Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience.

Best Girl by BJohn
   Chapters 1 - 5
   ------
   This parallels Sorcerer: Interesting Times.  You really should read
Sorcerer: The Inner Circle and Sorcerer: The Clann before you tackle
Interesting Times or Best Girl
Acknowledgements: Thank you to the many readers on SOL who gave me
constructive feedback and caught a lot of my typos.  Thank you to my
several editors and proofreaders for their sharp eyes.  Thank you to L. 
Ron Hubbard, whose philosophy forms the basis for many of the ideas you
find here.
   ------
   Chapter 1
   SEAN CULLEN (Monday 4/24)
   After four months in Arizona, it was nice to be back in California! 
Don't get me wrong, Mesa's a nice place, a rapidly-growing community and
has decent weather.  Nothing beats home, though, and Altadena's been the
family's stomping grounds for several generations.
   I'd gotten in Friday evening and had spent Saturday and most of Sunday
catching up with my sisters' families.  The five kids (between the two
families) gave me an exhaustive analysis of their schools, who's hot and
who's not in the male idol world from the three girls and the latest
derrings-do from the two boys.
   Having five young people between eight and ten crawling over me wasn't
exactly conducive to rest and relaxation.  What the hell, plenty of time to
rest later.
   I escaped after dinner Sunday, went back to my room and vegetated around
the pool for a while.  Sunday evening, it was a dark and stormy night (just
had to work that in somehow), one of those April showers that bring May
flowers (got that one in, too).  It left the air sparkling clean and the
sky clear as a bell Monday morning.
   After a leisurely late breakfast in the hotel restaurant, I took off for
a stroll through "downtown" Altadena.  From force of habit, I guess, I wore
a brown suit and perched my brown bowler hat atop my head.  Yes, it was
unfashionable and people had slagged me about it for years.
   There were plenty of puddles to walk around, but they'd dry up by noon.
Someone was having a problem though.
   She was standing in a huge puddle in front of a small storefront cursing
away quietly but vehemently in a mixture of Irish and English with a few
other languages tossed in for good measure.
   ------
   EILEEN McLENNAN (Monday 4/24)
   God dammit to hell!  Fuck!  The dayum bank line had been a mile long and
every little old lady in Southern California had come in to visit their
money.  They just *had* to chat with the tellers about their grandkids,
show all the pictures then do the oldies' shuffle away from the window. 
The tellers bore up as well as they could but it slowed me down by a good
half hour.
   Frank hadn't opened up, either; the fuckin' grate was closed and locked.
I wasn't totally surprised; he'd been gone somewhere since Friday
afternoon. So there I stood in a god-damned huge puddle of water with
Bridget in my right arm, her diaper bag and my purse in my left and nowhere
to set anything down within fifteen feet.
   *And* my breasts were so full of milk they hurt, *and* I had to pee so
bad I could taste it!  Bridget started to stir, and I knew she'd be wanting
fed real soon.  She farted and started filling her diaper with baby shit. I
started swearing; I knew it wouldn't do any good, but I did it anyway.
   A male voice asked me in Irish, "How may I help you this morning,
ma'am?"
   ------
   SEAN
   She was a gorgeous Red Irish lady with a baby on one arm and baby stuff
on the other.  Of course I offered to help; I stayed several feet away so I
wouldn't startle her or appear threatening.
   She glanced up and told me, "I've gotta open the store, and there's no
place to set things down.  My husband Frank usually opens up but obviously
he's not here -- and he probably won't be from the looks of it."
   I said, "Well, permit me to assist you in your time of need," and slowly
moved closer.
   I'm an empath; it kinda runs in the family.  One person each generation
can sense others' emotions and frequently their thoughts.  This generation,
it had been me, and I'd been practicing, testing and trying to develop the
Talent as best I could.  I'd been somewhat successful over the years; it'd
helped me out tremendously in business.
   As I got closer, I could tell she wasn't afraid, just pissed as hell. 
At around three feet, I felt our light mental _joining_.  Battle stations!
She was ready to bust top and bottom!
   I got right beside her, and as we looked at each other, I fell into her
eyes.  Deep, wonderfully-intense joy and sorrow; it was like floating on an
ocean of life.  I snatched myself back; this was neither the time nor the
place, and she was obviously a married lady!
   I _joined_ a bit differently.  The keys were in her purse hanging on her
left arm.  I picked up the outer handle, moved it off her wrist and
supported the weight while she dug inside.  She handed me the keys, and I
slipped the handle back on her wrist.
   She started to tell me which key opened the grate, but I'd already
picked it out and had unlocked it; it was right in front of her mind.  I
rolled the grate back far enough to clear the door and gave it the little
hitch needed to get over the big weld joint.
   The inner door had three locks; each took about a second to find the
proper key and use it.  No sweat.  I put the proper lift on the handle and
pulled it open (the hinges were a bit loose and it dragged).
   The light switches were up high on the right so I flicked them all on
and got out of her way.  She walked stiffly in with her burdens; I took the
diaper bag off her left arm and followed her.  She was in a hell of a hurry
but had to walk carefully.  If she jarred herself, she'd wet her panties.
   ------
   EILEEN
   When we looked at each other, I felt briefly dipped in heaven.  He got
the keys and had the grate and doors open before I had a chance to say a
word.  I slid in; I had to walk really smoothly so I didn't pee myself.
   He took Bridget's diaper bag and dropped the keys back in my purse.  At
her bassinet at the end of the counter, I just handed her to him.  He took
and handled her like he'd been doing it for years; somehow I just trusted
him completely.
   He laid her in the bassinet, and I hurried slowly towards the bathroom
in back.  Geeser (the store cat) tried to intercept me and lead me to his
food dish, but I kept on slogging.
   I almost didn't make it; it started coming out just as I was sitting
down.  Dayum!  Almost an orgasm, it felt so good.  I must have pissed a
gallon!
   I cursed again.  Friday afternoon Frank had just glared at me, walked
out of the store and vanished.  No calls, no messages, no nothing.  This
type of crap had been going on for about a year now; it had started after I
got pregnant and had gotten worse ever since.  He'd even managed to
disappear while Bridget was being born.  Arsehole wanker!
   I washed up and touched up my makeup.  For whatever reason, I felt
Bridget was completely safe, so I took what time I needed.  Dayum!  Now I
had to change her and finish opening up the store.  I'd even have to do
something about the puddle outside; probably no one would wade through it
to come in.
   ------
   SEAN
   She handed me the baby like we'd done it every day for years.  Well, I
can handle that.  I laid the warm, very fragrant bundle down in the
bassinet and looked at the face.
   Probably four months old, female, very Irish.  Red hair with peaches and
cream complexion like her (probably) mother.  Beautiful.  Her eyes opened,
and they were the most glorious shade of blue-green imaginable.
   We fell into each other.  She was deep, rich and powerful with tons of
Talent; another empath!  Mum and I had shared a bit of this feeling every
once in a while (she'd been the empath in her generation), but this was the
first time I'd felt it to this wonderful depth and richness.  We must have
stared at each other for a good five minutes before I backed off and took a
quick look around.
   Hmm.  Looks like a ladies' accessory store.  Scarves, handbags, jewelry,
makeup, all that kind of stuff.  Maura and Teresa (the Cullen Sisters)
would love this!  The bassinet had a little engraved plaque on it saying,
"Bridget." I guessed this was the baby's name.
   I stuck my face close to hers and asked, "I'm Sean.  Are you Bridget?"
   She promptly lifted her head a little, chortled and grabbed my glasses
off my face with a tiny hand.  Not to worry, they're the
bend-almost-double-without-breaking frames.  I got the distinct message,
_"Yes."_
   Very nice Talent!  I'd been able to exchange thoughts as communication
only with Mum on a few occasions.  This was a great leap upwards!
   I took a cautious sniff and a listen.  She was probably done with this
load.  There were diapers and supplies in the bag so I started changing
her. She tried to catch me off guard, but I held the old diaper over her
long enough she didn't pee on me or the new diaper.
   _"Little devil.  I bet you caught your mom with that one a few times."_
   _"Yes.  Fun.  Hungry.  Mom?"_
   _"She's in the bathroom doing *her* pee job."_
   _"Okay.  Hungry."_
   _"Coming Real Soon Now.  Let's finish you up here."_
   I finished cleaning her and putting on the new diaper while she banged
my glasses against the bassinet, chewed on them a couple times and laughed
at me.  There was small sink behind the counter by the makeup section where
I washed my hands off.
   When I tried to rescue my glasses, Bridget grabbed a finger, pulled it
in her mouth and bit down.  Yow!  She had a tooth!  While she was
attempting to gnaw my finger off, I rescued my glasses and burbled her
belly.
   ------
   EILEEN
   Now at least only my breasts ached like hell; I still had to change
Bridget before I fed her.  It was much easier walking back out.
   The man had taken his coat and (what the fuck?) brown bowler hat off and
was feeding Geeser.  Bridget chortled away while waving her arms and legs
around.  I started to change her, but it seemed like she told me, _"Clean.
Hungry."_
   She *was* clean.  The man looked at us; he told me, "I changed her. 
With five nieces and nephews from two older sisters, I've been the default
baby-sitter for over ten years."
   What the hell.  It seemed every time I glanced at him I got a touch of
wonderful.  That's one hell of a lot of charisma he shines around!
   Go with the flow.  I told him, "Thanks.  I'm Eileen McLennan, and this
is my daughter Bridget."
   He told me in Irish, "I thought so.  The resemblance is unmistakable and
the plaque on the bassinet says 'Bridget.' Two beautiful ladies to light up
a delightful ladies' store."
   A blarney man!  My Irish fairly decent, so we kept using it.
   He said, "I'm Sean Cullen and in case you didn't notice, I'm Irish too."
As if I'd miss that.  Gingernut with freckles plus the Irish and Irish
accent on the English.
   I laughed and told him, "Hard to miss.  Thanks for the baby changing and
cat feeding."
   He grinned at me and held up a finger.  "It's nothing.  I'd say Bridget
is hungry; she almost gnawed my finger off."
   Jaysus!  Back to baby business.
   ------
   SEAN
   Dayum!  Two of a kind.  Eileen _felt_ like she had lots of Talent, too.
   She picked up Bridget and a baby blanket and sat in a small rocking
chair next to the bassinet.  I knew she was going to nurse so I moved off
towards the front of the store.
   I found a bib apron and a push broom in a closet near the front door.  I
put on the apron, popped on my bowler (gotta keep up appearances, right?)
and headed outside.
   I heard Eileen let out a muffled shriek and felt her pain (literally). I
called out, "Sounds like you found her tooth.  For what it's worth, my
sisters kept changing the angle the baby's at so you just get an overall
sore instead of *very* sore in just one spot."
   She said, "Yeh.  I definitely found it.  Thanks for the advice."
   I went outside and finished opening the grates all the way so the window
displays were visible.  The displays weren't too bad; probably could use a
little freshening.  I swept the water puddle onto the street and picked up
a little litter here and there.
   Foot traffic was starting to pick up a little.  Several ladies came by,
a couple with babies in strollers.  Being the blarney man I am, I lifted my
hat, smiled and gave a little bow.  Most of them smiled right back.
   I went back inside, picked up all the wastebaskets and emptied them in
the dumpster out back.  I came back inside, put the wastebaskets back,
washed my hands and sat down in a chair next to Eileen and Bridget.  Should
be pretty much ready for the day except for the register.
   ------
   EILEEN
   Yow!  It felt like an ice pick through the end.  I let out a yell; Sean
commented about a tooth.  So that's what had been going on for a couple
days; Bridget was teething.  She grinned at me around the boob.  I knew she
told me, _"Sorry.  Mom good.  Best mom world."_
   I hugged her lightly and almost wept I was so happy.  I felt like we
were part of one another, heart and soul.
   Sean had grabbed Frank's apron and a broom (that silly hat!) and went
outside.  I saw and heard him open the grates the rest of the way and heard
him sweeping the sidewalk.  I saw several ladies walk by, some with
strollers; he must have laid some blarney on them because they all laughed.
   Sean emptied the wastebaskets.  By the time he'd put them back and had
washed his hands, Bridget had finished the one side so I switched her.
   He sat in the chair beside me, nodded at Bridget under the blanket and
asked, "First one?" Bridget worked an arm out from under the blanket and
waved at him.
   I told him, "Yeh.  Maybe the last the way things are going." I thought
of what was happening (and not happening) between Frank and me; a little
frisson of emotional pain rain through me; Bridget told me, _"Happy.  Be
happy Mom.  Best mom world."_
   Sean grinned.  "Well, we've all gotta learn sometime.  If I ever get
married, at least I'll know what to do."
   I couldn't help it; I leered at him a little and said, "A woman usually
appreciates a man who knows what to do." We're still in Irish, of course.
   He laughed.  "I'm not a beginner at *that*, necessarily, just not a lot
of practice.  Is this your and your husband's store?"
   "No.  We both work here.  Frank usually opens up, and I come down a half
hour later after Bridget gets her bath.  Frank vanished Friday afternoon,
and this morning I had to do a bank run to get change.  Of course every old
biddy in town had to yack at the tellers so by the time I got here,
everything was hurting.  Thanks so much for helping."
   He smiled again.  Every time he smiled it felt so good inside me it
almost hurt.  Dayum!  And I'm a married lady -- even if I don't know for
how long.
   He told me, "No problem.  The last time I was by here, I seem to recall
this was a sewing store."
   "Yeh.  It just wasn't doing too well so it closed down.  Mrs.  Shane
leased it a couple months ago; Frank and I started here a month ago.  We
live just a few blocks down so it's pretty easy to commute.
   "So, what's a dashing young Irishman with a silly hat doing roaming the
streets of Altadena on a Monday morning in April?  You've been here almost
an hour now and don't appear to be in a hurry to leave.  Not that I'm
complaining, mind you.  Bridget and I enjoy the company."
   He told me, "Well, I guess you could call me a consultant or
entrepreneur.  I just came back from a four-month project in Arizona and
was figuring to take a week or so to vegetate before I looked for something
else to muck around with.  Any time you wish, you can kick me out.  Just
say the word; I won't be offended.
   "And I enjoy your company.  Bridget and I seemed to have hit it off
great; I think she's gonna be my best girl for a while -- unless her
parents object."
   I grinned at him.  "Well, so far, I'm not objecting.  I don't know about
Frank.  In fact, I don't seem to know much at all about him lately."
   He didn't say anything, just cocked an eyebrow to show he was listening.
   I told him, "I met Frank last year when I was in college.  He's a lot
older than me, but that didn't seem to bother either of us.  We got married
before Spring Break last year, and I got pregnant with Bridget almost right
away.
   "Jaysus, I don't know why I'm telling you all this; you just seem safe
to talk with.  Anyway, we seemed to do fabulously well together until a
couple months after I told him I was pregnant then he seemed to change for
whatever reason.
   "He started going out a couple nights a week.  He'd come back smelling
of beer or whiskey, and a couple times I'd swear I smelled woman-sex on
him. Little sex and that was perfunctory like he was literally going
through the motions.  We've had nothing for the last seven months.
   "Bridget's eighteen weeks old now; Frank managed to vanish between the
time I got to the hospital until a day after she was born.  I went through
labor and birth all alone.  My Nana would have been with me, but she'd died
a couple days before.  Mom and Dad had long been gone so I felt so damned
lonely!
   "The nurses helped as they could, but I cried one hell of a lot.  Once
Bridget was out it seemed like we really bonded; she's the only thing that
kept me going.  When Frank did show up, he just looked at Bridget, grunted
and took us home.  I don't think he's ever held her.
   "This last week, he's vanished three evenings and didn't show up until
mid-day twice.  Friday afternoon, he took off, and I haven't seen him
since.
   "I try to talk with him, but he just claims everything is 'all right' or
'just a little headache' then ignores the both of us and crunches a couple
aspirin.  I smell booze and woman on him all the time so I figure he's
getting a lot on the side somewhere.
   "Shit.  If Bridget were a little older, I'd be outta there in a shot and
divorce his ass; if he refuses to talk with me, why would he talk with a
marriage counselor?  As it is, I've got only a bit of change set aside from
working here the last month.
   "So.  That's my long and sad tale.  Not your concern, but thanks for
listening anyway."
   He smiled gently and said, "My privilege.  Anything I can do to help, I
will.  Anyway, sounds as if Bridget's pumped the well dry.  I'll burp her
if you like so you can get the register open and the rest of the setup
done."
   Yeh, Bridget was sucking air.  I got things arranged and buttoned up
under the towel; Sean neither looked nor didn't look.  It was like I was
changing my shoes or something; no big deal.  Of course, with two sisters
and five kids, he'd probably seen plenty of breast feeding.
   I handed Bridget to him; he draped her over his shoulder on the towel
and stroked her back with a practiced, easy rhythm.  She hugged an arm
around his neck and settled down.  He quietly sang an Irish Rover song in a
nice tenor.
   ------
   I've a nice little house and a cow yard too with grass.  I've a plant
garden running by the door.  I've a shelter for the hens and a stable for
the ass Now, what could a man want more?
   I don't know, maybe so, But a bachelor is easy and he's free.  But I've
lots to look after, though I'm living all alone.  Sure nobody's looking
after me.
   My father often tells me I should go and have a try To find a girl that
owns a bit of land.  And I know, the way he says it, that there's someone
on his mind.  And my mother has the whole thing planned.
   I don't know, maybe so, But t'would mollify them greatly to agree.  Now,
there's little Bridget Flynn, sure it's her I'd love to win, But she never
has an eye for me.
   Now there's a little girl who's worth her weight in gold.  And that's a
decent dowry, don't you see?  And I mean to go and ask her just as soon as
I get bold, If she'll come and have an eye for me.
   Will she go?  I don't know.  But I'd love to have her sitting on my
knee. And I'll sing like a thrush in a hawthorn bush If she'll come and
have an eye for me
   ------
   So wonderfully sweet.  Bridget let out a nice belch and a bit of spit
up, squirmed around a few seconds then went to sleep.
   ------
   SEAN
   Eileen had trouble, I'd say.  Well, for the moment, I decided just to
help out as I could.  Bridget obliged us with a nice burp and dozed off as
she told me, _"Nice.  Good.  Best mom world.  Best Sean world.  Good. 
Love."_
   I told her back, _"You're my best girl, Bridget.  You and your mom are
wonderful ladies."_
   Eileen opened up the register and puttered around.  Since she wasn't
kicking me out, I made myself useful by restocking and straightening a few
areas.
   The _join_ or _link_ between Eileen and me seemed to be pretty strong
even across the store; I'd just think of needing something, and she'd pop
up with the location if they had it.
   I did the up and down the ladder stuff.  I'd been experimenting with
mental _reaching_ and _touching_ -- the books called it "tell the nieces"
or something.  Today, I was able to pick up lots of stuff from the floor up
to me on the ladder so I didn't have to climb up and down.  I kept an eye
on Eileen so she wouldn't catch me; she'd probably get spooked, and she
didn't need anything more going on in her world right now.
   The practice was worth it.  After a couple minutes, I got a lot better
at judging the effort and delicacy needed.  It wasn't so much effort,
exactly, either.  It was a lot like power steering in a car -- I just
needed to hone in the amount to turn.  It took me no more work to pick up a
ten-pound box than a single half-ounce scarf.
   Distance didn't seem to matter a lot either.  I found I could _touch_
and move something across the street just as easily as something a foot
away.  Just as an experiment, I slowly picked up the concrete trash holder
across the street a couple inches.  Literally no sweat at all to pick up
several hundred pounds, just a judgment on the control needed.
   Actually, everything seemed sharper and brighter today.  I could _feel_
Bridget no matter where I was and knew where Eileen was every moment.  It
was as effortless as knowing where my right hand was.
   I waited on a couple customers.  I'd had plenty of experience in sales
so it wasn't a big deal.  Since I knew where everything was, and Eileen
knew what we could order if necessary all I had to do was sell.
   The register was easy to use.  I used Frank's code and picked everything
else from Eileen.  I didn't look at her too deeply; it was bad enough I was
falling in love with her four-month-old daughter -- and she was a married
lady!
   ------
   EILEEN
   It was good to talk with Sean.  It didn't handle the problem, but
telling someone who could listen really helped.
   I mostly puttered around the jewelry and makeup.  Sean worked up and
down the ladder rearranging and restocking the higher shelves.  Somehow, I
could feel exactly where he was all the time.  I knew where Bridget was --
in her bassinet -- but now could actually feel her just as if I was holding
her, and I knew exactly how she was doing.
   I watched Sean out of the corner of my eye.  What the hell?  He seemed
to be moving stuff around without touching it; I saw several boxes
literally float in the air up to him on the ladder.  Telekinesis?  Dayum!
   Well, today has been full of surprises, what's one more?  Wonder how he
does it?  He didn't seem to strain at it; I couldn't feel any strain or
effort.  He just seemed to be controlling things with a mental _touch_.
   If Sean could do it, why not me?  I was in the jewelry section so I
picked out a small marble (women somehow seem to keep losing theirs) and
concentrated on it.  Force up!
   Fuck!  The damned thing took off straight up, bounced off the ceiling
and damned near nailed Geeser!  I guess a little of this goes a long way.
   Okay, much less "effort" needed.  I retrieved it and tried again.  This
time, it rose the quarter inch I'd wanted.  YES!
   Make it bounce around and dance a little -- keep an eye on Sean so he
wouldn't see -- that worked.
   Bridget stirred around and moved her blanket off.  Without even a
thought, I reached from across the room and pulled it back on her.  Neat!
   I didn't know what the hell was going on, but it was wonderful and
interesting.  Bridget felt so warm, loving and *familiar* while Sean was
becoming deeper and richer every moment.  Something sure the hell was
changing!
