Chapter 68

SUNDAY MORNING, OCTOBER 13

HOSPITAL IN FLORIDA

Brenda, wearing a fresh pair of pajamas, walked back into the room, her hair wrapped in a towel — her face flushed. A moment later, Fred also came out of the bathroom as he vigorously rubbed a small towel through his hair — he was fully dressed in tee shirt and jeans, although still barefoot.

"They don't have enough towels in there," he professed to no one in particular, his voice bordering on the grumpy side.

"Sounds like someone didn't get his rocks off," Carla laughed.

"He let me play with it a little bit, but when I bent over, all he would do was kiss my pussy, so not getting off is his own fault," Brenda giggled. "He wouldn't shove that marvel-ous cock in me. It's like he thinks I'll break, or some-thing," Brenda said, her speech somewhat slowed, her diction careful, but mostly stammer free.

"I want to make love to you for our first time in your new body. I don't want a quickie in a hospital bathroom to remember for our first time," Fred tried to reason.

Brenda sat on the bed and plugged the hair dryer in. "Bull. We've made love for years. I wanted to try out this new body. He's gone all wim-py on me," Brenda finished as she grinned at the other women.

Fred stood combing his hair. Carla looked over at him with love in her eyes, but teased, "Ah, he's that way sometimes. Just when you want your brains fucked out, he decides to love you to death, instead. I don't know what we're going to do with him," she teased.

Seating himself on the side of the bed, Fred began to don his socks and shoes. Brenda turned the hair dryer on, almost drowning out her words. "I know what we're going to do when I get him in that RV, though."

Fred reached over and turned the hair dryer off for a second. "Doc said we would be last on his morning rounds. Then Carla has to settle up with the billing department after he signs you out. We have several hours yet." Glancing at his watch, "Hell, it's only six thirty. It's bound to be ten or so before we get out of this place. And besides, you don't have all your strength back yet."

Brenda turned to lock eyes with him. "Bull. This body isn't quite one hundred percent, yet, but you can bet I'm going into that restaurant with a pussy full of sperm, anyway," she said, pushing the switch on the dryer.

"But Baby," Fred tried to emphatically say over the noise, "this body isn't on birth control. No telling where you are in your cycle. You could be fertile..."

"You pays your money and you takes your chances," she singsonged in a parody of something that Fred didn't pick up on. "And you damn sure paid enough on this body," she laughed as Audrey took the hair dryer from her and began helping to dry her hair.

Fred gave up trying to talk over the whine of the dryer, and went looking for some coffee at the nurses' station. The women looked at each other and laughed.

Ellen and Barbara (the General's wives) had tried to help with breakfast and talk to Diana at the same time. Laughing, Diana pulled them aside as the almost-machine that the retreat women had become, put breakfast on the steam table while they joked and had a great time. "How do they do that?" Ellen asked as Melissa grabbed two platters that had just been filled by Jennie and Ann an instant before, spun and walked between Helen and Laura who were going in opposite directions. None of them broke stride or seemed to even take notice of what should have been considered a very near miss.

"Oh, if you were here very long, you two would be doing it. I think it has something to do with being an Alpha's wife. We very quickly learn to work together."

"But ... none of you really say anything about what you're doing. I mean, you talk, but about other things. It's like it's all orchestrated or something."

"It's not," Diana laughed. "We agree on what we're going to fix, and with breakfast, there's the usual assortment, unless we decide to add something new. Then we just come in and do whatever is necessary to get it done."

"So you always do the same thing then?" Barbara asked.

Diana chuckled. "Goodness no. That would be boring. Someone would get stuck with peeling potatoes every day, or worse if we use the big peeler — having to clean the thing. Or we would get tired of something else. No, we usually do a different part of the preparation each day."

"But how do you decide what each is to do? We've been here several times when all of you just come in and abruptly start doing things to prepare a meal like it's been planned out and ... almost choreographed."

"It's ... complicated, and it's not. We just do it. We know what everyone else is doing — is going to do as soon as we walk in here. We have ... I guess you could say, bonded. And it doesn't just apply to my sister-wives; Dave's wives work with us the same way, and so do Bill's. Margaret fits right in there with us, too. And if you two stayed with us a while, I think you would shortly be able to do it just like us, since your husband is an enhanced Alpha also. It's no big deal. It's how things ... should be as far as we're concerned. It's part of being an Alpha's wife."

Barbara smiled at Diana. "It's just another of the many things that have happened in the last couple of days that makes us want to stay."

"How long you stay is entirely up to you two and your husband. You're always welcome here to visit or stay as long as you like. Your husband is an Alpha. You're all family. You don't need an invitation. Just come home any time you can."

Barbara fought back tears, and Ellen didn't even try. "Ellen and my husband would be planning my funeral by now if we hadn't gotten here when we did. You have no idea how that humbles me. I..."

Diana encircled her in her arms. "Hush. You're alive and well. According to Little One, the three of you will live for a long, long time — all of us will. We'll have many years together, so this isn't goodbye this morning, and I expect frequent phone calls at the very least. And frequent visits. So don't let your husband say he's too busy to come see us."

Jeff and the General relaxed in the sitting room of the suite while Diana, Arlene and Laura helped Ellen and Barbara pack.

