Chapter 12: Making Plans

When David went to the kitchen to grab himself another beer, Sara followed him. As he turned around, he was surprised to find her standing just behind him.

"Whoa, you surprised me there."

"Listen, David, do you think we could talk?"

"Sure, I'm always available to talk about anything you want. You should know that by now."

She looked around before responding. "Could we go somewhere private, like maybe your bedroom?"

"What, are you planning to waylay me in there?" he teased. But he knew from her response that that was the last thing he should have said.

"No, it's just that I'm worried about my mom," she confessed as her eyes grew damp with impending tears.

"OK, you're right. Let's get away from this crowd and discuss this in private," he said as he moved her out of the kitchen and up the stairs, not bothering to look back to see if anyone was observing them.

Getting to the room, he sat her on the bed, then grabbed a nearby chair and sat on it with the back facing forwards, so he could rest his arms on the back and focus on her responses as he spoke to her.

"Now, what's the problem?" he asked, already knowing what it was likely to consist of.

"My mom's been gone for quite a while, and while you're right that she may have gotten busy with other things, I can't see her just forgetting about me. I'm afraid that something terrible has happened to her."

David knew right then that his face-to-face method of tackling this wasn't going to work, even before she broke into tears. Standing up and moving the chair aside, he sat down beside her and took her into his arms. Once her arms were around him, the tears came. Neither one said anything, simply letting her get her tears out, tears she'd been working hard to keep to herself for all these days, and that now let loose didn't seem ready to stop.

Only after she seemed to have stopped did David try to address the issue, hoping he was saying the correct thing.

"What you're afraid of makes a lot of sense. I thought it strange when she didn't return right away, and it's been nagging at me what may have delayed her."

He moved back so she could see his eyes, before he continued. "I'm still not sure it's as bad as you're thinking, but we need to address it. I think we need to check to see what happened to her. However, it's going to take us a little while before we're ready to make the trip back ourselves. How about if we give her another day, just to see if she shows up? Meanwhile I'll talk to the sheriff and Bob about the current condition of the roads, and whether there's any reports of problems between here and the city.

"The truth is, you girls really need to be back to your families, and I certainly can't expect to keep you here with me indefinitely, even if you are cute and a lot of help. I'm sure the other girls want to see their families, too."

"Oh, no, it's not that," she hurried to respond. "Oh, I guess it is, partially, but I'm not tired of staying here. I've really enjoyed my time here, and I don't think I've ever felt more secure anyplace else. But I really am concerned about what happened to her, and I can't stand the idea that she may be lying in some ditch, having died all alone just because there was no one there when something happened to her." At this point the tears started again, so David took her back into his arms.

Once again he didn't try to reason away her fear, but simply held her, letting her deal with her fears as they came to her, letting the tears fall with only his close physical assurances to counterbalance them.

After that he focused on her feelings as he tried to get her to express her own fears, letting her talk it out. He didn't try to convince her that her fears weren't valid, and he didn't suggest alternatives, just letting her vent for a bit. As he expected, she was happy with his plans to wait another day before venturing out, but she just wanted to know that he was planning something, and she felt better just being able to open up to someone.

When they'd talked for quite a while they got up and he took her back downstairs, offering her an ice cream float to help her cope, knowing that, as bad as it sounded, that it usually worked with Alice. However, when they reached the living room they found Bob excitedly describing something to the others. When he heard them coming down the stairs he paused, and addressed David directly.

"David? I just got some new information, and I think that everyone should hear it. The Government in Washington DC, just addressed the public for the first time since this whole crisis began, and what they described isn't very pretty."

That got David's attention, and he and Sara forgot about her treat as they joined the others, telling Bob to continue.

"It seems the Secret Service acted fast when the meteor storm started. They, like everyone else, had no clue it was coming, and they had no indication of what was happening, but they noticed the breakdown in communication immediately and they assumed the worst. Figuring it was probably a terrorist attack, possibly a nuclear bomb somewhere that damaged the communications network with an EMP, they grabbed the central figures in the government; the President, Vice-President, the Speaker of the House and the rest, putting them on an emergency helicopter flight to their usual mountainside hideaway. Only it wasn't as simple as that."

He took a moment to compose himself before continuing. "Since they thought it was a potential nuclear attack, they wanted to get everyone to safety as quickly as possible. Thus they flew the President out on Marine One, and the Vice President and the others on a later helicopter flight. Not that it was a crowded flight, since Congress was out of session of most of the succession chain was at home. But instead of finding a safe refuge, they flew right into the meteor storm. They didn't question the lack of communications, assuming it was the result of an attack, and their instrumentation wasn't designed to detect small meteors. The plane was likely hit several times on the outskirts of the storm, which you'll remember started near here. It went down with no survivors. The second flight had no warning of what happened to the first, since it had no radio contact and was flying a different route, and the same thing happened to that flight. It took them a long time to determine the flights didn't make it, and they weren't able to get anyone on the ground to even determine what had happened, though they managed to get a team in to determine that no one had survived either flight. Chances are, if anyone did survive, it likely took so long to reach them that they died soon afterwards.

