Chapter 41: Conflict

Another Monday morning rolled around. Two weeks until our exams, just under three until Ness arrived, and just under four until my birthday.

Twenty-one. Everything would be legal. I smiled at that thought. Ironically there was nothing that I wanted to do that I hadn’t already done. Did that detract from coming of age? Not really. Did I wish that I had ‘saved’ something? Hell NO. I wouldn’t have done anything differently even if I’d had the choice.

That, of course, was a lie. There were so many things that I would have liked to change. Decisions made for me, and about me, for my entire life, that, given the choice, I would change in a second. More recently, I had made decisions for myself and others, that I would also change. But that was not an option. There were things that were going to change, though, and I wondered about the repercussions of decisions I had made, but had yet to implement.

I was also surprised that there had been no blowback for my interference with the two guys who had tried to kill Gracie. Someone, somewhere, must have realized that there had been interference, and it wouldn’t take a genius to determine who had done it. Maybe they had, and just didn’t care; or maybe they were keeping their powder dry and waiting to use that against me at a later date. Either way I didn’t care. Those assholes got what was coming to them. I sniggered at that turn of phrase. Their assholes would definitely get what was cumming to them and they wouldn’t enjoy it, not one bit.

I slipped out of bed and started my day.

Kevin had either not known about, or chosen not to mention, Carys’ and mine’s tryst in the changing rooms last week. I had seen him a few times since then, and he had behaved no differently than he had before. I hadn’t seen Carys since then. The first time I would see her, routinely, would be tomorrow night, if she came to the dojo to watch my class.

This morning was an Aikido lesson. I found it to be both settling and elevating at the same time. I had noticed that since I had started Aikido I was a lot less stressed. My temper, which had often gotten me into trouble in the past, while not absent, was no longer uncontrollable. I reacted less and considered more. That isn’t to say that after consideration my actions wouldn’t still be extreme, but at least they were considered.

I was making breakfast when the kitchen was invaded. Everyone entered all at the same time. That was unusual – mostly people drifted in. It was like they had been prompted to be here all together. I wondered if there was a reason or if it was just coincidence. I waited to find out.

Mary was first to speak.

“I thought,” she said, “that we ought to discuss a couple of things.” Not a coincidence then.

“Such as?” I asked.

“Gracie,” said Mary. “I got a text from her to say that they would be happy to release her from the hospital if she had somewhere to go. She wants to come here.”

“She’s still in full leg casts,” I said, “which means she’s still bed bound. How would that work?”

“Apparently,” she replied, “Dylan said he will be able to come and look after her. He has some leave due and is willing to spend it caring for her.”

“Then why doesn’t he take her to his place?” I asked.

“He lives in a second-floor apartment,” she said. “No elevator, and it’s very small. He wouldn’t have space to care for her there.”

“Also,” suggested Amanda, “you would be able to ‘help’ her along.”

“Right under the nose of a medical professional?” I asked. “Hardly.”

“So,” said Jules, “how would it work? Would Dylan visit daily or is he thinking of staying with her? If that’s the case, then where would he sleep? Do we really want a complete stranger in the house, even without worrying about using powers?”

“I said we would discuss it and then go see them both,” Mary said.

“It would have to be Wednesday,” I said. “Don’t forget, we are going to Jeevan’s tonight for dinner, and I have a class tomorrow night.”

“I’d forgotten you were going out,” said Louise. “I guess Josh and I will order in.”

“You really need to learn to cook,” I said. “You can’t live off Uber Eats your whole life.”

“Why not?” asked Louise. “Besides, we have a chef in house and another one on the way. We wouldn’t be able to get near the kitchen in any case.”

Jules laughed. “She has a point.”

I conceded. “I have some time this morning,” I said. “I’ll make a lasagne. All you’ll have to do is put it in the oven. I’ll also make some garlic bread. Do you think you can manage that?”

“Will you write instructions?” asked Josh. He wasn’t joking.

I sighed. “Fine.”

