Well, there's not a lot more to tell about that Christmas. Jessie and her dad didn't sleep together any more. I guess they got each other out of their systems. And Jeff and Sara were perfectly willing to go back to the status quo, too. But Jessie seemed a lot more open to Elly and me than she ever was before. I was so happy for that, because she's a really sweet girl at heart.

Jeff needed to get back to Stanford, so he left a couple of days after Christmas. But we couldn't just stick him on a plane without a going-away party! Instead, Elly and I gave him a marathon fuck-fest in the master bedroom, while Paul and Sara took the guest room and Jessie slept on the foldaway. He came four times: once with his dick between Elly's breasts, once apiece in our cunts, and once in my mouth. That last one was an accident. It was his last cum, and he orgasmed while I was trying to suck him back to hardness, and it went off while he was still soft. In between cock, Elly and I got each other off with our usual dexterity as he watched. We all made solemn promises that none of us would ever be excluded from the others' beds, and sealed it with kisses beyond count. Then we all dozed off.

We were awakened by a knock on the door at five in the morning. It was Paul, reminding us that Jeff had to leave at six to catch his plane. So we trooped downstairs while Jeff was in the shower, and made a quick breakfast for him. Then it was another round of kisses, and he was gone with Paul to the airport.

Elly and I went back to bed, but I couldn't sleep, so I got up and had a second breakfast with Sara, Jessie, and Paul (who'd just gotten back from the airport). It was then that Paul said, "Hey, Emily. Didn't you say you had a tennis game today?"

"Oh, shit! I forgot! I have to be at the gym at two!"

"Well, you'd better shower and get ready."

"You have a tennis game?" Elly said. "Even during Christmas break?"

"Yeah. It's a new girl, from Texas. Freshman. The coach thought it would be a good idea for me to play her, so he could get an idea of how she plays and where she'd fit in on the team. I said, 'Sure.'"

And that's how we all ended up in the gym, with me playing tennis and the family in the stands. My opponent was a big, powerful Black girl named Joyce, who'd transferred from some college in Texas. She was a tennis player in the new mode, relying on power rather than finesse, and before long I regretted not getting the sleep I needed the night before. It was all I could do to keep up with her powerful volleys.

We played two sets. We tied the first one, and I won the second, but just barely. In the shower room, I got a chance to chat with Joyce and discovered that she was a wonderful lady.

"You know, if that last set had lasted fifteen minutes longer, you'd have won. You just about had me worn down!"

"Get out, girl! I've heard about you. You don't wear down that easy! Even after you should be on your knees, they say you find some more energy somewhere. I have never, never, never played anybody who gave me the game that you did."

"Well, I had a ... strenuous night last night. I was really running on empty that last set."

"Girl, if you were running on empty, I'm thanking my stars I didn't play you when your tank was full!"

The family met me outside the locker room. Elly gave me a big hug. "Emily, you were amazing! All the time, you seemed to know where the ball was going even before it left her racquet! You reminded me of Yoda in that Star Wars movie, when he fought Count Whatever-his-name-was. You were everywhere!"

"Aw, thanks, Elly! That girl was really good. I think she could go pro. I thought I'd lose that last game."

"Why?"

"She was just too powerful. My game relies more on dexterity than power. She was wearing me down. But I guess she was getting tired, too, because she started making mistakes. And that's how you really win games, by making fewer mistakes than your opponent."

"True in any sport, Emily. Trust me!"

"But if she learns from her mistakes, she'll be unbeatable. And I know something else, too."

"What's that?"

"That I want to get into the hot tub the minute we get home. My calves are killing me!"

So we arrived, shucked our clothes, and went into the tub room. By now, Jessie was perfectly comfortable about being naked around us, and we spent a half hour in idle chatter. Then came dinner, a DVD, and bed-time. Elly wanted to sleep with Paul and Sara, so I took the guest bedroom. How strange ... it was the first time I'd slept alone since Elly came home.

I found that I couldn't sleep, so I got up and went into the hot tub room for another soak. When I was in there, Jessie came in.

"Couldn't sleep, Emily?"

"No. I'm still too wired from that game."

"I couldn't either. Can I use the tub, too?"

"Sure! Any time!"

She slipped off her robe, folded it, and put it on one of the benches. Then she came into the tub. We sat there in silence, letting the swirling water relax us.

Then Jessie spoke. "Emily, thanks so much for the vibrator. It's so much better than my old one."

"So you've had a chance to use it?"

"Have I ever! It's not quite like a boyfriend, but it's close. And a lot more convenient, too!" We laughed.

"Emily..."

"Mmmm?"

"When I said I wanted to thank you, I meant that I wanted to thank you."

"What do you mean?"

"Emily ... would you like me to kiss you?"

I gave her a long, hard look. Well, I have a reputation for going for broke, and I sure lived up to it then.

"Only if I can suck on your tits, too. But I thought you weren't gay."

"I thought I wasn't a lot of things. Until last week. Now I don't know what I am."

I got up, moved to her side, and hugged her. "You're Jessie. That's all you need to be."

"Goddamn it, Emily! In the past week, I've screwed my brother! I screwed my father! I can't believe it. I thought I had morals. Now, I don't know."

"They both wanted it. They wanted to give you that opportunity to learn about yourself, even more than they wanted your body. You know that, don't you?"

"I guess so. It's like what you said before. We have needs, we communicate them, we help each other fill them. Right?"

"Right! You have a sister's needs, and you have a daughter's needs, and you have a woman's needs. How lucky you are to have a family that thinks that each of those needs is as important as the other, and tries to satisfy each one of them."

"I know. I know that now. I'm still getting used to it, though."

She paused. "There's something else, too. When I came home last summer, and found that you had become part of the family, I was upset, because I didn't know how to fit you in. My parents' mistress? Friend? Possible sister-in-law? I see now that I was wrong. You don't fit into pigeonholes, Emily."

"I can be whatever you want me to be."

"Can you be my sister?"

"I can try. I want to try. I've never had a sister before."

"My lover?"

"Do you want that?"

"I don't know. But I do know that you can be many things, all at once. And I know that if I were ever to take a female lover, it would have to be somebody like you."