Chapter 1

Cat gathered up the last of the dinner dishes and made her way toward the kitchen. Reed, as usual, did not deign to help. The second generation of Halsey women was taking after the first. Cat sighed to herself softly -- which was fateful; if she had sighed loudly she might not have heard what came next.

Instead, she heard -- and stopped short. Reed, following behind, bumped into her. Cat was jarred, but kept her grip on the dishes.

"Shhh, Reed, and listen!" Cat hissed back abruptly.

Just a few steps away, but out of sight in the kitchen, the Reed women were talking. It was obvious to Cat that she had missed the start of the conversation, but what she heard piqued her interest.

"And he's so young!" Cat heard Reed's mother, Alex, whimper. "I mean, one of us, or our husbands, that would be a tragedy enough, but... but your son!"

"Are they sure it's cancer, Sis?" That was Frankie, the youngest of the four Reeds.

"You know we'll do anything we can to help," said Teddy, Cat's own mother.

Cat didn't wait to hear more. With a flip of her head, she motioned Reed to back away. Cat quietly slipped the dishes back onto the table and the two teen girls huddled.

"Can you believe it?" Cat whispered. "Trevor's dying!"

Reed arched an eyebrow. "Dying? Where did you hear that? They just said..."

"Cancer!" Cat finished the sentence for her cousin. "But you heard they way they were talking. It must be! And I swear Aunt Georgie was acting strange during dinner. That must be it. Trevor's dying. God, our own cousin!"

Reed shook her head, but it was slow and not very convincing. "I'm not sure..."

Cat cut her off. "Look, what are we going to do?"

"Do? What can we do?"

"I don't know, but we've got to do something. Hey, do you think he knows yet?"

"Trevor? Of course he knows. He's the one who's dying."

"Then you do believe it." Cat nodded curtly, her lips pressed into a thin line.

"Well," Reed began, slowly. "Well, OK, maybe I do. But I still don't know what we" -- as smile spread across her face. "Wait a minute. Maybe I do know." She fell silent.

Cat waited, but Reed said nothing more. Finally, Cat hissed out, "Come on. Tell me!"

"I don't know," Reed began. "I mean, maybe you're not old enough..."

"I am too!" Cat hated it when Reed pulled rank. As if being the daughter of a rich plastic surgeon wasn't enough, she was the oldest of their generation as well, and she didn't let Cat forget it. The younger girl thumped a balled-up fist into her cousin's arm. "Come on, give!"

Reed pursed her lips and rubbed her arm. "Ow, that hurt. You really are just a baby. I was right, you're not old enough."

Cat was immediately apologetic. "Come on, Reed, I didn't mean it. I'm sorry. Please, please tell me? What can we do for Trevor?"

Reed put a finger to her lips and tiptoed over toward the kitchen again, listened for a few moments, then turned back to Cat. In a barely audible whisper, she said, "OK, it sounds like they're going to be in there all night. Knowing my mom and her sisters, anyway. And Dad's out on call. Now all we have to do is figure out where Trevor and his dad are. You check outside and meet me back here." Silently, Cat slipped away; Reed cautiously crept up the stairs to the second floor of the Whitsig home.

Five minutes later, the two girls rendezvoused in the dining room. Cat reported that her uncle was in the garage, singing another medley of old songs.

"Perfect!" Reed whispered.

"Perfect for what?" Cat whispered back, but she found herself talking to empty space. Reed was already halfway up the stairs. Quickly but quietly, Cat followed.

At the head of the stairs Reed paused and motioned to her right. "This is Trevor and Evan's room," she whispered, pointing to a half-open door. She pointed down the hall. "And that's Aunt Georgie's. You go in there and wait."

Cat opened her mouth, but Reed shushed her and sent her down the hall.

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Trevor's side of the room was typical for a young teenager, covered with rock posters, littered with discarded clothing. An almost visible dividing line separated it from Evan's half -- so neat and clean that but for the long, thin lump under the covers, it would have looked as if no one lived there.

