Chapter 7

With basketball finished, Cal had no extra-curricular activities from school to take up his time. He had decided that he was going to accelerate his martial arts training for the entire spring and summer until football practice started in mid-August.

The morning after his first naked photo session with Teri, it was easy for him to get up early, as sleep had been very hard to find. The extra exertion of his more vigorous workout was just what he needed to relieve the tension built up by the experience.

That day at school, Tessa caught him in the cafeteria and pulled him to a small table in the corner. She used her potent glare to keep anyone from joining them. "OK," she started out, "I don't want my naked Mom to make it hard for you to talk to me, got it?"

He knew it was a mistake while he was saying it, but "Yes Ma'am" just popped out. It was fortunate that she was across the table so he could avoid her not-at-all-playful swing at him. She glared at him, but apparently decided the reason for talking to him in the first place was more important than addressing the current impertinence.

"Can we still act natural around each other?" she asked, pointedly ignoring his gibe.

"Not sure just what is natural any more, Tessa," he answered honestly.

"Yeah, I can see that. Things have changed a lot, haven't they? You know how much I love Mom, don't you?" He nodded. "When she told me what she was going to do, I thought she was crazy, but it makes sense in a weird way. You know, I could stand to lose some weight, too." He groaned and she grinned.

After a very long, very intense stare, she popped what was obviously the main question. "Will you take Mom to bed?" At his look of astonishment and confusion, she corrected herself. "Just to be perfectly clear: will you fuck her?"

"Th... that's crazy, Tessa! Why would you even ask that?"

"Because Mom needs to get laid. And she's already in love with you."

"Oh, come on! I'm like her son."

"Not hardly. Maybe you can't see it, but I'm telling you, she'd have sex with you in a minute."

"But it's dangerous!"

"Nah. She started on the pill the day I showed her the pictures of me. Oh, you mean 'cause you're a minor. You'd have to be really careful."

"Well, she has never said anything... hmm, not much, anyway," he mused.

"Uh, Cal. One thing is pretty important. You need to start it. You need to be the aggressor."

"Why is that?"

"From what I can remember, Mom completely controlled sex with Dad. She needs to learn that it can be good if she isn't running the show. I think it's another of the ways that she drove Dad away."

"Great. You want me to convince her it can be good, and I've never even been on a date. I don't know what to do."

"Well I'm not qualified to be your teacher, either," she said with a giggle. "I think if you just let her know you want to make love and make the first move, she'll make sure it's good from there."

All of the unique happenings of the last months had suddenly faded into dull normalcy by comparison. Cal could not have contrived a scenario like this one.

"Tessa, how would you really feel about it if it happened?"

"What do you mean? I'm trying to convince you to do it. Doesn't that tell you how I would feel? Ohhhh! You mean would I be jealous? What does that matter?"

"Oh, come on, Tessa. We've been great friends forever. If you had some hopes that maybe... I mean..."

"Honestly, Cal, I've had a crush on you like forever. I have always dreamed that you would take my cherry. Who knows, maybe you still will. But I don't see how we could be boyfriend and girlfriend, and I want more than just sex. The problem is I seem to be able to piss you off without even knowing why. You think I'm a controlling bitch, and..."

"I don't think that at all," he protested.

She went on as if he hadn't spoken at all "... and lots of times, I think you're an egotistical, stubborn jerk. Um, that's only when I'm not thinking you're the sweetest guy alive."

Cal made a quick decision that this was another of those times where only silence made sense. They found a few other topics to talk about, then went on to class.

The evening of Cal's little lunchroom chat with Tessa, Rebecca would not look him in the eye at dinner. It puzzled him, but she ate normally and talked with the parents freely, so he decided to wait until later to find out.

He waited until everyone seemed to be down for the night, then knocked on his sister's door. Since dinner, he thought he had the problem figured out. When she answered, he walked in and found her in bed reading. He flopped down beside her and took her hand. "Should I have just told her to put her clothes back on and forget it?" he asked gently.

