Chapter 15

Jeff yawned as he picked over his breakfast options. He didn’t want a heavy meal, so an omelet was out. Fruit by itself wasn’t really substantial enough. Cereal could work. He picked over the boxes until he found some that didn’t look like candy. He put two boxes and a bottle of milk on his tray.

“Can I put mine on there, too?” Amy asked.

“Of course,” Jeff said and lowered the tray to accept her bagel and orange juice.

Amy wore dark blue shorts and a red crop top under an open white blouse that gave tantalizing glimpses of smooth tanned skin. Her soft brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail now that her beads and braids were gone. The change opened up her face up and allowed her penetrating blue eyes to stand out. Jeff couldn’t resist leaning closer to catch the scent of her again after snuggling her all night.

“Are you sniffing me?” Amy laughed as she pushed his face away.

Shawna chuckled as she walked up with her own tray. “Don’t worry, lass, he did the same thing to me. He’s seriously mental.”

“What? You smell good,” Jeff said as he joined the line to the cashier. “Morning, Shawna.”

“It is a good morning,” Shawna said as Lori walked over to put a giant cinnamon roll on her tray.

Jeff winked at Shawna, knowing how excited Lori had been all morning to see her.

After paying, they gathered together around a table for six in the middle of the noisy room. Jeff placed the food down for himself and Amy, then put the tray on top of the nearby trashcan. She beamed at him when he sat down next to her. Shawna plopped down next to Jeff with Lori on her other side. Shelly and Neal were the last to unload their food and join them across the table.

“So how’d the family conference go last night,” Shawna asked from her place at Jeff’s left.

Lori answered before Jeff could say a word. “First, Dad griped about us not picking up our room. Then he accused us of all having sex with Jeff until I told him I liked girls.”

Shawna snorted at the matter of fact way Lori dropped the comment. “Oh, yeah?”

“Then Uncle Will laughed and said the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Probably ‘cause Mom and Aunt Kim still hook up.”

Jeff laughed even as he winced at the visual Lori’s comment gave him. Amy chuckled and shook her head as she spread cream cheese on her bagel. Neal gave Shelly a perplexed look.

“I’ll explain later,” Shelly told him with a sigh.

“Then Jeff told Dad to stop being an asshole,” Lori continued.

“Did it work?” Shawna asked.

Lori shrugged. “Who knows? Dad got sad and then he left. I guess we’ll find out today.”

Their parents arrived at an adjacent table with their breakfast trays which killed off that topic of conversion. The discussion turned to which parks or attractions everyone wanted to visit for their last full day. Shawna kept track of what everyone said and reported the results of her informal poll showing an even split between the movie park and the main park.

“Why not both?” Lori asked. “We can hit the main park now because it opens earlier for resort guests, then hit the movie park after lunch.”

Everyone nodded, so that became the plan.

As the group got up to throw away their trash, Mom caught Jeff’s eyes and gave a significant nod toward his uncle. Bob looked like a broken man, with slumped shoulders and dark circles under his eyes. All the bluster and bravado he’d shown the night before was gone. He would barely meet Jeff’s eyes.

Jeff waited as Bob stood to walk around the table. Amy clung to Jeff’s arm, glancing between his face and her father’s. “Do you want me to stay?”

Jeff let out a slow breath. “Let us have a minute. I’ll catch up.”

“Okay, we’ll wait for you at the bus stop.” She stood on her toes to give him a quick kiss on the lips.

Bob saw the brief display of affection and clenched his jaw before speaking. “I wanted to apologize for my recent behavior. It’s not easy for me to admit I’m wrong. And I was wrong. I’m sorry.”

“About what exactly,” Jeff asked. It wasn’t a flippant response. He wanted to make certain he understood what Bob meant and made sure his tone reflected that intent.

“I thought you were taking advantage of my girls,” he said with a frown. “They drive me crazy sometimes, but not one of them is stupid. I should’ve trusted them. I didn’t trust you.”

