Chapter 11

In the normal after assessment meeting with their teams, Katie and Stan got a surprise. "Your assessments were completely satisfactory for residence," Katie's team leader proclaimed. "We do have one demand, though, or you will not be accepted. Your children must not return to your former home, and you will not see them before you leave.

"Mr. Morrison, we understand that you have a work commitment, and we will work that out. Mrs. Morrison, you are to be with your husband and the two of you are to work seriously at restoring intimacy in your marriage. We want you to have no contact with your children for the whole month until Mr. Morrison starts his new job in the city."

"Who will take care of the children?" Katie asked.

"The Masons have agreed to take Kelsie. We think their girls can have a great influence on her. The boys will be in an apartment and Kim will be staying with them. Jake will be close by if he is needed."

"That's ... that's amazing," Katie said.

"But we haven't even found a house," Stan objected, and we have to sell our old one."

"We believe we can work things out so it will not cost you anything. You can fly out to look for a house if you promise not to contact your children. Or, you can find one tomorrow."

"Why do the kids need to stay here?" Stan asked.

"We believe that complete, immediate separation from their old companions is the only hope for your boys. Some extreme things have been done to them today and we believe some strong impressions have been made. Going back to their old ways, even for a day, could erase any progress that was made."

"You said the boys. What about Kelsie?" Katie asked.

"It is our opinion that she can be turned around. We believe you have a good chance for the kind of mother-daughter relationship that I'm sure you long for. She has met some girls that she is impressed with, and those girls all have good relationships with their mothers. Being in those homes is bound to have an effect. That effect will be diminished by another look at her old haunts."

"Then we'll do it," Katie said, the hope evident in her voice.

"There is one other important thing," the team leader said. "As soon as you get back home, we have arranged for you to start martial arts training. When you move here, it will continue."

"We've never had any interest in anything like that," Stan objected. "Why would you want us to do that?"

"One reason is that you both have neglected your physical conditioning. I'm sure the stress of your home situation has contributed to that. The training will help you get in much better shape.

"The most important reason, though, is that both of you need to be able to overpower one of your sons in a physical confrontation."

"What? You mean fight with our boys? You expect Katie to do that?" Stan was very upset.

"Let me explain this carefully," the team leader said. "Your boys have been in gangs for years. Now, these are not urban gangs with colors and such, but they operate on the same basis. That basis is respect. It's the old tribal system, or the herd system in the animal world. It's all about power and respect.

"Because of things you failed to do over the years, your sons have no respect for you at all. The only way to gain some respect may be by physical superiority.

"Now, I'm not suggesting that you purposely pick fights with them, or anything. What will most likely happen is that one of them will defy you. Perhaps they will just try to leave when you have forbidden them. You will use the skills that you have learned to keep them from leaving. You will probably have to put them down on the floor and most likely hurt them. But make know mistake, it will gain you respect."

"I can't imagine ever being able to do something like that," Katie said.

"Believe me. In about two months, you will be ready."

"What if Guy decides to get into martial arts, too?" Stan asked.

"Then your problems with him are over. Good martial arts programs stress respect, honor, and sportsmanship even above physical skills. If he sticks with it, he will be changed."

Seeing Stan shaking his head, the team leader said "Something that you will have to get used to living here is the Foundation telling you that you have no choice. Admittedly, your situation is unique, but you will be signing your contract before you leave. That means that you have ceded ownership of your bodies to the Foundation.

"I believe from what has happened the last two days that you know that we have your best interests at heart. This is a case where you are just going to have do as you are directed and trust that we know best. It would be a shame if at this point you decided that you did not want the Foundation to have that kind of control. Should you decide that, we would have to send you and the children all back and just wish you good luck."

"We don't want that!" Katie said quickly. "We appreciate what everyone has done - really we do."

"We'll take the classes. It's just so different for us," Stan added.