"Ohhhh! I don't know!" she answered.

"Well, I sure don't want this to cause a problem between us. Why does it bother you, Sis?"

"You mean, besides being totally different from the way we were brought up?" she asked sarcastically. She tried to free her hand from his, but he hung on.

Refusing to take the bait, he said evenly "Yeah, besides that. There must be something else."

'There sure is', Rebecca said to herself. She had been struggling to sort out her feelings lately. She and Cal were so close that he had always been her 'guy'. It wasn't exactly like a boyfriend or a lover - or was it? Now, he was sharing intimate things with another woman. Things she herself had not shared with him, and did not feel that she could. There was a sense of loss and more than a little jealousy.

After the fact, she wished she had done the glamour shots with Tessa and the others that night. She wished she could just throw off her night clothes right now and show him everything. Because she hadn't, because she couldn't, she felt like other women had gotten closer to her beloved brother than she had ever been. She even had some flashes of anger at Tessa for hanging her boobs out for Cal. And now Teri! Naked! God! What next? Sex? The thought made her shiver and feel nauseous at the same time. It was probably irrational, but she felt like she was losing Cal.

He saw that she was pondering something and gave her time. When she gave a sigh that sounded defeated, he had to try to reassure her. Letting go of her hand, he put his arm around her and pulled her head to his shoulder. Since she was under the covers and he was on top, it was a little awkward, but obviously tender.

"Rebecca, things can't be like they always were between us," he started. She said nothing, so he went on. "You're going to find a boyfriend..."

"I wish," she interrupted with some anger.

"... and I'll probably find a girlfriend. Someday we'll both go our own ways to separate lives." This was not making her feel better and she sniffled once. "But I hope we can always have the same special love between us. There'll be another woman for me someday. But she won't replace you. I hope your boyfriend and your husband won't replace me."

There was no big emotional outpouring. She sniffled a little more and stayed on his shoulder for a few more minutes. Then, she smiled, kissed him lightly, and said 'Thanks'. He left.

Lying in bed, he thought hard about Rebecca and decided that she desperately needed a boyfriend, or at least a date. How could he make that happen? Who was that one boy she talked about from lunch?

The next day at school, Cal managed to sneak into the cafeteria during his sister's lunch period, which was different from his. He saw the boy that she was talking to most and assumed it was Bobby. He was correct, and Bobby was more than a little surprised when Cal caught him outside the school at the end of the day.

After brief introductions, Cal asked "Could we meet and talk for a few minutes? Somewhere private?"

"Uh, sure. I've got a car. Maybe I could pick you up. Say, what's this about?"

"Oh, it's nothing bad. It's about Rebecca. I'd like to help her out a little, and I think you could help," Cal told him. Bobby's eyes nearly bugged out and his nostrils flared. Cal knew then that he would do anything.

"M... me? Rebecca? Help? S... sure!" They arranged for Bobby to pick Cal up after supper, a few blocks from home.

"Bobby, do you have a sister?" Cal asked over a Coke at a fast food place.

"Yeah, but she's little. Ten. Why?"

"Well, Rebecca and I have always been close. She's having self-image problems, and I..."

"You're kidding, right?" Bobby asked in utter disbelief.

"No. I'm very serious. Rebecca has never had a boyfriend and never been on a date. You know, she has been teased and ridiculed a lot because of her brains and her music."

"Ha! I sure know what you mean," Bobby spat out.

"Well, she doesn't think she is appealing to guys at all, and..."

"That's crazy!" Bobby interrupted again. Cal liked the fact that he was not timid or withdrawn. Perhaps Cal being younger had something to do with it. "She's a babe! I mean... sorry, but..."

"That's OK, Bobby. I think so, too. The reason I wanted to talk to you was to see if you would ask her to the Breakaway dance." That annual event was just before spring break and was coming up soon.

Bobby just stared at him for several seconds, then "Me? Ask Rebecca. I didn't think she would... I mean, I'm..."

