Justice Seven
 
Episode 11: The Mamas & The Papas
 


~~~ www.wolfpub.org ~~~
 


_Author's Note:_ There is a slight, but largely irrelevant, overlap between
this chapter and the previous one. If you want to keep track, please check the
calendar of events.
 


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"Hey, Mom," Luke said as he came into the kitchen. "What's for dinner?"
 
"Salisbury steak. You look awfully pleased with yourself," Barbara Anderton
said to her son, who was grinning like the cat that ate the canary.
 
"Oh, just some stuff going on with my friends," he said. He couldn't reveal to
her that he'd just released damaging information about someone to the press.
 
Barbara looked at her son and smiled. She knew he loved playing "secret" games
with his friends; he always had. She just hoped it was nothing he'd get in
trouble over. But then, he never had; he was a good kid.
 
*But he's not really a kid anymore*, she thought to herself, not for the first
time in the last year or so. *He's nearly full-grown. And I'm certainly not
raising him. He's as much a man as a boy at this point.*
 
Barbara sighed wistfully. She knew that her mood was the result of her
upcoming anniversary; in just a couple days, she would have been married
nineteen years. *If only Phil hadn't... this is pointless. He did, and now
he's gone, and I have to live with that.*
 
Barbara put her thoughts aside and looked again at her son. "Just try to stay
out of trouble, Hon. Dinner'll be in about forty-five minutes."
 
"Okay. I'm gonna go watch some TV."
 
"Dont forget your homework," she reminded him.
 
"Haven't got any," he replied as he headed back toward the den.
 
Barbara sighed audibly and sank back against the counter. She relived, in her
mind, the day the police had come to tell her that her husband, Phillip
Anderton, had been killed in a car accident. *He'd tried to make it through
the light, but someone else was just as impatient as he was...*
 
"Oh, Phil, why?" she sobbed quietly.
 


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Akira had decided to wait in the car while Claire led Jim and Luke into the
hospital. While the judge had imposed a restraining order on Mark, no one had
said anything about her not visiting her step-brother.
 
Luke noticed that Jim was almost marching as he walked, his hands clenched at
his sides, his eyes focused tightly ahead. Luke wondered just how hard it was
going to be to keep Jim from killing this guy.
 
Claire didn't notice; she was still absorbed in her own hatred of Rob. She
walked into his hospital room, and saw for the first time the damage that had
been inflicted on him. For a miniscule fraction of a second, she felt bad for
him. Then she remembered that he'd done it to himself, so to speak, and her
pity evaporated.
 
Rob at first only saw Claire come in through the door. "Well, hey, Sis," he
said in a condescending tone. "Come to cheer me up with a blowjob?"
 
At that point, Jim pushed the door open wider and stepped in behind Claire.
Rob's face paled as he saw the obviously angry teen. When Luke stepped in
after Jim, Rob was about to panic.
 
"You come any closer, and I'll call the nurse!" he screamed.
 
"Try it," Jim seethed. He had already gripped the boy's body. The nice thing
about Jim's and Luke's powers was that they were totally invisible. Jim could
merely say that he had stared the boy down, and the younger boy had failed to
move from intimidation.
 
Rob struggled to lift his arm toward the call button, but he couldn't do it.
He squirmed to no effect. Jim moved closer, the look on his face menacing.
 
Luke kept a close eye on his friend; he didn't want them to get in trouble,
even though this shit-pile clearly deserved a better beating.
 
Jim drew extremely close to Rob, so that Jim's head filled Rob's entire field
of view. Jim said, in a calm, controlled, but clearly pissed-off voice, "If
you ever do anything to harm Claire in any way ever again, I will beat you at
least twice as bad as this. You get me?"
 
Rob could tell the teen wasn't bluffing. He nodded nervously, very glad that
he'd used the restroom just a few minutes before.
 
Luke wasn't fooled by Jim's demeanor; he knew that Jim wanted to kill the
creature. Still, he was keeping himself in check, so Luke thought he should go
ahead and do what they'd come for.
 
To keep Rob distracted, Jim said, "Who did you hire to beat you up?"
 
Rob just shook his head negatively.
 
"You can tell me now, or you can tell me after you need more x-rays," Jim
offered darkly.
 
"He'll kill me if I talk," Rob whimpered. He liked to portray himself as a
"tough guy", but in the face of truly angry older kids, he was terrified.
 
"What makes you so sure I *won't* kill you if you don't?" Jim asked
reasonably. Rob paled, and became completely unable to speak.
 
Fortunately, he was still able to remember, and Jim's questioning had opened
the path to the information quite readily. Luke grabbed all of the
information, and then pulled out.
 
Putting his hand on Jim's shoulder, Luke said, "C'mon, Jim. Let him go.
There's too much security around here, anyway. It'll be more satisfying to
wait until he's all healed up, and then beat his sorry ass *again*."
 
Jim turned to look at Luke with a malicious grin. "Good idea," he said, and
turned back to Rob with his best Jack Nicholson look. "Be seein' ya. Buddy."
 
The three walked out of the room without Claire having said a single word to
her step-brother.
 
After they got back in the car, Jim asked, "Did you get anything?"
 
Luke replied, "Yeah. Claire, I hope you don't mind if we wait until this
weekend to take care of this. I'd like to get the Woodward case wrapped up
first."
 
Claire nodded. "I guess Mark can handle a few more days in jail. It won't kill
him. I hope."
 
Jim put his hand on her shoulder, and she smiled at him as Akira pulled out of
the parking lot.
 


-----
 


When Barbara finished up the dishes, she walked into the den to find her son
and daughter sitting on the couch, leaning against each other. She smiled,
thanking God that her two children got along so well. She, however, wanted to
feel as loved and comforted as they seemed to be.
 
After only a moment's hesitation, she walked over to the couch, and sat down
on the other side of Luke. She looked over to her daughter and said, "You mind
if we share him?" Without waiting for an answer, she leaned her head on her
son's shoulder, and snuggled against him.
 
Luke looked at Zoe in befuddlement; Barbara had not acted this way before. Zoe
just shrugged at him, not comprehending her mother's odd behavior, either. She
leaned over and whispered in his ear. "Just go with it. You know she's been
depressed lately because of Dad."
 
Luke nodded at her, and then he gently pulled his arm out from between him and
his mother. He laid it across her shoulders and squeezed, trying to give her
as much comfort as he could. He went back to watching the movie, not paying
much attention to his mother or, in truth, to Zoe.
 
*It feels so good to be held again,* Barbara thought to herself. For a while,
as she watched the movie, she forgot who was holding onto her, and she could
imagine it was her late husband. For a little while, she was happy.
 


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Barbara Anderton sat at her kitchen table, staring into nothingness. She had
taken a personal day from her job as an advertising executive, because she
simply couldn't face the world. Nineteen years ago exactly, she had married
Phillip Anderton. And exactly three years ago, he had died in a car accident,
trying to get home in time for their anniversary dinner.
 
Barbara had spent her day crying, moping... and drinking. She wasn't drunk,
now, but she had been. She'd tapered off around noon, because she knew her
kids would be home. She still held a drink in her hand, though, as the
memories of her husband played over and over again in her mind.
 
Zoe was the first to arrive home, but her visit would be short, just long
enough to change.
 
"Mom?" she asked, seeing her mother sitting at the table. Zoe wasn't surprised
to see her mother drinking; she knew that today would be hard for her. But she
didn't really know what to do, and that made her uncomfortable.
 
"What's on your mind, Sweetheart?" Barbara asked, her words slow, but not
slurred.
 
"Are you okay?"
 
Barbara actually laughed at her daughter, one short, sharp, "Hah!"
 
"Don't worry, Sweetheart," she finally said. "This will pass."
 
Zoe went over and hugged her mother. "Okay. I'm going out with Drew. I'll be
home late."
 
"Okay, Sweetheart. Have fun."
 
As Zoe left the house, Barbara thought about her daughter, and especially what
her daughter was probably going to do that would make her late getting home.
The thought tingled inside Barbara's body for a few moments; she had not been
with a man since her husband had passed on. That thought, however, just
brought back her pain.
 
She got up to refill her drink.
 


-----
 


Luke had been perplexed when he came home to find his mother obviously tipsy.
She had assured him that she would be fine, but he wasn't convinced. She made
motions to begin dinner, but he stopped her, sure that she was in no shape to