"Just look back at how much of the last two days you have spent naked in front of other people and you will see how different everything is here," the team leader pointed out. "In three months, we will deliver some pictures of how you look naked right now. You will be astonished at how much better you look. By the end of the school year, we believe that you will have a completely different relationship with your daughter and that you sons will at least be out of danger of jail."

"That would be worth any amount of change," Stan said sincerely. "I'm sorry if I seemed skeptical or reluctant."

"Should we drop by your house first?" Cord asked Tallie as they were leaving the club.

"I called my mom and told her I would be out all night."

"She didn't care?"

"I didn't ask her for permission." Cord detected the edge to her voice and held his silence.

Realizing that a hint of bad feelings with her parents could damage their relationship before it even became one, Tallie told him "I'll tell you all about it later tonight, OK?"

At his house, Cord offered her something to eat or drink. When she did not respond, he turned around to see her sliding her panties off. With a grin, he said "I see my snack."

Despite his light-hearted quip, he looked her over seriously. As she quivered with fear of rejection, he walked up to her and wrapped her in a hug. They shared their first serious kiss.

Tallie's long-suppressed passion kicked in and she jammed her hands into his shorts while they still kissed. Without saying a word, she turned and dragged him to the master bedroom. He was briefly concerned about using his mother's bed, but he realized that Ginny would not mind at all. She wanted this for him.

Tallie was taking charge and leaving no doubt about it. In the bedroom, she turned and began almost ripping his clothes off. When he was naked, she grasped his already-hard cock and pulled him toward the bed. Reaching behind herself, she flung the covers away enough to make room for them on the sheet.

"I need to get a condom," Cord panted, catching her frantic need.

"I'm on the pill and clean. You're clean," she insisted. Seeing his questioning look, she said "I asked your mom."

At that point, Cord was pretty sure that he had been set up, but the thought made him happy. If his mother saw some of herself in Tallie, that was all good news for him. Tallie's size did not bother him at all, and he very much wanted a woman with passion like his mother's.

"I owe you at least one come," he told her as she pulled him down atop herself.

"I can come from fucking," she answered. "In me. Please."

Running his hand down between her legs, he could tell that she was ready. He was hard and she wanted him in. That was an easy request to satisfy.

Ginny had indeed seen her own sexual fire in Tallie's eyes. Time and again as their initial union became more and more intense, Cord's mind flashed back to the brief time with his mother. That night, he had been sure that he would never again equal that sexual experience.

Of course, sex between mother and son has to be unique because of all of the shared memories, the shared history, the lifelong shared love, and the genetic connection. Still, Cord could sense so much of the same passion, the same lust, the same tenderness, and the same abandon in Tallie. He knew that he had found a unique woman and all he could think about was that he wanted to keep her.

Tallie could indeed come from fucking and she did just that multiple times over the next hour. When he had come twice and needed to recover, they showered and he used his mouth.

Finally, they were both sated and lying face to face in the bed. He was weary, but his hand could not resist tracing gently all over her body. He could see concern in her face and he kissed her and said "Don't worry. This is no one-night stand. I'm not an idiot. I can never get enough of this."

She had been hurt too many times. "I've had a few other guys," she told him. "I'm sure you could tell I'm not a virgin. They all loved this part, but they would never go anywhere in public with me."

"There's a big dance on campus a week from Saturday. Get out your sexiest dress and be my date." It was exactly the right thing for him to say and she hugged him and shook against him.

"I need to warn you - you're not going to be able to get me on a diet and make me lose weight," she said.

"Did I say anything about that?"

"No, you didn't. You seem to like my body, and that's hard for me to believe. You just need to know that I'm always in some kind of study with the Foundation. They've got stuff that would take some weight off, but I refuse to be artificially smaller. You'll see that I eat very carefully and correctly, but it doesn't matter." She caught herself ready to tell him how she might 'grow out of it', but it was just too soon.

"Look, Tallie. You've met my mom, right?"

