Chapter 189

As the Matthews made their way back up the mountain, Diana surreptitiously watched her husband. She hadn't seen him appearing to be this fatigued since college when he was working long hours and going to school. He had been fine a little earlier as he watched everyone enjoying the new classrooms, but after the trip down...

"Stop, Baby," she said. "I want to drive."

"Di, I'm..."

" ... So tired you can barely keep your eyes open. It would be a shame for you to wreck us after the great job you did coming down the mountain. Now pull over, please."

Amazing her, he did as she asked.

As they got out to change drivers, Security began to exit their vehicles. "Nothing's wrong," Diana told them. "Jeff's just tired. I'm going to drive."

Back inside the Escalade, Diana pulled the vehicle back onto the road. "You okay, Daddy?" Arlene asked, her voice tinged with worry.

"Yeah, Baby. Just a bit tired."

Diana snapped a quick look at him. "What you did to keep this on the road caused this, didn't it?"

"Don't make too much out of that. I swear I don't even know what I did, but there's a ... place in my brain that's ... exhausted. And don't bother to ask me how I know a particular place is exhausted; I just know. And I have a headache so bad it's giving me double vision."

"Little One..."

" ... Is as exhausted as I am. I'll take some aspirin when we get back home. Right now, I just need sleep."

"But..." Arlene started, then quickly hushed as she saw her mother shaking her head.

Diana drove as smoothly as she could, slowing for the curves and easing around them, skirting potholes and any bumps she could. Jeff hadn't let his seat back to a more comfortable position, but seemed to be deeply asleep in seconds, anyway.

Joyce held Caitlin as she snuggled her head on her sister-wife's shoulder. Caitlin was mostly asleep, exhausted from the mental strain of thinking she was going to die and never see her family again. Occasionally, a tear would trickle down her cheek to be kissed away by Joyce.

Later, Diana turned the SUV into the driveway and stopped while the duty guard scanned their vehicle in case something had been attached to it while they were out. A few seconds later, he waved them on, then braced and saluted his Colonel as they drove past.

When they pulled into the inside garage, the Prime stirred, then got out as the others did. "No," Caitlin mumbled. "You're tired too. I can..."

"Hush. We're going to take a nap – the three of us," Jeff said as he picked her up. "You, me and Little One. She's just as tired as we are, and mostly for the same reason I am, I suppose. Crap, my head hurts," he tried to snarl, but it came out sounding much weaker than he intended.

In their suite, Jeff took Caitlin on to the bathroom where Diana helped the nurse to undress while Joyce put a sweet-smelling bubble bath in the warm tub of water she was running for her sister-wife. Kayla was quickly gone to soak the blood-splattered uniform before starting the washing machine.

"I'm fine," Caitlin kept saying. "I'm just exhausted from all the excitement."

"Just relax for a few minutes, then we'll put you to bed for a nice nap with your husband."

Nat, Nicki and Whitney were waiting in the bedroom, and as soon as Jeff sat on the side of the bed, they helped the protesting Prime out of his clothes. "Hey, I'm perfectly capable of undressing myself. I just need a nap to recover a little energy." The girls paid him no mind, as they took turns kissing him while stripping him to his shorts.

A few minutes after Jeff was under the sheet, a nude Caitlin came in and slipped into bed. Diana pulled the sheet to their chins as Caitlin turned toward Jeff and snuggled against him, throwing an arm and a leg over him. "I was so scared I would never see any of you again," she quietly said.

Diana smiled while stroking Caitlin's cheek. "It's all over, Baby. Just relax and nap with Jeff. You'll feel better when you wake."

Joyce leaned over and kissed Jeff, then Caitlin. "I'm going to eat lunch, then come join you. I do have to work tonight," she teased.

Diana turned the lights down and the wives started out when Spike whined from his kennel.

"Oh, crap," Arlene said. "I forgot all about him." She quickly went to the kennel and opened the door. Instead of Spike coming to her, he ran for the bed and tried to jump up on it, but he couldn't quite make it.

"Spike, no," Arlene hissed out.

"Put him up there with them," Diana whispered.

"We took him outside a few minutes before you got back," Nat quickly added.

Arlene frowned. "But..."

Diana stepped over and put the puppy on the bed. He immediately burrowed under the sheet, snuggling to an already sleeping Jeff.

"What if he wets..."

"He won't," the Queen returned. "Now let's get out of here and let them rest."

As soon as the women were in the sitting room of the suite and the door was closed to the bedroom, there was a barrage of questions from the wives who had not gone with Jeff. "Sit," the Queen said, "and I'll tell you everything I know. The rest will have to wait until Caitlin awakens."

"But what's wrong with them?" several of the wives said in unison.

Diana let out a sigh. "I think Caitlin is just mentally exhausted from the stress she was under while that idiot held a gun to her head. Coming face to face with death affects us in different ways. She's a nurse. She saves lives. She's not supposed to have people trying to kill her."

As the questions continued, Diana raised her hand a little. "Just listen and I'll tell you everything I know," she repeated. "The rest will have to wait for our mates to tell us."

After Diana, Kayla, and Arlene told everyone about the ride and the things that happened at the hospital as far as they knew, the Queen stood. "It's time for lunch. We all need something in our stomachs. So let's go fix that."

"I'll stay with them," Arlene injected.

But Diana was shaking her head. "No need. Caitlin is just mentally exhausted from the stress, and Jeff is tired from whatever he did to keep us on the road. I don't think that either of them is sick, so your staying isn't necessary."

Arlene frowned. "You sure?"

"Yes, Daughter. If I thought either of them needed us, I would be in there with them right now. Let's just let them rest."

