Chapter 240

July 6, 2018 (Friday)

Dear Ms. Diary,

After a short rondo session, we practiced a few wrinkles of the ATB corner kick from both corners and discussed tomorrow’s game against Paradise. Taylor took part in practice, as her team had a day off.

Coach asked her, “I know your last game is late next week. Would you like to practice every day with us once your season’s done?”

“May I,” she asked with a squeal.

“If your mom says you may.”

“She’s already said I could if you offered.”

“Would you like to help the team on game days?”

“Yes, please. I really like this team. Everyone’s so nice and helpful.”

“All right, then. We’ll see you every practice and game day.”

“Thanks, Coach!”

We grabbed a shower at home and after we emerged and were partway through lunch, Celeste, Meka, and Kim returned from CDL testing ... with licenses in hand. Both Katie and Kath were working at the store, Steph had borrowed Brett and Lana to set up the new bedroom in which Lana’s parents would be living at the Jacobs house. With Jim dealing with medical, again, we had another skinny-dipping early afternoon in the pool.

Some of us were in the pool, others were lounging near it or in the pavilion when Emma arrived after clearing her visit with us by phone.

“If they knew, a lot of guys ... of a wide variety of ages would love to see this!”

“You’ve got that right, Emma-girl,” responded Rhee, “as would a quite a few girls.”

Taylor padded up to us in the pavilion and said to Emma, “There aren’t any guys here. You could skinny dip, too.”

“I’m not part of the LA.”

Taylor frowned briefly, then asked, “Does that matter? I thought everyone could be naked if it’s all girls here.”

She and Emma looked at me, so I shrugged and said, “I’m not sure we’ve ever specifically decided that, although Mia and Taylor were naked their first day here.”

Taylor said, “That’s what I was gonna say.”

I turned to Emma and told her, “It’s up to you, particularly if you’re going to be here regularly while wearing your LA-leadership PA hat.”

“No one would mind?”

Kim replied, “I doubt it, but, Beth, would Kalina be grandfathered in? She’s been providing assistance to the LA, too.”

Rache added, “Kalina’s ... service to the LA is not in any important way different from that of Emma’s, so I don’t see why we should treat her differently. While Beth has had a little problem discussing business while in her birthday suit, maybe she could get over that if her business discussions are with naked women. Emma, I’d say go for it if you want.”

“Beth?”

“They’re right. It’s my little ... social problem, but if you and Kalina don’t mind discussing business in the buff, I could get over that little problem.”

Walking up, apparently having heard much of the discussion, Mare said, “I think our Moms can be naked here if none of the guys are here. In fact, I think they should be naked here in that situation. They’re the LA’s best friends. Right?”

Again, I shrugged, and told Emma, “I’m fine with it if you two are.”

Emma was naked in ten seconds, and she said, “Thanks. I’ve been loving living at home naked, and I’ll like this, too. Kalina’s going to be so jealous!” She followed that with a wide grin she passed around to those of us taking part in the conversation, then asked, “How much of your schedule – your personal schedule and the general LA schedule would you like me to track?”

I sighed heavily and responded, “I’m tempted to give it all to you, but that would require divulging some stuff I’m not sure the LA would approve divulging.”

Kim cut in with, “How’ bout an LA business meeting to discuss that. We’ve got our schedule on the house’s system, and though some LA members might balk about giving Emma that much of a peek inside, it doesn’t make sense having two different schedules, even if it’s just Beth’s schedule Emma tracks.”

I said, “Not everyone’s here, but I’m not sure we need everyone, at least for the discussion. We can at least see if there’s any concern here and now about giving Emma, essentially, full access to our life. If there’s concern, then we know that and we can decide if the concern is sharp enough to preclude granting access, so no reason to have an official full-membership vote. Discussing it now could save us some time when everyone’s home.”

Everyone agreed about that. When no one had a problem with allowing Emma to be privy to all our secrets, Liya put a sticky on our system that would send text messages about the business meeting tonight.

While Liya was doing that, Emma asked, “Truly? None of you here would object to me knowing ... everything about your life that requires some level of scheduling?”

Civ replied, “I certainly have no problem with it, although the young girls are not fully part of one secret thing and are not involved in any fashion in another.”

Meka asked, “Since anyone of us can put stuff on the schedule and each of gets every update to the schedule, I’m not sure why Emma needs access to it.”

I answered, “Because she’ll be dealing with some stuff external to the LA, at least as a whole, and which would affect or be affected by our schedule, such as meetings for a few of us related to businesses we establish, such as the photography business. Everyone here knows that part of that business is ... sensitive, particularly for the young girls.”

“Ah. I withdraw my concern and my question. Emma, it’s nothing at all personal, but one of those secrets is tied into the photography business, and I hadn’t taken that into account.”

“Meka, I want everyone to be comfortable with ... my part in assisting the LA to be the best it can be. If you’re uncomfortable with me knowing everything, I’d prefer to restrict my access to knowledge if that’s...”

“No, I don’t object to you being privy to ... insider information, I was just unsure of why that would be necessary. I see that, at times, it could be quite necessary, so I don’t object. Emma, we all like you a lot. I have little doubt that some of us are starting down that loving-you road that Civ and Mare are on. You and your spouses are very quickly becoming our best friends outside the compound. No, you are our best friends outside the compound. However, I think that at least some of us would prefer you to keep some of the ... secret LA stuff -- some of which we’ve only just recently told the young girls – under your hat, even from your spouses.”

