story at parties and such about how she didn't like sucking on her momma's nipples but loved sucking on her momma's clit when the woman was supposed to be breastfeeding her. According to the story, she wasn't too choosy about which clit she sucked, either. Momma had always had a big laugh at how she'd drunk more of her momma's cum than her breast milk. Her auntie's too.

So when women in the Cholos were 'between men' they'd often got together to have a little party of their own – the kind of party that had nice little games like '69' or 'face-sitting' (which she secretly loved, especially when the woman sitting on her face would grind and fuck on her mouth and tongue). It was fun and exciting and she enjoyed being with them ... but ever since Calix had come into her life she'd had an itch only he could scratch – no other man or woman could do it. She hadn't wanted to admit it but she needed him. She loved him – and he loved her.

"Are you sure you're okay with this?" Calix asked for the fifth or sixth time. It was just another expression of how deeply he cared for her and it gave her a warm, fuzzy feeling. "I can call it off if it bothers you." He looked a bit sheepish. "I know I was telling you about having more – uh – women when we head to the stars but ... I'm not sure I'm comfortable with it. Not really."

"I'm sure," Sophia smiled. "Go out. Have fun." She straightened her mouth into a serious frown with difficulty. "But not too much fun. Make sure you save a little something-something for me when you get home."

"Home," Calix mused, as he looked at her. "That's funny, isn't it? I mean, for the last two years I've always said that the Cholos house was my 'home'. Except, I never felt welcome there. So, I always thought the house I lived at was home – but it wasn't; it was just a place I worked and slept." He paused. "I've moved a lot; did I tell you that I lived in Texas while my Dad was alive?" Sophia shook her head. "Well, I did. I was an 'army brat' so we moved every few years until Dad died. My Mom – my step-Mom – my sisters and I moved up here just after he died. I was ten. As I think back on all the places I've lived, though, I don't really think I felt any of the ones since my Dad's death were my home." He looked at her, his head tilted. "Now, though, here – inside of Alicia's basement, in the one place I never thought I'd feel welcome – it suddenly feels like home. I feel like I'm home." He sat down beside her on the bed. "I think it's because you're here. Isn't that the strangest thing? You – you've kind of – I don't know – snuck up on me. I mean, I didn't even realize that I loved you – that I was in love with you – until just there, in the Cholos' house. I wonder if I just didn't want to admit it before." Calix shook his head. "I guess I should have known when the thought of you in danger – well, the three of you in danger – nearly had me homicidal."

He shook his head again and then sat up a little straighter. "Speaking of which," he started, "I'm sorry about the welcome. This," he waved his hand around the room, "is kind of new for me. I only moved in yesterday; actually, Alicia harangued me into moving in yesterday. I didn't expect her to blow her top when I brought you home. I'm sorry."

Alicia had been homicidally fucking angry when Calix had brought Sophia home with him. She'd screeched and screamed for damn near an hour when he'd said Sophia was going to live here now. Sophia had no fucking clue why Alicia was so jacked up about it; it was pretty easy to see that Alicia didn't give a shit about Calix. She obviously didn't love him; hell, Sophia could see that in the younger girl's eyes. It wasn't until the dickering started that Sophia had finally understood. Alicia wanted some promises from Cal and she was using her tantrum as a way to make him do what she wanted. The bitch was certainly cunning, Sophia had to give her that. The younger girl had settled down almost as soon as Cal finally agreed to talk to her every time he went out and tell her where he was going. Oh, and he couldn't go to any place that had enough people for a 'pick-up' unless Alicia and that other girl – her sister – went with him. Sophia was worried it would make a mess of his first date with Brianna – but Calix would figure something out. Sophia actually felt a little sorry for Alicia; Calix would probably bend to a point – the young girl had some hold on him that Sophia couldn't exactly understand – but once he reached his limit, the girl was in for a severe shock.

