Chapter 31: New Year's Eve

"Aunt Bessie!" Mary cried when she met the Coloradans at the airport. "And Jesse — how wonderful of you both to come."

She turned to her mother with more hugs. "So good to see you... And Dad. Where are Dan and Consuela? I thought they were coming with you."

"No, Mary, they came up with something special at the last minute. They'll be along tomorrow. Didn't you get their call? They were going to call you and Ken before they left."

"No, maybe it came after I left the house. Come on, all of you."

They went off to claim baggage while Mary brought the van around to pick them up.

At the house, Ken met them at the door, "Dan called. He and Consuela found several nice youngsters for us, and they're bringing them with them — driving in. Should be here tomorrow or the next day, depending on the weather."

"Have we got stalls for them?"

"Yes, and they can take some of our extra horses back with them. The new barns will be ready in a week or two."

"Sarah'll be happy. A real Christmas present for her."

"Heather, do you have any sheep?"

"I think so, Sally Mei. How are you?"

"Fine. I want to wear sheep this weekend. Okay?"

"Can I have a sheriff's badge?"

"How big do you want it, Josh?"

"Real big. So people will know."

"I'm sure no-one will be able to miss either of you. Come on. And Josh, Mary has a cowboy hat for you."

"Really?"

Harry did the welcome speech at lunch on New Year's Eve.

"Thanks for coming. We've all wanted to do something for the Still Waters gang that has done so much for us. This is our way of saying 'Thanks'. In the last two years or so, you've brought us all together, you've added to your family of friends and lovers. On top of that, you've started a business that threatens to become big and successful. And you've done well at school — which, by the way, is why you're here in the first place. We asked you to let us give you this weekend as a party to show you how happy you've made us. Now, Tina wants to say something."

Tina Jefferson stood up. "I asked Harry to let me speak. When Fred and I came here last Fourth of July, I brought a bad attitude with me. Thanks to our kids, and to the help of the rest of you, I left my attitude here, and we've been enjoying our life. This gang of thieves of ours has changed more than my life, it's changed all of us, and I'm glad." She sat down.

Al O'Malley was next. "I speak for the Outlaws here. Margaret and I, Jim and Denise, and, I guess, Ken, Iris, Dan and Consuela, Sarah and Steve, are all people who wouldn't have the richer lives we have without the people we are here to thank. So... well, thanks."

Alex rose to reply. "Thank you, too, all of you. You've gone along with our crazy schemes, joined in our outrageous lifestyle and given us every kind of support. None of us would be here without that. But there are two people who bear the burden for what we have. Anne and Mary were the ones who brought us together, helped us bring in Sigrid and Heather and Ken and Iris and the rest, and have been the glue..." He turned to Mary, "not to mention the chili... that makes us what we are."

Anne raised her hand. Harry said, "Yes, Anne, you may be excused." Anne thumbed her nose, "You're all sweet, but we're all in this together. And that means I've got another job for you all. Iris has completed her first full range of designs for VeeCees. Please wear as many of them as you can this weekend and give her your comments. Dinners, especially tonight, will be formal — evening dress, please. And keep in mind that nobody — I mean nobody — makes cappuccino nudo but me."

"Iris," Harry asked, "how come you've come up with a whole new line? Not enough else to do?"

"Well, sort of, Harry. I'm not in school, so I have more spare time than the rest. And when I'm on the road, I've got this gorilla laptop. I can spend those lonely evenings being creative. We have to keep our line current, and I've just finished our Summer Show. You'll all be wearing next summer's virtual fashions this weekend."

"Iris," Anne said, "I need to ask you something. I should have done it before, but you've been traveling a lot, and..."

"No problem, Anne. We've all been going like crazy. We need this weekend to catch our breath. What's on your mind?"

"This will be the first time you've been with the whole family. I hope you don't feel..."

"Pressure? Sexual pressure? No, not really. You're right, I haven't met most of your parents, but I do know Jim and Denise, and Al and Margaret. I figure, I'll get to know the rest, and I'll let nature and my own feelings take their course."

"Good. I wasn't sure."

"Well, it's funny, you know. Right now I'm potentially committed to having sex with about thirty people in our family. That's more than I've had in my life up to now, but I know it's my choice who I screw.

