Chapter 12

I waved at the Barkers' retreating car before pulling the last bag into the house. I was exhausted. It was almost midnight, and it seemed like six days had passed since we were last standing on Arizona's sandy soil, not six hours.

I took two trips to drag the bags to our respective rooms while Mom listened to the answering machine messages and sorted through mail. She was still going strong when I was done, so since I was feeling grimy, I decided to take a shower. A few minutes later, Mom came into the bathroom.

"It's nice to be home," she said. "But I wish we were still back in Arizona. Weird, isn't it?"

"Yeah," I said as I lathered up my hair. I could hear the sound of Mom peeing. I debated with myself whether I should pull the curtain aside and make a show of gawking at her, but I was too tired to tease.

"I made a list of your messages and left them beside the phone. Just the random assortment of friends calling to see if you wanted to hang out during the break."

"You think they thought I wasn't interested?" I joked.

"I'm sure they just figured you were unavailable."

"Yeah, there was that." I did one last rinse and turned off the shower. Mom shoved a towel through the curtain. "Thanks," I said as I started drying myself off.

I pulled the curtain back and smiled. Mom had her back to me facing the mirror while she used some foul-smelling liquid to strip her make-up off. She was stripped down to just her panties and bra. I stood still and admired her incredible ass. I'd seen a few, and hers rivaled any of them. Or maybe theirs rivaled hers.

She shook her ass at me, which made me smile bigger. I glanced up and saw she was watching me in the mirror. I wrapped my towel around my waist and hoped that my twitching penis wouldn't tent the fabric. I stepped out of the tub, walked over and gave her kiss on the cheek.

"I love you, Mom." Then I pinched her ass. She yelped and tried to smack me, but I'd already stepped into the hall.

Mom stepped out after me. "Where are you going?" she asked.

"To bed," I called back as I made my way to my room.

"Oh." Something in her voice made me stop and face her. She looked suddenly nervous. "I, um, just thought you might want to sleep with me tonight." She was cute when she was unsure of herself, but I didn't like to see it very often.

"I just figured, you know ... now that there's John and ... and Shelly." I just shrugged.

"Do you want to sleep with me?" she asked meekly.

"With the exception of with Mia and Shay, I wouldn't want to sleep anywhere else. I know John said he wouldn't interfere with our relationship, but I wasn't sure..."

Mom stepped over to her bedroom door and flipped on the light. "Brody, we have a unique relationship, and while I was apprehensive about it at first, I've come to enjoy the intimacy I share with you. John and Shelly know that we have something special and have emphasized that they won't ever interfere unless they think one of us is being hurt by it. As far as I'm concerned, the only people who can tell us to stop are me and you. The moment one of us decides that things should change, then they change." She batted her eyelashes at me. "So ... do you want to sleep with me?" She wasn't looking at my face when she said it.

I followed her gaze down my body. Damn tent. I looked back up and waggled my eyebrows. I suddenly wasn't all that tired.

"To hell with sleeping." I pulled the towel off and started lumbering towards her. She giggled, and then when I growled and reached out to grab her, she squealed and darted into her room.

I caught her a couple of steps from her bed and wrapped her up, trapping her arms beside her. I buried my face in her neck. She tried to fight me off as she giggled and squirmed, but she didn't try all that hard.

I scooped her up and kind of tossed her on the bed, and as my back complained a little, I made a mental note to remember that Mom wasn't the same size as my girlfriends. I knelt beside her and grabbed the waist of her panties. Her hands were behind her unclasping her bra while I worked the tight little hip huggers down her legs. I made a move to get my shoulders between her legs.

"No," she said. "Up here."

I slid up and lay on top of her, my elbows beside her head to keep some of my weight off her. Her nipples were already hard and felt wonderful trapped between us. I could feel the heat from her pussy as my cock nestled against her labia.

"I love you, Brody," she whispered as she looked adoringly at me. "I'm proud to be your mother, and if I could, I'd announce it to the world that I'm proud to be your lover, too."

What do you say to that? I kissed her. She rubbed my back as we slowly moved our tongues and lips together. Without letting up, I shifted my hips a little, letting my cock point the way to her center. Then I eased forward and slid him home.

