Chapter 6: The Second Date and More Details than a Mother Wants

Becky followed us home and Melinda had already beaten us to the house. It was a weekend, after all, and neither had any classes. They were both eager to get in on the whole 'meet the girlfriends' movement. I groaned at the pressure everyone was putting on the poor girls.

Once I entered the house, everyone wanted hugs and kisses. Some were more involved than others. Mom and Cate had apparently decided they'd be better off not fighting for access, as they both patiently waited until everyone else was finished. After completing my welcoming ceremony, I collapsed onto the couch. "I think I'll just sleep until Chalise gets here," I groaned.

"Do you think these new girlfriends should be brought into all of this?" Allison asked, not even bothering to let me relax before jumping into the next hot topic. "I mean into the whole nature of our relationship to Alex. It seems he's already told them about most of us."

"It wasn't just me," I growled, glancing at the assembled women who had done so much to surprise Kitty last night. "If you hadn't kept adding one surprise after another, they might have left it alone." They all looked at me like I was spouting complete nonsense.

"I don't know," replied Cate, ignoring my interruption. "If they become serious they'll have to be told. But we certainly can't do it unless we can trust them completely. Can you just imagine the shit an angry ex-girlfriend can cause us?"

"No kidding," Melinda replied, picturing breakups from her own past. "I say we should just leave them both in the dark. They're likely to get annoyed at all the women anyway."

"Yeah, but you know Alex. He's so damn noble, he'll have a hard time justifying not telling them," Cate said.

"Hell, Alex, you'd think you'd be able to keep your mouth shut, thinking about all the potential nookie you'll be getting," teased Becky. "You won't get a whole lot of that locked up in a secret government science lab."

"I think it's a question of keeping them from asking questions," I offered. Even teasing, I wasn't comfortable with comments about secret government forces. Given the limited nature of our combined abilities, I frankly didn't think it warranted much interest. But still, she did have a point. Just like I didn't like the press revealing too much about me, I certainly wouldn't want an angry ex-girlfriend revealing my details either.

"Shit, that's true," Becky concurred. Mom had simply given up trying to correct all of her family's language lapses.

"Yeah, it's not like you can just cover up all the craziness in his life at this point," added Shani.

"Maybe they'll just quietly move on once he goes off on his trip around the country this summer," Melinda offered.

"What cross country trip?" I asked. However she just rolled her eyes at me.

"Duh, the one you're going to have to go on to find more women, of course." She turned to the other women and signaled how I clearly wasn't following the conversation. "We've been discussing it. You're going to have to try to find as many as you can. If you have any mission at this point, that's got to be high on the list."

Try as I might, I couldn't argue with her.

"Well then, what about college in the fall?" I asked, already dreading the answer.

"Seriously, Alex," Becky said, showing she'd already planned out much of my life, despite what she'd said to Cate earlier. "I don't think that's even a serious consideration at the moment. I mean, college is a big thing for most people; it gives them something to aim for in life. But you've already got enough going on in your life at the moment. I think you're going to have to dedicate yourself to this, trying to find as many people who share these abilities as you can."

I was about to say something in my own defense when Shani saw my cross look and stepped in. "That's a topic for another time, right now I think we should continue to thrash out just how much we all tell Kitty and Chalise."

"I don't think they're likely to take off after he departs for the summer," Anh commented. "Have you noticed how loyal all his followers are?" After I translated, everyone sighed in agreement.

At this point my parents came in and joined the conversation, figuring it was serious enough to need some adult consideration.

"Maybe he should just shoot off as soon as he gets 'intimate' with them," suggested Melinda. "That'd sure turn me off." Everyone appreciated her humor, but I noted how she'd toned down the comment due to our parents being here. It didn't keep her from making the comment, however.

"Can you picture Alex doing that?" Allison asked. "He has been getting Anh and me to instruct him over and over on the best ways to give everyone head." The girls all sighed with blissful glassy eyed smiles at that, especially my sisters, which was disturbing enough on its own.

"Frank, maybe you should sit in one of those sessions instead of Cate," suggested my mother.

"Great," I moaned. "As bad as it is picturing your parents having sex, it's much worse hearing that they may not be very good at it. I mean, what if it's genetic?" Ha, that'll show them, I thought, I finally got my own laugh in.

