Chapter 35: Jesse in the Lion’s Den -or- Lead Us Not Into Temptation

March 24, 2002, Chicago, Illinois

🎤 Steve

“Interesting,” Kara said, as we walked to the hospital to get Jessica on Sunday evening. “No idea why?”

“She was about to say something that might have given me a clue, but then reconsidered.”

“Not a subversive?”

“I don’t think so, and I avoided anything even remotely resembling a ‘mindfuck’ because ... you know, I’m not sure.”

“Your ‘Spidey-sense’ is tingling?” Kara asked.

I chuckled, “My gut tells me there’s something deep in her past that led to the current situation, and my first thought was to have her see a counselor, but she’s intelligent, has a good job, and seems basically together. Whatever it was, it doesn’t seem to have impacted anything other than her never having married and living at home.”

“You’re assuming no boyfriend?”

“No idea,” I said. “But she went right to ‘cat lady’ when she answered my question about her parents.”

“With a denial?” Kara asked.

“Allergic,” I chuckled. “So that might be the only reason! But seriously, spinsters do exist, and that’s their choice.”

“‘Spinsters’? Really?”

“OK, it’s an archaic term, but it’s also shorthand for Rachel Kealty’s situation. And it doesn’t carry, at least in my mind, the negative implications of ‘old maid’.”

“So, what will you do?”

“Teach her self-defense, and if she wants to talk, we’ll talk. If not, we’ll do six more lessons, and she’ll go on her way.”

“That doesn’t happen very often.”

“No, it doesn’t. Let’s keep this between you and me, please. I don’t want to further violate Rachel’s privacy.”

“OK,” Kara agreed.

We reached the hospital, and Jessica came out the doors with Allyson Crowley and Lucy Knight. We greeted them, then Kara, Jessica, and I joined hands for the walk home.

“How was your session this morning?” Jessica asked.

“About as I expected. She seems to be a good student, and she learns quickly.”

“Did you hear from Suzanne?”

“Yes. They’re having a blast in Florida.”

“Who’s cooking dinner?”

“Birgit, Ashley, and Jesse,” I said. “Stephanie arrived just as I left, and she’ll help if needed. And Tabitha is there to learn.”

“Is Joel with Stephanie?”

“Yes,” I replied. “I’d say they’re close to making it permanent.”

“No surprise — intelligent, good looking, and compliant!” Jessica said. “Exactly what I wanted from you.”

“Two out of three?” I asked.

“You are the dullest knife in the drawer!” Jessica teased.

“So sue me!” I chuckled. “I love smart women and I will NOT apologize for that!”

“It’s really three out of three,” Kara said. “I don’t think I can recall a time when you didn’t do something we asked you to do, and I’m not talking about sex.”

“She’s right, Tiger. From day one, you’ve always done what we’ve wanted, sometimes even to your own detriment. Our relationship evolves and all of us are very happy. Right?”

“I most certainly am,” I said.

“Me, too,” Kara agreed. “And we know Suzanne is happy.”

“Tiger, are you still planning to take Monday and Tuesday off work?”

“Yes. Audrey will be here sometime tomorrow morning. She may hang out until Saturday, but I only committed to two days off work. I did promise Jesse I’d be out of the house on Tuesday morning for his sauna party.”

“You’ve had those!” Kara declared. “Like father, like son!”

“Jesse is WAY more together at sixteen than I was,” I declared.

“Albert is way more together at twelve than any of us were at eighteen!” Jessica said.

“It’s his self-discipline that makes all the difference,” I observed. “Every part of his life is regimented. And that’s by choice. Jesse is only like that with regard to ice hockey. The rest of the kids are way more spontaneous.”

“So nurture or nature?” Jessica asked.

“Heavily on nurture,” I replied. “I’d like to think Jesse is what I would have been with parents like us.”

“I think it does have to be mostly nurture,” Jessica agreed, “but the kids each still have their own very unique personalities.”

“And that’s what I find most intriguing,” Kara replied. “They’ve all been raised together, though obviously Matthew and Michael are further away now, but even so, they really don’t have a common personality trait.”

