59: To Be Thankful

We survived midterms and our first two scrimmages. We played five full games against the varsity, but I don't think that helped them all that much. Well, maybe a little. It taught us all to defend against the outside shot. Our gym had been striped with the new three-point line which counterbalanced the odds of making the shot from out there. Except Josh and I were deadly from the top of the key. Whitney's baseline shot was even more accurate. She could hit it from fully in the corner and you had to swish the net from there. You were actually behind the backboard. Coach Mitchell and Coach Hancock both kept blowing the whistle to stop the clock and turn the ball over to the other side.

Along with the three-point rule, other new rules were taking shape this year. One was the thirty-five second shot clock. It was hard enough to make sure we got a shot off within the allotted time, but if the ball didn't at least hit the rim, the clock didn't restart, even if we got the rebound, we still only had the remaining time to get another shot in the air. Our shooting percentages went down as we rushed to get the ball in the air, sometimes having to take a shot just because we could hit the rim and reset the clock. The foul rules changed, too. It used to be that if a team had more than five fouls in a half, the shooter went into a one-and-one situation. If you hit the first shot, you got a second. If you missed the first, the ball was in play. If you were fouled in the act of shooting, you got two free throws. And players who had five fouls were out of the game. It was designed to keep the game clean. The new rule indicated that it took ten fouls to change the number of shots, but at that point it was no longer one-and-one, but two shots. It made no difference if you were shooting or not. We were all trying to decide if that was going to make the game rougher or easier.

There was one last change this year and we were all pissed about it. The schools were now divided into divisions. 1A, 2A, 3A, and 4A, based on the size of the school. No more sweet sixteen. Eight teams would go to the Semi-State in each division. The State final would include one game for the championship of each division. Our regular season games were against all comers, but we'd no longer be able to challenge the big schools in the state for the single championship. It was supposed to make it all fairer. What it did was take away our chances for a clean State Championship. Oh, we could become a State 3A Champion, but that was sort of like becoming the Junior Varsity Champion. No one would notice.

Well, the way both our varsity and JV were playing, it didn't look like we'd win a championship in any division at any level. The varsity could trounce the JV pretty soundly. They had an average height advantage of three inches. I guess I brought our average down a bit. But even Bert, Geoff, and John were under six feet. Barry continued to be an ass. He was a lazy player and expected us to just get the ball to him under the basket so he could toss it in. The second time Lionel stuffed him, he got pissed.

"Just because you're black doesn't mean you know how to play basketball, brother," Lionel said.

"O-re-o. O-re-o-re-o," Barry chanted back.

"Or that you can sing," Phil shot back at him.

When we played a scrimmage against Elkhart, who we'd never meet again during the regular season, both varsity and JV had our balls handed to us in a nice wicker basket. The ride home on the team bus that night was pretty glum. Whitney went to sleep on my shoulder. That was the best part of the night. The next scrimmage, the day before Thanksgiving break, we played Harrison Military Academy. They were tight and disciplined and pulverized us. I hate to admit it, but I fouled out. Coach Hancock wasn't happy about that. You can't win the game if you can't play it. We were told to be ready for the first game of the season in one week. The season opener was at North Whitley, so maybe no one would come and our humiliation wouldn't be seen.

Thanksgiving morning, I shook off my blues and put on my chef's coat. Well, figuratively speaking. I loaded my cooking supplies in the car and Dad let me drive as we went to join 'our' girlfriends in Kokomo for the weekend. Bill already had the turkey in the oven when we arrived, but I had bread rising in the backseat of the car and punched it down as soon as we got to Anna's house. The turkey would be out in plenty of time for me to get the bread in before we ate. I also had a cool recipe for mashed potatoes that I went straight to work on. I didn't tell anyone my secret ingredients.

Remarkably, everything was ready to put on the table by 1:30.

"Bread!" Anna exclaimed.