   Bridget woke up in an hour or so -- her usual after-meal nap time.  She
seemed to tell me, _"Love.  Up?  Cuddle?  Love."_
   I went over, picked her up and gave her a good snuggle.  She cooed and
wiggled around.  I felt, _"Best mom in world.  Nice Sean.  Happy.  Love
you."_
   It felt so nice I leaked a few happy tears.  It had been at least a year
since a happy tear.
   Sean waited on a couple ladies who came in.  I recognized them; they'd
been coming in once a week or so to look around.  He asked them, "How may I
help you?"
   They took one look at his bowler and struggled not to laugh aloud!  Sean
just grinned, looked a little smug and told them, "Conversation piece. 
I've gotten many a date from a girl who just *had* to ask about it."
   One asked him, "Who *are* you?"
   He told them, "Well, I'm Mrs.  McLennan's remote cousin and Bridget's
godfather.  She's a bit shorthanded today so I'm helping out.  Besides,
this way I can cuddle Bridget a lot -- she's my best girl!"
   Good enough for me!
   They cooed over Bridget (who obligingly put on a good show), cast
lecherous eyes on Sean's butt when he wasn't looking, shopped around and
got something like two hundred dollars of stuff.  The most Frank had *ever*
sold at one time was twenty-five dollars!
   Around 11:00, Sean took off his apron (but not the hat!) and asked,
"Pretty near lunch time.  I'll fly and buy; what would the lady desire for
a mid-day repast?"
   Bridget told us, _"Chinese.  Shrimp.  Good."_
   Okay, sounded okay to me.  Everything I eat flavors the milk and I've
never tried Chinese on her.  Sean asked me, "Chinese and shrimp okay with
you?"
   I laughed at him.  "Sounds good.  *If* they let you in the door with
that hat!"
   He and Bridget both laughed.  He said, "I'm sure they will.  They're
used to me after several years." He took off.
   I carried Bridget around while I did more arranging.  I practiced moving
stuff; the more I practiced, the more "of course" it became.
   I asked Bridget, "Is it okay if Sean's your godfather?"
   _"Godfather?"_
   "A godfather or godmother is a special person who's promised to watch
out for a child if their mother and father are gone."
   _"Yes!  Sean is godfather.  Best man in world!"_
   I didn't know what was going on today, but I wasn't about to make it go
away.
   Twenty-five minutes later, I swore Sean told me, _"Lunch in five
minutes."_ I set the table in back which was a matter of getting out the
paper plates, napkins and plasticware.
   Five minutes later he came in the door with food!  Just as desired,
Chinese with shrimp.  Okay, chalk up another mystery; Bridget and Sean were
both talking to me without saying anything.
   He set the containers on the table and dug some other stuff from other
bags.  He handed me a large box of nursing pads.  "I noticed the diaper bag
was getting low on these.  There seem to be plenty of diapers stored back
here so I didn't get any more of them."
   Dayum he's good!
   He pulled out a large piece of cloth with straps and a couple buckles.
"Baby sling.  That way you can hold her next to you and still have both
hands free.  My sisters used one for nursing so they could use both hands
to smack the other kids around." Big grin.
   Holy shit!  Those things run at least seventy-five bucks!  Way out of
Frank and my price range.
   I had to give at least a token resistance.  "I shouldn't accept gifts
from a man with strange hat habits."
   He grinned and asked, "Is it okay if I give it to Bridget as gift from
an admirer?"
   Couldn't argue with that.  We adjusted it and tried it out.  Bridget
slipped right in.  _"Nice.  Snuggy.  Best mom!  Best man!  Godfather is
nice!"_
   Sean told her, "Best girl!"
   I told her, "Best daughter!"
   At least Sean took his hat off during lunch.
   After lunch, I kept Bridget in the sling and worked away.  *Great*
invention.  I just draped a towel over everything when she nursed.
   Sean got in the window display, dusted things off and did some
rearranging as Bridget and I watched from outside.  We "approved" his
ideas; hell, they were great!  I wouldn't have thought of half of them.
   From outside the window, I asked, _"Where did you learn all this?"_
   _"Courses in junior college.  Study hands-on with lots of successful
retailers.  Practice."_
   We had the after-school rush of student girls from 2:30 to 3:30.  Sean
flirted with them while they stared at his hat and his butt.  They giggled,
blushed and bought.  They ooed and awed over Bridget who gave another show.
   Around 3:00, Bridget told me, _"Hungry.  Please?  Best mom."_
   This time I didn't bother with the towel.  Maybe one man a day came in
ordinarily, and they never bothered me.  Sean?  Well, he was Sean; he
wasn't about to ogle me.
   He told me, _"Under other circumstances, I *would* ogle a beautiful lady
like you."_ Blarney man!
   The girls didn't mind watching; several asked questions.  Interestingly,
only Sean was able to answer some; he'd actually had more exposure (so to
speak) to breast feeding than I had.
   I'd usually done the burping with back patting.  This time I tried
rubbing her back like Sean had.  Bridget told me, _"Feels good Mom.  Better
than beating me."_ She came up with a nice belch.
   Sean asked me, "Okay if I run a few errands?  There's a couple people
I'd like to touch base with."
   I told him, "Of course it's okay.  You're volunteer labor, right?  I
appreciate everything you've done for us."
   Bridget piped up, _"Godfather Sean is best man in the world!"_
   ------
   SEAN
   I told Eileen I drift back by around 5:00 to help with the closing if
Frank hadn't shown up.  She told me, "I don't know what to expect of Frank.
I'm betting he won't show."
   Anyway, I trotted back to the hotel and talked briefly with the day
manager.  The place hadn't fallen down or been robbed while I was gone, so
that was all good.
   I dropped by the police station and chatted with Sergeant Kane, the desk
sergeant.  We'd been talking every couple days for years; he kept me
abreast of a lot of things I needed to know, and I fed him what information
I'd picked up in my wanderings.
   I told him, "I'm planning on being back at least several weeks.  I don't
have another project on the boards yet; maybe in a week or so I'll get
ambitious and start looking around."
   I asked him, "By the way, do you know anything about Shane's Shop?  I
see it's new since I've been gone."
   He grinned.  "You've seen the Irish mother, right?  Pretty young thing.
Anyway, a Mrs.  Shane fired it up a couple months or so ago.  She brought
the couple in a month ago; she hasn't been around the last couple weeks. 
I'd say she's either sick or she's doing the absentee owner plan; you know
how that works, Sean.
   "The Irish lady and her baby are real nice.  I'm not so sure about the
man, though.  He's in his mid-forties -- not that I hold that against him
-- but he seems, well, cold and deceitful.  Myself, I wouldn't turn my back
on him too long."
   I said, "Well, Mrs.  McLennan said Frank's been gone all weekend and
he's been gone all day today.  Maybe you could keep an eye out for him? 
She appears to be a bit concerned."
   Sergeant Kane told me, "Okay, I'll put it on the shift briefing.  Any
idea where they live?"
   Hell no.  Wait -- hot dayum!  I just picked the address from Eileen, and
we were something like twelve blocks away!  Yowsah!
   I rattled it off along with the shop phone number.  Sergeant Kane looked
at me.  "Pretty quick with that.  Not thinking of doing a little poaching,
are you, Sean?"
   I gave an exaggerated shudder.  "Maura and Teresa would have my balls in
a second.  I may have a hunting license, but she's definitely not in
season. We're probably remote cousins, and I'm kinda like the baby's
godfather."
   He eyed me intently.  "You're a good man, Sean, even if you do wear that
silly hat around."
   I got back to the shop just before 5:00.  Still no Frank, so I helped
close up.  Interesting; I could tell if the back door was closed and locked
and if the windows were secure just by putting my attention on them.  After
a few cross-checks between that way and physically checking, I trusted it.
   I pulled the grate across the front, locked it shut and dropped the keys
into Eileen's purse.  I asked her, "Frank doesn't appear to be around.  May
I take you ladies to dinner?"
   Eileen told me, "Let's go by the apartment first.  If he's not there and
there's no note, we'll hang onto your coat tails."
   Bridget announced, _"Not there.  Don't feel him."_
   Eileen and I looked at each other.  Stuff's really happening!
   We walked by their place; nobody home, no note, nada.  So off to dinner
at one of my favorite restaurants three blocks away.
   ------
   EILEEN
   As we were going in, Sean got ahead and held the door.  I smiled and
thanked him; Bridget asked, _"I think Sean has a nice butt.  Don't you
think so, Mom?"_
   We ate and _talked_.  Bridget had a liquid meal.  I asked Sean, "What
the devil's happening, Sean?  You show up this morning and magic your way
through four locks into the store in fifteen seconds.  eWe've all started
talking among ourselves without speaking, and you and I are moving things
around just by thinking.  I'm remembering fantastical things of times
before I was born."
   Bridget said, _"And I'm remembering things.  Lots more than just a year
or so.  A home here in California.  New York.  Ireland.  Speech, talking
and grammar.  Irish Gaelic.  Parents, children, grandchildren.  And *I* can
move things too."_ A knife floated up an inch and spun in a circle a few
times.
   Sean closed his eyes for a moment.  "I've been able to see what you're
thinking since the first moment we've met.  This afternoon, I got your home
address and the store phone number from over twelve blocks away.  I'm not
exactly sure of what's going on."
   He told us about being an empath; that it showed up in one person per
generation in his family.  He said, "But this is beyond that.  The best
I've been able to do before today was pick up general emotions and a few
thoughts.  Now it's so clear it's amazing.  Bridget, when I first looked at
you this morning, I could tell you were the same as me in many ways with
lots of Talent."
   Bridget told us, _"Yeh.  I remember that.  It was like I started coming
out of a deep fog of confusion.  I started talking with Mom right away and
all day I've been able to find the both of you without looking with my
eyes. Even while you were gone this afternoon, Sean, I knew where you were.
You went to a hotel and to a police station."_
   Well, I wasn't a philosophy or psych major, just a BBA.  On the other
hand...
   I said, "Sean, you just said you recognized Bridget had Talent, too. 
Maybe Bridget and I are latent empaths like you.  I remember my Nana and I
knowing each other so well we'd go for hours together without saying
anything and being completely happy.  We'd make meals, go places, all that.
   "But this is a lot deeper than that.  It's like we're sharing our entire
selves at times.  Perhaps it takes a certain amount of Talent, power,
whatever or a certain number of 'Talented' people together.  I'd guess we
stimulated each other enough to bring it all out."
   Sean said, "I tend to agree with that.  I've been trying to explore and
train my Talent for something like thirteen years now.  I've made more
advances today than during the entire previous thirteen years.  I don't
know what caused it, but I think we need to find out *what* we've got."
   We agreed.  It was no longer a "curious," it was a *need* to know.
   Sean glanced at his watch.  "We've been here a couple hours now; I think
it's time to head home."
   He walked us back home.  Well before we got near we could easily tell
there was still no Frank.
   We agreed he'd come by in the morning.  If Frank had showed up, okay. 
If not, he'd help us open up at least.
   He gave Bridget a nice hug.  "Goodnight to my best girl.  I'll stop by
to see you tomorrow one way or another."
   Bridget smiled, laughed and told him, _"Godfather Sean!  Best man!  I'm
learning to love you a lot!"_
   Sean and I traded a chaste hug.  He said, "Goodnight, my lady.  May the
faeries guard your sleep tonight."
   As he walked away, I felt a phantom kiss on my hand which thrilled me
everywhere.
   Chapter 2
   SEAN (Monday evening 4/24)
   Nothing much happened Monday night.  I went back to my room, eyeballed
some financial reports, caught up on some reading and went to bed fairly
early.
   We kept in a light _link_.  We were happy to be together that way, but
all of us were concerned about Frank.  It was the not-knowing that was
difficult.
   Bridget went out like a light pretty early; even with her asleep, Eileen
and I could feel her being there.
   Eileen and I lasted another hour.  We _talked_ about what had happened,
tried to find some common denominators beyond the facts that we could all
do the same things and in general, got to know each other a little bit
better.  She fed Bridget again; by the time we drifted asleep, we felt like
good friends.
   ------
   EILEEN (Tuesday 4/25)
   Despite my concern, I slept very well.  With Sean around in a light
_link_, Bridget and I felt we weren't so alone.
   No Frank on Tuesday morning.  When Bridget and I woke up, we asked Sean
to meet us at the store at the normal 9:00 opening time.  He
counter-offered with breakfast.  Sure, why not?
   He pulled by the apartment in a BMW.  Nice, very nice.  Frank and I'd
had a banger Ford which had died last year, and we hadn't had the money to
get another.  We'd gotten by.
   Off to the restaurant!  Waiters, nice chairs, steak, eggs, toast and
coffee.  I apologized to Bridget that she couldn't have any of it yet;
maybe we'd start solid food in a couple weeks.
   She told me, _"That's okay, Mom.  I don't think my body could handle it
yet anyway.  Besides, if I link with you just right, I can taste and enjoy
it like you do.  As it was, I got a little shrimp flavor last night in the
milk."_ Clever girl!
   Now it was time to hit the store.  We got close right before 9:00; it
was still closed and locked with no Frank in evidence.  Sean parked the car
in the reserved spot in back.  Bridget and I went in through the back while
Sean went around front and opened the grating and front door from the
outside.  All was normal inside; it didn't look as if Frank had been in.
   Geeser was ready and waiting for us to feed him.  Of course, that's
always the most important action in the morning, right?
   We put our stuff away and got Bridget in her bassinet.  I fed Geeser
while Sean opened the register, and Bridget chortled, laughed and rolled
over several times.
   Okay.  Sean recommended a full cleaning day.  We kept an eye out for
customers while we dusted the ceiling and overhead lights.  Plenty of dust
and cobwebs right away; Bridget pulled the blanket over her head.
   We paused for a moment; the dust was getting on the merchandise below.
Bridget offered, _"How about a little force touch over the top of
everything to shield it?  We could sorta fold it up when we're done."_
   She got good mental hugs for that.  So, we protected everything below
the ceiling and lights and dusted away.  Just as she'd suggested, when we
were done with that and the dust had settled, we "folded" it up and
deposited it in the dumpster in back.  Clever; that's my daughter!
   It was a little easier on the walls.  We ran dusters over most
everything and straightened out the boxes and other stuff on display --
mostly with our _touches_; it was great practice.
   Around 10:00, I figured it was time to feed Bridget.  She agreed
wholeheartedly, _"All that work made me hungry!" Grin._
   So I kicked back, relaxed and let her drain both sides while we worked
over most of the rest of the store.  Sean had pretty much done both display
windows yesterday so they just got a quick dusting on the inner edges.
   We had a couple customers in; Sean charmed them while they stared at his
hat and butt.  They looked and they bought; life was okay.
   Of course they exclaimed over Bridget; she put on a great show of
smiles, gurgles and laughs.  She asked, _"Am I the dog or the pony in this
show?"_
   I told her, _"You're the *star*, honey!"_
   Sean said, _"And you're my best girl!  I've lost my heart to you and am
in thrall to you forever."_
   We pretended to swoon; Bridget did a credible job with a hand on her
forehead considering how little control she had over her body.
   More customers.  I thought someone was spreading the word about a
handsome Irishman full of blarney wearing a silly hat.  They came, they
flirted, they bought!
   Lunchtime.  I insisted it was my turn to fly and buy so Sean took over
the Bridget watch while I took Sean's Beemer for a spin.  Yeh, I still had
a license so I was legal.
   ------
   SEAN
   Off she went!  I rigged the sling so I could carry my lovely sweetheart
around with me while I polished jewelry, folded scarves and blouses and did
whatever I did to the makeup area; I just cleaned since I have no sense at
all about makeup except to know when it looked good.  Eileen didn't really
need any in my opinion and didn't use much anyway.
   Bridget and I worked away.  She sat upright in front of my chest facing
outwards and managed to find just the right spot under my belt to kick her
heels.  _"Giddyup, cowboy!  Time's awastin'!"_ Groan.  I put up a really
soft force shield and let her kick away.
   Three customers came in.  Bridget put on a real show!  She waved her
hands, kicked her feet and managed to knock my hat off into her hands.
   She promptly stuck the rim in her mouth and gummed it really good (that
one tooth tried to make a hole).  The ladies loved it while I groaned,
moaned, tried to pull it away from her and made various mock verbal threats
involving grounding for life and getting fed only cold, day-old gruel. 
Didn't phase her a bit.
   The ladies made fun of me, flirted and bought several hundred dollars of
merchandise.
   Eileen came back and rescued me.  She glared at Bridget for a moment
then said, "Good girl!  Maybe we'll get rid of that silly hat!"
   Bridget told us, _"Well, it was fun, but I think that 'silly hat' just
brought in more income over the last day and a half than we usually get in
a week.  So, I won't chew it up completely."_
   Saved by the income!
   Lunch was In and Out Burgers, no onions.  I got fries while Eileen had
hers "plain." A good feast, just right.  I told Bridget, "You'll probably
get another taste tonight."
   _"Yeh.  I get doubles on everything!"_
   We relaxed and talked for a couple hours, tending to customers as they
came in.  I finished up with a good floor vacuuming and spot-cleaned some
suspicious areas.  Done.
   What would have taken Eileen and me probably a solid eight to twelve
hours to do manually, the three of us had done mentally in something like
three or four hours.
   ------
   EILEEN
   Around 1:00, Mrs.  Shane came in.  A couple weeks ago, she'd turned the
store over to Frank and me during the weekdays and came in a couple times a
week to do the books and catch up on any special ordering.  It had worked
out fine so far except now Frank was playing hooky.  I'd totally forgotten
about her.
   She and Sean looked at each other for a few seconds then started
laughing.  She said, "Sean, I see you've got that same silly hat except it
looks a little shopworn now."
   Sean told her, "It went through a Bridget attack, Sharon.  I'm lucky it
survived."
   I asked, "How do you two know each other?"
   Sean deferred to her.  She said, "In January, I went to his one-day
Small Retail Proprietorship seminar in Arizona.  He wore it all the time.
Someone finally had the guts to ask him about it."
   Sean said, "I tell them you need to be willing to draw attention to
yourself in a good way.  It can be outlandish, like a clown suit, or very
subtle such as a tailored dress.  In my case, this hat is just off-beat
enough it gets attention on me to start with and acts as a common point of
discussion.
   "Once people are talking to each other, the sky's the limit.  This hat
is just peculiar enough that people wonder about it, keep some attention on
it and pay a lot of attention to me, hoping I'll explain it.  Sharon's
seminar only took three hours before someone took the bait."
   At Bridget's prompting, I asked, "So, Sean, how did you end up teaching
this seminar?"
   Sharon and he laughed.  She told me, "He's created, developed and sold
something like twenty small businesses in the last five years.  He's *damn*
good at it."
   She looked around and asked, "By the way, where's Frank, and how the
hell did you end up here, Sean?"
   Sean and I got serious in a hurry.  I told Sharon, "I don't know where
he is.  Friday afternoon he took off just before closing and I haven't seen
him since.
   "Sean came to my rescue Monday morning when I was standing in a huge
puddle in front of the store with my arms full of Bridget and stuff while
my boobs and bladder were ready to explode -- and everything was locked up.
He's stayed and helped me ever since."
   Sharon looked him over really good.  "Sean, you didn't have rescuing
damsels in distress on your resume; why not?"
   We laughed at him; Bridget put in her contribution of chortles, chuckles
and leg kicks.  Sharon hurried over to her bassinet, took a look and said,
"My God, Bridget, you must have put on at least a pound since last week!"
   Bridget had never had a problem with her so Sharon picked her up and
snuggled her against her shoulder.  Bridget made her day when she laughed,
wiggled around, grabbed her nose and gave her wobbly-necked baby kisses
while telling her, _"Sharon nice lady!  Really nice!"_
   Sharon was almost crying, and the goo had soaked our clean carpet when
she laid her back down.
   "Anyway," she said, "I'll pay for Frank or the same wages for Sean but
not both of them.  Eileen, I hope you've been working him, and he hasn't
been just sitting around flirting with the women."
   I assured her, "Oh, he's worked all right.  He completely re-did both
display windows yesterday then today we all cleaned the inside of the store
and straightened and sorted stuff out.
   "Besides, every time he's worn that silly hat and a woman comes in, she
flirts with him and buys something.  I figured that in the last day and a
half, we've brought in a normal week's worth of income.  The ladies love
him and the young girls just want to eat him alive."
   Sean looked around innocently while we stared at him.  Bridget remarked,
_"*I*'d like to eat him...  alive."_ Raunchy young woman!  I would, too.
   Sharon and I went behind the register to show her the receipts while
Sean bounced Bridget around a little and tried to stay out of the way. 
Sharon glanced over the figures, nodded approval then pulled a one-inch
thick binder from her big bag and thumped it down on the counter.  I'd seen
her with it while she'd been training us.
   She pretended to glare at Sean.  "Since you're working here, I expect
you've implemented all the points in your seminar.  Shall we check?"
   Sean groaned and looked harried.  Bridget patted him on the cheek.  He
said, "Okay.  Let's see what we've got."
   They scurried around, looking at the binder and at the store.  Sharon
pointed out something in the newspaper, they went outside and examined the
display windows, came back in and looked over the store while pointing at
different things and generally looked very busy.
   I handled half a dozen customers while they were busy (a couple nice
sales) then the school-girl crowd hit us.  They must have spread the word
about Sean because there were at least twice as many as there were
yesterday!
   Sharon and he were still going at it.  I whispered to a couple of the
girls, "I think he'd appreciate being rescued.  That lady is trying to
steal him from us."
   A giggle of girls surrounded him and dragged him off while Sharon and I
grinned at each other.  Bridget got her share of attention; besides, it was
feeding time again.
   We had a larger audience this time, and Sean had a few more questions to
answer.  They finally drifted off by 3:30 or so.  Sharon took a look at the
register receipt and did a few figures.  She told us, "You took in about
three hundred dollars in the last hour from those girls.  Between Sean and
Bridget, it appears we've got the right kind of attention-getters."
