Chapter 6

Vicky woke into darkness.

It should not have been completely dark. There were lights in the basement, even when every light was turned off. The DVD player, for one, always gave off a bit of light. At times, it seemed abnormally bright, when the eye was expecting darkness. So, why was she now...

Ah. She had rolled over in the night, part of Kevin's sleeping bag covering her eyes.

Rolling her body to the left, the familiar scene of her darkened basement came into view. Ceiling. That light with the fan that never worked.

How she felt was not familiar.

There was a slight ache between her legs. A wetness.

She had had sex.

Slowly, she sat up, looking around the room. Kevin and Bobby were fast asleep in their sleeping bags. More on them than in them, really, as the night was warm, even down here, and they all slept in their clothes. Not changing into pajamas was one of the rules, as if the boys saw her undressed, the parental thinking probably went, they'd be unable to control their hormonal urges.

As if such urges needed more than the smile of a loved one to get them going.

Vicky slipped out of her sleeping bag, standing. She wore her t-shirt from the previous day, panties and jeans. Her bra, socks and shoes were somewhere in the pile near the TV. The wetness in her panties shifted, a somewhat uncomfortable feeling. Bare feet moving carefully, she made her way to the stairs.

Pulling off her panties while sitting on the toilet, the problem was obvious. While sperm was designed to squirt inward, swimming hard up into her body, quite a few of them were obviously either lazy or cowards as they'd slowly come back out. Vicky grabbed some toilet paper, wiping. She examined herself as she did. Her cherry had vanished some time ago, during a tree climbing adventure when she dropped down onto a branch. There was a redness, though, her body's reaction to its first penetration. She closed her eyes, remembering. They'd do it again. Often. Not all the time, no. And they'd be careful. But a whole new world was now open to them.

Standing and flushing, she regarded her panties. It would be best to not let mom find them in this condition. As she washed her hands, she used the water to rinse them somewhat. These would be tossed in the hamper in her room, and she'd get some fresh ones to wear before going back downstairs. Her mom would be no where the wiser.

Vicky looked at herself in the mirror. Did she look any different? Was there any sign that she was no longer a little girl? That she was a woman, with lovers?

She hoped not.

The boys were awake and sitting up as she descended the stairs once again. Each moved apart a bit, in unspoken invitation. Vicky slid down between them, feeling like a Vicky sandwich. This, she thought, must be how Kevin always feels. The two boys put their arms around her, her own slipping behind the two of them.

It felt nice.

Right.

"You OK?" Kevin asked. His voice was soft, concerned. Bobby echoed it, squeezing her. She nodded.

"Yeah. You guys just filled me so much, it was overflowing."

"Is that good or bad?"

"I'm not complaining!" She grinned at each of them, planting a quick kiss on their lips. "I just now know there's going to be some after sex cleanup to do. They don't mention that in sex ed."

Kevin's face suddenly froze. Vicky frowned.

"What is it?"

"Condoms."

"Wha ... oh." Sex. Babies. God, she was stupid! And, hadn't her Mom said she wasn't going to have her daughter become the stereotypical pregnant Black teen? She closed her eyes. "Fuck."

"Yeah." They hugged her, tight. She loved them. Whatever happened, she knew they'd be by her side.

"I have to tell Mom," she said, softy. "I can't deal with this alone."

They nodded, understanding it wasn't a slight against them. They weren't women, not even Bobby. Bobby reached over, touching her cheek.

"Want us to go with you?"

"No," she said, shaking her head. "Stay down here. I'll go wake her."

They each gave her a kiss, tender, loving. She almost cried. How could love lead to unhappiness? It wasn't fair! She stood quickly, before she talked herself into not going, before the three of them thought about it some more and convinced themselves they could deal with this on their own. No. They needed Mom. Not the other parents, certainly not her Dad. But, Mom ... Mom would understand.

She walked quietly up the stairs, down the hall. Her parent's door was slightly ajar, as they often left it. She paused outside. What could she say? The truth, yes, but how? And how much? Probably all of it. Pain now, to prevent pain later. Wasn't that what Mom had always told her? And Mom knew best. Always.

Slowly, she pushed the door open. Dad was snoring slightly, as he always did. He was a heavy sleeper. Mom, thought, she...

The sheets on the large king sized bed shifted. In the light of the digital clock, Vicky saw her Mother raise her head up. Vicky stayed silent. Her Mom glanced at Dad for a moment, then gently slid across the sheet. Her feet swung off onto the wooden floor, legs bare. All of her was bare, Vicky realized. Mom quickly grabbed a light robe, slipping it on as she walked towards her daughter. Vicky stepped back into the darkened hallway. Her Mother followed her out, tying the sash around her robe before closing the door behind her. The two women regarded each other.

"What is it," her Mom asked, voice tired, but awake. Vicky hung her head.

"The three of us ... we..."

Her Mom's eyes widened, hand going to Vicky's chin, raising up her face.

"Did they hurt you, Baby?"

She shook her head, hard, dislodging her Mom's hand.

"No! It was wonderful! But..." She bit her lip. "We didn't use anything. I'm scared. We're scared."

Her Mom sighed. She didn't yell. Didn't curse. Her face didn't fill with anger. She just ... sighed. Mom's hands reached out, taking Vicky's shoulders and drawing her daughter in for a hug. Vicky's head found itself between her mom's breasts. They were warm, comforting.

"It's OK," her mother whispered. "They're awake downstairs?" Vicky nodded. "OK. Let's go down and talk."

Kevin watched Mrs. Miller as she sat on the floor in front of their sleeping bags. Her legs were crossed, robe strategically placed to cover anything that should not be seen. He had not looked down there as she got down onto the floor, her robe parting a bit, being polite about it. You didn't look at your friend's mom as if she were a sexy woman, even if she was. It just wasn't done.

Mrs. Miller had stayed quiet as the three told her all that had happened in the past week. He had always liked Vicky's mom. That she was like a grown up Vicky had helped, naturally, as how could you not like Vicky. Plus, she had always been the most lenient of the parents. Mr. Miller was strict, but fair. His own parents were sort of in between, not letting you get away with things but giving you room to back up and do the right thing before getting pissed.

Vicky went silent, all eyes on her mother. Mrs. Miller took a deep breath.

"We should have talked, Vicky. It's my fault." She shook her head. "I mean, I knew this was going to happen, eventually, if you three stayed friends like this, so I should have either stepped in or made sure you were ready."

"We should have used condoms," Bobby said. Mrs. Miller looked at him, eyebrow raised.

"Hell yes, you should have used condoms. I'm not excusing you two for that, and, Vicky, you should have said no if there was no birth control. I've raised you better than that."

"I know, Mom," she said, voice miserable. "And we even knew this was going to happen tonight." Kevin pulled her close for a hug. They may be in trouble, but he wasn't going to let her feel like she was alone.

"It's my fault," Bobby said, glumly. "If I hadn't kissed Kevin..."

OK, that was just stupid. Kevin lightly punched his oldest friend's arm.

"Yes. You being gay started this. You're going to have to stop that."

The three broke out laughing. Vicky reached over him, adding her own punch to Bobby's arm. Bobby retaliated, kicking Kevin's leg. His attempt to get at Vicky was blocked by Kevin, the girl sticking her tongue out at him in reply. Kevin almost commented on what she could do with that tongue, before remembering who was in the room. They all seemed to become aware of that as well, quickly calming down and sitting up straight. Kevin looked at Vicky's mom.