"Yeah. I wish I had her body."

"But you're a lot like her in so many ways. Not just in size, either."

"So you're looking for a girl like your mom, huh?"

"Is that a bad thing?" he demanded.

"Not if I'm that girl. Not at all." Still showing her wounds, she asked "Won't you catch a lot of crap from your college friends for dating a fat high school kid?"

"I'm going to give you a free pass on that one, Tallie. Ask my mom what happened the last time she called herself fat in front of me."

The next while was a dreamy time of kissing, cuddling, and petting. He explored her body openly, not avoiding the places with extra flesh. She traced his muscles over and over.

"You said you would tell me what's up between you and your mother," he said at long last.

"Yeah, I did," she said glumly. "I need to be held really close while I do it.

"So, you see, it really is a matter of principle like you hear so often," she summed up after giving him the whole story.

"It must be tough when you can't see a resolution," he commiserated. "I assume you won't be taking me to your house."

"Not unless they agree to dress."

"How hard will that be on your mother?"

"Very, and I feel very bad about that. I do love her and I know she loves me. She has agonized with me over my lack of dates. I never had the guts to tell her that I turned some down because I didn't want them coming to the house."

"Am I going to be a pawn in a power struggle," he asked.

"Would that drive you away?"

"No. If you'll be my girl, my loyalty belongs to you and I'll take your side."

There was an emotional double whammy for Tallie in that statement. First of all was him calling her his girl. That had never happened before. Then, his unhesitating assertion that he was on her side - so many new things happening at once. Again, she was on the verge of telling him the big secret, but she just could not.

She cried. For quite a while. After sniffling her way back to speech capability, she told him "I'm really doing everything I can do drive you away, aren't I?"

"And failing miserably," he retorted.

Back at the Admin Center, Ginny and Rad were cuddling, his hand in its usual place on her ass. "It's funny," she mused aloud. "We were so desperate for some time alone. Now, we've got it, but after everything that happened, it's kind of a..."

"It's like the adrenalin sag after a match," Rad pointed out. "We were so wound up and into helping the Morissons. When it all ended, it's a little disorienting."

"Yeah, and yesterday morning you had the girls here to play with your dick. Now, there's only me." She loved fishing around him.

"A very wise woman reminded me that the girls are going to grow up and leave. As long as I still have you to play with my dick, I'm the luckiest man alive."

One of the most amazing things about Ginny was that she never seemed to accept that Rad was done for, and she was usually right. His words had her needy again and she was determined that he was going to satisfy that need.

As she was working on him, he told her "Did you realize that you have now joined Claire and Emma as one of the 'almost staff' women residents?"

"Huh?"

"Because of the special things those two have done, they get by with things that no other resident could," he explained. "You, my Ginny, are now in that same category."

"Does that mean I get to do a mix day every week like Claire?" she teased.

"Not until you're sixty, like Claire."

"Oh, you'll be tired of me by then, huh?" she pouted.

"Not a chance. I'm just into fair play. I'll want teeny-boppers playing with my dick at least once a week, and it's only fair for you to..." That was as far he got before she tried to suck his tongue out. She had gotten on top of him.

In all of their years of marriage, Perry had never let her lie on top of him for very long. That one special mix night, she had laid on Jack for quite a while and it was a revelation. Now, Rad seemed to love it and her weight did not seem to affect him at all. It was a feeling she could not get enough of. And with his hands constantly playing with her ass...

Cord did as Tallie requested Friday morning and dropped her off a block from home, leaving her plenty of time to get to school. He wanted to take her, but she refused and he did not want to push. He was definitely concerned about the battle between her and her parents, although he had no trouble at all wholeheartedly siding with Tallie.

Tallie had not expected to get in and out of the house without being detected, and she did not. "Tallie, what's going on? Where were you last night?" Pat asked. She had slept very poorly after Tallie's brusque call.

"I spent the night with a guy," was Tallie's answer.

