Chapter Fifty Six - Caution - Main Intersection Ahead
Five days before Christmas, Jess, Jean, Sandy and I headed out on the two snowmobiles in the winter sunshine. There was almost a foot of snow on the ground at the ranch and the twins seemed to think that they'd suddenly found themselves in a picture postcard. They both had cameras and I think they took pictures of everything that couldn't hide.
To be honest, I thought they should have been on the other side of the lens most of the time. Almost sixteen, and having just gone through a spurt of development, they could have been models. It seemed to me that the two of them had changed from cute teenagers to beautiful women overnight. Of course I hadn't seen much of them for two months, so I was still getting used to the changes that they'd gone through. Since both of them were teases and I was the only guy around at the moment, the morning had been extremely interesting for me. But, because I'd grown up with a sister the same age as they were, I tried to give as good as I got.
The teasing had actually started the night before, when we'd come back to the cabin and had all stayed up late. Since we'd bought so much in town, the first thing we had to do after getting back was to move all the food and supplies into the house and store it away. Then of course, Sandy and I had to show the twins what we had done to fix up the cabin in the last while. Later, after a late supper, we'd settled down in the living room and started a fire in the fireplace. We'd sat there talking and laughing until late at night as we'd made plans for the upcoming holidays. At midnight, the ringing of the sonorous tones of Grampa Bender's old mantle clock had made us realize how late it was and we'd decided we needed to go to bed.
Once we were in bed, Sandy and I had discussed the changes in the way the twins were acting. Of course, we'd also covered the fact that their bodies had changed and developed in the last few months. She'd teased me about them making me horny and I'd admitted that they did. Then she'd done her best to cure me of the 'problem' that had developed as we'd talked, so the two of us had taken even longer to get to sleep.
Saturday morning, Sandy and I had slept in, then had been awakened by the sight and sound of two delightful young red haired nymphs dancing into the room and bouncing on our bed. Unfortunately, after bouncing onto the bed and giving both Sandy and me brisk kisses, they'd decided we weren't getting out of bed fast enough to please them. Acting in unison, they'd yanked the covers from the bed. The twins hadn't been wearing much, only thin nighties that didn't hide a lot, but Sandy and I had slept in the nude and when they'd woken us, I'd developed my normal morning's piss hard-on. Of course, it had been somewhat augmented by the scenery.
I'm sure I'd blushed. I know the twins did, but Sandy had broken into laughter as I'd scrambled to use both hands to hide my erection. Failing miserably, I'd leaped out of bed and dove for the bathroom, dashing away from the sound of the twin's dual squeals and Sandy's seemingly delighted giggles. In the bathroom as I'd calmed myself, even I could see the humour of the situation. When everything was under control and my body had finally calmed enough that essential matters could be taken care of, I'd decided to give the girls a show. Since I wasn't really all that skin conscious, I'd wrapped a towel around my hips, but didn't tie it tightly. I'd known it wouldn't stay on too well, but I really hadn't cared if it fell off. After all, I'd been skinny dipping every summer for years, even Mom and Aunt Alice had seen me nude. Two more young ladies seeing what I had to live with wouldn't matter all that much.
However, I'd forgotten that Sandy had gone skinny dipping with Carissa and me earlier in the year. When I'd opened the door from the ensuite bathroom, I'd been treated to a sight many men dream of seeing. Three fire-haired maids were leaned back against the headboard of the king-sized bed and not one of them was wearing one stitch of clothing. Somehow, Sandy had convinced the twins that since they'd seen me nude, it was only fair that I should have an equal opportunity. She'd been flanked on each side by matching nubile bookends who'd been wearing nothing but grins.
The towel, and the loose tie job I'd done, were not up to the task of hiding the changes that suddenly developed in my body's physical attributes. As I'd stood there, I'd felt it slip and fall, but I hadn't allowed myself to flinch as the towel dropped away. Nor had I tried to hide my body's natural reaction to the sight in front of me. Both twins had gasped as their eyes grew wide. However, that hadn't detracted from their beauty; in fact it may have enhanced it. The three gorgeous women were a stunning sight that had left me nearly speechless.
"Sandy, where's your camera?" I'd managed to mumble.
The matching squeals, diving bodies and racing feet of the twins, had brought giggles from Sandy and chuckles from me. Then the bedroom door had slammed behind their fleeing backs. At that point, Sandy had grinned at me, then lifted a hand and made a 'come hither' motion with her index finger.
Needless to say, chores had been done later than normal that morning and breakfast had followed later still. Over breakfast, we'd all tried to ignore the morning's happenings, but I'd noticed both twins would look at me and blush, then Sandy would giggle. I'd tried my best to keep a straight face, but I'll admit, I certainly hadn't been upset by the mornings happenings. Meanwhile, Sandy had been simply glowing.
However, if we were going to be ready for the guests we were expecting to arrive before Christmas, we'd decided we'd better get mobile and get a few preparations done. The first order of the day was getting a tree, which is how we found ourselves roaring over a snow-covered range in the late morning.