   Bridget and I laughed.  I asked her, "So, how did Sean do in his
inspection?"
   Sharon told me, "Oh, boy!  I got to pick his brains at ten dollars an
hour instead of a thousand.  He did okay, actually, for a quick
pass-through in a day and a half.  The display windows are great, and
you'll notice the entire floor has been subtly re-arranged for both greater
traffic flow and to tempt people to stop and look.  Not too shabby for a
man who probably goofed off half the time."
   Sean pretended to look pained but laughed along with us.
   Sharon sobered up a little.  "Seriously, he's here strictly out of the
goodness of his heart.  In a business sense, we can't rely on that.  We do
need two people during the week; if Frank isn't here, we'll have to replace
him whether or not he's your husband."
   Yeh, she's right on both counts.  If only I knew where the hell he was!
   She gave Bridget and me a final hug, stole a kiss from Sean and took
off.
   Five o'clock rolled around and still no Frank.  We shut up the shop and
took off for dinner.  Sean drove us to his hotel and took us to the dining
room.
   I'd been by the Altadena Arms quite often over the years but had never
been inside.  It appeared to be an older hotel but very well-maintained. 
Inside it was spotless.  Every staff person I saw was dressed neatly,
looked alert, nodded briefly to Sean and smiled atme and Bridget.
   The dining room was excellent.  I'd easily put it up against the place
he took us to last night.  We feasted (Bridget _joined_ for the tasting
while she had her meal), chattered and plotted as if we had all the time in
the world.
   I finally asked him, "Sean, why do you live in a hotel?  Surely an
apartment would be less expensive."
   He grinned at me.  "It's a bachelor's paradise.  Lots of pretty ladies,
*especially* since you two are here, daily housekeeping, no laundry to
worry about and 24-hour security.  Besides, they gave me a real good deal.
Wanna see my room?"
   He leered at Bridget and gave her good motion with a pair of Groucho
Marx eyebrows.
   Bridget whispered to me, _"Do it, Mom!  I remember getting laid!"_
   I blushed down to my blouse.  Sean grinned at me; I'm sure he'd
"overheard." I rolled my eyes and agreed.
   He had a two-bedroom suite in a quiet corner of the second floor.  He
told us, "No traffic by the door.  The elevator's close enough, and I can
always duck out the exit stairs right here.  I've got a key to get back in
the same way."
   One of the bedrooms was an office.  There were at least a dozen file
cabinets, several good-sized bookshelves filled with books and three
computer systems that I could see.
   He told us, "Sharon was right.  I've developed and sold that many
businesses over the past five years.  Right now, I've got eleven more
running pretty much like Sharon does hers; absentee ownership.  I pop in
every once in a while, but so far they're doing just fine without me
looking over their shoulder.  When they're stable, I'll probably sell them;
it's often to the people already working there."
   Sean didn't make a pass at me (darn it!) but gave us a glimpse of his
bedroom and kitchenette then led us to the sitting room where we kicked
back and relaxed.  Very comfortable sofa and chairs.
   It was getting time to feed Bridget again in another hour so we simply
sat and chatted until then.  I popped out the boob and Bridget popped it
in. Sean and I talked over the merchandise lines and went over some other
possible display arrangements.
   Bridget told us, _"Hey, I'm up on the chandelier!"_ Huh?  She was right
in front of me.  However, I could sense her up near the chandelier like she
said.
   Sean said, _"Okay, sweetheart.  How'd you manage to do that?"_
   Bridget said, _"I didn't really do anything that I know of.  I saw the
chandelier earlier, just now decided to get a closer look at it, and here I
am."_
   Hot dayum!  Be Jaysus and Janey Mack too!  Bridget moved around the
room, and we tracked her while her body appeared asleep with her mouth on
my boob.
   Sean looked at me and said, "Eileen, it's your turn.  It looks as if
Bridget's body is completely asleep, so let's get the two of you in a
position you can relax completely in without dropping her."
   I leaned the chair back and put Bridget on my lap.  Sean said, "Bridget
said she 'decided.' Now, you decide completely you're gonna be with her. 
No doubts or reservations, don't think about how; just do it."
   I did.  There I was beside her _looking_ down at our bodies and at Sean
grinning at us.  He said, _"Ladies, I think we've found the pot o' gold at
the end of the rainbow.  Now I'm gonna do it."_
   He appeared to drop off into a deep sleep, and he was here with us. 
Holy shit!
   He said, _"I'd say that handles the debate about man's spiritual nature.
Here we are as spirits; that's gotta be what we're experiencing."_
   ------
   SEAN
   YES!  That was progress!  Dayum these girls are good!  Bridget came
along side of me, smacked me and said, _"Tag!  You're it!  Everyone stay in
this room."_
   I tried to pounce on Eileen, but she did something and escaped.  A merry
chase indeed!  Bridget tried to distract me with kamikaze runs, but I
persevered until the prize was won.  I smacked Eileen a good one and darted
off.
   Eileen "pouted" and told me, _"That hurt!  That was my butt!"_
   Bridget said, _"And you loved him copping a feel!"_
   We bounced around the room for several more minutes, changing "It" and
having a blast.  We finally ended up all mashed together in the middle of
the room.  I said, _"Game over.  You two won."_
   I tried to hug them both; we _blended_ together somehow, and what a
sensation!  We weren't "one," but we were blended together as intimately as
oxygen and hydrogen mix together to make water.  I felt (and felt them feel
the same) happy, loved, content, energetic, cool, hot and madly in love
with them both all at the same time.
   We hugged and caressed each other and seemed to make wonderful rainbow
colors within the hot glow we'd created.  So much love to share and such
wonderful people to share it with!
   We finally _unblended_ ourselves and hung motionless.  Eileen said,
_"Now *that* was something."_ I thought it could be called
"understatement."
   Bridget said, _"Now, can we get back our bodies or are we stuck out
here?"_
   I nosed around mine and went through it several times.  Interesting;
pretty much like the science books showed, but this was the real thing.
   I kept poking at it til something seemed to click.  I told them, _"It's
like a set of controls.  I'm not controlling the body directly; it's like a
steering wheel, brakes, turn signals, that kind of stuff."_
   I dropped onto the controls, stood my body up and announced, "Honeys,
I'm home!"
   Eileen and Bridget got back inside theirs.  Bridget told us, _"If these
are controls, they're pretty sloppy.  I think my body's still developing
the interface."_
   Jaysus!  It was 10:30 already, and we had the shop to open tomorrow. 
"We'd better boogie ladies, it's getting late."
   I drove them back to the apartment.  We checked beforehand; still no
Frank.  We shared publicly-chaste hugs and some hot spirit-hugs then I went
back home and sacked out.
   ------
   EILEEN
   What a rush!  Bridget and I kept popping in and out; we found if we left
a little streamer back to the bodies, they wouldn't collapse.  Dayum what
fun!
   Bridget said, _"I don't like to bring this up at this time, Mom, but I
interrupted my dinner tonight; I didn't get all the hamburger taste."
Grin._
   That was easily handled.  She finished up the one side and most of the
other before her body dropped off to sleep.  I burped her and put her in
her small crib by the wall.
   I cleaned up, got in my nightgown and hit the bed.  We murmured _good
nights_ to each other and wondered where the hell is Frank?
   ------
   (Wednesday early morning 4/26)
   I found out a couple hours later.  I heard the door open so I sat up on
the edge of the bed and turned on the light.
   Frank looked like shit barely warmed over.  Not a piece of clothing on
straight, hair a mess, at least four days of beard, and he stunk of
unwashed body and booze; I could smell him ten feet away.
   He fixed his eyes on me, staggered across the room and stopped in front
of me.  He groaned like he was in pain, shook, glared, made a fist, roared,
"FUCKING WHORE!" and hit me in the face!
   He knocked me right off the bed onto the floor.  He kicked me.
   "YOU STARTED FUCKING MEN THE DAY WE WERE MARRIED." Kick.
   "THE DOCTORS ALWAYS TOLD ME MY SPERM COUNT WAS TOO LOW TO HAVE KIDS."
Kick.
   "YOU HAD TO START FUCKING MEN RIGHT AWAY BECAUSE YOU WERE PREGNANT IN
TWO WEEKS.  SLUT!  CUNT!  WHORE!" Big kick.  All I could do right then was
scream and try to protect my breasts, face and stomach.
   He was shaking and seemed to lock up for a moment.  He screamed, "NOOO!"
then moved again.
   He pulled off his belt and whipped it across my back.  "YOU FLAUNTED IT
EVERY DAY IN FRONT OF ME.  YOU RUBBED IT IN!  FUCKING CHEAP BITCH WHORE!"
   He whipped me everywhere he could again and again then picked me up and
threw me against the wall.  "YOU PRETENDED TO COMPLAIN WHEN I WASN'T THERE
WHEN THE BITCH WAS BORN.  YOU JUST WANTED TO HURT ME MORE, SLUT CUNT!"
   He hit me in the stomach then kicked me again when I collapsed on the
floor and threw up.  He stopped dead again, seemed to lock up and quivered
all over.
   "YOU'VE HAD A MAN IN THE SHOP THE LAST TWO DAYS.  COULDN'T WAIT TO FUCK
SOMEONE AGAIN, COULD YOU CUNT?  DID YOU FUCK HIM IN FRONT OF THE BITCH KID?
DID YOU SUCK HIS COCK?  HOW MANY TIMES DID HE FUCK YOUR ASS, WHORE?
   "NO MAN'S EVER GONNA LOOK AT YOU AGAIN WITHOUT BEING SICK, WHORE! 
THEY'LL HAVE TO CLOSE YOUR COFFIN!  I'M GONNA CUT OFF HIS BALLS AND SHOVE
'EM UP HIS ARSE!"
   He whipped and kicked me again and again.  Bridget woke up and screamed
as only a baby could scream.  He turned towards her, locked up and groaned
loudly.  He raised the belt and said, "AND THE BITCH KID ISN'T EVEN MINE!"
He started to bring the belt down on her.
   Bridget screamed, _"Mom!  Get outside!  Use the force touches!"_
   We popped outside and hit him at the same time.  I hit him in the back
of the legs, and she smashed at his chest.  He immediately turned a back
flip and smashed his head on the floor where he lay still.
   I screamed, _"Sean!  Help us!  Frank's back and he's trying to kill
us!"_
   I managed to get on my feet.  I tried to pick up Bridget, but my hands
just wouldn't work.  I used a gentle _touch_ to hold her to me, and we
staggered out into the night.
   ------
   SEAN (Wednesday early morning 4/26)
   I was dreaming dreams of sweet love when I felt pain and fear.  Be
Jaysus!  Eileen and Bridget!  I was up literally in a second and was
dressed and out the door in thirty.
   Eileen screamed to me for help just as I got the Beemer on the road.  I
didn't quite break traction, but the tires were really squalling.
   I told her, _"Run, my loves.  Use your force touches and run!  Run and
tell me where you are.  I'm coming now!"_
   _"We're in the park behind the apartment.  It's dark so he can't see us.
Please hurry, Sean.  We're so afraid."_
   I hurried and was at the park in another minute.  Only a minute but the
scavengers were already gathering.  I reached under the seat and took along
my three-quarter-inch socket ratchet.  It was eighteen inches long, solid
steel with a knurled handle and a *big* ratchet at the other end.
   _"There's someone around us, Sean!  They feel really bad!"_
   I spotted them in ten seconds -- three punk kids standing around them
while they lay on the ground.  One said, "Hey, a couple pretty things just
for us." There was no doubt what they had in mind.
   Force or guile?  Try the guile first.  I made myself seem ten feet tall,
four feet wide and with a voice of thunder.
   "BE OFF WIT' YE, YA GITS!  BE OFF OR YOU'LL BE FEELIN' MY SHILLELAGH ON
YOUR SKULLS!  OFF WIT' YE!"
   They left shit streaks behind.
   _"I'm here, my loves.  Are you hurt?"_
   Bridget said, _"I'm not hurt.  Dad hit Mom really hard and kept kicking
and hitting her.  I think she's hurt bad."_
   Eileen said, _"I can't go back inside the body it hurts so bad."_
   Shit.  _"Bring your body to me, Bridget."_
   She floated it up and nestled it in my arm.  Using the gentlest _touch_
I could, I picked up Eileen and headed back to the Beemer.
   With another _touch_, the door opened and the passenger seat reclined
all the way back.  I laid Eileen in as she was without trying to straighten
or change her position, shut the door, got in the other side and took off
to the hospital.
   I kept putting out at the hospital emergency room someone was coming in.
In the three minutes it took us to get there, someone was outside with a
gurney waiting.
   I told them, "Her husband beat her something awful.  I have no idea how
bad it is."
   They were good.  They got a cervical collar on her, checked out her back
best they could and eased her out onto the gurney.  I helped with some
judicious _touches_ here and there just in case.
   I told them, "I'll be back!" and headed the car to the parking lot.
   On the way, Bridget said, _"I'm sorry, Sean.  I was outside playing and
didn't know anything until the very end when I got close and heard Mom
screaming."_
   I told her, _"Not your fault at all, sweetheart.  You're not the one who
hurt her.  For now, keep track of her so we know how she's doing."_
   _"You're the boss, applesauce."_ Smart-ass kid.
   I found a place to park, locked up and headed back in.  I left the
ratchet behind this time.
   I went into the emergency room entrance, picked a mind to locate the
waiting room and went in.  Bridget whispered, _"I'm afraid I crapped my
drawers again, Sean."_
   Yeh, there was that distinctive odor.  _"I'll get something to change
you.  Just keep an eye on your mom."_
   I negotiated at the window for the inevitable paperwork.  The clerk
seemed more interested in telling me what I couldn't do than in getting
anything done.
   I got pissed in about thirty seconds and told him, "Look, fella.  I'm
her cousin.  This is her daughter and my goddaughter.  If anything happens
to Mrs.  McLennan because you're here jawing at me instead of doing your
job, you'll be explaining exactly why and how you didn't do your job to the
Medical Review Board, to this young lady and to a judge and jury in court."
   He wanted money or insurance.  I flopped down my Platinum AMX and told
him, "I don't know anything about her insurance.  Put ten grand on that if
you have to, but get to work."
   I finally got him to give me a clipboard with papers.  I asked him
nicely, "Can I get some diapers, some baby supplies and a couple blankets
for her?  I have a feeling we're gonna be here a long time."
   He blinked and said he'd send someone out.  I got busy on the paperwork.
   Bridget said, _"They've got her on a table with really bright lights. 
They've cut all her clothes off -- she only had a nightgown anyway. 
There's bruises all over."_
   _"Thanks, honey.  Can you see if she's around?"_
   _"Yeh, she's overhead.  We can tell there's a lot of pain."_
   _"Tell her we're here for her and you're all right.  Tell her to hang in
there."_
   I left a lot of the paperwork blank.  I wasn't about to list Frank as
next of kin, so I lied and said I was.  Fuck 'em if they can't take a joke.
I put myself down as the financially responsible.
   We waited.  An orderly came in with a baby kit.  It had diapers,
cleaning wipes, a couple diapers, a couple blankets and a comforter.  He
said, "If you need a bottle of formula, dial 877.  We'll have one out to
you in a couple minutes."
   Bridget asked, _"Formula?"_
   I told her, _"Artificial breast milk.  Your mom's probably gonna be a
while so we may have fill in with it a few feedings.  You'll just have to
get used to it."_
   _"Yeh, but will it taste like shrimp or hamburger?"_
   _"You'll have to decide yourself what it tastes like; I'm not gonna
prejudice you.  Now let's get you changed."_
   The diaper was no problem.  She'd picked up a bit of dirt from the park
so I gave her a quick sponge bath with a couple baby wipes.  I wrapped her
in a couple of the blankets and snuggled her up.  I asked her, _"When did
you last eat, Bridget?"_
   _"Just before Mom went to bed.  That's one reason I was outside; the
body just wanted to sleep.  I've been making it through the night every
once in a while without getting hungry."_
   _"That's good, honey.  Tell me if you get hungry."_
   _"You'll be the second to know, Godfather Sean.  They just took the
funny bandage off her neck."_
   I _peeked_ too.  They had an IV going and were wheeling her down the
hall.  They went in a door marked X-Ray.  Made sense to me; I didn't know
enough about medicine to tell much.  On the other hand...
   I _looked_ at my own body.  I found I could see any part, at any depth
and at any level of granularity.  Shit, I could zoom in through the
molecular structure into the inside of what had to be atoms.  I decided
that was enough for now.
   Eileen still looked like a hammered piece of meat, but at least she
didn't appear to be bleeding on the outside.  Wait and see.
   Bridget told me, _"I'm getting hungry.  Sorry."_ I dialed the number and
they brought out a standard bottle in a couple minutes.  I told her, _"The
nipple's different, but I think you'll survive."_ She did; she sucked it
down like a trouper.
   A couple of uniformed police officers came in and talked to the clerk.
He pointed at me and they walked over.
   One was a woman.  She glared and asked, "You the husband?"
   The other officer put a hand on her arm and told her, "No, he's not.  I
know him.  What's going on, Sean?"
   Yeh, I'd talked with him off and on over the last several years at the
police station.  I told him, "I've been helping out Mrs.  McLennan at her
store the last couple days.  I'm sort of a distant cousin.  This sweet
young lady is her daughter Bridget and I'm her godfather."
   Bridget gave them a good show with a bright smile and a few chortles. 
They ate it up.
   I told them, "All I really know is Monday morning, Mrs.  McLennan said
her husband Frank had been missing since last Friday afternoon.  Around
12:30 this morning she called me on my cell phone." I held it up.
   "She said her husband was trying to kill her.  I told her to run and I'd
come get her.  She got away from him and ran to the park with Bridget; I
picked them up and brought them here."
   He asked, "That's Frank McLennan?"
   I said, "To the best of my knowledge.  I told Sergeant Kane about him
Monday afternoon; he said he'd get the word out on the shift-change
schedule."
   He said, "Yeh, they told us to watch out for him."
   The lady officer asked, "Why didn't you call the police when she called
you?  Did you think you could handle it yourself?"
   She pissed me off a bit.  I told her, "Hey, you could probably reduce me
to a mass of pain in ten seconds with one finger.  Mrs.  McLennan is a
young Irish lady who probably hasn't the faintest idea about self-defense.
If I'd called the police like you just suggested, you'd probably be
investigating a dual homicide right now instead of domestic violence.
   "I didn't try to handle anything.  I just told her to get her butt out
of there if she could.  She was able to and told me she got away with
Bridget.  I met her at the park.  Just from watching TV, I know the police
get called in any case like this.  I told the people who picked her up at
the emergency entrance her husband did it to her.  Now you folk are here
and we're talking.
   "I don't give a crap about Frank McLennan.  I've never met him and don't
wish to do so."
   They made notes about what I'd said and took my phone number.
   Bridget was sound asleep by now, but she was outside.  _"Mom's back from
X-ray.  They put her in a spot near where she was before."_
   Eileen told us, _"Hell, they're doing this, that and the other.  They
shoved fingers *everywhere*.  All I really know is I'm not bleeding on the
outside, and it hurts.  I guess those were X-rays so we'll see what they
say.  You guys hangin' in there okay?"_
   Yeh, we were hangin'.
   In another fifteen minutes, they moved her to yet another room.  They
put a cast on her left hand and wrist, wrapped a tape around her right
wrist and hand and strapped up her ribs in something.  I guessed a broken
wrist, a sprained wrist and probably a couple cracked or broken ribs.  I
thought some unkind thoughts about getting close to Frank with my favorite
ratchet.
   A doctor came out into the waiting room; I knew he was a doctor because
he had a stethoscope draped around his neck.  Since we were the only ones
waiting, he tracked right over to us.  Bridget woke herself up right away.
   "You're here with the domestic violence lady, Mrs.  McLennan?"
   "Yes.  Mrs.  McLennan.  I'm her cousin and this is her daughter; I'm
Bridget's godfather."
   He grinned a little at Bridget who gleamed right back at him.  He sighed
and said, "She'll be okay.  She took a good beating, though.  She's got a
broken wrist; cracked, actually, some sprained fingers, a sprained wrist
and three cracked ribs.  She's got a crack in her left cheek which should
be just fine and a couple loose teeth.
   "We see no evidence of a concussion right now, and there doesn't appear
to be any internal bleeding.  She's pretty much got deep bruises all over;
they'll look much worse tomorrow, but they're actually just painful, not
life threatening.
   "We'll keep her at least until tomorrow evening for observation.  From
the looks of her, she's breast feeding Miss Bridget.  Her breasts are quite
sore from the beating, but should be okay after a while.  We'll get the
baby to her and see how the feeding goes.  The pain-killer we gave her
might give the milk a slight taste for a few times, but there isn't any
issue with the baby's health from it."
   I told him, "I helped raise five nieces and nephews who breast-fed and
I've been helping her out."
   He said, "Great.  Mrs.  McLennan's lucky to have such good friends.  I
know this sounds odd, but she's a lucky lady.  I've seen too many cases of
domestic violence come in where they ended up crippled or dead.  For
whatever reason, most abusers seem to target the face; Mrs.  McLennan has
plenty of bruises, a cracked cheek and some sore teeth.  I've seen a lot
worse.  Based on what we know right now, I think she'll make a full
recovery with no residual issues.
   "She's lucid; no problem there, just in lots of pain right now.  She
gave me her family doctor's name; I know of her, and I'll give her a call
in a few minutes."
   What a relief!  We grinned, I shook his hand and draped Bridget over his
shoulder so she could hug his neck, give him baby kisses and tell him,
_"You're a wonderful doctor.  Thank you for keeping my mother alive."_ He
had tears in his eyes when he left.  My goddaughter is a wonderful lady; my
best girl!