Trevor had slipped upstairs to his room after dinner, avoiding both the cleaning chores and being dragged off to hear his father's singing. With Evan asleep already, though, he was feeling trapped in the room, unable to play his tunes, unwilling to go back downstairs and get dragooned into washing dishes. He was idly flipping the pages of a textbook when he noticed a movement at the door. He saw his cousin Reed come in, a finger to her lips. Before he could say anything, she had a hand under his arm and was helping him to his feet.

Trevor was more confused than surprised. Reed had never had much to do with him, and he'd always thought he sensed a very superior attitude -- as if she was too good to mix with the likes of the Whitsigs. And what was the deal with supporting him like this? Even as Reed led him out of the room and down the hall, Trevor was trying to figure out what was going on. He would have asked Reed, but he couldn't figure out what to ask first: What was she doing upstairs? Why was she almost carrying him? Why were they going toward -- no, make that going into -- his parents' room?

When Reed closed the door behind them and he saw his other cousin, Cat, sitting on the big bed, looking almost as confused, all his questions tumbled out at once in an incoherent mush. Reed smiled -- the kind of smile you'd give a little puppy, Trevor thought, feeling even more confused -- and sat him down on the bed next to Cat.

Trevor turned to look at Cat, who was staring at him with the same kind of look as Reed. He was so intent on trying to figure out what was going on that he didn't even hear Reed the first time she started talking. It was only when she reached out and tapped him on the shoulder that he turned his attention to her; she was already in mid-sentence when he tuned in.

She was saying something about how she and Cat knew all about it because they had heard their moms and his talking. Trevor scrunched up his face in thought: was he in trouble for skipping out on washing dishes? As the idea came to him, he slid off the bed, intent on escaping before Reed and Cat inflicted whatever kind of punishment they had in mind for being stuck with the chores. That's what he would do if they'd stuck him, he thought.

But Reed pushed him back onto the bed, gently, and held him there. She kept going on and gradually Trevor figured out that she wasn't going to punish him. In fact, she seemed to be sorry for something herself; at least, she kept saying how sorry she was, and Cat too, she said, although the younger girl still seemed to be struck dumb at his side.

Then Reed was telling him to cheer up, there was always hope. Dimly, a light bulb went off in his head. It must be Evan, he realized. Someone must have told them about Evan's cancer. Well, that explained the part about being sorry. And they'd gotten him out of his room so they wouldn't disturb Evan, or talk about it in front of him. But Reed hadn't mentioned Evan's name once, she just kept talking about Trevor himself. He tried to get a word in edgewise, at least to thank her for her sympathy, but couldn't do much more than squeeze out a few words in between Reed's monologue.

"We wanted to do something for you, Trev," she was saying. "Something special. And I thought, well, you know -- something you really wanted, something you'd remember. Just in case --" Reed bowed her head, no longer looking him in the face. "Just in case something happened, and you -- you weren't able to -- you weren't around long enough to --" The last few words came out in between muffled sobs. Trevor saw that Cat was crying too, a thin, shiny trail of tears crossing her cheeks.

"Look, I don't..." he started to say, to tell them that he wasn't the one who needed special attention. By now he had a vague inkling that the girls had somehow confused Evan's illness with him, but he wasn't sure, and he didn't want to sound like a fool by blurting out something they already knew. He didn't have a chance, anyway. Reed suddenly, startlingly bent forward and kissed him, full on the mouth. She kept her lips pressed to his for several seconds, and her arms circled around him in a tight embrace.

When she stepped back, Trevor caught his breath and looked from Reed to Cat and back and forth, dazed. What was going on?

"That's part of our gift, Trev," Reed said, her words coming in a rush. "I thought -- I thought, maybe you've never had a chance to kiss a girl before, so --"

Trevor blushed, too embarrassed to say anything. He had kissed a couple of girls, but not even for the few seconds that Reed had held their embrace. Even as he started to stammer out a denial, Reed reached forward again, this time pushing Cat toward him. Shyly, the younger girl kissed him too, though hers was just a light brush against his lips. Cat was blushing, too.