In typical political thinking, those in control back in Washington decided they wouldn't release the information, simply choosing not to address the issue. That's why they've been silent about what's been happening. Apparently the other functionaries who'd normally be in line for succession were in their home states and unable to respond, and likely never heard of what had happened. The next in line was the Secretary of the Interior, and supposedly he didn't handle being in charge very well. It sounds like a few of the upper echelon of the military decided to shepherd him along, so it's really open to interpretation who is really in charge at this stage.

"So far they haven't committed anyone to dealing with the problems facing both the country and the world. When they finally announced the news, they also stated that they'd called out the military to 'ensure the continued stability of the government', making no mention of what they planned to do about the disruption to the rest of the country. So right now, it looks like we don't have much of a government to rely on."

"Wow, that's major," David whispered, unsure of how to respond to it.

"The talk on the radio, at least what there is of it, is that the military has essentially established control, and they're mainly concerned with assuring they remain in control, using their troops to prevent a revolt rather than trying to stabilize the situation or help the people."

"I can certainly understand their fears of people overreacting to this news, but keeping it a secret this long, and then trying to establish martial law afterwards, isn't going to make people react any better to it," Ellen observed.

"No, I figured that's what they're afraid of," David commented. "The people will probably react badly to it, attempting to resist them. However I suspect they also figure that people are too disorganized right now, and thus they won't be able to stage a resistance. So I think we're stuck with a nonfunctioning semi-military dictatorship for the indefinite future."

When no one else could think of how to respond, David decided to get everyone refocused on other issues.

"Bob, could you see what information you can find on how the roads are between here and the city? Which roads and bridges may be out? Any travel restrictions or blockages? I'm planning on heading back to the city, and I'm thinking we should probably take the girls home to their families at this point."

However, the response to that was hardly reassuring to anyone listening. The girls reacted like someone had poured gasoline along the floor and set the room on fire.

"What? That's ridiculous," Amy said. "While they may be worried about us, they know where we are and that we're safe, so there's no call to send us back before they're ready for us."

"She's right," Caitlyn argued. "The same arguments you used in keeping us this long still apply. The city is likely in shambles, the roads aren't clear, and there's more threat to us out on the open roads than there is here. I don't think it makes sense to return now."

The hue and cry from the girls surprised David, who'd thought the girls would be homesick by now. He glanced at the adults, and they didn't seem to be any more convinced by his suggestion than the others, although Flora had a bit of a self-satisfied smirk on her face.

"Well, we probably can't take everyone back at once anyway," he hedged. "I wanted to take Sara back so we can find her mother, so if any of you would like to—"

"I think I'd like to stay here," Erica answered right away.

"It's not that we're not concerned about our families," Julie tried to explain, "but I think it's too early yet. They won't be able to keep track of us, and our usual activities won't be set up yet, so we'd basically just be in everyone's way."

"OK, if Sara and I head back into the city, who'd like to go along?" David asked.

The response was muted, and he could see everyone's indecision. He figured, correctly, that the girls were conflicted. They wanted to accompany him wherever he might go, but they also didn't want to return home too early.

"I think we should discuss this amongst ourselves before we put it to a vote," Ellen suggested. "There's a lot to consider, such as what you'll need to take and what you should bring back, as well as who should accompany you. After all, if you, Linda, Alice and I go along, there won't be room for anyone else unless we take all the cars, thus leaving everyone else stranded."

David knew he was fighting a losing argument, so he abandoned his stance. "That sounds good. I told her I'd talk to the sheriff about what he knows about the roads between here and there, so we have time to discuss it."

"I could have told you no one else would go for it," Sara whispered to him. "I wouldn't either, if I wasn't so worried about my mom."

Finally convincing everyone they needed to head to bed, reminding them how much they had planned and how early they'd have to get up to do it, David shepherded everyone upstairs. David went around after that checking up on everything, but found that the women seemed to have already taken care of everything.

Heading upstairs, he stopped to listen outside of the girls' room. He didn't hear anything, which was odd in itself, but he didn't really think about it. Instead he went to his room, feeling ready for bed.

Opening the door, he found the light off. Thinking Ellen had already fallen asleep, he quietly closed the door. He was about to lock it, but remembered the times someone wanted reassurances during the night and thought better of it. So far the girls had been good. While they'd been free with the teasing, no one beside Flora had entered his bedroom without having been invited. He turned and was making his way to the bed, being careful to not bang his shin against the wooden bed frame, when the bedside light clicked on.