“Intelligence, creativity, and curiosity,” I suggested. “For those, our kids have the benefit of being allowed to use them in ways that most kids outside the cousins aren’t. Most parents do everything they can to limit the exploration kids can do. Possibly the worst trend is people saying ‘kids grow up too fast’. Too fast for whom? Not the kid, that’s for sure! There is nothing idyllic about being a child, and you can confirm that by asking any of your kids about the restrictions society puts on them that are, frankly, handcuffs and manacles.”

“Birgit with a driver’s license?” Kara asked.

“Actually, you just proved my point, which is that society is raising the bar for passage to adulthood in ways that are actively harming teens. Sixteen seems like the right age for a driving license, just as fifteen seems to be right for the age of consent, and eighteen for everything else — drinking, smoking, voting, and so on. Yes, part of that is tradition, but those traditions came from recognizing that the line between being a child and a young adult is basically puberty, or a bit past. We’ve discussed on a number of occasions the rites of passage all being performed in the twelve to fifteen age range.”

We arrived home and after Jessica took a quick shower, we joined the extended family, minus Matthew, for dinner.

March 25, 2002, Chicago, Illinois

I was not surprised when Audrey arrived at the house just after 8:00am on Monday morning.

“Same as last time?” I asked as we went down to the guest room with the mirrors.

“Yes! Suck my nipples, tongue my clit, then fuck me as hard as you possibly can!”

“I think I can accommodate!”

Forty minutes later, both sweaty and breathing hard from exertion, Audrey stretched out on top of me, crossed her arms on my chest, and rested her chin on her forearms.

“You don’t have a balcony, and I guess we can’t fuck on the front porch,” Audrey said.

“I actually managed that with my girlfriend in college,” I chuckled. “Late at night, on the swing, with blankets over us. She and I christened every room, AND the elevator!”

“Elevator?”

“Whoever built the house had an elevator installed. It only goes from the first floor to the attic room, not the basement, though.”

“Now that’s style!”

“We don’t actually use it too often, but it is convenient for taking cases of soda or beer upstairs for parties.”

“I bet you’ve had some good ones.”

“Very! What did you want to do today and tomorrow?”

“I figured we’d just fuck! I probably won’t see you again anytime soon, given I’m going to the Kennedy School in the Fall. It’s a much longer drive here, and I’m hoping to meet a guy who’s worth my time! I’m hoping guys sober up a bit in grad school.”

“Some do, I’m sure. Did you make your campus visit?”

“In January. I met this totally cool former Russian General who teaches there.”

“«Генерал-полковник» (Generál-polkóvnik) Dmitry Sergeyevich Grigoryev, formerly of the Tamanskaya Guards. Also known as my friend Dima.”

“No way!” Audrey gasped. “Seriously.”

“Seriously. And that’s despite dating his wife before they married!”

“How the heck did you meet them?”

“I met the then Tatyana Ivanovna Voronina when I was on a ski trip to Austria when we were both sixteen. I was living in Sweden at the time. We dated off and on while I was in college, but she and I had different visions of the future, and the fact that she was training to be a Soviet diplomat basically meant there was no real future. Had the Soviet Union collapsed a few years earlier, well, who knows what might have happened? I met Dmitry several years later. Did he mention sponsoring a series of hockey games between a US team and Russian teams?”

“He did.”

“My eldest son was on that team, and General Dmitry offered to arrange the trip if they won a tournament here, which they did. The trip was arranged with help from Tatyana’s dad, who’s a member of parliament.”

“That’s just amazing! What else don’t I know about you?”

“A lot! We never got past small talk and mindfucking.”

“Sure we did! To physical fucking!”

“Obviously,” I chuckled.

“Speaking of which, are you ready to go again?”

“I am.”

Audrey winked, slid down, took me in her mouth, and when she had me completely hard, mounted me and rode me for close to thirty minutes before I came and she once again stretched out on top of me.

“Why were you in Sweden at sixteen?”

“Let me tell you a story,” I said with a grin.

🎤 Jesse

“Good morning, Jesse,” Father Deacon John said when he opened the door at their home.

“Good morning, Father Deacon. I’m here to pick up Viktoria so we can have lunch and see Ice Age, as you and I discussed yesterday.”

“Come in for a few minutes, please.”

