Chapter 122

Jeff, Diana, Dave and Evie sat in the living room, waiting. When the phone rang, Diana checked the caller ID and answered. "Glad you guys are back."

"Diana, I..." The voice chopped off, then Carla cleared her throat and tried again. "Diana, our dreams..." Carla's voice stopped again, to be replaced by quiet sobs of joy. "I can't..."

"You just did," Diana said softly. "You're on speaker, so all of us can hear you. Jeff, Dave and Evie are here with me and listening. And, you're welcome. Remodeling the house was just an expression of our love and respect. I remembered your dream book that you showed me. Your vacation seemed like a good time for the project. Evie and Dave took it from there. Now how was your trip?"

Carla choked back another sob, then her voice strengthened, "It was wonderful. I'm dying for you to meet Audrey and to see Brenda in her new body." There was a hesitation, then, "Diana ... we want you and Jeff to marry us to Fred — all of us to each other, the way you and your sister-wives are to Jeff."

"You know we would be thrilled to do that. When? Have you set a date?"

"As soon as we can."

"We'll talk tomorrow night after we marry Mom and Kayla. That okay?"

"Wonderful," Carla said, sounding more like herself. "I guess I should let you go, my man is making noises about trying out the Jacuzzi you guys installed. All of you, thank you from the bottom of our hearts. You can't know how much this means to Jessica and me. I'll..."

"See you tomorrow night," Diana said with a chuckle. "Now go try out that Jacuzzi and take care of that man I hear in the background."

After the two women said their goodbyes, Diana hung up the phone and jumped on Jeff's lap. "Uumph," he grunted as she landed. "Sounded as if she liked her new house." Turning to Dave and Evie, he continued, "You made something possible I would have thought was impossible..."

Dave looked at his boss. "It cost you an arm and a leg. We paid a considerable amount of overtime and bonuses to complete the job on time ... The freight bills alone to get special order items shipped in on time were ... impressive, we didn't skimp on anything. Everything we used is the best money can buy. We still lack the brickwork, of course, but we'll complete it in the springtime when we have warmer weather."

Jeff hugged Diana to him as he smiled at Dave and Evie. "That phone call alone made the whole thing worth it, besides, Fred's an Alpha and those are his women. We all have a bond that can't be broken. That big old house had potential. They realized it on paper, but Carla and Sam didn't have the money to make their dream come true. God has been good to Diana and me. Enough said, except, I really appreciate what you two went through to get that house the way Carla, Sam and Jessica envisioned it. Thank you."

"No problem," Evie said. "We had a ball doing it."

Diana sighed. "I like Carla and Jessica. It's a shame her first husband can't see their dream house."

"And who says he can't?" Jeff quietly said. "Brenda came back. Maybe Sam somehow knows."

Billy woke from his nap, yawned and looked around. In his little cat mind, the white stuff looked beautiful wound around everything. Realizing that he had some of the paper still on him, he pulled it off with his claws, then jumped down to use his litter box.

Bored again, he eyed the closed door that blocked him from going into the sitting room. He walked over and sat staring at the handle that he had seen his mistress touch when she opened the door. He could do that.

Running, he leapt onto a seat, then to a table near the door. With only a slight hesitation, he jumped from the small table to the door handle. The handle moved, but he fell off before it moved enough. Of course, being a cat, he landed on his feet. Without hesitation, he bounded back to the chair, then the table. Carefully, he concentrated on his landing place on the handle, and jumped. This time, he was able to hang on long enough for the handle to move downward and the lock to disengage before he fell off.

The door had moved inward a half inch or so. He caught his claws on the edge of the door and pulled. The door, like all the doors in the Retreat, was the best of the best, its hinges perfect and well oiled. The door began to gradually move inward with his constant pull. As soon as it was open enough, he dashed through the crack into the sitting room.

He had been in the hallway before when his mistress had left the door open, so he knew where he was going. A dash to a table near the door, three tries and the door was open just enough for him to walk through, his tail high. But...

Arlene rounded the corner riding the big vacuum cleaner. Billy, starting to prance down the hall in the opposite direction, heard the monster and whirled around so fast it almost looked as if his tail and head swapped ends on his body. His ears flattened, his back arched and his tail bristled out. He would have peed on himself had he not just used his litter box.

"Yeeoooowww," he screamed as the most horrible monster he could ever imagine bore down on him, roaring. "Physst. Physst. Physst," he spat as he raced the short distance back to the suite and dived through the door, then on into the bedroom to hide, trembling, under the bed. "Physst. Physst. Physst," he continued, his eyes open wide and staring toward the door.

"Oh, my gosh," Arlene said as she shut the vacuum down, dismounted and ran to the door. "Here, Billy. It won't hurt you. How did you get out, anyway? Here, Billy?" she continued as she pushed the hall door open, then noticing the bedroom door ajar, walked into that room to stand awestruck. Looking around, she said, "Your momma is going to be pissed with you. You have been a bad boy," she finished, giggling. "Here she is helping to clean for the weddings while you're trashing her suite."