There, sitting together were both Ellen and Linda again, dressed in tantalizing lingerie and sitting up against the headboard.

"It's about time you came aboard, sailor," Ellen said, keeping her voice low and sultry.

"This seems to be becoming a regular thing," David said, as he removed his clothes while watching the two women, appreciating what they were displaying for him. "The first two times you told me it was only because of a bad case of nerves, but I'm beginning to have my doubts now. Should I expect the two of you in my bed every night from now on?"

"Nah," Ellen replied, "Linda just figured that if you're heading into the city on Monday, that you'd want to spend tomorrow night with me, so she figured this would be her last chance to spend the night. Don't worry; I won't let anyone take advantage of you. She knows the rules."

"Well, as long as someone understands the rules, because it seems like you've forgotten the central tenets of the basic boyfriend/girlfriend relationship," he said as he climbed in between them.

"Hey, no one is forcing you to do anything. We can simply go to sleep. I'm sure no one will disturb you if you want to be left alone."

"No, I'm not complaining," David assured them, "it just seems that you're changing the rules whenever it's convenient for you."

"Methinks someone speaks too much," Linda said as she cuddled into him. "He always did this when we were married, too. I'd be all ready to snuggle, and he'd start talking about whatever ideas struck his fancy that day."

Linda shut him up by kissing him and her hand snaked down to begin stroking him. Ellen wrapped herself around his back, and peered over his shoulder to watch what he and Linda were doing. But after a moment David broke off the kiss and pressed Linda back for a moment.

"Excuse me," he said, before turning and calling out loudly enough to be heard out in the hallway, "If there's anyone listening to us out there, I'd like to remind you that adults respect each others' privacy."

"There ain't no one here but us field mice," Amy answered, to which someone squeaked a few time, just for affect. David had a good idea who the other person was.

"Well, how about if the field mice go have some hot chocolate. We should be done in about a half hour, and we'd be more comfortable if we didn't know someone was eavesdropping on us."

"OK," Amy replied in an elongated sad tone that brought a smile to the adults' faces. "If you insist."

Linda started to lean in for another kiss when David held his hand up to hold her off. He waited for several moments until they could no longer hear the sound of footsteps in the hallway.

"That goes for you, too," he called out.

"Oh, man," responded what sounded like Caitlin. "We were just hoping for an apres-sex cuddle."

"That's usually reserved for the people having sex," Ellen reminded them.

"Hey, if you're offering..." she responded. Someone else outside the door laughed.

"I'll tell you what," David announced, "if you want to cuddle afterwards, that's fine. Just give us about a half hour. Better yet, we'll call you when we're done. That way we can get dressed afterwards."

"Oh, man. That takes away half the fun of after-sex cuddling," Julie replied.

"The phrase you're looking for is 'post coital'," Linda informed then, before realizing just how ridiculous teaching children the proper term was in this context. Not to mention she'd just told everyone she was spending the night with her ex again.

"Come on. We're not going to be as loud as we were last night, so you aren't likely to hear anything anyway. We've learned our lesson. From now on we're going to be as quiet as church mice."

"That'll be the day," Caitlyn responded, but the adults could tell from the sounds that whoever was outside were also heading downstairs.

"Think that's all of them?" Linda asked.

"I hope so," David replied.

"Do you think this is going to become a regular thing?" Linda said, teasing David.

"I hope not, but I'm sure they're just having fun. Being able to tease the adults about sex is something new for them. Once they've done it for a day or two it'll get boring when they realize that nothing more is going to happen. I figure they'll stop listening in pretty soon, and the teasing will lessen in a day or two as well."

"Yeah, keep hoping," Ellen replied.

"Can the two of you keep it quiet for a change?" David teased.

"Only if we get some hot chocolate and some apres-sex cuddling afterwards," Linda answered. David hushed her up by kissing her. Ellen was still cuddling against David, but her curiosity was piqued, so after a few moments she climbed out of bed and went to the door without putting any clothes on, and peeked out the door. Seeing nothing, she opened it and looked out.

"Huh," she replied, closing the door and coming back.

"I told you," David said. "They're more interested in being able to relate to us as adults. Listening to us having sex isn't as exciting the second or third time as it is the first. Give them time, pretty soon they'll get over the climbing into our bed stage, too."

"That I'll have to see to believe," Linda replied, but they didn't dwell on it any more as they had better things to focus on, especially now that their 'fun time' had been limited by David to only a half hour. The three of them kept to their word, making hardly a peep the entire time. They did make some noise, but not enough to be heard outside. The previous evening had been exciting for each of them, as it was a first threesome for each of them, supposedly. This was more familiar and somewhat more restrained.

