Chapter 81: Sharing

I woke up at my usual time. Jane was still draped across me and Chris was pressed up against my other side, his hand lay across me, holding onto his ‘wife’s’ hand.

As I lay there gathering myself, their bedroom door swung open and a sleepy-looking Kirsty entered.
She toddled to the foot of the bed and tried to climb up.

Seeing that both Chris and Jane were still fast asleep, I gently gave her a TK boost helping her onto the bed. She spotted me and crawled up settling down on my chest and once more falling asleep. Now I was well and truly trapped.

I lay there for another hour before Jane opened her eyes and, on seeing Kirsty asleep on top of me, gasped.

“How did you get up here?” she asked the sleeping child.

Then she looked at me.

“How long has she been in here?”

“About an hour,” I said. “I was kind of stuck since under here I’m kind of naked, and you guys were dead to the world.”

“You should have woken us,” she said, sliding out of bed and quickly putting a robe on.

“Come on Missy” she said, lifting the still sleeping child. “Back to your own bed.”

The commotion woke Chris.

“What’s going on?” he asked. “Did Kirsty wake up?”

“It seems so,” Jane said. “I’m just putting her back to bed.”

“She’s asleep again?” he asked. “That’s unusual.”

“Thanks to Mr. Soporific here,” Jane laughed, pointing at me as she left.

Chris looked at me.

“She came in around four,” I told him, “crawled onto the bed, curled up, and went back to sleep.”

Jane came back in, still carrying Kirsty.

“I thought it was too good to be true,” she said. “She’s awake now and not going back to bed. I guess we have to get up.”

Chris sighed, but slid out of bed.

“You stay in bed a while if you want,” he said. “There’s no point in us all losing sleep.”

“I’m usually up by now in any case,” I said. “I normally go for a run in the morning.”

“Okay then,” he said. “You want the shower?”

“It’ll probably be easier for me to head back,” I said, “and get showered at home. Thank you both for an amazing night.”

“No,” said Jane, “thank you. I’m sorry it seems to have ended in such a chaotic way. I’m glad you stayed though. Thanks for that too.”

She leaned down and, even with Kirsty in her arms, kissed me.

Taking her cue from her mother, Kirsty leaned forward and planted a wet kiss on my cheek. Jane laughed.

After Jane and Kirsty had left the room, I got up and dressed, and headed downstairs.

“You want coffee before you go?” Asked Chris.

“I’m good,” I said. “Ness will be cooking breakfast soon.”

“Okay then,” he said, and I headed for the door.

“Caleb,” Jane said handing her daughter off to Chris.

I turned to look at her.

“Thank you, again,” she said. “For last night. It was really great. We don’t play a lot, but it would be great if you and your girls might like to play again some time?”

“I, and they, would like that,” I said. “We’re going to be away for a week after next weekend though. School’s out on Fall break, so we are going up to Jules and Ness’ parents for the getaway.”

“Maybe after you come back?” suggested Chris.

“Sounds good,” I said. “Thanks again for a great night.”

I closed the kitchen door behind me and made my way across the yard and into my own kitchen. Sarah and Melanie were already up and dressed for exercise.

“Finally,” Sarah said. “Are we running or what?”

I laughed.

“Sure,” I said. “Give me a minute to change.”

“How are you feeling?” asked Melanie as we jogged down the wet pavement. It wasn’t actively raining, but it had rained for most of the night and everywhere were puddles and mud.

“Pretty good,” I said, smiling at her. “I think last night was kind of cathartic.”

Sarah looked sideways at me.

“I’m glad you’re ok,” she said. “We’ve all been worried about you.”

“I know,” I returned, “and I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to worry you. It was just a lot for me to handle.”

“I’m not surprised,” exclaimed Melanie. “But you know that we’re all here for you, right?”

“I know,” I said smiling at her.

We turned a corner and continued running.

“Caleb,” Sarah said, after a short while.

“Yes?”

“Can I join your connection?” she asked, not looking at me.

“Just you?” I asked.

“No,” she said. “I want Arnie to join too, but I want to join first. I want to know what it’s like so I can explain it fully to him. There’s just a week left before you all go up to the Ranch, I go to my parents, and Arnie will be here alone. I can’t be on my own for that long.”

