Chapter 46: Covet

-- WEDNESDAY, JUNE 10, 2009 --

Summer picked up on the second ring. “Hello, Great Love of My Life.”

“Hello, Sunshine,” I replied wearily as June and I walked out of our office and headed for the elevators, my phone in my pocket with my earbuds plugged in: standard operating procedure for me to call my girlfriend and let her know I was leaving.

“It’s after seven. I thought you said you wouldn’t be working this late tonight.”

“Couldn’t be helped. We had a last-minute call with some folks in Shanghai, and they’re nine hours behind us. Well, fifteen hours ahead of us, but same difference. 6pm for us is only 9am for them.”

“But you’re good now? Because I don’t want you thinking about work anymore after this.”

I snorted. “Who’s in charge here? Aren’t I supposed to be the one who makes decisions about what I do or do not want to think about?”

“You’re in charge, Master,” Summer purred into the phone. “But as your ever-loving girlfriend who wants to do everything in her power to ensure your happiness, it’s my job to make sure you have something more ... naked ... to focus on instead of thinking about work.”

I chuckled and resisted the urge to ask her whether or not she was naked right now.

“In any case, I’ll pick you up at the BART station so we can go straight over to Mom’s, okay?” Summer continued.

I nodded as the elevator to my immediate left dinged. “Sounds good. I’m just stepping into the elevator now and will text you when I’m close to the station.”

“Okay I’ll tell her she can finally start on dinner. She’s making your favorite.”

I smiled. Summer knew by now that ‘my favorite’ was whatever one of my ladies decided to make for me. And with a world of innuendo in my voice, I intoned, “I look forward to sampling everything your mother has to offer.”

Summer giggled.

“Dude ... You talk like that to your girlfriend about her mom?” Rakesh exclaimed behind me.

I glanced back and blushed at the unexpected presence of my co-worker as Rakesh walked right past me and between the two separating elevator doors. “Uh, we’re having dinner,” I muttered gruffly as I followed him in. “As in: she’s making food. She’s a great cook, by the way.”

“Yeah, uh-huh.” Rakesh just shook his head and sighed as he turned around to face forward, muttering to himself, “Why do I even bother asking?”

June winked at me as she turned to stand beside me.

“Gotta go,” I told Summer. “See you soon.”

“Spread ‘em, Pleasure Doll.”

“Oh, shit,” Yvaine gasped, her head shooting up straight as she stiffened in surprise. With the range hood exhaust fan running at high power, the noise had completely drowned out my approach into the kitchen, and the older woman had absolutely no idea I’d arrived until I took hold of her hips and growled my command into her ear from behind.

“I gave you an order, slave,” I added before taking a healthy swat at her ass.

“Yes, Master. Immediately, Master,” she whimpered, grabbing hold of her dress hem and bunching it up around her waist. Then, taking hold of her thong panties, she dragged them halfway down her thighs. And finally, she bent over at the waist, thrusting her well-sculpted booty at me while reaching back with both hands to spread her asscheeks open wide.

“Is it just me or does it seem like we’re always doing this in the kitchen?” Summer queried in amusement.

“In a box, with a fox,” I drawled with a smirk. “In a house, with a mouse, I can ha-- Ooh, hey!”

Yvaine squeaked when my middle finger slipped into her asshole with exceptional ease. I’d been cupping her bare butt with my hand and gently probing her pussy from behind when I slid the digit across her anus and found that her crinkled star had been pre-lubricated. Presently, I slipped a second finger inside and separated my fingers to stretch out her sphincter, and the gorgeous MILF grunted quietly, “Master wanted me prepared.”

“Indeed I did,” I intoned, glancing at Summer with glittering eyes. “Take over finishing dinner, Pet.”

“Yes, Master,” Summer replied with her head bowed subserviently.

Hooking the two fingers inside Yvaine’s ass, I grabbed her hip with my left hand and propelled her around to the kitchen island while her daughter took over in cooking dinner at the gas range. Then, I pitched my Pleasure Doll forward with a hand to the back of her neck so that she thrust her booty back at me. And then after adding a third digit, I fingerbanged the horny redhead’s rectum while somewhat awkwardly unzipping myself with my left hand.

Leaning forward, I growled into her ear, “What would you like me to do to you, Pleasure Doll?”

