I was sitting on the couch when I heard my fiancée pull into the driveway. I got up and went through the door, and met her right as she got out of the car. I pulled her into a big hug, and we gave each other a big kiss.

Then I helped her unload her luggage, and we went inside the house. I carried her bags to the bedroom, then met her again in the living room after she came out of the bathroom. We had a long tight hug, and I asked her how the flight was.

“Oh, about the usual. I still don’t see why you flew out a week earlier than I did.” As she said that she pushed me to the couch than climbed into my lap. “Well, I had some business to take care of with Julie, plus I had to take care of my BFR.” That was my Bi-Annual Certification, which I had to do every two years. “As Harve had some down time, he was able to take me through it, and finally signed off on my duel-engine certification. And he certified me on the Commander, I can now fly that also.”

A little white lie, but she gave me a big hug, and a kiss. “About time. You have enough hours already, now at least you can do it legitimately as the Pilot in Command. So, is everything finished?”

I hugged her tight, and smiled. “Sure is. We are having dinner with Becky and Taylor tomorrow, then Holly and Dan on Sunday.”

She nodded into my chest, and looked around the place. “Pete, how did you find this place? I expected you to be staying at a hotel, or with Holly and Den.”

“Well, I thought about it to be honest. But Holly and Dan live at the house now, it did not seem right to just crash in on them as that is their house now. I was staying at the Tarzana Inn on Ventura for the first few nights, and after I finished a flight with Harve I went to visit Pavel. When I mentioned where I was staying he told me to come here. Apparently he does not only own those office clusters, he also has about two dozen rental properties around the area. This he said was his last furnished unit, he mostly keeps it as a guest house I guess. He insisted I stay here, and I did it on the condition that I go through his clusters and suggest any upgrades. That seemed like a fair deal, he got about ten hours of work, in exchange for letting me use this place.”

“Well, it’s nicer than a hotel, if a bit basic. It reminds me of the place you and Becky rented when you two first got together.”

I smiled and nodded, giving her a small kiss. “Yes, it pretty much is. Just a mirror image, the garage is on the left instead of the right side of the house. I guess this was a common floor plan that was built all over the area after the war. Basic, two bedrooms and one bath, probably around $10,000 when it sold new.”

We talked about the next week, and Mandy was going to be meeting with Julie and Abe herself and planning the new series of Speedy Tech commercials. Then she asked if we were still giving Linda and her mom a ride back to the Ranch when we left, and I nodded. “No reason for them to spend the money to fly up there, if we can take them ourselves. After the wedding we were already planning on taking a flight to Hawaii, we can just drop them off on the way home. Your mom can drive us to the airport, and we can take a van or commuter flight from LAX to Van Nuys, then fly the Bonanza home.”

She smiled and said that would work for her. “Although Linda hates flying in an airplane that small, you sure you don’t want to take the Commander?”

“Nope, Harve already has a charter planned for next week. He will be up for the wedding, but I thought the logistics of having to shuttle it back and forth was just too slim.” She nodded, and after another kiss we went to get some beef bowls for dinner. That was something we both admitted we missed, and it was a shame that there was nowhere to make those back home.

As was often the case, Mandy was tired as she always was from long solo flights. So we just kissed and held each other until we fell asleep. Then the next morning after breakfast we headed over to New Dawn. It was the usual Saturday party, and Mandy and Peggy were soon ensconced upstairs as Mike was showing me the newest things they had gotten in. And soon Becky finished helping a customer and gave me a huge hug and softly kissed my cheek. I could feel her belly against me, and I smiled at her and softly asked if I could.

She blushed wonderfully and nodded, then took my hand and guided it to her belly. She seemed to have a glow about her, and it was amazing realizing that there was a new life growing inside of her. I finally removed my hand and she gave me a soft kiss on the lips, then took my hand and led me upstairs.

I sat on the couch, and she surprised me a bit when she sat next to me and cuddled against my side. I asked her if everything was alright, and she smiled and nodded. “Oh yes, just seeing you here again made me remember some things from when we started all this. Even back then, I had this image of sitting like this, leaning against you as I had our baby inside of me. And I am leaning against you, but the baby is not yours.”

