Chapter27

The embarrassment of the younger couple was apparent the next morning when Traci calmly asked Charlie to make sure to air the house out the next time Kathi stayed over.  With the others laughing at their discomfort, they all had breakfast before Mandy left to pick up Jenni from Grandma and Grandpa’s.

While she was gone, the trio told Charlie and Kathi about the honeymoon, leaving out all the sex they had, though the couple was strangely silent about what they had done.  Mandy was walking in the door as Greg was coming to the part where they had invited Marie to stay.  Charlie took the news that he would be losing the spare room to another person pretty well.  The fact was, he was looking forward to living in the dorm as long as Kathi stayed at home.  They had talked about moving in together, but had decided to wait until the next year to do that.  That way they would be able to be sure that they really wanted to stay together.  However the previous week made that wait more unnecessary.

Kathi was interested in Maria’s coming to the States, and was asking questions about the girl and her history.  Kathi was outgoing and friendly and looking forward to showing her all the sights and attractions the country had to offer.

“From what we know just from meeting her in the village, she will probably be just a little naive of all the differences that we have here,” Mandy was saying.  “Coming from a very small town, it may be a case of culture shock for her until she gets used to it.”

“I can understand that,” Charlie commented.  “My first trip here was a shock from the little town we came from, even though we had cable and knew some things about the big city.”

“Well, for a country bumpkin, you sure adapted fast,” was Kathi’s remark.

“I had a good teacher,” he countered, putting his hand on her thigh.

Greg gave a laugh.  “I don’t think she would be wanting to learn the same things you taught Charlie,” he said, giving Kathi a leering look.

Kathi turned bright red, but answered that she didn’t have to teach Charlie anything; he already knew enough, and what he didn’t, he improvised well.  This brought another round of questions and good-natured teasing.  Kathi admitted that she needed to get back to her own house and gathered up her clothing.  She was gone by the time the rest had decided what they were going to do that day.

Charlie said all he really wanted to do was relax in his room.  The girls decided to unpack and get the laundry done so they would all be ready for the next week.  Greg went to work on the bills that had come in since they left, and to contact his Martial Arts coach and Sensei to arrange for times he could work out.  They all went their separate ways, with Jenni ‘helping’ everyone by getting underfoot.  Since they hadn’t seen her in a week, all three of the adults made sure to spend a lot of time with her.

Maria arrived the day before freshman orientation.  Greg and Mandy went to the airport to pick her up while Charlie and Traci moved Charlie’s things out and cleaned the room for its new occupant.  There had been a problem in Charlie’s dorm,  so he would be sleeping on the couch for a few days.  

When Maria stepped off the plane, she had changed from when Greg and Mandy had first met her a couple of years before.  The girl who had been at his Grandfather’s villa over Christmas had been just blossoming into womanhood even at sixteen.  She still had her baby fat then.  Now she had matured into a striking young woman.  She recognized the couple immediately though.  She ran up to Greg giving him a hug that could have broken some ribs.  Then Mandy got the same welcome.

“Thank you both so much for allowing me to stay with you,” the young girl gushed.  “My Aunt Teresa was so worried about me coming into a strange country.  She was much relieved when you offered your home.”

Charlie was pleasantly surprised when Maria came in with Mandy and Greg.  From the description he had received from the others he was expecting a girl who was somewhat overweight and even a little plain.  What he saw was a girl about five feet four inches, with beautiful black hair surrounding a warm face.  Her dark eyes complimented her olive complexion, and as his eyes made their way down from her face, he decided that if she was overweight at all, it was all in the right places.

Traci went over and gave her a hug then introduced her to Charlie.  He was still stunned, but quickly remembered his manners and welcomed her to America and told her he was happy to meet her.

When she replied, it was in heavily accented English, but he had no trouble understanding her.  They all sat down and talked for a while.  Maria told them about her trip, it being the first time she had been on a plane.  She shared Traci’s nervousness about flying, but had no problems with the connecting flights or the layover she had in New York.

The women took Maria to her bedroom so she could unpack and take a nap in preparation for their planned “Back to the Grind” party for that evening.  It was a chance for their old friends from last year to get together, while letting some of the freshmen they knew get acquainted with the upperclassmen.  It wouldn’t be too much, just some meat on the grill, salads and chips along with cold beer, soda, and wine.  None of their friends were in the drinking crowd, so there would be no problems in that area.