"Who was it? Where did you meet him?" Pat asked.

"Gotta get to school," was all Tallie would say.

Len was already on his way to work and Pat called him in tears. "We'll just have to take more control of where she goes and what she does," was Len's response after Pat told him about the brief exchange with Tallie.

"How do we do that at her age?" Pat almost screamed.

"Can we at least get the guy over so we can meet him?" Len asked.

"That's the one thing that for sure won't happen," Pat told him.

"Why not?"

"Oh, don't be dense," she said crossly. "You know how she feels about bringing anyone to the house. She just won't do it. I'm pretty sure she's turned down some dates for that reason."

"Turned down dates? You've got to be kidding! She doesn't get that many chances! Why would she do something that drastic for such a silly reason?" Len fumed.

"Len, it's not silly to her. She's deadly serious about it. She calls it disrespectful."

"What do you mean we're not going back home?" Reid demanded as Kim and Jake led him and Guy into an apartment close to the school.

"Just what we said," Kim replied. "You are staying here and starting school Monday. Your parents are going back so your dad can finish up his job there, get the house sold, pack everything up, and get moved. They are choosing a house here today."

"But I want to see my friends," Reid insisted.

"Tough! They are not your friends. They were sucking you down. You've got a chance to start fresh here, so don't blow it."

"So we're living here alone for the next month?" Guy asked, looking around the apartment.

"Dream on," Kim said. "I'm your substitute mother for the next month.

"You mean baby-sitter, don't you?" Guy sneered.

"Well, if you keep acting like little kids, yeah, that would be a good description," Kim agreed.

"Why should we do what you say?" Reid challenged.

"Because if you don't, I'll knock you right on your ass," Kim said casually. "If you think you were sore and embarrassed yesterday - I haven't started having MY fun, yet." She had a cold tone of voice that made her threats very believable.

"Is Jake staying with us, too?" Guy asked.

"No. He has another assignment. Why? Thinking the two of you can take me?" Her laugh made their spines tingle.

"Look, you two. I can be a bad-ass nightmare or I can be your new best friend. I've got connections around here like you wouldn't believe. I can use those connections to make your life a living hell. Or, if you decide to try and change, you can have more fun than you can handle. You're here. You're staying here. Your parents are gone for a month. You figure out what you want to do about it and let me know, OK?"

That was the day after their unforgettable day. It was noon and they had checked out of the suite at the Admin Center. Their parents were off house-hunting and would be flying out in the evening. Kelsie had gone off to live with the Masons for the month.

"You guys ever ride dirt bikes?" Kim asked. When both shook their heads, she said "Wanna try 'em? There's a place just out of town with a course. We can rent bikes there. You up for it?" Because of his skate-boarding, Guy was more into physical activity. Reid was not at all certain, but he could not admit that.

Kim had marvelous control of her emotions. She probably despised the two kids, but she never let on. After her little warning speech, she acted as if she assumed that they wanted to change.

It was a chilly day, but the course was fairly dry. The boys had very few clothes with them, but everything they needed was available at the course. Reid really was not very coordinated, so it took him a while to get the hang of it. Guy, though, had a blast and was reluctant to leave.

Tallie dreaded the certain confrontation when she got home from school, so she delayed as long as she dared. It was easy telling Tess how wonderful her night had been and how thrilled she was to have two more dates set up.

"Have you told him your good news?" Tess asked.

"It's not good news, Tess. It's just a hope. Even if it was for sure, I'd like to be sure he wants me just like I am before I tell him."

Tess was so happy for her friend that she could hardly contain herself. She had met Cord a few times socially before the previous night and she would certainly have gone for him herself. He seemed to be a genuinely good guy, too. "What did your mom say about Cord?"

"She doesn't know who it is. I only told her I spent the night with a guy."

"It looks like you're going to dig in for battle this time, huh?"