do any cooking.
 
"Mom, why don't we just order pizza? You don't look so good."
 
Barbara didn't care what they ate, so she shrugged and slumped back down in
her chair. Luke ordered the pizza, and then, realizing that he didn't have the
ability to help his mother, and not wanting to watch her wallow in self-pity,
he went into the den to watch some television until dinner arrived.
 


-----
 


After dinner, Luke popped a DVD into the player, and sat back to watch. It was
the middle of the week, but he had no schoolwork to do. Lori and Claire were
helping each other study for an exam on Friday, and Zoe was out with her
current boyfriend. Luke was thankful that this was no longer Akira; she had
told him that she and Akira had parted ways amicably. He didn't want Akira to
get hurt, he just wasn't comfortable with Akira dating his sister.
 
Luke settled in to watch the movie, and he was a little surprised when his
mother came in the room. He looked at her with mild concern; she was clearly
not in a good frame of mind. She was, he thought, doing better than the last
two years, though, and so he didn't worry over it too much. On the first
anniversary of his father's death, it had taken three days for Barbara to
overcome the drinking spree she'd gone on. She didn't drink very often, but
when she did, it was usually a big event. She seemed reasonably clear-minded
at the moment, a judgment Luke made by noting she looked miserable.
 
"Hon, you mind if I sit and watch with you? I need something to take my mind
off... things."
 
"Sure, Mom. No problem," he said. Barbara came over and settled in next to
him. She scooted close to him and leaned her head on his shoulder, as she had
the day before. It had made her feel so much better then, and she was hoping
she could fool herself into pretending he was Phillip now.
 
Luke wrapped his arm around his mother's shoulder, and then focused on the
movie in front of him. Mostly, he forgot that his mother was there as he got
involved with the characters on the screen. The movie was a mix of action film
and love story, but Luke felt they'd done a reasonable job mixing the two.
 


-----
 


About two-thirds the way through the movie, which had contained a car chase,
two shootings, and several naked women, came the love scene. The sexy blonde
on the screen reminded Luke just a little bit of Lori, since she was just as
well-endowed. He grew hard thinking about it, and his hand unconsciously
rubbed his mother's shoulder.
 
Meanwhile, Barbara had also gotten lost in the story. She had settled in and
tried to pretend that she was once again watching a movie with her husband.
When the love scene began, she could feel her body tingle; long pent-up
desires trying to emerge. As the scene progressed, she looked to see how it
was affecting Phillip. In her current state, which was still a bit
intoxicated, she forgot that it was her son that she was sitting next to.
 
When she saw Luke's eight-inch erection tenting his pants, her pussy tingled.
Barbara shifted herself to face a little more toward Luke, which caused his
hand to slip off her shoulder down onto her side, where he continued to rub
gently. This caused Barbara to shiver slightly, but Luke didn't notice; he was
too busy watching the scene and thinking about Lori.
 
Finally, Barbara couldn't take any more. She reached down and caressed what
she thought was Phillip's cock through his pants. Luke was surprised and
highly aroused by the feel of his mother's hand. He was so caught up in the
movie and his own fantasy, he wasn't sure what was going on. His mother
continued to rub his dick, bringing him to absolute hardness, and making him
very horny.
 
Barbara looked up at Phillip, only to see Luke looking back at her
 
"Luke..." she said, her voice registering confusion, but in his state, it
sounded close enough to an invitation to her son. He leaned forward and
pressed his lips to hers.
 
Barbara was confused, but she was also horny and emotionally needy. She kissed
back hard, pushing her body tightly against her son. Her tongue soon slipped
past her lips and tickled against his, requesting entrance. He quickly opened
his mouth to admit her tongue so that it could play with his.
 
As the two kissed, Barbara continued to squeeze and rub her son's cock through
his pants. Her thoughts were focused on how good that was going to feel, and
she clumsily unfastened her son's jeans, then reached in to caress his prick
through his underwear.
 
Luke groaned as his mother continued to massage his dick, and then he reached
out to fondle her breast. Barbara moaned into his mouth as he worked at her
tit. He could tell she was not wearing a bra, and he could feel her nipple
harden beneath her blouse. After a while, he reached up and started to undo
her blouse, while she continued to massage his cock. Their kissing never even
slowed down.
 
It took a minute or so, but eventually Luke had his mother's blouse undone. He
reached in and caressed her tits directly, without fabric in the way. His
mother was slightly overweight, but not what one would call fat by any means.
And in any case, it gave her a nice set of very ample tits.
 
After a little while of this, Barbara couldn't take any more. She broke their
kiss, and then yanked Luke's shirt up his chest, and pulled it off. As she
reached for his waist, he lifted his hips, so that she could pull his pants
and underwear off in one swift motion. Once they were down past his knees, she
sat back down on the couch, her hand wrapping around his cock and jacking
slowly as they returned to kissing.
 
Luke spent a few seconds using his feet to get rid of his clothes, but then he
turned toward his mother and pushed her down onto the couch. He lay next to
her, his hand rubbing her tit as they continued to kiss. After another minute,
he moved his hand off her breast and down to the waistband of her slacks. He
unfastened them, and pushed his hand inside. He could feel her heat radiating,
and she parted her legs as much as she could as his hand moved downward. He
could feel how soaked her panties were as he ran his fingers between her legs. 

Luke used his finger to push Barbara's panties aside, exposing her entrance to
his finger. As he slid his finger slowly into her, she moaned in bliss.
 
Luke began to pump his finger in and out of his mother's pussy while his
tongue and hers continued to duel. Her hand reached out and once again wrapped
around his cock, though somewhat awkwardly. She still managed to jack him
slowly. His finger continued to move inside her, driving her mad with arousal.
 
After a while, she finally pushed him away.
 
"Oh, God, Baby, I need you to fuck me!" she cried out. Luke was not entirely
surprised to hear his mother talk that way, but he didn't expect to hear those
particular words from her. On the other hand, at this point, he was beyond
caring that it was his mom; he really needed to get laid.
 
Barbara rolled off the couch and got to her feet. She pushed her slacks and
panties down off her hips and stepped out of them. She was wearing stockings,
but they weren't in her way, so she left them on. She also did not remove her
blouse.
 
Luke had sat up when his mother stood, and so she moved back to him,
straddling him as she knelt on the couch. She pressed herself against him,
trapping his hard cock between them. As they started to kiss again, Luke moved
his hands inside her blouse to fondle both of her breasts at once this time.
Barbara moaned loudly in pleasure, and rocked her hips.
 
Luke knew, as his mother lifted her hips, that they had reached the point of
no return, but he wasn't about to stop now. He wanted nothing more than to
bury his cock in her cunt and fuck her silly. She reached down and held his
cock in place until it was pressing against the opening to her pussy. Then she
wrapped her arms around her son's neck.
 
As she began to sink down onto him, Luke groaned in pleasure. It felt so good,
and the illicitness of the relationship only made it hotter for him. Barbara
was moaning as he sank into her depths; her husband had not been as big as
Luke, and anyway, that had been more than three years in the past.
 
When Luke's cock was finally fully inside of Barbara, they paused for a long
moment. Breaking their kiss, they looked into each other's eyes. Barbara was
confused about her actions, but she needed this. Luke was just as confused
about his mother's actions, but didn't care; he needed it at this point, too.
 
The two started to move together, each rocking their hips in synch so that
Luke plunged as deeply into his mother as he could. He knew that he wasn't
going to last long, but he hoped that he could bring her off before he came.
 
Barbara was gasping in pleasure as her son's cock thrust into her over and
over again. She had not felt this kind of pleasure in a long time, and her
heat was rising rapidly. The two fucked frantically, pushing their bodies
toward climax.
 
Barbara came first, screaming out her pleasure and squeezing her son's dick
with her pussy. Luke continued to thrust for a few more seconds, but then he
allowed himself to come, spewing his load deep into his mother's pussy. The