Yvaine’s fingers were white-knuckled on the edge of the countertop, she gritted her teeth, and her eyes were tightly shut as I repeatedly pistoned three fingers in and out of her asshole. She grunted and groaned before finally replying through clenched teeth, “Pleasure Doll wants Master to do absolutely anything he so desires.”

“Can I spank you?”

“Yes.”

“Can I give you a rimjob?”

“Yes.”

“Can I put my dick in your ass?”

“Yes!”

“Can I fuck your face?”

“Yes!”

“Can I cum in your mouth?”

“Oh, yes!”

“Can I fuck your face right AFTER I’ve put my dick in your ass?”

“Fuck yes!”

“Can I fuck your face and cum in your mouth right after I’ve put my dick in your ass?”

“Yes, YES!”

Leaning forward, I whispered into her ear. “Can I fuck your face and cum in your mouth right after I’ve put my dick into your daughter’s ass?”

Yvaine squirmed and bowed her head, moaning while I continued fingerbanging her butt. “Ohmigawd...” she groaned.

“That wasn’t an answer, Pleasure Doll.”

She hesitated only a moment before picking up her head and twisting to stare back at me with hooded royal-blue eyes. “Yes, Master. You can fuck my face and cum in my mouth right after you’ve put your dick into my daughter’s ass.”

I glanced at Summer, who stood before the gas range finishing up dinner. My busty bombshell girlfriend visibly panted and rubbed her thighs together, clearly getting off at the things her mom and I were saying. And my first impulse was to ask if Yvaine would snowball my load right back to Summer after I came in her mouth.

But I knew Yvaine’s limits. As much as she wanted to have direct sexual contact with Summer - and I already knew for sure that Summer wanted to have direct sexual contact with her mom - Yvaine had already asked me to never give that order. I still would never term myself a proper Dom/sub “Master” (one might say I only knew enough to be dangerous), but I knew enough to know it was a Master’s responsibility to know his submissive’s limits and respect them when necessary.

So instead I leaned forward and bit down a bit on Yvaine’s ear while withdrawing my fingers from her now gaping anus, and I swiftly replaced it with my cockhead.

“Holy-fucking-shit!” Yvaine grunted as my fat eight-inch dick suddenly invaded her bowels. She reached out to the sides reflexively and grabbed onto the sink faucet with her right hand and the side edge of the kitchen island countertop with her left. I planted my hand against the back of her head to push her face-down. And with her body thus bent-over at the waist before me, I reached back and spanked her buttcheeks a few more times just for fun.

“That’s a good Pleasure Doll,” I groaned in satisfaction as I began to pump in and out of her pleasurable pucker. “I love-love-love-love your amazing asshole.”

Summer giggled behind me. “He’s definitely been into a lot of anal, lately.”

“He’s making ME love a lot of anal, too,” Yvaine groaned, resting her cheek against the countertop and thrusting her booty back at me.

“Speaking of a lot of anal...” I waggled my eyebrows. “Is my Pet properly prepared as well?”

Summer winked at me. “One way to find out!”

“In a minute. I’m not done with my Pleasure Doll just yet.”

“I am yours, Master,” Yvaine crooned, remaining bent over with her arms spread. “Do whatever you want to me.”

“Can I pull out of your ass, slam my big dick all the way into your throat, and hold it there until you start choking to death?”

“Yes, Master!” Yvaine exclaimed happily.

“Can I slap your cheeks WHILE you’re choking on my dick?”

“Yes, Master!”

“Can I wipe your tears with my cockhead and then make you lick them up?”

“Ohhh, yesss, Master!”

“Can I tie you up, lay my dick into your butt cleavage, and hump your gorgeous booty until I spew all over your lower back?”

“Yes, Master. PLEASE!”

“Can I lie you down across your bed with your head hanging over the side, pinch your nipples and fuck your face with my balls slapping against your forehead, make you suck on my testicles, then fuck your tits until I coat them in all my creamy cum?”

“Ohhh, holy fuck, Master!”

“And then let me lick up all of Master’s creamy cum from your gorgeous big titties!” Summer’s voice suddenly filled the air.

“HOLY FFFFUUUUCCCCKKKK!!!” Yvaine howled as she tightened up and came, shuddering and thrashing against the countertop. “FFFUCK! FUCK-FUCK-FFFFUUUUCCCCKKKK!!!

“Cum, Mommy, cum!” Summer cheered.

