Chapter 26

Rob sat down to eat the meal the ladies had saved for him, warmed up in advance of his coming home. Dawn blushed when he complimented the meal, and she admitted she was the one who had prepared it. He resisted becoming effusive, not wanting to insult Elaina, but he tried to let Dawn know he appreciated her efforts all the same. Elaina was no fool and recognized his efforts to be fair, giving him a smirk to let him know it was okay.

Dawn asked him about bringing the sword home, and he related his experiences at class that night. Elaina looked the katana over and commented that it didn't look any different to her. Rob allowed as that was the point.

"So," Dawn said, "How's the case going?"

Rob had already considered how he was going to answer her questions about the case. He didn't want to give Dawn too much information and have her become a back channel, in case he accidentally misrepresented something. He didn't want her in the middle, so he told her only what he would tell anyone else who asked.

"The case is going well," he replied carefully. "Jake's making slow but steady progress, so we should have something to report in a week or so."

Dawn tipped her head, recognizing that he was equivocating, and decided not to make an issue of it: after all, he had once said he wasn't supposed to discuss the case outside of work. Instead, she told them of her day at work, noting that tensions were still high, but there was some relief among the lower ranks. Elaina told them she'd met the young couple that had bought her house, and told them their two young children were cute.

"They had some questions about the neighborhood, but I'm afraid I couldn't tell them much," she said ruefully. "I never spent much time there."

Watching Rob yawn, Elaina suggested it was time for bed. Rob took his dishes to the sink, but Dawn bumped him out of the way with her hip and cleaned up for him over his half-hearted protests. He really was tired and was looking forward to getting some sleep.

They readied for bed and climbed in, with Dawn in the middle facing Elaina. While the women made out with each other, Rob curled up back-to-back with Dawn – after giving them both good-night kisses, of course – and quickly fell asleep despite the stimulation of his women being sexy right next to him. The last thing he remembered was Dawn giggling about something Elaina had said.

Tuesday morning went the way Monday had, with Rob escorting Dawn to the bus stop. Barbara asked him if he was bucking for a promotion when he walked in early again, and he asked her if she thought he would be a good replacement for Bob. Not expecting an answer, he didn't see her considering look as he went on to his office.

Jake came to Rob's office after he signed in to report that he had one name firmly established and that it might take a while to get the rest.

"As best as I can tell right now," Jake said, "I've got six or seven others involved. I've established the pattern, now it's just scut work. I imagine I'll have to have definite proof before I submit the names."

"You can report them to me," Rob answered, "But we have to be careful what we tell the client until we have evidence that will stand up in court. Submit what you have to legal and they'll advise us."

"Okay, boss. Thanks," Jake said as he departed.

Rob met Dawn at Tony's, with Elaina showing up late. She declined Deidra's offer of a salad, saying she had eaten earlier and was only stopping by for a visit. Deidra looked over the three of them. She could see they were happy together and wondered at how it worked.

After lunch, Bob looked up Rob on the floor and pulled him aside.

"I just got a call from Mr. Kerck," he related to Rob. "And let me tell you, that was a surprise. I never expected I would talk to the man, and here he is calling me direct to give me news." He shook his head. "I'm not sure I like that kind of attention."

"So, what did he have to say?" Rob asked curiously.

"We have agreed to take on Zeller Realty as a corporate client," Bob said. "Seven more offices nationwide appear to have a similar problem with underperforming, so they've decided to have us look into it since we've done well so far with this office. Don't be surprised if you start getting calls asking for advice."

As predicted, Rob spent the rest of his afternoon going over his case with the account managers of other offices. In hindsight, the issue was obvious, but then, Rob thought, wasn't that always the way? He ended up speaking to all seven offices before the day was over.

Elaina had dinner waiting for them when Rob and Dawn got home from work. Despite the disparity in distance, Dawn still arrived home before Rob. The express bus made better time then the cab, and she didn't have to wait to get one: the bus had a schedule it adhered to, while getting a cab was catch as catch can.

The girls decided to watch a movie after dinner, one that didn't interest Rob all that much, so he was idly surfing the web when he got curious about something he spotted on a news site. Typing "bloody tears" in Google got him several hits for a song by that name, reports of people who purportedly cried blood ... and a wiki link. He clicked on the link and read it with fascination. He spent another half-hour tracking down references to be sure he hadn't stumbled across an urban myth. He was finally satisfied when he found a report on haemolacria in a journal of ophthalmology.

The women were done with their movie and chatting about what they'd watched when Rob called them over.

"Look at this," he said, pointing at the screen. They took a moment to read what he'd found before commenting.

"You don't have to hide your tears anymore," Dawn said with quiet excitement. Elaina wasn't convinced.

"Look how rare it is," she pointed out. "It's odd enough that it would call attention to me. No, I believe I'll go on being cautious. Besides, you've seen what happens when I'm not."