While Maria had been excited to be in America, she was also a bit shy with all the new people around her.  She tried to sit on the edges of the group and just watch what was going on, but between her new housemates and Charlie, she wasn’t allowed to hang back much.  She soon realized that these people were not much different from the friends she had left in Italy.  Everyone seemed to be interested in where she came from and in knowing all about her.  When she said she was going to be studying communications, she found a couple of Greg’s friends were on the same track, and they were soon giving her advice on which professors were the best, and what the classes were like.  Even though she was used to drinking wine, she found herself downing more than usual, and along with the friendliness of the people, she was soon relaxed with the gathering.

She almost panicked when the others started going in to change to horse around in the pool.  She quietly admitted that she didn’t have a swimsuit to Mandy who immediately told her she could use one of hers.  They went upstairs where Mandy put a few different bikinis on the bed and told her to choose.  Maria picked the most modest of the bunch but admitted to Mandy that she still felt like she was naked.

Touching her arm, Mandy told her she didn’t have to go swimming if she felt very uncomfortable, but Maria said that was willing to at least try.  When she reappeared at the back deck, Greg gave her an appreciative glance and told her she looked very sexy.  This caused her to blush even more, but it also made her smile.

While Maria had been changing, Kathi had shown up with her sister, Melissa.  Charlie introduced the two young women and they hit it off immediately.  Kathi was not going to let Maria sit out anything and grabbed her hand and headed to the pool with Charlie following, admiring the view of two very sexy butts barely concealed in lycra suits.

By the end of the evening, Maria was very comfortable with everyone she had met, and especially with Kathi and Charlie.  The three of them sat talking until well after almost everyone else had left.  When Kathi finally decided she needed to get home, she left with a promise to pick both Maria and Charlie up the next morning for the orientation.    Maria insisted on helping clean up and put away the food, and the entire time she was helping Traci and Mandy, she talked about how great Kathi had been and how Kathi and Charlie made such a great couple.

When they were in bed that night, Greg wondered if they were beginning to see the start of another threesome between Maria, Kathi, and Charlie.  The two women weren’t sure, but admitted it might be a possibility.  In deference to Maria, they were trying to be quiet during their lovemaking.  Traci was a little loud as she had a massive orgasm with Greg behind her, pounding into her pussy enough to make her hips jiggle every time he shoved himself deep inside her.  Adding to this, Mandy was lying beneath her and licking her clit.  It really wasn’t fair to expect Traci to keep quiet since they were double-teaming her.

In the other room, Maria was awake and hearing every moan and groan.  Her Aunt Theresa had explained just what kind of relationship her housemates had.  She understood the basics, and agreed that it wouldn’t bother her.  However, deep down it was confusing to a village girl raised in the shadow of the rules from the Roman Catholic Church which are much more strict in her Italian village.  They said that everything Greg and the girls did were sinful, but she couldn’t understand why the church felt that way.  From the times she had seen them in Italy and what little time she had been with them in the US, she could tell they all really loved each other.  Wasn’t that the most important part?

But tonight, all thoughts of logic were out the door as she listened to Traci moan once again.  The aching between her own legs was driving her crazy.  She could feel the lips down there getting very wet and slick from her own secretions.  Just like when she had kissed Armando behind the haystack.  She became painfully aware that she knew hardly anything about what men and women did as far as sex was concerned.  The only time her mother mentioned sex was to tell her that she had to wait until she was married and that she wouldn’t like it, but she would have to do it for her husband.  Any other questions she had for her mother were always cut off with the comment that she would have to confess to Father Canaldi if she kept thinking those thoughts.  She finally fell asleep frustrated and confused.

The next morning Maria was embarrassed to even look at the others when they came in for breakfast.  She felt guilty about overhearing them and even more about fantasizing about what was happening when she had heard those sounds.

The trio noticed of course, and after they had cleaned up the kitchen, invited Maria into the living room to find out what was bothering her.  They all sat down with Greg in one of the chairs and Maria between the other two women.

“Maria, we are sorry you heard us last night, we just kinda got carried away,” Traci started the conversation.