I knew exactly where we were headed and even had a specific tree in mind. I'd seen it earlier in the year and had thought it would make a perfect Christmas tree so I'd made note of where it grew. That was why I was driving the first sled and pulling the toboggan. Jess rode behind me on my snowmobile while Sandy had Jean behind her. On the way, Jess kept tapping my shoulder and pointing at decent trees, but at each one, I'd just glance at the tree and shake my head. I think she was growing annoyed because I hadn't even slowed down for any of those that she pointed at, then she saw the tree I was thinking of using.
It was outstanding. A native Alberta white spruce, the tree was growing some distance from other trees and was almost perfectly symmetrical. Since it was about twelve feet high, it would need to be trimmed to fit in the nine-foot height of the living room ceiling, but I thought it was perfect. From the looks on the gal's faces as I reached out and shook the tree to dislodge the recently fallen snow, I thought they agreed. After they had walked all the way around it to see the tree from all angles, I became certain of it.
"You knew exactly where this tree was, didn't you?" Sandy smiled at me.
"Unh huh." I nodded, grinning back at her.
"I thought he was being too fussy." Jess clipped my shoulder lightly as she grinned at me. "I kept pointing out nice trees, but he ignored me."
"Hey, be nice to me, or I won't let you drive back to the cabin." I growled.
"You're going to let me drive?" She squealed, then threw her arms around me and hugged me tightly.
"What about me?" Jean demanded.
"Well, you can't both drive this machine at once, but perhaps Sandy will let you drive the other one." I laughed and winked at Sandy.
"Umm, I suppose." Sandy tried to look unconvinced, then broke into a wide grin. "Actually, since I really bought the snowmobile as a Christmas present for all of us, I guess she can learn to drive it a few days early."
We all just laughed and I dug out the swede saw, then kicked away a dip in the snow so I could crawl under the lower branches of the tree in order to cut it off. Moments later we were wrapping the branches as tightly against the trunk as we could, then tying the tree on the toboggan. Since it was cold and since they had no reason to wait, Jean and Sandy left first, with Jean driving. Jess hopped onto my snowmobile and looked at me with a grin.
"This time you get to hold onto me." She giggled.
"Like you did me?" I teased, because her arms had been tucked around me high on my chest.
"Just like I did, if you dare." She grinned widely as she winked.
"I think I'll just hold you around the waist." I laughed as I seated myself behind her.
"Just hold on." She giggled as she started the machine.
I really tried to hold onto her waist, but she hit a bump. I wasn't prepared and my hands slipped upward while she seemed to move down. Even under winter clothing, I could feel that she'd grown to be quite well endowed. Instead of pulling away, she pressed back against me and I could hear her moan softly. After that first time, it seemed to me that she was looking for bumps to run over. The ride soon grew to be very uncomfortable for me as my britches became too tight for comfort. Since she was looking for bumps and their effect, I think she was going faster than she'd planned. We were back at the cabin soon and I was able to get gingerly to my feet as I slid off the machine. She turned to me and her eyes were shining.
"I'm gonna tell Sandy what happened, but I'll take the blame, 'cause only the first time was an accident." She said quietly. "Thank you though."
With that, she jumped off the snowmobile and dashed into the cabin. I was left to untie the tree and manhandle it up to the porch by myself while trying to think of anything else but her soft flesh. Then I had to put away the snowmobile and the toboggan. At least by the time I was done all of that, my body had calmed down. When I walked in the cabin and got greeted by a strong hug and steaming kiss from Sandy, then got warned that Jean was jealous of Jess, I decided that I would never ever be able to understand women.
"Jess told you what happened and you're not upset?" I stared at Sandy in disbelief.
"Nope. She trusts you, so does Jean and so do I. We all know that you'd never hurt us intentionally. Besides, it's all in the family." She giggled, kissing me again, then changed the subject as if she'd said all she intended to on the subject. "Now, we were looking around the living room and checking for electrical outlets to see where we could set up the tree. Do you have a preference?"
"Unh huh, a tree like this deserves to be displayed in the middle of the room." I answered quickly. "But, before we bring the tree inside, we need to move the couch and get the tree stand ready. Otherwise I won't know how much needs to be trimmed off the trunk of the tree."
"But how will you plug in the lights? People might trip on a cord if it has to be stretched across the floor to the middle of the room."
I just chuckled and led her into the living room. First I had her help me move the couch a few feet. Then, taking a penknife with a flat screwdriver blade attachment out of my pocket, I undid a locking screw and opened a small hatch that blended into the flooring. Standing it on end, then lifting it out and flipping it over, I lowered it back into place. Now there was a small box standing proud of the flooring, on one end of that box there was a regular plug-in, and on the opposite end was a regular switch.
"There you are." I grinned. "I had a floor plug specially wired into place so the Christmas tree could sit in the middle of the floor and all the lights could be turned on and off with one switch."
