Chapter 40

The next week was a hectic time for everyone. Megan and Amy were busy making the final preparations for the wedding. They had decided on a simple outdoor ceremony, with a few friends present ... very few. We didn't have a lot of friends outside of our close knit family. Most of the ones we had, we didn't want them to know I was marrying two women, one of them being my fifteen year old daughter. The girls were inviting some friends they knew from school when they attended on a regular basis, and could trust. I wasn't comfortable with that, but they were insistent that they could be trusted. My Father promised to keep an eye on the situation. It was the first I knew that others outside of our family were aware about our relationships. I wasn't surprised that it was the girls who had attended Amy's birthday party in the last cycle, and their mothers.

We were debating about having a second, private ceremony for me to marry Amy. That would solve the problem of secrecy. Amy had yet to tell us what she thought of that idea; she was still thinking about it. I certainly didn't want her to feel like she was a second class citizen or an inferior wife. We had waited a long time for this and so I wanted the occasion to be special for her.

One of the most important jobs fell to me - deciding who would marry us. It had to be someone that knew of my relationship with Amy, both as my daughter and as my future wife. That would imply that they approved of the relationships, or at least could live with the fact. All of that would be easiest if it was someone who knew who and what we really were. All of those prerequisites meant someone we trusted to keep their mouth shut. Finally, it had to be someone that could legally marry Megan and me. After a little research on the internet, the choice came down to one person.

In the meantime, I was kept busy ... especially at night. Amy and Megan were sticking to their decision to not have sex with me until after the wedding. Both were avoiding sleeping with me as well. Amy tearfully assured me she loved me more than ever but she didn't trust herself in bed with me at night. She was afraid she would lose herself in a moment of weakness and fuck my brains out (her words). They were also insistent on the fact that I would not sleep alone during this time.

To accomplish that, I had at least one, often two girls with me every night, besides Julie. The night Katie and Becky joined me in my bed, I thought it would be my last night alive. Those two wrung me out and hung me out to dry. They were very special girls and they knew how to use their bodies better than anyone I knew. I wasn't sure how they accomplished that perfect mixture of innocent girl next door and cheerleader-slut, but they were extremely gifted at it. It was especially hot coming from seemingly innocent little Becky. If I didn't have too many girls already, I could be happy spending my life getting fucked to death by them. It would be a short but happy life.

Victoria visited me alone, with only Julie present. I will never forget the night we spent together. Both Julie and Victoria had a knack of blending with me during our lovemaking, making it as if we were one person. Feeling it happen with both of them at once was special ... and faintly alarming.

The other girls visited me at night as well, usually in the company of their twins. There was even one night that Lisa and Lori slept with me. It goes without saying that sleep was all that went on that night. Well, that and some snuggling and cuddling. It was all very innocent. Lori had experienced her kiss from me and that seemed to be all she needed ... for now. The 'for now' part worried me. Lisa didn't try to collect her own version of the kiss; she knew I thought it was a big mistake with Lori and she didn't want to make me feel even more guilty.

Julie made herself scarce when Lisa and Lori were with me, as she felt she might be a bad influence on them. The two seven year olds were disappointed that she didn't stay. They were hoping she would be a bad influence on them.

Julie was a constant companion to me during that week, except for the night when Lisa and Lori were with me. She made sure she was there when Kim and Heather were with me, as well as the night Valerie and Christina stayed with me. I don't think she completely trusted them. Of course, she was there when her twin, Sammi, spent the night.

Julie did her best to keep me awake as long as possible every night, making love time and again. She never seemed happier than she was during this time, although there was still an undercurrent of sadness in her eyes. I was falling head over heels in love with her and there was nothing I could do about it, nor did I wish to do anything about it. I thought back to the last cycle and realized I had been in love with Julie for a long time. I didn't know what I was going to do about that. Victoria had no problems with it in the last cycle, but I didn't know what Amy and Megan were going to say.

As soon as I realized what was happening, I found Amy and Megan and told them I needed to talk to them. They took one look at my face and ushered me and Julie into the bedroom, shutting the door in the faces of the nosy teenagers that tried to follow us. They sat both of us on the bed and took seats in the chairs they pulled up next to us.

