Chapter 9

Okay, maybe shocked was a bit over the top ... but I sure as hell wasn’t ready for what happened next.

“Nate, we’ve been talking” said Jane.

Next to the words ‘Honey, I think I might be late... ‘, nothing strikes more fear in the hearts of men than some version of the phrase ‘we need to talk’ ... Having the four women in my life all nod in agreement, indicating that they had already ‘talked’, and I was about to get it, and not in a good way, gave me a sinking feeling ... and speaking of sinking, I was wondering if I could just slip beneath the surface of the tub and make it all go away.

Beth must have caught onto my feelings, she was always the empathetic one, and said, “Don’t worry, sweetie, it’s all good ... at least it will be if you’re a good boy.”

“Yes, Nate ... you be a good boy and just lay there and take it like a man!” said, Jane with a smile. Monica couldn’t keep a straight face and started to giggle. “Anyway,” and Jane frowned a bit to bring things back into control. “You, oh man of our hearts, did two things today that were guaranteed to bring down our wrath upon you. Might I add that the four of us have talked, and we’ve all agreed that we all love you. Some of us for different reasons than others, but this is neither the time nor the place to go into details. Needless to say, you have four very happy women on your hands. Or at least we will be once we’ve straightened everything out.”

Sensing that I had that deer in the headlights look, Beth took over the course of the conversation. “Well, for one, you went out on a ride either angry or upset. You taught us to treat riding sort of like a marriage, right?” and seeing my nod she continued, “And one of the rules of a good relationship is to not go to bed, or in this case, get on a bike, angry! So, you broke the first rule and endangered yourself. I mean, poor Melody was beside herself when she got the call from Amy. And I have to admit, you scared the crap out of the rest of us too. Nate, you could have been seriously injured, or worse...” Checking to see that I was following, she once again picked up the narrative. “So, you ever do that to us again, and we won’t be quite as understanding, or forgiving.” To prove her point, Beth reached her hand beneath the water and stroked my flaccid penis, which started to become less flaccid almost immediately. “That’s a good boy...” Beth purred and she withdrew her hand. I wasn’t sure if she was speaking to big Nate or little Nate, but it didn’t seem pertinent.

“Anyway!” said Jane in a bit of a huff, and with a stern look at Beth, who had the sense to at least look chastened, “The point is that not only did you break one of your own rules, you also forgot a promise...”. I must have still looked pretty confused because Jane sighed and said, “Weren’t you supposed to pick someone up today, oh say from the hospital, perhaps?”

“Shit!” I gaped for a moment, and then I started to climb out of the tub in a panic, water sloshing about as I tried, unsuccessfully it appeared, to rush out of a bathtub!

“Easy, big fella’”, said Melody with another of her giggles... “It’s all taken care of, so just cool your jets!” I stopped my flailing and tried to take a hold of my emotions and still my breathing. This wasn’t going at all well for me, and I had been feeling so calm just moments before. How could the same women who made me feel so damn good, now with very little effort at all on their part, turn me into a gibbering idiot! Water continued to slosh a bit, but I just sat there and let it wash over me. Maybe, the Gods would smile on me and let me get swamped in my own bathtub? No such luck, it appeared.

“So, anyway, like, err ... well ... aw shit! I knew I wouldn’t be any good at this. It’s still too new for me!” And Monica turned an interesting shade of red, while looking like she would have preferred to be anywhere but here. Melody quickly moved next to her and whispered something into her ear. She rapidly turned an even brighter shade of red, then giggled and nodded before turning to look intently at me and then sighing.

“What Monica so inelegantly tried to say...”, said Melody with a smile for her young friend, “Is that we have someone else here who would like to express their thanks to you. Oh, and we all really need to get going...” And just like that I was left in very rapid fashion alone in the tub in a cloud of confusion and my roiling thoughts.

I had just settled back and begun to try and follow the train of my thoughts when they were once again unexpectedly derailed as the French doors from the house slowly opened to reveal a very timid looking Joy.