I walked into the house and was totally unsurprised when he led me to his study, which had an icon corner and a wall of bookshelves.

“I am sure I don’t need to remind you of proper Orthodox behavior.”

“No, Father Deacon, you don’t. I have the utmost respect for Viktoria.”

“And for yourself, Jesse. As we understand each other, nothing more needs to be said. What kind of car are you driving?”

“My dad’s wife’s BMW,” I said, telling the truth in the way Dad did with the government. “That’s why you’ll see the MD plates and the ER sticker.”

“You don’t call her your step-mom?”

I shook my head, “No. I usually call her Aunt Jessica, which I think better describes the relationship.”

“You live with your mother, right?”

“Yes.”

“And she never married?”

Not legally, and for all intents and purposes, Father Deacon John was the government. He was absolutely judge, jury, and executioner for any transgression of decorum and chastity that he perceived!

“No.”

“So she was never married to your dad?”

“No. Both of them say they were High School sweethearts, but in the end, after I was conceived, they realized they weren’t compatible.”

An obfuscation, but also the truth. When I revealed everything to Viktoria, there would be nothing that Father Deacon John could point to as a lie, and I had Father Basil’s instructions to be very careful about what I said about the goings-on at the Compound.

“What time will you have Viktoria home?”

“We’ll see the 1:25pm showing, and the runtime is about ninety minutes, so I would expect to have her back here by 4:00pm.”

“Good,” he said. “Let me call her and you can be on your way.”

He left the study, and I waited for him to bring Viktoria to me, which he did about two minutes later. She was dressed in faded blue jeans and a green sweater, something I’d never seen her in before, as she always wore dresses or skirts to church.

“Hi!” she said brightly.

“Hi! Ready?”

“Yes!” she exclaimed.

“Have a good time,” Deacon John said.

“Thanks, Daddy!” Viktoria replied.

We left the study, then went out the front door and walked to the driveway where I’d parked. I did the gentlemanly thing and opened the door for Viktoria. She got into the car and buckled in, and I shut the door and went around to the driver’s side and got in. I buckled my seat belt, put the key in the ignition, started the car, and backed out of the driveway.

“Nice BMW!” Viktoria exclaimed.

“I wish it were mine,” I chuckled. “It’s my dad’s wife’s car, which is why it has MD plates. Dad thought he might need his today, so I was allowed to use this one. My mom has to drive to work, and she doesn’t like me driving her car. Where are we going for lunch?”

“What fasting rule do you have?” she asked.

“Mine is very lax because I’m an athlete, and because nobody else in my family is Orthodox. I assume yours is very strict?”

“It is. What about the Fox Valley Mall’s food court? We can each choose from the different places.”

“That works,” I agreed.

I headed for Route 59, as that was the quickest way to get from Viktoria’s house to Fox Valley Mall. Viktoria adjusted the radio, and I was surprised at her choice — WXRT, which played a wide mix of genres — classic rock, reggae, blues, folk-rock, and some ‘Top 40’. I suspected Deacon John was into classical music, and my evidence was the vinyl albums on the bookshelf in his study.

“What kind of music do you like?” Viktoria asked.

“WXRT is my go-to station,” I replied. “I like the mix, though sometimes I’ll listen to WLUP when I just want classic rock. And occasionally I’ll put on one of the ‘Top 40’ stations, but I think rock was better in the 60s, 70s, and early 80s.”

“Me, too! Dad doesn’t like rock music. He’s into Big Band and classical. I listen in my room, and keep the volume low.”

It was a good time to find out if she had a sense of humor in a way that couldn’t really be misinterpreted.

“You’re quite the rebel!” I teased.

“Are you teasing me?” Viktoria asked, sounding a bit miffed.

“Yes, sorry,” I said, trying to sound contrite.

“Gotcha!” she laughed.

I laughed because that was exactly the kind of thing I would do! We arrived at the Fox Valley Mall, I parked and we walked into the building near Penney’s, and went to the Food Court on the lower level. I decided to get chicken tenders and fries, along with a bottle of water, as pop was something I avoided on my lightweight fasting rule. I was surprised when Viktoria ordered the same thing.

“My dad would have a fit,” she said.

“I could get something else if it bothers you.”

