Chapter 37: Stephanie, Trish, and a Visitor

July, 1983, Chicago, Illinois

On Sunday morning, the phone rang at 6:00am. Stephanie was calling to say that she was leaving home and that she and Trish would be at my place in about six hours. After I ran and ate breakfast, I called Karin, despite having just seen her a few days before. After our call, I double-checked that I had all the food I needed and checked that the guest bedroom where Trish would sleep had clean sheets on the bed and that there were clean towels in the downstairs bathroom. When I was sure everything was OK, I went to my study which was off the kitchen and turned on my computer so I could write in my journal.

I thought back over everything that Anala had said, as well as my discussion with Karin. I really wanted to talk to Jennifer, but it just felt wrong to do that over the phone. She'd be with me in a few days and we'd be able to have a deep, heart-to-heart talk. I wrote the equivalent of several pages of text, mostly reviewing the positive things that had happened in my life, and my reactions to the bad things. When I couldn't think of anything else to write, I saved the text and shut down the computer.

I made some tea and went to my study to get my copy of Atlas Shrugged and started reading. The first thing I noticed was that Ayn Rand was a fairly poor writer, though I could tolerate her style. I read a couple of chapters, then put the book down and went to the kitchen to rinse out my mug. After rinsing it out, I walked into the great room and glanced out the window and saw the grill. I chuckled as I realized that cooking on the grill would be a lot easier with charcoal! I made a quick trip to Jewel for charcoal and lighter fluid and then returned home and had a quick lunch. I had just finished washing my plate when I heard the front door open.

"Hey, Big Brother!" Stephanie announced brightly as she walked into the house.

"Hey, Squirt!" I said, walking quickly to the foyer to greet her.

We hugged and exchanged a quick kiss. I hugged Trish as well. She'd matured from fourteen to sixteen and had become even more beautiful than when she'd given me her virginity a few years before.

"You left your door unlocked, Steve!"

"I ran out to the store earlier. I didn't lock it when I came back. If I'm home, I usually don't. Come on in. We'll give Trish the nickel tour."

They dropped their bags in the foyer and we went to the basement and worked our way up to the attic. Trish was impressed with the house and Stephanie commented on the furniture that I'd purchased, especially the sitting room that had been turned into the Indian room.

"Where am I sleeping?" Trish asked.

"Well, the only rooms with a bed that don't belong to someone are the guest rooms in the basement," I said. "I hope that's OK."

"That's fine. I just wanted to know. Are you two still, you know?" Trish said, blushing slightly.

"Yes!" Stephanie said enthusiastically.

"How have you been, Trish?" I asked,

"Pretty good. School is going well, and I have a guy I've been going out with."

"That's great!" I said.

"But he's nowhere near as good as you were!" she giggled.

"Thanks!" I grinned. "Did you guys need lunch?"

"Yes, please," Stephanie replied.

I fixed soup and sandwiches and sat with the girls while they ate. When they finished, Trish took her bag downstairs and Stephanie took her bag up to my room, and then they joined me in the great room.

"Was there anything specific you wanted to do in Chicago?" I asked the girls.

"Not really," Stephanie said. "I just came to see you and dragged Trish along because I wasn't allowed to come by myself."

Trish laughed, "Not that she had to beg too much!"

"Oh, shush!" Stephanie giggled, and turned to me. "How was your trip to Sweden?"

"Pretty good. Katt and Mikael's wedding was a fairly simple affair, and I got to see my friends. I spent lots of time with Sofia and Karin. Sofia's talking about going to school here in Chicago."

"Because of you?" Stephanie asked.

"What do you think?" I grinned.

"Why am I not surprised? She knows about you and Stephie?"

"I share pretty much everything with Sofia. She's like Bethany in that regard. So yes, she knows."

"And Karin?" Stephanie asked.

"She got on my case about the way I've handled our relationship and how I handled things with Kara. Anala more or less did the same thing when I had dinner with her last night. Anala also got on my case when I said life sucks."

"If you're talking about your relationships, I could see that, but otherwise? Really? How could you say that?"

"Which is exactly what Anala said," I sighed.

"What happened with Kara?" Trish asked. "I only heard you broke up."

"She had a meltdown and broke up with me. It's complicated, but I was about to propose to her when she simply walked out on me."

"Whoa! You were really going to ask her to marry you?"

"Yes. It was Christmas Eve, and I was literally seconds away from proposing."

"She's a fool, Steve!" Trish said. "If I had that chance, I wouldn't give it up for anything! If you don't have a steady girlfriend now, I'd be interested!"

"It's complicated for a bunch of reasons," I said. "First off, I have to say that you're a beautiful girl and I really enjoyed being with you a couple of years ago. The thing is, I'm living with a girl, though she's home in Georgia for the Summer. I also have a couple of other girls that I'm seeing off and on, you're only sixteen and live in Milford, and besides, you've got a boyfriend."