two thrashed together for some moments before they each finally settled down.
 
When Barbara finally relaxed her body and lay against Luke, he wrapped his
arms around her, and then turned, pushing her down onto the couch until she
was lying down beneath him. His cock was still inside her, and he had noticed
that he wasn't getting soft. He started to move in small motions at first,
just to see what she would do.
 
"Oh my God, yes!" she screamed, and her hips bucked up against him.
 
Luke leaned over and locked his lips to his mother's, and the two began to
kiss frantically as their fucking picked up speed. They remained locked like
that, their hips thrashing against each other, until Barbara approached her
second orgasm.
 
Pushing Luke away so she could breathe more easily, Barbara was panting and
cursing while her eyes were shut tightly. Finally, she screamed, "Oh, yes,
fuck me Baby!" and her body began to shudder. Luke continued to thrust
throughout her orgasm, finally blasting his second load into her as she was
beginning to settle from her climax. The feel of his seed blasting into her
sent several aftershocks through Barbara's body, and she writhed beneath him
some more.
 
Finally, as her orgasm faded from her body, so did her consciousness, and she
slept.
 
Luke looked down at her, and smiled. He slowly pulled his cock from within
her, and sat back on the couch. After several minutes, he got up to get a
towel and wiped himself off. He looked at his mother again, who was sleeping
on the couch. He couldn't carry her up to her bedroom, and he couldn't leave
her lying naked on the sofa.
 
Going to her room, Luke came back with her bathrobe. After some struggling, he
managed to put it on her in a comfortable fashion. He then covered her with a
blanket, gave her a kiss, and went up to his room. He knew that there would be
consequences from what they'd just done, but he would deal with those when
they arose.
 


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"See you at school," Lori said, kissing Luke again. Then she walked out the
door to her bike. Luke stared after her for a while. He felt it had been a
good afternoon. After making the call to the Woodward grandparents, he and
Lori had made love, then called the rest of the team. After that, they'd
cuddled and talked about personal stuff for a couple hours. He was happy.
 
When he turned around to go back to his room, he found Zoe looking at him. She
looked concerned. He wondered if she was annoyed that he'd not asked her to
join in.
 
"What's wrong?" he asked.
 
"I'm worried about Mom. She's still in her room. She's awake, but she won't
really talk to me. I mean, yeah, she talks, but she doesn't say anything."
 
"You know how she gets this time of year..." he said. He wasn't yet ready to
tell Zoe about the previous night, so he didn't say what he was thinking, that
his mother was probably now feeling a sense of disgust... either with herself,
her son, or both of them, he wasn't sure which.
 
"I know, but I don't like to see it. You want to give talking to her a try?"
 
Luke shrugged. "I guess."
 
Luke went up to his mother's room, but he waited until Zoe had gone into her
room and closed the door before he knocked. He didn't wait for a response,
because he was quite sure he wasn't going to get one.
 
When he walked in, he found his mother lying on the bed, facing away from him.
He closed the door quietly, and walked over to her bed. He climbed onto the
bed and sat, leaning against the headboard. He rubbed his mother's arm softly.
 
"Hey, Mom," he said, keeping his voice low.
 
Slowly, Barbara turned over to look up at her son. She saw him smiling at her,
and she tried to return it, but was unsuccessful.
 
"What's wrong?" he asked, his face showing concern now.
 
Barbara broke down. "Oh, baby, I should never have done that to you last
night! It was a horrible thing for a mother to force on her son!"
 
"Mom, you didn't force me," he said.
 
"You're just saying that to make me feel better!" she accused. "You're too
polite to reject me. I don't know what I was thinking. I've been so lonely
these past few years, and you were there, and... well, you were aroused... and
I just couldn't stop myself."
 
"It's okay, Mom," Luke tried to assure her.
 
"Oh, Hon, I know you're trying to make things better, but-"
 
"No, Mom. Really. It's okay. I didn't mind. And if you want to do it again,
that's okay, too," he said. Though he had hardly ever expected them to come
true, Luke had had the usual teenage fantasies about Barbara. Now that they
had, in fact, come true, he wasn't all that sorry it had happened.
 
Barbara stared at her son in shock. "You'd... want to?"
 
"Sure," he affirmed.
 
Barbara wiped away her tears, and looked at him, pulling herself to a sitting
position. "You'd actually want to sleep with someone as old as me?"
 
"Well," Luke said, "Not just *any* someone."
 
Barbara smiled at her son. She moved closer to him, his words of encouragement
having excited her. "What about," she said, pressing her hand softly to his
chest, "right now?"
 


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"So that wraps up that case," Luke said to the group, having reviewed all the
details of the Woodward Case. "Now, before we go deal with Claire's problem,
is there any other new business?"
 
"Just to let everyone know," Jim said, "I went down and got my learner's
permit yesterday. Doesn't mean anything to us for now, obviously, but I just
thought I'd mention it."
 
"That's cool," Luke said. "I've had mine for a while, but I never get a chance
to drive, which sucks. Good thing we've got Akira."
 
"Yeah."
 
"Anything else? We probably need to go find this bastard before it gets
dark..."
 
"Oh!" Jim said, smacking himself in the forehead. "The uniforms! We should
wear them today, if we're gonna be in public..."
 
"We have them?" Luke asked, surprised.
 
"Yeah, the final items came in last week... but we were wrapped up in the
whole Woodward thing and I forgot."
 
"All right, let's see 'em."
 
Jim and Akira went out of the room and into a second room they used to store
things. They came back with several boxes, making a few trips. Opening the
boxes, they passed out the items. Luke, Lori, and Akira took their uniforms
and left, trying to find private places to change. Claire, Jim and Jen felt no
need to separate.
 
When the group came back together, Luke asked, "I thought we weren't going to
go with black? Not that I'm complaining..."
 
"We didn't want to do black for ninja outfits," Jim explained, "but since that
didn't work out..."
 
The uniform was reminiscent of a police SWAT uniform: black combat boots, and
coal-black battle dress uniform. Over the left breast pocket was a tag that
said "MDSA". Over the right, a tag that had their codename. The left sleeve
held an American flag patch, and the right bore a patch that Jim and Jen had
worked together on, representing the Mornington Detectives and Services Agency.
 
Jim was already wearing his ball cap, which bore a similar design to the
patch, but was slightly more elaborate. He handed out the rest to the others,
who put them on. Lori hesitated, because she didn't want to mess up her hair,
but then shrugged.
 
"Okay, this is cool looking, I admit," Luke said, "but it hardly disguises our
identity... which I thought was the point."
 
Jim held up a finger, and then turned. Akira handed him the last box, which he
set on a worktable to open. Inside was a lot of foam padding, protecting
electronic devices. Jim pulled them out one at a time, handing them to each
member of the team. Akira, who had already experimented with the device, put
his on immediately. The rest waited for Jim to explain.
 
"Akira got these from his government. It's a special visor they're working on.
From the outside, it looks black, but from the inside, it's clear. Unless you
press this button," he said, indicating which of a few buttons on the side of
the device he meant. "This will tint the inside, too, in case you need...
'sunglasses'."
 
Luke and Lori slipped their visors on, followed by Claire. Jen was a little
confused about how to get hers on with her long hair, but Jim helped her slide
the back strap under her hair and around to the back of her head. She smiled
at him.
 
"What do the other buttons do?" Luke asked.
 
"The first one activates the IFF system."
 
"IFF?" Lori asked.
 
"It means 'Identification, Friend or Foe. The devices talk to each other, so
that you know who you're looking at. If you click it to on, you'll see that
each of us is superimposed with a symbol on our chest. If you're turned away,
it'll appear on your back. I programmed in the symbols for each of us... um,
if you don't like the one I chose for you... well, you'll never see it, so
what do you care?"
 
The group laughed at that. "Anyway," he said, continuing, "this will let you
know who you're looking at, even if you can't tell otherwise. The button in
the middle, between the IFF and the sunglasses, is for something that these
don't do yet."
 
Akira said, "It is for a night-vision system that hasn't been added to the
visor yet. My government promised they would send us new visors whenever new
features were added."
 