"I swear she is making us slaves to your base desires just so she can have fresh-baked bread," Jennifer laughed. "But oh, it is so good!" She took a bite of bread, but I wasn't sure if her comment was about the bread or being a slave to my base desires. Her other hand was running up and down my leg. Dad was given the position at the head of the table and Anna and Mom were on either side of him. Courtney was sitting at the other end so she and Jennifer could both be next to me. Bill was between Mom and Crystal on the other side of the table.

"You know, Crystal, I'm thinking we need a housemate. With Courtney pretty much full time over here with Anna and Jennifer, we should consider a nice, sweet young woman to live with us. A really pretty one."

"Oh, shut up," Crystal laughed at him. "I tried to get you interested in Anna for years. You lost your chance." Bill looked at Anna with puppy-dog eyes. Anna just shook her head and served Dad some more mashed potatoes.

"Oh, well. Looks like you're just stuck with me, then," Bill said, planting a kiss on Crystal's cheek. She smiled at him. "Brian, these Irish mashed potatoes are terrific. Bet no one even knows they're eating cabbage." Both Jennifer and Courtney's forks hit the table and they put their hands to their mouths and stared at me.

"What you are actually tasting, my loves, is cream cheese. You just can't make Irish mashed potatoes without cream cheese." I didn't actually deny there was cabbage in there, too, but they went back for another helping.

"What's everyone thankful for this year?" Dad asked. It was an informal question that we posed at Thanksgiving.

"You mean that I'm still in school and not expelled?" I laughed.

"Well, that's a start. I'm certainly thankful for that. If you weren't in school, I'd have to go out and get a few more horses. Personally, I'm thankful for my health. I had a little scare this year—nothing to be concerned about now—but at the time it made me think about all the wonderful things in my life. The doctor put me on some good anti-cholesterol stuff and it's all under control now, but it really made me think about how thankful I am for all the blessings I enjoy and how much I really don't want to leave them yet." What the fucking hell? Dad never mentioned that he'd had any heart problems. It must have been this summer while I was in Kokomo. What would I do without my dad?

"I'm thankful that the restaurant has finally turned the corner into solid profitability," Crystal said. "We're open seven days a week now and we could never have done that if we hadn't found a great manager so that Bill doesn't have to be there all the time."

"I'm thankful for all the boyfriends and girlfriends that we have," Jennifer said. "I never imagined that when I met this geeky little kid at the dude ranch, he'd rescue me multiple times and become the center of my universe and the glue that holds my lifelong best friend to me."

"You're pretty sticky," Courtney laughed at me. Her mother glared at her. "I'm thankful that I finally got my head out of my ass and decided to help Mom and Dad in the restaurant so we could see each other sometimes. And I'm thankful that the most wonderful boyfriend in the world got me to do it." Her mom's glare turned to tears.

"I'm thankful that we gave Brian an entire floor of the house to himself. We could never stand the traffic otherwise," Mom laughed, helping us move from the sentimental moment between Courtney and her parents.

"I'm thankful to have found a new chef for the restaurant and hope he'll come back to spend next summer with us," Bill said. He looked at me with a raised eyebrow. He wanted me back? Hell yes!

"I'm glad my daughter and my other daughter by way of Bill and Crystal found this ... um ... interesting relationship that ... um ... led to such interesting relationships," Anna said. She blushed crimson and Dad reached over and put a kiss on her cheek. She leaned into him. Everybody looked at me and I realized that I was the only one who hadn't said anything. What was I thankful for?

"Oh. Our dating group dynamic has changed a little this year," I said. The parents didn't really know this, but Jennifer and Courtney scooted closer to me and each hugged an arm. "It's pretty normal and several of the guys and gals have kind of paired up, so to speak. But I'm in the unique position that I'm not paired, I'm decimated." Everybody laughed.

"Was that the wrong word? I've got ten unbelievably beautiful and loving girlfriends of my own. I'm so thankful that I can spend this day and this weekend with Jennifer and Courtney. When they were introduced to me, I was told that the man-hater was Courtney and the stuck-up one was Jennifer. I learned that neither description was true and I'm so thankful to have you both in my life. But I'm also thankful to have wild and wonderful Liz in my life. I'm thankful to have soft and sensual Samantha. For the funniest girl in the world, my 'sister' girlfriend Elaine. I'm thankful for Cassie who was the first girl I ever thought of as a girlfriend and who was my partner through one of the hardest things we ever had to face this year. I'm thankful for Whitney, who works out with me every single morning and plays beside me on the basketball team and saw fireworks when I kissed her. It was the Fourth of July." Everyone laughed again, but the parents were all interested in which of the girls would round out the ten.