"You've been very nice to her. She likes your humor. You both love music."

"But I've never been on a date!" The poor guy looked scared to death at the prospect.

"Well, neither have I. Hey, you've got a car. How about we double?"

"Wh... who would you bring," Bobby asked.

"Hadn't thought of that. Maybe Tessa. What do you think?"

"Wow! Me and Rebecca! You really think... ?"

"I'm sure of it. Hey, we never had this conversation, right?"

The next night at dinner, it was obvious that Bobby had wasted no time. Rebecca sort of floated into the kitchen. She didn't really sit in her chair, she descended enough to hover above it. Cal waited as long as he could before asking her "Sis, you seemed kinda distracted. Did something happen today?"

"Bobby asked me to Breakaway!" she almost yelled.

Then the unthinkable happened - Elaine squealed! "A date? Bobby who? Is he in your grade? Where does he live?..."

Cal and Martin looked at each other in astonishment, then shook their heads and grinned. It was as if there were suddenly two teenaged girls at the table.

Actually, Elaine was tremendously excited. She had been concerned that her daughter was truly becoming a bit of a nerd, and she did not want her to miss out on the social fun of her teen years. At Thanksgiving time, it was clear that the girl was troubled. Her smile had taken a vacation and she only seemed to play somber pieces on the piano.

Sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas, something had happened. Rebecca seemed much more animated and she and Cal were spending a lot more time at the Walts'. Some of the sparkle and energy seemed to be returning to her daughter.

When at Christmas Rebecca had asked her for some help clothes shopping, Elaine really had taken a day off, a rarity for her. For her, the shopping day had been the best part of Christmas. She could not explain the sudden change in her daughter, but she was thrilled by it. She even got Rebecca in on a cancellation at her hairdresser's and they finished off with dinner out.

Since the holidays, Elaine had been making it a point to help Rebecca every morning before she left for school. Maybe she just complimented the girl on her outfit, or touched up her hair a little, or suggested some makeup changes. To find out that Rebecca had her first date was a relief beyond explanation.

In the middle of an energetic but good-natured inquisition of Rebecca, Elaine happened to glance at Cal and saw him wink at her. That was unprecedented, and it stopped her cold for a moment. When she resumed, she was certain that Cal was responsible for her daughter's date, and just maybe for her recent turnaround. That bit of discovery could wait until later, though. There was serious girl talk to be finished right then.

As Cal watched mother and daughter chatting excitedly, he experienced a new revelation. His mother was a sexy woman! Why had he never noticed that before? What was happening to him now? A mental slide show of dozens of high school girls in front of his camera, Tessa and others in filmy lingerie, Cheryl in an erotic pose, and Teri naked scrolled across his memory. He was just waking up to the beauty and sexuality of women, that's what was happening. And as far as beauty and sexuality, his mother was right up there with the best of them.

Cal had some new concepts to think about during his upgraded workouts. Running was the best time to let one's mind run free, and all of the miles seemed to be filled with the women in his life.

OK, so there was nothing normal about it in the first place: taking naked pictures of his neighbor - his friend's mother - his business partner. But when Teri caught him on the way home a week later and told him she had gotten some exercise equipment and needed some more 'before' shots, the butterflies took over his stomach immediately. There had been four photo sessions for customers that week, so they had seen each other. But in the context of their new little business, it was different.

Cal had begun getting up an hour earlier than before since the photo business had started. He first went through his workout, then used the rest of the time for homework. After school every day, he had to do enough to know that he could finish in the morning hour, but it left his evenings much more open. Now that basketball had finished, he usually completed his school work before dinner anyway, but he found he liked the very early morning discipline.

He had always thought that he would go out for the school golf team, but after having either football or basketball practices all year, he had to rethink that plan. There was plenty of golf right out his back door, and better competition than the school team whenever he wanted it.