Sandy just looked at me and shook her head.
"How much did that cost you to do?" Jess asked.
"A couple of bucks for parts, I guess. Building and fitting it just took time." I laughed. "The hardest part was rigging it up so I could turn it over. It's wired with the same sort of shielded wire used on an electric stove. I had to make a support shelf to hang in the floor joists and it had to be long enough that the flex cable would still let the box turn over though."
Now all three of them shook their heads and rolled their eyes.
"All that, just so you could have the tree in the middle of the room?" Sandy asked.
"Yep, I wanted it done right." I laughed. "I guess it's a guy thing. I'll be back in a moment. There's more."
With that I went down the basement and found a Christmas tree stand that I'd had made up by the welder who worked at Frank Dolens' garage. I'd seen a similar tree stand made out of cheap material and had it copied, but improved on the design a little bit. Made from a section of five inch stainless steel pipe so it wouldn't rust, and with a solid plate on the bottom, it could hold a decent amount of water to keep the tree green. The pipe section had three thumb screws near the top and a pointed pin in the bottom to hold the tree steady. Three, foot long triangles of flat plate, were equally spaced and welded around the outside of the pipe as braces. Then thumb screws on the small ends of those braces were meant to mount everything solidly in order to hold the tree steady once it was set up. Those screws fit into previously measured and threaded holes I'd drilled in the floor and normally kept plugged with blind studs, which had slotted ends for easy removal.
When I'd designed everything earlier, I'd positioned the electric plug-in and the mounting holes so that the tree stand would sit right in the middle of the room. Since there were thousands of trees on the ranch, I'd been certain that I could find a decent one every year, and I planned to take advantage of that. The Christmas tree had always been an important part of my family's celebration of the holiday and I intended to continue the tradition. Since I wanted to do it right, I'd gone to a little trouble to be prepared. I'd felt it would be worthwhile.
With the stand set in place, putting up the tree was a snap. I simply made allowance for the height of the star that went on the top of the tree, and cut the tip back to a point where it was stable enough to support the star's weight. Then I trimmed off the lower branches and the trunk of the tree until everything would clear the nine-foot ceiling. Once I had the tree mounted in the stand and had filled the pipe at the base with water, I sat down in my chair and grinned at the girls.
"There, now the tree needs to warm up to room temperature before we do much more. That means my part is done, and I can leave the decorating up to you."
"No way!" Sandy declared. "As anal as you were about setting the tree up, I'd be afraid to put a bulb in the wrong place."
"Nah. What I've done is strictly for safety and basic aesthetics. Decoration is something else; it's just for fun. All you have to remember is that the tree can be seen from all the way around the room, so it's going to take lots of decorations."
"Well, I thought we might get you to help us put the lights on tonight, then on Christmas Eve, when everyone is here, we can do the rest of the decorating." Sandy suggested.
"Yeah, this tree is so tall that we'll need a ladder to do the top part anyway." Jean grinned, then bounced across the floor and plopped on my lap. "You'll help us put them up, won't you? Pretty please, with smooches all over it."
With that, she planted a kiss on my lips that left me with no room for doubt about her intentions. I was astonished, but when she broke the kiss off and was snuggling against me, I saw that both Jess and Sandy were grinning.
"Alright, just what is going on?" I asked quietly. "You and Jess have been acting like little vixens all day and Sandy has been laughing about it."
"I can answer that." Jess walked over in front of me and stood with her hands on her hips. "You've been treating us like little girls ever since we were young. We want you to know that we aren't little girls anymore. We're women, young ones, but darn near as old as you are."
"It's not like we really want you to take us up to bed or anything." Jean pushed herself away from me and got to her feet, then stood beside her twin. "Although, reacting to us like you knew that we were almost adults and not little girls wouldn't hurt."
"Wait a minute girls." Sandy interrupted them. "Just who was it that wanted a camera to take your picture this morning? And, do you remember the way his body reacted? I'd say he knows darn well that you're sexy young women, but he's trying to be a gentleman about it. I can't say that the two of you have been as nice to him though. I think he's doing fine, but you might need to have some lessons on being less like vixens and more like young ladies."
Both Jess and Jean just looked at her in surprise, then they started to colour slightly, but Sandy didn't let them stay uncomfortable for long.
"Why don't the two of you go to the kitchen and make some sandwiches and coffee for lunch? Chris and I need to put something under the tree to catch any melting ice or snow as it warms up." Sandy said quietly.
Jess and Jean left quietly.
"Thanks, I didn't know what to say." I stood and hugged Sandy after we were alone.
"No problem. Their trouble is that they need a boyfriend and Tom is being a dink. If he'd get off his butt and screw the two of them life would be a lot easier around our house."
"What?" I stared at her, shocked by her frankness. "You want him to screw them? Just like that?"
"Just like that, my butt." She giggled and snuggled against me. "You know what I was like about you. They're exactly the same way about Tom, but he's being too much of a gentleman."