By now Trevor had decided to keep his mouth shut and wait to see what Reed was going to do next. Whatever he expected, it wasn't what happened. Reed tugged Cat off the bed so that the two girls were facing him, a couple of feet away.

"Now for the other part of your gift," Reed said, still avoiding eye contact with him. "Something for you to remember."

And with that, she began to unbutton her pale pink silk blouse.

Trevor's mouth fell open.

So did Cat's. Before Reed had gotten halfway down the buttons, Cat pulled her around, facing away from Trevor, and began whispering in her ear. They were close enough that Trevor could make out a bit of the conversation, but even if they were farther away he would have been able to figure out what was going on. Cat was certainly not going to show her breasts to her own cousin, she was saying. Reed answered her; Trevor couldn't catch the words, but they didn't seem to be very convincing. Cat started to walk toward the door. Reed pulled her back and whispered to her sharply. This time Trevor could make out words like "dying" and "last wish." Now he was certain they thought he was the one with cancer. But with the chance to see his cousin's tits, he certainly wasn't going to tell them different. If anything, he wanted to say something that would help Reed convince Cat to come back, but all of this was so far beyond him that he figured the best idea would be to keep his mouth shut.

His mouth was shut -- although he was licking his lips eagerly -- when, to his amazed delight, Cat turned around and followed Reed back into position, just arm's length away.

Cat, who hadn't said a word to him the whole time, now spoke, haltingly. "Do you -- do you want us to do this?"

Trevor could hear the pleading in her voice, and he almost weakened. But Reed was already down to the last button of her blouse, and where the two sides had fallen apart he could see the lacy white of her bra and the curves of her firm breasts.

"Yes," he said, quietly.

And with that, Cat reached down to the bottom of her red- and-black striped pullover, and slowly pulled it up.

Trevor's eyes flew back and forth. Reed had tugged her blouse out of her short, black velvet skirt. Now Cat's pullover reached the bottom of her bra. Now Reed was pulling her blouse wider apart; he could see the mounds of her breasts pressing hard against her bra. Now Cat's bra was in sight -- a black one, plain, no lacy decoration. It was not as filled out as Reed's.

Reed took her blouse off completely, and reached behind her back. Cat's pullover came to her neck and stretched as she pulled it off completely. Back and forth, Trevor stared. Somewhere in the back of his mind he was trying to decide just how someone dying of cancer was supposed to behave in a situation like this - - could he show how excited he was, or should he maintain some pose of sadness? He couldn't decide, and meanwhile, involuntarily, his mouth was opening -- at least he didn't drool - - and his eyes were widening.

Reed had paused with her hands behind her back, apparently waiting for Cat to catch up. The two girls looked at each other as Cat reached behind her own back. Trevor could see another flash of doubt on the younger girl's face, but Reed, a few inches taller, stared her down. As the girls looked into each other's eyes, their hands came out from behind their backs.

Cat kept her arms clutched tightly to her sides, though. Reed, who had let her own bra slip a bit, held it up with one arm as she used the other to tug at her cousin.

And then, the bras fell off.

Trevor saw his cousins' breasts revealed and then, in a blink, they were gone. Both girls had crossed their arms in front of themselves, covering up. It seemed to be a reflex action; Cat and Reed looked at each other and giggled. Even Trevor had to stifle a laugh. For a few seconds, they were just three teenage cousins sharing a silly situation.

Then their giggles died out and the girls slowly lowered their arms. Trevor felt his penis begin to stiffen. It was held down by his tight jeans, and he could feel a twinge of pain as it strained against its bounds.

Reed's breasts were full -- not as large as those he'd seen in Penthouse and Playboy, but shaped the same, full round globes with small dark circles in their centers.

Cat's were smaller, and more cone-shaped. But her nipples were already erect, standing out like pencil erasers from brown circles the size of half-dollars.

The girls swung their arms back and forth, awkwardly, as they stood there under Trevor's rapt gaze.

At last Cat broke the silence. Her face was flushed, Trevor noticed, as he looked up at it.