"Yeah, but besides that?" she laughed. "Well, it was worth a try."

"Steve, can we use the sauna?" Stephanie asked.

"Sure," I answered.

I got up and headed downstairs with the girls in tow. I turned on the sauna and adjusted the temperature, and filled the bucket with water. We got undressed and hung our clothes on the hooks, grabbed some towels, and went into the sauna. I got a good look at Trish and saw that she was curvier than she had been at fourteen, with nice hips, long legs, a flat stomach and firm, large breasts. As fantastic as she was, she was nothing compared to my little sister.

I ladled a lot of water onto the rocks, which hissed and gave off a tremendous amount of steam. I leaned back and relaxed completely, closing my eyes and breathing deeply. After the intense conversations with Anala last night, and writing in my journal this morning, I just needed to empty my mind.

I was happy that the girls didn't try to talk while we sat in the sauna, and surprisingly, happy that Trish had a boyfriend. As much as I would have enjoyed being with her again, I wasn't interested in a relationship with her, and my experience with her showed that she would want that if we had sex.

When we finished in the sauna, we each took a quick shower, then dressed and went upstairs. I asked the girls if they wanted to go furniture shopping with me because I wanted some chairs and a table for the patio outside as well as some furniture for the sunroom. They quickly agreed and after I checked the Yellow Pages, we headed out. A few hours later we returned home, having arranged delivery for the things I wanted. The house was quickly taking shape and my bank account was smaller for it, but in the end, it was all a good investment.

I went out to the backyard and prepared the charcoal in the grill, doused it with lighter fluid and then set a match to it. While the coals heated, I went to the kitchen and took three steaks from the fridge and rubbed them with seasoning. I cut some broccoli heads and put them in a basket to steam, then took the steaks out to the grill. Ten minutes later, I took the steaks back inside and put them on the dining room table that the girls had set while I was cooking. I got the broccoli and a dish of coleslaw and took it to the dining room.

After we finished eating, we cleaned up, then went for a walk to the ice cream shop, stopping at the video store on the way home. We rented M✶A✶S✶H, which I thoroughly enjoyed. As usual, my sister made her comments about being better than an actress who was nude in the film — in this case, Sally Kellerman.

"True, but that's only because you're available, and she's not!" I teased.

"Asshole!" Stephanie said with a laugh.

"I just call them as I see them!" I declared.

"You saw both of us, up close and personal, in the sauna. And you think SHE's better?"

I chuckled, "You know I'm teasing, Squirt. Both of you are foxes and nobody in their right mind would turn you down!"

"You turned me down earlier," Trish said, though with a smile.

"Yes, because you have a boyfriend and because I'm just not in a position to be in a relationship with you like you seem to want."

"And if I just wanted to fool around? With no strings attached?" she asked, flashing a saucy smile.

"You have a boyfriend, Trish. That's a bright red line I can't cross. I'm sure Stephanie told you."

"She did," Trish said with a small sigh.

She'd cleared up the whole relationship piece, but I didn't think it was a good idea to violate my rule. I'd done that a couple of times with Sofia, but that was a special circumstance. I'd turned down Pia's offer for the very same reason, and honestly, if I was going to pick someone to break the rule with, Pia would win out over Trish any day of the week.

When the movie was finished, Trish headed down to the guest room after one last attempt to get me to change my mind. Stephanie and I went up to my room and, after we brushed our teeth, we got into my queen-sized bed.

"Now, if we could just find a way to do this when I come to Chicago for college!" she sighed. "But I don't think you want all your new friends to know about us."

"It would cause too many problems, Squirt. You know it and I know it. Even if you're eighteen, it's such a huge taboo that we can't tell anybody else about it."

"That's why Carie isn't here," Stephanie said. "She really, really wanted to come, and her parents were OK with it, but then I couldn't have slept with you. She was upset when I told her I was going to take Trish. I told Dad that Carie couldn't come, because she'd been the one I first suggested, before I realized the problem that would cause."

"For sure," I agreed. "I wouldn't have wanted to sleep alone for three days with you in the house!"

"Alone? Are you kidding? Carie wants you. Hell, she wants you so badly that she'd do anything to have you!"

"What? Because I flirted with her at Friendly's? Really?"

"Steve, you're a college guy with a nice car and you own a house. You're twenty and she's sixteen. When she flirted with you and you flirted back, you made her day. I told you when we were there that she'd drop her panties for you in a heartbeat! Come to Milford a day or two before Tatyana comes to visit and I promise you that Carie will jump you so fast it'll make your head spin!"

I chuckled, "She is cute, but why are we talking about her when we're naked in my bed?"

"You know, that's a good point! We're supposed to be fucking, not talking!" she giggled.