"Well, I'm not interfering." I snorted. "Now what should we do about the tree? Should I get some building plastic or something? I thought I'd just let the bit of snow left in the branches melt and wipe it up later. After all, the flooring is all sealed with varnish and coated with wax."
"Let's just throw some of the old towels under there. The ones that Grampa Bender was using before he went to the hospital aren't much good for anything else." Sandy suggested with a shrug of her shoulders.
So we spread some old ragged towels on the floor and sat there close to the tree, talking quietly. Jess came in to say that lunch was ready, then decided that she and Jean should bring lunch in a join us. In fact, we all sat around the living room for hours that afternoon, just talking.
Those hours of talking about things had settled everyone down a lot before I went out to do the afternoon chores and by the time I came back inside, Lucille had arrived from town. Her car was loaded with gifts and more decorations and she was busy were ferrying it inside. As soon as she saw me though, she hurried over and we drew each other into a hug, then followed that with a long kiss.
"Hi, Cuz, how's my secret lover?" She murmured as she snuggled close.
"Feeling swamped by women." I sighed deeply. "Jess and Jean are feeling their oats and they've been a bit touchy today. I've been walking on hot coals since before noon."
"I heard and I'll see what I can do." She chortled softly. "Since I have a few days off, I may just talk to my slow poke cousin, Tom, about his love life. If he'd get off his duff, they'd go a lot easier on you."
"Did you say that you have some time off at Christmas?" I pulled back and stared at her in surprise. "How did you manage that?"
"Well, I didn't try to arrange anything because I thought as 'the new kid on the block' with the least seniority, I'd be on a lot of the time, but that's not how the matron works things. She seems to have a thing about keeping the older nurses whose families have grown and left home busy around the holidays. On top of that, she really likes Uncle Toby and I think they set it up between them for me to be off for the next five days so I could have a real Christmas. The next time I work is the evening shift on Boxing Day. Can you believe it? And the way the shifts work out, I even have New Years Eve and New Years Day off."
"Wow. The matron must like you."
"Actually, I think she has the hots for Uncle Toby." Lucille chuckled. "Now, there's some stuff in my car that I don't want to freeze. Are you going to help get it all inside?"
So I helped move her packages from the car to the kitchen. Then, once everything was moved inside, we had to shift and shuffle it all out of the kitchen because Sandy wanted to cook supper.
That evening was chaotic to say the least. We put the lights on the tree, all but the star on the very top. The girls all seemed to agree that the star was the last item that you put on the tree on Christmas Eve. Of course what started out to be just a few decorations near the top of the tree grew. In the long run, we put almost all the decorations that Lucille had brought on the tree and a few of those I'd bought as well.
What I hadn't realized was that there were a lot of decorations that had been stored in the attic of the old cabin for years. Grampa Bender had told Lucille about them and had asked her to tell me to get them down and use whatever we thought was appropriate. From the looks of it, Grampa Bender and Grandma Tilly must have decorated the whole cabin. There were three old egg crates full of decorations, all wrapped in tissue paper. They'd been sitting up there for so long that the 'white' tissue paper was yellow and brittle.
Amidst an almost continuous chorus of 'Wows' and other expressions of delight, we unpacked those three old wooden boxes and unwrapped each ornament. Some were homemade, some were obviously hand-blown glass and very delicate, and some were even meant to hold candles. I vetoed putting any of those meant to hold candles on the tree, so the girls decided they should be set up on the mantle over the fireplace. We cleaned up the rest and packed them away until Christmas Eve, but the girls insisted on decorating the mantle that night.
Using some of the lower branches that I'd trimmed from the tree and fastening them to the logs of the cabin wall, they created a backdrop of greenery. Then they carefully hung the candle holding decorations on the front face of the mantle so there was no fire hazard. Then they put candles in each decoration and lit them.
Late that evening, we sat around the fireplace and roasted popcorn over the fire. We chatted, while eating popcorn and drinking hot chocolate, with the candles burning on the mantle and the Christmas tree lights turned on as the only lights in the house. Somehow as the fire in the fireplace waned to embers, I ended up sitting on the couch with Sandy on one side, Lucille on the other and the twins draped across us all.
Once more we heard the old mantle clock strike twelve.
Lucille joined me in bed that night, but I awakened early and alone. Since it was still dark and too early to get up for the day, I hit the can, then planned to get a bit more shuteye. However even moving in the darkened room on my way back to bed, I could see that someone was there from the light of the yardlight. As I got close, I could tell it was Sandy and I slipped into bed, pulling her into a hug. She mumbled sleepily, but I fell asleep again holding her in my arms.
When I awoke, it was late and I could smell fresh coffee and frying bacon. When Sandy and I got dressed, we found that Lucille and the twins had already done the morning chores and were making breakfast. After eating, we all hopped into Lucille's Jeep and headed to town to see Grampa Bender, then over to Sandy and the twins' house to pick up some things there. Later, we went to the farm to have a late lunch with my folks, so it was time for afternoon chores before we got back to the ranch.
