Chapter 18

I walked silently into the woods behind the house, moving quickly to get away. We had 160 acres around the house, having purchased the extra acreage that had been available, so it was easy to get lost from the others. I walked quickly, wanting to get out of sight before anyone saw me. It was unlikely anyone would, but it was not unknown for someone to be up at 3:00 AM. Besides, Megan and I had both been upset, and that was dangerous in a whole house full of empaths if you were trying to remain unnoticed, even if they were all asleep. I had been out here quite a few times and knew exactly where I was going, so it didn't matter that the tears in my eyes made it hard to see.

Once I got far enough into the woods to be invisible from the house, I stopped, sitting down on a log to take care of some things. I had to get away, to think and decide what to do next, and there was no way I could do any serious thinking and reflection around the house. I had six young teenage girls living in the house. I loved them dearly, but they were loud and giggly and quiet time was hard to come by. Not only that, but all six, and Victoria and Megan would not leave me alone if they knew I was upset about something. They loved their Daddy, brother and boyfriend, and none of them were about to leave me to suffer alone.

First, I took care of a necessary duty. I quietly, carefully, temporarily severed the mental connection I had with each of the family members. I had no desire to frighten them, so I installed the equivalent of an 'away message'. It let them know that I was still there, safe and sound, but made it obvious I was out of contact. I had no intentions of having almost a dozen curious females tracking me by my mental signals.

I had a clear objective in mind as far as a destination. I had spent a few days exploring the woods around the house before we had moved in. I had found a lovely, very spacious cave on the property. The entrance was pretty well hidden; I had stumbled on it by accident. After a short, steep entrance, it opened up into a large, spacious underground series of chambers, the first one being rather large. This was not unusual, as we lived in a state that had one of the highest number of caves in the country.

After I had discovered the cave, I had arranged with a construction company that did private, discreet work for my PI firm to do some work on it before we moved into the house. I had it equipped with tastefully camouflaged electric lights inside, with a private, quiet generator big enough to run anything we wanted in there. Other than that, however, I kept it rustic. I had kerosene lamps, in case we wanted to rough it, along with kerosene heating and cooking stoves. There were plenty of sleeping bags, blankets, and everything you would need for camping for awhile. It was stocked with imperishable food and plenty of water. There was also a decent water supply deeper in the cave. I had decided that it might not be a bad idea to have a hiding place ready in case of emergencies. Fortunately for what I wanted if for now, I had not yet told any of the family about its existence. I decided this was the ideal place to hole up and do some thinking about the future. No one would find me here. I turned off my cell phone and became a pioneer.

I should say here, in my own defense, shaky as it may be, that I was very upset and not thinking clearly. It never occurred to me at the time that just disappearing from the face of the earth, 'away message' notwithstanding, was going to upset the ones I loved. All I thought about was getting away. I should have left a note or something. But if I had been thinking clearly, I never would have left to start with. I would have talked to Megan to find out what was going on.

I think the major problem was that I had never been confident in my relationship with Megan. I could never understand what she saw in me. She was a world famous archeologist. She was stunningly beautiful, very intelligent, and at least could be reasonably well off if she wanted to be. She could have anyone she wanted. Why would she choose to be celibate and alone for fifteen years, just waiting for me? It made no sense. I wasn't famous, I wasn't a hunk, and I didn't see what I had to offer. Oh, I was aware that I was reasonably good looking; I had never sent any women or children screaming into the night in terror. I knew that everyone thought I was a nice person. I wondered if they would think that if they knew me better. Certainly the world outside my family wouldn't think so if they knew some of the things that went on in our house.

I guess I had no idea what attracted women to men, so I couldn't understand why I was so desired by Megan. It made no sense to me. Thus, I was convinced, deep in my mind, that our whole relationship was a house of cards on her part; a house of cards that was bound to come tumbling down one of these days when she realized what, or who, she had really committed herself to.

Then along came the mysterious Eric. A name I had never heard before, someone I had no idea who he was. She loved him so much; she loved him more than me. She wanted him, not me. She begged him not to leave her, as he had apparently done before, and was willing to do anything to keep him with her this time. Because I was so convinced she was going to come to her senses someday, I was willing to believe the worst about what I heard.

None of this occurred to me at the time. It never occurred to me how much I was insulting Megan. I never realized that I was calling her a liar, a cheat, a slut. I never realized that I was believing that she was only with me because she couldn't be with the one she wanted and didn't want to be alone. All I saw was that she said I was the most important person in her life, then I hear that she was willing to give me up in a second if she could have back the mystery love of her life from the past.

I finally made it to the cave without killing myself in the dark. I'm not sure I would have cared if I had; I was in that bad and black of a mood. I made my way inside, fired up the heater (caves are usually 52 degrees year round) and got settled in. After putting everything away, I started out with the most important thing; I climbed into a sleeping bag and went to sleep.

