Chapter 1

Characters returning from the previous story:

Mark Kent O'Connell

The children's Father, 5'-9" tall, 165 pounds, 39 years old, brown hair, hazel eyes

Mary Kathleen O'Connell (Katie)

Mary Margaret O'Connell (Margie)

Mark's wives and the children's Mothers, 5'-3" tall, 124 pounds, 36DD-25-37, legally 38 years old (actually 196 years old), long flaming red hair, deep green eyes, a sprinkling of freckles, very cute

Edana and Gale O'Connell

Margie's daughters, 5'-4" tall, 105 pounds, 34C-22-32, 16 years old, long flaming red hair, green eyes, some freckles, very very cute

Tara and Muriel O'Connell

Katie's daughters, 5'-4" tall, 106 pounds, 34C-22-32, 16 years old, long flaming red hair, gray eyes, some freckles, very very cute

Aengus Patrick and Sean Michael O'Connell

Mark's sons, 5'-9" tall, 129 pounds, 14 years old, auburn hair, Aengus is Katie's son and has gray eyes; Sean is Margie's son and has blue eyes

The Stuarts

a. William (Uncle Will), 5'-7" tall, 165 pounds, 67 years old, thin gray hair, gray eyes

b. Myra (Aunt Myra), 5'-4" tall, 139 pounds, 36C-27-37, 66 years old, gray hair, blue eyes

c. Thomas, 5'-9" tall, 155 pounds, 40 years old, brown hair, blue eyes

New characters appearing in the first few chapters:

Anna (Annie) Catherine and Sara Elizabeth O'Neill

Twin sisters, the brothers' girlfriends, 5'-1" tall, 100 pounds, 32C-21-32, 14 years old, long auburn hair, gray eyes, very very cute

Ed and Bill Fitzgibbon

Twins, the daughters' boyfriends, 5'-10" tall, 145 pounds, 17 years old, brown hair, blue eyes, Ed is Edana and Gale's BF; Bill is Tara and Muriel's BF

Tuesday 25 March 2031:

It started out like all of the other book deliveries that Sean and I had made over the last few years. After finishing our homeschooling for the day, we loaded the books and herbals on the cart and pushed it through the portal to Denver. That was where things got complicated. I opened the door of the booth so Sean could push the cart into the store, and SHE was standing there.

SHE was the most beautiful girl that I had ever seen. Now don't get me wrong. My four sisters are beautiful, as are our Mothers, but they are relatives, and we expect them to be beautiful. This girl was a stranger and breathtaking. SHE was about 5'-0" tall, a little thin maybe, but with long Auburn hair that was maybe a shade lighter than my own and gray eyes. She had on a light yellow pull over shirt that showed off her perky breasts and a matching flowered skirt that revealed her spreading hips.

"Hello," I said after I swallowed the lump in my throat. She smiled at me, and the smile lit up the entire store.

"Can I help you?" I finally remembered to add.

"Hello," she answered in a soft voice.

"What's wrong, Gus?" Sean asked behind me, as he pushed the cart into the store and stopped dead in his tracks, as taken with the girl's beauty as I had been.

"Annie have you... ?" a second voice demanded as another girl came into view. She was the twin of the girl standing there, and was dressed similarly, but in a light blue shirt and matching skirt.

"OH... !!" she finished on seeing us.

"Do you work here?" the first girl managed after a few awkward seconds. "We were looking for..." she trailed off looking at Sean and me.

"Uhm ... no, we don't really work here. We're delivering some new books, but we know where everything is and can help you," I managed to tell her with a smile. I know that we didn't look like much. We had on ink stained jeans and T-shirts, but they were what we wore for work at our parents' business. We hadn't expected to meet beautiful girls on a delivery. There were a few seconds of embarrassed silence.

"My name is Sean," Sean told them, "And my brother's name is Gus - well Aengus, actually."

"Oh... ! I'm Sara and my sister is Anna. Are you guys twins?" the second girl, Sara, asked.

"Uhmm ... sort of," I answered.

"SORT OF? Either you are twins or you aren't," Anna said.

"Well, ... you see, it's a little complicated," Sean answered.

"Yes, we have separate Moms, who are twins, but the same Father, and we were born on the same day," I told her.

"Separate Moms!!" the first girl, Anna, asked, obviously confused.

"Yes, our Father has two wives," I told her.

"Are you Mormons?" the second girl, Sara, asked.

"No, we go to a regular church in Statesboro," Sean answered.

"Statesboro??" both sisters asked.

"It's in Georgia - near Savannah," I told her.

"But didn't you just say that you were delivering books?" Annie asked, very confused.

"Yes, we just came through the portal to deliver these books to the store," Sean told her, pointing at the cart.

"PORTAL!?" both girls asked in shock.

"Yes, it's how we deliver books and herbals to all of the stores that carry our books and other products," I told her.

"Does that mean that you work for 'Magic Ink Press'?" Sara asked eagerly.