That evening the girls had me stringing garlands around the living room as we did even more decorating. Late that evening we had another fire in the fireplace, but we went to bed earlier. Both Sandy and Lucille joined me in the master bedroom, telling me that they'd decided that playing musical beds was silly.
The next day while I used the back-blade on the old International tractor to clear all the driveway and parking area near the cabin, the gals took the snowmobiles out for a run. They brought back a huge toboggan load of evergreen branches and before nightfall, the doorways and front porch of the cabin were decorated. They'd even used outdoor Christmas lights that Sandy said her Dad had hung on their house in former years. I think putting up those lights affected all of us. We spent a very sober evening that night and when the fire was burning in the fireplace, the twins somehow got me sitting in my big easy chair, then sat in it with me, wanting a cuddle.
In fact, when it was time for bed, they wanted to sleep with me.
"We don't want sex, just cuddles." Jess said quietly, looking at Sandy and Lucille as if asking permission, but they didn't ask me for my opinion.
I looked at Sandy and Lucille and frowned, not wanting to say anything aloud about how I felt about that idea. In fact, I went to bed, expecting them to handle it. I was wrong. Only a few minutes later Jean joined me, followed a moment later by Jess. Somehow I just couldn't say no, even though I felt extremely uncomfortable with the idea. I yanked on my shorts though and even insisted that we leave the bedroom door open so I'd feel inhibited. In all honesty, I didn't trust myself to behave.
Leaving that door open was a mistake.
I think both Sandy and Lucille suspected that the twins really meant to 'put the moves' on me and, I think for some perverse reason, that idea turned them on. Only a few moments after Jess and Jean were cuddled on either side of me, it became obvious that not only were the other two women sleeping together, but they were doing much more than that. The sounds surprised both the twins and me at first, then it had another consequence. All three of us were young and almost floating in poorly suppressed hormones. We reacted.
Suddenly, Jess sat upright, then rolled out of bed and ran to close the door, coming back to bed, giggling madly and stripping off her nightgown as she dashed across the floor. Honestly, I did try to protest what happened then. Unfortunately, my protests were feeble and ineffective. On top of that, any protest I made was strictly verbal and my body made a complete liar out of me. Neither Jess nor Jean listened to my rapidly weakening protests. One very loud squeal of female ecstasy reverberating through the cabin was the last straw. I was inundated by two extremely wound up young women. I can't say that I was seduced and I certainly wasn't raped, because I was more than willing, but I was definitely tackled and taken down for the count. As a tag team, the twins were very effective wrestlers. Of course once things got started, they came to the inevitable conclusion.
When I awoke in the morning, I was alone again and I was feeling somewhat embarrassed, as well as more than a little ashamed of myself. In fact as the morning progressed all of us seemed to be walking on egg shells and not knowing what to say or do. We all seemed to be avoiding saying much to each other, but also we seemed to have forgotten the fact that it was Christmas Eve.
Shortly before lunch, I got tired of everyone avoiding each other and cornered them all, one at a time. I found out that not only had Sandy and Lucille never slept with each other one, not counting the times they both slept with me, but as well, Lucille had never made love to another woman before. On top of that, both she and Sandy were upset because they thought their actions had inadvertently pressured the twins and me into making love to each other. The twins were both upset because they felt that they'd taken advantage of me and were surprised when I told them that I felt the same way about them.
When we sat down to lunch, I told everyone what I'd discovered. At first everyone seemed embarrassed and looked at each other sheepishly. Then, since no one had been hurt in any way, we saw the humour in the situation. It wasn't long before the five of us were teasing each other.
Personally, I was happy to be reassured that both Jess and Jean weren't upset in any way. I was also happy to be told that both of them had been on the pill for months. I still didn't feel right about the situation, but I couldn't change the past, so I tried to put the fact that they were Sandy's sisters out of my mind. I realized that I'd fallen down on some of my former resolutions about my actions with women and was now involved to a greater extent with two more, but for some reason, I wasn't all that upset about it.
Just after lunch, Carissa and Jackie showed up in a brand-new Jeep Wagoneer that Carissa had bought using the insurance money from the one destroyed in the accident. Her father had given her enough money to buy new instead of used. Of course the Jeep was loaded with gifts and parcels that had to be packed inside and there were hugs and kisses all around in the first few moments.
Jackie looked great and I told her so.
"Well, I've had six weeks to recover since the last operation." She declared loudly enough for everyone to hear. "And all these women you keep around had better not have worn you out either. Neither Carissa nor I have had sex for six weeks, so be warned."
"Huh?"
I just stared at her. This was nothing like the quiet inquisitive young woman who'd visited for a few days last fall. Carissa broke into laughter at the look on my face.
"Actually, the doctor told her to wait at least another week or two." Carissa snorted. "And somehow, she's inveigled me into sleeping with her, at least until then. So since you're off to school in January, you're safe for now."
Suddenly I realized that Matt hadn't come with Carissa and Jackie.