“You won’t be,” I said. “You’ll be with your family.”

“I’ll be sleeping alone,” she said. “Here, if Arnie’s not here, I sleep in with you. It’s going to be weird sleeping alone now. I’m not sure how I’m going to cope with that. Not only that, but a whole week without sex? I’m not sure I’ll cope.”

“You don’t have to go without,” I said. “I’m sure there’ll be people there...”

“Yeah, right under my parent’s nose?” she asked. “I can see that happening. Besides I don’t want...” she stopped herself before she finished that sentence.

“Your parents know about you needing to share,” I said. “If you tell them what you need, I’m sure they’ll be understanding.”

She stopped, glaring at me. “You’re going to make me say it aren’t you?”

“Say what?” I asked looking puzzled.

“You know I wanted Arnie to be my first?” she asked, still glaring at me. I nodded at her.

“Well, before I have sex with anyone else,” she went on, “I want you.”

She took off running again, leaving me, and a grinning Melanie, standing on the sidewalk.

We caught up to her quickly. When we did, she was blushing scarlet and wouldn’t look at me.

“Have you spoken to Arnie about this?” I asked. “I know he kind of knows about things, but you need to make sure he’s okay with it before anything happens between us. I don’t want to ruin what you two have.”

“Kind of,” she said uncomfortably. “He knows I’m sort of getting itchy to share. I didn’t think it would be like this though. I thought I’d be able to control it, but its really difficult. It reminds me of that cartoon, Madagascar I think it was, where the lion is looking at all his friends and seeing only joints of meat. I’m starting to look at people and seeing ... well you know.

“I want to get this one out of the way, before we all go our separate ways for vacation. I kind of swore to myself that, no matter what, if Arnie was going to be first, you were going to be my second.”

“You don’t have to share with a guy you know,” I said. “In fact, I have an idea for someone who might be interested in helping you out.”

“Who?” asked Melanie.

“Marcia,” I said. “If you get Amanda to set it up, she’ll be in control, so you won’t have to worry about anything.”

“Marcia the contractor?” asked Sarah. “She’s?”

“We’ve played with her before,” I said. “I’m sure she’d be up for it and, since you don’t really know her, it will be good for sharing.”

“But I wanted you...” she began and this time it was me who stopped running

“You’re getting yourself a little mixed up,” I said. “If you’re counting boys and girls, then Arnie wasn’t your first, was he?”

She thought about that for a second before blushing and shaking her head.

“You gave your virginity to him,” I continued, “which was beautiful, and if you want me to be your second man, then I would be honored if Arnie is cool with it. But we don’t have to rush things. We already know that Arnie is okay with the thought of you and another girl, it actually gets him hot. He’s not quite got to grips with you and another guy, nor with you and I. Let’s not rush things. We have our whole lives ahead of us, so let’s take our time and do things right so they don’t spoil what we already have. Okay?”

She sighed a little but nodded.

“But the connection?” she persisted.

“That’s a different matter,” I said. “We already spoke about that between us, and we think it would be a good idea to bring both you and Arnie in, mostly for the reasons you outlined. Do you think Arnie would be interested in joining you, Marcia, Mary and Amanda for some fun?”

“I don’t know,” She responded. “I’m not even sure how I would raise that as a topic. ‘Hey Arnie, fancy a foursome?’ It doesn’t exactly roll of the tongue, does it?”

“You want me to speak to him?” I asked.

“Would you?” she looked at me, once again trying the ‘puss in boots’ eyes. They were only moderately effective. She had nothing on Jules or Ness as far as that went.

“Another thought though,” I continued, “is how would you feel seeing Arnie with someone else? Say Amanda or Mary to start?”

Sarah thought about that for a minute, I guessed picturing it in her head. I saw her face flush.

“Is it wrong that it makes me horny?” she asked after a moment.

“Not at all,” said Melanie. “It doesn’t bother you the thought of him with someone else?”

“I...” began Sarah and then thought about it some more.

“It’s strange,” she said. “Thinking about him with someone outside our family I think bothers me, but with any of you guys, it just makes me horny.”

“And what about when you have to share outside the family?” I questioned. “Let’s say you do invite Marcia over to play, for instance, could you play with him and her together and not get upset when he’s involved with her?”

Sarah considered this as we ran.