Tessa met him at the door when he went to their house right after dinner. After the initial surprise, he assumed that she would study or visit Rebecca during the 'shoot', so he chatted with her for a minute, expecting her to leave.

"Well, let's get going, I think Mom's ready for us," Tessa said.

Cal looked at her in confusion at first, then felt the increasingly familiar surge of anger. "Wh... what do you mean 'us'?"

She had seen the flash of anger and it shook her up a little, but she could not see why it should change her plans. "I'm going to be your assistant!" she announced with forced cheerfulness. This time she saw both anger and a little fear. She could tell he was trying to control his reactions but it was not working.

"Now what did I do wrong??" she shouted at him, suddenly overcome by confusion and anger of her own. "All I wanted to do was help! Why did that piss you off again? Damn it, Cal! How am I supposed to know?" Teri had been about to enter the foyer where they stood, but her daughter's explosion caused her to hang back and retreat into the powder room where she could watch through the barely-opened door.

The last few months had been a crash course in dealing with women for Cal. The one subject that had not yet been covered, however, was an angry woman. Especially, not a strong-willed one like Tessa. "Wh... why didn't you ask me first?" he queried lamely.

"Weeelll, excuuuuse ME!!" she snarled, dripping sarcasm. "Your Highness, I apologize for not asking permission to help your royal ass! I didn't know it was such a high privilege to assist such a great artist!" With that she turned and stomped off toward the stairs.

"Tessa, wait! Let me explain!" He called to her. When she ignored him, something snapped, and he dashed after her. Catching her from behind, he managed to subdue both arms in front of her and lift her off of the floor a little. Straining mightily because of the poor leverage, he lugged her toward the couch in the family room. She began screaming and kicking, leaving some bruises on his lower shins.

When he dumped her unceremoniously on the couch, she bounced up and launched into a full-fledged tantrum. She flailed at him and screamed words he would never have suspected she knew. Teri had moved to a place where she could see what was happening and became very concerned. She was about to intervene, but she had never seen Tessa like that and frankly did not know what to do. In mid-stride, she decided to see how Cal would handle it and backed up to watch from another doorway.

Dodging or deflecting Tessa's blows was no real problem, but it bothered Cal to see her out of control like that. He yelled her name as loudly as he could several times, but it did not penetrate her rage. Finally, he grabbed one flailing hand and got behind her again.

This time, he got her in position by his side, sat back down on the couch, and pulled her across his lap, bottom up. Giving her no time to even object, he smacked her hard on one ass cheek, then the other. When there was no reaction from her, he repeated the sequence, this time producing a screech of pain. Hearing that, he began rubbing her ass very gently, asking her over and over "Tessa, will you let me talk to you? Tessa, will you let me talk to you?"

Her yelling and flailing had stopped when she acknowledged the pain. She was squirming but silent. When he had repeated his question about a dozen times, she asked "Are you going to stop doing that?" Instead of answering, he took his hand away. "Then I'm not listening," she warned him.

He gave her another swat, this one playful, and sat her beside himself on the couch. "Tessa, it would be fun to have you helping me, but there are a couple of problems. Maybe your Mom doesn't want you around when she's naked."

"Oh, that. I asked, and she's OK."

"Well, I didn't know that, and I was concerned," he explained. She looked down a little sheepishly. "The other problem," he continued uncertainly, "is, uh, me."

"Huh?"

"Um, with your Mom naked, I'll have a h... hardon all the time."

"So?" she said with a little giggle.

"Well, us guys are real sensitive about people seeing that."

Now, she hung her head even lower. "Sorry. I never thought about that. Hey, Mom sees it. How come that doesn't bother you?"

"Oh, it does," he insisted. "But that's different. Uh, she's showing me everything, and if she's not embarrassed, well..."

Almost before he finished the thought, she was on her feet and her sweatpants and sweatshirt were flying in different directions. She had her hands behind her back fumbling for her bra clasp before he could react. He Jumped to his feet, grabbed both of her hands from behind her, and said "Tessa! Don't! Please!"