Then, there was Tamara, Alicia's younger sister. Cal had explained how he'd promised Rico on the man's deathbed that he'd take Alicia and their daughter, Amelia, away to the stars with him and how Alicia had twisted that promise into including Tamara. Cal also explained that the two girls were just looking for a ride; that he'd likely have nothing to do with them once they got to space. He explained that it was likely they would find someone else to be with – or, at least, someone else to fuck. After one look at the young girl's moon-struck eyes, however, Sophia had severe doubts that Calix would be getting rid of Tamara any time soon.

The girl had it bad for him.

"I'll try to run interference between the two of you," Calix promised.

"For who?" Sophia asked, his voice pulling her from her thoughts. "Oh. Alicia. It's okay. I'll just avoid her as much as I can."

"That's not fair to you," Calix started but Sophia placed a finger gently on his lips.

"Really. It's okay," she smiled. "I've put up with much worse. If she wants to yell at me, let her. It's a small price to pay to be with you."

"That's just it, Soph," Cal replied. "You shouldn't have to pay any price. You deserve more."

Sophia shook her head. "No," she declared firmly. "I don't deserve you – but I'm going to hold onto you as tight as I can and hope you'll never get tired of me."

"Don't talk like that," Calix intoned. "No more. You're special, Sophia. I'm the one who doesn't deserve you."

"Fine, we don't deserve each other," she replied, rolling her eyes. "Now, you're going to be late, so get going."

She sat back in the bed – THEIR bed – and watched him head up the stairs. She smiled as she listened to him walking and then frowned as she heard Alicia berating him yet again. She shook her head but then smiled as she heard the door open and close.

She sat there for a moment, smiling in happiness at the thought that Calix wanted her. That Calix loved her. It was still difficult to believe. Sure, he was five years younger than she was. Sure, she could get into trouble if someone bothered to book her for statutory rape. That was true before, however, and she'd not let it stop her. She wouldn't worry about it now. He wanted her. He loved her. That was all that mattered.

"How do you do it?" She heard from the stairs. She looked up in surprise to find Tamara standing at the bottom of the stairs; she hadn't heard the younger girl come down. She looked closer at the young girl and realized her eyes were puffy and red; she'd been crying.

"How do I do what?" Sophia asked in reply.

"Let him go off like that?" Tamara clarified. "I mean, how can you send him off to another girl – on a date?"

Sophia smiled. "So many ways," she chuckled. She waved the girl closer and waited for Tamara to walk over and take a seat on the bed. "I love him. I know that he loves me. Everything else is just ... shit."

"How can you love him if you let him leave?" Tamara whispered.

"It's because I love him that I can let him go on a date with another girl," Sophia explained. "Look, sure, he's going to maybe wine and dine the girl. Hell, he might even fuck her. He's coming home to me, though. Even if he falls for this Brianna chick, he's still gonna love me. I can live with that." She saw the confusion on the younger girl's face and decided to try a different way of explaining it. "You know he has over an eight on his CAP score, right?" She waited for Tamara to nod. "Well, he kind of explained that to me. I wasn't really sure how it worked. He told me that it means he's going to be able to take six people with him when he goes. If I understand how he explained it, it means that he is going to have 3 other bitches besides me – not counting you and your sister – so I need to learn to share him anyway, don't I?"

"Alicia said she's going to let him take two other girls but that she was going to make him take two men," Tamara explained. "A husband for each of us. She's even looking for men to take with us."

"Well, I don't know nothing about that," Sophia said doubtfully. "I ain't ever really paid attention to it before because I know that it doesn't matter for me. That sure doesn't fit with what Calix told me, though. I got the impression that he had the choice of who to take."

"Yeah, well, my sister doesn't always have a firm grasp on reality," Tamara admitted. "She thinks she can wrap everyone around her little finger and get them to do whatever she says."

"How has that worked out for her when she's tried it with Cal?" Sophia questioned.

"Not very well," Tamara giggled. "It's one of the reasons I love Cal; he doesn't take her shit." The younger girl immediately covered her mouth, her eyes wide. "I meant..."