“So,” said Mary bringing us back on topic, “Gracie?”

“We did say she had a place here for as long as she needed,” said Amanda.

They all looked at me.

“Why is this up to me?” I asked.

“Technically,” said Jules, “it’s your house.”

“It’s OUR home,” I said. “It’s not completely my decision.” I didn’t know why – but I wasn’t keen on the idea of having an invalid Gracie and a live-in nurse here in the house. I didn’t want to be the one to say no, especially when everyone else seemed to be okay with the idea.

“I’ll tell her no,” said Mary. After looking at me for a few seconds.

“Wait what?” said Amanda, “I thought we said...”

Mary shook her head. “It’s not a good idea,” she said. “If it were just Gracie, that would be one thing. But having a stranger move into our home is something else. Having to watch everything we said and did was bad enough when Rachel was here. I don’t think we need that kind of stress again, especially with Ness joining us. Being so new, she might easily let something slip.”

Amanda looked at me. “Caleb?”

“I think it’s a bad idea,” I said, “for all the reasons that Mary outlined. This is supposed to be our haven; somewhere where we can let our hair down, where Louise can walk around naked, where we can have sex through the gloryhole in the yard, or just plain chill. Having a stranger here will stop all that. It will turn our home into something else. That’s my vote.”

“Jules?” asked Amanda it seemed we were going for a vote. Amanda’s position was clear, she wanted us to take Gracie in and was looking for support. Her sister voting against had been a surprise.

“We’re doing this?” Jules asked. “Going for a vote? Then I vote no. This is Caleb’s house - he says no – that’s good enough for me.”

I didn’t like that reasoning. It made me seem like some kind of dictator.

“This is OUR home,” I repeated. “Not MY house. I know my name is on the paperwork, but it was your father that bought the house, and as far as I am concerned, he bought it for US. We should all have an equal say in decisions like this, Ness too.”

“Does that include us?” asked Josh. “We’re only tenants.”

“You have a right to say who you share your home with,” I said.

“I liked Gracie,” said Josh. “I think we should help her out.”

Amanda smiled at him. He was her first supporter – currently it was two yes’s and three no’s.

“Louise?” asked Amanda.

“I like Gracie too,” she said. “I’m sure I can keep my clothes on for the few weeks she is going to be laid up here. It’s not like he’s moving in permanently. Once she is back on her feet he’ll be going back to work. It’s a month. Not only that, after the end of term, you guys will probably be going up to Jules’ parents place, so you won’t even be here. How is it going to be a problem if he is here when you are not?”

“She should be back on her feet before then,” I said.

“But if she’s not,” returned Louise.

It was a tie, three for and three against. Ness would have the casting vote.

“Ness,” I sent to her. “We have a question for you.”

“I know,” Ness sent back. “Amanda explained everything to me. I think it’s a great idea.”

Amanda beamed. “Then it’s...”

“Hold on!” I said.

“What exactly did Amanda explain?” I asked Ness.

“She said that you had a good friend, that needed a place to stay when she came out of hospital.” Sent Ness. “And that since all her stuff was there anyway, it was best for her to come there.”

“Did she happen to mention any of this?” I asked sending her the entirety of the conversation we’d just had. I had included everyone in the link – excepting Josh and Louise of course.

Amanda’s smile slipped a little.

There was silence from Ness. I felt a little anger from her.

“Amanda,” she sent. “You promised not to try and manipulate me again.”

“I didn’t use any powers,” said Amanda.

Ness was silent for a second.

“Perhaps,” she sent, “if you didn’t want my opinion, you shouldn’t have asked.” She disconnected from the network.

“Oh no,” said Jules picking up her phone. She dialled.

“Don’t you fucking dare,” she yelled as soon as it was answered. “You don’t get to stomp off like a fucking brat. Reconnect to the network RIGHT FUCKING NOW and apologise. You do have a right to an opinion, but then so does Caleb. That crack about Blaze was uncalled for and you owe him an apology. It’s no wonder he was annoyed.