“Oh, no!  Don’t feel bad.  This is your house, and you should be able to do what you want to do.  It's...God, this is embarrassing...it’s just that I got excited hearing all of the things you were saying.  I was just so frustrated, and I’m embarrassed that I was imagining what you all were doing, even though I really don’t understand what people do in bed.”  Then Maria smiled.  “But it sure didn’t sound like you were hurting or not enjoying it like my momma said would happen.”  She suddenly realized what she had said and bowed her head.  They all could see the red on her skin creep clear up to her ears.

Mandy put her arm around the girl.  “Don’t be embarrassed.  If you want to know something, just ask.  None of us would ever make fun of you or think you are stupid, or anything like that.  I know what it is like to not get any real education, since I didn’t get any either growing up.”

Maria looked over at Greg and got a scared look on her face.  “Oh, I couldn’t ever ask Greg anything.  He’s a man!”

Greg laughed.  “Don’t worry, Maria.  You can ask me just about anything.  Just be sure you want a real answer, because I'll tell you what I think.”

Maria gave Greg a little grin, and then dropped her head.  “I really don’t know anything.  The Church ran the school until I got into high school where I lived in the dorm.  It was an all-girl school, and while there was talk about boys, none of us knew what things were really like.  Maybe you can tell me what really happens and why it sounded like you were enjoying yourself so much.”

This started a talk among them that lasted most of the afternoon and evening.  Both Mandy and Traci were appalled at what little Maria knew.  Especially when she revealed that she had never even masturbated.

“When I was just ten or eleven, I started to get an itch in my ‘woman place,’ and when I rubbed it, it felt good.  Then Momma caught me at it, whipped me with an olive branch switch, and made me confess to Father Canaldi.  He told me I was sinning greatly against God and that I was allowing the Devil to invade my body.  That if I did it again, I would probably go insane, and that my parents would have to put me away.”

Traci couldn’t believe that she had been told this.  Not that she didn’t believe Maria, but that someone would scare a child so badly, and be so wrong at the same time.  Mandy told her lover that she had been told the same things, more or less and that the only way she found out they were wrong was when she saw some of the other girls who she knew were still doing it were not growing beards, or going blind.  

Traci took the lead on this revelation of Maria’s.  “Playing with yourself is the safest form of sex you can have.  You don’t have to wait on your partner, you don’t have to put up with a miserable date, and most of all, you can’t get pregnant.  The best advice I can give you is to ignore those old tales and just do what feels good to you.”

By now, Maria was getting more excited with the talk they were having.  “I feel all itchy there now.  But I have no idea how to get started.”

Traci put her hand on Maria’s leg.  “Every woman is different.  I like to rub all over down there until I really start to feel hot, then I'll rub between my lips, gathering up my own lubrication.  Then I circle around my clit until I'm almost ready to come, then I rub back and forth over the shaft.  The head of my clit is too sensitive for direct contact with a finger, but it sure likes a tongue!”

“You mean you let someone touch you there with their tongue?  Isn’t that yucky?  And what is your ‘clit?’”

“No it’s not ‘yucky,’ as you put it.  When you and your partner are worked up, your partner will probably find the smell and the taste of you down there very exciting.”  Maria looked over to where Greg was sitting and saw that he had a big smile on his face.  Looking lower, to his crotch, she saw that he had a big bulge in his pants.  Traci continued, “Your clit, or clitoris, which is the proper name for it, is the little spot at the top of your pussy that feels really intense and good when you touch it.  It is what triggers your orgasms almost all of the time.”

They continued on to other subjects then, but Maria had decided for herself that she was going to try and figure out just what they meant about having sex yourself.

Later on that night, Greg was once again going at it with Mandy this time.  Maria heard them going at it, and taking Traci’s advice, she started to rub the inside of her thighs, enjoying the tingling she was feeling.  Her small breasts were feeling funny as well, so she ran her left hand under her nightshirt and found out that her feelings were intensified every time her hand brushed against her nipples.

