Chapter 30

As they walked back to the motel Pat filled the young man in on what to expect as they traveled to where they were going to put down roots. He explained what he felt they would experience when all of the power went off and the food had to be grown by the group.

Just before they came out of the woods Pat turned to the young man, "By the way, what's your name?"

Cal Patch, It's really Calvin but I rarely tell anyone that. I'm a bit of a mongrel. I have some Scotch, Irish, German and, I'm told, a little Cherokee. I guess my ancestors really got around."

"How old are you Cal?" Pauline asked.

"I'm twenty-three. As I said, this is my first job out of college. I took this job because the food was all paid for and we had nice tents and all of the latest camping equipment provided by the government. They were depositing my money right into my account so; all in all it was a pretty good deal for me. I wouldn't have any expenses and the pay was better than most jobs I could get in the private sector. Surprisingly, no one ever came out to check on our progress. It was if they only wanted to spend money and didn't care if the project was successful or not."

"Typical government," Pat snorted.

They crossed the road to the motel. Apparently the girls saw Pat, Pauline and Cal waking toward the motel and everyone poured out of the motel to see the new addition to their group. Cal was soon swamped in a sea of teenagers and each of the girls was shouting questions at him and trying to get closer to him.

Pauline finally pushed her way into the crowd and, after considerable difficulty, convinced the girls to give him some room to breathe. Pauline guided him into the motel to meet Sarah and Anna.

For the next few hours it was hectic with each girl trying to find out all she could about Cal and trying to make sure that the other girls didn't provide too much competition for Cal's affections.

Pauline grinned at the confusion and then turned to Pat, "I think that you had better have a talk with Cal. Explain to him that he'll have to watch himself or he'll cause a war between the girls."

Pat nodded and then Pauline continued, "Anna and I are going to the drug store we saw about a mile down the road. We won't be long."

"Just remember to take your guns," he said as he put his arm around her shoulder, "Better yet, I'd feel much better if you took a rifle and ammunition for each of you along with the pistols."

Pauline kissed him lightly, "What would we do without you to protect us."

Pat pushed toward the front door, "Go! Hurry back because I'm sure that I'm going to need you to keep the girls from smothering Cal."

Pauline got a sky smile on her face, "Is that all you need me for?"

Pat reached for her to pull her closer but Pauline spun out of his arms and avoided his hands, "See you later, Anna and I won't be too long."

Pat watched her walk away and then went to pull Cal out of the mob of females that surrounded him. It took several minutes before he was able to convince the girls to let him talk to Cal alone. None of the girls were too happy to let Cal go. Pat knew that Cal's age, since his age was closer to the girl's age, accounted for his popularity with the girls.

Pat got Cal into a private room and began to discuss what the adults had all discussed about the continuation of the human race. He explained that, even though there were now two males plus Sarah's baby, the gene pool would still be too small and that sperm from fertility clinics would have to be used to ensure a larger gene pool. Cal agreed that they would have to be careful if the human race was to survive. When the conversation ended Pat was amazed at the maturity of the young man.

As they began to leave the room Cal turned to Pat, "Uh, that woman that I met downstairs, uh Sarah, Is she ... I mean are you and she..."

Pat laughed loudly and slapped Cal on the back, "No, there's nothing going on between us and I think that it would be great for her to have a man's shoulder to lay her head on."

When they went downstairs they looked out at the pool area and saw that many of the girls were enjoying the pool. As before many of them were swimming nude.

Cal looked at the girls, "God, this is going to be hard."

About a half an hour later Pauline and Anna returned from their trip to the drug store. Both women were smiling. They put heir heads together and whispered to each other and then walked up to Pat and Cal.

Pat could Anna and I talk to you privately. "Sorry Cal but I need to talk to Pat alone."

"Go right ahead," Cal said.

Pauline took Pat's hand and they began to walk out of the motel. Both women were quiet until they were several hundred feet from the motel.

"Okay what's all since about?" Pat asked.

Both women looked at each other for a few seconds and they both turned and grinned at Pat, "You're going to be a father ... twice. We're both pregnant."

Pat stood there in shock, "But I, is this what you want? Anna I didn't mean to force this on you."

Anna rushed into his arms and hugged him, "Shut up! This is the best thing that ever happened to me. I had given up all hope of ever having children of my own. I hope that this is my first child and I hope that you'd be the father of at least one more."

Pat pulled Pauline into his arms and hugged both of the women at once. All three of them stood together and cried tears of happiness for a long time.

When Pat could finally pull himself together he asked, "Does Sarah know?"

Pauline answered for the two of them, "We thought that we should tell the father first. We'll tell her when we get inside."