"Do I look that bad? You don't even want to see me?" Cal's head was swimming, wondering how many land mines he was going to have to dodge.

"Tessa, Tessa," he tried to reassure her. "I would love to see you naked. That night I took those pictures was thrilling for me. But this is not the way. I don't want you to do it when you are angry and confused."

When she looked up at him, her face went through several different emotions before it totally disintegrated and she fell forward and clung to him desperately as she sobbed. He somehow knew that this was not going to be a quick little cry, so he sat down. Her legs were to the side and their chests were pressed together, her arms tight around his back. He in turn kept his arms around her, gently rubbing her back as he laid his head back in weariness and frustration.

They had only been seated a few seconds when he felt Teri sit next to him. His mouth was covered in a tender kiss, then her arm was over his shoulders as she started stroking Tessa's hair. Teri's breast was tight against his upper arm and he was pretty sure he felt cloth between them, but he did not feel like raising his head to check that out. Tessa's sobbing fit went on for a good ten minutes, with neither Cal nor Teri wanting to interrupt her.

When the tears ran out, Tessa just held on and sniffled for a while longer. Then, with a glance up at Cal, she grabbed his T-shirt and loudly blew her nose on it. "There. Now you have to take something off, too." She had not yet worked up to a giggle, but her quip signaled the end of her cry.

Teri wanted to lighten things even more and she asked "Can you figure a way to blow your nose on his underwear shorts?" It took a few seconds, but all three burst into laughter from that.

The crying may have stopped, but Tessa was not ready for the contact to end. Sitting up, she pulled off Cal's shirt, than sat on his lap and resumed her hug. With her face in his neck, she murmured "You saw some parts of me I don't like very well."

"That's funny," he shot back. "The parts all look pretty good to me." She just hugged harder and gave a little hum.

"So," she asked, "do I have to get naked to be your assistant and see your hardon poking your pants out?"

Easy questions again. "Um, I guess the real problem is you're just too shy and diplomatic to be any real help." She responded by trying to tickle him, forgetting all the previous unsuccessful attacks of that nature.

"No, really, Cal. Can I help? I really want to. I promise I won't joke about it or anything."

Rule Two. The vixen even insisted on staying in just bra and panties, probably to ensure that hardon she so desperately wanted to see.

Seeing that things were about where they should have been when Cal arrived, Teri asked them to wait and fetched some of the first 'before' pictures. "See, the ones in the studio show so much more than the ones in the bedroom. I want all the fat rolls and everything to be as obvious as can be."

"Well, it's because the light in the studio is so much brighter. It makes everything stand out," Cal explained. "In the bedroom I only had the flash.

"Guess we'll have to take them all in the studio, then. Damn, I wanted some on the exercise machines."

"No problem. The lights you got are pretty portable. MY ASSISTANT can help me set them up wherever we need them." Tessa giggled at that.

"Will we have to move the backdrop, too?" Teri asked.

"No, we'll just place the lights differently," he answered.

"OK. I lost three pounds this week, but let's redo all the 'before' shots, anyway. I want those ugly rolls and bulges to jump right out at me."

Tessa was almost giddy as she hurried down the stairs to help carry lights to the bedroom. When Teri blushingly took off the swimsuit she had been wearing, it was Tessa who observed a problem. "Geez, Mom, look at the lines your suit left. We can't take pictures until those go away. Guess we'll just have to sit and stare at you until they're gone, huh?" That triggered some light roughhousing between them. The effect of so much of the naked lovelies jiggling in such interesting ways had Cal instantly erect.

In a move of unusual tenderness and consideration for her, Tessa stopped the horseplay and came over to stand in front of Cal. She touched his reddened face and asked "Are you OK?"

The photos, combined with some introduction to Teri's new equipment, took a couple of hours. At the end, she complained of some muscle soreness from the unusual exertion. "Cal, any chance I could talk you into giving me a massage?"