"Ungh ... God..." she grunted as I slowly sank all the way into her. A small shudder went through her. With our bodies now joined in two locations, we began to move our bodies. Slowly we moved, hips pushing, rolling, thrusting. I never changed the rhythm or speed or anything. We slowly made love. Every few minutes, Mom would shudder through one of her mini-orgasms. After less than 10 minutes, I groaned into her mouth as my semen boiled over and filled her body. I kept the same in and out rhythm throughout my orgasm and for a couple of minutes afterwards, even though my cock head was oversensitive. Eventually, I could tell my proud friend was down for the count as he began to shrink. I pulled back from our kiss and Mom slowly opened her eyes. Then she smiled at me. I felt her vaginal muscles tighten, and my spent cock was squeezed from its warm home.

"Aw," I pouted.

Mom kissed me on my nose and wrapped me tighter in her arms. "Good night, Sweetie."

I rolled over onto my side, bringing her with me so her body stayed melded to mine and her head rested on my arm. "Good night, Mom."

And it was, too, falling asleep in her arms.

A warm, wetness pressed against my nose, then was gone.

"Brody..." a soft voice called to me.

The warm, wetness pressed against my eyelid. Lips. A soft, wonderful pair of lips.

"Brooo-dy..." the voice called again.

The lips kissed my other eyelid, and I decided it was time to open them.

Mom was leaning over me, her warm smile completing the vision of loveliness.

"Morning," she said sweetly.

"Morning," I croaked.

"I know you want to sleep all day, but you need to get up."

"Aw," I pouted and squeezed my eyes shut.

"It's eleven o'clock. Cassie's waited as long as she can. She'll be here in 10 minutes ... no, nine minutes and 30 seconds. I'm pretty sure you don't want to try to explain why you are sleeping naked in your mother's bed."

"I guess you're right."

I forced myself out of bed and stumbled down the hall and into the shower. As I was drying off, Mom stepped into the bathroom to brush her teeth. She was already fixed up for the day in a sweater, jeans and little tennis shoes.

"There's a bagel in the toaster and a glass of milk on the counter."

"Thanks, Mom." I kissed her cheek and went to my room to get dressed.

I was walking into the kitchen when the doorbell rang. I turned around and almost ran into Mom. She was trying to put her earrings in.

"I'll get it," I said.

I barely had the door open before I was knocked to the floor and had a squirming teenage girl straddling my waist with her tongue in my mouth. Cassie kissed me. And kissed me. And kissed me. Mom's not-so-subtle throat-clearing finally got Cassie to let up. She looked up at Mom and blushed.

"I, uh, I missed you, too," I stammered as my friend helped me to my feet.

"Sorry about that," Cassie said as much for Mom as for me. "I was just so excited to see you."

"I guess so," Mom said. She had her purse in her hand and a smirk on her face. "Listen, I need to go grocery shopping to restock our cupboards, and I promised a friend I'd hit the sales with her. I'm sure I'll be gone a good, oh, four or five hours." She winked at me.

Before I could respond, Cassie had my hand and was dragging me deep into the house.

"Thanks, Mrs. B!" the blonde called back.

Mom was shaking her head as she closed the door behind her.

When Cassie exploded through my bedroom door, she let go of my hand and started shimmying out of her clothes, which consisted of a cute little jacket over a form-fitting turtleneck and a pair of jeans.

"I'm impressed," she said as she worked her tight jeans down her hips. "You showered, brushed your teeth, dressed AND made your bed in less than 10 minutes."

Cassie had such a sexy way of stripping her ... Made my bed? Oops. I wondered if the Fifth Amendment applied in cases like this. I didn't say anything. She wiggled her panty-clad ass at me in a move so reminiscent of Mom the night before. Then she threw a sexy look over her shoulder.

"You gonna fuck with your clothes on? You'll at least need to pull your little guy out." He wasn't THAT little. With a grin, she grabbed the bottom of her turtleneck and pulled it over her head. No bra. Damn! I'm defenseless.

"What about Danica? Mia? Shay? I thought our little trysts were temporary diversions?" I was saying this as I made quick work of my own clothes, dropping them in the pile with hers.