I don't know how long I slept, but I woke up not a lot more rested than when I went to sleep. I didn't sleep well because I dreamed all night long. Every dream was about Megan. I spent all night, in my dreams, and all day arguing with myself. One time I was mad at Megan, for being deceitful. The next time I was convinced that something was wrong, that I had missed something; Megan would never do that to me. I must have misunderstood. I dreamed all night long about how much she loved me and how happy I had been. I was confused. I still hadn't realized yet that all I had to do was go back home and talk to her. I know; stupid.

I stayed out there for three days, trying to figure things out. With nothing to do but think, I went to bed early the third night, about seven o'clock. The heater had kept things rather warm, so I was sleeping in the buff on top of the sleeping bag. About nine o'clock, I woke up suddenly with the distinct feeling that something was different.

What was different was that there was a soft, smooth, warm female body snuggled up behind me. Whoever this angel was, she was kissing me softly on the neck. I turned around, looking through all the black hair into Amy's bright green eyes.

Amy! Was I ever glad to see her! How did she get here? Before I could say a word, she kissed me. It was not a daughterly kiss. She kissed me as she had only kissed me a few times before. Without saying a word, she moved down and sucked my cock gently, slowly into her mouth. I gasped as the softness and warmth of her mouth sent electrical shocks coursing through my body.

Amy loved to tease me, making me almost cum several times before she stopped teasing. Not this time. She sucked me slowly, gently, but she kept it up until I exploded into her mouth.

"Oh God, Amy! I love you so much!" I cried out, as I filled her mouth. She smiled gently and sucked me until I came again, then kept me in her mouth until I was soft. Then she snuggled up to me and stroked my hair, holding me as I cried.

When I recovered, I opened my eyes to look directly into her bright green eyes. I could see love, sadness and sympathy there. I could also see danger. It would not take a whole lot for my little girl to kick my butt.

"How did you find me?" I asked.

"You and I are inseparable, remember? I have your white energy in me. You can't shut me out, silly man. Breaking your connection with me meant nothing. I only waited three says to give you time to realize what an idiot you were being. I finally decided that, being a man, you would never realize it, so I came to get you. I guess you are glad to see me, huh?" She smiled at me, softly, dangerously.

"That orgasm was from Megan. She sends you her love," Amy whispered softly. She felt me stiffen involuntarily, then I tried to make a joke.

"Is that all she sent?" I asked.

"Oh, no. You will be lucky if you can walk tomorrow. She told me all kinds of things to do to you tonight. All from her. After we talk." She looked deep into my eyes, and I had a feeling I was closer to death than I had ever been before. She smiled at me though.

"She didn't mean it, you know," Amy whispered softly. She watched me closely, to see how I would react. I didn't react well.

"She didn't mean what? She didn't mean that she loved her old boyfriend more than me, that she wanted him and not me? Exactly what did she mean then?" All the anger and hurt that I had been denying for the last few days boiled over. I had always been able to get it out with Amy. I saw her eyes flash fire, and for a second I was scared. Then, she relaxed and I saw sympathy again.

"Dad, you know I love you more than anyone in the world, don't you?" Amy asked me. I nodded, cringing mentally. Here it came. It would not be good. She called me 'Dad'. I wasn't sure what was going on, but by this time I knew that I deserved whatever was going to happen.

"You are the sweetest man in the world, but you can be a real jerk sometimes," Amy stated softly. I didn't dare interrupt her. "You walked away for three days and left us all wondering if we would ever see you again. That stupid 'away message' only made it worse. You didn't treat her right, Dad. You should have talked to her. When she woke up the next morning and realized you were gone, and she remembered what she had said to you, she went to pieces. For three days she has been in a continuous panic attack, afraid you weren't coming back. Right now she is terrified that she has lost you forever. All of the other girls are taking turns watching over her, to make sure she doesn't do something stupid. She doesn't want to live without you." I was expecting lightning to come out of her eyes any minute, she was that mad.

I can be really stupid sometimes; did I tell you that? I said the dumbest thing I could ever have said right about then.

"Why? Did Eric, her old lover, leave her again? Does she want me to come back and be second best again?" I'm not proud of the fact that that was probably the meanest thing I had ever said in my life. I would never forget it, not so much because of the statement itself, but because of the incredible pain that immediately followed it.

Amy slapped me in the face. Hard. It was so fast I never even saw it coming, much less be able to even prepare for it. My Dad believed in corporal punishment when we grew up. I had been slapped a few times by him. Nothing compared to the pain I felt from this. I saw colored lights and thought I was going to pass out.