As the women stepped into the hall, they were met with the rest of the people at the Retreat. Most were sitting on the carpet and leaning back against the walls, but Dave was pacing. Diana had to tell her story all over again.

"You're sure he's okay?" Art asked when Diana had finished.

"He said he was, and I suspect that Caitlin is getting just what she needs the most: time with her husband."

"Shit," Dave said. "I'm glad Quinton killed that bastard. Caitlin never hurt anyone. All she has ever done is to help people. She shouldn't have had to go through something like that. Damn that sick bastard. No telling how many times she'll dream of what's just happened."

"Just like me," Hope quietly said.

Dave hissed in a breath. "Oh, crap, Sweetheart. I didn't think before I ran my mouth."

"Not your fault," she responded, "and I'm much better than I was."

Diana stood shaking her head. "Okay, enough worry for now. We all need to eat, so let's go get some food on the table."

PAULETTE'S SCHOOL

Just before the noon bell rang, Adriana parked in the school's lot and went inside the building. After signing Paulette out for the afternoon, the two walked down the hall and out the side entrance nearest the parking lot.

"Bet those two guys we met in the hall will have a hard on for the next hour," the teenager said, grinning at her mother.

"Paulette, language," Adriana scolded, but smiled in spite of herself. Then, "Oh, come on. I'm just an old woman to those seventeen-year-old boys."

"Maybe so," Paulette laughed, looking back over her shoulder to see the two now peeking out the glass door at them, "but it sure looks like they reversed direction after we passed them."

Adriana glanced back to confirm what her daughter had told her, then laughed self-consciously. "Who says they're looking at me? You look pretty darned good yourself."

"Moommmm," Paulette said as Adriana clicked the remote to unlock the pickup. After the two had gotten in, Paulette continued, "That top you're wearing is way tighter than mine, and you're braless, aren't you?"

"Crap," the mother sighed. "I was hoping you wouldn't notice. I even put Band-Aids over my nipples to keep them from showing. And before you say anything else, somehow my boobs are bigger today, and all my bras are too tight."

"Bigger? Do you suppose it's what Little One did to us?"

As Adriana backed out of the parking place, she felt a trickle start down the front of her left breast, but she waited until they were on the road to comment. "My breasts are so sensitive I can barely stand to wear clothes, but I think there's a reason they're a little bigger today. Suddenly, I'm lactating."

"Oh, wow. Is it because you're pregnant?" Paulette wanted to know.

Adriana was shaking her head. "I don't think I'm fertile yet. At least I haven't felt the pinch I usually feel when I start to ovulate. Besides, I shouldn't have milk in my breasts until the baby is ready to be born. You know that..."

Paulette waited for her mother to continue, but she had stopped. "Uh, Mom, I get the feeling you started to say something else..."

Adriana didn't answer right away, but continued on toward their home while tapping a fingernail against the steering wheel as she thought. Then, apparently making up her mind, said, "Your dad and I went over to Lillian's this morning, and he brought her big tractor back to our shop to rebuild the motor. She was almost frantic that he should not do it since she didn't have the money to spare for parts, but Van took the tractor, anyway. She doesn't know that he has already bought a rebuild kit with all the parts he will need to do a professional job on the engine. Just before I left to pick you up, he told me that he was going to have to rebuild the hydraulics as well.

"Lillian and I sat and talked for a while after Van had gone, but the conversation was a lot different than yesterday. I finally got her to open up to me about her finances. She's in worse shape than we thought. She has had to mortgage the farm and is way behind on her payments. The bank will foreclose shortly unless something happens, but she's still reluctant to sell to one of the big outfits. She's already sold off half her herd during the last year. Hiring workers has eaten up her profits and what little she and Ryan had in their savings account when he was called up to serve his country. If she continues to sell her cattle, it will only stave off things for a short while. With the herd gone, she'll have much less income next year and will never be able to recover.

"Van said that he had mentioned her situation to Jeff – at least as we knew it then – and Jeff had said he would buy the farm under certain conditions, but Van didn't question him about the conditions. But ... I have an idea, and I want to talk to you about it before I discuss it with Van.

"And..." Adriana continued with a non sequitur, "from what Diana told me while we were there visiting, I'm pretty sure I know why I'm suddenly lactating."

"Oh, shit," Paulette said.

"Language," Adriana admonished again.

"Sorry, Mom. Uh, is it the Queen thing they talked about?"

There was a long pause, then, "Van is an Alpha – now, an enhanced Alpha. He's ... well, your dad is..."

"Mom, I'm not a baby anymore."

Adriana cleared her throat before steeling her emotions and going on, "To be blunt, your father has always been capable of totally satisfying me sexually, and ... whether you think of your parents that way or not, he's always been an extremely sexual person."

"In other words, Daddy can screw your brains out," Paulette giggled.

"Paulette," Adriana chided.

"Oh, come on, Mom. I was raised on a farm, remember? Besides, whether you realize it or not, you get pretty vocal at times."

Adriana took a breath, her face turning red with embarrassment, then blurted out, "I can't keep up with him now. Not since he was enhanced. I could barely walk this morning, and his ... uh, member becomes ... erect every time he's close to me. I want him to marry Lillian and combine our farms. We need more land, and she can't handle the land she's got. And, she needs a man. Van's a good man – no, a wonderful man that I don't even deserve. Lillian and I have always been the best of friends. Ryan is dead. No matter how nice a guy he was, he isn't coming back. She's mourned long enough – too long. It's time for her to go on with her life..."

"And you're asking my permission for Dad to marry her like Jeff and Dave have married their women? And ... you haven't answered my question about your lactating."

Adriana paused for a moment, then answered, "Yes to both your questions. Yes, I think I'm lactating because I've decided that my husband should have another wife. Diana said it would happen. And yes, I guess I'm asking for your permission."