   Chapter 3
   SEAN (Wednesday morning around 2:00 4/26)
   Bridget and I went back to the car and drove over to the apartment (she
hid under a blanket while we drove out of the parking lot -- lots of
attendants get a little bribe to tip off the police for no car seat).  We
lay back while we investigated.  Lots of police barrier tape, some blood on
the floor but no Frank body.  He must have gotten out of there.
   We pushed a back window open with a _touch_ and used _touches_ to sneak
out Bridget's car seat and the shop keys.  The rest could wait.
   We went back to the waiting room and told Eileen, _"The doctor says
you're gonna be just fine, and they're keeping you until tomorrow for
observation.  You 'awake' yet?"_
   She told us, _"No, but they're expecting me any minute.  I'd better see
if I can duck back inside.  Fuck that hurts!  Still, it's a lot better than
it was.  Can you guys hold on a few minutes longer?"_
   We could and did.  She came back about fifteen minutes later.  She
_showed_ us a picture of the doctor; it was the same one who'd talked with
us.  _"He said basically I was busted up a bit but would be okay.  He said
there wouldn't be any problem with breast feeding."_
   _"That's great, Mom.  Not to worry, Godfather Sean will help out.  Best
mom!  Best Godfather Sean!  Love!"_
   The orderly who'd brought the baby kit motioned me in.  She said, "You
can take the baby to see her now."
   I've seen cube steak look better than the parts of Eileen I could see.
Bridget immediately latched onto her neck and they shared a firm hug. 
Bridget told her, _"I was so scared for you, Mom!  I was outside and didn't
know he came in.  You'll be okay, though.  And Godfather Sean is here to
help."_
   Eileen told her, _"Don't worry about it, honey.  I've survived, and he
didn't hurt you; that's the important thing."_
   We shared reassuring spirit-hugs for several minutes then Bridget asked,
_"You need me to nurse, Mom?  It feels like you're ready to bust."_
   "Oh, yeah.  Let's see how we can do this."
   She had the standard hospital gown.  We untied it, worked her arms out
and dropped it down completely.  The bruises weren't so bad over her chest
and breasts; she must have been able to protect them some.
   I folded a towel over her cast (her fingers on the left hand were
wrapped together too, like a mitten) and put Bridget on her arm.  Bridget
latched right on and told us, _"No problem on my side.  The cast feels a
bit funny but it's okay."_
   I draped a couple baby blankets and a couple towels over everything; it
was fairly cool in the room.  Eileen told us her breasts were sore but
nursing was bearable.
   Eileen and I coordinated our stories: I was a remote cousin (maybe) who
she'd actually just met Monday.  I'd been "appointed" godfather right after
Bridget had been born.  Even if Frank Fuckup popped up and tried to naysay
it, we'd stick to it.
   We shared some spirit-hugs.  Eileen said, "The nurse said they'd be able
to keep Bridget in a bassinet here so we'll be together.  Sean, you go on
home; we'll be okay here."
   I stopped by the local Rite-Aide for diapers, wipes, formula (they still
had the same one I'd used ten years ago), bottles, a couple bottle warmers,
all that stuff just in case.  I picked up a bassinet and a small crib along
with a couple more baby blankets and a few clothes.  I figured I could
promote several rooms full of baby clothes and other paraphernalia from the
Cullen Sisters.
   I went back into the hotel a lot slower than I'd gone out and got the
entire load up the elevator in one shot with the help of a net of _touches_
on a baggage cart.  The night manager at the desk was pretty used to me; he
only blinked once when he saw the load.
   I just piled things up for the time being.  Maura and Teresa would want
to set up things their way anyway.  As a mere male, who was I to have
anything to say about it?
   ------
   EILEEN (Wednesday morning around 3:00 4/26)
   Yeh, so I was "lucky." It was still better than the alternative.  If
Bridget hadn't gotten me outside, we both probably would have been on slabs
in the morgue.  Fuck!
   Anyway, the nurse said I should sleep, so Bridget and I popped outside
with streamers (not that I mistrusted anyone, but as far as I knew, Frank
was still on the loose).  Fortunately, I'd only been in a hospital before
for Bridget's birth.  ER and all those shows don't really show the stark
coldness of the place.
   Most of the staff were doing their best to help so I guess I couldn't
complain too much.  We took quick looks at the ER, surgery suites and
several places like that and decided they weren't much fun.
   Maternity was a lot better.  Granted, there's pain in childbirth (don't
I know) but it's a clean pain willingly endured for a wonderful end.  We
mainly nosed around the kids in the display room (Do they auction them off?
Grin).
   Be Jesus!  Lots of spirits floating around this area!  They all seemed
to be in a daze.  We just kept watching; one after the other, they darted
down and took over a newborn.  Occasionally one would pick the body just
before birth.
   From _looking_ at them after the pickup, they appeared to forget
everything they'd known before and started all over again from scratch.  No
memories, nada.  Hmm, obviously Bridget and I started that way even if we
were getting memories back now.
   Only one spirit we saw during the night had any level of consciousness.
It was aware of itself, knew what it was doing and when it picked up the
baby body, it kept its memories.  Interesting.  Looked like starting all
over every time wasn't completely cast in concrete.
   My body was doing just fine sleeping away.  I didn't need to do a visual
to know it looked like hammered steak right now; the doctor had said the
bruises would get worse before they got better.  Fuck, just what I needed.
If they didn't scare Sean away, probably not much else would.
   We went back to the corner of my room, and I stood watch while Bridget
bounced around the nursery and other "fun" places.  While I waited, I went
over the memories I had showing up.
   Okay.  Seemed I could see pretty clearly all the way back to when I was
born this time around; they were a lot cleaner and more rich than before. I
cherished the ones with Nana a lot; I'd loved her so much!
   Now, push back some more.  Nana and I had researched our family tree a
little, so it wasn't any surprise I had stuff from Southern California. 
Pushing back more, there was New York as a new immigrant then further back,
Ireland popped up.  Yeh, it looked pretty much like the pictures and the
way Nana had described it when she was a very young girl (Nana had been
young?  Nah, not possible!).
   I just kept pushing back, running real fast.  Several hundred thousand
generations of Europe, then Africa, then Australia.  Continents still the
same as now, so it's actually fairly recent.  Around the time when they
talk about the dinosaur extinctions, there was a huge jump to somewhere
else entirely!
   Well, fuck.  That tells me the "we are the only ones" ideas are full of
crap.  Anyway, I ran across thousands of lost technologies I didn't think
were worth resurrecting, at least as commercial ventures.  Making papyrus
might be interesting, but I didn't see much of a market right now.  I filed
several ideas away as possible niche enterprises, just in case.
   ------
   (Wednesday morning daytime 4/26)
   About 8:00 the place started stirring.  A nurse had come in a couple
times during the night and did blood pressure, pulse and other stuff.  I
guess that's what they call the "vitals." She'd changed Bridget a couple
times; good thing, I sure couldn't do it.  I'd kept her in my arms all
night.
   Well, I guessed they were expecting me to wake up sometime.  I eased
slowly back into the body, keeping a fairly loose connection until I could
tell what was going on.
   Sore *everywhere* and stiff.  Even my crotch was sore; yeh, I remembered
him kicking me there.  Still, it was all endurable.
   The nurse saw my eyes open and asked how I was doing.  I told her, "Now
I know what the steak feels like after I pound it for a while.  Anyway, I'm
hungry."
   She grinned at me.  "You'll be okay, honey.  It'll probably get a bit
worse today then will start easing off.  So, let's get you breakfast."
   I won't attempt to describe the food.  Some memories are too painful.
   Dr.  Sayes, our family doctor, came in around 9:00.  She said, "See you
had a few problems there, Eileen."
   I told her, "Yeh, a few.  Frank just seemed to go off the deep end.  He
vanished Friday afternoon then showed up last night and beat the shit out
of me.  He started after Bridget, but I managed to kick his leg.  He hit
his head, I grabbed Bridget and hauled ass.  He didn't touch Bridget so
she's okay."
   She said, "Well, you're protected in here.  I talked with Dr.  Fields,
the doctor who worked on you last night.  He thinks you should be okay.  I
looked at the X-rays and agree.  We'll see how it goes; tonight's still a
good possibility to send you home."
   She studied my chart for a while, looked over the cast, wrappings and
inspected several of the bruised areas.  She said, "It looks a lot worse
than it is.  Wait 'til this evening; you'll be iridescent."
   Dr.  Fields drifted by around 10:30 trailing a crew of new residents. 
He wanted to "show me off" and run the new guys through the questions.  No
problem; if someone got off from seeing the black, blue and green bruises
on my boobs and twat, it was their fetish, not mine.
   I just tried to grin (it was painful) and answer the questions.  They
went on down the hall after fifteen minutes or so.
   The nurse came in and pulled out the IVs so at least I wasn't attached
to the place.  I was still too stiff to even attempt to stand, and the
fucking bedpan was a pisser (hah, hah).  When I asked, the nurse said I
could lay in any position I wanted, just so I stayed on the bed.  I
promptly turned on my side and cuddled Bridget.
   A bit after 11:30, a couple police officers came in.  Of course, they
wanted to know what happened.  I let it all out, crying a lot.  I fudged a
bit; like I'd told Dr.  Sayes, I said I'd managed to kick Frank's leg out
from under him when he'd turned to Bridget and that he'd hit his head on
the floor.
   I said I'd managed to get Bridget and the cell phone Sean had loaned me
and had hauled my bruised ass outta there.  I merged in with the story Sean
and I'd developed about going to the park.
   I emphasised several times that Sean was next of kin, and he should be
taking care of Bridget if needed.  About the third time I said it, the
female officer said, "I get the picture.  Since your admission form lists
him as next of kin anyway, it doesn't even need to involve Children's
Services."
   I described Frank and told them there was a picture on the dresser in
the apartment.  "He had several days' worth of beard and looked like the
worst drunk you could imagine.  You could probably just go around sniffing
the air and find him."
   They laughed a little.  I asked if we were safe here; I wouldn't put it
past Frank to show up and try something, especially since he'd "missed"
once.  They told me they had an officer on patrol in the hallways and would
alert him and the rest of the hospital security.
   They asked, "Now, the big question is why he did this?  Any idea?"
   I told them, "Yes and no.  At the very start, he yelled that the doctors
had said he had low sperm count, and he'd never be able to have kids.  I
have no idea of the truth of that; he'd never said anything about it
before.
   "I'd been with two men before I met Frank; one in high school and one in
my second year of college.  I hadn't been with anyone for the previous two
years before I met Frank -- and only him after that.  So unless we want
entertain the possibility of immaculate conception, legendary night demons
or leprechauns, we're pretty much stuck with real-world genetics.
   "At any rate, here's fifteen pounds of red hair, green eyes and white
skin who shows we were fertile together.
   "If need be, I assume a DNA test would prove paternity.  Frank's comb
and toothbrush in the apartment are available.  Not that I'm paranoid, but
maybe you should seal it up in case he never turns up again."
   They agreed that would be prudent.  After a few more questions about
Frank's relatives (only a sister living I knew of) they went off and left
me in relative peace.
   ------
   SEAN (Wednesday morning daytime 4/26)
   A quick check with Eileen and Bridget showed they were doing fine.  I
took off to the store after a quick breakfast.
   I stopped a block away and _looked_ it over really good; to my knowledge
Frank still had a set of keys, and I wouldn't have put it past him to be
waiting inside.
   It was clear; only Geeser was striding around waiting for his breakfast.
I fed him, opened up and started the day.
   After I opened the register, I called Sharon and told her the bad news.
The good news at least was that I was here, and the store was open for
business.  I told her, "That's not gonna last too long.  Eileen's probably
getting out of the hospital this evening so I've got a baby and a
semi-invalid to care for.  I can get help with them, but it's really my
responsibility as far as I'm concerned."
   We talked about sources for a couple new employees.  Actually, the shop
was open on Saturday too with three people; maybe a couple would be
interested in going full-time.  Sharon said she'd get on it right away.
   Now the hard/easy call.  I called Maura at home and three-way'd in
Teresa.  I told them, "I've got an eighteen-week-old baby girl and a
semi-invalid mother I'm gonna be taking care of for a while.  I figured I'd
better ring you two in on it at the very beginning or you'd tear me a new
arsehole."
   They assured me they would have done exactly that.  I told them where
the store was; they remembered it (women seem to have that extra directory
in their heads) and said they'd been in it when it first opened.  That
would have been with Sharon single-handing it.
   Maura told me, "We're on the way.  All the kids are in school until 3:00
today -- some assembly or something -- so we're gonna get you started
right. We'll arrange a sitter until Jack and Pat get home."
   I had two look-around customers before they got there.  They strode in
and glared at me.  Teresa said, "You've still got that damned stupid hat!"
   I shrugged, grinned and told her, "That damned stupid hat has helped
make us lots of money."
   They allowed as how I was probably right -- this time.  Maura asked,
"You said there's a baby; so where's mum and da?"
   I told them, "Put 23 years and about a hundred pounds on a Red Irish
girl baby and you've got Eileen.  Except when I last saw her, her skin was
black and blue, not peaches and cream."
   I gave them the rest of the story.  They were *not* happy with Frank
Fuckup!  They glared.  If Frank had appeared at that moment armed to the
teeth in full Galactic Patrol battle armor and force fields, they still
would have torn him apart -- very slowly.
   They asked, "So what's the plan, Sean?" At least this time they asked
for my input instead of just telling me.  Things are looking up!
   "Bridget's my best girl and is with Eileen at the hospital right now;
they might be released this evening.  Their apartment is still a crime
scene and has absolutely no security.  Frank Fuckup's still on the loose
and might just turn up again.
   "I wanna put the two of them in the room next to mine at the hotel and
put a security guard in the hall 24/7 until Frank's caught."
   They mulled it over a few minutes then Maura finally said, "Okay but we
need to look the place over first."
   I called the hotel day manager and gave him a quick rundown on the
situation.  I told him to open up the room next to mine.  My sisters would
be over shortly; give them the key cards to it and my room and ensure the
adjoining door was open.
   He told me, "Sean, I'll put the key cards on the counter and back off; I
value my hands.  I've dealt with your sisters before when they went over
your room, so I'll have a housekeeper standing by and alert the concierge.
They'll probably want at least fifty different things done by the time
they're through."
   I told him, "You're getting wise in your old age, Sam.  Keep a separate
tab of all the extra stuff so we can account for it.  They'll probably be
there within ten or fifteen minutes.  Give EverAlert a call for a 24/7
security watch right now; we may need to dig up a nurse-type to help out
the lady for a couple days and maybe a nanny.  Wait on them a bit; we'll be
okay for tonight."
   I told my sisters, "It's set for the room next to mine; Sam'll give you
the key cards and have staff standing by."
   I told them about the pile of "stuff" I'd collected last night in my
sitting room.  "Have fun with it.  I'll check with Eileen before I lock up
here around 5:00.  If they'll let her come home, I'll go get them.  If not
-- she's only been there some 18 hours -- I'll go in for a visit.  I'll
call you on the room phones either way, so answer them if they ring."
   They couldn't argue too much, I guess.  They took off to do some major
rearrangement (probably).
   ------
   EILEEN
   The rest of the afternoon was simply lay around, rest, wait and feed
Bridget.  I kept working the muscles around and gradually some of the
stiffness came out.  Less stiff but more sore; the bruises I could see had
gotten to be a horrendous mixture of black, blue, green and a few other odd
flecks of stuff thrown in.
   That's one time I was glad I didn't have a mirror so I wouldn't be
tempted to look in it.  Even my hair felt sore.
   Around 4:00 I rang for the nurse; potty time again.  When she learned
what I needed, she said, "Well if it's not too urgent, the doctor said you
should try to walk to the bathroom over there."
   The spirit was willing, was the flesh up to it?  She lowered the bed
rail on the left and helped me sit up.  If I didn't jerk, it wasn't too
bad. I swiveled around on my butt and slid off onto my feet -- my arse was
definitely hanging out and I didn't give a flyin' fuck -- while the nurse
had me hold her arm.
   Balance?  Okay actually.  No dizziness.  Take a step; things worked. 
Another couple steps; actually getting better.  I didn't push it too fast,
no reason to.
   Ah!  I sat and let it go front and back.  My abdomen hurt, but since I
wasn't really pushing much, it was okay.
   Wiping the front was no problem, just keep the sprain bandage away.  The
back was a different issue, twisting around too quickly let the ribs tell
me they were *not* happy with what I was doing!  Got it done without too
much noise so it was okay.  As I stood up, I carefully avoided looking in
the mirror.
   Going back, the nurse stood close, but let me do it on my own.  Scooting
up on the bed took a little bit of work, but I snuck in a _touch_ to help
me up.
   The nurse grinned widely and told me, "Looks good, Eileen.  Real good. I
haven't seen too many people able to do that this quickly.  Now you lay
back and rest some more."
   I was ready to rest; even that short trip had tired me a lot.  Oh well,
what we can't cure, we endure until we can cure it.
   Bridget applauded me.  _"Good mom!  Strong mom!  Love!"_
   Dr.  Fields swept in around 5:00 with his entourage.  They took turns
taking my blood pressure, peering at my eyes and looking things over.  I
hope they were impressed with my new paint job.
   The doctor said, "Okay.  You looked her over this morning and know her
history.  What were we looking for just now?"
   That brought on a ten-minute discussion full of words I'd never heard
and probably will never hear again.  Dr.  Fields asked several more
questions then asked me, "You ready to leave?"
   I told him, "YES!  You'll probably think it's a joke, but I literally
have nothing to wear -- but if it means I can get back to my cousin, I'll
walk home buck naked and carry Bridget."
   The doctor smiled and asked the group, "Well, do we let her go home? 
Pros and cons?"
   They discussed it another minute; the consensus seemed to be to kick me
out before I frightened too many of the other patients.
   The doctor said, "Okay, Eileen, I'll sign the paperwork; Dr.  Sayes said
I could make the call.  Call her office tomorrow for an appointment next
Monday.
   "If you start getting dizzy or get a strong headache, lay down
immediately.  If it doesn't pass in a couple minutes, get to the emergency
room.  You'll get plenty of papers with diet, care of your bandages,
symptoms to look for, that sort of stuff."
   All RIGHT!
   They swept away to their next victim -- I mean, patient.
   Sean cut in, _"I gather you're clear to go?  Sounded that way."_
   _"Fockin' aye right!  I just need some clothes."_
   _"I'll stop by your place and see if I can collect an armful.  Any
preferences for a coming-out outfit?"_
   I told him what to look for.  He told me, _"Okay, I'm on the way.  My
sisters have been giving the baby room a total workover most of the day. 
Give me about half an hour to get there."_
   ------
   SEAN
   I _looked_ in the hotel rooms; the Cullen Sisters were in the one next
door to mine so I called that phone -- I'd learned years ago how to dial
directly through.
   I talked with Teresa.  "You guys about ready?  I'm bringing Eileen and
Bridget home; the doctor wanted her out of there so they could use the
bed."
   "Close enough.  She got any clothes?"
   "I'll get enough from her place to get her there and for tomorrow.  You
two will probably spend several thousand dollars of my money fitting her
out anyway so I won't worry about getting too many."
   Teresa gasped, "Why Sean!  How could you think we'd do such a thing?"
   "Long experience with the Cullen Sisters.  Long experience.  Anyway, you
met the housekeeper lady?"
   "Yeh.  She's nice -- and competent, too.  You been checking out *her*
clothes?"
   "Only from the outside.  Anyway, she's Kate as I recall, right?"
   "Yes.  You two doing the Kiss me Kate act?"
   "Woman, you're getting close to the line; take care or I'll sic Bridget
on you.  Anyway, if you need anything, she's the best first contact."
   "Okay.  I saw this big man in a uniform outside the door a little bit
ago.  You know anything about that?"
   "Did he have a shoulder patch?"
   "Yeh.  It said EverAlert."
   "That's the security guard for Eileen and Bridget.  If you leave, let
him know who's left behind.  Depending on the paperwork at the hospital, we
should be there in an hour or so."
   "We'll be here.  We can't wait to meet this wonder lady of yours."
   "Teresa, *Bridget*'s my best girl.  Her mom's still a married lady even
if hubby did try to kill her."
   The McLennan's apartment was sealed up with police tape so I just
bypassed it all; I pulled up in the alley behind and _touched_ out a lot of
stuff for Eileen and Bridget through a window.  I even managed to find the
outfit she'd asked me to bring.
   I stopped by Starbucks and picked up several bags of different coffees.
I figured the nurses' station wouldn't mind a little variety.
   When I parked the car, I thought a few seconds then put a force shield
around it all the way to the ground.  I didn't think Frank Fuckup would
plant a bomb, but I wasn't interested in finding out the hard way I was
wrong.  I left a thread of attention on it so I could control it.
   Eileen was more than ready to go.  Dayum she looked bad!  The bruises
had gone all weird colors, and the only white skin left on her face was a
patch above her left eyebrow.  I was sure itching to meet up with Frank so
I could give him an intimate introduction to the business end of my
ratchet.
   The nurse shooed me out so she could get Eileen dressed.  I took Bridget
and the baby stuff then spent the time by dropping off the coffee at the
nurses' station.  They were *very* happy with it.  I passed Bridget around
so she could thank them properly; she gave a great show!
   There was Eileen in the routing-out wheelchair!  With a neat dress and
her hair brushed some, she looked like Death heated up to lukewarm rather
than Death just barely warmed over.
   The route-out cashier said they'd be sending any bills and statements to
the address I'd filled in for the financial responsibility.  Eileen told
us, "We do have insurance; I paid the quarterly premium on Saturday."
   The cashier told me when we had the insurance information we could come
in and fill out the paperwork for whatever reimbursement was coming.  I
didn't mind.  I didn't begrudge a penny I'd put out for her but every
$10,000 I didn't have to spend helped.