She made a good show of slipping her panties down her shapely legs, giving me a wonderful view of her round ass and tight, pink pussy lips peeking out beneath it. I have absolutely no self-control.

"Mia called me last night and said it was my job to welcome you home." She crawled on the bed and settled on her hands and knees. "She said the sooner the better so you wouldn't mope." Another sexy look over her shoulder while she wiggled her ass and spread her knees a little wider. "Danica understands that I need the warm flesh of a real cock every now and then."

I raised an eyebrow as I knelt on the bed and slowly scooted in behind her. "Oh, really. You and Danica talked about it?" I grabbed her hip with one hand and my cock with the other, then tested her wetness with the head. Oh, yeah. She was ready.

"Of course. She has plastic and rubber substitutes that just aren't quite as good as the real thing, even if she was holding them for me while I used them." I pushed my cockhead between her warm lips. Damn, what an image THAT made. Danica ... Cassie ... toys ... Sounded like they graduated from just kissing and groping. "Oh, Lordy," she sighed as she adjusted to the intruder. "That's exactly what I need. Now fuck me, Brody."

I held still. "You didn't say please."

She wiggled her hips and tried pushing back on me, but I moved back with her, keeping her from sinking back on me. "Fine," she huffed. "PLEASE, fuck me."

I gripped both hips hard and started a steady, slow thrust. After a couple of cycles, Cassie groaned in frustration.

"What's wrong?" I asked. First she said Brody, Jr. was little. Then she's groaning in frustration. Just exactly how big WAS Danica's dildo?

"I get all the soft and gentle I need with Danica. And while she can do it hard, it's nothing like the pounding you can give me. Please, Brody. Fuck me HARD."

Well, she did say please.

I was surprised that it didn't take me long, considering I'd had sex just the night before. And the morning before. And that night before that. And...

I was pounding her hard. The sound of my body smacking her legs and ass almost drowned out the steady grunting coming from both of us. I had a death grip on her hips as I pistoned mine rapidly against her.

"Fuck me," she grunted. "Fuck me ... harder ... fuck ... faster, Brody ... oh, God..." I could feel her channel undulating around my shaft and knew she was close. I put one hand in the small of her back, pushing her down into my bed. Now I was practically driving straight down into her stretched hole.

My balls tightened. I closed my eyes tight and drove down with everything I had. I felt sweat drip off my nose and land on her back. "Oh, GAWD!" Cassie wailed and began to thrash underneath me.

"Unngh..." I grunted and followed her immediately, my come exploding from my cock into her abused snatch. Four or five spurts later and it was over. I collapsed beside my blonde-haired lover, exhausted. The only sound was our panting.

"Welcome home," she gasped a minute later.

That was a hell of a welcome.

Cassie and I had a good visit on Saturday, and it wasn't entirely about the sex. We just lay naked around the house for a few hours and talked about our winter breaks and about friends and dating and relationships and stuff. We had sex whenever the urge struck us, but made sure to be cleaned and dressed in plenty of time.

Our conversation got pretty heavy at one point. I told her that we were probably moving to Arizona in the summer, which drew a few tears from her. I told her about Mom and Mia's parents, which led us into a somber conversation about how close-minded society as a whole was, even in the 21^st Century. She lamented not feeling like she and Danica could come out as a couple at school for fear of persecution and ridicule. Plus, neither girl was ready to open the subject with their parents.

We talked things out a bit and I told her that no matter what happened, she'd always have a tender spot in my heart and I'd support her in whatever way she needed. That earned me a kiss and a promise for another round or two of exercise at a later time.

Sunday, Mom and I hung out most of the day. We took care of a few things that needed done and then watched a movie while we cuddled on the couch. We made love again that night.

I was amazed at how close I felt to Mom. Things just felt so comfortable between us. It was almost like the pressure was off of us since we were both committed to other people who knew and accepted our relationship. We could just enjoy the intimacy and uniqueness of what we had without worrying about other things. I knew things wouldn't go on like this forever. Even if we continued to be intimate, life would get in the way of the frequency of our special times together. I was intent on making the most of it while it lasted.