"I don't know who you are, but you can't be my Dad. My Dad could never be this fucking stupid, even if he tried," Amy hissed at me. At least, I think that is what she said to me. I couldn't hear real well over the ringing in my ear. That statement got my attention real quick, though. I could count on one hand and have multiple fingers left over the times I had ever heard Amy cuss, much less say 'fuck'. I started listening really closely and kept my big mouth shut; I had never seen her this mad before.

"Listen to me carefully, DAD. See if you can wrap your brain around this." She stopped and took a deep breath before she continued, a little calmer.

"You've known Megan since she was ten years old. You grew up together, went to high school together, college together. She has always lived within a few blocks of us. You have even practically raised her kids for her. She works for you. Everyone who has ever seen the two of you together for more than 11 seconds has known that she's madly in love with you, that you're her whole life. Do you understand what I'm telling you?" I nodded. She was really, really trying to get her anger under control. I guess you could say she was succeeding, because she hadn't hit me again... yet.

"So when was she supposed to have met and had this lover named Eric that you're so convinced she has? A man that she was so in love with that she would leave you for? You don't develop that type of love by seeing a man once or twice in secret. How could you be so dense as to think that a man you had never seen before was a long lost lover?" She rolled her eyes and gave me that 'if you weren't my Dad I'd kill you' look. She might have, too. I finally dared to talk.

"Then who was he? I didn't dream what she said. I didn't imagine it. What did I miss?" I was confused. I knew by now that I had made an awful mistake, but I just didn't know what it was. Amy visibly relaxed and her eyes turned soft. The danger was gone out of them. She caressed my cheek softly where the red mark showed she had slapped me.

"I'm sorry, I hit you harder than I meant to," she apologized softly.

"Daddy, the signs were all there for you to see. All you had to do was stop and think a minute before you got your feelings hurt. The instant bond between your Dad and Megan. The red hair, just like the little girl in the van. Where did Megan get her powers? She isn't related to us. Did you know she was adopted?"

"Daddy, Eric was her twin brother. Her twin brother that died when she was 9 year old. Her twin brother that she loved more than anyone in the world. Her twin brother that she saw for months before it happened that he was going to die. Yes, she loved him, yes she wants him, maybe she even wants him more than she wants you, because she can't have him. He's dead. He is and has never been any threat to you, any more than Victoria or I or Cindi are a threat to her."

"Eric and Megan were the other set of twins in the van, Daddy. Megan knew it as soon as she heard the story. Your Dad knew it a few days ago, and was sure the moment he saw Megan. She would give anything to have Eric back again. Wouldn't you, for Victoria?" She looked with true sympathy at me now as she saw me fall apart.

"Oh God, what have I done?" I cried. Amy pulled me close to her and the genius child comforted the idiot father.

"It wasn't all you fault, Daddy," Amy whispered softly when I had calmed down. "Megan never told you she had a twin brother. She had just gone through a very traumatic experience with the plates, and was not herself yet. She may not be for awhile with what the plates have shown her. She was weak and tired and grief stricken, and then her dead brother, whose death she has never recovered from, appears to her. She has given up so much during the cycles, suffered so much, and then the one thing she could never deal with is shoved in front of her face. She said something stupid, Daddy, something she didn't really mean and would never have said under normal circumstances. She was trying desperately to keep Eric from leaving again. She offered him everything she could, including denying her love for you to convince him that she loved only him. She didn't mean it Daddy; she was just trying to keep him there. She didn't even think of what she said in front of you until the next day. She was devastated when she realized what she had done to you."

Amy held me close as she tried to comfort me, as she saw the shame and sorrow on my face for what I had done to Megan. My voice broke as I asked her the question I dreaded to hear the answer for.

"Amy... have I... have I lost her forever? Can she ever forgive me? Will she at least talk to me, so I can apologize?" I didn't know what I would do if she walked away from my stupidity. Amy smiled at me tenderly.

"I probably shouldn't tell you this, but I know you are too nice to ever take advantage of it. Daddy, you can never lose Megan. There is nothing you could ever do that would make her walk away from you. You could stay out here for ten years and she would greet you with open arms the day you came back. She is yours, forever, no matter what. Can you say the same? I think you will, someday soon. I hope you will." She kissed me. Suddenly, I had to get up.

"I have to get back to her, Amy. I have to go now. I can't let her be in doubt anymore." I tried to get up, but Amy held me down.

"No. You can go back tomorrow. These are Megan's orders to me. She is not ready to see you yet. She will be ready tomorrow. Tonight she is with Victoria and your parents. They are calming her down, preparing her for your return tomorrow. She doesn't want you to see her like she is now. She told me I am to love you tonight, all night long, so that you will not be rusty for her tomorrow." Amy barely got the last part out without laughing.