“You said your piece which was fine. Why you felt a personal attack on him was both warranted, or needed, beats the fuck out of me. He nearly fucking died to save your ass and that is how you repay him? You ungrateful little b...”

“Jules!” I interrupted her. “That’s not helpful. Give her time. Let things cool off. We got our answer: Gracie can come and recuperate here, and Dylan can come and look after her. We’ll just have to adapt. Also, she can’t reconnect. She will have to wait now until we are together. I can’t connect to her over this much distance.”

Jules paled. “But that means you won’t be able to block her pain. She’s due the week of her exams. She won’t be able to function.”

“I don’t know what to say,” I said. “I can’t do anything over this distance. I’ll just have to drive up and back.”

“That’s a twenty-hour drive,” said Mary. “Don’t be ridiculous. Besides you have commitments here.”

“None of which are as important as Ness,” I said. “It’s not immediately urgent, she’s not in pain now. I can leave early Saturday morning, get there Saturday afternoon, stay overnight, and come back Sunday. It’s no big deal.”

Jules looked at her phone. It was still connected to Ness. She sighed.

“Did you hear that?” she asked quietly. “We’ll come up at the weekend.” Jules paused, listening to Ness’ reply. “No, you’ll have to tell him that yourself. Wait until you see him.”

She hung up her phone.

“Caleb,” Amanda said, her eyes on the floor, “I’m sorry. If I hadn’t...”

“I don’t think it would have made any difference,” I said. “She had her opinion which, despite her being pissed at you, meant she came down on your side. That would most likely have been her answer in any case.”

“Yes,” said Amanda. “But if I hadn’t made her mad, she might not have...”

“You can’t know that,” I said going over to her and pulling her into a hug. “She’s a teenager. They say dumb things from time to time. I shouldn’t have gotten mad with her either. If I hadn’t let my annoyance show, she might not have felt...”

“Oh, shut up the pair of you,” said Jules. “She’s a brat, she did a bratty thing. Shit happens. Maybe this will teach her to think a little before she acts.”

Jules’ phone rang. She looked at the display and sighed.

“Hi mom,” she walked out of the kitchen.

“You guys need to get moving,” I said, “or you’re going to be late. I have a lasagne to make.”

They all darted off to their various commitments and I created the promised meal, along with instructions, and placed it in the fridge for Josh and Louise for later.

Before I went to class, I looked at my phone. There were no messages, but I decided to send one to Ness.

_We’re coming up at weekend to reconnect. Can’t wait to see you again. Love you XXX

I didn’t get a reply.

From eleven until four, I was solidly booked with hypnotherapy sessions. I didn’t even get a break for lunch. I did sneak out for fifteen minutes to grab a quick bite, leaving a client and their chaperone in my ‘office.’ That was risky and not something I would do regularly – but I needed to eat. I’m not sure how Mary forgot to schedule a lunch break for me. I would have to ask her.

By four thirty I was back at the house, waiting for the others to come home.

I thought about Ness and hoped she was okay. I looked at my phone again, but still no reply. I was going to send another text but decided against. She probably needed more time to cool off.

“Have you heard from Ness?” I asked Jules when she got in.

She shook her head. “I spoke to Mom earlier, as you know. She’s pissed at Ness for what she said to you, but more for what she did. Breaking the connection like that was stupid. She was going to ask Daddy if he would send Ness down on the jet so that you could reconnect without having to drive for twenty hours. Apparently, though, the jet is in for routine maintenance. They were getting it done so it would be ready for them to fly down after the exams.”

“I sent her a text,” I said, “but she hasn’t responded.”

Jules shrugged. “She’s either sulking,” she said, “or too ashamed to talk to you.”

The rest of the girls came in and we settled in the living room.

“Your dinner is in the fridge,” I said to Josh, “and instructions are on the attached sheet.”

He grinned. “Thanks.”