Her breath stopped for a moment when her fingers trailed up between her lips outside of her panties.  She slid the fingers of her right hand under the waist band of her panties, enjoying the feeling of her own fingers across her tummy as she explored farther into her own sexual depths.  She was surprised at just how wet her inner lips had become.  She had always tried to keep them dry, often going into the bathroom at night and wiping after she had been dreaming about some boy.  Now she marveled at the natural nectar that came from inside her.  She got some on her finger and brought it up to her nose.  She had to agree with Traci that it really didn’t smell bad, just sort of musky.  She stuck her tongue out and licked that finger, noting that it really didn’t have too much of a taste that she could tell.

She was soon too worked up to just be smelling and tasting, and she sent her hand deep into her panties once again.  As she moved around, finding her opening like Traci had described, one finger touched her clit, which sent her into orbit.  Now that she knew where it was and what it could do to her, she started working on it with a vengeance.  She quickly found a rhythm that took her fingers down into her inner lips, gathering her essence, and then rubbing one finger on each side of her clit, she could enjoy the feelings that were still new to her.

Suddenly she felt something deep in her pelvis that she had never felt before.  It felt like her whole being was being drawn just to that area.  Suddenly, her first orgasm hit her like an express train, her body stiffening and then almost vibrating in response to the waves of sexual release that were washing over her.  She thought she saw stars behind her closed eyelids and then suddenly she relaxed.  A feeling of contentment and well being covered her and she lay there panting.  What she didn’t realize is that when her orgasm took her, she let out a sound that was a mixture between a deep groan and a scream.

Mandy heard it and pointed it out to her two lovers.  They were just lying there in their own afterglow of orgasm, and they all smiled at each other when they heard those sounds coming from Maria’s room.  Greg commented that she seemed to take the lessons that Traci and Mandy had given her to heart.

Freshman orientation was always a mess, but Kathi, Charlie, and now Maria all at least had help navigating the maze.  Charlie got his dorm assignment and moved his things from the Tolkin’s household.  Kathi was staying at home like her sister, but made sure she knew what room Charlie was in.  Maria of course was going to stay with Greg and the women.  She had taken a liking to Jenni and offered to baby-sit any time they wanted to do something, just the three of them.

Maria’s sexual education started to expand as well.  The first time that she saw Greg, Mandy and Traci in their bedroom while they were making love was an accident.  She had drank way too much water that evening, and she'd had to relieve her bladder about an hour after they had all gone to bed.  Coming back through the hall from the bathroom, she'd heard a noise and turned to see what it was.

The noise had come from Mandy who was riding on Greg’s cock while Traci was straddling his face.  Maria stopped and stared for a long moment.  She felt her own nipples get hard when Traci reached over and gently twisted Mandy’s.  Then she got a look at Greg’s member as Mandy paused with just the head between her wet lips.  ‘My God, that thing is huge,’ she thought to herself.  But the idea of it sliding between her own lips caused her to be both excited and scared.  She backed away and quickly made her way to her bed where she brought herself off thinking of what she had just seen.

The next day she was full of guilt and apologized to all three of her housemates.  Mandy took pity on her and told her that they didn’t mind, and if she found herself in that situation again and was curious, to just knock on the door.  She could come in and see for herself up close what was going on.

She never did go in, but she watched more often, getting more comfortable with the idea of having sex and actually enjoying it.  She even got over her Church-fueled revulsion about lesbian sex after seeing how much Mandy and Traci loved each other and how tender they were with each other.

She also made attempts into the college dating scene.  After one of the guys asked her out, Greg took him aside and calmly told him that she probably wouldn't be as quick to want to have sex as some of the other girls the guy had dated.  Then in a low voice he told him that if he hurt her in any way, he would find that he would never use his dick again, that was once he made it out of the hospital.  He should allow her to set the pace.

Mandy and Traci thought it was funny he would be taking such a ‘big-brother’ attitude with Maria.  For her part, she was very grateful and gave him a huge hug.  She was nervous when she went out that first night, but when she came back she was on top of the world.

It was after her third date with this guy, whose name was Brandon, that she approached Mandy about birth control.

“I know my Church doesn’t allow it, but I really think I should check into getting some.  I want your advice on what to use,” she said in a tiny voice, her face very red.