"This time, it's definitely worth it," Tallie assured her friend. "Well, guess I'd better go and get it over with."

"Want me to come with you?" Tess asked.

"Yes, I want that, but no, I won't let you. That would be inconsistent," Tallie said resolutely. Tess hugged her and wished her luck.

"You can't just go around sleeping with any guy you meet!" Len said hotly when he and Pat had Tallie cornered. He had left work in mid-afternoon and had been fuming when Tallie did not show up right after school. Pat tried to calm him down, but she was not having any luck. Tallie was still clothed, and the fact that she had finally taken that stand just angered Len more.

Pat was very upset, but she had kept her cool enough to be concerned with the long-term implications of the battle with Tallie. The two younger children had never thought about rebelling on the nudity issue. If they became aware of Tallie's objections, their whole lifestyle could be threatened. It was very dangerous letting Tallie stay clothed even for a little while.

"If you won't tell us who he is and let us meet him, you can't go out with him," Len said emphatically. "And get those clothes off. You know the rules."

Tallie was as angry as she had ever been. She wanted in the worst way to lash out. It was only her deep-seated love for her parents that kept her quiet. Instead of doing battle, she picked up her purse and hurried out of the house before either parent could react. Since they were both naked, she knew that they would not be able to pursue her immediately. The thought of either one of them getting physical with her did not even cross her mind.

Tallie's phone was in her purse and her first inclination was to call Tess. If this mess was as serious as she feared, though, she did not want Tess in the middle of it any more than necessary. She knew where Cord's house was and she could walk there. Trying to think about all of the possibilities, she became concerned that her parents might come out in the car and try to find her. She needed to get away for at least the night and let things settle down.

She knew that Cord's mother was living at Mr. Mason's house. Every girl at school knew that his name was Rad, so she called information. She held it together until Ginny got on the phone, then lost it. She was barely able to say that she needed someone to pick her up.

"Cord's here, Honey. I'll send him and he should be there in no more than ten minutes," Ginny assured the distraught girl.

When Cord pulled up, he was on the phone with his mother. He jumped from the car and took her in his arms. "Let's get away from here," he said. The house sale won't close for several weeks and you're welcome to stay there. If you can't work things out with your parents by then, we'll figure out a new plan."

"We?"

"I told you this was no one night stand."

When they got back to the apartment, Kim told Guy and Reid to hurry up and shower and headed for the second bathroom herself. The apartment had two bedrooms. Each of the boys had one and she was sleeping on a foldout bed in the good sized living room. The boys could have doubled up, but she was living out in the open on purpose.

She stalled until she heard one of the boys in the hall and walked out with nothing but the towel around her hair. "Are you both done?" she asked nonchalantly. "Let's go make dinner."

Guy was the boy she encountered, and his cool failed him again in the face of a naked female. Although not her usual style, she had shaved her crotch bare for the assignment and Guy just could not pull his eyes from her prominent and well-defined lips.

Kim was bi. She liked hetero sex and would have been willing to mate up with the right man if she ever found him. She and Jake connected quite regularly, and she knew that he would not mind making it permanent. He was content with what they had, though, and so was she.

At thirty-five, Kim's athletic body was in perfect shape. While not classically sexy, everything about her was appealing. She understood very well her affect on males and she was good at using it for assignments.

While Guy was still frozen, Kim turned and walked to where she kept her clothes in a couple of suitcases. She leisurely found the clothes she wanted, then put on a show as she dressed. She never gave any indication that she knew Guy was watching.

The boys were shocked and confused when Kim began giving them tasks toward dinner. She had expected that and in a very casual way, she helped them through what she had directed. She was pleased to see that already, neither boy thought to object or complain. Perhaps for once she would not have to hurt anyone to establish her authority.

Each boy's room had a TV and a computer on the Net. It had been decided not to restrict channel access or Internet site access. The boys' public personas were more important to address than their private pursuits. Drug and alcohol use were the key exceptions to that. After dinner and the supervised cleanup, the boys were happy to retire to their rooms.

