Chapter 9

Dan sat with Henry Nichols as he listened about how an ex-DEA agent became the C.E.O. of a security firm. He also considered the weirdness of fate that placed him in this man's household as his only son.

The remainder of that first full day in Nichols' household went quickly for Dan. Henry Nichols showed an initially skeptical Dan the layout of his walk-in gun safe. The damned thing was eight by six feet. There were collectible items such as Reising and Thompson sub-machineguns. Then, there were the BAR and BREN light machineguns. All of WW-II vintage. And there were the MG-42s, the MG-3s, M-60s, SAWs and various Soviet-era automatic arms.

There were magazines and ammunition for everything. That included a pair of Browning M-2.50 caliber heavy machineguns! And then there was the set of four Barrett .50 caliber sniper rifles. Oh, and there were 40-mm grenade launchers. Dan could only think that Henry had some excellent connections if he was allowed to maintain such a collection of firepower in his own home.

They retreated to Don's room and Henry showed Dan the flat profile gun safe hidden underneath the bed. It was even camouflaged with cardboard panels and plastic handles taken from cheap storage boxes. To open it he lifted one of the handles to access a numeric touchpad. Once opened he found the two previously described weapons.

Dan decided to demonstrate some 'retained' skills. He'd show Henry that Don could remember how to fieldstrip several weapons. They spread several old newspapers across his bed to prevent staining its covers with oil and other lubricants. He just did manage to fieldstrip the MP-5K with his left arm being restrained by its cast. Henry seemed to be pleased at seeing this. Dan had to have some help reassembling the PDW, as his range of movement wasn't quite adequate to that job. Reattaching the folding stock and its base on the rear receiver assembly just wasn't something he could quite manage with the hindrance of the partially disabled left arm.

He went back into the walk-in closet and opened up the gun safe. He first pulled out the Chinese-made AK clone and stripped it down into its components. Interestingly, there were still specks of cosmoline tucked away in the wooden foregrip and among a couple of the spring assemblies. Oh, well - it wasn't the first time he'd seen spots of the preservative still present in weapons that had seen some usage. Then, he did the same to the Russian SKS, as best he could. He'd had to be careful not to have spring-driven bolt assemblies go flying across his bed with the two Soviet designs.

After that he did the routine with the M-4 Carbine. Only, he did it with his eyes closed. He noted to Henry that there wouldn't be much point trying either the silenced MP-5 or the SVD, given their familial similarities to the other weapons he'd already disassembled. And he mentioned he didn't know if he had any tools to assist him with the remainder of the weapons.

Henry had then helped reassemble the three weapons. He then questioned Dan about whether he thought he could operate the weapons. Dan let a smile show on Don's face. He assured Henry that the M-4, the MP-5s, and the semi-auto AKM were no problem. He'd just lay the foregrip across his cast with the longarms. Then, he'd just hold onto the shoulder strap with the fingers of his left hand. However, the SKS with its folded blade bayonet was something altogether different. But with the MP-5K he'd be able to get a proper grip on the PDW's muzzleguard or vertical foregrip even with his left hand.

Henry had smiled at that. Dan smiled back. He had to figure that he had both more training and more combat experience than Henry Nichols. If any of Henry's supposed enemies ever came for a visit then Dan would be ready to welcome them - appropriately...

Late that afternoon he'd gotten a call from Nurse Shirley Waters. They'd spoken for some twenty to thirty minutes. He'd assured her that he was doing well. He even mentioned that he'd been able to defend himself from her younger, evil cousin. She'd laughed hard and long after he'd explained how he'd defended himself against Susie. She mentioned that she wanted to visit sometime and maybe take him out for something to eat. He had to wonder about what exactly that might entail.

Sunday was simply a day of doing pretty much nothing. He ate and convalesced and watched baseball and slept and did whatever came natural to a body rebuilding from grievous bodily injury. He got to meet Don's Uncle William and Aunt Margaret and three cousins. Other relatives stopped by and introduced themselves. It was odd, meeting these several folks.

The remainder of the week moved along for Dan. He found that there was a family room with exercise equipment in a semi-basement space. Don had weights to go along with the exercise equipment that Gwen had gotten for herself and her older girls. So, Dan began a very light regimen of exercise. He first began walking around the back yard - always accompanied by one or more of the four sisters. He also began curling with his right arm. After two or three days he got out on the sidewalk and started walking around the neighborhood. He was always accompanied by at least one sister.

On Tuesday and Thursday Mrs. Thomas had come over for visits with her granddaughter Tasha. On both occasions she'd brought great food for her favorite non-grandson. And Tasha had brought along a one-piece bathing suit. It was white. The contrast between its fabric and her own dark skin couldn't have been greater as she swam with Jan, Susie, and the twins. The fabric almost turned transparent against her skin. Her dark nipples stood out whenever she exited the pool's water. Dan just knew that this little show had to be for Don's benefit. On Tuesday he'd just laid out on a chaise lounge and watched as the girls cavorted around in the pool.

Wednesday was partially spent in a visit to the multi-physician practice where Drs. Rogers and Wilkins had their offices. He'd been checked out and questioned and even undergone an interview by Dr. Debbie Chen. Dr. Wilkins had been present during that latter portion of his visit - so, nothing had happened between Debbie and him.

By Thursday he'd even pulled on a pair of trunks and floated along the edge of the pool in its shallow end. He'd suffered through plenty of attempts by Tasha, Terri, and Traci to induce him into playing with them. He'd declined, always pointing to his cast and his 'still-aching' ribs. He'd even grimaced several times while moving about to demonstrate that he was still convalescing from his injuries. And always there was that pair of dark nipples belonging to Tasha. And that was along with the bikini-clad bodies of Jan and Susie. He had to figure it was the presence of the twins Traci and Terri that prevented him from becoming hard at some point during the proceedings. It would have been just too embarrassing if he'd allowed himself to get excited with girls as young as the twins present, he had thought.