That started another argument over Elaina's continuing guilt, ending with her lovers assuring her once again that they were pleased with the results. Elaina still wasn't completely convinced, but she was starting to accept that it wasn't a bad thing after all.

That night, they put Elaina in the middle and loved on her until she relented. In consideration of Dawn's period, they kept their activities light. Rob ate Elaina to an orgasm. Dawn, who had become worked up from suckling Elaina's nipples, allowed Rob to finger her to an orgasm. Elaina finished off Rob with her mouth while Dawn kissed him. An hour later they were asleep, cuddled up like puppies in the middle of the bed.

Wednesday was basically a repeat of Tuesday, without any reports of new information to add seasoning to the day. Rob attended his Krav Maga class, ending with another round of group sparring. Everyone was more cautious this time, but Rob continued to win nonetheless.

Rob got a call from his mother that night at home after class.

"Hey, Mom!" he said as a greeting. "What's up? Everything okay?"

Yes, it is. Now that I can make the arrangements, everything is going very smoothly, she replied. That's part of why I called you. I forgot to tell you that Patty's viewing is tomorrow at seven. Do you think you can make it?

"I'm sure that won't be a problem," he said. "Let me check with Elaina."

He went to his laptop first and pulled up sunset times. When he saw that the sun would set a full hour before the viewing, he went to Elaina and asked her. She nodded her willingness then he looked to Dawn.

"You want me there?" she asked uncertainly.

"Of course we want you there," Elaina answered when Rob only nodded.

"Okay, I'll be there," she answered quietly. Rob went to the kitchen to finish the call.

"Okay, Elaina and Dawn will be there with me," he told her.

Oh, that's nice. It'll be good to see them. Rob's eyebrows shot up at her acceptance. The funeral is this Saturday. Will they be able to make it for that too?

"I'll talk to them and let you know tomorrow, all right?" He was a little off-balance from her easy acceptance of both women.

Okay, dear.

She went on to give him the details of exactly where and when both the viewing and the funeral would take place. He knew it was silly, but he needed to ask Elaina if she had any problems with entering a church. After he ended the call, he approached her about it.

"Yes, sweeting, I can enter a church," she answered drolly. "They make great shelters. The nave and apses usually have stained-glass windows which filter the sunlight, and the alcoves never have windows."

"But what about crosses?" Dawn asked naïvely.

"What about them?" Elaina asked archly.

"Don't they burn, or something?" Dawn caught on that Elaina was funning her.

"No, my sweet," she replied kindly. "Although my parents were considered Pagans by the missionaries, we were exposed to the Russian Orthodox church, even as isolated as we were. I still have the cross my parents accepted to appease the more militant missionaries."

"So, you have no problems with religious artifacts of any kind?" she asked.

"That would imply that vampires were creatures of evil," Elaina answered. "We are no more evil than any other predator, and kinder than most. At least we think about our meal."

Dawn sighed with relief. When Elaina raised her eyebrows at her reaction, she explained.

"There's a lot of crosses out there on random people walking about," she said. "I'd hate to think you could be hurt simply because someone bumped into you." Elaina laughed delightedly and hugged her for her naïve concern.

"Thank you, Dawn," she said. "I love you, too." Dawn smiled shyly and kissed her.

"So," Elaina said to Rob, "What's the plan?"

"Well, tomorrow we go to the viewing," he replied. "It's starts at seven. I'd like to be there early. I'm not a big fan of those things, and honestly, I'm only going for Liz and the kids." He frowned. "I wonder if they're going to make the kids stay there for the whole thing."

"Liz is going to want to stay," Elaina suggested, "Which means Martha's going to stay with her. Unless their father shows up, they have to stay." She nearly growled when she mentioned Gerry.

"We'll have to do something, then," Rob said thoughtfully. "I can't see making them stay the full two hours."

They postponed making plans for the funeral until they knew what the weather would be like.

Thursday passed quietly, and Rob headed home after a forgettable day at work. Now that he and Brenda each had settled into their new relationships, they found they were spending less time together. Whatever Brenda had been feeling for him was obviously fading as she spent more time with Zack.

Jessica continued to act friendly with both of them and became the glue that held them together, although she never mentioned her desire to switch teams again. Rob noticed that, like Brenda, she now had a bud vase on her desk, only hers had a different fresh flower in it each day. When he asked her about it, she blushingly admitted she had a new girlfriend who was treating her quite well. Rob smiled for her happiness and kissed her cheek, getting catcalls from others around them.

The three of them still got together to discuss their various relationships, but even those got less frequent as they each became more involved. Without drama there was little to talk about. Rob did express his appreciation for their help getting to where he was.

When Rob got home that night, he found that Elaina had already dug out his "funeral" suit, one of the suits he'd nearly gotten rid of when he was cleaning out his closet. It was a simple black wool suit that she'd matched up with a white shirt and a dark tie.