"Hey, where are your brothers?" I asked bluntly.
"Probably on their way back here from Calgary, they plan on being here before the evening." Jackie smiled almost angelically. "They wanted to talk to my folks. I didn't. I sent a gift along with them for Mom, but I don't ever want to see the old man again."
She turned away, then she paused and turned to smile at me. "Oh, and Matt said to tell you to give Carissa and me his room, he and the boys will be staying in town with the Coulters tonight. John Coulter and the boys have grown to be very good friends."
Carissa and I were outside, getting the last gifts when she reached out and stopped me.
"Chris, you should know that her old man tried to abduct her from the hospital. Thankfully, both Matt and Dad were there when he and his friends arrived. Now however, Dad has arranged with the courts and the police that her father can no longer approach within a city block of her. The court also granted Matt custody, so for now she's safe, but who knows what that idiot will try next. He seems to be fixated on having her go to BC, but so far Matt and Dad have blocked every avenue he's tried to use. The reason Matt went to Calgary was to talk to her mother, to try to at least have her call and warn him or Dad if Jackie's father plans to try anything else." She sighed softly. "For now, we're taking it day by day, but Matt's worried that his old man will try to have someone else do his dirty work for him."
"Cripes, can I help in any way?"
"No, but Jackie is hoping to spend a lot of the winter out here on the ranch, not in town. Since her old man doesn't seem to know exactly where you live, we think she'll be safer if she's here." Then she grinned. "Besides, I've seen what your dogs do to trespassers and I know you keep a loaded shotgun right by the door to handle any skunks that the dogs can't handle."
"Yeah, but I'm more used to dealing with four legged skunks." I snorted.
"Aim at the same height. A two-legged skunk with his leg shot off can't do much damage, but he can't run away either. Then just let me know where the son of a bitch is laid out. I'll gladly save the cops a trip out here to catch him by dragging him to them on the end of a rope." She snapped, then spun away to grab one of the two last parcels and head inside.
Once more Carissa had astonished me. I hadn't realized just how strongly she felt about the whole situation, but then, I wasn't happy about it either. Thankfully for once my immediate family wasn't involved and I could look at it from a more neutral position. If I was forced to take sides, I knew which side both my head and heart would put me on though. When I got inside with the last parcel, Sandy was in the kitchen checking a ham that she'd been roasting in the oven and Jess was just taking some loaves of fresh bread out of the other stove. Meanwhile, Jackie and Jean were mixing and preparing something at the counter. Lucille walked up to me as soon as I set Carissa's parcel down.
"Isn't that a wonderful domestic scene?" She gestured at the group as she smiled at me. "Your Mom just called to warn us that your families are all dropping up for a while this evening. She said to tell you that the Coulters, as well as Matt and the boys, are on their way right now, so Sandy and the twins laid down the law. I've been warned to keep you out of the kitchen so the rest of the family can make up some sort of a meal to have while we all decorate the tree this evening."
"Well, it's almost time for me to do the chores anyway."
"Good, I'll come along." She grinned. "If I stick around here, I'm afraid I might get rolled in flour and baked."
"Can I come too?" Carissa asked quietly as she came out of the bedroom Matt had been using.
"Why not?" I nodded.
Once we were out at the barn, it seemed to me that both Carissa and Lucille had to look at every horse and pet every second one. Normally, I was able to do the afternoon chores in about half an hour since we didn't milk any cows, but that afternoon it took far longer. Matt and John McAdam appeared in the barn before I was done and that slowed us down even more since we had to pause to greet them. We were finally finished and just about to go back to the cabin when John Coulter, Uncle Tom and Dad came into the barn. Of course there were greetings and then they had to be shown around too.
When we walked out of the barn, the yard was full of vehicles. That's when I decided something was up and that I'd been kept inside the barn so I wouldn't know what it was.
Once we did get back inside, I found out what had been going on. Not only had the used chesterfield and chairs in the living room been replaced by two love seats and two recliners, but I now had an oak desk and a rolling chair in my office. For a few moments I really didn't know what to say or who to thank. However, there was a card on the desk from Frank Dolens and his family and there was another card on the biggest of the two recliners, signed by Carissa, Corinna, Wilma and John Coulter.
I was flabbergasted and still didn't know what to say. I really hadn't expected anything like that.
"But the old chesterfield and chairs are still good." I remember blurting and John Coulter just laughed.
"We'll leave them here for extra seating over the holidays, but after New Years we'll put them in storage above Franks office. When you build a cabin for your workers next summer, you can put them in there." He grinned.
"Build another cabin?" I stared at him in surprise.
"Yes, somewhere that Matt and his brothers can call home. I'll finance it. In fact, I've already talked to your family, including old Toby, and checked out the costs. You just have to say yes and it will get built." He said quietly. "After that last trip to Calgary, the McAdam clan is planning to ask if they can move their home base here. Bill McAdam has declared them all to be unwelcome."