"I'm thankful for Donna who is about as sweet and loyal and surprising as any girl I've ever known and who misses Heaven as much as I do. I'm thankful for Rose." I didn't want to say anything more about that because Rose had really wormed her way into my heart this fall. I could see in her eyes that she felt the same about me. "And I'm thankful for Rhonda, who was my girlfriend, broke up with me, and then brought all these girls into my life as my girlfriends."

"Ten girls," Crystal sighed. "At least I don't feel so bad about Jennifer and Courtney being so far away. You wouldn't have any more time with them anyway."

"Mom!"

We all laughed and I kissed both Jennifer and Courtney on the cheek as I hugged them to me.

"You know, I have to say that I'm really thankful for my extended family, too. It's always been Mom and Dad and Betts and me, only now Betts is with her husband and family in Seattle. But what I got in place was an extra Mom in Anna and I love her. And I got two people who took the time to mentor me and challenge me and invite me to be part of their lives and their business in Bill and Crystal. I really love all you guys."

"Well, if there was ever anyone with the capacity to love us all, it's you, Brian," Mom said.

I was really thankful that Mom and Dad and Anna were down the hall screaming out their thankfulness when Jennifer screamed hers that night. I don't know what made me decide to focus on Jennifer, but it just seemed like the right thing to do. Courtney knew I wouldn't forget her and we kissed as we all got into bed without a stitch of clothing on. There was a lot of playing among the three of us, but eventually, I rolled toward Jen and began kissing and stroking her in earnest. Courtney cuddled up behind me and covered my back and neck with kisses, caressing me with her hands and occasionally straying over to Jen's breasts. But she left the real 'work' to me.

I squeezed and pulled on Jen's nipples as I kissed her deeply, then I sucked on her nipples as my hand started moving south. Courtney and I had touched Jen's clit together when we played before, and she'd been kissing Jen when we played at Halloween. But tonight, I just focused on Jen and teased her legs apart as I stroked up and down the inside of her thighs. I touched and retreated and pressed into her moist center repeatedly. Finally, I raised my lips to hers and lashed her tongue with my own while my fingers found her clit and tenderly massaged it. I kept backing off and teasing her as she got close and her moans got louder and louder.

Courtney reached between us and began gently stroking my cock as I continued to love Jennifer. I reminded myself to do something especially nice for Court. She wasn't helping with Jen tonight; she was devoting her attention to my needs as I pleasured our girlfriend. Jennifer was all over the place. She kissed me; she held my arms and my hands. She thrashed. Her hands flailed in the air. And when she finally came, her scream was more than my mouth could muffle. Her head turned as she threw it from side to side and continued to wail out her orgasm. Courtney, collecting copious amounts of pre-cum from my cock, slicked it and lovingly stroked me to an orgasm that sprayed all over Jennifer from her lips to her breasts to her tummy. Jen was on the verge of passing out and I collapsed limply beside her as Courtney took over and rubbed my come all over Jen's body, scooping up the drops that were closest to her lips and feeding them to our lover. Jen sucked on Courtney's fingers as we all fell into exhausted sleep.

I slipped out from between my lovers early in the morning and watched them roll together, kissing softly even though neither was fully awake. I went out to bake cinnamon rolls.

Good morning, sweetheart. I'm glad it's not snowing yet, but ride carefully my love. It's cold out there and there could be slick patches, I thought to Rhonda. Weird, yes. But I carried on a conversation with her in my head every morning. I even sent a kiss to her and felt that she was more accepting of that these days.