On that Friday Gwen had taken the twins out to some sort of regularly scheduled meeting or whatever. And Jan had invited several of her friends over for a pool party. They started the afternoon with a light lunch. Susie had stayed and generally hung around with Don. He'd taken a few moments to talk to her about what had happened the previous Saturday. They'd had an honest exchange. Dan mentioned that he really didn't want to end up in the hospital, again. She'd apologized about her comments and how she'd slapped his butt. He'd apologized about accusing her of peeping and then taking vengeance upon her undefended bottom. They'd ended up laughing about the whole thing.

He and Susie then spoke about some of their common, shared friends. He heard some more about Cindy, Donna, and Vince. The two former individuals hadn't been by to visit. Vince had a Summer job, so he'd only been by twice. They'd talked about what Vince knew about Don's last girlfriend Cheryl and some other things. Dan wondered whether he'd be able to manage to keep Vince as a friend of his new version of Don. He knew he'd have to talk to Vince about how he was developing at some point. Maybe they had common interests that he didn't yet know about. He knew he'd have to develop some age appropriate interests if he was going to fit into his new life. Next time Vince was around he'd ask about their favorite activities.

Amongst Jan's friends at the pool party were Janet and Todd, who Dan had met earlier. Then he'd been introduced to Christine and Jim. It turned out that Jim also knew Don from Spring football practice. And, he was Donna's older brother. Just as he'd mentioned it to Todd (Cindy's older brother), Dan asked that Jim speak with his sister and mention that he had no memories of how he'd treated her in the past year or so. He said that he just hoped that they could be friends.

Jim, as had Todd - said he'd try with his sister. Todd had commented earlier that his sister Cindy had seemed receptive to what he and Janet had told her. Jim simply said he'd try. After Christine and Jim had returned to the party Susie had reminded Dan that Donna was far less likely to forgive Don than was Cindy. Apparently, Donna had a temper and kept grudges for far longer than Cindy, Susie, or any other member of their age cohort. It seemed that Donna was a bit more passionate about her friendships.

Gwen soon returned with the twins and tagging along with them was Tasha. She once again displayed her seemingly pre-pubescent, youthful body in the same one-piece swimsuit. And she seemed to be just about as desirable as the older, fifteen through seventeen year old girls who were showing off in their bikinis.

And as this developed Dan began to notice something. He'd had Don's stepsister Susie beside him for much of two hours. She'd been wearing a bikini and he'd noticed it. Also, several of Jan's friends had seemingly with malice aforethought bent over and presented their bikini-clad bottoms towards him. He was seeing cameltoes front and rear. Some had even adjusted their bikini bottoms so that he'd caught glimpses of pink flesh surrounded by various shadings of pubic hair. Their tops were tiny little pairs of cloth triangles, for the most part. Lots of teenaged breast was on display. Sometimes nipples were actually shown.

He was beginning to wonder about something. In the hospital he'd had three very interesting encounters with three different older women. And yet, here he was surrounded by several teenaged girls showing off in front of him. One was clearly hot for him, even if she looked too young to be touched.

And he hadn't gotten a single hardon. That was clearly odd. It was perhaps even strange. Maybe alarming? It seemed like it might be time to call one of his physicians. He told Susie he was heading indoors to use the bathroom and would she please not lurk around outside its door while he was using it. He smiled while delivering that line. She'd laughed at it. He also said he had to make a phone call. So, he might be inside for awhile.

He called the multi-physician practice and asked to speak with either Dr. Wilkins or Rogers. He'd only had to wait a few minutes before Dr. Rogers picked up the line. Dan explained what seemed to be going on, mentioning he was surrounded by teenaged girls in bikinis and that he was seeing lots of desirable flesh. He mentioned that he was enjoying the sights, but that he wasn't experiencing the usual reaction of a teenaged male. And he was getting to be slightly worried.

Dr. Rogers pulled up his medical files on his computer and suddenly snorted. He then explained what was going on. The blood pressure medication they had Don taking had a secondary application. It was also used for treating a type of erectile dysfunction. It could suppress erections in individuals who had undesired erections. And a side-effect appeared to be the lessening of normal erections in individuals using it to modify their blood pressure. Dr. Rogers asked Dan if this was a serious problem.

Dan thought about this for a few moments and decided that this might actually be desirable. He was surrounded by attractive girls every day and this body of Don's would have been sprouting wood at many, very inconvenient moments if things were normal. So, he went ahead and told Dr. Rogers that it wasn't a problem. He mentioned that he really didn't feel up to chasing girls yet and that maybe the side-effect was helpful. He'd just try and enjoy the sights until he got out of the cast and could get back up to normal speed. He thanked Dr. Rogers for the explanation of what was happening and assured him he wasn't worried about it, now that he understood what was happening.

He returned to the pool party with a relaxed smile. There really wasn't a problem. As soon as he sat down a girl whose name he couldn't even remember smiled at him and simultaneously adjusted her bikini bottom so that he once again got a glimpse of some clean-shaven pink flesh more usually concealed under a fabric cameltoe.

Shortly thereafter the party started to wind down. The girls started leaving and soon the two couples had also left. The twins had come out and swam a bit with Tasha, Susie, and Jan. He'd just sat back and enjoyed watching the five girls playing in the pool. Soon they broke off their play and the girls started heading back into the house. Of the five Tasha seemed to hang back a bit as she dried herself off. Once the four sisters were all in the house she smiled and walked over to Don. Dan wasn't exactly expecting what happened as he smiled back at her.