   I got her in the car and Bridget in the baby seat.  On the way to the
hotel, I called Sam (he was still on for another hour) and told him to have
someone meet us in the parking garage with the wheelchair and a baggage
cart.
   ------
   EILEEN
   A bellhop was waiting for us in the garage by Sean's parking spot.  He
had a wheelchair and a baggage cart.
   I wasn't willing to use the wheelchair; I could walk.  Sean told me,
"Don't get me started or I'll sic both my sisters *and* Bridget on you. 
It's several hundred feet by the time we're done; you'll have plenty of
time to go jogging later.  Sit, vixen." [Vixen: Irish slang = attractive
woman.  Not to be confused with American English definition: A malicious
fierce-tempered woman.]
   I sat.  Sean handed the bellhop, Bob, his car keys and told him, "All
the stuff in the back seat.  The trunk's full of stuff too.  Everything
comes to 228; that's where she's staying."
   Sean put Bridget on my lap and pushed us into the elevator.  It only
went up to the lobby so we got off there.  Sean took me up to the front
desk and introduced us to Sam, the manager.  Sean told him, "Bridget's my
best girl and this is her mother.  They get better treatment than I do!"
I'll settle for that for a while.
   Back to the elevators and up.  Yeh, it was a long way; glad we rode
instead of walked.  There was a really big man wearing a blue uniform and a
pistol eyeballing us every step of the way from the elevator.
   Sean stopped and said, "Jim?  I'm Sean Cullen."
   The man looked us over intently.  I _looked_ at his mind a bit and
suddenly realized he was a security guard.  He wasn't suspicious of us,
necessarily, he was just looking us over so he could recognize us without
hesitation.
   He smiled and glowed a bit.  "Okay.  Then this must be Mrs.  McLennan
and Bridget."
   Sean told him, "Yes.  Eileen was the main target last time.  He went
after the baby, but Eileen got her away before he could get at her."
   Jim grew solid and grim.  "He's not getting by us.  Mrs.  McLennan,
there'll be one of us right here until this is all over.  Make sure you let
us know exactly where everyone is.
   "If either you or the baby leave these two rooms without Sean, you need
to have one of us with you.  You each need to be either with a guard or
with Sean *all* the time.  I hope I'm wrong but experience tells me he'll
try at least one more time."
   Shit.  Sean told Jim the bellhop would be bringing clothes and stuff up
in a little while and to go ahead and check them out if he wished.  "Be as
suspicious and as surly as you need, Jim.  These ladies' safety is the
highest priority.  *Any* complaints, refer them directly to me."
   Sean told Bridget, _"Prepare to be thoroughly admired and cherished.  My
sisters have no limit on how they behave around beautiful babies."_
   She told us, _"Better get the wet/dry vacuum ready; there's gonna be a
couple puddles of goo by the time *we* get done with them."_
   Teresa and Maura were older female copies of Sean.  Gorgeous redheaded
Irish ladies; I felt at home with them right away.
   ------
   SEAN
   Maura and Teresa immediately took a good shine to Eileen.  They groaned
over her visible injuries but didn't sympathize; they knew it wouldn't do
anyone a bit of good.
   Bridget gave them a big wide-eyed-innocent look, and they fell apart. 
Maura said, "Hello, young lady."
   Bridget smiled, chortled, laughed, kicked her arms and legs and enslaved
them immediately.  Baby hugs around their necks and wobbly baby kisses
sealed their fate!
   Teresa looked at her hard, pulled me aside and asked, "Sean, is she
yours?  Sure looks like you."
   I laughed.  "Positively not.  You two have five kids we could say 'look
like me,' and we know for a fact none of them are mine.  That is, unless
one of you did stuff to your little brother in my sleep I don't know
about."
   They hustled me off to my room.  "Eileen'll need her hair washed and a
little sponge bath.  We'll fix her up so she'll smell good when you're
snogging with her later."
   Groan.  I didn't really need to be reminded of something I'd love to do
but was keeping pushed back.  Dayum ethics!  I told them, "Listen for the
door.  Bob, the bellhop, is bringing up more clothes and stuff from the
car."
   I retaliated by taking Bridget with me.  She snuggled up real good. 
_"I'll hug Mom again later; right now I'll put up with you.  Best godfather
Sean!  You brought us home and are protecting us.  Best man!"_
   "Best girl!  I love you, lady.  My heart yearns to be with you when
we're apart."
   _"Yeh, right.  Now *I*'m turning to goo.  Your sisters are *really*
nice. I think they have quite a bit of the Talent, too."_
   "Great.  Tell your mom so she can start working on them while they're
gossiping -- oops, I mean while they're sharing intimate details of
people's lives."
   _"None of that PC crap.  They're gossiping.  Your sisters are determined
to get you fixed up with her!"_
   "That'll have to wait, Bridget.  She's still a married lady no matter
what her husband's done to her."
   _"Betcha she won't be married long!  You'd better rest up; she's been
having lots of lustful thoughts about you."_
   Groan again.
   ------
   EILEEN
   Teresa and Maura both had Talent; I could tell right away.  It didn't
seem to have quite as much oomph as Bridget or Sean, but it was there.
   They wanted to wash my hair and get me sparkly-clean!  I voted for that.
   I kinda _snuggled_ up to them mentally while they pulled my clothes off,
got me in a robe and took me into the bathroom.  We pulled a straight-back
chair up to the sink and leaned me back with my head over it.  I kept a
solid _touch_ on the chair, you betcha!
   They wet my hair down and shampooed while demanding the dirt on how I'd
met Sean.  I told them about the puddle, full arms, full boobs and full
bladder then how the Red Knight had sailed right in and rescued us.
   They laughed.  "Sounds like Sean.  He's always finding ways to help
people out.  With just that attitude alone, he's stuffed lots of moola in
the bank."
   I got them talking.  Maura was eight years older than Sean and Teresa
six years.  They'd doted on him from the minute he was born; they'd done
their best to spoil him but nothing had worked.
   By the time Sean was eight, he was already doing little businesses. 
Card trading and stamp collecting for investments, lawn work, that kind of
stuff.  Everything went into the bank except for small very thoughtful
gifts to them and their parents.
   Their folks and seanathair had died in New York on 9.11; their nana
several years before that.  They'd done their grieving and were continuing
their lives.
   By then they'd gotten me rinsed.  They produced a hair dryer then blew
and brushed it dry.  I thought it was getting time for a trim but that
could wait; it was the least of my worries.
   Off with the robe!  Teresa produced a box of plastic wrap and wound some
around my rib strapping, my cast, wrists and hands.  They gave me a
thorough wash job over the rest of my body.  No false modesty; they just
washed away.
   We gossiped about babies, breast feeding, diet, baby clothes, strollers
-- all the good mom stuff.  I started giving and getting concepts, images
and emotions; they were picking it right up without noticing it.
   After a final dry off, they put fresh panties and a nursing bra on me
then got me back in the fluffy (new!) hotel robe.  The bra helped a bit to
relieve some of the soreness.
   Teresa ordered room service for the four adults; Bridget had her custom
meals available already so we didn't order anything for her.
   They let Sean back in (actually, Teresa threw open the joining door and
yelled, "Sean!  Boyo!  Bring the baby!") with Bridget.  I got to hold her
for the first time in almost an hour; Sean had bathed her, and she was warm
and clean.
   _"Love!  Happy!  Safe!  Smell wonderful!  Best mom!"_ with baby hugs and
kisses -- and firm loving spirit-hugs and _kisses_.
   _"Wonderful girl!  Best daughter!"_
   We let our emotions and thoughts _leak_ into the sisters.  They
immediately got as teary-eyed as me, and the goo-level rose considerably.
   We got settled in on the sofa and chairs.  Teresa nodded at my body and
asked, "So, what the fuck happened?"
   Sean, Bridget and I tightened up the _join_ with them a little while I
went over my time with Frank; how he'd turned cold, and what had led up to
last night.
   I told them, "He just walked in drunker than a skunk and started hitting
and yelling..." They got to experience lightly what had happened.  Their
eyes narrowed, and we felt their rage.
   I glossed over exactly how we'd gotten away but emphasised how Sean had
taken care of us in the park.  Sean told them, "I took along the ratchet;
turned out I didn't need it but figured it might help."
   They nodded; from their thoughts, that same tool in Sean's hands had
saved their butts several years earlier.
   Sean said, "I just yelled loud and deep; the best imitation I could of
an Irish cop.  They were slippin' in their shit trying to get away."
   That was good for a laugh and lightened things up a bit.  I told them
about the hospital, getting finger-probed *everywhere*, the whole
adventure.
   All right!  Food!  I was starved!  And it wasn't hospital food, either;
it was wonderful!  A couple teeth were still sore, but I managed.
   Teresa claimed the right to hold Bridget for a while.  Bridget played up
to her and gazed adoringly at her face while she gurgled, cooed and rooted
at her boobs looking for milk.  Total convert to the Bridget fan club!
   I popped Bridget on the breast; she gave them her best contented-baby
show.
   I told them, "Frank's still out there somewhere.  Jim, the guard
outside, says he'll probably make one more try unless they find him first.
   "I'm telling you all right now as witnesses, I'm divorcing him.  Period.
I consider myself and Bridget separated as of the minute he crawled in the
door last night.  I don't even have to take off my wedding ring; they cut
it off in the Emergency Room because it was on one of the sprained
fingers."
   Sean said, "I'll send my lawyer over tomorrow.  She'll get things
started."
   Sean's cell phone rang.  He stepped away and talked a minute or so, then
came back.  He told us, "Sharon from the shop.  Two of the weekenders are
more than happy to go full-time, so I'll go in tomorrow morning, turn over
the keys and help Sharon do some training.  I'll be on consulting call
after that, just like other businesses."
   Good.  That was handled.
   Teresa efficiently burped Bridget with the back rub technique (must be a
family tradition).  She got rewarded with a warm snuggle, a baby hug and
several baby kisses along with a firm, _"Nice lady!  Best aunt!"_ Teresa
gooed right down into a pulsating puddle.
   Teresa and Maura made leaving noises.  They were pretty firmly _joined_
between themselves even if they weren't really aware of it.  They looked at
Sean, eyed him and me and thought at him, _"Be good to her or we'll snatch
you bald-headed."_
   He grinned at them and kept his mouth shut.  He told them quietly, _"I
will.  They've become my loves, my life, my best girl and my best lady."_
   They gave us final hugs and smooches.  They left and plotted on ways to
get us together all the way home.  I was for that.
   Sean went out in the hall to talk to Jim.  I carefully moved Bridget to
the bassinet by the bed (difficult with two bad wrists), gingerly brushed
my teeth (a new toothbrush had magically appeared) and got in bed sitting
up for now.
   Sean came back in and told us, "They'll change the guard about 11:30;
the one coming on is Ben.  I'll leave only the normal locks on the outer
doors; we want them to be able to get in easily if needed.
   "We all stay in here tonight; no roaming around outside.  We're still in
danger, and it's ultimately *our* responsibility to survive this."
   We agreed.  I told him, "Leave enough light on so we can see to get
around; I'm not familiar enough with the rooms to get around in the dark."
   He turned down the lights.  He left the joining door to his room open a
little, gave Bridget a kiss, me a little hug and acted like he was leaving.
   I told him, "No, Sean.  Please stay with us.  I'm dying to make love
with you, but I'm so sore right now neither of us would enjoy it.
   "We'll feel safer and we can share our love if we're together.  Come to
bed with me and we can snog a bit at least."
   I took my robe off, got him to remove my bra but left the panties on.  I
trusted him but not me.
   He slipped his shirt and pants off but left his drawers on.  He grinned.
"I trust you but not me."
   We three snuggled up; Sean and I snuggled face-to-face.  So *wonderful*
to feel my bare skin against him!  We snogged gently for a long time while
my breath got shorter until I was almost panting.
   Sean told us, "My loves.  I fell in love with the both of you within the
first hour.  You are such wonderfully beautiful spirits with exquisite
lady-bodies I love to touch.  Best girl!  Best lady!"
   Bridget said, _"Best man!  I'll keep my body over here for right now; I
think it'll be safer.  I'll help with the snogging, though."_
   I felt feather phantom kisses from her as we wound ourselves slowly
through and around each other and our bodies grew warm and flushed.
   I told Sean, "Please touch me.  Caress me and show me a man can still
desire me as a woman."
   He did.  If I'd thought his mouth spouted wonderful blarney, his fingers
and hands were even worse.  They seduced me with subtle strokes, long
gentle caresses and gentle squeezes on exactly the right spots.  He touched
me with love; the first of its kind in over a year.
   It seemed I could switch from nursing-sensations on my boobs and nipples
to erotic-sensations in only a couple seconds.  His gentle kiss on a hard
nipple put me over the edge, and a warm release flooded me.  As we were
_joined_ lightly, we all felt it together and moaned in appreciation.
   Bridget told us, _"That feels so wonderful.  I can remember making love
before, but this is so clean, pure and loving, it fills me with a joy I'll
cherish forever."_
   She put slight phantom suction on my other nipple.  We came together
gently for a long time.
   I pushed Sean's hand downwards.  _"I expect you know what to do, my Red
Knight."_
   He teased and stroked my legs for at least ten minutes while Bridget
nibbled my toes (watch that big ole tooth!) and kissed my legs.  I couldn't
take it any longer and tore off my panties with a _touch_.
   _"Please!"_
   He told me, _"Relax, my love.  Relax and enjoy.  Bridget and I will love
you long and tender."_
   His hands, fingers, mouth and Bridget's butterfly kisses and tiny finger
_touches_ caressed me for ages until I was ready to burst.  No pain did I
feel, only the increasingly-urgent need to release the loving energy we'd
created.
   Finally it did release; it flooded us with a hot surge of love we felt
throughout our entire bodies.  We moaned and tensed up a little.  No pain.
   More strokes and gentle suasions coaxed more and more releases which
suspended us in a wonderful cloud of sweet warm fire while we _blended_
outside and made rainbows of admiration and heartfelt love.
   Chapter 4
   SEAN (Thursday 4/27)
   Nothing beats waking up with your best girl looking at you with her
beautiful blue-green eyes and giving you wobbly baby kisses.  She told me,
_"Look, Sean!  I can hold my head up a long time!  There's hope for this
body yet!"_
   _"You've got a wonderful body sweetheart.  Any young lady would be proud
to have it."_
   Ever see a four-month-old smirk?  She did.  _"You hitting on me, Sean?
If you are, you're gonna have to wait several years.  Then, when you least
expect it, I'm gonna nail ya!_
   _"While we're waiting for that, I've got a load in these diapers and my
body's telling me it's starving."_
   I would have stayed but nature called.  Having two bathrooms helped; I
dashed to mine while Eileen used hers.
   I changed Bridget and got her on Eileen's breast while she called down
for breakfast.
   Bridget hammed it up with leg kicks, arm waves and smiles.  _"We'll keep
Teresa and Maura around for a long time!"_
   We had a leisurely breakfast.  I told them, "Teresa and Maura will
probably drag you off for shopping.  The guard will go with you; he's a
guard, not a pack mule, so let him do his job."
   Eileen tried to protest, "I've got enough clothes for a couple days and
there's a few more things at the apartment."
   I pretended to glare at her and Bridget joined me; even a four-month-old
can glare convincingly.  "No lip from you, vixen.  You're my best lady and
deserve to be showered with gifts.  They've got tons of baby clothes stored
away, too.  You'll have a ball!  Besides, since when does female shopping
mean buying?"
   On the way out, I introduced myself to Ben.  I told him only Eileen and
Bridget were inside.  I expected Kate probably around 9:30 for the
housekeeping and described my sisters.  "Of course Sam the day manager can
come in any time.  He'll clear anyone else." I gave him my card with my
cell phone number and wrote down Sam's hot line number.
   I walked to the shop.  On the way, I called my locksmith and arranged
for complete lock changes; Frank still had a set of keys so far as we knew.
   I got the doors open just before Sharon got there.  A young couple came
in a few minutes later; Sharon introduced us.  Celia and Jack Hanes had
worked Saturdays for the last month and were more than willing to go
full-time.
   They both had a decent amount of Talent.  By golly, so did Sharon! 
Nice. I put a real light _join_ into them all while I started the turnover.
   Celia and Jack knew where most everything was already.  I hadn't changed
much around, but I pointed out what I'd done and why.
   The locksmith showed up and got to work.  I told Sharon, "I may not be
at fault for setting off Frank, but I'm taking this responsibility.  It's a
good insurance investment anyway."
   I ran down the New Employee check sheet I'd developed; Sharon stayed in
the background, grinned, and traced her finger down the page in her manual.
I hoped I'd gotten it right even though I'd written it in the first place.
Sharon was a cruel taskmaster, making me practice what I'd preached!
   I kept tightening the _join_ and pulled Sharon into the discussion.  We
removed Frank's and Eileen's codes from the register and updated Celia's
and Jack's for seven days a week; they were still willing to do the
weekends.  We added a supervisor key for me, just in case.
   We checked out what the locksmith had done.  He'd put some additional
bracing on the back door and had changed the locks there.  He'd tightened
up the front door hinges (oops, I'd forgotten that), snugged down all the
security bars and had lubricated the gate.  He'd changed all the locks in
front and had checked over all the outside windows.  Everything was tight.
   He made four sets of keys.  Celia and Jack got a set, Sharon got two
sets (one for her brother to store away), and I kept a set for just in
case.
   We did sales drills for an hour; Sharon had already made copies from the
manual for them to study at home.  We talked about attracting attention and
discussed several possible ways, like my hat.  They'd been through quite a
bit of the training before, but didn't mind the refresher after some
real-life experience.
   I told them I'd try to drop by every once in a while, ensured they had a
couple of my cards and bailed out.
   ------
   EILEEN (Thursday morning 4/27)
   I decided to get dressed.  It took me five minutes of fiddling with
panties and socks (I couldn't bend over that far and the left hand was
useless) before Bridget laughed and pulled one up with a tiny _touch_.  Duh
on me!  I was able to finish dressing myself in a couple minutes.
   Kate knocked on the door to do the daily routine.  I called out for her
to come in; as she opened the door, I waved to Ben behind her -- Bridget
waved too.
   When she shut the door, I saw her nostrils flare.  Oh shit!  The entire
suite probably smelled like sex from last night.  Yep.  She'd smelled it
and was grinning inside.  She cocked an eyebrow at me just a tiny bit.
   I cocked mine back, looked into the bedroom at the (very messy) bed for
a long second, turned back to her, laughed and said, "YEH!"
   We laughed for a while; Bridget burbled away to add to the atmosphere.
Kate had a hefty dose of Talent in her so I figured we'd get along just
fine.
   She asked, "You want me to air it out or do you wanna show it off?"
   "We'd better air it out; I'm expecting Sean's sisters to show up in a
while.  They're already plotting on how to get us together, and if they
smelled this they'd be on me unmercifully."
   Kate grinned.  "Yeh.  I've talked with them several times; they're
pretty set on fixing up Mr.  C."
   I tried to change the subject a little.  "Kate, is this the suite where
Sean brings all his women?"
   She just looked at me and grinned.  "No comment." We laughed together a
little.
   She gave in a bit.  "He has this for business guests.  There's been a
couple business ladies over the years but *no* hanky panky.  The
housekeeping staff would know.
   "He keeps this room open to keep the noise down and for his guests.  He
started that the first week he was here.  You're the first lady who's been
in here for non-business reasons -- not counting his sisters, of course."
   I was really pleased for whatever reason.  I asked, "I don't know how
much the rooms run here, but it seems a bit beyond the call of customer
service to keep an empty room for a 'just in case.' How did he convince Sam
to do it?"
   She looked at me blankly for a moment then grinned and said, "No one
told you, ma'am?  Sean and his sisters *own* the hotel.  Sam, me and
everyone else works for them."
   Dense.  Everything fell into place: living here, the way he'd talked to
Sam, the way the entire place was falling all over us with service, the
guard showing up so fast, everything.
   Bridget sang, _"'My mother often tells me I should go and have a try/ To
find a boy that owns a bit of land.' He sandbagged us, Mom."_
   Kate laughed and joshed me a little more, "And you thought he was just
another pretty face, right?  Then again, his butt's not too bad, either."
   She opened the windows and turned on the air conditioning fan.  She
played with Bridget for a minute then changed the bed, emptied the trash
cans and did whatever she did to the bathroom then.  She into Sean's room
for several minutes.
   When she came back, she said, "No need to make the bed in there!" With a
straight face, too!
   We broke up again.  After a few seconds, she looked at Bridget and asked
me, "She understands us, doesn't she?"
   Bridget waved at her.  I told Kate, "Try her out."
   Kate took up the challenge.  "Okay, Bridget, how many months old are
you?" Bridget tried to get fingers up but no joy.  She decided just to
raise her arm four times and laugh.
   Kate glanced at me; I made a mark in the air with a wet finger.  "One
for us."
   She tried again.  "Okay, is your mother pretty?" Bridget bobbed her
head; she could do that.  Another mark for us.
   "Is Sean pretty?" A head shake this time.  Kate looked at me in triumph,
but I said, "Do you usually call a man 'pretty'?" Kate tried again, "Is
Sean handsome?" Definite head nod.
   Kate said, "We could probably do this all day, and she'd win somehow. 
Is she a mind reader?" Both Bridget and I nodded our heads; it was only
part of the truth, but we did "read minds."
   She shook her head.  "In-fuckin'-credible!  Anyway, I've got rounds to
finish.  Here's my card; just dial the number, and it'll page me to come to
the phone you called from.  You and Bridget are on the top of everyone's
lists for service."
   She left and five minutes later the Cullen Sisters popped in the door.
   They were _joined_ pretty snuggly but didn't really know it.  Good
progress, though.  They immediately sniffed the air and glanced in the
bedroom, checking for tell-tale signs of a wild night of debauchery.  No
such luck.  They were mildly disappointed but went on to the next stages of
their plot.
