Chapter 7

October 18, 2017

A tall, young girl is sitting in the back seat of an old Isuzu Trooper being driven by one of her adopted moms, while her biological mom was in the front passenger seat. The two women were conversing, but, uncharacteristically, she was paying little attention to that conversation. She wasn’t thinking about the clothes-shopping trip that had just started. She was thinking a little about the plight of her friend Meka. However, she was thinking much more about the fact that some of those new clothes would go in a dresser drawers that was in the home of her second house, the one in which most of her best friends lived, although some only occasionally. She was thinking about how happy it made her having tangible proof that she was part of her adopted second family and part of the newly renamed Gang of Six.

Civia didn’t fool herself that she was as much a part of that gang as the other five girls. She had no concrete proof, not even a strong hint, that those girls had some other connection, a connection that she did not have with them. They were all just ... slightly different. She loved all of them and she was sure they all loved her. But those five were just a bit closer to each other than they were to her. She didn’t worry about it, as four of them had been good friends for over three years, Beth and Rhee had been best friends for over five. She understood that they had a stronger, more-experienced relationship. She was simply ... not just happy, ecstatic that she had them as really good friends, the first she had ever had. That thought caused a squeak to sneak out of her mouth. She quickly looked up at the two moms in the front, but they had, apparently, not heard it. She smiled a little, then redirected her attention to the front seats, trying to pick up on the current conversation.

October 21, 2017

Civia woke as someone large moved in the bed next to her. Once she’d been awake for five seconds, she recalled that she was in Gracey’s and Liya’s bed with Meka and Heather, so it was Meka moving next to her. It was then she realized that Meka’s head was against the back of her neck. She could just feel what might be one or both of Meka’s hands just barely touching the middle of her back. With her eyes still closed, Civia smiled. She thought she had never been as happy as she’d been for the past few months. And now she’d spent the night in bed with Meka, the most impressive girl she had ever known, even more impressive than Beth. In Civia’s mind, that took some doing, because Beth was impressive in her own right.

A whispered, “You’re awake” drifted over Meka. Without turning or even opening her eyes, she knew it was Heather.

“Yes,” she whispered back.

“How was it?”

“Great. She’s almost as warm as Rhee, and I slept really well.”

“I’m so happy that you’ve become comfortable enough with this that you sleep well even with someone new in bed. We really like you being part of the gang.”

Civia could feel Meka’s breath on her upper back as that worthy said, “And I like you being here. Thanks, both of you, for sleeping with me. It really helps.” As she picked up her head, she added, “I hope me curling into you doesn’t bother you, Civia.”

“Not at all. I learned when I began staying over here that my friends must really like me if we’re sleeping naked together. Heather and I ... and the others ... really like you. We’re glad this helps.”

“It does. I woke a few times, but I could feel at least one of you every time, and that comforted me and enabled me to get back to sleep quickly. Before I ... started staying here, I’d never slept nude with another girl, much less two others. I’ve been surprised at how comforting it is to have someone there and, as you said, Civia, someone that obviously likes me as she’s sleeping naked.”

Heather rolled onto her left side and into Meka, then propped her chin on Meka’s right upper arm.

“Could you turn off the alarm, Civia?”

Civia rolled onto her front and reached into the cubby in the headboard and canceled the alarm. She then completed her half-roll to face the others.

“Meka, any of us will gladly sleep with you anytime you want or need. Don’t be afraid to ask.”

“Thanks.”

A bit tentatively, the tall woman in the passenger seat asked, “How was the sleepover?”

“It was good. Meka didn’t need much help of us, although Heather and I slept with her. She said she appreciated it, as she got comfort when she woke in the night and realized that there were girls that liked her, and that she liked, there with her. She said she was able to fall right back to sleep.”

Civia’s mother pondered her daughter’s words for a while, then smiled and said, “Good. We worry about you taking on the task of helping your friend cope, even though we understand that you want to do it. We’re concerned, Civia, but we’re also proud of you. What else did you girls do?”

“We threw frisbees around this morning in the back yard. Meka told us that if we were going to do that more that we should learn how to throw better.” She grinned at her mom directly and at her dad in the rearview mirror, then added, “She said quite severely, but in a joking way, that we were all athletes and we should be able to learn quickly. Oh, then Beth said that she and Rhee had played around with lacrosse last fall and winter and Meka said that they used to play it in gym but hadn’t for a few years. I wonder what that’s like. I know it’s something like soccer as far as the field and teams, but I don’t know much about it other than that.”

“That’s just what you need, another activity filling up your days,” her father said with a smile.

“Da-addd,” Civia replied with a matching smile.

November 10, 2017

Civia rang the doorbell, her parents behind her. A cute girl with pale blonde hair, blue eyes, and lots of freckles answered the door; there were other girls behind her.

Heather said, “Hi, Kalina, Jeff. Hey, Civia. I haven’t seen you in ... wow, it must be more than two hours. How’ve you been?”

Civia grinned, then threw her arms around Heather, responding, “I’ve missed you so much. We really must get together more frequently.”

At the chuckle from her father, the taller blonde girl behind Heather looked up at the tall man to see that he and his wife were smiling.

The father stated, “I blame you five girls. She was never sarcastic before she fell into your clutches.”

Beth smiled at him and then seemed to surprise both of Civia’s parents by hugging Civia’s mother. Though surprised, she tentatively returned the hug, after which the girl hugged the man, then stepped back.

The girl said, “You two we don’t get to see often enough. At least, not with enough time to do more than exchange pleasantries.”

Civia’s mother looked at the girl, who turned her head slightly to face her.

“I know your place isn’t big enough for all of us to visit for any length of time, so we’ll just have to extend more invitations to you. We all enjoy your visits.”

Just then, the Moms arrived, and Carol said, “We do, and Beth is right. We need to have you over more frequently.”