"Why is your government helping us?" Luke asked suspiciously. "What have you
told them about us?"
 
"I have told them nothing. They haven't even asked anything. To them, it is a
chance to field-test the devices in situations where a failure will probably
not be life threatening. They hope to give these visors to their police and
military forces, when they are ready."
 
"Okay, I guess," Luke said. "Anything else?"
 
"Yeah. The mike is on the left side. It won't work at all until you flip it
down to contact your cheek. You can use the button on the left side to talk,
or you can plug in a remote switch, which can be clipped on to your sleeve or
your jacket somewhere."
 
"Cool. So we can talk through these, even if we're far apart?" Lori asked.
 
"The range is about a half-mile," Akira replied.
 
"This is good stuff, guys," Luke said. "And I really can't tell what your
faces look like, so that takes care of that problem."
 
"Now we just have to get used to going out in public this way," Claire said
with a grin.
 
"There is that," Jim said, frowning a little. "People are going to notice us,
and we don't have the ability to drive all of us anywhere."
 
"So what if people notice?" Lori asked. "That will just make us more
visible... maybe we'll get more cases, and we can do more good."
 
"She's right," Jen agreed. "If we want to handle things that are more
important than finding guys dates, we need to become more widely known."
 
"True. So, shall we take the bus?" Jim said with a cocked eyebrow that no one
could see.
 
"Let's get going," Luke agreed.
 


-----
 


The team had endured the incredulous stares from the people on the bus. They
took satisfaction in noting that most people did shy away from them. Before
they had left the junkyard, Hercules had also handed out standard police-style
gloves, to protect their hands, and to complete the intimidating look. It
would have the added benefit of preventing them from leaving any evidence
behind, should they have to do something less than entirely legal.
 
They got off the bus close to the area that Mimir had seen in Rob's memory.
They weren't sure they would find the man in this area, but it was the only
place they had to start with.
 
"Okay, why don't we split into teams of two?" Mimir said. "Atlanta and I will
go this way. Herc, why don't you and Aurora go that way, and Nightingale, you
and C-Squared can head down there."
 
The others agreed with his plan, and they started off in various directions.
Hercules pulled down his mike after they were all at least a hundred feet
away. He keyed it and said, "Radio check. Can you guys hear me?"
 
Aurora had already pulled her mike down when he'd started talking. Just to
make sure her radio worked, she said, "Aurora, check." Herc smiled at her.
 
Following the pattern that Aurora had just established, each of the others
chimed in.
 
"Mimir, check."
 
"Atlanta, check."
 
"Nightingale, check."
 
"C-Squared, check."
 
"Everyone keep in touch," Mimir said. "Don't try to take this guy alone. If
and when you find him, just call the rest of us in. Good luck."
 


-----
 


It took an hour before Nightingale and C-Squared happened to see what they
thought was their target, hanging out in an alleyway. He was leaning on a car
talking with some friends.
 
"C-Squared to team: we think we've spotted him in an alley off Braynard,
between Hickam and Park."
 
"On our way," Mimir replied.
 
"Us, too," Herc said.
 
It took five minutes, during which time the target didn't do much other than
continue talking.
 
"That's him," Mimir said.
 
"Do we wait for his friends to leave?" Aurora asked.
 
"No. We need to establish ourselves as being able to handle trouble," Mimir
said. "Herc, Atlanta, you guys are going to have to take point if they want to
cause trouble." The other two nodded. "Let's go."
 
The team, spread out to look more menacing, walked down the alley. It didn't
take long for the hoods to notice their approach.
 
"What the fuck is this shit?" one of them asked.
 
Their target stood up straight, pushing himself off his car. He turned to face
the approaching threat - for it had to be a threat, looking that way. He said
loud enough for the team to hear, "I think the Power Rangers just landed."
 
The group chuckled. Hercules was getting ready to start using his telekinetic
powers, when suddenly a strong wind blew up from behind them. Strangely, it
blew *around* the group, and then came back together in front of them. The
hoods were being pummeled with grit and garbage, and the wind was getting
strong enough that they actually had to lean into it.
 
Mimir looked over at Aurora, the only one of them who could possibly do that.
She didn't look as though she was doing anything, but... "Aurora?"
 
"I'm not useless, you know," she said, not looking at him. He could tell from
the tone of her voice that she was concentrating. 

*Oops.* "Sorry," he said to her, then turned back to the hoods. Their target
was holding his hand up to block the worst of the grit from his eyes, but he
wasn't backing off. Some of his buddies, however, had moved several feet away.
As the team approached within ten feet of their target, Aurora cut off the
wind, and it died abruptly, in a very unnatural way.
 
Looking to the others, behind their target, Mimir said, "Unless you'd like
things to get nastier, you should leave now. We have *business* with this
gentleman."
 
"Hey, dickweed, you don't frighten me," one of the bigger hoods said. Hercules
picked the guy up in his telekinetic field and threw him twenty feet down the
alleyway, releasing him ten feet off the ground and watching him fall.
 
"I'm not here to frighten you," Mimir said. "I am here to discuss something
with your associate. If you get in our way, you will get hurt."
 
Another one of the hoods moved in closer, and raised his fist to punch Mimir.
Atlanta sprang into motion faster than anyone could follow. Her fist connected
with the hood's jaw, and he collapsed on the spot, unconscious.
 
"Anyone else?" Mimir asked. The remaining hoods backed away slowly.
 
"Hey, man," one of them said to their target, "you're on your own." At that,
they all broke and ran.
 
"What the fuck do you want?" the man said. His name was Albert Jackson, but
everyone called him Axe.
 
"You are Axe?" Mimir asked.
 
"What of it?"
 
"Recently, you were hired to do a job. You were told to beat up a teenager
named Rob Bullok. You performed this task at the Bullok home. You were paid
one hundred fifty dollars for this job."
 
"You can't prove none of that shit," Axe said, not denying it. He was not
stupid, and he knew where he stood legally on what had happened.
 
"You're right. We can't. But you can confess to it," Mimir said.
 
"And why the fuck would I want to do that?"
 
"Because if you don't," Herc said, speaking for the first time, "you're going
to wind up in the hospital just like your victim did. Only you won't be
getting out in three or four days."
 
"You can't threaten me like that," Axe said.
 
"That was not a threat," Mimir said. "It was a statement of fact. Your actions
have harmed an innocent man, and you will rectify that situation."
 
"Hey, Rob Bullok ain't no fuckin' innocent, man. *He's* the one that paid me!
He hired me to beat himself up. So don't go giving me any shit about how I
hurt no 'innocent'."
 
"He's not the innocent man you hurt," Mimir explained. "Your crime has been
blamed on another man, by Rob Bullok. You are helping him to hurt an innocent
individual."
 
"Hey, that sucks, but it's no skin off my nose, y'dig?"
 
"It will be," Herc promised.
 
Axe looked at him. "You're serious, ain't you? You'd actually try to hurt me
unless I turned myself in?"
 
"Hell, no," Herc said, confusing everyone for a second. "I wouldn't *try* to
hurt you, you cocksucker. I'd beat your mother-fucking face in."
 
"Big talk for a little fat guy," Axe said.
 
Hercules sent forth a telekinetic wave that slammed into Axe, throwing him
over the hood of his car. He slid off the hood and onto the ground on the
other side, away from the team.
 
As Axe struggled to get to his feet, Hercules said, "There is more than one
way to grind an Axe." Herc ignored the chuckles of his teammates.
 
Axe rubbed the back of his head, which had smacked against the hood of the
car. "Shit, you mother fucker... How'd you do that?"
 
"How is not your concern," Mimir pointed out. "The point is that he can, and
will, do it again. And again. Until you get the point. You have two choices:
turn yourself in within twenty-four hours, or you will see us again. Have a
nice day."
 
The team turned around and walked away. C-Squared kept an eye on the guy
behind them, lest he pull out a gun and start shooting. Axe was too busy
trying to figure out how someone had hit him without coming near him.
 
As they rounded the corner back onto the street, Nightingale asked, "Do you
think he'll do it?"
 
"I doubt it," Mimir said.
 
"Doesn't matter," Herc added.
 
"Why not?" she asked.
 
Herc pulled a tape recorder out of his pocket. It had been recording the
conversation. "I have him on tape admitting Rob hired him. Even if this guy
won't cave, I'm pretty sure I can make Rob give in."
 
Mimir looked at Hercules. "You're sneaky. I like it."
 


