Chapter 26 : Thursday Morning

"Wake Up Little Suzie"

Luis

Earthquake? Damn, the world is shaking. Maybe Mt. Vesuvius and Mt. Etna are erupting at the same time. Shit! The lava flows will be on me in few seconds!

Then it stopped.

False alarm.

Maybe I'll just stretch these sore muscles of mine. I might be loose by game time.

There's a tightness on my chest. Not in it. My legs won't move forward...

Yet, there is this wonderful, soft ball I'm wrapped around, snuggled into my chest. It felt so good. Junior was perfectly fitted into this soft, warm, and moist crevice. My hand wrapped around something that felt so much like a massive tit.

With a hard nipple.

The quaking started again.

It will go away. It had to. My alarm hasn't gone off, had it? This wondrous feeling on my chest, in my hand, and around my penis was way too nice a dream to let go of.

The shaking, it had a voice.

That voice sounded a lot like my sister.

What's she doing in my dreams?

Am I getting pervy?

I let out a good, long sigh. It will go away. Let me cuddle into this warm, incredible thing in front of me.

SHIT!

The world still shakes.

And talks.

Nope. The voice is beginning to be rude.

And the shaking now pinches.

"Luis! Wake Up!" It hissed into my ear.

Damn, that hurts. The thing in my dream was twisting my poor, abused ears.

"You're late for your run! Jason's outside!"

That really did sound like Margie. The words sounded real. What is this delightful feeling in front of me?

Oh.

OH!

BECCA!

"Get up. Now!"

"Shit, girl. Give me a break," I hissed at my little sister.

"Good, you're alive. Don't wake her. Get up, go on your run. We'll have breakfast for you and Jason when you get back."

"Ugh!"

"Move, brother mine. Or..." I do wish she'd stop that pinching on my earlobes. The helmets do enough damage.

"Okay, okay! OKAY! Give me a friggin' minute to unravel. Okay?"

"Just get moving."

"I know now why you get so much done. Brutal you are."

She gave me a quick kiss on the lips. "Thanks, brother mine. Love you too."

My sister, the new sexpot of the young century and current bane of my existence, vanished. Now, how to untangle myself? I'm wrapped around the sweetest, most wonderful creature on Earth...

Wait.

We just slept together.

All night!

WOW!

Okay, back to the mundane. Like emptying my bladder. How do I get up? Thankfully, T'ai Ch'i helps. This arm comes off, slowly. Let me pull the covers over her top. This arm ... Slowly, slowly, slowly let me pull it out from under her neck. Done. Let me push the blankets around her as I move away. Carefully! Delicately. Slowly.

I'm standing. And looking down on that marvel in my bed. That incredible person. So loving. So giving. So ... Perfect.

Talk about indecision. A huge part of me, including Himself, wants to crawl back into bed to snuggle, wake up together, and see what develops. A small part of my rational, responsible mind said running.

Damn the responsible part for winning. Now, do I leave a note? I noticed the flowers around the room for the first time. I took a single orchid and placed it on my pillow. Quickly, I wrote a note expressing my love.

Throwing on my socks and shoes, I headed out, figuring I can do my stretches and warm-ups after apologizing to Jason. In a fast walk I head up the driveway to find Jason doing his own stretching.

I realized I'd left my music player. Oh well. Won't need it while running with Jason.

"Morning," he said with a flat voice.

"Morning, Jason."

"So?"

"So ... what?"

"My sister."

"She's sleeping. She crashed shortly after dinner. I think the week caught up to her."

"Is she okay?"

"She's fine, other than being tired. I'm sure they'll have her up and around by breakfast. Why don't you join us."

"I will. Remember what I said before."

Damn! I held in a huge sigh. It was just easier to start my stretches and warm ups.

We finished our stretching and took off at an easy warm up lope. Jason never looked over at me and stayed quiet. I took the coward's way out and stayed that way myself. What a day to leave my music behind. About halfway through our run, our pace having picked up to a solid six minute mile, he started running ahead and zooming back. Taunting me like before, but without the verbiage.

I let him do that a couple of dozen times, then tackled him onto the grass.

"She's fine, dude. We ended up just sleeping last night, okay?"

"Seriously?"

"Yes."

"I ... I..."

"Look, Jason, I understand your concern. To a point. Okay?"

"But..."

"Yes, you're her brother. And, if I ever hurt her, I'll stand there and let you pummel me. Other than that, what we do—or don't do—is none of your business. Okay?"

"Yeah. I guess."

"You'd better do more than guess. I plan on being in her life for a very long time. And, you and I need to be cool. Plus, we need to be right for tomorrow night."

I stood and helped him up. He looked at me, the tension draining. "You know, I don't think I'd want Cherie's brothers to act the way I started to."

He offered his hand. I smiled at his growing smile. Shook his hand and pulled him into a hug. We broke and I could feel a bond growing between us.

"Come on, I need to get our newest receiver into shape for tomorrow."

"And I need to teach a mountain how to move."