"For heaven's sake, Patrick, what's wrong? You look like you just shot your Mother!" Megan exclaimed. Amy reached out and held my hand in both of hers.

"It's ok, Daddy. Whatever it is, it'll be ok. Tell us."

"You don't know already?' I asked, stalling for time. God, I loved these two; I didn't want to hurt them.

Amy and Megan looked at each other. More data passed between them in milliseconds than was in all the mainframes of the lunar space shots. Sanskrit again. I had to learn that language. Where the hell had Amy learned it?

"We've deliberately refrained from snooping about this. It'll do you good to talk about it," said Megan softly. "So do yourself some good - talk about it."

I gulped and sighed. Julie put her arm around me and laid her head on my shoulder. I kissed the top of her head. She smiled through her tears.

"I love you, Patrick," she whispered in my ear. "No matter what happens, I love you." I saw a faint smile pass between Amy and Megan.

"Amy, Megan ... I ... I love Julie. I feel like I've betrayed you two. I'm sorry," I said miserably.

"I'm sorry, Mom. I didn't mean for it to happen. I know I threatened to take him away from you, but I didn't really mean it. I promise I won't. I'll leave and find somewhere else to live. I'm sorry," she sobbed.

"Of course you love her, Patrick. Julie, honey, you're not going anywhere. You're my daughter and the thought of living without you is not one I want to contemplate," Megan said soothingly.

They didn't understand.

"You don't understand. I'm in love with Julie. I don't want to be away from her. I want to spend the rest of my life with her. I don't know what to do about that."

Julie kissed me on the cheek, smiled at me through her tears, then lay her head back on my shoulder.

"Me too," she whispered. "My 'not getting involved' programming kinda sucks the big one. I don't know who the jackass is that wrote that program, but they should be shot."

Megan and Amy laughed at her statement, knowing that Julie wrote that program herself. They turned to face each other, big smiles on their faces. They raised their right hands and slapped them together in congratulations.

"YES!" they shouted together.

"I told you it'd work!" Amy crowed. They turned back to me, silly grins on their faces.

I was confused.

"You're happy I'm in love with someone else?"

"We're happy you're in love with Julie. We didn't think you two idiots would ever figure it out," Amy said affectionately, smiling to rob her words of any offense. "Why do you think we made sure you two spent the last week together?"

"You set us up?" Julie asked in disbelief.

"Not exactly. Everyone really did think you needed to spend this time with him, considering what you think is going to happen." A look of sadness crossed Julie's face. "We simply recognized it as the perfect opportunity to let you spend the necessary time together to get it through even your thick skulls what you felt for each other. We couldn't be more delighted, although it has been a little frustrating, watching you two dance around the obvious. There were times I had to restrain Amy from backing you guys into a corner, beating the hell out of you to get your attention, and explaining the facts of Cornazan life to you," Megan laughed.

"But..."

"Daddy, do you still love me, still want to marry me? Make me yours? Spend your whole life with me?" Amy asked. I looked into her eyes and saw total assurance in them that my answer would be yes.

"Of course I do, sweetheart," I said sincerely. She nodded as my love washed over her. She gasped and closed her eyes briefly, trembling all over. I was sure she'd just had a small orgasm.

"Patrick, do you still love me? Do you still want to marry me and spend the rest of your life with Amy and me?" Megan asked. I saw the same calm assurance of my answer in her eyes.

"Yes," I said simply. I didn't need long, flowery answers for Megan; she knew how I felt.

"Then explain to me again what the problem is. I'm not as smart as you are; I'm just a dumb teenager and I'm having a hard time understanding what the problem is here," Amy said, giggling. Megan laughed at me.

"Um ... I'm not sure, if you put it that way. I guess I never planned on two wives and I certainly didn't plan on having three wives."

"Patrick, I don't intend to marry you," Julie said, giving me a hug and kiss to soften her words.

"What?" Megan and Amy said together. It was comical to watch their faces fall as their plans came apart.

"I really appreciate your efforts, but he's yours, not mine. Besides, even if I was thinking that way, I wouldn't marry him. I can't see marrying a man that is going to hate me. That would make it so messy."

"Julie, I am not going to hate you!" I said, exasperated.

Julie kissed me gently.