"Exactly what you said," Sophia said with a twinkle in her eyes. "Don't worry, you don't have to hide it from me. I kind of figured it out – and I don't mind. Six other girls, remember?"

"But he doesn't even know I exist," the younger girl wailed.

"Yes, he does," Sophia smiled. "Besides, you have the easy part. He's already promised to take you."

"Yeah, but he's just going to push me off on someone else," Tamara said. "I heard him talking to Alicia about it the other day."

"Well, you just don't let him," Sophia smiled. "I mean, you're already there, right? What is he going to do if you just won't leave??"

"So, where are we going?" the diminutive red-head asked with a smile.

"Well, I've heard of this great restaurant called Digiroo that seems to be getting rave reviews," Calix said with a straight face. "It's an Australian steakhouse chain, I think."

"I'll kill you," Brianna said flatly.

Calix laughed. "I thought you might," he chuckled. "I promise, we're not going there. That's all the clues you're getting, though."

Brianna chuckled at him. She'd let him have his little secrets. For now. She looked around at the car he was driving.

"This is a nice car," Brianna said, looking around at it. "It's really clean and well cared for."

Calix had to agree with her; unfortunately, it wasn't his. Sophia had loaned it to him. It was one of the things her parents had 'left' her when they'd disappeared a few years ago; well, left her in the sense that they weren't using it anymore. No one knew where they'd disappeared to – they'd just gone to bed one night and vanished. As had a few aunts and uncles living nearby. Only Sophia had been spared, evidently. Most people thought she'd had something to do with it; Calix knew better. He also knew they'd never be able to prove anything, though.

Sadly, the comment was the perfect segue to a conversation that Calix was hoping to put off until after the date. He liked Brianna – maybe even had a bit of a crush on her. He needed to tell her about Sophia and she'd just opened to door for that.

With a long sigh, he pulled into the parking lot of a shop that had closed years ago and put the car in park. For a moment, he just stared out the window, trying to come up with a way to explain this whole thing to Brianna. The words, however, just wouldn't come – leading a rather awkward silence.

"This doesn't look like a restaurant," Brianna chuckled nervously.

Calix turned to her and smiled tightly. "We'll get to the restaurant in a little bit. I think we need to talk first."

"That sounds rather ominous," the young girl said worriedly.

"It's not," Calix reassured her. Then, he let out another long sigh. "And yet, it is." He shook his head, taking a deep breath. "Brianna, my life is – complicated. Even more complicated now than it was just last Wednesday."

"If you're feeling sick or you're still not recovered from your operation or something, we don't have to go out," Brianna interjected quickly. "I mean, we can just hang out at my house or-or yours or something."

"That isn't it," Cal replied with a wry smile. He bit his lip for a moment in thought, trying to find the correct beginning to this conversation. "Look. I told you I have a good CAP score, right?"

"Over an eight, yeah," Brianna replied, her face wrinkled in confusion.

"I also told you that it means I can take six – er – companions with me, right?" He waited for the teen to nod. "I'm not sure you understand what that means, though."

Brianna chuckled mirthlessly. "It means you get six sex slaves. Trust me, I've done my research on the whole Confederacy thing. After my parents 'went off' I dug into the whole thing thoroughly. I probably know more about it than you do. Did you know that what they refer to as 'concubines' – what you so euphemistically were calling 'companions' – are considered property? They have no rights and no say in anything; their 'sponsor' says something and they have to do it. The sponsors can do whatever they like – even kill – their slaves and no one will bat an eyelash. It's sick and twisted."

She looked at the concerned face of her date and her next words were softer. "And, God help me, I understand it. At least a little. A number of countries require military service – but I think only science fiction has set up a state where lack of service removes citizenship." She shrugged. "I might be wrong. In a way, that's what the aliens are doing. They want – okay, maybe they need – us to fight off those other aliens – the Sa'arm. So, they pick those of us that they think have the best chance to survive. I think they're worried, though, because it sounds like there's a whole bunch of Sa'arm and not that many of us – so they take along 'breeding stock'."