“I don’t know,” she said. “The thought of him with, say, Marcia does kind of twist me up some inside. Jesus, this is complicated.”

“You’re not telling me anything I don’t know,” I told her. “And remember, nobody, least of all me, is judging you. You’re not responsible for the way that you feel, only for the way you react. I came so close to destroying my relationship with the girls over this, and it took some time for me to get my head around it.”

“How did you?” she asked.

“It took a while,” I said. “And I had the benefit of feeling how the girls felt about me through the connection. I’m one hundred percent secure in their love, and know that no matter how anyone else rings their bell, they’ll come home to me.

“That’s why being in the connection would be a good idea for you two. I know you both missed the love in the shared sensations on your first time, and I’m not surprised. You were overwhelmed. But both you and he will see it through the connection.

“Is he coming over later today?” I asked.

“He’s coming over for dinner,” she said. “He’s flying all day today, but he’s off tomorrow. You know what he’s doing for most of next week since you’ve booked lessons practically all week.”

“Alright then,” I said turning for home, “I’ll speak to him later.”

“And the connection?” she persisted again.

“Let’s talk about it over breakfast,” I said. “With everyone there.”

We made it back to the house late, since we’d not gone out until after five thirty. Ness had already made breakfast, and everyone was in the kitchen digging in.

“Go shower,” Ness said to all three of us. “I’ll have yours ready for you in ten.”

Sarah went into her room to use her ensuite, and Melanie and I went into the master bedroom shower. We didn’t have a lot of time for anything other than getting clean, but it was still really nice to be in there with her, wash her, and have her wash me. I loved these times of closeness, sometimes more than the sex.

Sarah beat us back to the kitchen and was sitting at the table tucking into pancakes and blueberries when we got back.

“So now you’re back on the horse, you can’t stop?” jibed Ness as we sat down.

“I wish,” said Melanie. “We didn’t have time for more than just getting clean.”

Ness plonked a stack of pancakes in front of us both.

“Fruit or bacon?” she asked Melanie.

“Fruit please,” Melanie said, and Ness passed her a bowl full of different fruits.

She didn’t even ask me, just placed a plate with several slices of bacon on.

“There’s more fruit if you’re still hungry,” she told me. I grinned at her.

“So,” said Amanda with a smile. “How was last night?”

“You already know,” I said. “You got the memory.”

“What about this morning?” asked Mary. “Did you go for a second round?”

I sent them the memory of the morning and Ness snorted.

“Cock blocked by a two-year-old,” she said.

“I’ll bet,” I mused, “that that’s not an unusual occurrence in many households with young kids.”

“Probably not,” said Mary thoughtfully. “We’re going to have to make sure that doesn’t happen in our house.”

“We can take it in shifts to occupy the little ones,” said Jules. “Although I suspect I’m going to be spending a lot of time babysitting.”

“We’ll make it up to you in your ‘on’ time,” said Amanda.

“I don’t think it’s going to be a problem for a couple of years yet though,” I said, feeling the broodiness blossoming around the table. Everyone, it seemed, wanted kids. We were going to need a bigger house.

“There is something else we need to talk about though,” I said looking around the table.

“Not really,” said Amanda. Mary shook her head.

Ness just shrugged “What’s to discuss, just do it already.”

I looked at Jules who simply smiled at me.

“Well,” said Melanie. “Good talk. When are we going to do it?”

Josh and Louise were looking around the table, obviously not following the conversation.

“Am I missing something?” asked Louise.

“Sorry Lou,” I said. “I thought we needed to discuss adding Sarah to the connection, but apparently not.”

“Oh” she said. “Why the discussion? She’s family. Why wouldn’t you add her?”

The whole table looked at me. I laughed. “I guess that’s our answer then,” I said. Sarah smiled happily.

“Now?” she said.

“After breakfast,” I said. “It can be a bit emotional though, you need to be ready for that.”

Sarah looked at Melanie.

“It’s beautiful,” said Melanie. “But he’s right. The best place to be when you join, is in the arms of someone you love.”

Sarah looked around the table again, and then nodded.

“And bring a towel,” said Ness. “The tears and snot are messy.”

We cleared up after breakfast and Josh and Louise headed out. They said they had things to do, but I guessed that they were giving us space.