"I'm sorry," she said, her voice just above a whisper. "This isn't -- I don't -- we just..."

Her face twisted in sorrow, Cat stepped forward and embraced him. Trevor hugged her back, his hands pressing against his cousin's bare back. Through his thin T-shirt, he could feel her nipples pressing against his chest. His cock sent a stab of pain through him as it struggled against his jeans.

While Cat was murmuring her sorrow in his ear, Reed moved forward and joined their embrace. Trevor opened his arms wider to include both his cousins, their nubile young breasts rubbing against him. He could feel their nipples hardening. As he pressed them to his body, the expressions of sympathy from their lips turned slowly into incoherent sobs and moans.

Trevor's face was bracketed by Reed's and Cat's, their soft cheeks brushing his. Without planning, he turned toward his older cousin. Their lips brushed again. This time their kiss was longer than before. Reed opened her mouth to his. Their tongues touched. Trevor squirmed on the bed; his cock was rock solid now, feeling as if would burst through his pants.

When he broke the kiss with Reed, he turned to Cat. She returned his kiss as eagerly as Reed had, pressing her tongue into his mouth. Gingerly he slipped his hands from their backs to caress the sides of their breasts, his fingertips brushing ever so softly along the gentle slopes.

When, after a few minutes, the girls began to move back slowly from the embrace, Trevor gave way reluctantly. By now all three of them were breathing heavily, with slightly dazed expressions.

Without a word, the girls took a couple of steps back.

It took only a moment for Reed to undo the clasp on the side of her short skirt and let it slide to the ground. Cat had to unsnap the waist of her faded jeans, unzip them, and peel them slowly down her well-tanned legs.

Meanwhile, Reed kicked off her black leather high heels and put her hands on the waistband of her sheer black pantyhose.

Again Trevor found his attention torn between the two of them, his head snapping back and forth, afraid to miss a thing.

When Reed quietly suggested that it looked as if he needed to do a little stripping as well, Trevor blushed deeply. Without taking his eyes from the spectacle in front of him, he blindly tugged open his belt and unsnapped his own jeans. As he unzipped, his cock pushed upward like a jack-in-the-box with little resistance from his loose, white boxer shorts.

As he wiggled out of the jeans, Reed slowly peeled her hose off, revealing a pair of white, silky bikini-cut panties.

Cat's were much more demure, pink cotton that rode high above her waist. The younger girl had paused with her jeans half-off to struggle out of her sneakers and socks. Now she stood up again and let the jeans fall to the floor before stepping out of them.

Again the two girls looked at each other. With their eyes locked, they began to pull down their panties, crouching to pull them over their knees and let them drop.

Trevor's jeans had fallen to his ankles, and he had been kicking his legs inside them, trying to get them off but only tangling them further. When he realized what was before him, though, he stopped. He sat on the edge of his parents' big, soft bed, the plump comforter billowing around him. And he stared.

Reed had a perfect, womanly shape. Her short dark hair framed a blemish-free face with crisp angles to the cheekbones and a point to the chin. She had the understated tan of a North Shore princess. Beneath the swell of her perfect breasts, her body narrowed to a taut, flat stomach unsullied by the ripple of muscles. Then it swelled again to the smooth curves of her hips, parentheses around the dark, sharp triangle of hair atop a pair of exquisitely shaped legs. Reed stood tall, erect, her arms held slightly behind her, unmoving but for the gentle rise and fall of her chest and a slight flare to her nostrils.

Where Reed was elegant and assured, Cat was unsettled and uncertain. She rocked slightly from side to side, her hands clenched so tightly into fists that the knuckles showed white. Her blond hair had been tugged asunder and filled with static electricity when she had dragged her woolen pullover up; light from the lamp near the door shining behind the spray of errant locks created a halo around her face, which still showed a hint of the roundness of youth. She had a dark tan, but ghostly white circles surrounded her breasts and a pale triangle drew attention to the few wisps of hair on her pubic mound. Her body was unformed, with just a hint of the curves to come, but her legs already showed definition.