Mandy told her that she thought it was an excellent idea and had her make an appointment with Dr. Simmons at the same time as Mandy’s next pregnancy check.  The exam was the first that Maria had ever undergone, and it was uncomfortable for her to have someone else see her ‘there.’  But she made it through the ordeal and came away with a prescription for the pill.  She had decided that this was the best form since it didn’t allow her to ovulate, and that way it couldn’t really be harming a fertilized egg.

She didn’t lose her virginity to Brandon though.  She had been spending time with Kathi and Charlie.  One night they all got pretty wasted at Kathi’s parent’s house while the parents were gone.  Maria let it slip that she found Charlie very sexy and that she had seen Greg and the girls making love.  Kathi admitted that she was curious about that as well.  When Charlie jokingly offered to let them fulfill their fantasies, the women took him up on it.  Fortunately Kathi and Charlie knew about her lack of experience and took it very slowly and gave her plenty of chances to back out.  

But Maria was horny and determined to find out if sex was as good as she thought.  Kathi had her ride Charlie for her first time so she could control just how fast she wanted to go.  By the time she had him all the way inside her she decided that she really liked sex.  When she hit her third orgasm while Charlie was erupting in her womb, she decided that 'like' wasn’t a strong enough word.  She adored sex.  Both she and Kathi decided that lesbian sex was something they could take or leave, but the male-female stuff was fantastic.  They all fell asleep in Kathi’s bed exhausted.

The next morning started out with a bit of awkwardness on Maria’s part but Kathi nipped that in the bud.  She told her that she was fine with her having Charlie for her first time, and that if she wanted a repeat, it was all right with her.  This cleared her conscience, and when Charlie treated her no different than before, she became comfortable with the situation.

However, on their next date, she surprised Brandon with a blowjob before she shoved him down in the back seat of his car and proceeded to ride him to a few glorious climaxes.  The girl knew that her mother had been wrong.  Sex wasn’t something that was to be endured, but something glorious that fulfilled a need that she never knew she had.  

Things had settled down into a routine by the time Jenni’s birthday came around.  Traci and Mandy had a party planned for her that included cupcakes at the daycare along with a party at home with the family and friends who had grown close to the girl.  She got more toys and stuffed animals than she could ever need and a bunch of clothes from her mothers.  These she insisted on trying on, which caused Greg to comment that she had to be female to want to do that.  That got him attacked with pillows from all three of the adult females and Jenni jumping on him to join in the fun.

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“Mandy, come down here, there is someone who wants to see you.”  The tone in Traci’s voice made Mandy move down the stairs and through the living room faster than normal.  When she got to the door, she saw her mother standing on the front step, looking much older; “used up” was the best way she could describe her.   Her hair was not in its usual neat bun; her clothes were wrinkled and soiled.

Mandy invited her in and immediately made her a cup of coffee, sweetened and with cream, just as she remembered her mother making it.  The two lovers let Sarah Carson drink a little of the brew before starting the explanation of her sudden appearance.

“I didn’t know what else to do,” she explained.  “Things have gone so terribly wrong in the past year.  Now your brothers are out there somewhere and your dad’s in jail waiting trial for murder.”

“Back up a little, Mom,” said Mandy who was clearly confused by what she had just heard.  “Start at the beginning and give us the whole thing.”

Sarah took a deep breath and kept staring at the cup in her hands as she started to speak.  “Things were pretty good when we left for the place where Reverend Campol had staked out for us.  We grew most of what we needed and would only go into the nearby town for the things that we couldn’t make or grow ourselves.

“Then last year, the Reverend started to make some strange proclamations.  He said that after he had studied the Bible and prayed on it, that God had revealed to him that the outside world would soon be plunging into Armageddon, and that we had to get us all ready for survival in that world.  He and the other men started stockpiling rifles and guns and the ammunition for them.  When we women were allowed to go to town, we had an escort of armed men with us so the evil folk wouldn’t take us away.  Then the Reverend’s sermons started to get more away from what I thought the Bible was, which was supposed to be about Jesus.  Instead he was talking about all the things in the Old Testament, about following the ancient laws there.

“He told us all that the young girls were to be the basis for the new population that would be needed for the upcoming battle.  As soon as they started their periods, he would marry them to one of his elders.  There were a few that really struck his fancy and he took them for himself.  If the girl objected, she was beaten to show her her place in the world, then was deflowered by a few of the elders.  Any boys not following the rules were kicked out of the compound.  That's what happened to your brothers.”