~~~ www.wolfpub.org ~~~
 


Luke settled into his bed and yawned. It had been a boring day, and he was
looking forward to school in the morning. They were starting a major project
in his Computer Science class, and he was excited about it.
 
When his bedroom door opened, and then softly closed, he figured that Zoe had
come for a visit. He didn't bother turning over to look at her; he knew that
she would slide into his bed and snuggle close.
 
The body that pressed up against his back was definitely *not* Zoe. Luke
turned over carefully to see his mother looking at him. He smiled at her.
 
"Hey, Mom," he said softly.
 
"Hi, Hon. Are you really tired?"
 
Luke shrugged. "Not really."
 
"Feeling up to a little playtime?" his mother asked, her eyes giving him a
lustful look. Then her look changed. "I know it's only been a couple days. I
can..."
 
Luke kissed his mother by way of answer. He got to sleep quite late.
 


~~~ www.wolfpub.org ~~~
 


Zoe pulled into the driveway of Lori's house, and turned off the engine. She
was concerned about Luke's behavior over the last couple days; he had been a
bit distracted, and she wondered if there was a problem between him and Lori.
Since Luke still had not fully forgiven her for her little affair with Akira,
she decided to talk to Lori instead.
 
As Zoe was approaching the front door, it opened. Mary Darlington stepped out,
and looked up in surprise to see someone coming up the walk.
 
"Oh, hi, Zoe," she said in greeting.
 
"Hi, Mrs. D. Lori home?"
 
"Yes, she and Claire are up in her room. I think they're studying for an exam."
 
"'Kay. Where you off to?"
 
"Business conference tomorrow. I have to catch a plane. Gotta run. Talk to you
later."
 
"'Kay." Zoe watched her leave, then headed into the house. She didn't bother
to announce her presence as she walked up the stairs only because she'd been
here so many times already.
 
When she walked into Lori's room, she found two naked girls already feeling
each other up. Given that Mrs. Darlington had just left a couple minutes
before, Zoe thought that these two were definitely not experimenting, but had
engaged in sex before.
 
"Boy, you two work fast," Zoe said with a chuckle.
 
Claire looked up in dismay, but Lori just smiled sheepishly.
 
"Hey, Zoe. I don't know if you two have met before. Claire, this is Zoe,
Luke's sister."
 
"Hi," Claire said self-consciously. It was hard for her not to be nervous,
since she was completely naked.
 
"Hi yourself," Zoe said with a grin. "Is this a private party, or can anyone
join in?" she asked as she pulled off her T-shirt.
 
Claire looked at Lori, who just kind of shrugged. "She tends to invite
herself. Do you mind?"
 
Just then, Zoe came over and slid her hand in-between Claire's legs, rubbing
her clit gently.
 
Claire never did answer Lori's question.
 


-----
 


"So how long have you two been going at it?" Zoe asked. The trio had finally
settled down after a solid hour and a half of sex.
 
"About a month or so," Lori said.
 
"Does Luke know?" Zoe asked astutely. She saw Lori blush and turn her head
away. "I didn't think so. You two need to learn to open up a little."
 
"I talked to him once about us having an open relationship, but he's not
answered me yet."
 
"Seems a little selfish, given that he sleeps with me..." Zoe said. Claire was
trying to stay out of the conversation.
 
"Well, I haven't brought it up again. You think I should?"
 
"Yeah. I came over here tonight because he's been acting a little strange
lately, and I thought maybe you two were having problems. I guess not, huh?"
 
Lori shook her head. "Strange how?"
 
"Just seems distracted."
 
"Oh. No, we're not having problems that I know of."
 
"'Kay. Um... sorry to have barged in on you two. You okay, Claire?"
 
Claire reddened, but she nodded. "I'm just not used to threesomes at all. It
was a bit weird."
 
Zoe nodded. "Sorry."
 
"It's okay."
 
"You really think I need to tell Luke about us, don't you?" Lori asked Zoe.
 
"Hiding things is never a good way to go if you're serious."
 
Lori nodded. "Okay. I'll talk to him soon."
 
"Maybe you can find out what's bugging him, then."
 
"Yeah."
 


~~~ www.wolfpub.org ~~~
 


"So, did that guy ever turn himself in?" Andie asked the others.
 
"No," Claire replied. "Mark is still in jail, and Rob is now living with some
foster family."
 
"I think it's time we changed that," Luke said. The others nodded agreement.
 
"How?" Lori wondered.
 
"By threatening Rob directly," Jim suggested. He held up his tape recorder.
 
"Wait," Lori objected. "If Rob confesses to the police that he had himself
beaten up and then accused Mark of doing it, he's going to juvie for it, no
matter what evidence we have on him. So what are we going to threaten him
with?"
 
"Uh... good question. Any ideas, Claire?"
 
"Rape. I told him if he ever came between Mark and me, I would tell the police
that he raped me. Obviously, it's my word against his at this point, but..."
 
"But it would be enough to destroy his credibility, *and* if they convicted
him for it, it would mean juvie until he was twenty-one," Luke finished for
her.
 
"We could just threaten to beat him up once a week until he confesses," Jim
offered with a grin.
 
"As I said about you telling Paul he was out of the group, you'd enjoy that
too much," Luke said. The group laughed.
 
"But you might want to suggest that he will get his ass hurt," Claire said.
"Rob's a bully; he will back down from someone bigger and stronger than he is."
 
"So, when do we do this?" Jen asked.
 
"Why not right now?"
 
There was general agreement.
 
"Do you know where he's living now?" Luke asked Claire. She told them, and
then the group headed off to catch the bus.
 


-----
 


"Yes? Can I help you?" the woman asked after opening the door. She looked
curiously at the seven young people before her.
 
"Hi. My name is Claire. I'm Rob's step-sister. I'd like to talk to him, if I
could."
 
"Oh, surely!" the woman said happily. "He's cutting the grass out back. I'm
sure he'll appreciate an interruption," she said with a grin.
 
The kids chuckled as she led them through the house and showed them the back
door. Luke noted that she walked away; she wasn't going to spy on their
conversation. He looked at Jim, and they both nodded to each other.
 
Stepping outside, the group saw Rob, cutting the grass with a push mower.
 
"Hey, Shit-for-brains!" Claire called out, loudly enough to be heard over the
mower.
 
Rob looked up with an angry start. When he saw the entire group standing
there, though, he tried to make a run for it. Lori sprinted after him, and
easily caught up to him, then reached out and pushed him to the ground. Rob
fell hard, and didn't move to get up before the rest of the team had caught up
to them. Akira stopped to turn off the lawn mower, so that they would not have
to yell to be heard.
 
"What the fuck do you want?" Rob snarled at Claire.
 
"You know what I want," Claire said calmly. "I want Mark out of jail."
 
"Not gonna happen, sister dear, unless you do what I told you."
 
"You are a piece of slime, Rob. I'm not going to sleep with you."
 
"Then I guess Mark gets to rot in jail. No fucky, no Marky."
 