   Maura asked, "Where's Sean?"
   "At the store, doing a turnover."
   "He must really like you; he doesn't usually get involved in a business
he doesn't have ownership in."
   "Maybe so." We all grinned as we started to play the game.  I played it
close to the chest; Bridget and I were able to cheat better than they
could. Bridget let out a loud chortle and gave them a little _hint_ as a
reminder she was there.
   Maura said, "*My* turn!" She picked up Bridget and snuggled her. 
Bridget promptly gave her the should-be-copyrighted performance of coos,
laughs, wiggles, neck hugs and wobbly kisses.  Slavery confirmed!
   Teresa tried, "He doesn't have women stay here very often." She was
trying for a bit of jealousy.
   My turn.  "Kate, the housekeeper, said that too.  She exempted you two
from the non-business stay-overs of which she said then numbered zero.  She
told me you three own this place.  How is the ownership divided?"
   They thought back and forth at each other for a second then Teresa said,
"If Sean didn't tell you about owning the hotel, he must be really serious.
Usually that's his test of a woman.  If she's a gold-digger, she tries to
drop her knickers right then.  If she's not, she usually backs off so she
won't be thought a gold-digger.  If he doesn't tell her, it means he's
serious."
   "Well, he may be serious, but I'm just separated right now and have a
very young child to boot."
   "Yeh, well a child is just a bonus, and he's called Bridget 'my best
girl' a couple times.  He doesn't joke with things like that."
   "Well, that just means he likes Bridget a lot.  'Love me, love my kid'
doesn't necessarily work in reverse."
   We fenced back and forth for a couple more minutes, trying out
wisecracks and looking for holes in the defenses.  Bridget kept distracting
Maura by checking out her boobs for milk.
   We thought the moment was right, so Bridget put in, _"How about best
girl *and* best lady?  Would that be all right with you two matchmakers?"_
   Yes!  Got 'em, got 'em, got 'em!  They were literally speechless (and
thought-less) for a few minutes.
   Teresa said, "So we've got another empath."
   Bridget told them, _"How about four more empaths besides Sean?"_
   Their eyes swiveled to me.  I said, _"Bridget, me and *you* two.  How do
you think you've been communicating with each other since last night?  Not
by tin cans and a string for sure."_
   Teresa protested, "But it was Mum and Sean who're the empaths!  Only one
a generation!"
   I laughed, "Not any more.  Bridget and I were 'deaf as posts' before
Sean showed up Monday morning.  In a couple hours we were going at it like
old hands.  We're not sure but think we stimulated each other somehow. 
Then last night, we just snuggled up to you two mentally while we were
talking and now you're showing solid signs of what we call Talent.
   "We saw you had it.  So, here we are, four witches sitting around.  Now
all we need is a cauldron to boil and bubble."
   Bridget immediately _touched_ in the electric teakettle from the
kitchenette.  She said, _"I did the hard work, you supply the water and
extension cord."_
   Teresa and Maura rolled their eyes.  Maura said, "Okay.  That's another
manifestation I've heard of, but neither Mom nor Sean ever mentioned it. 
What else ya got?"
   Bridget and I grinned at each other.  We're batting 1,000 so far, let's
go for an out-of-the-park grand slam.
   Bridget said, _"Okay.  We know this worked with us; dunno if it works
for you.  Find a comfy spot you could go to sleep in."_
   They found a couple chairs and leaned back.  We worked a couple minutes
and found they could get themselves outside with a simple decision -- after
we told them and demonstrated what we were after.
   Fully outside, moving around, leaving a streamer to the body, force
_touches_, _joining_ and _blending_; we gave them all we knew.
   I told them, "On the other hand, the next time Sean shows up, he may
have yet another trick in his bag.  We've only been doing this stuff for
two days so there's probably a ton of stuff available we just don't know
about.  One place you might nose around while you're outside is the
maternity ward; we found out a lot of interesting things about spirits and
bodies."
   Bridget told them, _"And as an oh-by-the-way, my body is no more
advanced than any other four-month-old.  What you see is what you get. 
This is the only way I can talk, though I can hear and see fairly well._
   _"I still get hungry and fill my diapers with little control.  I don't
have to fret or cry and have Mom or Sean guess what I need or want.  Other
than that, I'd say I was normal._
   _"So, we gonna go shopping and giggle over baby clothes and Mom clothes
or what?"_
   We agreed since I was still pretty stiff and sore we'd go over to
Maura's place and see what baby clothes they could palm off on us.  Teresa
packed Bridget's boogie bag, I told Sean where we were going, collected
Ben, and we headed to the car.
   Ben led the way, checking around every turn and putting himself in the
front of the elevator so he could look around before he let us out
   Just in case, we stopped by the front desk and told Sam where we were
going.  He grinned and said, "I'll reserve the freight elevator for when
you come back."
   Ben moved the child seat to Teresa's car; we piled in and took off.  Ben
sat up front with Teresa so he had the most room to move around in.  He got
Maura's address and called EverAlert dispatch to tell them where we were
going.
   He kept his head and eyes moving all the time, looking around and
checking.  This was *not* a fun little game of hide and seek we were
playing; all I had to do was bounce either wrist a little or twist my ribs
for a reminder.
   ------
   SEAN
   When Eileen told me they were going to Maura's for baby clothes
(translation: hen party), I figured they'd manage their own lunch.  I did a
quick run to In and Out for my own.  While I waited for the order to get
up, I called Sergeant Kane at the station desk.
I told him what was going on; he was aware of what Frank had done since
the officers who'd interviewed me and Eileen were from that precinct.  I
let him know where Eileen and Bridget were staying and gave him my cell
phone number as well as the hotel's.  I knew he already had them somewhere,
but now I knew he had them right in front of him.
   I headed back to my room; there was plenty to catch up on.  I kept my
eyes open and the spirit alert for evil intentions on me; Frank Fuckup
*had* said he'd cut my balls off, and if I had a half-second warning, he'd
be meeting the noisy end of my trusty ratchet instead.
   No such luck.  I slid the Beemer in my slot and took the elevator up to
the lobby.  When I stopped by the front desk, Sam told me where the girls
had gone.  He grinned and asked, "Should I locate a couple portable storage
closets?  I heard 'baby clothes,' and they tend to overflow all available
space."
   I laughed and told him, "Yeh, just locate them for now.  I'll let them
decide themselves how to store them.  For all I know, they'll want to hang
everything from sky hooks, and we'll have to come up with them."
   I fired up my systems and started going over email.  I'd pretty much
been caught up when I got back Sunday but was now a few days behind.  Each
business was supposed to send me an email three times a week on Monday,
Wednesday and Friday with their statistics.
   While each business had custom statistics, they all turned in things
like customers in the shop, gross sales, number of sales, stuff like that.
They submitted them on an Excel spreadsheet with a trend graph already
done. That way we both could look at and see exactly the same numbers.
   Well, nothing seemed to have fallen apart since last Friday.  The
weekend stats were good everywhere so...  do nothing.  If it ain't broke,
don't fix it!  I sent reply emails to let them know I'd gotten their
statistics with Very Well Dones across the board.
   I worked on getting the rest of the in basket down.  I subscribed to
something like fifteen different industry electronic newsletters so I could
keep my finger on what was going on both in Southern California and
elsewhere.  I'd made several hundred thousand at one shot a couple times by
noticing a trend and being prepared for the results.
   Around 4:00, Sergeant Kane called.  He said, "We may have found Frank
McLennan.  We've got a body with a wallet that has his ID, and it matches
the description and pictures."
   Shit.  "Where was it?"
   "Under some boxes in an alley off West Marigold.  Looks like some blood
on his head consistent with the fall Mrs.  McLennan described but no other
apparent major trauma seen by a quick look.  The coroner will want an
autopsy for cause of death.  We'll need a positive ID; Mrs.  McLennan will
have to go to the morgue and identify it since the DL picture doesn't fit
really well, as usual.  We've sent fingerprints off, but her ID will make
things move along."
   "Okay.  Where and when?"
   He gave me the address and told us just to show up any time between 8 in
the morning and midnight, including today.  The sooner the ID, the sooner
the autopsy would get done.
   I immediately called Maura's to talk with Eileen.  I told her, "The
police think they found Frank's body.  They need you to make a positive ID
on it; are you up to that this afternoon?"
   I got a few choice words in Irish, none too happy.  "I suppose so.  Does
that mean all this fear and stuff is over?"
   I told her, "Not yet.  Until we *know* it's Frank they found, we still
need to maintain the same precautions.  Someone could have lifted his
wallet and looked enough like him at first glance."
   She said, "Okay, Sean.  How we gonna do this?"
   I told her I'd come by Maura's and pick her up.  We'd leave Bridget with
Maura and Teresa along with Ben to keep an eye out.  There was light at the
end of the tunnel, but we weren't out of it yet.
   ------
   EILEEN
   I told the rest about it.  Bridget asked, _"Do you need me along, Mom?"_
   I told her, _"No, sweetie.  If it is your dad I'll decide what to do
then.  They still need to find out how he died."_
   Looking at Ben, I said, "Sean said you should stay here with Bridget. 
Hopefully we'll be back in a couple hours, but you might have your relief
come here anyway.  Do you need a way back to the hotel?"
   Ben told me, "Don't worry about a ride.  EverAlert handles that; it's
not your problem.  I'll stay here, keep my eyes open and try to survive the
kids."
   By then, all five of Teresa's and Maura's kids were home from school. 
They'd treated Bridget like a princess, vying to hold her or change her. 
All but the youngest had experience with babies, plus both moms were on
watch.
   Ben didn't seem uncomfortable; he'd said he had a young child of his
own. He was careful to stay out of the mainstream so he could stay alert to
everything going on but tolerated the occasional kid body running into his
legs.  He got his share of holding Bridget but made sure to keep his "gun
hand" free.
   Bridget spread lovey-dovey all over.  Anyone who held her or smiled at
her got smiles, laughs, gurgles and baby hugs and kisses if they got close
enough.  With the kids, she'd say something like, _"You're very nice!  Be
proud!"_
   Ben got a solid, _"Thank you!  You make us feel safe and protected. 
Thank you!"_
   I grabbed a sweater and left with Sean; I'd heard morgues were cold and
I was *not* looking at this as a great fun adventure.
   We kept our eyes open (physical and spiritual) and drove.  Our
destination was only a half-hour away in northern Los Angeles.
   We checked in and waited in a cold room for a couple minutes.  An
Assistant Coroner wheeled in a gurney with a sheet-covered body.  She drew
the top of the sheet down to expose the face.
   Okay.  Deep breath (but try not to smell anything) and take a look. 
Yeh, probably Frank, but the face was...  odd.  The eyes seemed to bulge
out a lot and the temples seemed curved outwards.
   I mentioned this to the Coroner.  She said, "Bodies do what seem to be
unusual things.  We'll be checking out pretty much everything.  Is this
Frank McLennan?"
   Shit, I dunno.  I said, "He had a scar on the left inner forearm and a
jaggy appendectomy scar."
   She gently pulled the left forearm out; there was the exact scar.  When
she peeled the sheet up around the waist, there was the scar.  Okay. 
Another deep breath -- awful smell.
   "Yes, that's Frank.  The scars match and the face looks close enough. 
When will the autopsy be done?"
   She thought a moment.  "We'll probably start tonight or tomorrow
morning. We're actually in pretty good shape, traffic-wise."
   I handed her one of Dr.  Sayes' cards.  "This is our family doctor.  Can
you send results to her?"
   She took the card and said, "No problem.  The police will get a copy,
too."
   There was nothing more to be done so we left.  Frank was gone.  Shit. 
We sat in the lobby for a few minutes while I cried on Sean's shoulder.  No
matter how he'd treated Bridget and me the last year, I still remembered
the man I fell in love with and married.
   I finally said, "If I remember correctly, Frank has a sister.  I'll have
to tell her eventually.  Her address is in the apartment; we need to get
back in there and get it livable again."
   "Okay.  I'll see what Sergeant Kane can do."
   He called on his cell phone; I _joined_ a little and listened through
his ear.  Sergeant Kane transferred us to another officer.  Yeh, the voice
was familiar from the hospital.
   Sean said, "Officer Cain, it's Sean Cullen and Eileen McLennan.  Mrs. 
McLennan just did a positive ID on Frank's body so that's a done deal. 
We'd like to get back in her apartment to get it straightened around."
   Officer Cain put us on hold a few minutes while he called the Coroner's
office.  He came back on the line and said, "That's confirmed.  If you have
keys, just go on in.  Don't worry about the tape; you can just pull it
down. Sean, I won't even ask how the baby car seat and a lot of clothes
just seemed to disappear from there."
   Sean laughed.  "Em, no comment except to say to the best of our
knowledge only authorized personnel have set foot in there.  Thanks for
your help."
   We went back by the hotel.  We stopped and told Sam the good(?) news. 
Sean told him, "We'll pull the EverAlert watch; there's no need for them
any longer."
   Sean did an in and out for something in his room.  We ran into Kate in
the hallway.  Sean told her, "Hello, Kate.  We're gonna be pulling the
security guard outta here; that situation's been resolved." We chatted a
few moments more then Sean turned towards the elevator.
   Kate and I watched his butt twitch, looked at each other, wiggled our
eyebrows and laughed.  So nice to laugh again!
   Sean turned around and said, "What?" We laughed some more while he
rolled his eyes and shook his head.  _"Must be a woman thing, right?"_
   _"Right.  The entire housekeeping staff -- female at least -- love to
watch your butt."_
   _"Well, that's okay, I guess.  At least no one's grabbed it."_
   _"So far.  My hands aren't functioning too well right now, but I might
try it myself anyway."_
   _Grin.  "Remember, turn about is fair play."_
   _"Sweetheart, you may grab my butt *any* time."_
   ------
   SEAN
   In the car, I handed Eileen a cell phone.  "That's a spare on my plan.
Here's the number.  You can hold on to it; why don't you call your doctor
for that appointment on Monday?"
   She smiled (Dayum that brightens things up.  Don't care if she's still
iridescent.) and dialed.
   I called Maura.  "It's a done deal, Maura.  It was Frank.  I'm gonna
cancel the security guards, but don't let Ben leave until we get there."
   I called EverAlert and ended the contract.  They'd email me a
satisfaction survey and an invoice.  Good.
   We gave Bridget a good snuggle when we got there.  Eileen told her, _"It
was your dad.  They're gonna find out what happened in a couple days."_
   Bridget told her, _"I'm sorry, Mom.  I barely remember anything about
him, but I know you loved him enough to marry him."_
   _"That's right, honey.  I'm just gonna try to remember the good times
and not worry about the bad."_
   I gave Ben two envelopes, one for him and one for Jim.  I figured a $250
tip each would help finance a night on the town for them and their spouses.
   Ben gave Bridget a big snuggle before the EverAlert car picked him up.
She gave him a long hug, lots of smiles and lots of wobbly baby kisses as
she told him, _"Thank you again.  We felt very well-protected.  Good man!"_
She made a friend for life.
   Eileen and I left Bridget to the tender mercies of the Cullen Sisters'
families while we headed over to Eileen's apartment.
   We pulled down the police tape with a few _touches_ and opened the door.
Locked?  No problem, just push back the latch with a _touch_.
   It seemed in pretty good condition considering the police had been
through it as a crime scene.  Some disarray and still a couple of blood
spots on the floor, but in general it probably just needed a straightening
and cleaning.
   Eileen looked around and said, "Home, not so sweet home.  With your
help, it won't take a lot until we can move back in."
   I shook my head firmly.  "Eileen, you and Bridget are staying where you
are now at the hotel.  This place is much too small, especially since
you're probably now the proud owners of at least one hundred additional
sets of baby clothes."
   She grinned at me and asked, "You're asking us to move in with you?"
   I grinned back.  "No.  Room 228 is completely independent of my room. 
The joining door is a strictly a convenience, and you can lock it from your
side.  It will be your and Bridget's place and under your complete control.
If you wanna paint it with pink and orange zebra stripes and hang
Frankenstein posters all over, that's between you and the manager.
   "It'll be yours.  We'll talk about anything else after we've got things
straightened out more and you're healed up.  Once you're independent again,
you can make any other decisions based on that.
   "I love Bridget and I love you, Eileen; I have absolutely no doubt about
it.  We just need to let things settle out for a while."
   She snuggled up to me, and we hugged gently while we shared a warm
gentle kiss.  Outside, we _blended_ smoothly together and made rainbows as
we caressed each other and shared our love.
   She told me, "I could get used to being a kept woman for a while.  We
accept your offer with no reservations.  I'm still stiff and sore, but I
want you in my bed.  When I get things healed up enough, we'll have some
real partying; in the meantime, I figure we can find other stuff to do."
   She wiggled a firm warm bosom with hard nipples against me and tried to
sand all the skin off my woody with her mons while we traded lots of spit
and tongue.  Life was good.
   Anyway, let's check this place out.  Eileen had handled the finances so
she had a good idea what was going on.  She told me, "Everything was paid
up as of Saturday.  I don't see any new bills in the mail so that's all up
to date.
   "We'll need to collect at least stuff like birth certificates, my
marriage license, that kind of stuff.  I know there's a life insurance
policy around somewhere; we got it just after we were married.  We've had
ninety bucks or so auto-debited every month since then.  There's a will,
too.
   "I've got the medical insurance somewhere; that's run a couple hundred a
month and so far has been worth every penny for Bridget.  My stuff will
probably run several thousand at least."
   I told her, "More likely in the range of tens of thousands.  Emergency
room treatment is *not* cheap."
   She started pulling open drawers; between a cast and wrapped fingers on
the left hand and a sprain on the right she was having a hell of a time.  I
picked off something from her memory and asked, "Eileen, how did you get
your socks and underwear on this morning?"
   She moaned at herself and fired up deft _touches_.  _"I'm not used to
this yet."_
   _"None of us are used to it.  It's completely new territory.  Remember,
it's been only three days since we discovered all this stuff so don't beat
yourself up."_
   She found and pulled several folders.  I told her, "We've still got
another week left on the rent.  How about we leave pretty much everything
else?  I've got two sisters who would love to help with it."
   "I don't want to impose on them; they've already helped tremendously
just by watching Bridget."
   I gave her a gentle spirit-smack up along-side the head.  "Sweetheart,
they're in their element.  If for no other reason, they've been trying to
get me fixed up for so long, this is a chance for them to help make it all
go right.
   "Besides, they *love* you two.  I've been around them for 23 years; they
can be colder than Pluto towards someone of whom they disapprove.  On the
other hand, they can be warm and loving towards someone they like.  There's
more than *like* going on here.
   "If we left them out of all this, I'd probably end up bald, shy one
testicle and have an additional arsehole.  We've gotta at least give them
the opportunity to refuse.  Let them help."
   She laughed.  "I bet they were plotting from the first minute they saw
Bridget.  They were *really* plotting this morning.  By the way, you know
they've actually got plenty of Talent?"
   I grinned.  "Yeh, I picked that up.  I've been avoiding that for right
now; I get enough verbal harassment about my love life without them
literally looking over my shoulder when we're snogging." _"Speaking of
snogging, we haven't done any for at least five minutes."_
   We handled that issue immediately.  I took advantage of her permission
to grab her butt and caressed it for as long as I could get away with it --
which was a *long* time.
   We finally broke it off.  She grabbed her purse and nosed around inside.
"Good.  Everything's here: checkbook, house keys, wallet, all that stuff.
Guess I exist again; I've got a plastic card with my picture and name on
it."
   We dropped by her landlord's and gave notice.  Ordinarily, they wanted
30 days, but what they gonna do, sue us?  We'd be out of there in the next
several days; I planned to run a cleanup crew through it so there would be
no complaints.  I gave them a check for two more weeks' rent anyway to help
ease the pain; it never hurts to leave on a good note.
   I asked her, "How about you invite the gang for dinner?  My treat and
you don't have to cook."
   She just reached out and _talked_ with Teresa and Maura -- they were a
couple miles from here; not too shabby!  They were more than willing to
have a family outing at my expense.  They agreed: the Arms in an hour.
   I gave the restaurant a call and got one of the private rooms.  They'd
had the kids there quite a few times before so they knew the game.
   We went back to our place(s) and I helped her get "dressed for dinner."
At her request, I unwrapped her wrist sprain bandage; she flexed it slowly
a few times and said, "Not too bad.  If I take it easy, it should be fine."
   She insisted I help wash her.  Who am I to refuse to help?  I wrapped
the left hand, cast and the rib support in plastic wrap and washed away.
   What?  Just because I did the final wash and inspection on a couple body
parts with my tongue didn't mean she had to let loose at me in Irish!
   I grabbed a quick shower and changed.  She'd gotten completely dressed
by herself with the help of some _touches_ and was putting on her makeup. I
offered to do a quality control inspection; whoa!  Her command of Irish
invective was getting better every time.
   ------
   EILEEN
   I decided on very little make up.  Hell, if I'd try to hide the bruises,
it would take a couple hours, and I'd probably end up looking like a circus
clown.  I just put on a dab of lipstick.
   Sean offered to do a quality control check.  Shit!  My legs got all
quivery, my nipples popped up, and the pussy slicked up right away.  I
Irished him a bit more; we didn't have time for that.
   He insisted on brushing my hair, though.  I could tolerate that much, I
guessed.  It was almost a mistake; he brushed, nuzzled my neck (chills and
hot jolts all the way down) and kept trying to slip a hand around front to
check out stuff.  I drew on Nana's teaching of Irish curses, smacked his
sneaky hand a couple times (oops, missed a few times and had to suffer
through some wonderful fondling!) and managed to keep him at bay.
   This mental stuff is nice.  Teresa _told_ me they were pulling into the
garage so we went down to the restaurant.  No phone tag, no sweat.