"Wow," Calix snorted, looking away from the woman. "That doesn't sound so fair anymore."

"That's because you're looking at it from our point of view," Brianna chuckled. "Trust me, I didn't think it was fair either when I first heard about it. I had to sit my younger sisters down and explain it to them." She laughed. "We were outraged – until my youngest sister, Siobhan, asked why the aliens didn't just take all of us. It got me thinking, so I looked it up. From what I read, they can't. They don't have the resources to evacuate the whole planet in time."

"That got me thinking about it from their point of view," she continued thoughtfully. "If they can't save all of us – who are they going to pick? They need to pick the ones they think will be most likely to fend off the Sa'arm; to stop them. And if that is ALL they need, why take anyone else at all? They certainly don't need to – and yet, they've agreed to other people. Granted, the stipulation they're making is heinous and completely unreasonable – from our point of view. Maybe it's different for them. Maybe they don't have our sense of ethics – or maybe they're so strange that our ethics won't work for them. Whatever, the point is that they're the ones in control so we have to play nice and learn a new set of rules."

"That's ... pragmatic," Calix intoned after a short pause.

"Yeah, but it's also true," Brianna smiled with just a touch of melancholy. "It's also..." The young girl paused staring out into space. "Reasonable, sort of." She saw Calix's look of incredulity and laughed. "Okay, not the property part. That's a little tough to swallow. I think there are very few people I'd have enough faith in to submit myself to that. The multiple partner thing, though..." Her voice trailed off again before coming back sharply as she began to nod slightly. "I can see that, honestly." She winced and looked over at her date. "I don't think we were ever meant to be monogamous. I don't think it's in our nature. I think our biology dictates polyamory, to be honest. Women – we're always going to look for that Alpha Male with great genes to pass onto our children. Men are going to wander, wanting to spread as much of their seed as possible to be sure they live on through their children. You put those two things together and you certainly don't get a stable recipe for monogamy. I think half of the stupidity in our past – the wars and witch hunts and what have you – are because we've spent so much time fighting our very nature." She looked away suddenly, staring out the passenger window. "I know it worked for my Mom and Dad. I was going through their things after they'd left and I-I found some things. Pictures. Videos. They were ... well, I think the correct term is swingers. I haven't told my sisters but..." Her voice trailed off again into a big breath before she turned back to Cal and continued. "Maybe the aliens have managed to stumble onto the answer for us." She shrugged again. "Or maybe they're so far advanced beyond us that they just naturally realized polyamory was the only way to go."

"You said there were very few people you had enough faith in to submit yourself as property," Calix asked softly. "Do you think I could be one of them?"

"Honestly?" Brianna said with a smile. "I wouldn't be here if I didn't think that you just might be one of them. Plus, you have really, really good genes from where I'm sitting." She laughed before settling down, then reached over and touched his hand. "I won't lie and say I know you. Maybe this won't work. I will say that I seem to get happier when you smile. I will say that I have feelings for you that I can't quite explain. Is it enough? I think that's what this whole 'dating' thing is about."

"You know, I think this is the most you've ever really talked to me," Calix said thoughtfully. "At least, aside from our assignments. You always seemed so..."

"Shy and retiring?" Brianna interrupted with a blush. "I am, sort of. You bring that out of me. A lot. When I was getting ready, though, I looked over at Kayleigh and Siobhan; they were helping me get ready, you know? I was looking at them and I realized – they're not safe. I have to believe the Sa'arm are coming and from what I read, they're not going to be pretty. Did you know that they basically view us as food? If we stay here, my sisters – and me – are going to be food. I don't want that for them." She swallowed and looked down. "So, I decided I wasn't going to waste this opportunity. I mean, if things work out between us."