“I view what I’m doing for Beth and, indirectly for the LA, as a job that has some confidential aspects to it. I have no problem keeping those bits from my spouses. I also don’t have a need to be the LA’s official scheduler, but I will need to be able to add to the schedule and, to ensure no conflicts, see the entire schedule.”

First Jim, then Brett and Lana, gave us heads-ups about their imminent arrivals, so the young girls and Emma donned required apparel.

“It’s official! Brett and I are now permanent residents here!”

Lana’s first words as she and Brett joined us in the pavilion caused a celebration.

Once the hullaballoo died down, Brett added, “We’ll spend occasional nights there in, presumably, Lana’s parents’ room, but we’re here!”

Lana stated, “Mom and Dad are returning on the 17^th, so I’ll probably be spending a lot of time with them that week, but I’m not missing the trip to Santa Fe. Steph and Matt have also requested that Brett and I spend next weekend with them, and we should do that.”

Rache had received a text during that discussion, and when Lana was finished, Rache said, “Garvey says I can pick up the butts-and-balls photos.”

Mare squealed, then asked, “Could we all go get them?”

Emma asked, “Will we be getting a copy?”

Rache answered, “The Palecek parents get a copy of every LA photo we produce for parents. However, I should give you a heads-up, that some photos may not be as ... tame as others we’ve given you.”

“We’ll appreciate – and hang – every one you give us.”

Rache stated, “And, Mare, I see no problem with everyone going, but if we are, we should go soon, as the super-family get-together will start in a couple of hours.”

Meka, Celeste, and Kim played a three-way session of Roshambo to determine the drivers to Garvey’s store and back from it for our first official trip in the new vehicle, with Celeste (going) and Meka (returning) being the winners. Kim put on a huge fake pout, then grinned.

As we entered the store, Garvey said, “Oh. You all came?”

Rache answered, “Not quite all; Kath and Katie are working. However, we do have all four owners of the butts in the photo with us.”

Mare very excitedly asked, “How’d they turn out, Garvey? Did you like the photo?”

Garvey grinned, answering, “That’s a great photo, and I had some fun picking out just the right frame color for it.”

“But what did you think about our butts?”

Garvey’s expression went blank, and Rache, said, “Mare, a question like that is not something that Garvey can feel safe answering. Do I need to explain why?”

“No, and I understand. But none of us would say anything to anyone about his reactions to our group photos. I liked it when ... No, I loved it when he told me my smile was wonderful and I’d love it, and would never rat him out, if he complimented my butt. Rache, this is the LA. We have our own rules, and stuff like that would not bug any of us. Well, it would bug me if he hated my butt, but I still wouldn’t rat him out.”

“All four butts were more than just nice. Like your smile, Maren, your butt is wonderful.”

Mare’s eyes went huge, and she nearly vaulted the counter to give him a hug, but said, “Thanks, Garvey, I greatly appreciate that, and I owe you a hug. I don’t know when I could give it to you, but...”

“How ‘bout now?”

“Really? I know there could be ... problems with something like that, but almost all of us are here and I’m sure you wouldn’t take advantage of it in front of everyone.”

“No, I wouldn’t. I also wouldn’t allow customers to hug me, although I can make an exception for ... your group. We have ... something of a different relationship. It’s still a business relationship, but it’s a different sort, a ... different ... business relationship, one with a different, more-personal aspect. I’ve liked and been impressed with your group since that first photo.”

When he came out to the front, he was a bit tentative, but Mare slammed herself into him and wrapped her arms around him for a few seconds, then stepped back.

“That was nice, Garvey. Thanks for your words and for allowing the hug. The LA is really huggy, and it’s something I learned when I began spending time with them. Before them, I’m pretty sure I’d hugged only relatives before the LA. Of course, we’re family, so I guess I still hadn’t hugged anyone but family ... or ... soon-to-be family.”

Garvey grinned at her, then returned to the other side of the counter, pulled a box off the shelf behind the counter, and placed it on the counter. Rache passed out the five 18x18 framed photos so we could inspect them. Of course, the framing was perfect, as were the printed photos.

Rache stated, “I don’t know why I inspect them, Garvey. They’re always perfect.”

“Please, always inspect them. I would hate it if I let something get by me and you didn’t find whatever mistake until it had been hanging on your wall for a while.”

“Oh, I’ll always inspect them, but you really do great work, and that’s why we bring everything to you. Oh, umm, I need to give you a heads-up that the more ... sexual aspect to some of our photography will be getting more important, soon. Not for the group photos, but for some other stuff that some of us are doing. The stuff that includes that photo of Heather with the two others. I may have my ... first models for a set of erotic photos I’ve got in mind.”

Garvey’s eyes went bigger as he glanced at Mare and the other young girls, but Civ stated, “Don’t worry about us, Garvey. We young girls know about everything, although we don’t take part in the sexual stuff. While we’ve not met Rache’s models, the girls explained what they’re doing. This is why our group works, even when four of us are under 15. We respect the older girls, and they respect us. We know the ... gross parameters of what they’re doing sex-wise and erotic-photo-wise, but they don’t give us details. However, we have that huge photo of Heather and their friends hanging in our living room, because it’s one of the most beautiful photos any of us has ever seen. We young girls are so proud of Heather – and Rache – for that photo. She told us that while she really likes the ... models, Heather’s not in love with them. But she and Rache certainly made that photo look like love. Don’t you think?”