As I walked into school to start what was likely my last semester in the only school district I'd ever known, I was feeling pretty good. With Cassie and Danica walking with me, I felt like I was living the high life. Jeff and Fuzz joined me at my locker and we chatted about our breaks. Suddenly, I was aware that things had gotten quiet in the hallway. I glanced up and noticed people had kind of stopped and were looking my direction. I turned and looked behind me in the direction they were looking. Mike Vincent and his two cronies had just walked into the school and were clearly headed for me.

Shit. I thought this was over back in the fall. So much for my good mood. Knowing that there was no way out of it, I turned to face my persecutor.

"Hey, Brown," Mike growled.

"What can I do for you, Mike?" I asked with an air of confidence that I certainly didn't feel.

He hesitated. Why is it that big hulking guys liked to scowl at me? Mike. Sam. I was glad I had no interest in playing football. To my surprise, however, Mike's scowl melted away. He stuck his hand out. "I just wanted to apologize for the party last semester."

I was glad I had Jeff on one side and Cassie on the other, or I might have fallen down. What they hell?

"Uh, yeah," I stammered as I shook his hand. "No big deal."

Mike glanced at Cassie and I noticed something unspoken pass between them. Then he looked back at me. "Yeah, it was. I should have given you a chance to explain instead of just taking the word of that bi-..." He glanced at Cassie again. " ... um, instead of taking Kristin's story as the truth."

"Water under the bridge, man," I said with a shrug.

"Cool. Well, take care, dude." With that, he turned and disappeared down the hallway.

The crowd spoke in hushed tones as they broke apart and trickled to class.

"What just happened?" I asked, still unable to move.

"Mike Vincent just apologized to you," Jeff said, stating the obvious.

I turned and looked down at Cassie. "Yeah, but why?"

Cassie smiled innocently at me. "Must have been feeling guilty."

"I'd believe that if he apologized to me in private. But at school? In front of an audience? What'd you do, Cass?"

"Me? Do? What are you talking about?" She started away from me, but I grabbed her arm. She looked at me with an innocent smile. "Mike heard from somewhere that my dad is a pretty big financial supporter of athletics at South Florida and has exchanged a Christmas card or ten with the AD. So he came up to me and asked me if I could get Dad to send Mike's football tapes to the AD and get the football coaches to check them out. He has verbal commitment to some small school in Mississippi and was hoping to get something bigger. I kind of told him that one good favor deserved another. That's all."

She patted my on the chest and then she and Danica headed down the hall.

I watched her in amazement.

"Dude..." Fuzz started to say.

" ... Cassie Fuckin' Jones is your bodyguard," Jeff finished.

"Guess so," I replied with a shrug.

"Guess so," Jeff mimicked in a high-pitched nasally voice. Then he sighed. " First Kristin. Now Cassie. Plus, you have two girlfriends. You are a fuckin' God..."

" ... Dude," Fuzz said again.

I just shook my head. What could I say to that?

Guess what's going around school?

We'd been back in school for one day and already we had homework. I was just finishing up when my little red-headed girlfriend shot me that simple question.

Just seeing those names in print made my blood start to boil. I took a deep breath and counted to ten before responding.

What about those pricks? I typed.

They had to make a visit to the ER on Christmas Eve. Rumor has it that a gang of Mexicans jumped them and beat the shit out of them. No one knows for sure how many, but it must have been a half dozen at least.

My interest was certainly piqued. I figured word would eventually get out about what happened to those two jerks, but I didn't have any idea how it would be explained. I was pretty sure that the truth wouldn't come out, though. Two college guys got their asses kicked by a high school sophomore and his two tiny freshman girlfriends. Not good for the reputation.

Oh, really? I messaged back. Any explanation of how they ended up in the same location as a Mexican gang?

Jessie said that her dad overheard Guy's dad say they think it was a drug deal gone bad.

Jessie?

You met her when you were here. Bubbly blonde, big tits.

I remembered. She was one of Mia's friends we had lunch with once.