Jeff refreshed the General's coffee, then after refilling his own cup, put the insulated carafe back on the cart. "I hate to see you go so soon."

"Yeah, and I hate to go, but there are pressing problems that I need to take care of. Very pressing problems. And if things happen the way I expect they will, I'll soon be certain of my leak. Be assured that the leak will be permanently plugged," he grimly finished.

"Something I can help with?" Jeff heard himself say before his mind could catch up with his mouth.

Whitworth sighed. "No. I'm not quite there yet, but when I am, it's fucking going to be a permanent solution. You can bet your ass on that."

Jeff wanted to know more, but it was obvious that the General didn't want to tell him right now.

Whitworth took a big gulp of the hot coffee, making Jeff inwardly flinch. "You mentioned someone who is part of the family, but is not here now..."

"Yeah, Fred. He was my mentor. He's also an Alpha. He and his women are in Florida for a couple weeks. Long story that I'll tell you about when you have more time."

"You want to tell him about things?"

"Yeah, I hate to keep Little One a secret from him. Not only is he family, but he has done some things for me in the past..."

"If you say it, it's good enough. If I leave the equipment with you, do you have a secure place to keep it?"

"I have the walk-in safe that is in the pantry off the kitchen. The whole kitchen area is part of our safe room in case of trouble."

The General looked a question.

"The entire area is steel-walled. All we have to do is hit one button and steel doors slide out of the door jams and lock deep in the walls. Both the door to the hallway and the door on the side of the kitchen to the dining area will secure in seconds. Floors, ceiling, and walls conceal heavy armor. One of Wainwright's ideas. He had money to burn, so he made the thing like a vault."

"If it's sealed that tight, how long before you run out of air?"

"Piped in underground from two separate sources. As long as there's power feeding the grid, we'll have air. And the backups have backups."

"I suppose, knowing you, that you have practiced."

"Many times. And there are numerous ways to set off the signal for everyone to head there."

"What about communication?"

"Sitting behind a panel in the kitchen, I have a satellite phone, one of your secure SAT phones and one of your radios, all hooked up to an outside antenna on the roof, and even the antenna is hidden."

Whitworth drained his cup and stood. Grabbing up a case, he said, "Let's go. Not that I doubt you, of course, but I want to see this secured in that safe before I go. I only have two of these portable units. This blocking technology is something I damn sure don't want to risk getting in the hands of some fucking politician, but I also want you to have use of it when you need it. I'll pick the unit up the next time I'm here."

Later, Diana and Jeff sat in one of the Escalades near the helipad watching the General's helicopter as it faded into the distance over the mountain. Turning to her husband, "That visit certainly didn't go down the way I would have expected. I really like Ellen and Barbara. And I guess I like the General — at least a little bit. Well, after his presentation, anyway. I've disliked him for years without even specifically knowing he existed," she mused. "I hated your being away from me, and I knew you were going on some kind of mission from time to time, especially when we were in the military. I even suspected a time or two when you were supposedly out doing something with your engineering abilities..."

"Di, much of the time I was working. I didn't go on that many missions off-planet. Well ... not too many, anyway."

"Jeff Matthews, you do a lot of things well — really well — but lying is not one of them, at least to me."

Jeff dropped the Escalade into gear and started toward the inside garage. "So what are we going to do the rest of the day? I suppose you and Margaret will be cloistered somewhere while you help her plan the wedding?" Jeff asked, trying to change the subject.

Diana let him get away with it, but gave him an innocent smile as she reached over to gently cup his groin. "Sure, I'll help her, right after you top me off. I'm a little low on sperm."

"I thought you said you were sore this morning," he laughed, hitting the button on the garage door opener as they neared.

"That was a couple hours ago. We heal quickly now that Little One has enhanced us. Walking funny doesn't last as long any more," she joked. "Now I've tried to keep my emotions down, so if we stop in one of the rooms on this end of the hallway, I should have that marvelous cock in my pussy before the rest of your wives notice what's going on."

"From behind this time with you on your hands and knees," Jeff said as he brought the SUV to a halt and pressed the button to close the big door.

"Just as long as you do me hard. Throw me down and rape me. Pound my womb," she said as she jumped out and ran for the stairs. She had a good thirty feet on him before he had gotten clear of the Escalade. Grinning, he took the steps four at a time. "You had better run," he yelled, laughing. "That pussy is going to be sore in a few minutes."

At the top of the stairs, he hesitated for a few seconds to let her gain ground again, then jerked the door open and charged down the hallway.

A little later, Susan and Arlene were sitting on Susan's bed talking, when Arlene suddenly leaned forward, hissed in a breath and whined, "Oh, shit," before collapsing back on the bed breathing hard a good half-minute later.

Susan knew what was going on, and it had been obvious that Arlene had been fighting to act normal before the orgasm overwhelmed her, but it was still hard to believe that her granddaughter could tell when any of her sister-wives had an orgasm.

"You okay?" Susan asked the panting girl.

"Yeah," Arlene croaked. "She had a bunch, but that one was mind-boggling. I couldn't hold it off, and just went with her. Usually we have to be touching to feel it that strong, though."