“No, it doesn’t. Dad is too strict about fasting. It’s supposed to be about spirituality, not about strict rule-following.”

That was something I knew about Deacon John — he interpreted the canons as if they were a legal code, rather than a set of guidelines for bishops to determine the best way to help someone spiritually. Sometimes the bishops were lenient, sometimes they were strict. Deacon John was always strict.

“I agree.”

“Then you can help me break another rule!” she said saucily. “Kiss me!”

I debated for a split second before I threw caution to the wind and succumbed to her gorgeous body and luscious lips. I held out my arms, she stepped into them and we exchanged a soft kiss, her breasts just barely rubbing my chest through her sweater and my shirt.

“My first kiss!” she exclaimed.

“You could have another if you wanted,” I offered.

She nodded and our lips touched again, but this time, hers parted slightly and we exchanged a soft French kiss. The touch of her tongue was like an electrical shock, and I knew that was true for Viktoria, as I felt her hard nipples rubbing my chest, even though our clothes.

“Whew!” she gasped when we broke the kiss. “I don’t think Dad needs to know about those kisses!”

“Well, I’m of the opinion that your dad can live his whole life and never ever hear of this kiss!”

“Why does that sound like a movie quote?” she asked.

“Because it is! It’s from Pulp Fiction, a movie of which your dad most assuredly would not approve!”

“He wouldn’t! Is there a response?”

I chuckled, “Don’t worry about it. If your dad ever heard of this, I’d be in as much trouble as you.”

“That’s for sure! You changed the name, obviously.”

“Yes. In the movie, it’s ‘Marcellus’, one of the main characters, about whom they’re speaking.

“Do you notice you don’t ever end sentences with prepositions?”

“I do, and it’s because my dad never does, and neither do my moms.”

“Moms? You mean your birth mom and stepmom?”

Oops. Well, I was planning on shocking her with that, so it wasn’t really an ‘oops’, I just had planned to tell her after the movie. Our food was ready, so we grabbed our trays and found a table with nobody to close around it.

“My family is very, very different,” I said. “Let me say the blessing, and I’ll explain.”

I prayed the usual prayer of blessing of food, and we began to eat.

“You know my birth mom and my dad were never married, right?”

“No, but I know they aren’t married now. Your dad is married to one of those two blonde women who were at church with him, right?”

“It depends on what you mean by ‘married’. He’s legally married to Doctor Jessica Adams, a trauma surgeon at UofC Hospital. They have two kids, my brother Albert and my sister Ashley. But I have other siblings, too. Dad had my brothers Matthew and Michael with a woman I call my Aunt Elyse. They dated some in High School, then shared an apartment when they came to Chicago for college. She and my brothers live with her boyfriend in Aurora. He also has two kids with the other blonde woman, who I call Aunt Kara. Those are my sisters, Birgit and Stephie.”

“Surely you can’t be serious!”

“I am serious; and don’t call me Shirley!”

Viktoria laughed, “I have seen Airplane, though Dad doesn’t approve of it.”

And I could imagine exactly why — refilling the auto-pilot with air, and possibly the ‘gladiator movies’ scene.

“You seem to like a lot of things of which your dad doesn’t approve!”

“Is that a problem?” she asked impishly.

“No,” I replied, “so long as he doesn’t find out! Then we’re dead!”

“Then we just make sure he never finds out!” she said, her blue eyes sparkling.

Despite my speculation with Macrina, Viktoria’s behavior, personality, and expressions made me wonder if I’d been wrong. The visions that danced in my head threatened to cause a reaction that, fortunately, the table would hide, but which I managed to avoid.

“I take it your siblings from your dad’s wife are the youngest?”

“It’s more complicated than that,” I said. “The order is me, Matthew, Birgit, Michael, Albert, Stephie, and Ashley. My dad considers both my Aunt Jessica and Aunt Kara to be his wives. And my mom has a partner.”

“You mean a boyfriend?”

I shook my head, “No, I mean a wife. My mom is a lesbian. She and Dad were High School sweethearts, but they could never quite make the relationship work because she was confused about her sexuality. My mom married after she was pregnant with me. Well, she had a ceremony with my other mom, not a legal marriage, obviously.”