“I WANT YOU TO LICK UP MASTER’S CUM!” Yvaine screeched. “I WANT MY DAUGHTER TO LICK ALL THAT YUMMY CUM OFF MY BIG TITTIES AND THEN FEED IT BACK TO ME ON HER TONGUE! FUCK! FUCK! FFFFUUUUCCCCKKKK!!!”

“Holy shit!” I grunted as without warning I started spewing. Normally I lasted much longer than this, but hearing Yvaine repeatedly crooning “Yes, Master!” to me over and over again had gotten my blood boiling and made me lose focus. And when her asshole unexpectedly went into epileptic spasms around my embedded prick, it elicited an enormous eruption and extracted every last drop of my ejaculatory ejecta.

I thrust exactly three more times, the first banging her booty forward, the second jarring loose her grip on the faucet and the side of the countertop, and the third slamming her pelvis against the cabinetry. All three times I felt myself expelling ever more cum, absolutely flooding Yvaine’s exquisite rear entrance until I’d completely emptied out my balls.

And then I collapsed across Yvaine’s back.

The older woman panted while I gathered up her lustrous red hair and twisted it into a makeshift ponytail. I growled into her ear, “I’m gonna pull my slimy dick outta your ass and wipe it clean with your luscious hair,” I grunted.

“And then I’m gonna suck all of Master’s cum outta your ass!” Summer exclaimed giddily.

Yvaine groaned and shivered, obviously aroused by the idea, but a second later she tensed up, and not in a good way.

I tensed up too. All the ecstatic feelings I’d enjoyed moments before evaporated into the ether as I realized I needed to shut down Summer’s bright idea before something happened that couldn’t be taken back. And I stood up straight without withdrawing my dick from Yvaine’s ass, quite literally blocking Summer’s access as it were.

“Stop, Summer. You can’t do that,” I stated firmly, holding up a single index finger and staring down my girlfriend.

Summer blinked and immediate whined like a tween who’d just been told she couldn’t go to a Katy Perry concert. “What? Why not?”

Raising my eyebrows, I gave her a severe look and said, “You know why not.”

Summer screwed up her face. “She totally wants it! You saw how she came right when I said I’d lick your cum off her big titties! She came hard.”

Yvaine groaned and smashed her cheek into the countertop.

“Be that as it may, she expressly asked me to never give her the order to have sex with you,” I stated firmly. “No means no, Summer.”

Summer shivered and shook her head, eyes glittering. “‘No’ means ‘I’m ashamed to want it but I want it anyways’.”

My eyes popped open wide. She was dead serious.

Waving that finger in Summer’s face, I waggled it and growled, “I don’t know who the fuck ever convinced you of that, but we are fixing that right here, right now. NO MEANS NO.”

Summer rolled her eyes like I didn’t understand. “If Mom ever actually means ‘no’ she’ll use a safe word. I don’t actually know what it is, but it would be the same thing as me saying ‘kayak’ to get you to stop. All I’m saying is that if Mom ever says, ‘No! Please! Stop raping me!’ or something like that, she actually wants you to keep going, you know?”

Eyes wide, I stared at Summer in surprise.

“This is normal for a sub,” she told me matter-of-factly.

“Okay fine, fine, I get it. In the middle of sex, ‘no’ apparently doesn’t mean no.” I took a deep breath and sighed. “But this wasn’t a situation of me ordering your Mom to have sex with you and her saying ‘no’ while secretly wanting to say ‘yes’. We were done having sex and were just talking, and she asked me to never give her that order.”

“Why?”

“For a lot of reasons that she doesn’t have to defend right now while she’s still bent over the counter with my dick up her ass. She asked me not to, and I’m respecting that decision.”

“But you’re her Master.”

“And a Master knows his submissive’s limits.”

“She wants this. I already know she does. Wasn’t she just howling a minute ago for me to lick your cum off her tits and feed it back to her with my tongue? She wants this, but she doesn’t want to feel the guilt of initiating anything with me, so she’s depending on you to do it for her. You’re supposed to order her to do it and therefore absolve her of guilt. That’s how these relationships work!”

I blinked in surprise and cocked my head. It was such an unusual thing for Summer to ever argue with me, and in fact I thought this might well be the very first time. I found myself wishing Dawn was here; she always had bright ideas at times like this. Sunday brunch foursomes were our typical time to “water the plants” as she joked, despite my consternation with the phrase. But Yvaine had been particularly antsy today, hence Summer asking me to come over for dinner tonight.

