Chapter 5

"Well, what kind of day did you all have?" Don poked at the overdone hamburger on his plate while eyeing the lifeless and limp frozen string beans. A lukewarm dish of instant mashed potatoes was his only solace. He wondered if Carolyn would be insulted if he suggested hiring a cook, maybe just someone who'd come in to do the dinner. He hadn't had a decent meal in weeks!

Carolyn fiddled nervously with her wine glass. She'd insisted upon serving the cool white wine despite the decidedly plebeian aspects of the dinner. While she bit her lip, trying to decide what to answer, the boys helped her out.

"Oh, we had a really great afternoon. All of us, Dad!"

"Yes?" Don looked questioningly at Carolyn, who choked on her wine and began to hurriedly wipe at the spilled drops on her hostess gown.

Tim continued, smiling broadly, "The picnic was wonderful, Dad, and Johnny Gordon twisted his ankle! It was just great. Mom had fun, too!" he added gratuitously.

Don was pleased that the boys had decided on their own to call his new wife Mom and he smiled. "But Carolyn, you didn't go along on the picnic, did you?"

"I... uh... no... I..."

"Mom had company!" Bennie said, moving on from the remains of his dinner to a more satisfying glass of milk.

"Oh?" Don turned once more to his new wife for confirmation.

"Yes..." Carolyn replied, desperate for an end to the conversation. "Yes, a friend... an old friend from school stopped by." The disturbed blonde glared fixedly at Tim and Bennie as she spoke.

I'll kill them, she thought, I'll just break their little necks!

"Mom's such a good hostess, Dad," Tim said.

"The best!" Bennie added.

"Yes, I'm sure she is. I'm glad to hear that you had company, my dear. A young girl like you... you need to have fun and friends. As soon as I get the Edson Building over and done with we'll be going out a good deal more, too. I promise you that!"

Carolyn gulped and stared fixedly at her plate. She wasn't hungry. Not at all.

Carolyn was out at the hairdressers, and the boys felt duty bound to continue their investigation of her private world. Bennie was still chuckling about the way their new stepmother had run out of the house after they'd confronted her in the living room with the lewd tape of her intimate bath of several days before.

The stunned young blonde stood stock still, her face a mask of terror as the sounds of her own lewd and obscene moaning came over the living room speakers. Even the sound of the water splashing in the tub had been caught by the boys' indiscreet microphone. The memory of her frenzied self-touching was brought back acutely as she heard the wanton tones of her frantic orgasm.

"But don't worry, Mom! We won't tell Dad. Not yet anyway. We'll give you another chance to get to be a good wife!"

Carolyn's recorded sighs turned to whimpers of lust over the expensive speaker system, and the young blonde could feel her knees trembling as she stood there, staring with disbelief into the young boys' innocent-looking faces.

"YOU CAN'T DO THIS... YOU... YOU MONSTERS... YOU'RE NOTHING BUT LITTLE MONSTERS!! I WON'T STAND FOR IT! DO YOU HEAR? I WON'T STAND FOR IT!" Bennie and Tim laughed and laughed as Carolyn whirled and went running out the door. They played the tape one more time before they went into their father's and stepmother's bedroom to see what they could see.

"Hey, Tim, look!" Bennie held up a brown packet that he'd found in the bottom of the dresser drawer. Inside there were several pamphlets, all of them new.

"Looks like we hit the jackpot!" Tim cried.

They carefully closed the drawers and tried to leave things much as they'd found them. but the twins carried the packet of thin books to their own room with them.

There, they went through them with considerable interest, until finally they found one that particularly stirred their imagination.

Ancient Love Potions, A Survey of Aphrodisiacs Through the Ages.

"WOW!"

"Wow is right!"

They settled down to investigate the book, and it was dusk by the time they'd finished reading and studying it. Their stepmother hadn't returned yet, and neither had their father. A short while later a phone call confirmed what they'd suspected. Carolyn had stopped by Dad's office and asked him to take her to dinner.

"Sure, Dad, we'll be just fine. You know we like to cook anyway. We'd just as soon cook for ourselves all the time!"

Tim hung up the phone and went into the kitchen. But instead of making themselves dinner the boys were getting ready to try a recipe they'd never done. An authentic ancient love potion which called for a variety of ingredients that could be found in their own kitchen.

"Sure," Tim said, as they were busy mixing and stirring. "It's only fair. It's her book, isn't it? She should be the first to get the benefits of our first concoction!"

"A little more cinnamon. I'll get the clam juice from the top shelf!"

"Listen, why don't we just call the herb store in town and see if they'll deliver the wormwood and ginseng?"

"Great idea, but I'd better get a whole bunch of other stuff, too, so they don't get suspicious!"