"Yes you will. Don't worry about it. You love me now, let's just focus on that."

"What could possibly happen that would make me hate you?"

"I've done some bad things, and will do more bad things, things you couldn't possibly forgive me for. You have no idea who or what I am. I ... wish it could be different, but I am what I am."

"So tell me now. Why wait until later for me to hate you? Tell me all about it now," I said.

"I can't. It has to come out when the time is right. Besides, I'm not going to give up the time I have left with you." Julie gave Megan and Amy a guilty look. "I appreciate the time you've given me. Can I have a little more?" The desperate look on her face broke all our hearts.

"We weren't kidding when we said he was yours until the wedding. Enjoy the time together," Amy said.

"You guys could join us," Julie suggested.

"Um ... no, we can't," Megan stammered.

"Mom, what's going on? What did you two do?"

"Nothing bad, honey. We just decided we wanted to refrain from sex with him until after the wedding. We can't sleep with you two because neither of us trusts ourselves enough to stick with our decision around him. It works out great for you; enjoy it."

"Why are you doing that?"

"We just ... are. It's important," Megan insisted.

"Mom, you went without sex for fourteen years while waiting for Patrick. Amy, you went without sex once for almost fourteen hours. I remember it well because I didn't think any of us would survive it. Look up 'bitchy' in the dictionary and it refers you to 'Amy refraining from sex', complete with pictures. Are you two sure you can do it?" Julie asked, her concerned 'mom' voice at full throttle.

Amy rolled her eyes at Julie. "We'll find out," she muttered. Megan smiled at her daughter and patted her on the head. Julie looked embarrassed. She knew that was her mother's sign that she was irritated with her.

"You could stay with us tonight. I can keep Patrick busy enough that he won't be a temptation for you," Julie smirked.

Amy blushed.

"I think watching you two in heat would make it worse," Megan answered. Amy shot her a grateful smile. She really didn't want to watch Julie and me together.

"Ok, but anytime you want him, just let me know. He's yours, after all. I'm just borrowing him."

"He's yours too, honey," Megan said quietly. Amy nodded, smiling weakly at her sister.

"We'll argue about that later," Julie said, ending the discussion. "Meanwhile, I'll do him once for you guys too."

"Only once?" Amy whined. She was flushed, but this time it wasn't embarrassment. Amy was horny!

"We'll see how it goes. He might not last more than once!" Julie giggled. Now I was flushed.

"Really?" said Amy. "You'll have to teach me that.".

Being mind readers, Amy and Megan are nothing if not empathetic. They quickly picked up that Julie wanted to go to bed. I picked up on it too, but it was more because of her fingers sliding softly up and down my leg. Megan smirked, Amy giggled, and they left the room. Julie didn't quite drag me into the bedroom, but the difference was a matter of semantics. Katie's musical giggle followed us into the bedroom.

I did last more than once that night with Julie, but it was close.

Geez, will it ever get easier, getting the girls out of bed? I would have thought they'd sleep less as they got older. After all, they were fifteen now; that's a whole year older.

I was very unsuccessful in trying to get Julie up the next morning. I finally gave up and proceeded to lick her all over until she sleepily opened her eyes. I picked that time to lick her in a very special spot. She squeaked and closed her eyes again, trembling all over.

What the hell, she wasn't going to get up anyway. I licked her until she passed out, then left her to take a shower. When I went back through the bedroom, she was sound asleep. I went in search of breakfast.

Amy and Megan were already eating. I guess there were some useful aspects of no sex; neither of them had been up before noon in years, if ever.

'Very funny, asshole!' they chimed together in my mind. 'You do want to have sex again after we're married, right?' Amy threatened. I laughed, grabbed both their toasted and buttered English muffins and headed out the door.

I had important work to do; I had to arrange for someone to marry us. I said there was only one choice, so I was soon knocking on the front door of a large house.

"Patrick. What a nice surprise. What have you and those crazy teenagers of yours done to disrupt the serenity of my peaceful town this time?" Chief John Haskin said with a smile. I saw a nervous edge to that smile.

"Not a thing; they've been behaving ... Well, as much as teenagers ever behave. At least they haven't done anything illegal lately," I chuckled.

"Come in. What's on your mind?" he asked. "I was about to give you a call anyway."