Taking a deep breath, I fixed Summer with a serious look and stated firmly, “If I feel unclear about her actual desires, I will discuss those with her later on. Not now. This isn’t happening right now, Sunshine. I love you and I know you’re horny but this isn’t something you can have right now, understand?” I paused and sniffed the air. “And you’re burning dinner.”

Summer blinked in surprise, turned, and exclaimed, “Oh shit!” She quickly leaped back to the range, switched off the burner, and dragged the big frying pan over to the corner of the range.

Only then did I finally extract my now-limp dick from Yvaine’s ass. She remained bent over across the countertop, breathing shallowly. But when I gently rubbed her back and slid my hand down her arm, she looked back at me with a ... mysterious ... expression in her eyes.

Presently, I slipped my hand into hers, and she turned when I tugged so that she could push herself upright. Without hesitation, she pressed herself into my chest and held my head while giving me a surprisingly soft kiss. And then she bowed her head downward, her expression one of shame as she pressed her forehead to my chest, closed her eyes, and softly moaned.

“C’mon. Let’s get you cleaned up,” I murmured gently before kissing her crown. And then taking her by the hand, I led her out of the kitchen and up to her room.

When Yvaine and I returned downstairs, Summer had dinner plated and ready to go. Summer was quiet ... very quiet ... and only listlessly picking at her food, which I interpreted to reflect a feeling of shame for nearly burning the meal. I still remember her story about shivering cold on the floor at the foot of her boyfriend’s bed in punishment for burning dinner, so I went out of my way to reassure her that everything tasted great and complimented her skills for saving it.

Of course, Summer simply looked glum and muttered, “I wouldn’t have needed to save it if I hadn’t fucked it up in the first place. It’s my fault.”

“It’s nobody’s fault,” I assured her.

“Except that it is my fault,” she countered. “I deserve to be punished.”

“People don’t deserve punishment for simple accidents.”

Summer snorted. “Clearly you didn’t grow up in my household. Accident or not, if something got broken you can bet I’d be bent over the nearest couch with Mom or Dad spanking me with a wooden spoon.”

I glanced at Yvaine, who simply shrugged like it was no big deal. Lots of families spanked their kids for misbehavior.

And Summer clearly learned to enjoy it somewhere along the way.

Evidently.

“This really isn’t a big deal,” I told Summer seriously. “The food tastes great and I really want you to stop beating yourself up over it. Understand? It wasn’t your fault.”

“I shouldn’t have gotten distracted.”

“It would’ve been difficult to not get distracted,” Yvaine put in gently, “while your boyfriend was filling my ass with his cum.”

Summer smirked at that and looked up from her plate. “Now there’s a sentence I never would have expected you to say.”

“Nor I,” Yvaine admitted before shooting me a glance and sighing. “This is certainly a unique circumstance. I never thought in a million years I would take my own daughter’s boyfriend as a lover.”

I arched an eyebrow at her tone and asked, “You don’t regret it, do you? Taking me as a lover?”

Yvaine pursed her lips and looked thoughtful before responding. “I don’t think ‘regret’ is the correct term. I’ve no feelings of guilt or shame about what we do. You are an incredible lover - the best I’ve ever had - and there’s no way I would want to give you up. And yet there are times that I wish things were different.”

“Different in what way?”

Yvaine’s eyes flicked to Summer momentarily, and then she stared down at her plate and blushed pink.

“What?” Summer asked, eyes narrowed.

Yvaine shook her head in the negative and picked at her plate with her fork.

“Mom, seriously, what?”

“I think we should change the topic,” Yvaine remarked dismissively. “It’s not appropriate table conversation.”

Summer snorted. “Nothing about our situation is appropriate table conversation.”

“I heard from Adrienne’s PI this morning,” Yvaine stated matter-of-factly. “Toby has been going to work like clockwork this week. The situation seems perfectly under control.”

“Mooom. You know that being super-evasive like this just makes it all the more obvious you’re hiding something.”

Yvaine’s eyes narrowed. “I’m not obligated to explain myself to you, young lady.”

“But you’re kinda obliged to explain yourself to Ben. You did give yourself to him, didn’t you?”

“I did no such thing.”

Summer snorted. “I was there when you declared to him, ‘I am yours.’”

“My declaration of ‘I am yours’ to him is limited to our bedroom activities.”