"Oh shit!" I looked at Matt and John in sympathy.
"Don't let it worry you." Matt waved a hand disparagingly. "Actually, you're the best thing that ever happened to my brothers and me. If we hadn't run into you that day in the RCMP Station, I don't know where we'd have been, but I know we wouldn't have had the friends and family that we do have. All of us guys have jobs that are three or four times as good as before and all of us are getting our education and improving ourselves. If we'd stayed with the old man and that bunch, we'd have been laid off for the winter right now and if not, we'd have been working in the bush for minimum wages in the future."
"By the way, a while back, Constable Davis was talking to Matt and me." John Coulter grinned. "He told Matt exactly what you did in the office that day. So Matt told us what you'd said to him. I'm not sure if I like being painted as a man that shouldn't be crossed."
"Just ask my old man about that." Mark hooted in laughter. "After that session in the hospital in Edmonton, he thinks you have every cop in Alberta in your hip pocket."
Thankfully that got the attention away from me as Matt and Mark had to explain that after Bill McAdam had been escorted out of the hospital by the police, he'd been warned by them to stay clear. Then the next day the police had delivered a legal document to him warning him that he could no longer approach Jackie. To make matters even worse, he'd been stopped twice on the way back to Calgary for minor traffic violations. For some reason he didn't believe that those stops had been circumstantial. Instead he was positive that John Coulter was behind them and that the police had him under surveillance.
Just then Lucille broke up the discussion by announcing that there was a meal already set out on the table in the kitchen and that everyone should serve themselves. It was quite a spread, but somehow I found myself being served by Jackie without ever going near the line-up. Instead, she insisted that I sit in my new recliner and she sat on one of the arms of the same chair with her plate on her knee.
I hadn't seen him do it, but Dad must have gone down the cellar under the old cabin, because Tom brought me a glass of Grampa Bender's 'home squeezins' and set it on the table at my side. Then Jess and Jean walked up to him, handing him a plate of food. Jess winked at me as she grabbed his arm to steer him toward seats at the other end of the room.
"Hmm, interesting." I said quietly, forgetting that Jackie was at my side.
"Well, from what I've heard I think that between you and Lucille, you've convinced those two that they need to take the upper hand. I'd say Tom is in for an enjoyable time, at least for the rest of the winter." Jackie said quietly with what verged on a malicious snicker.
I'd been surprised to hear her answer and didn't know what to say, so I just shrugged my shoulders, trying to sluff off the idea that I was responsible in any way. Actually, I still felt a bit guilty about what had happened the night before.
During the rest of the evening, people snacked, talked and decorated the tree. About eight o'clock, Lucille and I brought out the boxes of decorations that had been stored in the attic of the old part of the cabin. Sandy suggested that each person should put at least one of those on the tree, but admonished everyone that some of them were extremely delicate and to handle them with care. Between the decorations I had bought, the ones that Lucille had bought and the ones that Grampa Bender had stored in the attic, there was hardly an open space on the tree by nine thirty at night. That's when I suggested that the youngest person there put the star on the top of the tree to finish it off, then handed the star to Jasmine. Tom and George held the ladder for her and we all cheered when it was in place.
Then I asked Mom to turn out all the lights in the room and Beth reached under the tree to turn on the Christmas tree lights. It looked great. Once more, the only other lights in the room were the candles on the mantlepiece and the light from the fire in the fireplace. About then Jess and Jean brought in the bowl of punch that they and Sandy had made while Lucille brought in a big jug of eggnog. When everyone had something to drink in their hand, we began to sing Christmas carols and songs. I don't remember all the songs we sang, but I know we started with "Silent Night" and ended with "Here Comes Santa Claus."
Mom and Dad left about ten thirty taking Beth and George with them and were followed by Uncle Tom, Aunt Alice and Jasmine shortly afterward. John and Wilma Coulter left right after that. Matt and his brothers stayed a lot later. So did Will and Corinna. Tom was the last one to leave and the twins escorted him to his car. When they came back inside, they were both giggling loudly.
Once everyone else was gone, we hung our individual stockings from the mantle and began to slip presents under the tree. Before everyone was done, the space under the tree was filled and the presents stretched out from it far enough that turning the lights off was going to be difficult. However, we didn't turn them off right away. Instead we turned off all the other lights again and sat quietly for a while, simply relaxing from the noise and excitement of the evening.
Jackie was the first to declare that it was bed time and Carissa went with her after both of them had given everyone else a goodnight hug and quick kiss. Jess and Jean followed only moments later. Sandy, Lucille and I sat and talked quietly for a while longer before we decided the bed was calling us. We went upstairs after blowing out the last candle and turning off the lights on the tree.
Christmas day was hectic. I awoke early and managed to slip out of bed without waking either Sandy or Lucille, then slipped downstairs and added one more gift to each girl's stocking. After that I slipped outside as quietly as possible and did the morning chores. I was almost done when Sandy showed up at the corrals and bawled me out for not waking her to help, but I just laughed at her, then gave her a hug and wished her Merry Christmas.