Shay was writing again. Anyway, Jessie's dad works with Guy's dad. Guess Guy's dad found a wad of cash and a half a bag of weed in Guy's pocket, and he jumped to conclusions. That's why they didn't go to the police, regardless of how bad Guy and Alan were beat up.

I waited a long time for a response. I could see that Shay started typing a couple of times, but would stop.

Ruptured testicles. Both of them. The doctor's don't think he'll be able to have kids.

I leaned back in my chair and blew out my breath slowly, then typed my feelings. Serves him right.

I'm not proud of what I did to him, Brody. It scares me even now to think about how out of control I was. What I did to him will affect him longer than what he did to me.

I wanted to argue that. Sure, he appeared to have permanent physical wounds, but Shay's emotional ones weren't any less real or any less permanent. Before I could respond, though, she sent another message.

Hey, Mia just walked in. We're having dinner and then we're going to study at her house. Interested in a video study session?

I smiled. What kind of stupid question is that? I always was a visual learner.

I decided that the topic of our first discussion could be conversation for another day. My guess is it would be conversation for many other days.

Mom's eyes fluttered open. She saw me looking down at her, my head resting on my hand, and smiled up at me. Usually, she was the first up, but for some reason I woke well before the sun and sleep just evaded me. I'd spent the last fifteen minutes just enjoying the feel of her naked body against mine.

"Good morning, Beautiful," I said to her. She stretched, catlike. "Scratch that. Beautiful is an insult. Astonishing. Breathtaking. Boner-inducing."

Mom raised an eyebrow. "Boner-inducing?"

"Hey, coming from a teenage guy, that's the biggest compliment a woman can receive."

Mom harrumphed. "I don't think so. Teenage guys get boners sitting in Algebra looking at equations on the chalkboard. I'm pretty sure there's nothing sexy about equations. No, with spontaneous erections the norm, I think you'll need to come up with another compliment to woo the ladies."

I circled my finger around her areola before giving it a gentle squeeze. "Are you excited?"

Her grin widened, but then was replaced with a look of motherly concern. "Are you sure you're going to be all right by yourself for four days?"

It was the day before Valentine's, and Mom was catching a mid-morning flight to Miami, where she was going to meet John and Shelly. Then the three of them were flying to the Virgin Islands. Since Valentine's Day fell on a Saturday—during President's Day weekend, no less—they wouldn't be home until late Monday night. I'd convinced Mom that I was mature enough to stay on my own for the weekend, or at least I thought I had.

I gave her the look. "Mom, I'm sixteen. I'm going to be fine. Just go and have fun."

"You can always go to Jeff's if you need to. And if you need help—"

"Mom!" I groaned. "I'm going to be fine. Stop worrying."

She sighed. "As long as I'm your mom, I'll worry."

"I know, and I love you for it."

She looked at the clock. "You need to get ready for school." She lifted her head and kissed me. "I'll make you breakfast."

Fifteen minutes later, I was sitting at the table munching on a slice of French toast and watching Mom prepare her own breakfast. She was wearing one of my t-shirts and nothing else. Since she was only a few inches shorter than me, it didn't cover her ass completely, and I was enjoying watching the little crease where her ass stopped and her leg began.

"So, I had an interesting conversation with Shelly last night," she said out of the blue.

"Really?" I replied around a mouthful of toast.

"They received a bit of a surprise this week."

"Good surprise or bad surprise." I took a swallow of my milk and wiped my mouth with the back of my hand.

Mom was quiet for a second as she buttered her toast. Then she grabbed her coffee mug and plate and slid in to the chair across from me. "I guess it depends on how you look at it. I'd say from their reaction that it's being viewed as bad."

Now she had me intrigued. I nodded for her to continue.

She looked squarely at me. "Ana's pregnant."

My eyes opened wide. "Holy, shit!"

"Brody..." Mom scolded. She didn't like me to use certain words in polite conversation. Didn't seem to bother her in the bedroom, though. Go figure.

"Sorry," I said, looking down.

"Aren't you curious as to when or how or who?"

"I'm pretty sure I know the answer to that."

It was her turn to open her eyes wide. "Oh?"

"Joseph Cho, at the ski resort."

She stared at me. I knew she was trying to discern how much I knew.