"Don't worry," explained Anh, "it NOT genetic." I rolled my eyes and everyone laughed. Seems Shani hardly had to translate.

"Hey, hey, how about we leave Alex's sex life to Alex?" I argued.

"Nah," they agreed as one. "It's too much fun being spreading your 'loving' around," countered Melinda.

"Now you see where I get my need for vicarious thrills from," replied Cate.

"Please," groused Melinda, "if all of my vicarious thrills came from having a front row seat to orgies in my own house, do you really think I'd be dating all these losers at school?"

"Well, first we'll have to see how Alex does with these two," added Mom. "He still has his first date with Chalice tonight."

"It's pronounced Sha-leese, Mom, she's not a fancy goblet," I informed her.

"Whatever," she rolled her eyes. "What happened to the days when you brought home girls with normal sounding names?"

"They never existed," laughed Cate. "He's never brought home a girl before New Orleans, and now they come in all flavors."

"Shaniqua, I love you to death," Mom smiled, "but what the hell was your mother thinking?" Shani had the good sense to simply blush and remain silent.

"Hey, shouldn't we be thinking about lunch or something?" I suggested, hoping to get off these topics. "Everyone's been so preoccupied no one's eaten anything. Maybe we should all go out to eat somewhere it'll be impossible to discuss this stuff?" They all laughed at me as they discussed what we should do for food. Thank the gods for women's shared maternal instincts.

Although I could have taken a stand in the discussions concerning how I intended to handle Kitty and Chalise, I'd learned long ago that it was better to just let a group of girls have their say when they were in the mood. Arguing with them rarely solved anything, and usually they were just venting anyway. I was the one who'd decide what they were told or not, and I'd do it according to my own dictates. I just had to figure out what they were first!

Before everyone broke off into their own things, I managed to get Melinda off by herself.

"Hey, Melinda, Becky said that you had a question about something you were doing for me. Is there anything you want to ask?"

"What? No, forget about it, Alex," she answered, waving her hands in front of her. "It wasn't anything, just a minor little detail. I don't want to disturb you when you're getting ready for the big date tonight. We'll talk about it some other time. You know, this date of yours has me all excited. Hell, I haven't been excited about my own dates for a while, unless you count dread as a degree of excitement. Man, young love, huh? It's got a feel all its own. I have a feeling you're going to rock her little world."

"Yeah, yeah, look, don't go inflating my ego too much, or else I'm likely to burst before the night is over. My poor ego can only take so much."

We both laughed and she went off to do her own thing in her bedroom, which she could at least use during the day, even though she'd agreed, with Becky, to share the couches in the living room overnight. My Dad had this thing about sofa beds, so we never got one. But our couches were actually quite comfortable.

Finally it was time for me—or should I say us—to prepare for my date with Chalise. If I thought it was bad preparing for a date with my girls, try getting ready for a date with a whole house full of women. They ALL wanted to help! I escaped for a moment when they allowed me to pee, and I ran to the bathroom while they were all giggling as Shani translated Anh's comments about how I needed to pee now because I wouldn't be able to once my date got here.

My Father passed me in the hallway.

"What'd I say about your influence? Not one of your sisters has a single problem with your many relationships, and so far neither of your two dates has any qualms either." He grinned at me as he retreated behind his bedroom door; seemingly smart enough to avoid the entourage encamped in my bedroom.

After I finished draining the tank, I reluctantly returned to my room where several women were picking through my clothes. Others were going through my ties and another was polishing my shoes. Polishing my shoes? I can't remember the last time I polished my shoes. Surely if the girl's interested in me, the last place she's going to look is at my feet.

"Good, he's back," called out Melinda. She maneuvered me over to the bed. "OK, off with the pants, buddy. Cate's not the only sister who gets to enjoy a few vicarious thrills. Am I right, Becky?"

"Oh, wait, wait," called Natalie, who immediately rushed over and took over that clearly onerous task. My sisters gathered to admire her handiwork. Soon they were handing Natalie new boxers and slacks that she helped me into. They were silk boxers, too, not the normal cotton ones. I tried to explain the problem that silk boxers presented to a teenage boy on a date, but they all assured me that an erection was the least of my problems tonight.