Billy wasn't in his cage, and after a short search, Arlene found him hiding behind one of the legs of the bed. "Here Billy. Come here. I'm not going to hurt you."

"Yyowwwoo. Physst. Physst. Physst," he spat.

"Oh, hush. Now come here."

Billy wasn't about to come near any human right now, especially the one who had been riding that monster.

Arlene went around to the other side of the bed, but as she did, Billy quickly ran to the opposite side. When she knelt down to look under the bed, she grinned. "Oh, two can play that game." She got on the bed, shook the spread on the side she was on to attract his attention, then quickly reached down on the other side of the bed as he backed out still staring where he thought Arlene was.

"Got you," she said, snatching him up.

The kitten continued to growl, but Arlene ignored it. "I wish you could understand. If you could, I would apologize for scaring you out of your mind. But I think I know something that will calm you down." Getting up, still holding the growling kitten, she got his milk dish, then sat on the bed with her back to the headboard. Pulling her top up, she tucked it under her chin to hold the material out of the way, then tried to milk herself one-handed while folding up and pressing her thigh against the dish to keep it near her breast.

Billy sniffed. With that one sniff, his demeanor changed. Arlene knew he wasn't going anywhere now, so she released him in order to hold the dish and milk her breast.

"Mmeeow," the kitten said, the monster forgotten at the smell of the young Queen's milk.

Arlene ran a hand down his sleek fur as he lapped the milk, his growls now changed to a purr. Occasionally, Arlene would milk her breast again to add a little more milk to the dish. "Oops, sorry," she whispered as a stray, hair-thin stream hit Billy on the nose. He flipped his tongue up to lick off the milk. Arlene had been focused on the kitten, but finally sensed a presence at the door. Glancing up, she saw Selina standing there quietly watching.

Arlene suspected that the little genius had been there for some time. "I scared him half to death with the riding vac, so I thought I would see if a little milk would calm him."

"He was in the hallway?" Selina asked as she walked toward the bed.

"Uh huh. He was walking down the hall in the direction of the living room when I rounded the corner. I was going at a good pace, and it scared him out of his mind. I found him in here hiding under the bed. He wouldn't come to me. I guess he was associating me with the vacuum, since I was riding it. I couldn't think of anything else to do to calm him, so I caught him and gave him some of my milk. I hope you don't mind. And..."

" ... I was able to watch you express your milk. May I touch?"

"No," Arlene said, sharply, then realizing it, relented slightly. "No, that would not be proper. I mean, I would feel uncomfortable."

"Mmeeow," Billy interrupted impatiently. His dish was empty.

Arlene chuckled and pulled on her breast and nipple again while holding the dish close. Billy tried to lap up the streams of milk as they hit the dish, winding up spending as much time cleaning his face as he did drinking the milk from the dish. Both girls giggled at his problem.

Selina frowned as she caught Arlene's eye. "You said he was in the hall as you approached with the vacuum cleaner? How did he gain his freedom from this room? He has obviously learned how to open his cage door, but how could he possibly open the door into the sitting room, not to mention the door to the hallway?"

"I have no idea," Arlene said as she petted the kitten.

"He should be disciplined for this behavior," Selina said, motioning to the toilet tissue about the room, "however I am unwilling to do so since he has been frightened by the vacuum cleaner. Perhaps that is punishment enough? A repetition of this behavior would be unacceptable. Have you any suggestions?"

"Well, I would start by keeping the bathroom door closed, and by keeping anything he can jump from away from the doors. I suspect he used the table there to jump to the door lever. I don't think he could jump that high, otherwise. I've heard of cats opening doors before, but never a kitten. There are a couple of videos on the net with cats jumping up and turning doorknobs."

"That appears to be a reasonable explanation. I certainly did not foresee this set of circumstances, however."

Arlene watched the kitten as he lapped the milk, then she glanced toward the bedroom door. "You can lock the door so someone can't get in, but moving the inside handle will open the door regardless of whether it is locked or not. For now, I suggest we just move the tables away from the doors. We certainly don't need Billy exploring while we're using the big vacuums and decorating for the weddings. He could easily get hurt."

Arlene ran her hand lovingly from Billy's head to his rear, gently stroking him as he drank her milk. "Maybe after the weddings are over we can put extra litter boxes out and let him generally run free, with some restricted areas, of course. He doesn't need to be in the kitchen, or the basement, and if we secure the door at the top of the stairs in the living room, he won't be able to leave this floor."

"You would allow my kitten to roam freely about the Retreat? I did not expect that. Are you certain our Queen will permit this?"

"I don't see why not. Mom likes him, too. We will spend some time making sure there's nothing around that will hurt him. We have a few days to think about it before the weddings are over."

Billy finished the milk, sat back and belched, causing both girls to laugh.

"Billy, that was rude," Selina giggled.

"Mmeeow."

The Jacuzzi was filled while they ate a light meal, Carla still almost in a daze. As they rinsed the dishes and put them in the washer, Fred stepped up behind Carla, putting his arms around her. "Relax, Baby."