“Apparently they’re often kitchen activities.”

“Don’t get cute with me, young lady.”

“You’re the one always saying my language needs to be more precise.”

“Ben is NOT my Master at this dining table.”

“Well, unless he’s bending you over the--”

“Summer,” Yvaine cut her off in a warning tone.

“What? We can’t talk about sex in this house all of a sudden?”

“It’s not appropriate table conversation and you’re acting like a child!”

“What’s the big deal? It’s the truth, isn’t it? Am I supposed to suddenly hide from the truth? Ben literally had you bent over the kitchen counter sawing his big dick in and out of your pre-lubricated asshole because you wanted him to come home and purr into your ear, ‘Spread ‘em.’”

“Summer,” I began gently.

“What’s your big deal?” she continued, still focused on her mom. “What are you so afraid of? What are you hiding?”

“I am not obligated to explain myself to you, young lady.”

“Don’t gimme that bullshit. You DO owe me an explanation. You owe him an explanation!”

“Summer, drop it!”

At the same time, I reached out to take hold of Summer’s hand. “Summer...” I began gently.

But Summer actually shook her hand free of me while still glaring at her mom. “Scared of the truth? Don’t want to admit to yourself that you--”

“Summer Elizabeth MacIntosh, that’s enough!” Yvaine shouted while standing up and bracing her hands on the table so suddenly that her chair fell over behind her.

Summer instantly bowed her head, replying a moment later in a monotone voice, “My apologies, Mother.”

Yvaine’s eyes were on fire, at least for a moment. Then, she pursed her lips, swallowed thickly, and sighed while letting her tensed shoulders slump back down. By then I’d already gotten up to help pick up her chair, and she shot me an apologetic look. Meanwhile, Summer kept her head bowed, as if waiting for permission to sit up straight again.

Yvaine turned her attention to me. “I’m sorry about that, Ben.”

I shook my head. “No need to apologize. She was out of line.”

“Unusually so.” Yvaine sighed. “Summer hasn’t been this ... rebellious ... since ... Actually, I can’t recall.”

“As you said: this is a unique circumstance,” I stated with popped eyebrows before looking back over at Summer, who remained as still as a statue. “Honestly, I think Summer’s torn between two masters at the moment. Normally she wouldn’t be so rebellious with you, but did you catch the part where she said, ‘You owe him an explanation’? She’s done this a few times at home when Dawn or Adrienne is being evasive. If she thinks one of them hiding something is against my best interests, she pushes them to talk to me the way she just tried to push you. She’s not usually so ... adamant ... about it, but the intention is there.”

“Normally I would agree with you, but before her statement about owing you an explanation, she said I owed her an explanation. And as you said: she’s not usually so adamant about it.” Yvaine took a deep breath and then sighed. “This is a different situation, and I know why.”

I arched an eyebrow. “Why?”

“Because in this instance, Summer actually wants something from me that I don’t want to give her.”

I blinked. “What?”

“Me.”

I leaned back in my chair and let that sink in.

“I know it’s no surprise that my own daughter wants to have sex with me,” Yvaine muttered quietly. “Dawn’s talked about Summer’s fantasies. She’s roleplayed being Summer while going down on me.”

“And I’m sure you loved it,” Summer muttered quietly, eyes afire.

“Did I give you permission to speak, young lady?” Yvaine asked coldly.

“You can’t lie to yourself about your desires,” Summer continued without hesitation. “You want me as much as I want you. You’re just ashamed of those feelings and you’re trying to find a way around the guilt. I saw that look you gave me when you said you wished things were different. For a moment, you actually wanted to steal my boyfriend from me. You wished I wasn’t his girlfriend so you could have him all to yourself and not be tempted into having sex with me at the same time.”

“I would never steal your boyfriend.”

“I never said you would. I said that you wished it sometimes as a way to absolve your guilt. But then you immediately felt guilty for wishing it in the first place. The solution is obvious, Mom. Just give in.”

“We can’t do that, Summer,” Yvaine sighed.

“Why not?”

“I’m your mother.”

“So?”

“Crossing that line would fundamentally change our relationship.”

“How? I’ve swallowed my boyfriend’s dick straight out of your ass. Dawn’s snowballed his sperm to me after slurping it out of your cunt. We’ve given him blowjobs together where my tongue touched yours, and I’ve fondled your tits from behind and kissed your neck while you orgasmed on his cock.”

