Chapter 11: The Story Thus Far

Wednesday, December 20th, night
As the two lovers lay there half asleep, the phone rang. Dave heard it but did not have the strength or desire to roll over and actually answer the phone. The phone rang six times and then voice mail answered it.

"Why didn't you answer that?" Mishy asked. She had dozed off but the phone had woken her up.

"Didn't have the strength," Dave told her and kissed the top of her head.

"What if it was important?"

"I can't think of anything that would be more important than what I'm doing right now."

Mishy smiled and the two shared a quick kiss. Mishy laid back down and closed her eyes.

"Do you have to go home tonight?"

"Do you want me to go home?"

Dave smiled at the girl's insecurity.

"That's not what I meant. I meant were you planning to spend the night or do you need to go home?"

"I guess that's up to you. I'll stay if you want. No one at home will miss me."

"Guess your staying then." A moment later Dave said, "Mishy, have you ever been with another woman?"

Mishy shook her head no.

"Are you interested in experiencing it?"

Mishy opened her eyes and considered this question for a second. Then she lifted her head, rested her chin on Dave's chest, and looked at him.

"What are you asking?"

"I'm asking are you interested in being with another woman? I can't and won't involve Emily. That's between you and her but I do have an idea, if you're interested."

"What's the idea?"

"Before we get into that, I want you to answer the question. Are you interested in being intimate with another woman? The woman won't be Emily."

Mishy laid there and thought for a long moment.

"I think I'd like to try it, yeah."

Dave rolled onto his side. They faced each other and Dave looked into her pretty brown eyes.

"Before I say anything, I want your promise that you won't get upset and I want you to tell me what you think and feel. Don't tell me what you think I might want to hear but what you really think and feel. Understand?"

Mishy nodded again.

"There's a young woman I know. She's older but I think she might be willing to, shall we say, give you some experience. Would you be interested?"

"Who is she?"

"Doesn't matter. I will tell you it wouldn't be hard or take very long to organize. It could happen tonight, if you're interested."

"Are you sure she'd be interested?"

Dave chuckled. "I can almost guarantee it. So, should I arrange it?"

"Where would we... ?"

"I've got an extra bedroom. It's where Em and Hayley sleep..." Dave let the sentence die in mid-thought. "Shit!"

Dave rolled over and grabbed the phone off the hook, dialed a number, and put the phone to his ear.

"What's wrong?"

"Em and Hayley are coming over. I'm not sure when though. Might be tonight." Dave tapped in his four digit code to get into his voice mail account. "That might be who called earlier. Hold on. There's a voice mail." Dave listened to the voice mail and then hung up. He nodded. "That was them. They were leaving the house when they called."

"Ohmigod, they could be here anytime."

Mishy scrambled out of the bed and ran to the bathroom. Dave couldn't help himself. Watching her jump out of bed and run to the bathroom, her adorable little ass wiggling, was a sight to see. He had to laugh.

Dave tossed the covers off and got out of bed. He went to his dresser, got a new pair of underwear, and slipped on the same pants he'd been wearing.

"I'll bring your clothes from the living room," he shouted through the closed bathroom door. Mishy hollered a thank you as Dave turned and left the room.

He stopped in front of the second bedroom, knocked lightly, and waited for Olivia to open the door.

"My girls, Emily and Hayley, are on their way over. Mishy is in the bathroom now cleaning up. Then she will be getting dressed and leaving. You might wanna start picking up in here as well."

"Okay, David," Olivia said with a nod.

Dave closed the door and continued out to the living room where he picked up Mishy's clothes, which were scattered around the living room and carried them back to the bedroom. He laid the clothes out on the bed and then got himself a clean shirt from the closet. He slipped the shirt on just as he heard the doorbell ring.

"Shit!"

He went over to the bathroom door and knocked. The toilet flushed, then the door opened and Mishy's face appeared. "I think Em is here. She just rang the bell. Your clothes are on the bed. Go ahead and get dressed. I'll keep the girls out of here."

"What are you going to tell them?"

"Mishy, Emily arranged this. She probably saw your car out front. If so, she already knows you're here. Hayley is going to be the problem. And trust me, you aren't the only thing she's going to wonder about. Get dressed. Go home. This is my problem, not yours."

Mishy smiled. He bent down and gave her a quick kiss then left the bedroom, closing the bedroom door behind him and went to open the front door. The door bell had rung again while he was talking to Mishy and it rang a third time as Dave made his way down the hall towards the living room.

Dave peeked out the eye hole and saw Emily and Hayley' s smiling faces on the other side.

"This is gonna get interesting," he said to himself as he unlocked and then opened the door.

"Hi, girls."

"I called. You didn't answer," Emily said as she picked up a suitcase and carried it into the apartment. Hayley followed behind her, also carrying a suitcase.

"I was busy. Set your suitcases down out here for the moment. We have some things to discuss before you all go settle in."

The girls put their suitcases down against the wall and took a seat on the couch.

"Daddy," Hayley asked as she sat down., "who's boots are those?"

Hayley picked up Mishy's boots and showed them to Dave and Emily. Dave wanted to kick himself.

He had picked up all of Mishy's clothes but had left her boots sitting beside the couch. Dave watched as Emily realized what was happening.

"Oh, my! Oh, God, I am so sorry." She stood up and came over to him. "I seriously ... I didn't think. I'm so sorry, Daddy." She hugged him tight.