   Teresa hugged me and introduced her husband, Pat.  He gave me a warm
hug, grinned at me and said, "Welcome to the Clann, Eileen." Seems I was
gonna get it from the guys, too.
   Maura's husband was John.  He hugged me and told me, "You've got a
wonderful daughter, Eileen.  Welcome home." Dayum, he got me on that one.
   We chatted away in Irish.  Teresa had told me they wanted the kids
fluent in it, and they did very well.  Obviously the restaurant staff were
used to them because they immediately brought the kids' starter stuff in
while the adults looked at the menu.
   Maura told us, _"We think Patrick and John have a bit of the Talent,
too. We've been snuggling with them a bit and feel something stirring."_
   Sean told them, _"Give it a shot.  I don't know how it works, but that's
how we started with you two.  What the heck, give the kids a shot sometime,
who knows what they've got."_
   Teresa said, _"They've got Talent, too, but we'll leave them be a while.
We can already tell what they're thinking so that's a big help already. 
We'll work on the hubbies first; maybe there won't be so much confusion
that way."_
   Sean wandered off into the kitchen to chat a while.  While he was gone,
The Nolans and Bardons took the opportunity to brag on "Lover Boy."
   Maura told me, "Four years ago, he got us started in our own business;
John and Patrick own and run Eire's Tavern in Pasadena.  Teresa and I help
out with the bookkeeping, ordering, personnel, that sort of stuff.  It's a
blast, it makes money, and it lets us do the kid stuff we want.
   "Lover Boy keeps sticking his nose in, though.  He looks at the
advertising, makes up attraction gimmicks and occasionally wanders around
in his silly hat.  Even the local Irish laugh at it -- and keep coming
back."
   Teresa asked, "So what are your plans now, Eileen?  Going back to the
shop?"
   I told them dead-pan, "I'm gonna be a kept woman for a couple of weeks.
Some weirdo offered Bridget and me a place to stay until I get healed up,
and I don't even have to put out for it."
   Patrick asked, "This weirdo wouldn't be wearin' a silly bowler hat,
would he?"
   I laughed, "You got it!  At least he takes it off for meals."
   John didn't crack a smile.  "Does he take it off at night?"
   I said, "No comment."
   We laughed for several minutes then laughed at Sean as he came back.  He
asked, "What?"
   Patrick told him, "We're getting the dirt on your night-time hat habits,
lad."
   He just grinned, gave Bridget a little kiss and me a longer one.  He
told them, "Eileen and Bridget have their own private room for as long as
they wish.  Bridget has already expressed her opinion of my hat." He showed
them the chewed spot on the brim.  We laughed for quite a while and
complemented Bridget on her good taste in haberdashery.
   Bridget told us, _"I've got another tooth getting ready to pop, so that
thing is in mortal danger."_
   We giggled anew while John and Patrick looked a little puzzled.  Then
again, with the Cullen Sisters around, they'd probably be pretty puzzled
most of the time anyway.
   Maura and Teresa were more than happy to go over the apartment with me
("Just try to keep us away!").  Teresa called Sam and reserved the hotel
delivery van for a couple hours on Friday.
   Dinner was excellent.  My teeth weren't quite so sore today, but I stuck
with fish; I'd chew meat some other time.
   Patrick ran off with Bridget a few minutes later for a change.  While
they were gone, Bridget laid the lovin' on him and made yet another convert
to the Bridget cult.
   I told them about my family.  I'd been born in Covina; my folks had died
in an accident when I was five so Nana raised me in Sierra Madre.  Nana's
name had been Margaret Sullivan.  When I described her, John asked, "What
was her maiden name?"
   I started looking for it then Bridget popped up with, _"Gallagher."_
   I told him; he said, "Hey, my seanathair dated a Margaret Gallagher in
high school!  He'd maunder on about spooning with her on her front porch at
em, let's see...  oh, yeh, Vosburg Street."
   Neat!  "Well, she took me to Vosburg Street once, pointed out a house
and told me she'd lived there during high school.  I guess that makes us
almost-relatives, right?"
   That little bit didn't hurt our relationship at all.
   At the end of the meal, Sean called the waiters and the chef out and
complemented them all.  We passed Bridget around to them all; she did her
shtick and made more slaves.
   Teresa poked her gently in her tummy and told her, "You do that so
good!"
   She told us, _"That's part of *my* job.  My job is to grow this body up
healthy and in exchange make people happy for helping me do that.  If I can
do it by laying a little lovin' on them, I'm content with that."_
   We traded a round of hugs and kisses; they took off and Sean, Bridget
and I went "home." A nice word it is, home.
   I slugged down another set of supplements.  Maura had given me a whole
batch of vitamins, mainly, to help the healing.  I'd taken a dose around
noon so this was the second one.
   She'd told me, "Take lots of Vitamin C for the healing.  Any excess will
flush right out, so keep upping the dose until you pee orange.  After
you're healed up, go ahead and cut it down."
   Well, I hadn't peed orange yet so I popped in another 1,000 mg.
   A round of tooth brushing, strip down and into bed.  I'll be really glad
to get this rib support off.  I was probably pretty rank under there.
   The bruises seemed to have faded a little.  Bridget told me, _"They
*have* faded, Mom.  They're not so, em, vivid."_
   Wonderful.  I yelled at Sean, _"Hey, flah!  It's time for your butt
inspection so haul it in here."_
   He told me, _"Yes, ma'am.  Your wish is my command."_
   Bridget said, _"And you'd better remember it, too!"_
   Sean made the lockup rounds, snuggled and kissed Bridget then stripped
and lay down beside me.
   We snogged; Bridget popped outside and snogged right along with us.  I
tossed the covers back, eased around slowly (dayum ribs and cast!) and got
down for the inspection.  Hmm, I could inspect it very well with my right
hand while I checked out this thing in front which had poked me a lot
today.
   While I did taste-testing on his tool, Sean pulled my upper leg atop his
head and gently nuzzled my pussy; it responded immediately with a flood of
liquid.
   Of course he had to lick it up; Bridget stole some first and rubbed it
all over my pucker hole.  Dayum that felt good!
   Long, slow loving.  Sean and Bridget made it last and last, flooding us
with warm, gentle releases as we _blended_ outside.  Sean came close
several times, but I eased off.
   Finally I felt Sean swell up; he sucked in my extremely-hard clit,
Bridget pushed a small phantom finger up my butt, and we shared wonderful
hot climaxes for several long wonderful minutes.
   I decided he passed inspection.  He was just the right size; not that
four this lifetime made me any expert, mind you.
   Sean pulled me back up and spooned up behind me.  I pulled his hand to
my top boob (_"So it doesn't get cold."_), gave him and Bridget a final
spirit-hug and let the body go to sleep.  We spirit-whispered to each
other:
   _"Best man!  Best daughter!"_
   _"Best girl!  Best lady!"_
   _"Best mom!  Best man!"_
   With the danger past, we popped outside.  Bridget left a streamer to her
body while Sean gave us a tour of every nook and cranny of the hotel.  For
the time being, we bypassed the crannies where there was nookie going on.
   Chapter 5
   SEAN (Friday 4/28)
   I woke up with Bridget licking my face, sucking on my earlobe and
pretending to gnaw it with her tooth.  I growled quietly, grabbed her and
burbled her belly real good.  I showed *her* who was boss!
   Eileen woke up and joined the fun.  She nibbled on tiny fingers and toes
and gave us butterfly kisses.
   Eileen groaned.  "Still a bit stiff and sore.  I'll go pee; you get to
change her then I'll feed her." She rolled out of bed and headed for the
john.
   I stuck my finger in the diaper, but it was dry.  I asked Bridget, "Mom
change you earlier?"
   She laughed.  _"No, I did it myself!  I didn't even pee in the new
one!"_
   Really cool!  I hugged her good while telling her, "Wonderful girl! 
Best girl!  Favorite youngest sweetheart!"
   Eileen came back and slid back in bed.  "You must be a quick-change
artist too along with your other talents."
   I told her, "No, our extremely clever and talented daughter had already
changed her own diaper."
   Eileen laughed.  "Now that is an independent baby!  Bridget, you're *so*
good!  Best daughter!"
   _"Best mom!  Best man!  I tried Sean's earlobe earlier, but it seems
pretty dry.  Got milk?"_
   "I sure do." Bridget immediately assumed the position and latched on.
   She told us, _"By the way, I really like Sean's before-shave smell --
and taste."_
   Eileen leaned over and gave my cheek a quick sniff.  "Em, what is that?
It's familiar."
   I grinned, "Three guesses.  Before the first one, try to remember where
my face was last night."
   She got it real quick and pinked up a little.  I told her, "I'll go take
a quick shower, shave and come back for the *after*-shave."
   She grinned but told me, "Can't.  Teresa and Maura are coming by at
10:00.  I'll take a rain check, though."
   "Agreed."
   I did my thing in the bathroom.  When I got out, Eileen was dressed. 
She said, "Let's go out for breakfast; to the restaurant is fine."
   Bridget said, _"Why don't we just 'go down' for breakfast instead?  I
enjoyed that."_
   We pretended to tickle her to death while she defended herself admirably
with quick raps from her rattle.  We did go to the restaurant for
breakfast, though.
   ------
   EILEEN
   Bridget's diaper-change trick was really cool.  I could tell she was
proud of being able to do something for herself so she wasn't so totally
dependant on us.  And Sean saying "our daughter" sent chills all over me.
   We got back from breakfast just before 10:00.  Obviously Kate had been
in because the bed was made.  I noticed a little sticky note under a tiny
piece of chocolate.  It had a line drawing of a nose and a happy-face. 
Clever girl!
   Sean packed up Bridget's boogie bag.  I _told_ Maura and Teresa we'd
meet them in the garage in a few minutes.
   Sean said, "You ladies do whatever you ladies decide to do.  Unless
something changes, I'll catch up on business emails and do some business
stop-bys; it's been four months since I've been around."
   Sean carried Bridget down.  It was still several hundred feet of
walking; I was getting a lot better, but it was still some work.  We
stopped at the front desk to pick up the van keys.
   Teresa pulled in with Maura.  I was already in the van; Sean moved the
car seat, strapped Bridget into it and we were off!
   The game started right away.  Teresa asked, "Where was Sean's hat last
night?"
   "Dunno.  I didn't hear it cry from loneliness; maybe he wears it to
bed."
   I won that round.
   I directed them to the apartment.  Maura pulled up so the side doors
were just opposite the door (ground floor).  With them open, no one could
easily see what we were doing from the outside.
   I laid Bridget down on her stomach on the kitchen floor; that was out of
the way for the time being.  She started practicing head lifts, pushups,
situps and rollovers.  _"I'm gonna be *strong*!"_
   Sam had put a bunch of storage boxes in the van (good man!); we
_touched_ them inside.  We found some comfortable chairs, kicked back and
went to work.
   All the clothes went.  We could _touch_ them directly onto the back seat
in a big pile.  Frank's clothes we set in an entirely different pile to one
side of the room.
   We set up boxes and dumped loads of shoes, baby stuff, papers, undies,
kitchen stuff and miscellaneous.  How come so much stuff ended up in the
miscellaneous?
   I put my curious-about question in, "I understand you two and Sean own
the Altadena Arms.  How does that work?"
   Teresa grinned.  "That's not *exactly* correct," she said.  And waited.
   Bridget said, _"Okay, I'll be the straight guy.  What is the 'exactly
correct'?"_
   Everyone laughed.  Maura explained, "The actual owner is a corporation
named Cullen Hotels.  Sean, Teresa, me and our husbands are the corporate
shareholders.  Sean owns 60%, we each hold 10%.  That's about the only
place we can't gang up on him."
   Teresa said, "It was the first property Sean got when he turned
eighteen. He did his wheel and deal, got it pretty cheap and paid it off
entirely last December.
   "He moved into that room the first day so he could run the place.  As we
got managers trained, he backed off from the daily operations.  As of last
year, he's not routinely involved with the operations side.
   "Either he, Maura or I counter-sign any checks over $5,000; there's a
set of signature requirements for lesser amounts.  Maura and I eyeball the
books every week or so, inspect them pretty closely every month and get an
audit done twice a year.
   "They send their statistics in three times a week, just like the rest of
Sean's companies; we've caught a few glitches just watching them.  So,
we've got a fully-owned cash cow, an excellent dining area where people at
least pretend to fawn over us, Sean's got a place to live and everyone's
happy.
   "Not too bad for a twenty-three-year old, eh?  He'll make some lucky
lady an excellent catch."
   Dangling the bait again, eh?  Bridget put her bit in this time, _"Mom's
a grieving widow right now, can't you see?  She wouldn't dream of getting
involved with another man until I'm at least in high school.  Right, Mom?"_
   They stared at me; I managed to keep a straight face, pulled my blouse
up and plucked at the rib support.  "Besides, I'm pretty ripe under here by
now.  Unless a guy's got a necrophilia fetish, he'd throw up."
   They weren't entirely thrown off.  Maura said, "I don't know if Sean's
ever done it, but he'd probably be pretty good at consoling a grieving
widow."
   Teresa put in, "Except for that hat, of course.  By the way, how's the
soreness and the ribs?"
   I told them, "Pretty decent.  I get a twinge from the ribs and the left
hand every once in a while.  I'm a bit stiff in the morning, but the
soreness is working out."
   Teresa grinned.  "Bet someone else is 'stiff' in the morning, too.  Have
Sean give you a massage; he's really good at them."
   I laughed and told them, "Dunno about the stiff part; I'll put a massage
on the request list."
   We traded wise-cracks and innuendos back and forth while we kept
working; Bridget put her remarks in on my (our) behalf.
   We were done with all the closets, the dressers, the bathroom and almost
all the kitchen.  Bridget changed the subject around, _"I've got this odd
smell around my backside and it feels squishy."_
   I immediately said, "My very clever daughter has something to show us.
Watch."
   We swiveled around to watch Bridget on the kitchen floor.  She picked up
her body, put it on its back, pulled out a fresh diaper, pulled off the old
one, cleaned up real good with baby wipes, put on powder, put on the new
diaper, folded and trashed the old diaper and had everything put away in
less than three minutes.  That's faster than I could do it.
   Maura and Teresa laughed and applauded.  Bridget held her body upright
and bent at the waist several times while she laughed, too.
   Teresa said, "Dayum!  Wish my kids coulda done that." Maura echoed the
sentiment.
   Now that the subject was safely changed, I picked up Bridget, she
latched onto a boob, and I asked, "You tried more mental snuggling with the
hubbies yet?"
   They smiled widely.  Maura told me, "John's stirring.  This morning he
asked me something while he was in the kitchen and I was in the kids' room.
I don't think he's aware of it yet."
   Teresa said, "Patrick's feeling really good, too.  I think we've got a
couple of winners."
   Bridget said, _"You're *all* winners!  I've got the best mom, the best
godfather and you are the best aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews in the
whole world!"_
   Goo flooded knee-deep over the entire floor.
   ------
   SEAN
   I reviewed the email statistics and mapped out which businesses I wanted
to visit that day.  I printed up a full set of stat graphs for the last
year (if the business had been around that year), last quarter, last month
and the last week to take with me.
   I'd caught up a little on the other routine email newsletters but was
still behind.  What I really needed was someone sharp who could do some of
that.  Hmm.  I started percolating a Bright Idea around.
   First thing I did was stop by Target to get another child seat;
switching one between Teresa or Maura's car and mine was dumb.  I found one
with an AM/FM radio, DVD player (free Barney DVD; I broke it up and
distributed the fragments over three dumpsters), suspended mobile, bottle
warmer, diaper and food storage, cell phone, theft alarm, fold-out to a
four-wheel stroller and a 2 cubic feet AC/DC refrigerator.  I've also got
options for sale on the pedestrian rights for a bridge in the Bay Area if
you're interested.
   The first business was a "Mom and Pop" collectables shop, Collectable
Arts.  It specialized in comic books, action figures and super-hero trading
cards.  I first drove all the way around the block so I could inspect the
entire outside.
   Looked okay.  There was some litter built up around the back door; it
was faded enough I knew it had been there at least several days.  Ding!
   I parked and checked out the front display window.  Looked fine; neat
and tidy with an attention-grabbing action figure of Manix Ranger holding
one of his comics (a fairly common one, not an expensive rare one that
would fade in the sun).  Good.
   The door dinger worked fine.  Francis looked up from behind the counter,
grinned and called out, "Attention on deck!  Bowler arriving!"
   I got a handshake all around and a nice hug from Francine, Francis' SO.
Francis and Francine ran the shop with an assistant, Simon.  Simon handled
the floor while I went over the stats in the back room with them.
   I pointed to a sudden rise in the gross sales last month.  It was about
a 10% increase and had held up since then.  "Okay, guys, what happened
here?"
   Francine said, "The Yellow Pages ad came out.  Bodies in the Shop jumped
by about 15% within a week and the sales went up."
   I said, "Great!  Would you call that a Successful Action?"
   "Sure would."
   "So, when the ad comes up for renewal, whatcha gonna do?"
   "Review it and renew."
   "Good.  So what else has changed since we last talked?"
   They'd refined the layout a bit with the more common items near the
front.  They'd put the checkout line so it ran right by the common stuff so
a customer would tend to look...  then buy.
   We went over several things like that.  I brought up the old trash in
the back and pointed out the item in the manual about "The customer knows
us by our environment." They put it on the To Do List.
   Francis brought up a new point.  "Simon had an idea of creating a Yahoo
Group or similar where we could list availability of collectables and also
requests.  He figures if he can get enough dealers on it, we'd all be more
flexible."
   I asked, "And what do you guys think?"
   They liked the idea.  I asked, "According to the manual, what would be
the actual first step?"
   They took a look at The Book.  "Survey.  See if it's needed and wanted."
   "Okay.  Besides telling you if it's needed and wanted, you'll probably
end up with contacts with lots of other collectables dealers and at least a
possible oral method of doing something similar, right?
   "If the survey shows interest, how about doing some research?  Study the
NASDQ stock exchange; it's completely electronic, has bid, ask and three
levels of other stuff and gets updated every couple minutes.  Do a
preliminary design and take a look.
   "I'll betcha Simon is a computer geek.  He could design and implement an
interactive web site, and you could hire someone to do the updating.  You
get something like that, if someone came in with something to sell, you
could get the actual market value in a couple seconds rather than
estimating.
   "Tell you what.  If you folk do the preliminary survey, research, design
and financial study then we'll talk funding.  This should be something
entirely separate from the shop here.  That way, if it takes off, you three
might well be in a position to have your own business, just like that."
   Extreme interest.
   ------
   The other businesses were very similar.  Look at the graphs, spot any
changes (up or down) and see what occurred.  If it had been a desirable
change, find out the cause and reinforce it.  Undesirable, root it out.
   At the Ladies' Leather shop, I could smell a little mustiness mixed in
with the desirable leather smell.  Since I could _look_ around really
quick, I found it in a couple seconds.  The mop sink in the back had mold
around the drain and the floor around it smelled.
   Jim, the manager, said, "It keeps backing up.  I've run Draino and such
down it, but that hasn't fixed it yet."
   I said, "Okay.  Call in the big guns, then.  The inexpensive method
didn't work, take it up to the next level.  Let RotoRooter or whoever do
their thing on it.  If even three customers get turned off by the odor, we
could have paid for it already by the possible sales.
   "Since this place is leased, the leaseholder should actually pay for
something like that.  Contact them and get approval."
   On the To Do List.  Jim then put forth the next idea.  "Sean, you ever
think of selling this place?"
   Okay!  Negotiation time!  Exactly what I wanted from all these places.
   "Well, Jim, what do you have in mind?  You and Sam (the other manager)
have an interest?"
   They dd.  We kicked a couple offers around for a bit.  I told him, "Tell
you what.  Go down the manual.  When all the major points are in place or
at least addressed and targeted, then we'll talk again.  Most of the points
which take money to implement aren't capital costs so don't really affect
the net worth; the cost is an expense.
   "If you work to get the points in now as an expense, it's on my dime,
not yours after you buy it.  Who would you rather spend the money, me or
you?"
   The answer was obvious.  Actually, it wouldn't really cost much to
implement any of the points.  If they bought a business in top operating
shape, they'd be able to pay it off faster and easier, I'd get my
investment back faster and more reliably and everyone would win.
   As a parting shot I told them, "Read over the section on buying and
selling again.  That's what I use and probably what you should use.  Use it
to think with and come up with at least a couple ways of doing the deed."
   I finished up with the last shop on my list around 5:00; I actually
found a couple neat hats there.  Good.  It was time to get together with my
sweet ladies and have a bit of togetherness; Eileen had _told_ me our plans
for the evening.
   ------
   EILEEN
   We did a final straightening up, put the trash (I probably wouldn't need
a pair of worn-out tenny pumps) in the dumpster, swept up and took off.
   We took all Frank's clothes and stuff to the Salvation Army store.  I
got a receipt and it was a done deal.
   Maura called Sam to warn him we were coming with a ton of stuff and to
dig out three portable storage units.  He told her, "They're at the front
of the storeroom; I'll get them up there.  Funny how Sean and I figured you
guys would eventually want them.  I'll have Bob and a couple others meet
you in the garage to take the stuff up."
   Teresa pointed at me and said, "You!  Sit.  Rest.  Cuddle the kid." I
did.  They took the stuff up in several trips; the van had been stuffed.
   Maura found an old yardstick somewhere and used it to direct traffic. 
Every once in a while, she'd stand in the middle of the room, slap it
against her pants (or a table) and rattle out orders (mainly contradictory
or impossible) in a fake German accent.  Every time she slapped, we'd all
jerk and Bridget would let out a kid-shriek.
   Fun.  All the guys working knew her and her sense of humor and
acknowledged her "orders" with clicking heels and a broad Hitler salute.