Louise looked at me. “Caleb, I’m sorry,” she said.

“What for?” I asked.

“I know you didn’t want to bring Gracie here,” she said. “I’ve been thinking about it all day. I feel really bad that this has been effectively forced on you.”

I shrugged. “It is what it is.”

“But you’re still mad?”

I considered that question. “Fucking furious,” I said, “but there’s nothing I can do about it. I was outvoted and I have to live with it, but I don’t have to like it.”

Amanda’s eyes widened.

“You’re angry?” she asked.

“Absolutely,” I said. “Now I have nowhere to go to relax. I can’t even call my home my own. For all the time he is here I have to watch everything I say and everything I do. Why wouldn’t I be angry?”

“But you brought Rachel...” began Amanda.

“Rachel was completely different,” I interrupted. “Rachel was in immediate danger, she had nowhere else to go. Gracie is perfectly safe where she is, she just wants to be somewhere else. Not only that, we found out with Rachel how limiting it was having someone living here that we needed to hide our powers from. It was a relief when she moved back to her parents. But, as I said, what’s done is done. We’ll just have to make the best of it.”

“We haven’t told her yes, yet,” said Amanda. “We could...”

“Oh no,” I said. “The vote was cast, and the result is in. I have no more right than anyone else to an opinion and I gave mine. The group decided to say yes.”

“But if it makes you that unhappy,” she said.

“It’s done,” I said. “We all had our say, and the group made the decision. That’s how it should be. Now please, just drop it.”

The drive over to Jeevan’s house, later, was made in silence. Nobody seemed to want to initiate conversation. Once more we stopped at the hypermarket for a gift for Meena. This time it was chocolates. Seemingly I knew her favourite there too.

Jeevan and Meena met us at the door as we arrived. Once again, Mary gave the gift we had brought, and we were invited inside. It didn’t take long before Jeevan said Meena wanted my assistance in the kitchen.

He entertained the girls in the main room, while I went in to see how I could help.

“Caleb,” she said as I walked in, “what is going on?”

I stopped. Startled by the question.

“I have no powers,” she said, “but even I can see that there is something wrong. There is a distance between you all. It’s like a wall. What is wrong?”

I sighed and told her the tale, including the issue with Ness.

“So, you lost the vote, and now you are sulking?” she asked, her tone incredulous. “Why bother asking for a vote at all if this is going to be your reaction? You are paying lip service to your relationship being a democracy, but you’re punishing them when the vote doesn’t go your way. How do you think your actions today will affect them in future?

“Caleb, being in a relationship is difficult. You have to think of someone other than yourself. In your case you have four other people’s opinions to take into consideration.”

“That’s what I did,” I said.

“No,” she said. “It isn’t. Oh, you asked them, and are abiding by the result, this time. However, you are making it perfectly clear that you are not happy - that you are, in fact, angry with the decision. What happens next time a decision is required? Are they going to be too afraid of your anger to give their true opinion, or will they just tell you what you want to hear? Is that the way you want to run your household, as an autocracy pretending otherwise? If so, welcome to the world, Caleb Jong-Un.”

“So, you’re suggesting that I should lie?” I asked. “I am angry that we are going to have a perfect stranger in our home. That I, we, are going to have to be cautious of every word and deed in case we give ourselves away.”

“I’m suggesting that you extract your head from your ass,” she snapped at me, “and show the girls that no matter what, the important thing is that you love them.”

“They know I love them,” I began.

“Them knowing isn’t enough,” she retorted. “You must constantly show it. What exactly are you angry about? That some of your girls dare to have an opinion that conflicts with your own? That you lost? That you are not master in your household? What?

“From what I can tell, you will have to put up with it for a few weeks, no more. Is that such a burden that you would destroy your relationship with your girls?”

I stood, taken aback by her words.

“You chose to put it to a vote,” she insisted. “You even included your lodgers, although you could quite reasonably have excluded them. You lost. Stop sulking, accept things with good grace, and stop damaging the relationship with your girls over such a trivial matter. If you felt so strongly about it, why put it to the vote in the first place? You could easily have just said no, and they would have accepted it.