"Good thinking," agreed Bennie, "And you'd better tell them to charge it to Dad's account."

"I don't think he has one."

"No matter, that old bat that runs the place would be more than happy to open up an account for Dad. You ever see the way she looks at him when we're just passing by?"

"Yeah... guess you're right. You know Dad sure does deserve someone better than old Carolyn!"

"Don't worry, we'll be rid of Miss Hot Pants soon enough!"

The potion bubbled ominously on the stove, and was beginning to thicken. The color was an unappetizing gray, so the twins added food coloring. Finally it turned a pretty raspberry color, but it still smelled god-awful. Afraid to taste it themselves, the boys decided to add honey and vanilla to help the taste and smell, and they let it go at that.

The mixture was cooling on the outside of their bedroom window, and the boys were sleeping peacefully, each dreaming of the morrow when they would try out the new concoction by the time Don and Carolyn returned home.

"I guess the boys have gone to bed," Don said, looking at his watch.

"Thank God!" Carolyn muttered under her breath.

"What did you say, darling?" Don guided his pretty bride toward the bedroom. What a large dinner they'd had down at Trader Vic's, and all those Mai Tai's. His head was spinning.

"Oh, I said, 'Thank God, they're getting some rest.' They're so very active. They need their sleep."

"Why Carolyn, you're beginning to sound like a real little mother!" Don was touched by his wife's concern for the boys. He was going away to Los Angeles on business the next day and he was glad that the boys would be in good hands with Carolyn while he was gone.

Their bedroom was cool and quiet, and Carolyn sank down into the bed without taking off her dress. Her head was throbbing from all the drinks they'd had and from the terrible problems she'd been weighing. She would never be able to continue living with those kids in the same house. NEVER!

"I was thinking, honey," the twenty-one year old said sweetly, as she watched her husband undressing for bed.

"Yes?"

"Uh... isn't there some summer camp the boys could go to. I mean before they go to school in the fall. Maybe they should have more exposure to kids their own age."

"I don't know, Carolyn. It's too late to get them into a camp now. And besides they have their scouting. They seem to get a lot out of that."

"Oh, never mind!" Carol was annoyed. Obviously she wouldn't get rid of them until the fall. Almost two whole months to go. "I was thinking something else!" she said, her tone slightly belligerent.

Don was climbing into bed now, his pajamas on, while she lay fully clothed, her head spinning, on the top of the covers.

"What is it, love?"

"Would you fuck me, Don? Would you fuck me right now!"

In the morning, Tim went to the back door and whistled. After a few moments the happy sound of barking came from the woods in back of the house.

"Here Shep, good boy, Shep! Come on, boy!"

Shep was an outdoor dog. He very rarely, if ever, came into the house, preferring to spend most of his time out playing or sleeping in his spacious dog house behind the Larsen's home.

But now the boys wanted to bring Shep into the house. Into their room, in fact.

The German Shepherd padded happily into their room and the boys just had time to close the door behind him when their father came rushing out of his bedroom. He was carrying his suitcase and wearing his dark gray suit. The boys knew from past experience that this meant that he was going out of town on business.

"Hey, where you going, Dad?" Bennie asked.

"Going to L.A., got to inspect the site again for the Edson Building. Wish to hell this thing were all over, boys. I'll be back in a couple of days. Three at the most. You take good care of Carolyn for me, now!"

"We sure will, Dad. We'll take good care of her. Don't you worry!"

"I'm late already. I'll grab something out at the airport. Got to get the helicopter in Sausalito to the San Francisco airport. See you soon, boys. Tell Carolyn I'll be calling tonight!"

By the time the twins returned to their bedroom, they found to their amazement that Shep had already discovered the potion they'd prepared the night before. They'd placed it on Tim's desk with the intention of giving the big dog just a tiny bit, but he himself had found it and they now observed him standing up on the chair, his front paws on the desk while he consumed a goodly portion of what they'd made.

"CRIPES, SHEP! THAT'S ENOUGH!" The boys rushed forward and rescued what was left of the mixture from the hairy family dog.

They then settled down on their beds to watch.

"I hope Shep will be all right!" Bennie said, confiding his fears to his brother.

"Looks okay, so far," Tim replied.

The dog was lying on the circular braided rug that lay between their twin beds. He seemed to be falling asleep, and the boys were distinctly disappointed as time passed and still nothing happened. Carefully they read the recipe again to make sure that they hadn't left anything out.

This particular recipe was supposed to have been one used by Madame de Pompadour as a sauce for venison. The thirteen year olds realized that they had allowed their own "sauce" to thicken quite a bit, but they didn't see why this might have a detrimental effect upon its potency.