I didn't have a chance to answer before a blond streak raced across the room and leapt into my arms. That's a game the girls have played for years, so I caught the ballistic object before it hit the ground. I started to laugh, then realized that something wasn't right.

"Michelle?" I looked at John, a question in my eyes. He shrugged, the pain apparent in his eyes.

Michelle looked wild. Her hair was tangled; her teary eyes were filled with fear as she desperately held on to me. I heard sobs as she trembled in my arms.

"She's been that way for several days. She won't talk to us; she even avoids her sister Kaitlin like the plague. They've always been close. You're the first person she's shown any interest in for days."

I carried her to the couch and sat down, holding her in my lap. She held on tight and whimpered.

"Michelle? What's wrong? Talk to me, honey," I whispered.

She wrapped her arms around me and kissed me. I tried to pull away but she held on frantically and kissed me even harder. I glanced at John, half expecting him to be pointing a gun at me for molesting his daughter in front of him. Yeah, it was that type of kiss.

"It's ok," he mouthed. I think he was just glad to see her respond to something. I hugged her and gently pulled my mouth away from hers.

"What is it, Michelle?" I asked again.

She sobbed again, then made a visible effort to pull herself together.

"Where's Amy? Is she alright? Oh God, please tell me she's ok!" she cried.

"What's wrong, honey? Amy's fine."

"She's not fine!" she yelled. "It must not have happened yet," she whispered to herself.

I hadn't considered my response yet when the room flashed with light. Amy, Megan, Cindi, Becky, Katie and Lisa appeared in the room. Immediately there were colored shields everywhere as six sets of eyes probed the room, looking for anything that might be dangerous. In a millisecond, they realized there was nothing threatening. Six guns disappeared before I was sure I'd seen them. I knew Michelle hadn't noticed. Nothing ever escaped John's attention.

"Amy! Oh God, Amy, you're ok!" Michelle screamed and launched herself across the room into my daughter's arms. She buried her head in Amy's chest as the dark-haired girl tried to comfort her. She looked at me, trying to figure out what was going on.

Michelle had met Amy only once, the time she and John had come to the office after Michelle had 'reappeared'. Michelle had died when Amy was a baby. I was trying to remember if Amy had even been born yet when Michelle died. She was acting as if Amy was one of her dearest friends.

Becky tilted her head, staring at Michelle. Her eyes opened wide in shock before she hugged John's daughter. I saw the confusion and concern in Becky's eyes

"What is it, Michelle? I'm fine. What's wrong?"

"Be careful. Don't go anywhere without your twin. They're coming to get you, Amy! They're coming to get you!" Her voice rose to hysteria with the last sentence.

"Becky? What's going on? John, maybe you should leave the room; we'll take care of Michelle," I suggested.

"Your ass. I'm not going anywhere," he said firmly.

"Becky, talk to me," I ordered. "What's going on?"

"I'm not sure. I'm getting some strange readings from her mind. She's obviously human, but..." she shrugged helplessly.

"She knows what's going to happen to Amy," Cindi whispered, her eyes huge in her pale face.

"She can't! Humans can't tell the future!" Becky protested.

Amy tilted her head, then held the terrified girl close.

"This one can," she murmured.

"Who's coming to get her, Michelle?" Megan asked gently.

"I ... I'm not sure. Someone named ... Castanata ... seems to be the closest I can come to the name. I can't pronounce it correctly ... it's a funny language. She's ... like ... a queen or something. She leads a fleet of weird ships from ... another world? She ... she's not human, is she? She's evil!" She trembled as she stopped speaking.

We looked at each other in shock. She could only be talking about the Empress. She pronounced the name pretty well. There was no way any human could know that name, much less be aware of her royal lineage and her position as leader of a fleet.

"How do you know this, honey?" Megan asked. The girls seemed happy to let Mommy lead on this one.

"I ... it's ... there's been something there ever since I ... came back. It's been growing stronger every day. I ... know things I shouldn't know. I see things that terrify me." She looked at Amy, tears in her eyes, her face etched in sadness. "They won't kill you. Oh God, Amy, they won't kill you! That BITCH!" Michelle screamed the last word, broke free of Amy and a lamp slammed against the far wall, shattering in a hundred pieces.