Calix thought about what Brianna had said. She made some good points; he'd never bothered to think of this from the aliens' point of view before. He'd always thought in terms of himself or even in terms of humanity as a whole. The aliens, though, weren't humanity. They had an – alien – way of looking at things.

"I think I stole your thunder," Brianna said with a soft laugh. "I didn't mean to. What did you want to say?"

Calix let his mind drift back, trying to remember the reason he'd pulled over. "Oh. You mentioned how clean the car is." He shrugged. "It's – well, it's not mine. It belongs to Sophia who was in the Cholos with me."

"Oh," Brianna frowned. "Okay?"

"I'm not sure how to say this, really," Calix said. "I kind of wanted to wait until after the date because – well, I wanted at least one date with you. I really do like you, you know?"

Brianna's eyes pursed with a slight smile and her eyes narrowed. "You're stalling."

Calix sighed. "She was more than just in the Cholos with me. We were – uh..."

"Lovers?" Brianna asked softly.

Calix looked at the girl guiltily and then winced. "Yeah." He blew out another long sigh. "There's more. I – that is, I've – fallen in love with her." His voice picked up quickly. "I think I have been for a long time, I just didn't want to admit it to myself. When – well, it's a long story and I promise I'll tell you later but – we love each other and ... I've asked her – uh – to go – with me."

"She's okay with you going on this date?" Brianna asked narrowly.

"Yeah," Calix replied guiltily. "She actually kind of insisted that I go."

"Then I'm not sure I see the problem," Brianna intoned slowly.

Calix did a double-take, his face startled.

Brianna just laughed. "Calix, you're going to have six sex slaves. I already knew about Alicia and ... her sister, whose name I can't remember."

"Alicia and Tamara aren't like that," Calix jumped in quickly. "There's nothing – that is, we're not..."

"I know, you're obligated to take them," Brianna replied. "The point is, I already knew about them – and I think you're naïve to think that you won't be having sex with them but that's neither here nor there. I knew about them. Now I know about Sophia. You still have three spots left and if I fit into one of those spots then that'll be that. Look, I told you my – thoughts – on the whole monogamy versus polyamory thing. I knew what I was getting myself into, here. I'm not..." She paused searching her feelings and realized she was just about to lie.

"No," she said with some surprise. "I actually am more than a little jealous of them. That's kind of new; I've dated a few times and I've never been jealous before." She shook her head. "Doesn't matter. I'm fine with this and, as long as Sophia and Alicia and – Tamara, did you say? – Tamara are good with it, then I don't see any reason not to do this."

Calix could only stare at her, a bit dumbfounded. He'd expected the date to end in disaster as soon as he'd mentioned that he'd taken Sophia to go with him. He was still processing some of the other things she'd said; he had to play back the conversation in his mind to be sure he'd actually heard her correctly.

"Oh," Brianna interrupted his thoughts. "With one caveat. You have to call Whiskey tomorrow and set up a date with her for next week. We've become..." Her voice trailed off as she considered her words. " ... well, not exactly friends, though I think it's moving in that direction." She shrugged. "We talk on the phone. She told me what happened to her – and she told me what you did for her. She's fallen for you in a big way and I can't say I blame her. Heck, just hearing about it made me want you even more so..." She shook her head. "It's only fair."

Cal took Brianna down Ford Road to Waverly's of Westland, an upscale Italian restaurant that wasn't too expensive but which had received great reviews. He had considered where to take the young woman carefully. His first thought was to take her to an Irish restaurant because of her Irish heritage; then he'd considered that it might make her think of her Mom and Dad and re-thought his plan. He was going to take her to a Mexican restaurant because it was hard to find a person who didn't like Mexican food - but they lived in Southwest Detroit, also known as little Mexico, so it was likely she ate Mexican food regularly. A steakhouse was out because she worked at one and he figured she was probably sick of seeing steak. Waverly's seemed a good compromise. It was an Italian restaurant but it had American things on the menu – including steak, unfortunately – so he was pretty certain Brianna would find something to eat.