“You said that Dad was in jail.  How did that happen?”

“Well, you know how big your Dad is.  He was put on an enforcement squad that made sure all of the Reverend’s proclamations were followed.  If some girl tried to escape her rightful place, he'd go and bring her back for punishment.  Well, one girl got away and made it to the town we were near.    Your dad went after her and had her by the arm when a sheriff’s deputy stopped him.  They got into a yelling match then a fight when your dad told the deputy that he was doing the Reverend’s wishes.  The deputy was going to arrest your dad, and that was when your dad pulled a gun and shot the deputy.  The deputy had called for backup and they arrived just as your dad pulled the trigger.  They took him down and put him in jail.  I went to the Reverend when I heard what happened, and he told me that it was God’s will that Richard should be in jail, and that he would be a martyr for the church.

Sarah’s face was contorted and she had tears coming down her face.  “The Reverend won’t help him, and I was told to leave because I defied the will of God for asking the Church to help him.  I was taken to the edge of the compound and left there.  I didn’t know what else to do, so I pawned my mother’s wedding rings that I had on me at the time, and got a ticket here.  Can you help me and your dad?”

“I’ll have to see what we can do.  Right now you need to get a hot shower, and we need to wash your clothes.  You can get cleaned up and take a nap in Jenni’s room.  We'll figure out what to do tonight.”  Traci looked at her lover.  Mandy had a harder tone in her voice than she would have thought she would in this situation.  It was normal for Mandy to be very sympathetic with others.  Mandy just gave her a look and went to find her mother a robe.

That afternoon, Greg came home from his workout and time at the library.  Mandy told him what had happened and that her mother was asleep upstairs.  They held a quick conference between them while things were quiet during Jenni's nap.

Greg was as surprised at the way Mandy described her mother’s plight as Traci had been.  When she had finished the story, Greg asked her what she wanted to do, telling her he would be happy to help with whatever she decided to do.  Traci was arguing for them to do whatever needed to be done to help Mandy’s mother out and to find her brothers.  She asked her lover why she seemed so distant about all this.

Mandy had a hard expression on her normally happy face as she started to explain.  “I feel bad for my mother, but she wanted this life.  She stood by my father when he threw me out of the house and when he tried to take Jenni from me.  That is something that I can never forgive or forget.  I know she is my mother and all, and I will help her get on her feet, but I don’t want her living here.  We can get her set up in an apartment or something and maybe help get her a job.  But I will NEVER help my father.  He scarred me beyond my ability to forgive.  When he tried to take Jenni from me, he ceased to be anything but an enemy to me and my family.  I would like to find my brothers and let them move in with Mom.  Maybe they'll have a chance away from my father and his influence.”

Neither Greg nor Traci had ever seen their wife so angry before.  They both realized then just how deep the scars from her upbringing were for Mandy.  They agreed to let her make the decisions about this problem, and they would both support her however she wanted to play this.

When her mother woke up, they all had dinner and then met in the living room with Sarah after Mandy had put Jenni to bed.  They all took seats, with the exception of Mandy, who started to pace the room.

“Mother, here is what we have decided to do.  We will help you out in getting started in a new life here, if you want.  We will set you up in your own apartment, and when we find the boys, they will have a place with you.  I know some places where you can get a job interview and have a good chance at getting a position.

“But as far as my father, he is on his own as far as I am concerned.  He stopped being a father to me when he threw me out of the house.  And when he tried to take Jenni from me just to cause me pain, he became an enemy that I will never forgive.  After you get a job, you can help him if you want, but I won’t lift a finger for that man.”

Sarah was shocked to hear her daughter talk like that.  “Amanda, he is your father.  You should help him because of that alone.”

“Let me tell you something, Mother.  I was torn about helping you at all, and I still am, since you never protected me from the things he put me through.  Then I thought back to how you believed that you didn’t have a choice in the matter.  But he has no excuse for his behavior.  He is a brutal man who had no love for me and would have gladly given me to your Reverend if I had been along.  Worse yet, he would have done the same to Jenni as soon as she was old enough.

