Chapter 2 - Sitting in on a meeting

James let us sleep in the next day and even provided breakfast in bed for all of us. Tina again complained that with our pregnancies we were not having intercourse, and finally insisted on a little extra protein as part of her breakfast. James laughingly complied and then insisted on returning the favor by licking each of us to orgasm before allowing us out of bed. We were a cheerful horde when we checked in on the rabbits to see how they were doing.

The rabbit pod had become a favorite for not only our household, but also for many of the concubines in the colony. Over the last few months James has asked for a few changes to the pod to provide some extra comfort for visiting people. There were now a couple of padded couches set up so that a rabbit could be set on the couch to run around while people sat and watched in comfort. James quickly fetched one of his favorites from his cage and sat down on a couch to let him play while we checked the food and water levels.

I had just finished checking one of the rooms and was returning to the main room where James was sitting when I noticed that someone with long red hair was sitting on his lap. I paused before entering. Brittany seemed a bit upset.

"Master, why didn't you fuck me last night?" she cried.

I looked over to see Bethany holding the others back at the other entrance to the chamber. James was holding my youngest sister concubine. "My love. I never just fuck one of you. I give you my love and my heart every time we are together. Last night was for all of you, and it would be unfair to your sisters if I took you when I cannot take them."

"But when you can finally take them, you won't be able to take me!" Brittany wailed. "I'll be too far along."

She thrust her face into my master's shoulder as her body shook with sobs. As she did, he looked up and appeared to notice Bethany standing in the doorway. I could see her gesture to him. He shook his head. Bethany's face grew a bit angry and she stamped her foot and stormed into the room.

"Damn you!" she shouted as she walked up to him. The rabbit that James had been watching suddenly appeared on the lip of the couch and jumped down. Kitty dashed in to gather him up as Bethany put her hand on James' head and held him down.

"You have to stop being overly considerate of us," she hissed. "Brittany and Kitty aren't so far along that they can't enjoy making love to you, and I assure you that your other concubines understand. Now, if you don't take her back to bed and fill her up, I'm going to see if we can borrow one of Esther's toys and tan your hide. Remember that we love you and we want you to take our sisters."

"But...," James protested.

"Don't fight it," Tina said as she and Janice walked into the room. "In fact, take Kitty as well." Kitty had just finished returning the frightened rabbit to its home and dashed over to offer James a kiss.

I realized that I needed to add my voice and walked over to put my hand on James' shoulder. "You must, they need it."

James looked at me and gave my hand a gentle squeeze before standing up and putting an arm around Brittany. "It seems that my ladies have spoken again. Shall we go see how many times I can make you scream?"

Brittany laughingly threw her arms around him. "One time will be enough! Let's go."

Kitty grabbed her sister and dashed ahead. James looked over at us for a moment. "Thank you for understanding," he whispered as he left the room.

"No, thank you for caring," Janice said quietly. I do not think he heard, but somehow his actions made it clear he understood.

I sat down on the couch. "What shall we do?" I asked. Visiting the rabbits was nice, but my ankles quickly became sore if I had to walk for more than a few moments. I knew the others felt the same. However, Bethany just smiled.

"We should set up something for the citizens," she said.

"What?" Tina asked. "Don't we do that every day? I mean we spend all our time helping them. And we do most of the work setting up the parties and such."

Bethany nodded. "We do, but most of it is simple work. I'm thinking more that we should put our minds and talents together to do something special. Something that the citizens can't get from the replicators."

"Oh, you mean like us performing or something," Janice chirped.

Bethany looked at Janice and smiled. "Aren't you supposed to have organized a band or two by now?"

Janice gave a quick squeak and blushed. "Yes, but few of the concubines know how to play instruments. We've all been trying to learn instruments when we have time."

Tina looked surprised. "Where do you keep them?"

Janice giggled. "The twins pretty much share one pod, so the other is often empty of people. We just use the upstairs section to practice when the twins are working in the command center."

"And with them enjoying working there, you have had a good deal of time," Bethany replied with her own giggle. So who is in the band?"