Silence reigned in the room. No one was within five feet of where the lamp had been. Megan wrapped her arms around the crying girl and cuddled her.

"I don't understand! What did Victoria do to me? I was dead and she somehow ... she brought me ... I'm not crazy, am I? I can see in your eyes, you know what I'm referring to about Amy. What's wrong with me?" she sobbed.

Lisa had enough. With tears in her eyes, she stepped forward and cradled Michelle's head in her hands. She said a few words in a language I was shocked to hear come from her mouth, a language I hadn't heard in eons. Michelle's head dropped and she was out like a light. I laid her on the couch.

"What did you do to her?" John asked as he moved across the room towards his daughter.

"I put her to sleep. If I did it right, she won't remember any of this, including what's upsetting her about Amy. If I did it right ... I'm not exactly an expert at manipulating human minds. I don't know anything about manipulating ... her mind," Becky explained.

"You guys really aren't human, are you?" he asked in amazement. I ignored him. We'd talked about this before; I guess the realization of what I'd said was just now sinking in.

Moments later, Michelle suddenly sat up, disoriented.

"What happened? Where am I?" she asked groggily.

"You passed out, sweetie. Your Dad said it's happened a few times lately," I told her, holding her hand. We held our breath, waiting to see if she remembered anything.

"Oh. I'm sorry," she whispered, holding her hand over her eyes and looking embarrassed. "I guess I stayed up too late last night and I didn't have breakfast. I'm sorry," she repeated.

Her eyes were clear, with no sign of pain, fear or confusion. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"Well, now that my darling daughter is finished providing us with excitement, what can we do for you, Patrick?" I was amazed at how calmly John spoke, as if nothing had happened. He was an amazing actor.

"I just came by to ask you to officiate at a wedding this weekend," I said casually.

Michelle squealed and clapped her hands.

"A wedding! Cool! It's about time!"

John was more calm in his reaction.

"Patrick, I'm not a minister. I'm not sure I can do that."

"You can," I assured him. "I checked the state laws and as the chief of police of a city, you are empowered to marry people. It's an old law no doubt left over from earlier years and probably long forgotten by most people, but it's still legal."

"Ok, but why me? I'm honored, but it's a little irregular. I have a feeling there's something you aren't telling me."

"We might want to discuss it more privately," I cautioned, glancing at his daughter.

Michelle snorted.

"Give me a break. I'm not an idiot. I know more than you think I do. I already know who's getting married. In fact, I know both reasons why you want Daddy to be the one to marry you."

"How would you know that?"

"Come on, Uncle Patrick. A blind person could tell who you're marrying, and I'm neither blind nor stupid. I don't know how I know, but I know," Michelle said.

One of these days I was going to learn not to underestimate teenagers.

"Ok, Little Miss Smarty-Pants, tell us what you think you know."

"Well, first of all, you're marrying Megan. That's no big deal; you don't need Daddy to do that. It's the rest of it you're nervous about."

"And what's that, honey?" John asked. He was curious now. I was already beginning to see I'd underestimated her, but he had to know and maybe it was better coming from her.

"He wants you to do it, Daddy, because he's marrying two people. The other one is a fifteen year old girl," Michelle declared, then giggled.

John's eyes opened wide. I could tell by his look that he thought he knew what was coming, but he played along with his daughter. He was interested in anything that made her act normal again.

"That certainly narrows it down; he knows a ton of those," he said sarcastically. "Which one?"

"That's the other reason; she's also his daughter. Congratulations, Amy!" Michelle squealed as she hugged her.

"Is that all?" I asked.

"Nope!" Michelle giggled. Then she turned serious. "You guys aren't completely ... human," she whispered. "The bodies are, but your minds are amazing and you have these pretty colors. I like it!"

So much for our secrets.

"You know you can't tell anyone about this, right, Michelle?" her Dad said.

She rolled her eyes. Maybe she was Amy's sister. Make that Katie's sister; Michelle was a little better at it than Amy.

"Geez, Dad, like, I'm not stupid, Dude, ok?" She looked at us with wonder. "I didn't know you could marry your own teenage daughter. Can ... can I do that too?" She bit her lip, a hopeful, begging look in her eyes.