“Now, I've told you what I'm willing to do.  You can take the offer or refuse it.  Your choice.  You can tell us your choice in the morning.  For now, I am going to bed.”  With that, Mandy turned and walked out of the room.  Sarah sat on the couch stunned.  She had come here expecting Mandy to take her in and get her father out of jail.  Then she was hit with her daughter giving her a definitely stated NO for helping Richard, and was very cold about doing anything for her.  Now she had a choice to make.  She stood and moved to Jenni’s room to sleep on the foldout bed.

Greg checked the house, and when he got to their bedroom, he found Mandy in a fetal position crying with Traci rubbing her back and talking softly to her.

“I never thought I could talk to my mother that way.  When she showed up, all I could think of is how bad she had hurt me by letting my father do what he did.  All the times she degraded me and caused my father to hurt me with her telling dad things I did.  I know she's my mother and I’m supposed to love her.  But I just can’t!  I can’t get past what she has done to me!”  Mandy once again dissolved into tears.

Greg was helpless to do anything other than just hold his wife and try his best to comfort her.  He could understand her feelings, at least a little bit.  He had held the same animosity toward his parents for the way he had grown up, but he had been able to understand that his mother had never known any better.  He still had some of the feelings of resentment if he allowed them to come through like the matter of his father, the times he was ignored and left as just a trivial object, and those had hurt a lot.

But he'd made amends with his mother for the most part.  He thought the verdict was still out on his father, or the person he had thought was his father.  He'd never been hurt both physically and psychologically like Mandy had.  She had a right to her feelings, and perhaps she would mellow about her mother, but that would have to be her decision.

After Mandy finally cried herself out, they all crawled under the covers, placing her between him and Traci.  They all fell asleep holding and comforting Mandy.

The next day, Mandy was feeling better and helped her mother get started toward building a life of her own.  Sarah had been under Richard’s influence since they had married right out of high school.  She had never worked outside of the home and still felt inferior to men.  Maria was a big help getting her to overcome her feelings, since she was from a society that still frowned on women having careers.

Dressed in new clothes that were not at all like her normal attire, Sarah applied for a job at the University Day Care Center.  She was surprised when she was accepted.  It wasn’t a whole lot of money, but enough to allow her to have her own place and just a few extras.  Mandy	 also helped her to find a two-bedroom apartment in case the boys were found.  It was in the subsidized-rent housing, but the units were new and well kept.

It was a rough time for Mandy, but she came through it.  She even became friendly (to a point) with her mother and was genuinely happy when her two brothers were found in a home for teens about a hundred miles from the Church compound.  The older one, Josh, was sixteen and decided to stay where he was, but Ethan, two years younger, came back to his mother.  She had some problems with him for a while, but Greg helped out by working with the boy and getting him into a more modern frame of mind.

When Mandy went to the hospital to have their baby, Sarah was there along with Heather and Maria in the waiting area.  Traci and Greg were both in the delivery room, holding Mandy’s hands and encouraging her.  After a hard but mercifully short labor, they had a new son.  Nicholas Gregory Tolkin was born a week into November.  He was a good-sized child, and as long as he was full and comfortable, he was a very happy boy.

Both Grandmothers doted over the new addition to the family, and even Jenni was excited to have a brother.  Since Greg had formally adopted Jennifer, she had no idea that they were only half-siblings.  The parents were determined that it would never make a bit of difference.  For now they were happy to have Jenni to appreciate her ‘bro’ as she called him and she insisted that she would share her room with him when he came home.

Greg’s grandfather was overjoyed with his namesake and sent over a new crib for Baby Nick as well as a hand carved ‘big girl’ bed for his favorite granddaughter.  He would have done more, but Greg assured him that they had all they needed.

Mandy developed a mild infection from the delivery, so she and little Nick stayed in the hospital for a few days.  Traci and Maria traveled together to see them between classes, and Greg popped in every chance he got.  He had taken a week off from classes to help, so his only obligation was his training for the Olympic Taekwondo team.

He was on his way home from the hospital on his bike three days after Nick’s arrival and crossing a bridge.  A blue sedan suddenly veered into his lane and then into his bike, pinning him against the concrete railing.  Greg felt a massive pain in his legs and his chest just before everything went black.