"I'm guessing. I knew she'd, you know, had sex with him."

"I see." She continued to watch me. "Anything else you want to tell me?"

Gee, Mom. You see, I was playing around with Ana, but wouldn't pop her cherry, so she felt like she needed to find someone who would.

"Well, um ... I kind of feel responsible to a degree."

"Really? Did you get her pregnant?"

"Well, no."

"Did you force her to have sex with Joseph?"

"Of course not."

"Did you artificially fertilize the egg with the sperm?"

"Mom, come on."

"Ana is 17 years old, Brody. She's not a child."

"Yeah, but she was so naive."

"Naive, maybe. But not stupid. Shelly put her on the pill when she turned 15. She, John AND the doctor emphasized and reemphasized the importance of never missing a pill. Did you know she hadn't taken her pills in almost six months?"

"Uh..."

"You want to blame yourself because you played around with her a bit and now you think you were responsible for her actions. No one is responsible for Ana getting pregnant but Ana and Joseph."

I was shocked that Mom knew about me and Ana, but then figured Ana probably spilled it all, and then Shelly naturally told her fiancé. I still felt some level of guilt, though. I needed to talk to Mia.

"What are they going to do?" I asked Mom.

"They're not sure. They just found out two days ago. My guess is they'll take the weekend to clear their heads and then they'll talk with Ana again next week."

"Um, how's Ana?"

Mom shook her head. "She'll be fine. She's pretty shaken up by the news, but she's got a good family. John and Shelly may be upset and disappointed, but they will help her and support her as they deal with things. And Mia..." Mom smiled at me. "Well, she's got a bit of protector in her, kind of like you."

I looked down at my plate of cold, syrup-sogged, half-eaten French toast.

Mom chuckled. "Hurry up and finish or you'll be late to school."

I swallowed the last of my milk. "I'm not as hungry as I thought," I said as I stood. "Sorry."

Mom waved me off and stood herself. I stepped over and put my arms around her.

"I'm going to miss you."

"I'm betting most parents would love to hear their teenagers say that." She kissed me gently on the lips. "I'm going to miss you, too. I'll have list of important numbers, a medical release for you, and anything else I can think of that a worried parent might stress about."

Once a mom, always a mom.

"Hey, guess what I got in the mail today," I asked into the phone receiver.

"A package from a secret admirer?" Mia asked, but I could hear the playfulness in her voice. Shay chuckled. They knew damn well what I got in the mail.

Friday night had been quiet with Mom gone. Jeff stayed the night, and we ate pizza and watched a couple of mind-numbing action flicks to kill the evening. He went home the next day just before noon, which left me with nothing to do but waste the day. Being Valentine's Day, I planned to call my girls that evening before they had their date. Now I had them both on the phone at the same time.

"Thanks for the book, Shay. I plan to spend all day tomorrow with my nose buried in it." Shay had gotten me 'Arctic Drift', the newest Clive Cussler novel. "And I've already ripped the CD onto my computer, Mia." She'd gotten me the first CD by Drowning Pool. Even though it was a few years old, I'd never really listened to them. I was pleasantly surprised. For my girls, I had flowers delivered at their school the day before. I chuckled. "The other item in your package was humorous, to say the least."

Mia giggled. "Well, you know, Big Papi, it never hurts to be prepared."

"Besides," Shay chimed in. "I don't think we need any other announcements like the big one this week." She was referring to Ana's pregnancy. I could feel the mood shift in our conversation.

"Yeah, but it's a waste of your money. Everybody I have sex with is on the pill. Condoms—"

"Are another precaution," Mia interrupted. "Plus, you never know who you might find yourself in bed with."

"Hey, I'm more than content. Other guys dream of being as lucky as me."

"And as humble," Shay teased.

"So, how's Ana?" I asked, shifting the subject.

"She's pretty torn up," Mia said. "You know the thing she cried the hardest about? Swimming."

"Really?"

"Next year she'll be only a few months post-delivery when the season starts," Shay clarified. "It was supposed to be the year she took state."

Mia jumped back in. "I think she cried hardest about swimming, because it was the biggest, most tangible thing she could point to when looking at how her life has changed."