“Becky, it just did not work out as either of us expected it would. Are you happy?”

“Oh yes, deliriously happy. This is just not what either of us expected back then is all.”

“Well, you had this plan in your head, and at the time I was not matching it.”

“Oh, I know. And I love my husband with all my heart, but you will always have a special place in there also. But I also know now that things would not have lasted. You and Mandy are so happy in Idaho, and I could never live there. I am happy with the store here, but I also know you could never live here. But in a way, we all got what we wanted. I knew early on that Mandy absolutely adored you, but would never show it. Remember that time she got drunk when you were on leave after your surgery? We talked after you went to bed, and even then I knew she loved you. But she would also never get in the way of your happiness. And to be honest, if anybody deserved to be with you after me, it was her.”

I sighed softly, remembering that night. She must have killed eight wine coolers, and that night told me things I had only suspected before about her sister. “I realized even that night if things ever ended between us, she would step in and take my place if she could. I just never imagined it would take so long!”

She laughed softly and kissed my cheek, and I said that was simply how things turned out. “You should know by now, I would never get in the way of another guy if a gal I was interested in was in a relationship. And it seems that each time after if I was single, she was with somebody else. Or if she was single she never told me until she got another boyfriend.”

“Pete, you have to realize this. Even then, she was still scared of you. That she would lose herself in you, which is exactly what happened. I think that scared her, and she both wanted it so badly and feared it. Then after we broke up you started to rise so fast, but you also went nowhere. You would date here and there, and they would burn hot and fast, then end as quickly. Can I ask how many gals you went through after me?”

I sighed softly, and remembered what I often called my “Lost Period”. I thought a moment, running them through my head. “Oh, I would say eight, maybe nine. But for each of them, we knew ultimately it was just sex. Some here, some in Idaho during my trips up there, one in San Francisco.”

Becky nodded, and smiled at me. “You just went through your wild phase later than most guys. Most do that in their late teens and early twenties, you did it in your middle and late twenties. You know, you always seem to do almost everything backwards. Or drag your feet for ages, then once you do push you go for the gold. When we were together, I saw you as dragging. But for some reason, I never realized it was because of Herb. Then once he was gone, you pushed so hard and fast it staggered me.”

I hugged her and asked if she ever regretted how we ended up buying each other out and she shook her head. “Oh, not at all! You know, even though I was hurting at the time I thought it was for the best. I was growing here, and you were walking in place. It was after you remodeled that it finally sunk in how fast you could run, and you never really stopped.”

She turned and looked at me, and held my hands in hers. “You own what, five businesses now? Six? I can’t even keep track anymore. The computer store, the tech support business, the internet service in Idaho, the computer company, the campgrounds, the airline. I still can’t understand how you can keep it all straight.”

“Oh, that’s simple. I don’t, I just have competent people to run them for me. Dee calls me an ‘Angel Investor’, but Mandy calls me the ‘Head Dreamer’. I was lucky that I saved so much money for so many years, and now I mostly flip it back into expanding everything. Not from greed, but because we all make money. Hell, even Julie can retire now if she wanted to and live off of her part of the business. But like me, she enjoys doing it and I doubt she will. Like you, you could stop working all the time and let Mike and the rest run this if you really wanted.”

“Well, in a few more months I will be doing exactly that. Take a few months off, maybe come in once or twice a week and spend most of the time at home with the baby. But tell me, as much as I love my husband, is it wrong for me to sometimes wish it was your baby?”

I kissed her forehead and smiled, shaking my head. “Naw, because I can think the same thing. And I am sure that when Mandy is pregnant, I might think the same thing and wonder if it should be Linda that was pregnant and not her. Or you. Or for that matter even Kim.”

She then asked me how Linda was doing, and I smiled. “Well, she seems to be happy where she is. She is good about running the office cluster for Pavel, and she has hinted she has a boyfriend.”

“Peter, is that, ahh, safe?”