"We're done, if anyone is still interested," Ellen called, leaning out the door and calling down the empty hallway facing downstairs.

"Think anyone's still awake?" she asked the others as she came back to bed.

"Oh, most assuredly," Linda answered, carefully folding the sheet over their laps. "I'd give them a few more seconds. Say in, five... , four... , three... , two..."

"Boy, we didn't think you guys were ever going to finish," Sara said as she opened the door and came in, trailing several others behind her.

"Hey, don't blame me if I've got a little endurance," David teased.

"Hey, nice Teddys," Caitlyn said. "Think I could borrow one?"

"I don't think it would fit you," Ellen replied as she settled into the bed. "I'm a bit bigger on top than you are."

Alice trailed in after the others, took one look at everyone, and walked into the attached bathroom.

"Hey, couldn't you have gone while we were all waiting downstairs?" Julie called out, showing she'd gotten over her shyness by then.

Alice came out a second later, walked over to the bed and handed her mother a brush.

"Oh, thanks honey," Linda blushed. "I didn't think to check myself in the mirror when we were straightening up."

"I can tell," she said. "I prefer not being reminded what you were all up to. By the way, can I borrow your Teddy? After all, it would be more likely to fit me."

"In your dreams," Linda replied. "You may be old enough to know what's going on here, but I don't want you flouncing around announcing to the world that you look better in my clothes than I do."

The other girls laughed at that as they took up positions around the bed, Alice forgoing the chair, settling in directly between her father and mother, who she still didn't think should be getting so intimate with each other. Just then a few more people came in as well.

"What, you couldn't save us a seat?" Maggie asked with a smile as she approached, wearing a thin nightgown and only a t-shirt and panties under it.

"Hey, if they want us to double up I'm fine with it," Flora replied. "I see a nice spot in David's lap."

"Watch it," Ellen warned, "you're still on probation."

"Oh, yeah, that's right. But isn't it past midnight yet?"

"Not quite. Don't forget how early David likes to crash," Ellen replied, poking him in the ribs for effect.

"Oh, then I'll just sit here until the witching hour, then I'll crawl into his lap," Flora responded.

"Hey, I believe the idea was for you to respect boundaries," David said, already having images of her walking in on him in the shower again.

"Don't worry. I know what's allowed and what's not," she told him as she sat on the nearby chair. "I know where I fit in and what I need to do to get along from here on out," she continued, looking at Ellen the whole time.

"You know, as much as we appreciate the lingerie show, David didn't really need to get dressed for this event," Caitlyn teased.

"What makes you think he's dressed?" Ellen asked, since the only parts of him that were visible were naked. He had the bed sheet pulled up to his waist.

The girls all turned and stared at him.

"Damn, I really should have sat on his lap," Erica said.

"I can't wait for midnight," Flora echoed.

"OK, I can see why you'd all want to spend time with me, but since no one brought me any chocolate milk, I'm still interested in getting a decent amount of sleep," David announced. "You can each curl up someplace, but I'm getting myself some sleep."

"That's fine," Caitlyn said. "Sara, you sleep on his right, Julie, you sleep on his left. Erica, you sleep on top, 'cause you're so light. Me, I'll fit in nicely underneath him."

"OK, that's enough," Ellen said. "I'll sleep beside David. Linda, if you don't mind, you got your turn, so how about if we let Maggie cuddle up for the night. The rest of you can find anywhere else, but if you want to giggle and tease, you'd best head back to Alice's room."

Just as Ellen had described, no one argued with her once she laid out what the rules were. Everyone quickly settled down, which reinforced how much sway Ellen had over the others in the house. David admired that in her, he liked someone who took charge. He'd raised Alice to be decisive and to do what needed to be done when it needed to be done, and that was just what Ellen was doing.

It was quiet for a little while, when a little voice spoke up in the darkened room.

"Would you really leave us all alone?" Erica asked in a quiet voice.

Ah, there it was. That seemed to be a much better explanation for why everyone had come into the bedroom. David was right, it wasn't that they were anxious to witness the three adults having sex, or even to tease them about it, but instead they'd hidden their anxieties behind their teasing bluster.

David didn't want to focus more attention on the topic, so he spoke quietly, not sitting up or turning on the light, but he knew everyone in the room was listening to him. He explained why it was necessary for him to leave, how Sara was upset about her mother, and how she needed his protection as much as any of them. He further explained how there would be plenty of people here to watch out for them, and that the house was secure. But David knew that wasn't the issue. They weren't saying they weren't secure. They were saying, through their non-responses, that they felt lost without him.