Putting the boys in separate rooms was another tactical move. Although there were some significant personality differences, they had always fed off of each other. Some 'divide and conquer' was in order. The two bedrooms shared a bath, so they had access to each other without disturbing Kim.

It took until well into the evening for Pat and Len to admit to themselves that Tallie might not be coming back right away. Len was still inflamed with his righteous anger, but Pat was beginning to feel some panic that the long-feared choice between their lifestyle beliefs and their daughter had just been forced. What made the panic worse was the fact that the choice seemed to have already been made.

"Do you think we've lost her?" Pat asked.

"Lost her? What do you mean? Where would she go?"

"I don't know. What if she just stays away?"

"She wouldn't do that!" he said confidently.

"I don't know, Len. She has been more and more insistent about the nudity lately. If the guy she found is really special, she might run off with him."

"Don't be ridiculous. How could two high school kids live?"

"We don't know that he's a high school kid."

"Who would know who he is?" Len demanded.

"I suppose Tess would know."

"Then call her. We need to end this nonsense."

"Tess, who was Tallie with last night?" Pat asked when she reached Tess.

"I don't mean to be disrespectful, but why are you asking me and not Tallie?" Tess answered.

"She wouldn't tell me, and now she's gone," Pat admitted.

"Shit!" Tess let out. "You mean you finally did it? You drove her away?"

"Drove her away? We didn't do anything. Everything is just like it always was," Pat objected.

"That's the problem. You never backed off from your crazy ideas, no matter what she said."

"But we love her! We've done everything for her!"

"Except respect her," Tess said bitterly.

"How can you say that?" Pat said, tears starting. "We have a right to raise our children according to what we believe."

"Of course you do. But you have to expect to lose them when your beliefs cost them a normal, happy life."

"She was never unhappy!"

"She has been terribly unhappy for a long time. She tried to tell you in a kind, loving way, but I guess you never heard her. Do you have any idea how many dates she turned down just because she was ashamed to let anyone know what her home life was like?"

"She ... she did? Oh, God! Tess, where is she? Please!"

"I honestly don't know. The last I saw her was just before she went home to face you. I haven't heard from her since then."

"Who was the boy?"

"If she didn't tell you, I would be a poor friend if I did."

"But what if she's in trouble? What if she needs help?"

"She's needed help for a long time, but she hasn't gotten any from you. Why should she look to you now?"

The phone just slipped from Pat's hand. She was too shaken by what she had heard to even hang up properly.

For the second night in a row, Tallie and Cord cuddled in the master bed of Ginny's house. Things were much more somber than the first night, however. There was still arousal and energetic lovemaking, but the tone was not the same. From Tallie's side, there was a sense of need, almost desperation.

"This isn't fair to you," she told Cord, "having a girl thrown in your lap without any say about it."

"Woman," was his only response.

"Huh?"

"I said 'woman'. I had a woman thrown in my lap, not a girl, and it was the luckiest day of my life."

"But you hardly know anything about me," she protested.

"A lot more than you think," he corrected her. "I hope you're not offended, but I keep seeing more and more things about you that are just like my mom."

"You really love your mom, don't you?"

"Sure do. You love yours, too. That's what's tearing you up."

"Do you think I'm being unreasonable?" she asked.

"I think you have spent years ignoring your feelings for their sake and you just couldn't take it any more. Do you see any chance of them compromising?"

"It's like a religious thing with them," she explained. "If they give in to the 'textiles', it's a sin."

"But they work and shop and everything else with clothes on," he objected.

"Yes, but on 'their' turf, everyone follows the rules.

"If I went with you, naked, would it help?"

"You'd do that?"

"Tallie, a big part of me wants to just take you with me and say to hell with them. But that would be childish and impetuous. We both have school to finish and it would be a crime if you didn't go to college."