“You are hurting yourself, and your girls, with this. You need to stop. Now go back in there, and ask Jeevan if he would come help me, please.”

I left the kitchen and walked back into the living room. Jeevan looked up as I entered, he smiled.

“Meena asked if you would go help her,” I said, a little woodenly. He nodded and stood.

I sat down on the sofa, and Jules immediately stood, crossed the room, and climbed into my lap. Mary and Amanda also came over and took seats on either side of me. I opened my mouth to speak but Mary beat me to it.

“Caleb,” she said. “We love you. I know having Dylan staying with us will be uncomfortable, and if it means so much to you, then we will tell them no.”

“What kind of a fiancé would I be if I didn’t listen to my fiancées?” I asked. “I love you all too, and I’m sorry. Meena was right in what she said. I can’t ask your opinion and then disregard it when it doesn’t happen to agree with mine. I told you a while back that I didn’t choose stupid girls, and I meant it. I’m sorry I reacted like I did.”

“But you didn’t disregard it,” said Amanda.

“No, but I made it plain how unhappy I was about the result,” I said. “If anything, that’s worse. I was punishing you guys for daring to have a different opinion to mine. We decided that Gracie could come and recuperate with us. Nothing else matters any more. Actually, that’s not true. The only thing that matters is that we are together, and that I love all of you.”

“Ness too?” asked Jules.

“Ness is going to get spanked,” I said. “Not for disagreeing, not even for the crack about Blaze, but for putting herself at risk by disconnecting from the network. Now I can’t help her or look after her. I wouldn’t even know if she got into trouble. That can’t happen.”

Mary smiled. “I think she might like that,” she said. “She seemed to like a little discipline.”

I shook my head wryly.

Jeevan poked his head in. “Dinner’s ready.”

The meal, as expected, was delicious. Once again it was an Indian banquet, only this time the dishes were even more mildly spiced. There was very little heat, but that made the flavours even more enjoyable.

Meena looked around the table at all of us as we ate and interacted and smiled.

Tuesday went by in a typical fashion. I had still not heard from Ness, despite sending her a couple of texts. I almost called Cheryl but decided against. I didn’t want to cause Ness any more trouble. Carys was at the dojo on Tuesday night. What surprised me was that she seemed to be interested in one of the students in my class. Marvin was a tall, skinny guy with an unruly mop of brown hair, and a ready grin. He was a little uncoordinated, but he was doing okay. Once or twice, Carys had stepped in to help him when he was struggling, beating me to it. I smiled to myself. It looked like Carys wasn’t going to be requiring my services anymore.

Wednesday, after classes, we went to see Gracie. As usual, Dylan was with her.

Even with a wired jaw, Gracie was now able to talk, albeit through gritted teeth. I gave her the once over as the girls were talking to her. Her jaw was fully healed, as were her arms. Her legs looked to be well on the way, although another couple of weeks in plaster would be beneficial. I decided to put a little energy into the muscles of her arms and legs, so that they wouldn’t be wasted away when they removed the casts.

“The doctors say that she can be discharged tomorrow afternoon,” said Dylan. “She will need to keep the casts on her legs for another four weeks. They are talking about unwiring her jaw tomorrow morning. It has healed really well, and she should be able to take a soft diet.”

“So,” I said. “If she comes back to our house how will things work?”

“I’d need to come and look first,” he said, “to see the available facilities. If they are okay, then we can get her home. I’ve taken some leave to be able to come and look after her.”

“And where will you be staying,” asked Jules, “while you ‘look after her’?”

“Gracie said I could stay in her room,” he said, “with her.”

“So, are you two a couple now?” I asked. Gracie looked at me sharply, but Dylan smiled a little bashfully.

“I know,” he said. “It’s a cliché. Nurse falls for patient and vice versa, but once we got talking, we just hit it off. It’s been difficult but once Gracie is back on her feet, we’ll see where things go.”