When all was done, we went into the living room. It had started to rain again, so going out into the yard wasn’t an option. Also, I didn’t want the neighbors to see what was about to happen.

I sat down and, before I could say anything, Sarah clambered into my lap. I raised my eyebrows at her.

“Melanie said this was where I needed to be,” she said, and then she held up her towel. “And I brought a towel.”

I smiled at her. The rest of the girls gathered around, sitting either side of us, or on the floor around us.

“Are you ready?” I asked. Sarah nodded, her expression a mix of fear and excitement.

“Drop your shield for me,” I said. “You’ll need to learn to rebuild your shield around the connection. It’s not difficult though.”

I saw her shield drop, instantly.

Gently I connected to her mind and set the connection in place. Once it was secure, I activated it.

Sarah’s eyes went wide, wider than I’d ever seen anyone’s eyes go before. Then they rolled back into her head, and she slumped into a dead faint.

“Well, that’s new,” said Ness.

Sarah was only out for a matter of seconds, and we knew the moment she’d come to, because she began to sob. Huge wracking sobs. As Ness predicted the tears and the snot were messy. It took her a few minutes to regain control.

“Okay?” I asked her. She nodded through her sniffles.

“I never even dreamed,” she said. “I can feel it, feel the love from everyone. It’s like ... I don’t even know where to start, its...”

“We know,” said Melanie gently stroking her hair. “We feel it too. And now, we feel it from you.”

“Now I understand,” Sarah said. “I don’t think I did before.”

“Understand what?” I asked.

“How you guys work,” she said. “I know you told me that its not just Caleb and his ‘harem’ and that you were all together, each with each other. But it’s impossible to know, to see the truth of it, from the outside. Now I can see. I can see how much Caleb loves Mary, how much Mary loves Jules and Jules loves Melanie and...”

I smiled at her.

“And we all love you,” I told her.

“I know,” she said in a small voice. “It’s just so ... so ... BIG.”

“Not really,” I said. “Just about average is all.”

“Not that,” she said slapping my chest gently. “I mean the love. I’m not sure anyone could understand unless they’re part of it.”

“Which you are,” said Mary. “When people look at our relationship, all they can think about is the sex. And I don’t deny that’s a part of it, but only a part. What makes our family work is that we all love each other as much as we do. And now you can see that for yourself.”

“And now we can all keep in touch,” I sent to her. “No matter where you are.”

Sarah smiled.

“Is there a maximum range?” she asked.

“Not that we’ve found so far,” I said. “I know we can communicate from here to the Ranch which is a ten-hour drive away. We’ve never been further apart than that, so I guess we’ll find that out if we do.”

“And I’ll be able to talk to Arnie too?” she asked. “He doesn’t have power.”

“You will,” I said. “Once he’s connected the connection will be powered by all of our powers. He’ll be able to talk to you, or to any of us, or with all of us. He’ll also be able to drop the connection if he wants. What he won’t be able to do is reconnect if he does. That will require either me, Melanie, or you to reconnect him. So, make sure he knows not to drop it if you and he have a row over something.”

Several eyes turned to Ness at that.

“What?” she said, a little defensively.

“I can’t see how we could ever have a row,” Sarah said. “There’s just too much...”

“You’re still a little punch drunk,” I said. “It will settle down. We’re still individual people, with our own thoughts and opinions, and we sometimes disagree. Being connected like this doesn’t change that. Hopefully it means that we can minimise the issues we have, but it doesn’t always work out.”

Sarah sighed, laying her head on my shoulder.

“I don’t think I want to move from here,” she said. “It just feels so wonderful.”

“You can stay for a little while,” I said, “but we have chores to do. We need to go shopping if you want to eat at all next week, and I know that you have schoolwork to catch up on.”

“In a little while,” she said snuggling in. I shook my head.

We stayed like that for the best part of an hour, before Sarah eventually looked up at me.

“Caleb,” she said.

“Hmmm?” I replied.

“You’ll always be there, right?” she asked.

“Always,” I reassured her. “No matter what, we’re all here for you.”

Sarah looked around the room. The other girls had spread themselves out, each taking chairs, and either reading, or working on their laptops. They all looked up as they felt Sarah looking at them.

“Now that I know what it feels like,” Sarah continued. “I don’t think I could manage without it.”