"Anne, when I ran away from Ken and Mary — even when I came back here with them, I'd spent a lot of time being taken advantage of. Mostly by men and mostly for sex. I thought it was my fault, and it was."

"How come?"

"I let men take advantage of me. I just rolled over for them and waited for them to dump me. They did, and no wonder. Sometimes I even think I could have avoided losing my father's business, but I wasn't big enough, then, for that kind of a fight. Since I've been here, with you and Mary and Heather and Sigrid, I've learned who I am. I don't roll over anymore, unless I want to. It's a good feeling."

"Yes, it is, isn't it?"

??

"Wow! Iris, what in the hell are you wearing?" It was New Year's Day.

"Hi, Harry. It's my new idea. I call it virtual lingerie." Iris wore stockings that rose most of the way up her legs, with a dark band at the top. Her panties were white lace, and she wore a matching lace bustier.

Jim said, "We showed it to Victoria's Secret and they loved it."

Heather added, "It's a wonderful idea. Wish I'd thought of it."

"You would have, Heather, if you ever wore clothes," Iris replied, hugging her. "Men love the look of lingerie, and making it virtual..."

"We got a call from Frederick's of Hollywood." Jim said. "They really want this line. Iris says she can do a line specially for them, so we don't get Victoria's Secret all upset."

"Funny thing, though." Iris said to Heather, "Frederick's wants crotch pieces for the panties. Wants to offer them either covered or crotchless."

"You tell Anne that?"

"Yeah, She laughed."

"You going to put those shorter stockings into our VeeSes line?"

"Already under way. Seems not every woman wants VeeSes that go to the hip; lots of people cut them off. Only one thing missing, though."

"What?" Heather asked.

"The feel. Guys tell me VeeSes just don't feel like nylons. I tell them, 'There's no free lunch'."

"Yes," Saul said, "it's been a wild few months. We really didn't count on the response we got. We were ready with the designs, the production was in place, and we had most of the merchandising stuff done — racks and all — but we kind of blew the logistics."

"What have you done about it?" Harry asked.

"Worked like hell. Leaned on everyone we know. Used FedEx like it was a local delivery company. We're still behind, but we did pretty well in the Christmas business. And, Jim says it will build from here on, as long as people like the idea of virtual clothes."

"So, what's next?"

"You won't believe this one, Dad. I got a call Wednesday from Milt Wallinsky at L'Eggs..."

"Dinner's ready," Judith called.

"Tell me later."

"Will," Pat said, "you're getting quite a reputation for your horses."

"Thanks, I've been doing a lot of them. I'm really planning on not doing as many in the next few months."

"You burning out?" Dean asked.

"No, Dad. I just want to take more time with them. I've been almost cranking them out, and I don't want to get to the point where I can't look at another horse... No, I'm going to spend more time riding, working with Ken and Mary. Dan brought in some real young ones; they're cute as hell. I'd like to do some pictures of them... And, I want to do more nudes, more of the sexy stuff."

"You do like that, don't you?"

"Mom, I like drawing sex almost as much as doing it. And horses just don't give me a hard-on, if you don't mind the way I put that."

"I know exactly what you mean, Will. And I don't blame you a bit. There's one of those I'm rather fond of myself."

"Let me know if you..."

"Now, cut that out, Will Spector."

"Yes, Mother."

It was winter, of course, though not severely cold. Since no one was concerned about the shape or coverage of their tan, most of the time the women wore some form of virtual dress. Sally, Josh and Heather, of course, imitated kaleidoscopes the entire weekend, and Iris' virtual lingerie was very popular, especially on the Big Bed. The sauna and hot tub ran continuously, and the swimming pool was frequently in use.

Mary said to Lucy, "I just can't get over how it looks, all these fully dressed people in the sauna, the hot tub and in the pool. Silliest thing I ever saw."

"Not to mention the Big Bed, Mary. I always thought you took your clothes off to make love. Looks like things are going the other direction. You just get dressed and some guy wants to screw you."

"Considering what you've been wearing, Mom, that's what you want."

"Damn right."

"Aunt Bessie, how do you like our home?"

"Mary, both of your houses are wild. This place is fantastic and that place that Ken built is... well, I'd say it's some horny guy's fantasy."