Once I was back inside, I rushed to clean up and changed into good clothes, then I finally got to have my morning coffee. While I was drinking that, Jess brought me my stocking and kissed me on the cheek in thanks for 'Santa's' gift in her stocking, a pair of cultured pearl earrings. Jean, who'd gotten the same, kissed me on the other cheek while handing me a small plate loaded with a couple of slices of cinnamon toast. Sandy, Lucille, Carissa and Jackie insisted on giving me a kiss and hug in thanks for their matching necklaces and earrings. I had to admire all of their other small 'stocking' gifts as well, but as I did, I was able to stave off starvation with the cinnamon toast and coffee. Then they insisted I open my stocking and see what 'Santa' had left me. Mostly what was in my stocking were gag gifts, but there was a key-chain with a horse's head on it. The key-chain had a 'Honda' key attached to it and a little note taped to the key which said to "Check the lean-to by the barn - the McAdam clan." (When I checked later that afternoon, I found that the key fit a new 'Honda Trail' motorcycle, that was parked behind the tractor and hidden under a tarp.)
Once I had all of the goodies out of my stocking, Jess and Jean started handing out the gifts. All I'm going to say about gifts is that everyone seemed to make out like bandits. It was almost ten in the morning by the time we'd opened all the gifts and everyone had a chance to see exactly what they'd gotten. Then we finally were able to eat a light breakfast. We didn't dare eat a lot because we had our Christmas visits to make yet.
Sandy and the girls put the turkey in the oven and set it to cooking, then we got dressed and drove down home to open more presents and have a bite to eat. After that we had to go over to Uncle Tom's for more of the same and finally we went to town and visited the Coulters. Then we had to race home to take the turkey out of the oven and begin cooking and reheating some of the other food. Lucille and I set up a huge table in the living room using sawhorses and sheets of plywood, since everyone who'd been there the night before was going to be back for Christmas dinner. As soon as the table was set up and covered with clean bed sheets, we'd hurriedly pulled on a pair of coveralls and done the chores. We were scarcely back in the cabin and cleaned up, when our guests began to arrive. It wasn't long before everyone was there. In fact there were twenty-four people in the livingroom of the cabin when we sat down to eat at five thirty.
On top of everyone else, Mom and Dad had brought Grampa Bender out for a visit. In fact, Grampa Bender was the reason that we were having the family's main Christmas dinner at the ranch; normally Mom and Aunt Alice took turns having the family dinner. Sandy and Carissa came up with the idea of having Grampa Bender there and I had thought it was only fitting. So did Lucille, who helped to set it up with the hospital. I don't think Grampa Bender ate much, instead he spent most of his time looking around at all the changes in the old cabin and the new addition, but he certainly enjoyed himself.
The girls had set the table so Grampa Bender's wheelchair was at one end and I was at the other. That meant I didn't get much chance to talk to him during dinner, but we did have the chance to have a nice chat later. To say that he was effusive in his praise of what we'd done to the cabin would be putting it mildly. After we'd finished dinner and everyone had a short visit with him, he began to look tired, so Lucille and I took him back to town. We weren't surprised to be met at the door of the hospital by the matron herself. She wheeled Grampa Bender away, clucking and fussing like an old hen, so when Lucille and I got back in her Jeep, we had a good laugh about her antics. I had to agree with Lucille, it looked like the matron had a 'thing' for Grampa Bender.
By the time Lucille and I got back to the ranch, the yard was almost empty because most of our visitors had left. Mom and Dad were still there and so was Tom, but of the McAdam boys, only Matt had stayed behind. The Coulters had taken Mark, Luke and John back to town with them. Carissa and Jackie were packing some things and were going to join them for a few days. Everyone else that was leaving had already left, so when I got inside, I headed for my new recliner and flopped on it. I felt exhausted but satisfied.
I'd hardly gotten seated when Sandy brought me a cup of coffee.
"You look exhausted and I know what you feel like, but you were up even earlier than I was." She laughed gaily as she rested on my knee for a moment.
"Sandy, you did very well." Dad said quietly with a wide smile. "Now you and Chris know how we've felt for many years though."
"Yes, next year it's our turn again." Mom chuckled. "Was Uncle Toby happy to be back at the hospital?"
"Well, I don't know about him being happy to go back to the hospital, but the matron sure made a fuss about him when we took him inside." I laughed. "Lucille thinks she regards him as a very special patient."
That brought a laugh from everyone. We talked for a short while, but mostly we just sat around and relaxed. Then Dad yawned and instantly Mom insisted that they had to go. Tom left a few minutes after they did, but Carissa and Jackie didn't leave until late in the evening. As soon as they had left, Matt headed for bed, but told me to sleep in the next day because he'd handle the morning chores.
Only a short while later, I decided I'd had enough Christmas for the year and I headed for bed too. I think my head might have rested on the pillow for thirty seconds before I was asleep.