Telling me not to sit down for fear I'd wrinkle my suit, despite my protests that I'd have to sit to drive there, they proceeded to strip off my T-shirt and dressed me in a fresh, plain one and a new dress shirt. Strange, but I would have sworn I didn't even have one a couple weeks ago. Becky fastened my tie for me; she was the only one of my sisters who'd ever had the opportunity to fix a man's tie for him. She slid it up against my neck, squeezing it a little tight before smiling and loosening it for me again.

"Sorry, I couldn't resist," she teased. It made me wonder whether I was simply asking for trouble inviting any more women to invade my life. It seemed to me that I had WAY too many at the moment!

Becky then did my cufflinks for me, and then Natalie and Melinda helped me slip into my jacket. Shani managed to get my pleats straightened for me. About that time my Mother called upstairs that Chalise's car was coming up the street, whereupon Shani pushed me down into my forbidden seat and Anh pulled my dick out and proceeded to fellate me before all of my admiring sisters, while someone, I'm not even sure who, slipped my shoes onto my feet. Shani explained to Becky and Melinda my girls' thinking on the preparation ceremony they were observing, but my sisters seemed too busy staring to comment on it. Before long I was spurting frantically down Anh's throat, and blushing wildly as Melinda commended her on her obvious skills.

Soon I was being escorted downstairs by Allison and Natalie. Shani and Anh were already down in advance to guard the staircase. I could only imagine it was to protect me from any more women entering the house! Luckily for me, most of my sisters agreed to stay behind for fear of scaring the bejeezus out of my date and her mother. I noticed Chalise glancing at my crotch as we descended the stairs, but couldn't tell if she was disappointed I wasn't sporting an erection at seeing her. I was glad, though, when I noticed her mother checking me out as well.

I had explained it was a mistake for everyone to accompany me, since her mother might very well be there, but I was outvoted. Everyone agreed that she'd have likely heard at least a few of the rumors surrounding me, and would only think I was hiding something if they didn't appear. The logic made sense, but I had trouble meeting her mother's eyes, expecting to see the cold stare of a protective parent's disapproval. However, it wasn't anything like that. Glancing at her, she seemed quite cordial, though whether that was acceptance, diplomacy or carefully concealed hated, only time would tell.

Chalise introduced me to her mother, Caroline, while I introduced them both to my parents, Cate, and all the other women. I couldn't help but glance at Caroline and compare her to both Anh and my mother. I figured Chalise would still be quite attractive in another dozen or so years. Caroline stood tall and proud, much like Shani carried herself, and radiated health and beauty. She wore a beautifully patterned dress that showed off her nicely shaped legs. Surprisingly, she didn't wear her hair in a natural fashion, since both Darrell and Chalise did. I figured maybe it was their father's influence there. Instead, Caroline wore hers in a wavy straightened fashion that looked very mature and relaxed. I could certainly see where Chalise got her beauty and bearing.

Everyone waited patiently while the girls exchanged hugs, followed by my own kiss hello for Chalise and then my pinning of a burgundy corsage to her bosom. I kissed her mom hello as well, which made her smile.

"Very nicely done," granted Caroline, "you're very smooth."

"Can't help it," I admitted, "when you're being coached by a houseful of women. Say hello girls," I called upstairs. A couple hellos echoed downstairs. "My sisters came by to visit and couldn't resist helping me prepare for my date," I explained. Caroline laughed at this, though Chalise looked substantially taken aback. I think she was beginning to sense the potential seriousness of our simple little date.

"So," Caroline began, looking from me to each of the women around me, "who'd like to convince me this is a good idea?" Shani immediately took Chalise's hand, while Anh took Caroline's and led them over to the couch. They took up most of the couch so I headed for a side chair, when Shani motioned to my mother who shook her head no at me, apparently due to the 'no sitting' ruling from earlier. So I remained standing while they talked.

"How much of Alex's rumored life has your daughter told you?"

"Not much, just that he avoided being pounded to a pulp by my Neanderthal son, and talked the girl he threatened him over into dating both him and my son, then asked his sister to date him as well. I'm hoping not out of spite."

"I'd never do something like that to your daughter or anyone else," I protested.

"You can defend yourself when you're asked," chided Shani, "Right now she wants us to defend you first." I simply shrugged to signal my lack of understanding of women in general.

"Anything besides that?" Shani asked.