   It took about a half-hour to get the stuff up and semi put away.  Teresa
handed Bob her car keys and told him, "One last run, hopefully.  The car's
packed with kid clothes and stuff I've been dying to get rid of.  Haul it
up here and we'll stuff it under the sofa."
   When it was done, we lavished praise on them for their hard work.  Maura
gave Bob the van keys to give to Sam, and they went happily on their way.
It didn't hurt that each went off with a crisp $20 in a pocket.
   By then it was a bit after 4:00.  Teresa said, "Since you and Sean
treated us last night, it's our turn.  How about the Tavern?  You could see
what we do."
   I allowed as how it would be quite interesting.  Teresa called the
Tavern, talked with Patrick and reserved us a big table for 6:00.
   I _sent_ out the plans to Sean and he agreed; somehow I thought he
would. They took turns cuddling Bridget for a while, she demonstrated her
diaper-changing technique again then they left around 4:30.
   Bridget and I lay around for a while.  It's really a luxury to be lazy
at times.
   We gave her a quick bath (she could do it all by herself, but of course
Mom loved to supervise), and I washed up.  Dayum that rib support felt
grungy -- and at least two or three more days to go.
   I was getting only an occasional twinge from a couple spots.  Bridget
suggested, _"Why don't we look at it?  We can go through walls and all that
stuff so why not?"_
   She was right.  The ribs were plainly perceivable, and we could make
them stand out like a classroom skeleton.  We could see three different
very small cracks; they all had a lot of new growth in them.  We estimated
a good 50% of the cracks were already filled.
   Hmm.  Three days since they were injured, another two or three before we
saw Dr.  Sayes...  Might even be in decent shape by then!
   The left wrist under the cast was okay.  There were a few tiny cracks --
again about 50% filled in.  The sprained fingers seemed okay when I wiggled
them, but they'd put the cast on over the wrapping so I left it on for now.
The crack in the cheek seemed about 60 or 70% filled in; it had been pretty
small to begin with.
   The bruises had faded significantly to lots of yellow-green.  I was
still a bit tired, but almost all the actual soreness was gone.  Maybe in a
couple more days they'd be presentable.
   Sean came cruising in a little after five, snuggled on us a few moments
then took off to his place to change for dinner.  Fifteen minutes later he
was back.
   He'd changed completely.  He'd put on short black boots with a 2" heel,
plaid pants, a green silk shirt with a green bow tie, a green vest and an
iridescent green bowler.  He looked like a leprechaun!
   I laughed so hard my ribs started hurting.  Bridget covered her eyes
with her hands and pretended to wail in pain.  Sean stuck his lip out and
pretended to pout.
   "Whazza matter, don't I look Irish enough?"
   Yeh, right.  He grinned, reached in a bag and pulled out a green vest
and bowler for me and a small green vest, bowler and a green rattle for
Bridget.  "Family dress-alike!"
   Groan.  On the other hand, did I give a shit if someone else thought I
looked ridiculous?  Suppose a couple people looked, laughed and hung around
the Tavern a little longer, maybe for a few more drinks or a meal.  Hmm. 
Sean had "looked ridiculous" for years, and he owned this place outright!
   Bridget agreed.  In fact, she dug through the spoils of the day and
produced two green ribbons which she tied in bows around her big toes. 
Getting with the program!
   On the way down the elevator, Sean flipped and spun the hat.  "Different
balance; gotta practice."
   Sam saw us cross the lobby, buried his head in his hands and pretended
to cry.
   From the outside, Eire's Tavern looked sharp.  The parking lot was neat
and clean, the parking attendants courteous, and the signs and lighting
were just right to make the place stand out nicely without being garish.
   Inside was just as good.  To the left was the bar, already nicely
filled. Straight ahead was the restaurant.  The greeter knew Sean and led
us right in to where Teresa, Maura and the young-uns were sitting.
   They had on green, too.  They immediately groaned and laughed at Sean
and pretended to try to steal his hat.  He grinned, flipped it around and
danced a few Irish Jig steps.
   He looked around and let out a moderately-loud stream of Irish to the
effect of "must have all the good folk of Altadena, Pasadena and the rest
of Southern California gathered here to look at my two sweet ladies."
   The waiters (white shirts and green bow ties) seemed to know Irish
because they smiled at Bridget and me and saluted us with a finger to the
brow.  Fun.
   The five nieces and nephews were in Irish colors; this was "old hat" to
them.  They laughed at Sean, waved, chatted with us (in Irish) and were
having a grand old time.
   Very nice dinner.  Just enough to make us feel a little too full but not
enough to hurt.  The waiters rattled away in Irish to everyone (including
the other customers) then would say much the same in English.
   Around 7:30, Teresa, Maura and Sean stood up.  Teresa pointed at me and
Bridget and said, "Come with us."
   They led the way to a small stage at one end of the room.  Holy shit, I
hope all they want me to do is show the colors!
   They didn't; they expected me to sing with them and wouldn't take no for
an answer.  _"We know you have a good voice and know Nana taught you a lot
of songs and know you'll do just fine."_
   We _joined_ around 35% and sang.  Somehow I knew all the words and
harmonies, and we belted out some wild songs, some solemn ballads and some
happy, cheerful tunes, a lot of them in Irish.  Someone was offstage
pumping the instrumental accompaniment out at just the right volume.
   The audience must have been expecting this, because a lot of them sang
right along.  Fun!
   The music changed to a fast Irish Jig.  Maura told me, _"You do not do
this; too hard on the ribs right now!"_
   Teresa, Maura and Sean put on one hell of a show!  Besides being
_joined_, they'd been doing it together for years.
   The music changed and slowed a little.  Sean started doing hat tricks!
He'd flip it, spin it, roll it up and down his arms, toss it up in the air
and have it land on his head.
   Teresa had nudged Bridget and me forward a bit while they'd moved back.
I turned to watch Sean do some hat flips, and he moved even with me so
Bridget was between us and we were all visible to the audience.  Yeh,
they'd informed us of the maneuver.
   Sean flipped the hat in the air with his right hand, spun around a
couple times and caught it behind his back.  He did the same with his left
hand, but this time as the hat was coming down, Bridget leaned *way*
forward and caught it.
   She promptly pulled it down over her head and kicked her feet around. 
The audience loved it!  Sean plucked her from my arm and sat her on his
shoulder.  She stuffed the hat back on his head so it covered his eyes to
his nose and everyone waved as we trooped off the stage.  I'd say we sang
for our supper.
   We stayed for another half hour then took off home.
   We got ready for bed, I nursed Bridget then we cuddled for a long time.
We _blended_ time after time outside and through our bodies, sharing the
happiness and love we'd found with each other.
   ------
   SEAN (Saturday 4/29)
   We slept in a bit.  I had half a dozen shops to hit today, but they were
the "easy" ones.  We ordered breakfast in, ate and lounged around.
   The weekend housekeeper, Sarah, knocked around 10:00.  We were decent so
I called for her to come in.
   She came in, sniffed a few times then looked at Eileen.  Eileen had a
solid control in so I had no idea what she was thinking.  She shrugged and
raised her hands in apology.
   Sarah gave an "oh, well" shrug and started straightening up.  *Gotta* be
secret woman stuff!
   I asked Eileen, "I'm gonna run around to six of my shops.  Wanna come
along?"
   She did.  "Sharon apparently ran hers from your book.  I wanna see what
ones are like that *you*'ve put together." That was fair, I guess.
   I packed Bridget's boogie bag, ensured the baby sling was in it, and we
took off.
   Bridget fit in the new car seat like it had been made for her.  She
didn't scream for a Barney video so we stayed sane.  She asked, _"Barney?"_
   Eileen told her all about the purple dinosaur mystique.  What it came
down to was that kids usually loved him and 99.9999% of the adults hated
him with a passion known only to mass murderers and genocidists.
   Bridget said, _"Well, if it makes you feel any better, I have no desire
to see such a thing.  Bring on 'You've Got Mail,' 'Return to Me' and other
such stuff."_
   BEST GIRL!  We'll get along just fine.
   I drove around the first shop and explained what I looked for.  This one
was clean all the way around, though the sign lettering on the building was
getting a bit too faded.  Well, that's an expense for me.  On the To Do
List.
   I told Eileen, "You two nose around.  If you spot anything that seems
strange, let me know.  Unless, of course, it's something obviously an
attention-getter."
   That place was fine.  It was moving along, steadily increasing sales
(and profit) around a percent a month.
   The next couple were okay, too.  On the one after that, Bridget pointed
out a collection of shirts (this was a clothing store) that looked too out
of place in the men's area.  The managers and I took a look; she was
correct.  Those particular shirts were designed to be unisex so they didn't
really fit in either area.
   The managers looked at the inventory lists, and we discovered we carried
several items meant to be unisex which were either in the men's or the
woman's area.  Also we noted there weren't many sales on them.
   Okay.  We decided to put these all together in a new section (move
things around just a little) and mark the section plainly as "Unisex." We'd
check that later to see if we'd done a Successful Action.
   Good.  Bridget had probably just paid for her supper.  Grin.
   We took a lunch break and a rest around noon.  We didn't push it; if we
didn't make it to all the places today, no big deal, there was always next
week.
   We did finish up handily by 6:00 with no more surprises or corrective
actions needed.  Life was good.
   ------
   EILEEN
   It was an eye-opener for Bridget and me.  Here were six (seven,
actually, if I counted Shane's Shop) different enterprises with different
products, services and markets all apparently working on the same basic
principles and concepts and doing very well at it.
   This, I've gotta study.  Granted, I'd earned my BBA but hadn't really
used it.  Most of the things I'd heard Sean talk about hadn't even been
hinted at in college: Successful Actions, Bright Ideas, Attraction, Public
Knows Us by Our Environment.
   Even the "aging" Altadena Arms showed those as far as I could see.  For
example, there were display windows on each side of the front entrance they
kept changing for the season; the current one for Spring had one window
full of parakeets who were always busy flying around doing parakeet stuff.
   The other had two manikins dressed in rustic outfits snoozing away like
they were on a picnic -- there were several live squirrels and rabbits
running around and sometimes a passerby could find one sleeping right atop
one of the manikins.  Nice contrast.  Gotta find out who designs them.
   Anyway, we had a leisurely, light dinner and settled in for the evening
at home.  Sean disappeared for a moment in his room and came back with a
DVD, "You've Got Mail." Nice.  Nana and I had loved that sappy thing.
   Bridget clapped her hands and crowed.  She told us, _"I remember that
one.  Nice."_
   I asked them, "Have either of you gotten memories of before this life?
At the hospital, I went back quite a ways."
   Bridget told us, _"Probably.  Things do pop up that are very familiar. I
haven't really looked because I'm very protective of this body right now._
   _"When Dad came in, I was so far away I had no idea what was happening;
I was out in the mountains somewhere.  Both our bodies could easily have
died, and I wouldn't have found out until way too late._
   _"And it's not that I'm afraid of being outside or leaving the body. 
What's also popped up in my memory is I'm at the greatest risk of Sudden
Infant Death Syndrome between two and four months.  For that reason alone
I'm gonna stay very alert and very close for at least another month._
   _"After that I'll go looking.  I know already there's a lot there to
explore, and I might get so involved I might not notice the body having
trouble."_
   Sounded well thought-out and logical to me.  Sean told us, "I've got
lots myself.  I haven't spent the time to explore anything thoroughly yet
myself.  Since you two lovelies are here, I've been sticking pretty close
to home for now.
   "That'll probably change soon.  When Bridget is ready, we can play a
game like, 'Do you remember a time when...' and we can compare notes.
   "There's lots of questions we could research.  Are there other spirits
like us?  Eileen, you mentioned being around the maternity ward and being
aware of lots of them.  Having only one in that time knowing and
remembering it was a spirit is a bit disconcerting.  Is there something
that makes us forget?  I've got no memories of a Heaven, Hell, anything
like that.
   "While I don't see specific memories, these abilities we're finding feel
like they're stuff we've had before and we're actually remembering them. 
Dunno, looks as if we've got some interesting research ahead."
   Yeh.  May you live in interesting times.
   Anyway, we popped in the DVD, kicked back, cuddled, snuggled and lost
ourselves for a while in Meg and Tom's adventures.
   When it was done and we'd wiped our tears up (Bridget's body didn't
react directly that way yet), Bridget asked Sean, _"You've got more of
these?"_
   He laughed for a while.  "I've probably got every chick flick ever
published on DVD or video.  I think my sisters and their husbands go on
quests to find them and give them to me as gifts.  I'm slowly getting the
feeling they're hinting to me about something; I haven't discovered yet
what it is, but it's getting clearer."
   Bridget asked, _"You'll tell Mom and me when you find out?"_
   "You betcha." He laughed, kissed us both really good and said, "Well,
you two can stay up all night and torment the night manager if you wish. 
*I* am going to sleep."
   We told him, "*You* are not sleeping alone, Lover Boy."
   He didn't.
   ------
   SEAN (Sunday 4/30)
   I'd hung the Do Not Disturb sign outside their room last night and no
one disturbed us in the morning.
   I woke up once and Bridget was nursing.  She told me, _"Go back to
sleep, Godfather Sean.  I'll put your hand back on Mom's beautiful booby
when I'm done."_ Such a thoughtful girl; Eileen hadn't even woken up.
   In the morning, we each slipped away for our morning pee calls and mouth
rinses, then came back to bed, cuddled up and went back to sleep.  Nice.
   I woke slowly to discover a tiny girl body (with clean diapers) draped
over the two of us.  She whispered, _"Let's see if we can make Mom come at
least twice before she wakes up."_
   I whispered back, _"Hehehehe Hehehehe."_
   There was plenty of daylight in the room so I could see plainly the
beauty before me.  Her bruises were apparent but only drew attention to the
sweeping curves and smooth skin beneath them.  She was on her side facing
away from me with her knees drawn about halfway up.  Perfect.  Hehehehe.
   Bridget and I _joined_ lightly so we could coordinate our efforts in our
diabolical plot.  She slowly lifted her body off us, laid it down out of
harm's way and began phantom butterfly kisses on Eileen's neck just where
it hit the shoulder.
   Eileen stirred and whimpered a bit.  Hehehehe.  With a _touch_ I gently
pulled the covers completely off us, turned myself around and inspected her
nether regions.
   A pink pucker was trying to hide in the valley between two hills.  Since
I wasn't constrained to my physical body, a light _touch_ spread the hills
so my tongue could gently and slowly run across it.  Eileen made a small
humming noise, so I knew it was appreciated.
   Okay.  Another _touch_ on her entire top leg made it slowly rise so I
could view another valley of delight.  Framed with fine, fiery-red down,
her puffy lips were separated a bit at the bottom.  Yummy.
   As Bridget caressed the inside of her elbows, the tip of my tongue
danced over her pucker, slowly up across her taint, through the soft fur
and around the top of her slit.  Another humm and a couple quivers.
   Just a bit harder this time and along the other side.  Yes, yet another
humm and a bit of a quiver.  Up the center, slowly and lightly; it had the
delicious taste and wonderful scent I remembered from a couple nights ago.
Hehehehe.
   Bridget moved to the bottom creases of Eileen's breasts while keeping
kisses going all up and down her neck.  Another slow swipe of my tongue
encountered new moisture; the scent and taste grew a bit stronger.  So
nice.
   A little more pressure let my tongue slip slightly between her lips;
they were swelling up and were a little pinker beneath the fur.  Yum. 
Several more strokes with the same pressure brought forth more moisture, a
louder hum and a distinct quiver.  Hehehe.
   It was working, so we kept up the same speed and pressure.  In a couple
minutes, I was collecting fluid from the bottom of her slit; some I
swallowed and some I spread over her swelling clit hood.
   Bridget kept everything going above and added a wet phantom tongue to
her pucker.  I spent a few strokes of my tongue supplying her with natural
moisture.  Nasty.  Hehehe.
   We wanted to dive in and torment her but restrained ourselves to what we
were doing.  I saw Eileen's right hand appear, and she slowly caressed her
clit between two fingers.  Why not, might as well have all of us in on the
fun.
   I kept my tongue away from her fingers and slowly pushed my tongue
inside.  Eileen stiffened slightly, squeezed her fingers together and we
felt a quiet warm release wash through us like the tide runs onto the
beach. Hehehehe.
   Bridget and I backed off and let it settle for a minute.  Eileen's
fingers started moving slowly again, so we picked up where we left off. 
There was lots of fluid now; I spread it backwards across her pucker so
Bridget could share the wealth.
   Gently and slowly I pushed my tongue slightly into her channel and
sucked very lightly.  She stiffened again, squeezed and let out a nice moan
while she quivered for several seconds.  Very nice release like the fall of
a warm spring rain.
   Okay.  We'd made our point, hehehe.  Leaving her hand where it was, I
slowly let her top leg down.  Oops, it squeezed her fingers together and
another warm flush crept through us.  We could survive that.
   We slowly withdrew.  I got back behind her, snuggled up, parked my tool
between her cheeks and caressed a warm smooth hill in front.  I pulled the
covers back up and Bridget put her body gently down across ours.  Hehehehe.
   We dozed off for a few minutes then felt Eileen wake up.  She stretched
a little, turned her head and saw four eyes looking at her.  She smiled and
said, "Good morning!  Wonderful dreams."
   She had to pick her leg up to release her hand; she looked puzzled for a
moment.  She brought the fingers from beneath the covers and must have
caught a whiff.  She looked at them (very damp) sniffed and tasted.  She
blushed nicely as we continued to stare at her.
   We must have looked a little too innocent because she got a suspicious
look.  She looked hard at my face (probably still covered with her nectar)
and glared at us.
   I said, "Yeess?" She started off in Irish about rapists, night demons
and deceitful associates.  We kept our cool; Bridget floated forward and
gave her a kiss.  _"Love you Mom.  You smell really good this morning. 
Sometime I've gotta try it myself direct from the source."_
   We couldn't hold it any longer and laughed away.  She cursed some more
while trying to hide her own smile then her laughter broke through.
   She said, "Well, actually it was a very nice wake-up call.  Do I get one
like that every morning?"
   We said we'd try but no guarantees.
   I rolled off the bed with Bridget; Eileen rolled off and headed to the
bathroom with a long wet streak down her leg.  Looked good from here, it
did!
   ------
   EILEEN (Sunday 4/30)
   Rapists and wankers, both of them!  Abusing a poor sleeping girl like
that.  Shame!  It had been a really erotic dream though!
   I washed up (plenty to wash off between the legs) and got dressed.  I
told them, "Fluids!  Food!  It's 11:00 already, and I can't live on love
alone."
   Bridget and I looked at Lover Boy.  He said, "How about Sunday brunch?
Buffet downstairs, all you can eat."
   He's on!  Being of the nasty suspicious mind I was, I sniffed his face
then pointed to the bathroom.  He'd been planning on wearing it!
   While he was gone, I told Bridget, "I hope he isn't corrupting you,
honey."
   She laughed, _"Mom!  It was *my* idea!"_
   Groan.
   We stuffed ourselves pretty good.  Being attacked in my sleep tends to
make me hungry.
   I asked Sean, "What is 'The Book' I kept hearing about all day
yesterday?"
   He grinned and said, "I'll show you upstairs.  It has very little to do
with sex, so you should be able to control yourself this time."
   Groan again.
   Upstairs, he took me in his office and pulled a familiar-looking binder
off the bookshelf.  He told us, "This is the top-level material for running
a business or organization.  It's highly condensed and references these
other manuals." He pointed to a long row of binders from a half-inch to
three inches thick.
   He smiled at us.  "If you're interested, go for it.  It's not as if I
have many secrets from you two.  If you run across a word, phrase or symbol
you don't understand, either look it up or ask." He pointed to another
bookcase with a couple shelves full of dictionaries and reference books.
   I got the baby sling on and parked Bridget in it.  We snuggled up and
read through my eyes.  Bridget could read just fine (_"English, Irish, some
Italian and Welsh.  Latin?  German?  A touch of Spanish."_). 
Interestingly, we had pretty much the same reading speed so got along just
fine.
   There was a blurb on the title page:
   ------
   The principles and concepts you will find in these manuals contain
engineering truths; truth is what works.  However, they neither came from
the "mystic realms of the ancient universe" nor were "divinely inspired."
   They are true only if they are true for you.  Study them, apply them and
see if they work as described.  Only then should you decide if they are
true for you.
   ------
   It *was* highly condensed.  Almost every paragraph hinted at a richness
of material below, and there were lots of references to the other manuals.
   Sean kept me supplied with cool water.  He'd read on the computer then
every once in a while come over and check us out individually on what we'd
studied.  Define a couple words at random, use them in sentences.  Given a
situation x, what did the material say was the handling y -- if it needed
handling.
   If we couldn't get it, he took us back and found out where we'd gone off
the track.  We'd re-read it then he'd ask the same question again.  Only
once did we have to go back the third time.
   One of my classmates in college had been a computer programmer.  He'd
told me a lot of times people, especially programmers, got into a
concentration zone where everything flowed, everything worked and aligned
and the outside world faded away.  He called it "walking into walls"
because that's what tends to happen.
   Yeh.  Bridget and I walked into quite a few walls.  I remembered sitting
on the john pondering something back and forth with Bridget.  She'd nurse
as needed and I'd hardly notice.  She'd pop out of the sling, change her
diaper and pop back in without either of us missing a beat.
   Wonderful stuff!  Nothing in all entire four years of college came even
close to a glimmer of this.  And it *all* tied together!
   Sean broke it up around 8:00.  "Enough for today.  You need to study
when you're well-fed and rested."
   We ordered up some dinner.  Over it, Sean looked at us and said, "I'm
not asking right now, but how far could we get together if the three of us
*all* knew this material cold, could apply it and help others learn and
implement it?"
   Right then, I'd say we could get to the stars.  Life was good.
   
  
Best Girl 01-05