I smiled and nodded. “As long as they use protection, it should be. We know so much more now than we did when the entire AIDS thing started. She said her virus count is very low, and the new drugs she is on she said had brought the count even lower. She is still healthy, and as long as she stays off of drugs there is no reason to believe she will not live for a long time.”

She said she was glad, and soon we were talking about other things. A bit later there was a soft knock on the door, and Mandy peeked her head in. “Oh, cuddling with my future husband?” she said, raising her eyebrow and giving a scowl.

But thankfully we all knew each other enough that Becky just gave her a grin and nodded. “Yep, this may be my last time before you have him permanently locked away.” Mandy gave a smile, then came up and settled in my lap. And then it became a three way cuddle, with each of us holding the others.

Becky then gave me a wink, and asked Mandy if she remembered the first time we were together like this. I saw her look at Becky, then she started to blush! “You mean that night I got bombed out of my skull and said things I never should have?”

“Uh-huh. And when Pete here went to bed, you cried for almost an hour, positive that he hated you after that. But here is the thing, even then I knew how much you both loved each other. And just as he would never have gotten in the way between you and your boyfriend, you never would have gotten in the way between us. And I was proved right after I made that bet. You climbed into bed with us, and he just held you like nothing had happened.”

“Well, in a way I am happy I lost that bet. Even if you won the original copy of ‘Kaos Ascending’. And that I had finally told him things he needed to hear, and he did not hate me.”

I kissed her cheek, and said I could never have hated her. “And I agree, even then I could tell. Can I ask, what changed between you two? Why did it take so long for you two to finally get together?”

Mandy gave me a wink, then softly said that it took that long for me to realize I was her master, and that she belonged to me. Becky looked to be in shock, and I shook my head. “Oh ignore that, it’s just a game we sometimes do. You know me, I can be a bit aggressive sometimes. And Mandy here, she likes to pretend she is submissive. But it’s just a game.”

Mandy then gave Becky a grin, and nodded. “But you were there at the wedding. Well, Holly set us up good. Let’s just say that by the time of the ceremony, he was mine and I was his. And that is when my Master took command of me for the first time. Forbidding me to leave the hotel room until we talked about us, then taking me on the bed to show I was his. At that time I knew who I really belonged to, and that will never change. Ever!”

I saw Becky look into my eyes, and was that concern? I nodded slightly, and mentioned that I had to use the bathroom. Mandy hugged me and kissed my cheek, then the two headed downstairs. I stood there and took a piss in the bathroom, still unsure how much of that was just Mandy’s little game for Becky, and how much was real.

Things were winding up when Becky gave Mike the instructions for closing up, and we headed to her house. Taylor hugged both Mandy and me when we came in, and soon we were chatting as we had fajitas that she had made. And after chatting for several hours and showing us the nursery we all exchanged hugs before Mandy and I left. And as she hugged me, Becky whispered in my ear to come see her in the store soon. I nodded, and when we got home Mandy and I made love until we were both exhausted.

The next day we both did some work, then headed to my old house for dinner. Both Holly and Dan were glad to see us, and I even grinned as Dan and I went to the back to grill steaks as the girls did the rest inside. He even laughed when I said it felt a bit strange, being the guest in the house I had lived in for so many years.

“Pete, I don’t know why you rented a hotel. You know you are always welcome to stay with us.”

“Dan, this is your place now. It just would not feel right, and I do not want to impose on you two.”

“Impose hell, you are Holly’s best friend. She is even closer to you than her own brother. And I have to admit, I love my new job. Holly said it was funny that we live here where your dad did, and I now work where he used to work. She even jokes sometimes that someday we might just pack up and move to Idaho and live in your compound.”

I laughed, and said he was always welcome. “Well, someday I may ask for one of those trailer pads. Maybe put a trailer on one and go up for vacations. But I ain’t in the class of your dad. Not enough work for me up there, but maybe someday. But those shares you gave to her have let us live a bit easier. Why did you give them to her, can I ask.”