Yvaine blinked. “You have?”

Summer shrugged like it was no big deal. “Couldn’t help myself. You were so beautiful on him.”

Yvaine closed her eyes and pursed her lips into a hard line. She took a deep breath and then exhaled slowly. “Even if those sorts of things happened in the past, we can’t ... Summer ... my baby ... we just can’t.”

Summer turned to me and head-nodded across the table. “Order her to.”

I shook my head. “I won’t do that. Not for this.”

“You’re supposed to order her to let her do these things she would otherwise feel guilty for! In the bedroom, in the kitchen, over the dining table, she is yours!”

“And I have no doubt she would carry out that order should I give it,” I stated evenly. “But I also have no doubt she would regret it afterwards.”

“Not if it was truly what her master ordered. That’s the whole point! Being submissive means valuing my master’s wants and needs above my own. I know you want to see us have sex together. You get SO fucking hard inside me when Dawn starts whispering shit in your ear about me going down on Mom. You want it.” Summer turned to face her mom. “He WANTS it. How can you possibly deny him? You fucking LIED when you told him, ‘I am yours’!!!”

“She didn’t lie.” I insisted. “She made a choice to put her trust in me to treat her right, to push her buttons and give her glorious orgasms, but also to recognize her actual limits and not violate them. This is one of them. When the ecstasy waned and the urgent need had passed, she pleaded with me to never give that order, and I never will.”

Summer pursed her lips and shook her head. “You don’t understand. I know your heart’s in the right place, and I love you for it. But you were never part of The Lifestyle and you just don’t fucking understand. I’ll prove it right now.”

Turning my hands palms up, I sat back in my seat and gestured for her to go ahead.

“Ask her if she wants to have sex with me.”

I arched an eyebrow.

“Seriously. Ask her.”

Shrugging, I looked at Yvaine and asked, “Do you want to have sex with Summer?”

Yvaine pressed her lips together and said softly, “I don’t have to answer that.”

“Order her to tell you,” Summer pressed.

“This isn’t a bedroom activity,” I reasoned.

“Just ... order her and see what happens.”

Yvaine looked nervous, staring down at the table, looking exceptionally frail and small. Her appearance startled me, as I was so used to seeing her as a regal, poised example of femininity. Even as “Pleasure Doll” submitting to my every sexual whim, she was a gorgeous goddess, vibrant and sensual. But right now she looked so haunted that I couldn’t bring myself to hurt her.

So I turned back to Summer and stated evenly, “She doesn’t want to answer the question, and I’m not going to pressure her.”

“Do you want me to let this go or not?” Summer exclaimed as she stood up and planted her hands on the table. She was obviously exasperated and staring down at both of us, and not for the first time tonight, I found myself astonished by her demeanor. I had quite literally NEVER seen her so forceful in my entire life. Turning to face her mom, Summer fixed her with a glare and asked, “Do you want to have sex with me? Answer me.”

Outside of the bedroom, Yvaine may have not been the submissive that Summer was, but she still had elements of that personality. She visibly quailed beneath Summer’s baleful gaze, feeling compelled to reply. And after swallowing thickly, Yvaine looked up at her daughter and replied, “Yes ... but the answer is no.”

I sat up straight and leaned forward, gently placing my hand atop Summer’s. “No means no.”

But Summer smirked and shook her head. “This is my proof. I told you already: ‘No’ means ‘I’m ashamed to want it but I want it anyways’. And she said ‘no’.”

“Thornfield,” Yvaine said quietly, looking up and holding Summer’s gaze. “My safe word is ‘Thornfield’.”

Summer’s jaw dropped as she went ghost white. She backed up from the table, shook her head, and turned to give me a look of absolute disbelief. I knew she had been convinced... convinced ... that her mother would actually say yes. But to have Yvaine actually state her safe word shattered her. And without another word, Summer turned and practically ran out of the room.

My first impulse was to get up and go after my girlfriend. She was clearly upset, and it was my responsibility to give her comfort. But at the same time, Yvaine was clearly upset as well. And knowing that she had no one else to turn to for support, I felt a clear responsibility to her as well.

Yvaine and I typically sat on opposite sides of the four-person dining table, whether Dawn was with us or not. I now got up and slid into Dawn’s chair, which put me close enough to rest a hand on Yvaine’s forearm and squeeze it gently. “Are you alright?”