“You won’t have to,” said Mary. “We’re always going to be here for you, and to love you. That’s never going to change.”

Sarah let out a huge sigh.

“I guess we’d better move,” she said. “We have stuff to do.”

She slid out of my lap and we belatedly started our day.

As was our usual for Saturday, our first stop was the discount warehouse. We spent an inordinate amount of money on food since we were buying for ten people. Also, we were buying stuff for the housewarming party we were going to have on the Friday before we set out for the Ranch.

After that, we went to the supermarket since there were always a few bits that we were not able to get from the warehouse store. Then we went home and packed it all away.

“What are you going to do next week,” I asked Ness. After our lesson with Gordon Ramsay, I wasn’t sure if she was going to continue at school.

“I’m going to school,” she said. “I’m not going to drop out until after I’ve spoken to Mom and Daddy”

“Makes sense,” I said. “What do you think they’ll say?”

“I have no idea,” she said. “I know Daddy will not think dropping out is a good idea, not because it’s the wrong thing to do, but I think the thought of not finishing something I’ve started will not sit well with him.”

“I disagree,” I said. “I think once you explain what you know, and how you know it, I’m sure they’ll see the sense of not wasting any more time. Especially if they see the memory of what Gordon Ramsay said to you.”

Ness thought about that for a minute. “I guess,” she said.

“When all’s said and done, you should be able to go and sit the exams and get the certificate if you wanted to. You know everything they are going to teach you. Tell me that you’re not just coasting there?”

“It is a bit easy,” she said. “But I am having fun with it, and the people are nice.”

“You could always simply stay the course if you’re enjoying it?” I suggested.

“It seems like a waste of time though,” she said.

“I agree.” I told her. “But, before you speak to your parents, figure out what YOU want. It sounds to me like you haven’t really made your mind up. Once you do that, the rest is easy.”

“Isn’t that why I need to talk to them?” she asked, “To figure out what’s best?”

“Not really,” I said. “What you need to do is figure out your position, create a concise and logical reasoning for why you’ve arrived at that position and then present it to them. If you do that, I think you’ll be surprised at their response.”

“Oh,” she said. I got the impression she was hoping that they were going to tell her what to do. I smiled at her.

“It’s time to put on your big girl panties, and take control,” I said. “It’s your life, be responsible for it.”

“That makes a change,” said Jules, from her seat at the table. “Telling her to put ON her panties.”

Amanda snorted.

The girls spent Saturday afternoon catching up on their schoolwork. I asked Amanda to contact Marcia and ask her if she might be free for lunch on Sunday. If Arnie was either up for it, or at least wasn’t averse to letting Sarah share with her and the twins, they could get it on after then. If he was, then Amanda and Mary could take care of Marcia. Since it had been so long since they’d really seen Marcia other than in passing, I figured it might even count as sharing for them too. I was surprised that my night with Jane and Chris seemed to have settled my need to share, despite the relationship I’d already formed with them.

Arnie arrived just after five thirty, having finished his last lesson at five.

“Hey,” he said letting himself in. We’d given him a key to the front door. I figured that it wouldn’t be too long before he moved in full time. He was already spending more and more of his time here.

“Hi,” I shouted from the kitchen. “Nice day at the office dear?”

He laughed. “Yes thanks,” he said. “It’s fun flying the Baron. I’m kind of disappointed now when I have to use the Cirrus. I’ll be sorry to see the Baron go back.”

“Hopefully,” I said, “you should be able to get another plane by that time.”

“That’s the plan,” he said accepting a hug and kiss from his fiancée.

“How’s Danny?” I asked. “Is he still seeing the counsellor?”

Arnie nodded. “He is,” he said. “He seems much more, I don’t know, relaxed is probably the best word for it. I’d not really noticed it before because I had nothing to compare it to, but it feels like for most of my life he’d been kind of wound up. Now he’s much more chilled. He’s even been out a few times, just with friends, guys we know from the airstrip, that kind of thing, but that’s something I’ve never known him to do.”

“Sounds good,” I said. “You hungry?”

“Always,” he said. “I’m going to have to start watching my weight though. You guys are getting me fat.”

“You could always start running with Sarah and us in the mornings,” I suggested.

He scowled a little at that.

