Chapter 13

Doc Baker simply lay low for a few months to be sure there were no eyes on him. During that time, summer came, school let out, and vacations started. Melody and Mitch left on their vacation first with Lisa and I taking turns working at C and C and at CIC. Lisa was definitely pregnant. She would be due in the fall with our daughter who was talking to us and to Frankie all the time. She talked to Pam and Frank and to her grandparents a lot. The girls in the Sunday school class had never seen a pregnant woman close up other than when they were very young children. With some help from Jenna, we found a pediatric nurse and, of course, Doc Fincher to join our class and answer questions.

Marissa, the nurse, was almost too graphic in her descriptions. Doc Fincher was a great older guy who had birthed many of the kids in our class. His descriptions were clear without being overly graphic. Marissa admitted that she had seen a number of teenage pregnancies and worried about our young girls thinking that it would be romantic to be pregnant.

Pam also described some of the issues she had faced with being pregnant and working as well as working with a baby. Pam said, "I am fortunate that my employers and my clients are understanding about having Frankie with me. Frankie is a rare baby who rarely cries and who learned to talk early. Having him with me has been easier than on many mothers. My job is such that I can do that also. Having a college degree and an executive position have helped me control my life and, with Frank, provide for us and our son."

Melody and Mitch returned from their vacation without hearing from the office even once during their trip. They did call us one night about mid way through to ask how things were going.

I started off saying, "After the fire, things look to be settling down. We even have most everybody back at work." I could hear frantic spluttering and other noises.

Lisa said, "I should be okay now that I'm out of the hospital. The doctors say the burns will not look too bad." More noises.

Finally I laughingly said, "Everything is okay. Trust us. When you don't, we will make you crazy!"

Lisa said, "There is one piece of news that you will like. We had explained to Annie that our island time is spent naked. I suggested to her that she greet Red that way at home one evening. She did and it took them two days to quit grinning. They were both late for work the next day." Melody and Mitch had a good laugh and admitted that they did sort of miss work but were having a great time. They admitted to having almost complete tans and had even gone to a nude beach a couple of times! They were down on a Caribbean island at an all-inclusive resort.

We met them at the airport when they flew in happy and tanned. They admitted that they had a good time and the time off was good for them. Mitch said, "Even a staycation isn't bad. I am going to encourage employees to at least do that. The other thing is to look at wages and try to bring everyone up to be able to afford at least a staycation if not a vacation. For some, that can be tough."

We took them home telling them that we looked forward to seeing them tomorrow for church. They were there. Our group was gradually growing. We were careful. We now knew we didn't want to attract attention.

Monday, we went in to CIC to welcome them both back. We had told the fire story. Stephanie said, "Haven't we recovered from the fire nicely?" Everyone got a bit laugh with Melody and Mitch joining in. We left before lunch for C and C and worked for the day. We had a week before Jack and Emily left for Hawaii. Karen was torn between wanting to go and wanting to be with John. John won out but it was close. Since we had a hot tub and a pool plus the walking trails, they were looking forward to spending the two weeks with us.

That Saturday, we drove Jack and Emily to the airport. It was a little crowded in back but I didn't hear John complain about Karen sitting in his lap. I couldn't blame him she had an open blouse over a bikini top and a pair of "Daisy Dukes" type shorts. All in all, she was showing a lot of skin. I decided that, if her parents didn't object, I wouldn't either. We saw Jack and Emily off on the plane and watched take off. We went by their house to pick up Karen and John's bags for their "staycation away from home." We pulled in at home in the early evening stopping to pick up Chinese for supper. We had an enjoyable meal with the two youngsters who were comfortable with each other to the extent that they weren't pawing at each other much. I guess that sleeping together and having partners gave them the trust and confidence in each other for that level of comfort.

After supper, Karen wanted to watch "The Walking Dead" on television. Other than for the news, it was one of the first times it had been switched on. We had more fun fondling each other and lying around than watching television. I had to admit that the show wasn't bad though it was gory. We had a huge recliner that Lisa and I claimed. Karen and John sat together on the sofa with his arms around her and softly rubbed her back. I started to rub Lisa's back and she moaned in arousal. I looked at her curiously. She said, "Every time you do that you take me to bed and make love to me later. Are you surprised I find it to be foreplay?"

Karen giggled. "I never thought of a back rub that way before." She moaned a bit. "I always just enjoyed it. Now I know why. John, take it easy. I do want to watch the show!"

I could feel Lisa's grin. She said, "Karen, does that mean that John makes love to you after rubbing your back?"

Karen turned bright red blushing. "No, I, uh, he, uh."

Lisa began to laugh and I joined her. Even John was grinning. Finally, Karen joined in the merriment. The show returned and we all kept quiet until the end.

Karen said, "We do want to talk to the two of you seriously.

"It's almost too well known that we have permission from our parents to make love. A number of our friends know that John and I live at each other's houses. However, only a few know that we sleep together. Even less, namely Lois and Jeremy, know that we have alien partners. We have held off making love and, technically, we're still virgins.

"We want the kind of relationship that you two and our parents have. You have always shown the love you have for each other. Our parents are, well, our parents. We can remember when you, Lisa, weren't even going with Al. I remember when he was introduced to the church one Sunday and then, the next Sunday, he was introduced in class as your fiancé. You two glowed together even on that first Sunday but, in class, you two were smoking. I liked John even then but I knew I wanted a guy who looked at me the way you looked and look at Lisa. I hoped he would be hot looking."

John said, "I liked Karen, too. Watching you two then made me realize that I needed to make a move or I might lose this smoking, hot girl I'm holding now." That got him kissed.

After they came up for air, Karen resumed. "Lisa, I want to know what it is that told you Al was the one."

"It was the sum of a lot of things. First, Al is polite. Second, he is kind. Third, he is smart. I knew the first two when we met at the fitness center. We had smoothies together after we met and talked. It wasn't hard to figure out that he was smart while we talked with each other.

"Unlike the two of you who known each other almost all your lives, I had my dad check Al out. I liked the person that his history showed him to be."

John said, "Did you know about Stargazer?"

"I had no inkling. For that matter, Al didn't either. I did find out about one other attribute that almost scared me away. He is built really big. However, Al was so gentle and loving, that fear went away. I realized what I had and made a decision that I wasn't going to let him go without a fight. Fortunately, Al is a lover not a fighter in that respect. He didn't want to get away. It was easy to seduce him and every enjoyable.

"You guys remember the Sunday that I introduced him in church?" They nodded. "That was the second time we had met though I read my dad's report on him. I brought him home for lunch when he was going to offer to take the poor grad student to lunch. We had lunch and later supper there. He went home late that night only after promising to return early in the morning for breakfast. I fed him and kept there all day.