Laughing, we set off and finished our run at a solid, breath sucking pace. At least it was breath sucking for me. He seemed to have no problem finding the oxygen to taunt and bump and fake me and...

Rebbecca

This boat I'm on is really rocking. Are we in a storm? Will my hunky, hero captain save me? While others would be hard pressed to see My Mountain standing tall, legs spread, behind the wheel of an old sailing ship, I had no problems. All her canvas flying, crew jumping at his commands, and the ship cutting through the waves proudly. Me, with my bodice nearly open, ankle length dress flying, his massive arm around me...

"Becky?" I swear that sounded like Margie, not Luis. What's she doing on our ship? What's she doing in my dream? What's she doing in my bedroom?

Room?

This doesn't feel like my room. There is no smell of paints. As I pry my eyes open to another round of the bed shaking and my name being called, I start to panic. This isn't my bedroom!

"What the—"

"It's okay, Rebbecca. You're in Luis's bedroom."

"Oh. Yes. I-I-I..."

"It's okay, almost sister."

"B-But..." My face started getting wet.

"What's wrong? Did he hurt you?"

"N-No!!" Someone was wailing. And shaking, because they were shaking the bed and me. Margie surrounded me in a big hug.

"Tell me."

"I-I ... I ... fell ... asleep on him!" The wailing was hurting my ears. I wish that person would stop. I couldn't say anything, I was starting to gasp. And cry.

"It's okay." She was stroking my hair and letting me cry on her shoulder. She's naked. Wait. So am I. But, I feel asleep. In the middle of trying to seduce My Mountain. I looked through the tears around the room. Each burnt down candle made me cry harder. Each rose petal produced a gasp. Every flower a reminder of my failure.

I noticed every detail of the room. The soft sheets. The extra pillows. The spread that must be over a hundred years old and a delicate, hand-woven lace. All the love and care that Carmella and my Mom had put into this room. "And ... A-And ... I FELL ASLEEP!"

Margie continued to stroke and comfort me. Whispering calming thoughts into my ear that didn't even register. Just the care and love, which made me cry harder.

"He must hate me!"

"Not from what I saw when I woke him up a while ago."

"W-Where is he?"

"Running with Jason."

"Oh. How did he look?"

"In love. All cuddled up to his sweetie. And when he opened his eyes, his first ... second ... third ... hundredth look was at you. Nothing but love in his eyes. That boy has it bad."

"B-But ... I fell asleep."

"Rebbecca, think about it. Would that upset the guy you've know and fallen in love with?"

"N-No."

"So? You'll have lots of times to seduce him. Which I don't think he really needs you to. Next time, he might be the one seducing you."

"Oh! B-But ... What our mothers did..."

"They did with love. They're not going to judge you."

"H-How'd you get so smart?"

"Where do you think he gets it? Come on, let's get you ready to face the day."

"Well, it's not like I have to dress for it!" That got us both giggling. "Oh, god!"

"What?"

"I need a whole new wardrobe. All my clothes are so..."

"Maybe not a whole new one. Just a few changes. You have a wonderful sense of style."

"Comes with being an artist, I guess."

"Well, a few changes, and we can have you looking sexy as hell."

"You'd help?"

"A chance to go clothes shopping? I am female, after all!" That got us both laughing.

I managed to get out of bed, hit the bathroom, and take care of all those pesky morning details. Showered and feeling more human, I looked in the mirror as I brushed my teeth. "Okay, girl, you fell asleep. Would you have done that if you didn't love and trust him?"

The mirror didn't answer, but my entire being did.

Standing taller, I headed upstairs and into the kitchen. Hugs from both Margie and Carmella settled me.

"Don't worry, Rebbecca. Everything will be fine."

"Thanks, Carmella. I hope so."

"Don't hope. Know." Our future Inspirational Speaker and Queen of the Universe speaks, if she has time after organizing the world. Never mind, she'll just schedule it that way.

They pulled me into breakfast preparations. While it started out feeling weird and awkward, soon I was just one of the girls. The joking, the teasing felt good.

"Do you think Jason will join us for breakfast?"

"I-I don't know. I hope everything is okay between him and Luis."

"Why don't we fix extra for him, just in case. I'm sure with the human vacuum cleaner around, it won't go to waste."

"That boy can eat."

"It's a good thing his football scholarship will cover his food through college. He'd better think about after, though!"

"Or have a famous, wealthy artist for a wife," Margie faux-whispered to her mother.

While they laughed, the word wife rattled around in my head like a pinball. There were bumpers trying to reject the idea and scoring for that side. Bonus points being racked up in favor. I found my internal hands working the flippers. Was I aiming at success or failure? Then the ball was flung onto the upper platform ringing bells, flashing lights, twirling gates, and spinning the score in favor so hard, I couldn't see the millions digits because they were changing so fast.

"Rebbecca? Are you alright?" Carmella asked. Margie looked concerned as well.

"I'm more than alright. Let's get that Mountain of mine fed!"

"We need to watch. If Luis brings Jason, he won't do his other routines. They will probably just shower and come up. If he's alone, we have at least 40 minutes."