We finally fell asleep around 2:30am having worn each other out with hard-driving, pounding sex that left us both sweaty and gasping for breath. When we woke in the morning, we took a long, hot shower together, then dressed and went down to make breakfast. When it was ready, Stephanie went and knocked on Trish's door to let her know and the three of us ate, then cleaned up the kitchen.

That evening we went to Grant Park to watch the Fourth of July fireworks display. We sat on a large blanket in the middle of the park with a small picnic basket with snacks and drinks and oohed and aahed with the rest of the crowd as the skyrockets burst overhead in multi-colored displays and aerial bombs shook us to our core. When the display ended, we lay down and waited for the crowd to thin before heading to the South Shore line to catch a train back to Hyde Park, where Stephanie and I made plenty of fireworks of our own.

Tuesday was a quiet day around the house where we talked, listened to music, played pool, and used the sauna. I made burgers on the grill for dinner and after dinner we rented The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane starring Jodie Foster. I really liked it, but the girls found the character played by Martin Sheen creepy and used that excuse to cuddle me during the movie. Trish felt really good snuggled up next to me, but not good enough for me to break my rule.

On Wednesday morning, Stephanie and I stayed in bed late. Despite exhausting sex on Monday and Tuesday nights, we knew this was our last chance to be together for a while, so we made love slowly and passionately, then cuddled for a bit. When we got out of bed, we took a hot bath together in the claw-foot tub, then showered, and finally went downstairs for breakfast.

Trish was already up and had made herself something to eat. I made some tea and cooked breakfast for Stephanie and I. When we finished, the three of us cleaned up and then the girls packed their things to head back to Milford. While Stephanie was packing, I sat on the bed talking to her.

"I wish you would let me stay a few more days, Big Brother. I really want to see Jennifer," she said.

"I know, Squirt. But Jennifer and I need our time together, which you and I talked about."

"I know," she sighed. "I guess if you two manage to work things out, it'll all be worth it in the long-run."

"It's just a second date, Squirt. One small step at a time. And I'm still skeptical given everything that's happened."

"Things are really good with Stephie, I guess."

"They are, and I don't want to mess that up. I'll be heading down to Georgia to see her and go to the race in about three weeks and she's coming back with me then, instead of waiting until right before classes start."

"And you and Karin?" Stephanie asked.

"I have no idea. As I said, we had a really long talk about my issues with commitment and she got on my case about just kind of letting inertia win. She has a point, but it's also true that Stephie and I are compatible and I'd be silly to end it with her. I was silly to end it with her in December; because I'm pretty sure I had the wrong motives for getting engaged."

"You did, but that's not something you wanted to hear from me, or anyone else, at the time. You were trying to prove that you COULD do it. That's a bad reason, Big Brother," she said, stuffing the last of her clothes into her bag.

We went downstairs to find Trish ready to go. I hugged both girls and received soft kisses from both of them. Trish's kiss conveyed a deep desire; Stephanie's kiss conveyed her deepest love.

"See you in a couple of weeks, Big Brother. Remember, come a day or two before Tatyana arrives!"

"We'll see, Squirt! Drive safely. Try to keep it under 90!"

"Dad would kill me if I got a ticket for going that fast, and Mom would never let me out of the house again!"

I hugged Stephanie again and walked the girls to the Nova. They got in, Stephanie started it up and flashed me a big smile as she gunned the engine before pulling away with a chirp of the tires. I waved as they turned the corner to head for the Dan Ryan Expressway. When the car was out of sight, I went back into the house and grabbed a Dr Pepper from the fridge. I went to my office and dialed Stephie's number.

"I've missed you, Yankee," she said after we said 'hello'.

"I miss you too, Peaches. Is everything OK at home?"

"Except you not bein' here, yep! Still coming down on the Thursday before the race?"

"That's the plan. You still planning on coming back with me on Tuesday after the race?"

"Yep. I mostly just have some clothes because I left everything at your place."

"How are Red and Rose?" I asked.

"Good. He's away in Florida right now, helping a new ARCA driver at Daytona. He'll be back in another week or so. Emily asked about you!"

"I bet!" I chuckled. "How's she doing?"

"Pretty good. Still trying to figure out how to kidnap you and lock you in her daddy's shed, so'n you cain't escape."

"No way, Peaches! I'm yours, so I'd expect you to get your dad's shotgun and rescue me!"

"Count on it, Yankee! I told you that girl isn't going to get her grubby meat hooks into you the way she wants. I might let her have ya' at the barn, but no more'n that!"

"Peaches, the only thing I want when I come to Georgia is to see you!" I said.

"I like hearing that, Yankee. But it don't make no never mind if Emily gets her roll in the hay. I know you ain't got a thing for her."

"Let's just worry about you and me and take it from there," I said.