Jeff nodded his head and looked down at his feet. Bob sounded sincere. When he cleared his throat, Jeff looked back up.

“Kim and Jackie also got on to me about my double standards. I’ve never had a problem with their relationship. Hearing you say that you loved Amy, that you loved them all.” He paused and stretched his neck for a moment. “I didn’t understand. Still don’t, to be honest.”

“It’s easy. They’re my sisters now. I’ll never hurt them or let them get hurt if I can help it.”

“But the sex,” he said, acting like the word hurt him to say.

“That’s none of your business,” Jeff said firmly. “They may not be legal adults, but they’re old enough to make informed decisions about their own bodies.”

Bob chewed on that for a moment. “That’s what Jackie said, too.”

“Good.” Jeff considered his next question carefully for a moment. It made him nervous to ask, but Bob had opened the door with his admission of regret. “Are you guys seriously thinking of moving back to Houston?”

Bob shrugged and sighed. “I have no idea. It’s probably too late. You’re going to college in a couple of months. The girls will follow over the next few years.”

Jeff looked away, lost in his earliest memories for a moment. “I remember playing games with you. When I was little, I mean. I called you Unca Bop.”

“Yeah.” Bob offered the first smile Jeff had seen in a few days. “You were a cute kid.”

Jeff nodded and met Bob’s eyes. “Maybe it isn’t too late. College is close to home. I already plan to come home most weekends. If you did move back ... I’d make time.”

Bob blinked in surprise, then sniffed as he rubbed his nose. “It’s something to consider.” His eyes got a little glassy.

“I’d better get going,” Jeff said, feeling the emotional moment between him and his biological father squeezing his own chest.

“Have fun today,” Bob said as he blinked a few times. “Keep an eye on them for me.”

“Will do,” Jeff said as he turned away toward the bus stop.

When he joined the others at the bus stop, Amy asked the question on all their faces. “What did Dad want?”

“To apologize,” Jeff said. “We’re cool now, I think.”

Amy stepped into his arms and he pressed a kiss into her hair. The scent of her washed powerfully through him. He felt something real for this petite young woman. Something significant had changed over the last week. It was going to be hard to watch her board a plane and leave for Seattle. He pulled back to meet her sparkling blue eyes. Her wide grin was infectious.

“Good,” she said. “Let’s go have fun!”

The six of them spent the day mixing and matching as they ran around or waited in lines for rides. Sometimes Jeff held hands with Amy, other times he snuggled Lori. Shawna rubbed his shoulders or hung on his arm. Shelly even let Neal go long enough to duck under Jeff’s arm for a while.

It had been the wildest week of Jeff’s life. He had expected his cousins, now sisters, to ruin his last real family vacation with his parents. Instead, they had turned a sucky vacation into an unforgettable week of connection and promise. Deep family secrets had all come out and despite the initial pain, the reality of his life hadn’t changed all that much. Biology isn’t the same as family. Dad was still dad, no matter what.

The last day of vacation eventually sapped some of the joyous energy. The ride back to the hotel was subdued by their impending departures to Houston, Chicago, Seattle, and Ireland. Shelly clung to Neal’s arm as they talked quietly. Lori sat in Shawna’s lap with her face nestled in soft red hair. Amy gripped Jeff’s hand and leaned into his body, her eyes gazing out the bus window.

“You okay?” Jeff asked her quietly as he squeezed her hand.

“It’s our last night,” she said without looking over. “Hard to believe.”

“At least we get to spend it together.”

Amy looked up with a bright smile. “True.”

Leaving the bus, the group wandered across the grounds back to the hotel rooms. Neal waited for Shelly to gather some clean pajamas before heading back to his room. Lori and Amy each took a bathroom to clean up while Jeff surfed the television. Shawna arrived clean with her red hair hanging damp around her face.

Jeff greeted her with a warm kiss when he let her into the room. “You seem happy.”

“I really am,” she sighed as she climbed on the nearest bed. “I never would have believed it if you told me a few days ago.”

“I know what you mean.”