"I can't believe you'd try to blackmail me into sex! So who really beat you
up?" Claire asked. She already knew this, of course, but just wanted to make
him admit it.
 
"Some guy I hired," Rob said with a smirk. He finally decided to get up off
the ground. "And to see the pitiful look on your face now makes the beating
well worth it. Look, bitch, it's this simple. I had you before, and I'm going
to have you again, or Mark will *never* get out of jail."
 
"Really," Jim said, entering the conversation.
 
"Fuck off, asshole. This doesn't concern you."
 
"Oh, but it does. As Claire's friend, it deeply concerns me." Jim pulled
something out of his pocket, and then showed it to Rob. "And as the person who
has your confession to rape, blackmail, and falsifying a police report on
tape, my presence should also deeply concern *you*."
 
Rob blanched. "You motherfucker! And I never admitted to rape, because there
was no rape!"
 
"I told you, Rob, that I would tell them you raped me. Your little comment
makes that very believable. Now, you're going to go down to the police station
- *today* - and turn yourself, and that other guy, in, or I am going to have
you charged with rape. And then the police will hear this little tape of you
confessing to all sorts of nasty crimes that will let you spend the next
several years in juvenile detention!"
 
"Of course," Jim said darkly, "they won't be able to arrest you right away."
Rob looked at Jim in confusion. Jim explained, "They will have to wait for you
to get back out of the hospital."
 
Rob paled. He knew that Jim wanted nothing better than to beat him to a bloody
pulp. He also knew that the teen was quite capable of doing it, overweight or
not.
 
"You just expect me to walk in there, and..."
 
"And tell the *truth* about what happened to you. And any more stupid-assed
comments about my relationship with Mark, and it won't matter what you do;
I'll *still* have you charged with rape."
 
"So what am I supposed to give them as a reason for why I did it, bitch?"
 
"Why don't you make something up?" Jen snapped. "You seem to be quite good at
that." Claire smiled at her friend.
 
"So, Rob, me boy-o," Luke said, affecting an Irish accent, "Do we head home,
or do we go to the nearest copper with our tape?"
 
Rob glared at all of them, but realized he wasn't going to win any kind of
test of wills with them. Finally, he said, "All right, you win. But I will get
you back for this if it is the last thing I ever do."
 
Jim stepped up to the boy, towering over him. "Don't try playing a game of
revenge with us, kid. You wouldn't like the results."
 
At that, the team turned and went back through the house. Once they were back
out on the street heading for the bus stop, Claire turned to Jim. "Why didn't
you mention taping him on the way over here?"
 
"Because I didn't tape him at all. Remember? I was going to play the tape of
Axe. It never occurred to me to make a tape of Rob, so I didn't have it set up
to do that like I did for Axe."
 
"So you lied your ass off just now," Luke said, admiringly.
 
"Yes, but he doesn't need to know that."
 
"And if he decides not to give in?" Claire asked.
 
"Then we go to Plan B, which I'll enjoy more," Jim said viciously. Everyone
knew what "Plan B" was.
 


~~~ www.wolfpub.org ~~~
 


"Luke, we need to talk," Lori said. She was sitting on his bed while he
finished up a homework assignment that was due in the morning. He turned
around to look at her, and the serious expression on her face made him save
his file and then move over to sit on the bed with her.
 
"What's on your mind?"
 
"Do you remember, while we were helping that guy, George, get together with
his new girlfriend, that I made a suggestion to you?"
 
Luke sat in thought for a few seconds, and then it clicked. "You mean about us
having an open relationship?"
 
"Yeah. Have you given that any more thought?"
 
Luke was silent for a little while, then he got up and paced a bit. "I guess
I've sort of thought about it on and off, but I'm just not sure how I feel
about it." *On the other hand,* he continued to himself, *given what's going
on with Mom...*
 
"Does it really upset you that much, thinking about me sleeping with someone
else? I mean, you don't seem to object to me sleeping with Zoe..."
 
Luke turned to her and nodded. "I think it's the idea of you sleeping with
some other *guy* that bugs me. I realize this is unfair, since I'm sleeping
with another girl. It's just that it's hard for me to adjust to."
 
Lori nodded. "I need to tell you that there's *another* girl that I've been
sleeping with."
 
"Oh? Who?"
 
"Claire."
 
"Claire... *our* Claire? When did that happen?"
 
"I asked her to supervise one of my special workouts, so that I could push
myself to my limits. Well, I took a spill and got hurt while running. She had
to heal me, and that led to... well, you can guess."
 
"How long have you two been doing that?"
 
"Five or six weeks, I guess."
 
"Oh." Luke sat quietly, deep in thought, for a minute. "Yeah, see, that
doesn't really seem to bother me at all."
 
"But you'd freak if I slept with another guy," Lori said not-too-kindly.
 
"I don't know. But I might."
 
"That really isn't fair, you know."
 
"Hey, I said that, didn't I? I know it's not *fair*. I know it makes no sense
that I sleep with other women, and that I'm not comfortable with you sleeping
with other guys, but..."
 
"*Women*?" Claire interrupted. "There is more than one? Who else are you
sleeping with?"
 
Luke blanched. He had not intended to say that; he had not wanted to reveal
this, even to Lori. He hadn't even told Zoe yet.
 
"I..." he stuttered.
 
"Luke Anderton, you tell me who it is now, or I am walking out of here," Lori
threatened.
 
Luke turned his head to stare at the wall, and he said, "My mom."
 
Lori gasped in shock. "You sleep with your mom? Since when?"
 
"About a week and a half ago. She was very depressed because it was her and my
dad's anniversary. She got drunk, and one thing led to another... and we've
done it a few times since then, too."
 
"And when were you planning to tell me?" Lori demanded.
 
Luke remained silent.
 
"You *weren't* going to, *were you*?" she shouted. "You bastard. You sit here
and expect me to accept that you can do whatever you want sexually, but yet
you tell me I can't sleep with other men? That's *bullshit*!"
 
Lori got up off the bed and walked to the door. "I'm going home. I don't think
you and I should talk for a few days. You need to think about just what kind
of person you are, Luke. I love you, but I'm *not* going to be treated like
this by *anyone*!" With that, she stormed out of the room.
 
Luke sat in silence, staring at his computer screen, and wondering just what
the hell he was going to do.
 


~~~ www.wolfpub.org ~~~
 


"Your Honor, based on the boy's own confession, we are dropping the charges
against Mr. Bullok," the prosecutor said.
 
"Very well. Mr. Bullok, the court apologizes for your inconvenience. You are
free to go."
 
"Also, Your Honor," the prosecutor continued, "since everything that Rob
Bullok accused his father of is now highly questionable, we would ask that you
lift the restraining order against Mr. Bullok."
 
"Makes sense to me. Is Miss Bullok here today?"
 
Claire stood up from the back of the room. She had decided to sit as far from
her step-father as possible, in case the judge wanted to make an issue out of
it. "Yes, Your Honor," she said.
 
"I will allow you to return home with your step-father, if you choose, or you
can remain with your foster family until Social Services clears him, which I'm
sure will only take a day or two."
 
"I'd like to go home with him, Your Honor," she said.
 
The judge nodded, and then turned back to the prosecutor as Claire made her
way up to the front to sit behind Mark. "I assume," the judge asked the DA,
"that young Mr. Bullok is being detained?"
 
"Yes, Your Honor. His sentencing is already scheduled."
 
"Very good. Unless there are further issues?" There were none. "This case is
dismissed."
 
Mark turned around and hugged Claire, and then the two headed out of the
courtroom. Lori and her mother were waiting at the back of the room, and
joined them out in the hall.
 
"Thank you so much for giving Claire a place to stay," Mark told Mary. "I
really appreciate it."
 
"No problem. She wasn't any problem at all. And I think Lori enjoyed having
some company for a while."
 
Claire hugged Lori, who had a strange look on her face. "You okay?" she asked
quietly.
 