"Well, she warned me about the rest of you being here, and that you apparently followed him here from New Orleans this week. Although I've got to say, it's one thing to hear a random number, it's quite another to see all of you here."

"Correct," Shani acknowledged simply, not addressing the other comment. "Anything else?"

"Well, she was on the phone for hours with her new friend Kitty, where Kitty apparently spilled all the details of her meeting with all of you last night."

"OK. To clear everything up," Shani announced, preparing to bring Caroline up to date. "Yes, we met Alex and his family in New Orleans. He managed to change our lives in such a significant way that we decided to move in order to be near him, and that we'd help him in any way we can. I won't bore you by listing all the things he's done for both us and others, but we'd do anything for him.

"One of the things we've agreed to do for him is to make sure he doesn't bypass all the normal activities of a teenager, especially his first love and all that entails, which so far he's completely missed out on. We finally gave him an ultimatum," she lied, "that he had to find a girlfriend his own age." Anh nodded her agreement at this statement.

"He agreed and, well, here he is," she concluded.

"And why would he pick my daughter, who he never knew before except for a single lunch with a whole table full of people?"

"Well, honestly, I think he was getting tired of people treating him strangely because of the rumors surrounding him since his return. When your son mentioned that both Kitty and Chalise liked him, he figured he'd rather try someone who showed an honest interest rather than someone who was simply looking for gossip about him."

Caroline seemed to be a bit taken aback by that information.

"I can't picture Darrell saying something like that to the guy he was trying to pick a fight with."

"He wasn't really—" Shani and Anh both cut off my protests with a single pair of looks.

"Alex was going to defend your son," Shani explained. "Just like he talked Kitty into giving him a fresh start and offering him the benefit of the doubt. It was a roundabout way of asking her to view him without taking into account all the rumors. He's just such a nice guy, though, that he'd have made the same offer whether she went out with him or not."

Caroline was starting to look a bit dazzled with all this information.

"What about you?" she countered. "What are your intentions regarding this young man?"

"Again, our intentions are simply to help our dear friend in any way we can. We just happen to think that this," and here she swept her arm to include all of them, "is one of those things we can help him with."

"And you don't have any designs on him yourselves? I heard some rumors that you were, uh..."

"That we were fooling around with him?" Shani asked, but continued before Caroline would have to embarrass herself by answering. "It's true, though as we said, we refused to have intercourse with him until after he'd found a girlfriend. By the way, we've trained him to be a careful and sensitive lover, not that he really needed much help in that regard," she said, winking at both Chalise and Caroline.

"If he and your daughter—or someone else if she chooses not to get involved with him—decides they want to be exclusive, then we'll gladly step aside. We won't leave him alone, though, since as we stated, we mean to do everything in our power to help him in anything he decides to do, but we'll respect any decision he makes. If they break up, as most high school romances eventually do, then we'll be there to pick up the pieces. If not, then we'll be glad for them and support them both."

"I find it a little hard to believe that a woman would simply give up a man she—or they—were having a relationship with, without putting up a fight."

"I think you'll find that we're not like most other women," Allison said, finally breaking the unspoken agreement they all seemed to have made to let Shani be their spokesperson. "Most women wouldn't leave their jobs and family behind to follow a promising teenager to another state. Most women wouldn't dedicate themselves to helping that man in whatever he decides to do. Most women in similar circumstances wouldn't have the backing of the man's family," to which we all heard a combined agreement shouted from upstairs. "And finally, most women wouldn't dedicate themselves to someone as much as we, and others to follow, I'm sure, plan to dedicate ourselves to him and his sister."

"His sister? What?" I jerked back at that last bit myself.

"His sister has decided to dedicate herself to studying the phenomenon of her brother. She's changing her whole career path to aid that study. His other sisters have all agreed to drop at least a year of their own studies to assist him as well."

"What... , what is it they're studying about him?" Caroline asked, a bit shocked at the suggestion.

"What makes him tick? What makes women like us follow him like we do? What makes girls like your daughter and Kitty decide to date him despite the fact he's already involved with numerous other, older, women? Alex is going to become something major in life, Caroline. True, you'll probably never see him in a boardroom or on the news. He's much too humble and subtle for that. But he's a mover. He changes people. And, in so doing, he's more likely to change the future course of humanity than any silly talking head you'll see on TV."