“Oh, that’s simple. Not only is she my best friend, she saved my life and sanity many times. Plus without her manipulation, Mandy and I would not be together now.”

He smiled and nodded, and said she had been trying to make that work since she found out Mandy was moving back to LA. “Holly knew that Mandy was single again, and would do like she always had. Keep you in the dark until one of you or the other was seeing somebody else, and never get together. I tell you, she was almost frantic during that last month, trying to keep the two of you from finding out. Oh, Rosie helped a lot. But Mandy did also, in that she insisted she did not want to see you. She even said when we had dinner a few weeks before that she refused to see you because she was tired of being your last choice. The girl you went for only when no others were available.”

He turned the steaks, and I snorted. “Oh hell, Mandy was never that! If she was not seeing somebody when I got back from Japan, we might have ended up together even then. You know about my leave, right?”

He chuckled and nodded before taking another drink of beer. “I ended up dating all three of them, and I honestly could not have made a decision. However, to be honest I knew that Holly and I would never be forever partners. She is dedicated to her faith, and I could never convert no matter how much I loved her. But between Becky and Mandy, I knew there was a chance even then. It’s just that when I got back, Mandy was with somebody else, and Becky and I just picked up where we left off.”

By that time the steaks were done so we headed on in. And it was another nice dinner with friends, and it was late when Mandy and I drove back to the bungalow.

On Monday we both had a meeting with Julie, then after lunch at the fish and chips place, I told Becky I had to do some work to pay Pavel for the place we were staying at. And wanting to get it over with, I drove to the closest of his office clusters.

I saw that Kelly was still at the desk, and she kind of sneered when I walked in. “Wow, I see the big man comes in for a change instead of simply sending a flunkie over. To what do I owe the honor?”

I smiled, and said I had made a deal with Pavel and was paying it back. “Oh, and in case you do not know, I have not lived in LA for over a year. My fiancée and I moved to Idaho, we’re just down taking care of some things before we get married.”

That seems to have stunned her a bit, and I smiled and headed back to the break room to check out the server. I already had the master key Pavel had given me and I soon had the door opened and was checking everything out. The server was now on Netware 4, and running smoothly. A far cry from the Novell 86 it was running when I first came here.

And as I was checking everything over, I realized it was the first time I had seen Kelly in years. She looked, harder than I remembered. She was now much thinner than when we had first met, the fat she once had now replaced by a lean body. However, she was now looking her age, and her face looked, nasty.

I even chuckled as I remembered the last time I had actually seen her. During the brief time when Becky and I were back together again, we had gone roller skating at Moonlight. There we ran into Kelly and her latest “boy toy”. And Becky actually took delight in rubbing into her face that we were having sex again, and that when we got home she was going to fuck me silly.

Then Becky looking at me with a look of incredulity and disgust on her face, actually saying “Oh god, Pete. You actually fucked that woman? She a cunt, with a capitol C!” And I realized as I was locking up the rack that she was right. Of all of the gals I had been with, Kelly was the one I regretted the most. She was a shy and passive girl at first, but somehow she learned self-confidence and did become a cunt.

I went back to the front, and handed her a copy of the list I was preparing for Pavel and Julie. “Everything looks good back there. Here is what I am suggesting for the next upgrades, but things mostly look good to me.”

She gave me another smirk, and asked if I was marrying the “Beaner Girl” she saw me skating with. “Oh no, Becky got married a while back, she and her husband are actually expecting a baby in a few months. I’m actually getting married to the younger sister of my first fiancée. How about you, I don’t see a ring on your finger.”

She shook her head, and said she had yet to find a guy that was good enough for her. Then she said things must have really taken a dive for me if I had moved back to Idaho. “I heard from Pavel that you sold the computer store, too much competition out here?”

And I knew that Becky was a hundred percent correct, she was a cunt. I grinned, and shook my head. “Actually, I still own over half of both Orbit and Speedy Tech. In fact, I am also a majority owner of Gem Computers there” I said, pointing at the system she was using. “That’s one of our Arapaho series, Pavel now buys all of his new systems from us. No, I moved back there when I made a mint selling Orbit Internet. The company that bought me out paid well over what it was worth, and I laughed all the way to the bank. You might say I’m semi-retired now, and only work when I want to.”