The idea of feeling so connected to Amy, considering how the trip started, should have been impossible. There was no denying the reality of it now. That sense of connection extended to Shelly, Lori, Shawna, and even Neal. The group of them had come together in various combinations to explore and play. It had changed them all to varying degrees.

“So any regrets?” Jeff asked Shawna as he fell back on the other bed.

“Only that we’re leaving.”

Jeff nodded to himself. In an odd way, it helped him understand his parents and their weird relationship with Bob and Jackie better. He had only ever considered sex in the context of his romantic relationships. For reasons he couldn’t really articulate, the idea of Shelly with Neal or Lori with Shawna never made him feel jealous or envious. He was genuinely happy for them finding their own connections and pleasure.

Lori came in from the other bathroom only wearing white cotton panties and drying her hair with a towel. “Got bad news,” she sighed as she climbed on the bed with Shawna.

“We knew it was coming, love,” Shawna said as she ran her hand down Lori’s leg. “It’ll be fine.”

“But I wanted our last night to be special,” Lori whined into Shawna’s neck.

“Being with you is special,” Shawna said as she nuzzled Lori’s damp hair. “Nothing can change that.”

Jeff scooted off the bed to go to the other bathroom and give them some time alone. He borrowed his father’s razor and shaved extra close after a quick shower. By the time he made it back to the other room, Amy was reclining on their bed trying not to watch Lori and Shawna too obviously. She was completely naked but had a towel laid out under her waist. Jeff crawled up from the bottom of the bed while Amy ran her fingers through the sparse hair on her mons.

“Hey,” she said with a grin when the bed moved under his weight.

Jeff answered her with a soft kiss, spooning close to her on his side with his hand propping up his head. She looked up at him as she bit her bottom lip.

“It’s kind of hot,” Amy whispered in his ear.

“Let me cool you off,” Jeff whispered back.

He softly blew air across her nipples and watched them tighten up from the sensation. His fingers traced around her slitted navel before he rubbed his open palm over her stomach and up to cup her breasts. She gripped his head and pulled him down for a kiss while he rolled her stiff nipples between his thumb and finger.

The heat built between them as Jeff shared soft, open-mouthed kisses with Amy. Her fingers clutched at his hair. Leaving her breasts, Jeff brought his fingers up to her mouth and traced her lips while they kissed. She turned slightly and sucked his forefinger into her mouth, wetting it thoroughly.

Returning to their kiss, Jeff traced his damp finger down her stomach and along her lower lips. She was already wet for his touch. Her hips tilted even before his finger split her heat. Kissing turned to gasps as he focused his touch right above her clit. Amy gripped his hair even tighter as she pushed into his hand.

“Remember that first night?” Jeff asked as he kept his touch focused on her pleasure.

“Yes,” she gasped into his mouth, her eyes glazing over with pleasure.

He ran his fingers between her legs a few times before settling into the gentle circular motions he’d used that first night. Her eyebrows tensed and raised with the rhythm of her arousal, her mouth open with shuddering breaths.

“Cum for me,” Jeff whispered as he kissed her lips and cheeks. “I want to see your face when you let go this time.”

That request made her mew like a kitten as her body tensed up, hips rising and falling with his touch. Keeping the same pace and pressure, Jeff stared at her expressive face as she got closer to her peak.

“Don’t stop,” she breathed. “Don’t stop!”

Amy shut her eyes. A flush was rising from her breasts to her neck. Her cheeks were dotted with bright spots as a sheen of perspiration broke out along her forehead. Holding her breath, she bore down against his fingers, trembling with need.

“Yes!” Her release drew a keening cry from her throat as her body rocked in time with her pleasure. “Yes, oh god, oh yes.”

Jeff couldn’t help dropping his lips to suckle at her breasts. He left wet trails between her nipples as he pressed deeper into her heat. Spurred on by the new stimulation, Amy gripped his head to keep his lips sealed to her body. She only released him when she finally collapsed back into the pillow, panting away the tension they’d built together.