"Claire, she's trying to learn guitar," Janice began. "I've been working on keyboards. David and Robert both come in to play drums. Ulla has learned bass. Claire also sings, as do Marie and Marilyn."

I was surprised. "Marilyn? The prim and proper civics teacher who came with the twins knows how to sing?" I asked.

Janice nodded. "She's got a great voice and loves to sing. The problem is that she likes old tunes."

"So?" Tina interjected.

"They are hard to perform with only a few instruments. I guess back when these songs were written the bands would have up to thirty members. Others have started learning instruments, but it's taking time. And the AI is stingy about giving us music and instruments since we are trying to keep this a secret from everyone."

Bethany had been listening and laughed. "I've got it! You can perform a concert. James will love it. And how often do we get live entertainment?"

I found myself nodding. "I'll learn flute if you need someone to play it."

Janice giggled. "You know, we do. Our band is almost all girls and we don't have a flute player. I'll try to coax the replicators to give us a learner's set in the next day or so."

Tina had seemed lost in thought. I noticed that she was looking at the door, but finally she whispered. "Why don't we make a musical?"

"A what?" Janice gasped.

"Look we've all heard James and some of the other citizens listening to music they claim was from musicals back on Earth. I never saw one, but I understand that it's a play where the cast sings songs at particular points in the plot," Tina said, her eyes glassy as if she was thinking out loud. "Why don't we put together a musical?"

"About what?" Bethany asked.

"About how special being a concubine on Ishtar is?" I asked with a whisper.

The others gasped. Moments later, I felt lips covering my cheeks and neck. I submitted to the caresses of all three of my sisters. The assault stopped when I fell back on the couch. Then Bethany giggled and spoke. "That's a wonderful idea, but I think it's a bit premature. We should do a practice one before we try to put all the love we have for James on display like that."

Tina nodded. "Yes, we should keep it a bit more simple."

Janice had her own glassy-eyed look and then smiled. "I've got it. I just remembered a show my parents talked about having seen during their college years. They took a trip to San Francisco and watched a show called Beach Blanket Babylon or something. It wasn't a true musical, but we can use the format."

Tina was surprised. "What format?"

Janice smiled. "The story was of this woman seeking something. It might have been true love, I can't remember. But basically she travels around as they change the sets, but the various scenes were often based on real life events, and used whatever songs seemed to fit. Oh, what were some my parents talked about? I guess at one point they had this guy dressed as a golfer come out and lead others in dancing while singing a song about not meaning a thing if it didn't have a swing. And I remember they said it made fun of how some teen girl singers would start out all prim and proper and end up looking so trampy before their career ended."

Bethany giggled. "They did. And I can see what you mean. We won't have to write anything special, just little scenes designed to move from one song to the next."

Tina was laughing. "I love the idea. Only, how should we start it? What should our story be? If we aren't going to talk about how lucky we are to be concubines, we should avoid that subject."

I suddenly remembered some of my old history lessons. "How about we have one of the male concubines be the hero. He could be seeking a beer during the time when the government banned alcohol."

Tina looked at me. "They did that?"

Bethany was smiling. "Oh god, it would be perfect. The costumes would be fun, and there are even songs about that time."

Tina looked more shocked. "There were?"

Bethany nodded. "Sure, the song 'Happy Days Are Here Again' was written to celebrate the ending of the government ban. Oh, I can see it now."

Janice was nodding. "We have to keep it quiet. I'll pass this on to the others. See if you can come up with ideas for songs and such. We'll have to work in secret though."

We gathered in for one more group hug before deciding to head out. Bethany had grabbed Tina and was talking to her about helping her a bit with her reading so I found myself standing next to Janice.

"Do you ever regret it?" Janice asked me as Bethany and Tina left the room.

I pulled her into one more hug, kissing her cheek gently. "Never. I knew when we met that day in the fall that you would be a great friend, but I never imagined I could love you so much. This is where I was meant to be."

Janice nodded. "I don't either. Now, how about we go hang out in the recreation room and watch the kids or something."

I nodded and took her hand as we left the rabbits behind for the day.