“Oh, your soon to be wife must be ecstatic. She is never going to have to work ever I bet.”

I just grinned, and shook my head. “Oh, Mandy will still work. She’s the President of Marketing for the family company. In fact, she’s at Speedy Tech now, helping arrange the next advertising campaign. With over a hundred franchises now, she’s wanting to run a Superbowl commercial next year. But I gotta go, was nice seeing you again, Kelly.”

I chuckled as I walked to the car. And I realized that unless something changed, she would likely spend the rest of her life alone. The nasty look on her face now seemed to be permanent, and her looks were fading fast. Before much longer, the most she would likely be would be a hole for guys to fuck before they moved on. And as I drove to North Hollywood, I wondered how I had never seen that in her before.

Becky gave me a hug when I got there, and took me immediately into her office. “Pete, what Mandy said, you know she’s serious, right?”

I smiled, and said it was just a game with us. “Oh, I admit that when we got together she did have a problem as some of her guys were assholes and got her to like being submissive. But she has slowly been getting over that, and now it is mostly just a game.”

She shook her head, and sighed. “No, it’s not a game to her. I saw the look in her eyes, she is dead serious. You are her Master.”

“Oh, come on now. You know we played at that a few times, mostly at the end. But like with us, it’s just a game.”

“Oh no, not to her. Remember, I went through that a bit with Art. Mandy and I have talked, and it seems like a lot of the guys after you were like him. Controlling, and like me she equated that with drive and being strong. But as you said, they put into her a need to be submissive, much more than I ever had. Pete, she is still submissive, I think she just hides it from you. Us, I think other than a few times it was half and half. But at the end, when we had that talk about things we never did I saw the kind of man you really could be. When you told me about bondage, I actually got excited, imagining you tying me up and taking me however you wanted. And when you finally fucked my ass, I loved it like I never had before.”

She sighed softly, and I actually felt a bit uncomfortable. “You know, if you had pushed me harder at that time and not tried to push me to Taylor, you probably would have kept me. I might have even been willing to leave LA and moved to Idaho. Taylor is good for me, and I am good for him. But I also see in you what Mandy does. You are a strong man, that does not show it. You can dominate us, but do not want to. Well, Mandy wants your dominance. I can see the signs, she will do anything to keep you. The look when she called you ‘Master’, that was not a game. The look was pure adoration, she will do anything for you. And not in the ‘top from the bottom’ sort of way, she really will do anything.”

I sighed softly, wondering if I could get ahold of Dr. Chen before we left. I then told Becky about some of the things that happened after we did get together. Her apologizing for having her period, and the kneeling and it showing she was ready to be used. And about working subtly through a shrink get her to stop doing them.

“I have read of those, so know what they are. Want to know what I think? She is still as submissive, but is willing to hide it because that is what you want.”

I lowered my head into my hands, and actually cried. Becky sighed softly and pulled my head to her chest, stroking my hair and asking what was wrong. “Becky, what if she does not want to marry me? She is only doing it because that is what I want?”

What I did not expect was her to yank my head around so I was looking into her eyes. “Peter Culver, stop that! Trust me, she wants to marry you! She wants to have your babies, just as I want to have Taylor’s baby. Do not confuse her being submissive with being a mindless slave!”

When I nodded she pulled me back into her chest, and sighed. “No, trust me when I say that I know she loves you, and will do anything for you. But when we talked before dinner, it was obvious she identifies herself through you. She is absolutely looking forward to being your wife, because she loves you. But at the same time, she is not the same Mandy I knew back when we were together. She even touched my belly also, and sighed before she said she could hardly wait until you put your baby into her belly. And I did notice, she said your baby and not ‘our baby’.” Becky touched her belly, and smiled at me.