She said that at the worst possible time. John had just taken a mouthful of water; he spit it all over the room as he started coughing. The look of panic in his eyes was priceless. Cindi and Amy giggled. As much as John harassed them through the years, they enjoyed watching him getting it back.

"Would you like that, Precious?" I asked. She nodded.

John had recovered slightly. At least he could breathe again.

"Michelle! We can't do that. We're human; they're not. Besides, what would your Mother say?"

I could've told him that was a losing argument, but he didn't ask me.

"I told Mom years ago I was going to marry you. She laughed and said 'good luck', that you were such a prude you'd never do it. She promised to help me, though," Michelle said proudly. She looked thoughtful. "Besides, I'm not so sure I'm totally human any more," she whispered.

John glared at me.

"I'll officiate at your wedding, Patrick. Now get out of here and take your crew with you. I need to see what I can do about undoing the bad influence you've had on my formerly sweet and innocent daughter. Out, all of you!"

My girls smiled sweetly and disappeared the same way they arrived. John and Michelle gazed at where they'd been with amazement. Michelle giggled, kissed her Daddy on the cheek and jumped into his arms. The last glimpse I had of Chief Haskin as I went out the door was a shocked, panicky look on his face as he tried to figure out how to hold his daughter without touching any 'bad' spots. Michelle was not cooperating in the least.

I arrived home to find all the girls in various stages of rolling on the floor, overcome with laughter.

"Damn!" Amy exclaimed suddenly. "I forgot to ask Michelle to be one of my bridesmaids. Maybe I should go back." Her eyes twinkled with mirth.

"Later, dear. Now would not be a good time."

Finally, the wedding day arrived! All the girls were ecstatic; I was a nervous wreck, of course. Aren't men always a wreck at their weddings? I was marrying the love of my life - both of them. I was pretty confident about Megan; we had loved each other for a very long time. We'd always known we would be married.

Amy was a different story. She and I had loved each other for a long time also. She had always known we would be married. I still had a hard time accepting that this stunningly beautiful teenage girl actually wanted to marry a man old enough to be her father. Ahem ... right. I accepted it, but I still had butterflies in my stomach. What if, someday...

'Knock it off, dope. I'm here because I want to be, because I love you more than I ever thought possible. You don't have to understand it ... just accept it, ' the aforementioned nosy teenager told me.

'Yes, My Lady, ' I humbly answered.

'And don't you forget that answer. I expect to hear it a lot from you!' Giggle.

What had I gotten myself into? Life long bliss, I decided.

'Good answer. Nice save.'

I don't remember that much about the wedding {Men! What are we gonna do with them? Besides that! J.}. I remember that Amy and Megan were absolutely gorgeous in the most beautiful dresses I'd ever seen, Amy in green and Megan in purple. Go figure. I couldn't even count the number of bridesmaids they had. Every one of my girls was involved in some way.

Lisa and Lori were simply breathtaking. We had no young boys, so they were the ring bearers, and they carried Jenna and Kara, who were the flower girls. The babies actually refrained from eating the flowers on the way to the altar. Well, ok, they didn't eat all of them before they got to the altar. If was so sweet and touching, I don't think there was a dry eye in the place.

Elizabeth and Mom were the mothers of the brides. Elizabeth couldn't stay long, but she made it for the ceremony and made a brief appearance at the reception. She left before anyone could decide for sure that she looked familiar and ask what a dead woman was doing at the wedding.

Larelle was one of the bridesmaids. She left with Elizabeth; she had to get back to her own plane. I pulled her aside before she left for a very nice goodbye kiss. I asked her if she was pregnant. She smiled at me, kissed me again, and walked off without answering my question.

Amy and Megan did have Michelle as one of her bridesmaids. Since we were short on males, her Dad, John Haskin, was her escort. She was in heaven. She pulled rank several times during the reception, reminding her 'escort' that it was customary that he spend all his time with her and dance with her exclusively. She didn't miss a single slow dance. It was so cute, watching the two of them dancing so close together you couldn't have slipped a playing card between them. I deliberately refrained from listening in on their constant whispering together. Michelle did sneak a couple of kisses when she thought no one was watching. They weren't scandalous, but they weren't exactly daughter-like either. John didn't fight very hard.