"Yes, our parents own it," Sean told them. Both girls were again shocked.

"So you're O'Connells!?" Annie asked.

"Yes, that's us," I answered.

"That's amazing," Sara said.

"What kind of book were you looking for?" I asked, getting back to business.

"A book on Magic, but one more advanced than the ones in the basic series. We've already read all of them," Annie told me.

"Do you read Gaelic?" Sean asked.

"Gaelic?" both sisters asked in unison.

"Yes, all of the more advanced books are in Gaelic," I told them. I could instantly see the disappointment in their faces.

"How about French? We have some books in French," Sean told them.

"Only a little," Sara told us.

"Let me show you one," I volunteered, and reached for a copy on the cart.

It was when I touched Annie's hand to give her the book that things went haywire. There was an actual spark between us when I touched her, but then it felt almost like touching Sean, only Annie was much softer and warmer than my brother. I was shocked and so was Anna. We just stared at each other for a few seconds.

"You have a very strong Talent," I told her when I could talk past the lump in my throat.

"Yes, so do you. Does your brother share it?" she asked.

"Yes, our whole family does, but Sean and I are the strongest," I answered. "Do both of you sisters share it?"

"Yes." Anna answered.

"Sean, touch Sara's hand," I told him. They were both staring at us. Sean reached out and put his arm around Sara's waist.

"That's not her hand, Bro!" I told him, but could see their shock at the touch.

"Did ... did you have the same reaction that we ... we just had?" Sara asked hesitantly after a few seconds.

"Yes, we did," I assured her.

"I never felt anyone else as strong," Sean said in amazement. That was when the regular clerk returned.

"Oh, hi guys. Is that more books for us?" he asked.

"Yes, we just brought them in, George," I told him, and pushed the cart over to the counter. Annie moved with me.

"I see that you've met the O'Neil sisters," George said. "They are in here a lot." I looked over at Sean then. He still had his arm around Sara's waist, and she didn't seem to mind at all. Their foreheads were also touching as they leaned into each other.

"I'll just check these books in and you guys can take the cart back with you," George told us as he saw where we were looking. I handed him the invoice with the list of books and herbals on it. I was too busy looking into Annie's eyes to help him, and way too soon George was finished.

"You can take the cart back," George told us, but he could see that we were otherwise engaged.

"Yes," I answered him, still not looking up, as I gazed into Annie's eyes.

"Would you like to see our plant, where we print the books?" I finally managed to ask her.

"We don't have a lot of time," Annie answered quietly breaking eye contact with me and looking at the floor.

"It won't take long," I assured her. "It's only a couple of steps away."

"Sean, time to go," I called to my brother.

"Sara, we're going with them," Annie told her sister, surprising me. Neither Sean nor Sara had moved or seemed to hear us.

"Earth to Sean, come in, Sean," I called louder. That seemed to get through to Sean, and he turned to look at me.

"What?" he asked, coming back from wherever he had been. I had never seen Sean like that.

"Time to go. The O'Neill sisters are going with us," I told him.

"Oh ... OH, OK!!" Sean replied, happily.

I pushed the empty cart toward the booth and its portal. Sean opened the door. Anna and Sara went in with us. It was very crowded with all of us in the small booth along with the cart, and I pushed the cart through the portal to get rid of it. When I turned around, Sara was locked up in Sean's arms, and it looked like he had his tongue down her throat. Sara wasn't complaining at all that I could see.

"Sara is the adventurous one," Annie told me, shyly.

"Yes, so is Sean," I told her, as we watched them for a few seconds.

"Should ... should we try it too?" Annie asked, very quietly.

"I'm OK with that," I told her, as Annie came into my arms. Annie was so soft and warm, and she pressed herself against me. I could feel her body shiver as we touched. I kissed her warm soft lips for a while, and then slipped my tongue past her lips and into her mouth. She tasted like strawberries. In no time Annie collapsed against me after shivering again, and I had to hold her up.

"Oh God!" she moaned weakly, as our lips parted for a few seconds, and we drew air into our lungs. I had touched my sisters in working with them, but no one had ever had the effect on me that touching Annie did there in that booth in Denver. I could feel that Sean had been affected by Sara in the same way. I had just pressed my lips back on Annie's when we were rudely interrupted.

"Gus, Sean, where are you? It's lunch time," a voice came through the portal and was followed by a body. It was our sister, Edana. She was shocked when she saw Sean and me with the two girls.

"What's going on here?" Edana demanded angrily, as she stepped into the booth, making it even more crowded.

"Uhm ... we just met Annie and Sara in the book store, and were bringing them to see the plant," I told Edana, as I released Annie.

"That wasn't what it looked like a second ago," Edana said, and turned to Sean. "Sean, release that girl this instant. What's wrong with you?" she demanded. Sean and Sara were just coming up for air - for the first time. It took him a few seconds to get enough air before he could answer Edana.