“I might have to,” he said. “I’ve put on nearly ten pounds since I’ve been with Sarah. I’m going to be too heavy to fly the Cirrus if I’m not careful.”

“Caleb can help you lose weight,” said Sarah, “if you need to. It’s kind of his thing.”

“Maybe I’ll try the exercise,” he said. “If that doesn’t work then we’ll see. Which reminds me, Dad said that if you’re taking your check ride the week you get back. You need to think about getting a Class 1 medical certificate ready for the next stage of your training. There’s no rush but if you’re looking to get commercial you need it.”

“Okay,” I said. “I’ll make an appointment sometime after we come back.”

As we ate dinner, we chatted about inconsequential things, but I noticed Arnie noticing that Sarah was unusually quiet. I heard him make a mental note to ask her about it when they were alone later.

When we were finished, we all got up and started to clear away. Melanie took my plate out of my hand, as Mary took Arnie’s from his.

“You guys need to talk,” she said. “We’ll do this.”

Arnie looked at Sarah, then at me, a question in his mind.

“Come on,” I said. “They like to dramatize. It’s nothing bad, I promise.”

Sarah, Arnie, and I went into the living room and took seats. Arnie, knowing the drill, looked at me.

“You know we talked about Sarah’s needs,” I said. He nodded.

“It’s time,” I said. “Sarah needs to share, but she’s scared that knowing about it, or seeing it, will upset you.”

Arnie bit his lip. “I knew this was coming, but ... I’ve kind of been not thinking about it.”

“It’s not something you can ignore,” I said. “But I have a couple of suggestions if you’re willing to listen.”

“Shoot” he said.

“For her first time,” I said, “there is a woman we know. I think you met her a couple of times. She’s our contractor, Marcia.”

“A woman?” asked Arnie.

I nodded. “Did you think it would be a guy?”

“I thought you...” he responded.

“Sarah can’t share with me,” I said. “We already have a relationship. If and when we have sex, it will be just that. Sharing needs to be with someone that she doesn’t already have a relationship with.”

While we were talking, I watched his Aura. It was complicated. There was a lot of purple, but good smattering of yellow, a little orange, and some blue/green which made me think of jealousy.

“So, you’re going to hook her up with this woman?” he asked. I could feel a little annoyance bubbling up inside him.

“Not just her,” I said. “We were hoping that the pair of you could spend some time with her, and the twins.”

Arnie’s jaw dropped.

“Mary and Amanda?” he asked. His annoyance vanished and more purple and orange replaced the blue/green.

“Marcia is a sub,” I said. “Amanda dominates her when they are in the bedroom together. Marcia will do what Amanda tells her. We thought that would be the least traumatic for both of you. Remember, this is Sarah’s first time sharing too. She’s as nervous about this as you are.”

“I thought she...”

“Amanda helped her out when she was all wound up,” I told him. “That’s a very different proposition than coldly arranging to sleep with someone she barely even knows.”

Arnie put his arm around his fiancée protectively.

I smiled at that.

“Let’s also not forget that Sarah will be seeing you with someone else too,” I said, “even if it is only Mary or Amanda. It’s no less traumatic for her than it is for you. Yes, she is the one with the need to share, but just because you need a root canal, doesn’t mean you’re looking forward to it.

Sarah, who was watching Arnie’s reaction took his free hand.

“I can not...” she began, but he interrupted her.

“No,” he said. “I can’t ask you that. Caleb told me what it means if you don’t share. What kind of fiancé would I be if I stopped you from doing something you need to do to stay healthy?”

“There is something else,” I said, and Arnie looked at me, with a ‘what now’ expression.

“Something we can do to show you just how much Sarah loves you,” I told him. “It might help you to know this, it might help you realize that no matter what, she’s yours for life.”

“What’s that?” he asked.

“We want you to join our connection,” Sarah told him.

Arnie looked from Sarah to me. The door opened, and the rest of the girls, at my mental invitation, entered and sat around the room. I noted that Ness, ever the practical one, was holding a towel.

“Your...” Arnie started.

“Our connection,” I repeated. “You know that we are all mentally linked together. We can talk to each other, share thoughts, memories, emotions, feelings. Its kind of like your first night with Sarah when she shared your experience with all of us, but more substantial a connection.”