Dave lowered his head and whispered in Emily's ear. "She's going to be more upset and embarrassed than you are. She's in my bedroom getting dressed. Why don't you go talk to her."

Emily nodded and started for the bedroom.

"Em, take the boots." Emily spun around, took the boots from Hayley and headed for the bedroom.

"Daddy, what the beep is going on around here?"

Dave took a deep breath and went and sat down beside his youngest daughter.

"Hayley, I'm afraid that your sister and I have been keeping some secrets from you. Not necessarily because you couldn't know, or because we didn't want you to know. They are just not the kind of things you discuss with people. I promise you before the night is over you will know everything, but there are some things I have to deal with, including the person who's feet belong in those boots, before I can take the time to explain it all to you.

"So, here's what I'd like you to do. I need to talk to Emily, alone, for a few minutes. I'm afraid that if you're here when I talk to her, you will find out things without any context and will become mad, upset or whatever. What I'd like you to do is take my car keys." Dave pulled his keys from his pocket and held them out to her. "Go downstairs, get in my car, turn the radio to whatever station you want, and listen to some music for a few minutes. I promise you, I will be down in ten minutes and you and I, alone, will get some ice cream and I will explain everything. Will you do that for me?"

Hayley studied him for a moment, then took the keys and stood up.

"Daddy, I don't know what is going on around here but whatever it is, I don't think it's anything that would upset me. But, I will do as you want and I will go and wait in your car."

Dave stood up, hugged his youngest daughter and led her to the front door.

Hayley stopped just outside the door and turned back to Dave.

"Daddy, are you getting re-married?"

Dave smiled. "Probably some day, yes. But that isn't what this is about."

Hayley nodded and went off down the stairs. Dave closed the door and then went over to the sliding glass door that led to the balcony and watched as Hayley exited the building and went to the car. He didn't look away until she was in the car and the interior light had come on as Hayley searched for just the right radio station.

Dave turned and headed back to the master bedroom. He knocked once, lightly, then opened the door and went in without waiting for a response. Emily and Mishy were on the bed, Mishy was now fully dressed except for her boots which were sitting in front of the bed.

When Emily saw Dave, she stood up, went to him and threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly.

"Thank you, Daddy," she whispered. "You made Mishy very happy. And me, too."

Dave hugged her back for a few seconds, then pushed her away and sat her down beside Mishy.

"Here's the deal, ladies. Hayley is out in the car, waiting for me. She knows nothing about what's been going on around here and I'd like to keep it that way until I have some time to put everything in context. So, here's what's going to happen.

"Em, I need to speak to you, alone, for a few minutes. Mishy, I would appreciate it if you would stay in the bedroom while we talk. Once we're done talking, I will be going out with Hayley for some ice cream and to talk. Once we're gone, Em will come back, tell you it's safe, and you can go home. Will you do that for me, Mishy?"

"Of course."

"Thank you. Emily, will you come with me?"

Emily nodded and followed Dave out of the master bedroom. As soon as the bedroom door was closed, Dave stopped her and turned her to face him. He put his finger to his mouth to tell her to be quiet. He then escorted her to the bedroom where Olivia was hiding, opened the door, and held up his hand to Olivia. Emily's mouth fell open. Dave held his finger to his lips once more. Emily remained quiet and closed her mouth. Dave then shushed Olivia and waved for her to follow him and Emily.

Olivia nodded and followed Dave and Em out to the living room. Once there, Dave put himself between the two girls and made introductions. "Emily, you remember me telling you that something had come up on Tuesday, which is why I wouldn't be home?"

Emily nodded.

"Emily, meet what came up. This is Dr. Olivia Barrett, formerly of UCLA and Boston. Olivia, this is my oldest daughter, Emily Jean Bernard."

The two women shook hands.

"Em, I'm sure you have lots of questions but, put simply, with Hayley sitting in the car, I don't have time to answer them right now." Dave turned to Olivia. "So, Olivia, I am ordering you, once I've gone out to talk to Hayley, to tell Emily everything you've told me. You are to answer her questions, honestly and truthfully. Understood?"

"Yes, David."

Dave turned back to his daughter. "Emily, I really wish I could be here to tell you all that's happened but things have conspired against me, and as much as I hate to lay blame, most of it is your fault."

Emily's face dropped at this pronouncement.

"Don't worry, Em. You're not in trouble.

"Now, I'm going to go out with Hayley. We will probably be two hours or so. Emily, get rid of Mishy and then sit down and talk to Olivia. Right now, Mishy does not know Olivia is here. My recommendation is to keep it that way. Mishy is already embarrassed enough and finding Olivia here would just cause her to ask questions."

Emily nodded in understanding.

"You both know where the formula is hidden, correct?"

Both women nodded. Em had seen where he hid the stuff the weekend before and Olivia had been in the bedroom with him when he had hidden the stuff the night before.

"Good. The new formula is sitting on the refrigerator. You have my permission to go in and get it but neither of you," Dave said, looking right at Emily, "have my permission to use it. Understood?"

Both women nodded. "Good."

Dave gave Em a quick kiss on the cheek, gave Olivia a quick kiss on the lips, and headed for the door.

"Olivia, go hide again. Em, get Mishy out of here."

"Yes, Daddy," Em said.

"Yes, David," Olivia said almost simultaneously.

David went out and got in the car with Hayley. She was polite enough to turn down the music before he got in the car.