Are you sure this is what you want, love? I love these two girls like crazy, but do you want them sharing our bed when we are finally together? They're convinced of it. I suppose that's all so far in the future that we shouldn't even be thinking of these things, but I can't just have fun with them and think that's all there is to it. Somewhere in my heart I know they are going to be there with us. Do you think all eleven of us will be together? I don't think so. As much as I love Elaine, she's going to go away. Not just to Indy, but really go away, like Heaven did. She's got a calling and three years difference is really a lot when we're still in high school and she's in college. I'm going there weekend after next, did I tell you that? After the game Saturday I'm driving to Indy to escort her to the school's winter dance. She wanted me to come for Fall Cotillion, but we were so tied up with that stupid School Board stuff that I couldn't go. I'm really going to miss her when she flies off to New York or Hollywood. She's in the school's winter show in January and I hope a few of us, if not all of us, can go see her.

You should have heard Jen scream last night. If Mom and Dad and Anna hadn't been so involved with each other, they'd probably have come to see if she was all right. She pretty much passed out afterward, but she looked so sweet this morning curled up with Courtney. It's funny, isn't it? As much as they love each other, they really aren't lesbians. Or maybe they are and just can't admit it. Either way, they want me to be in the middle of their lovemaking. It was pretty intense, honey. Is it ever going to be that way with us? I know, you have to get on the road to get those newspapers out. I love you, Rhonda. Be safe.

I rolled the dough, painted it with melted butter, sprinkled it with sugar and cinnamon, and rolled it up to rise one more time.

"Mmm. I smell cinnamon rolls!" Courtney said as she came into the kitchen. I'd just taken them out of the oven and was putting frosting on them. I turned and took Courtney into my arms for a deep and loving good morning kiss. "It was so beautiful last night," she sighed. "So much love. So strong."

"Court, my love, I'm so sorry we all fell asleep before I could..."

"Shh. I got a little happy time, thanks to my girlfriend. As to you ... I'm saving up for tonight. You'd better, too." She turned in my arms and rubbed her butt against my blossoming erection. "Did you make me hot chocolate, too?" I jerked around to the stove just in time to save the cocoa from boiling. I poured two mugs and by the time I set them on the kitchen table, Jen came into the kitchen in a fluffy robe with a towel wrapped around her head.

"Glamour girl," I said, catching her in my arms for a good morning kiss. She pulled my hand inside her robe to get a good handful of bare bosom as we kissed.

"I am so in love with you," she sighed. I reluctantly withdrew my hand just before Anna stumbled into the kitchen. She looked ravished.

"Did you hear a cat yowling last night?" she asked as I handed her a mug of coffee. "Mmm. With chocolate in it. Thank you, dear boy."

"Is that what that screeching was?" I asked. "A cat. Hmm. Sounded like it was practically in the hall." Anna slapped my arm and grabbed a cinnamon roll.

"Raccoons," Dad said as he came into the room. He kissed each of the girls on the head and Anna on the lips. "They're in season. Make an awful racket." I handed him his coffee and roll. "Doesn't last long, though. I think they hyperventilate and pass out."

"Speaking of which," Anna said coyly, "Where's Nona?"

"Dressing. Says she won't come into her hostess' kitchen in pajamas."

"You dressed," Mom said from the door. She looked bright and cheerful. Her hair was done up neatly and she was...

"Mom! You're wearing makeup!" I said as she hugged me.

"Of course. It's Friday. And you, young ladies, are definitely not ready for the stores yet." She kissed Jennifer and Courtney on the cheek. Then she gave Anna a warm kiss on the lips and Dad a kiss that even curled my toes.

"Shopping!" the girls chorused. There was a mad scramble and all three Kokomo girls ran for their rooms. I sat at the table with Mom and Dad and ate my own roll while Mom oohed over it.

"Um ... Dad, there's something I wanted to ask you," I said.

"Are you okay with this?" he asked softly. "With your mom and me and Anna?"

"Oh, hell yes. Sorry. Didn't mean to swear. You all three look so happy it makes me happy, too. And how could I object when I've got ten girlfriends? I love Anna almost as much as I do Jennifer and Courtney. That's not what I meant I wanted to ask you."