“Okay then,” I said. “When did you want to come and take a look at her room?”

Dylan followed us back to the house, and we showed him Gracie’s room. He was a little disappointed that it didn’t have an ensuite, but the family bathroom was just across the hall and had the advantage of a big bath and a large shower. There would be plenty of room for when her casts came off.

“I don’t expect to stay here for free,” he said. “I’ll pay for food and...”

“You’re here taking care of Gracie,” I interrupted him. “Unless you have some weird diet, you can eat with us so don’t worry about it.”

He shook his head. “I eat pretty much anything. In my line of work, we just grab what we can, when we can.”

“Now that that is settled,” I said, “how is she going to be getting home?”

He told me that there would be an ambulance, and we arranged that she would arrive home after four tomorrow afternoon. We would be there to help get her into the house.

The ambulance arrived at the house just after I did the next day. It hadn’t been a particularly busy day for me, and I had gotten home before four. It was a good thing I had because they were early.

I opened the door while the ambulance crew unloaded the gurney. Gracie was still in full leg casts, and so it would be easier for us all to lift the gurney onto the porch and then wheel it into the house. Between the four of us we managed to get her into the house and wheeled into her bedroom. They used a slide board to get her onto the bed. I could have done it a lot quicker and easier using my TK but that was not an option given the audience.

Once she was safely in bed, the ambulance crew left. Dylan went to his apartment to get some things, saying he would be back in an hour or so.

“Caleb,” Gracie said as I was about to leave her bedroom. It was just her and I in the house.

I turned to look at her. They had removed the wires holding her jaw closed. I had looked at her with my powers and her jaw and arms were now fully healed, although they wouldn’t be taking the casts of her arms for another week. Her legs needed a little more time. Once again, I gave a little prod to her muscles to help them along.

“Yes?” I responded.

“Thank you,” she said. “I know that you, and Jeevan, saved my life. I remember some of what went on in the ER. I remember talking to you, and you stopping my pain. The Doctors have been amazed at the speed of my recovery and I know that is your doing, so, thank you.”

“I’m just glad we were there,” I said. “It was pure luck.”

She looked at me for a few moments, as if she wanted to say more, but then she just nodded.

“Do you need anything?” I asked. “A drink? Something to eat? Don’t worry about the soft diet shit – your jaw is as strong as it ever was. If anything, you need something to chew to get it working properly again.”

“A drink would be nice,” she said. “Some juice if you have it.”

I got her something to drink, and after getting her propped up in bed, helped her to drink it. She was just finishing up when the girls arrived home. They came in to keep her company.

I was in the kitchen making dinner when Dylan came back with his stuff. He carried it into her room.

I put together a couple of plates of food which Dylan took into Gracie’s room. I cleared up and then the twins, Jules, and I went to the range to practice. I was getting much better now. With my own gun I was consistently hitting exactly what I aimed for. With a range weapon, I was able to correct much faster. Jules and I were still by far the best shots out of our group, but Mary and Amanda were certainly not bad. I was confident that any of us would be able to effectively use a weapon, should it ever be required.

I also inquired with Hoss about a gun safe for the house. He suggested I should probably have a pistol safe in my bedroom, somewhere easy to access, and a proper gun safe somewhere else in the house for if I wanted to keep a long gun.

I would think about that closer to the time when I could actually buy a gun. But a pistol safe seemed like a good idea. I remembered that Gracie had one of those and I resolved to look at it and see if I might want to get one similar.

Friday night Dana came over and once again we went bowling. I wasn’t sure about it given that the guys Mary and Amanda had gone off with might be there again. Jules seemed adamant that she wanted to go, so we did. Dana didn’t understand what was going on, but she went along with us anyway.

When we arrived at the bowling alley, we went onto our booked lane. I was inputting our names into the scoreboard when Max and David came over from a couple of lanes down. They made a beeline for the twins.