Lori just shook her head. "A fight with Luke, No big deal."
 
"'Kay. Thanks for letting me stay with you."
 
"Hey, any time."
 
Claire stepped back and looked at Mark. "You ready?" she asked.
 
Mark nodded, and the two headed off for home. Lori and her mother did likewise.
 


-----
 


"You do know that we can't do this anymore, right?" Claire asked Mark. The two
were lying in bed together, having just had sex for the third time, to
celebrate Mark's return home.
 
"What do you mean?" he asked.
 
"Sooner or later, Rob will convince someone to look harder at us, and they'll
eventually find something. I don't want you to get in real trouble. And Mark,
it's not right for us to be doing this."
 
Mark sighed, and stared up at the ceiling. "I know. I'm sorry that I pushed
you into it."
 
"That's okay, but it needs to stop. You need to find another woman. Hey, I
think Andie's mom is available now..." The divorce proceedings had gone
swiftly, and Simon had signed away all possible custody rights as part of the
settlement, in order to keep his attempted rape of his daughter out of the
eyes of the police.
 
Mark chuckled. "I don't think she and I would get along. But I understand what
you're saying, Sweetheart. I promise that I won't ask you to do this again."
 
Claire rolled over and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you." She got up,
collected her clothes, and headed to the bathroom for a shower. She felt good
that this issue had finally resolved itself. And though some of the
intervening times were quite unpleasant, the matter was resolved to her
complete satisfaction: Mark was out of jail and would now leave her be, and
Rob was going *into* jail, and so would have to stay away from her. For the
moment, everything was nicely worked out.
 


~~~ www.wolfpub.org ~~~
 


This could not be said for everyone, however. Luke spent several days trying
to figure out how he was going to fix things with Lori. The fact that his
mother was becoming more and more wanting of his attention wasn't helping
matters, either. One night, returning to his room after having sex with his
mother, he found Zoe sitting on his bed.
 
"So, how long have you two been doing it?" she asked. He couldn't read the
look on her face, as she was doing her best to keep her expression neutral.
 
Luke sighed. "Two weeks, today," he replied.
 
Zoe did some quick math. "You had sex with mom on her anniversary?"
 
"Long story. I think she may have been a little drunk. We were sitting on the
couch together, and one thing led to another."
 
"Ah. And would this explain why Lori is outright pissed at you?"
 
"Kind of. She wants us to have an open relationship. I'm just not sure if I'm
comfortable with her sleeping with other guys."
 
"You do know that's a bit hypocritical, don't you?"
 
"Yeah, I know. I'm just not sure how to handle it."
 
"Well, you know what *I* think, so I won't bother chiming in on that. But
you'd better figure something out quick, or she will dump you."
 
Luke sighed. "I know. I'm gonna try to talk to her tomorrow before the
Founders Day stuff. Why does life have to get so freakin' complicated all of a
sudden?"
 
Zoe interpreted that comment to mean there was more going on. "Why? What else
is going wrong?"
 
"Well, not wrong, really, but... Mom seems to always feel really guilty after
we have sex. I mean, she's the one who asks in the first place, but then she's
all withdrawn afterward. And she never lets me stay with her; she always asks
me to leave."
 
"She always has to ask you for sex?" Zoe inquired.
 
"Well, yeah. I mean, I don't mind having sex with her, but..."
 
"But you don't want to go and ask your mom to screw you?"
 
"Yeah, something like that."
 
Zoe shook her head at Luke. "You are the weirdest combination of uptightness
and looseness I've ever seen. She feels guilty *because* you've never asked.
She figures you're just indulging her. She doesn't think you actually want to
sleep with her."
 
"But I've told her more than once..."
 
"Actions speak louder than words. You know that."
 
"Yeah, I guess. So I should come on to her sometimes?"
 
"If you want her to be okay with it, yeah. Of course, there is the question
of, do you want to continue sleeping with her? And what about Lori?"
 
Luke sighed. "I just don't know."
 
"Well, you're going to have to figure it out. I can't help you with this one."
Zoe got up, and then gave him a kiss. "Good night."
 
*Shit.*
 


~~~ www.wolfpub.org ~~~
 


"Hey, Sweetheart," Luke said over the phone.
 
"Hey, Luke. What's up?" Lori asked. Her tone was reserved; it was not the
highly affectionate voice he normally heard from her.
 
"You want to come over so we can talk about things?"
 
"Are you going to agree that we have an open relationship?" Lori asked
pointedly.
 
Luke struggled to control his anxiety. "I'm not ready for that," he admitted.
 
"So, are you going to stop screwing Zoe and your mom?" she asked bluntly.
 
Angry, he retorted, "Are you going to stop screwing Zoe and Claire?"
 
"No," she shot back, her anger rising now. "I think that, since you made no
objection to Zoe in the first place, you have no claim to disapprove of them
now."
 
"The same could be said for me and my mom," Luke said, trying to be logical.
 
"Except that you're forbidding me to sleep with anyone of the opposite sex,
while you are doing just that! You are still trying to make yourself the only
one in *my* life, while I am not the only one in *yours*! You're all cool with
it, so long as they're just 'lesbo affairs', but if there's another guy
involved, you get all stuffy!"
 
"Lori, I'm just not -"
 
"No, I know you're not ready for it. I thought you were. But I *am* ready for
it, and I want to live my life this way! I want to experience everything there
is to experience! You know, Zoe opened my eyes in a lot of ways. I realized
that my view on the world was very narrow, and that was because I wasn't even
considering all the options open to me. But you're trying to take some of
those options away from me again."
 
"Does it mean nothing that I love you?" he pleaded.
 
"Yes, it does. And I love you, too. But I'm not going to let you control me
like this. I've got to live my life my way. I was hoping that we could do that
together... but clearly you're not willing to let me be myself."
 
"Lori, I..." Luke started, choking up a little.
 
"No, there's nothing else to be said, Luke. I think it's time we started
seeing other people. I've thought a lot about this since we talked on Sunday,
and I'm not willing to give up my options for you. I do love you... but
apparently, not quite *that* much."
 
"Lori, please don't do this," Luke said, tears streaming down his face.
 
"Good-bye, Luke," she said, not unkindly, and gently hung up the phone.
 
Luke sat in his room and cried.
 


-----
 


Jim and Andie met up with Jen just after sundown in Mornington Park. She gave
Jim a kiss, and after only a slight hesitation, she kissed Andie as well. Jim
smiled at her, and then they walked toward the place where their families were
gathering.
 
"Did you two have fun?" she asked. Jim and Andie had spent the day together
while Jen and Stacy had made preparations for the get-together. Jim had
objected at first, but Jen reminded him that he'd not yet taken Andie on so
much as a date, and that they should go do something fun together. He had
agreed, but promised to help with clean-up.
 
"It was okay," Jim said. "The festival seems to be a little skimpy this year."
 
"But Jim did win me a poster," Andie said, holding up the rolled paper.
 
"Cool," Jen replied with a smile. "C'mon, dinner's ready."
 
They all said hello to Akira and his mother, who were sitting on a bench
eating their dinner together. Claire was talking to Stacy, and Jim gave Claire
a discreet hug when he walked up.
 
"Hey," he said quietly. Jen moved over to the table, to get him some food. Not
that he'd asked, but she liked doing things for him.
 
"Hey, there," she said with a smile. He let her go after a quick hug, since he
knew that prolonged contact would be problematic.
 
"How are things going at home?" he asked sincerely.
 
"Good. Mark's back at work. We're behind on bills, of course, but we should
catch up quick. And," she said, lowering her voice a little, "Mark and I have
agreed not to sleep with each other anymore."
 
Jim grinned at her slightly. "Well, that's good. Did he take it bad?"
 
"No, not really. I think he knew it was something we shouldn't be doing, and I
think he got scared by being arrested. Not that I'm totally against the whole
incest thing," she said quickly, realizing that Jim was committing this
particular crime, "it's just that I never liked how Mark and I got started."
 