“Me, I say ‘our baby’, because this is from both Taylor and me. But to Mandy, you come first. I bet she will more often think of it as ‘your baby’ more than ‘hers’ or ‘ours’. But outwardly, she is showing what she thinks you want to see. That is simply how many of us are, don’t be mad or upset by it.”

I looked up into her eyes and sighed. “But she seems so strong now, so independent. She leads a team of eight people now, is a pilot, and certainly has no problem telling me when she thinks I am wrong, or making her own decisions.”

“Uh-huh, but who put her in that position?”

“Oh hell, you know why she’s in it! She’s damned good at it, if she was not we would find her another position, or she could find a job elsewhere. Her being my girlfriend and lover has nothing to do with that.”

She smiled, and said that was obviously true. “Pete, I was surprised that you had never done any advertising prior to Mandy. And yes, she is damned good. Who do you think does it for me now?”

I looked up into her eyes, and she nods. “I had been doing advertising off and on since I opened, but she is the one that unified it all last year. She helped me find a mascot, and establish a media brand. And do you know what she charges me?”

I shook my head, as neither of them had mentioned that before. “Cookies, cakes, and pies.” I snorted, and she grinned. “Yes, the same deal your dad had with her mother. Oh, but she is still the little tease she was when I first met her.” Becky blushed, and gave a crooked smile, then simply shrugged.

“I had made her one of those chocolate and coconut cream pies I remembered you all liked so much when she first flew down to show me her ideas. I think you were out in Seattle looking at buildings. Well, she, oh hell, how to say this. We had a few glasses of wine, and had been in the hot tub with Taylor earlier in the evening. Just the two of us were at the table, and she winked at me and said it might be the best pie she had ever experienced. Then she in a very sexy manner got some of the whipped cream on her spoon, and licked it off.”

I listened to that, feeling a bit conflicted. “She then softly said how much she enjoyed eating pie, and always looked forward to mine. Pete, she was flirting with me. But you know, also not flirting with me. She then gave me a big wink, and returned back to how we were before. I knew she was just playing, but for like half a second, I, errrr, I was tempted.”

I laughed softly, and reached out and squeezed her hand. “So you don’t really think she was flirting with you?”

“I’m not sure. Maybe? We had only found out I was pregnant a few weeks before, and I already told her I would soon be fat and ugly, and she insisted that would never be true. And hell, she had done things a bit like that as long as I have known her.”

“Uh-huh, Do you remember what she said about you on your first meeting?” She shook her head, and I grinned. “Her words were ‘Rebecca of the amazing ass’. Heck, she even told me then you were one of the very few girls she met after Peggy that would have seriously had her considering trying girls again.” Becky blushed at that, and I nodded. “But I trust her, and I trust you. She does still flirt with other gals sometimes, but I think it is just in play. Heck, get her and Peggy together with a few drinks in each and they will curl up in each other’s laps and kiss. But I know that will never be again, Peggy is now like another sister to her.”

“And we both know what her real sister is like. But Pete, get that look off of your face. Mandy is not Linda. Yes, Linda is a little slut, although a recovered slut. She is also bisexual, with her longest relationship other than you with another woman. And Mandy’s first was with another girl. However, when she did that, I think she was both being honest and showing that she still appreciated how I looked, and also knew it was just safe flirting. She knew I would no more sleep with her than I would anybody other than Taylor. That made me, safe I guess.”

“But what does that have to do with us?”

“That’s the point, she would never jeopardize her relationship with you, so flirting with me was safe. Don’t you get it?”

She held my hands and smiled. “Mandy, to be honest is a flirt. I have seen her flirt with you in the same way when we were together. Because she knew you were safe then, you were mine. Then I saw her flirt with Jack, and it was very different. With you back then and me, it was teasing, like it was play. But with Jack, even then I could tell she wanted him.”

I nodded, and sighed. “Then she got him, and he threw it all away.”

“Yep, but she got him. I can see the difference between her playing at flirting, and flirting with a purpose. She only does the first now, not the second. I think that is her showing herself she is still sexy, but she will only show the real sexy to you. She just teases the rest of us with it.”