Chapter 7: Meeting The Family

The doorbell rang promptly at eight-thirty on Saturday morning, and Holly scampered through the living room to open the door, followed closely by a very rambunctious golden retriever. She opened the door to see a very large man smiling down at her. “Hello. Who are you?” she asked.

“My name is Peter. You must be Holly, right?” Holly looked up and smiled, nodding, and Peter continued. “Is your Mommy home?”

Holly turned around and ran back into the house, yelling for her mother, while Goldie stayed at the front door. This new person didn’t seem unfriendly, but her little doggy brain couldn’t quite be sure - better to stay and watch. She was relieved when Lauren came around, a smile on her face, and she ran off after Holly.

“Good morning. Would you like some breakfast?” She motioned for Peter to enter the house, then closed the door behind him as he stepped inside. Peter leaned forward to kiss her, but Lauren quickly turned her head aside, so that his lips swept across her cheek. “Careful, Peter, please.”

She had been extremely nervous when she had called Peter earlier in the week to explain that she wouldn’t be able to see him that weekend, that she had to start being Mommy again. He had surprised her by saying that he understood and was there anything he could do to help. “Do you like going to the zoo?” she had asked, worried that he would say no, and worried that he would say yes.

“Sure,” was the surprise answer, and Lauren found herself inviting him over that morning, though with the understanding that he was simply going to be ‘a friend.’

“Yeah, just a friend, I understand,” he said quietly and smiling. He gave her a lewd wink and licked his lips lasciviously while out of sight of the children, and Lauren shivered with a secret excitement, then she swatted him to make him behave.

In the kitchen Holly was inexpertly attempting to ladle pancakes onto a griddle, and her mother barely arrived in time to avert a messy disaster. Holly was already dressed, but her brother was still wrapped in a robe, sleepy-eyed and sullen. “Holly’s an early bird, but Jimmy’s a night owl,” explained Lauren.

“Who are you?” asked Jimmy in a surly tone.

“This is Peter. He’s a friend of mine and is taking us over to the zoo in his Jeep,” answered Lauren nervously. She really wanted this to go well.

“You have a Jeep?” asked the boy, his eyes opening.

“Yeah, the Wrangler that’s open all around and you have to put the top up if it starts to rain. You must be Jimmy,” said Peter.

Peter jumped down and ran to the window. “Whoa!” he exclaimed, looking out at the gleaming red Jeep. It was indeed open to the elements. “How do you know my name?” he asked, turning around.

“You mother talks about you guys all the time. She says you’re the man of the house, and really take care of everything.”

“Yeah?”

“Uh, huh. You must work out a lot, to be in your kind of shape. She says you play a lot of sports in school.”

Jimmy’s chest puffed out in pride, and he flexed his arms. It was all Lauren could do not to laugh, because her son had a skinny frame, and no muscles could be found on his stick-like arms. She shoveled some pancakes onto his plate and Peter’s and said, “Okay, enough testosterone for now. Eat.”

The two males teased her for the rest of the breakfast by flexing their muscles at her, then Jimmy ran upstairs to dress. “Good Lord. Who let the dogs out?” she said.

“Hey, we’re just trying to figure out who the alpha male is. Wait until we drop our pants and measure our...”, replied her lover.

“Shssshhh! Enough of that! There will be no ‘measuring’ in this house!” interceded Lauren forcefully, though with a smile.

The day went surprisingly well for Lauren. Peter interacted well with the children, despite his admitted lack of experience with youngsters. Lauren was especially happy with the way that he didn’t try to compete with them for her attention. After a long morning at the zoo, he took them all out for pizza, and then drove them around with the wind blowing in their hair before going back home. The children were completely accepting of his presence through dinner and afterwards.

The children were in bed by nine, and Lauren was finally able to relax in the living room with Peter. She went to the refrigerator, returning with a bottle of chilled wine, which she handed to him along with a pair of wineglasses and a corkscrew. As Peter busied himself, Lauren sank down onto the couch and closed her eyes, letting out a loud sigh of tired contentment.

“I don’t know how you do it,” remarked Peter. “Those two could wear out Hercules.”

“It’s nothing. I’ve had myself cloned. You’ve been dating Lauren Three for weeks now,” she answered with a tired smile, accepting the glass of wine from him.

“Ooh, kinky. Think we can get all of them together?” he said as he reached out to rub her thigh. Lauren was still wearing her evening attire of a long-sleeved white blouse and a pair of tight blue jeans.