Jim nodded, not offended by her remarks. He looked around, and then saw Lori
and her mother just walking up with another woman and girl that Jim wasn't
familiar with. The group headed off in that direction.
 
"Hey, Lori," he said. She smiled at him and the others.
 
"Hey, Jim. Mom, this is Jim, Jen, and Andie," she motioned with her hand to
indicate each of them. "Guys, this is my mom, Mary Darlington. Oh, yeah. Over
there is Akira, and I guess that's his mom. We'll go say hi to them in a
minute."
 
"Hi, Mrs. Darlington," Claire said in greeting. "I want to thank you again for
letting me stay with you guys while Mark was in jail."
 
"No problem, Claire. It was a pleasure having you with us. Have I seen you
before, Jim?"
 
"Maybe just for a minute. I think you came to pick Lori up from the gym once,
and I was standing by her. We've never spoken, though."
 
Mary nodded. "Now I remember."
 
Jim turned to Lori and asked, "Where's Luke? Didn't he come with you?"
 
Lori frowned. "Luke and I broke up earlier today. He's not going to be here
tonight."
 
"Oh, no!" Jen exclaimed. "What happened?"
 
"It's a really long story," Lori said.
 
Jim nodded, knowing from her tone that meant it had something to do with
either the team, or sex. "I'm sorry to hear that. If you want to talk about it
sometime, just give me a call."
 
Lori gave him a hug. "Thanks, Jim. I appreciate it." She let him go, and then
felt someone tap her on the shoulder. "Oh! Geez, I completely forgot to
introduce you guys. Everyone, this is Luke's mother, Barbara Anderton, and his
sister Zoe."
 
The group introduced themselves and shook hands.
 
"Jim, where are *your* parents?" Lori asked.
 
"They'll be here in a bit. They had to bring the stage," he said, frowning.
 
"Stage?" Barbara Anderton asked.
 
"They've convinced Jim to perform one of his magic tricks for everyone."
 
"I didn't know you were a magician," Stacy said.
 
He gave her a hairy eyeball. "I specialize in levitating things."
 
"Oh," she said, drawing it out in understanding. "So what are you going to
levitate for us tonight?"
 
"Me," Jen said with a smile.
 
"If you drop my daughter, young man..." Stacy said with mock-sternness.
 
"I do try not to let that happen," he said with a smile.
 


-----
 


The group had been mingling for over an hour, and everyone was having a good
time. Jim, Jen, and Andie were tossing around a Frisbee. Lori and Zoe were
over by the fountain, chatting quietly about Luke. The parents were milling
about, chatting occasionally.
 
"Good evening... Akira, was it?"
 
"Yes, Mrs. Darlington. Akira Nazawa."
 
"Are you from Japan? I detect a slight accent."
 
"Yes, ma'am. I was born in Japan, and came to America at the beginning of the
school year."
 
"That's very interesting. Um... I don't want to be impolite, but where is your
father?"
 
Akira frowned slightly, remembering. "My father was killed in a riot back in
Japan. He was a researcher. The government asked mother and myself to leave
Japan for our safety. I am continuing my father's research here in America."
 
"I'm sorry about your father. What kind of research are you doing?"
 
"Specialized work with computers. I'm afraid that I'm not supposed to talk
about it very much."
 
"That's quite all right. If you're good with computers, maybe you could help
me sometime. I've been having difficulties with my computer lately, and I'm
not sure what's wrong with it. I was going to ask Luke to take a look, but
he's been very busy lately, and now, with their breakup, I don't think I'll be
seeing him anymore."
 
Akira nodded. "I would be glad to help you. When would be a good time for you?"
 
"Oh, I don't know. I'd have to look at my schedule, which is very hectic."
 
Akira nodded. "Why don't you call me when you find a good time in your
schedule? Lori has my phone number."
 
"Okay, I'll do that. Thank you very much, Akira."
 
"No problem, Mrs. Darlington. Have you met my mother?"
 
"No, I haven't."
 
"Please let me introduce you."
 


-----
 


"So the divorce became final a few months ago. It's just been me and Jen ever
since. Well, and Jim, if you count the amount of time he spends at our house."
 
Barbara Anderton laughed lightly at this joke. Simon Matthews came up just
then.
 
"I hope you don't mind the amount of time my son spends with your daughter,"
he said.
 
Stacy looked at him with a strange expression. "Your son is always welcome in
my home, Mr. Matthews."
 
"Simon," he said.
 
"Stacy. And don't worry about Jim being a problem. He has always been helpful
and gentlemanly."
 
"I wouldn't expect anything less from him, but I know that having an extra
person around can sometimes be a hassle."
 
"Not in his case. Tell me, does he do his chores at home?"
 
"Of course. Why?"
 
"Well, he's always helping *me* out with stuff, and I didn't want him to get
in trouble for not doing chores," she said with a grin. Simon laughed.
 
"That's Jim for you, always trying to take care of things." Switching
subjects, or so he thought, Simon said, "I can't help but notice... how far
along are you?"
 
"Just over three months," she confirmed.
 
"Your ex-husband?" Barbara asked.
 
"No," Stacy said firmly. "It was a young man who helped me through a tough
time. Although he was willing, I'm not asking him to take responsibility for
it. It was my choice, and I'll handle the consequences."
 
Barbara said, "That's so... strong of you."
 
Simon was quiet. He glanced over at his son, playing Frisbee with his friends,
and then back at Stacy, who was chatting with Barbara. Another thought clicked
into place, and Simon stood up a little straighter.
 
Stacy noticed. "Are you okay?" she asked.
 
"Hmm? Oh, yes, fine. I just remembered something that I need to tell my wife.
Excuse me a moment." Simon moved off while the other two women returned to
talking. He did walk over to his wife, but didn't mention anything about the
conversation. Not in public. But he vowed that there would be a discussion of
things at home.
 


-----
 


Just before the fireworks were to begin, the families all gathered in front of
the makeshift stage that Jim and his father had constructed over the weekend.
It was merely a slightly raised platform that could be folded up and put back
in their van, and it was hardly necessary for the small gathering, but his
mother had insisted he do it right.
 
Jim had donned his version of a magic costume. He had a T-shirt with a tuxedo
printed on it, and he was wearing black jeans. He had constructed a top hat
out of cardboard and felt, and a painted dowel made up his magic wand.
 
"Ladies and gentlemen," he intoned seriously, "what you are about to witness
comes from the deepest depths of the Tibetan jungle. Monks have kept these
techniques secret for millennia. What I present to you this evening is a power
unknown to science, a power capable of warping the laws of nature. I present
to you, *anti-gravity!*"
 
As he said this, Jim held out his hand, palm down, above his magic wand, which
he had placed on the floor of the stage. The wand floated quickly off the
floor and up into Jim's waiting hand, where he grasped it. There were a couple
of gasps from the audience - which was becoming bigger by the moment - and a
smattering of applause.
 
"Now, if my beautiful assistant will join me here on the stage..." he said.
Jen blushed as she stepped up onto the platform with him. She was wearing
jeans and a sweater, because it was still quite cool out.
 
"Now, unlike my predecessors, who believed it was necessary to place the
participant in a trancelike state, I will leave my assistant fully awake and
standing. She is free to move as she wishes. The power of anti-gravity will
soon have her in its unearthly grip."
 
Motioning to Jen, she came over to him. He stepped aside slightly and said,
"If you would just stand roughly in the middle of the stage, young lady, and
wave to the audience."
 
Jen blushed again, seeing the number of people who were paying attention. She
waved to all of them, and they applauded politely.
 
"Now," Jim said, raising his voice slightly, "if I could have quiet, please.
Controlling the powers of time and space takes great concentration!"
 
The audience hushed, watching expectantly. Jim stepped back from Jen, so that
he was clearly not touching her. He raised his hands theatrically, though it
wasn't at all necessary. As his hands moved above his waist, Jen's feet left
the floor. It took a few seconds before people realized that she was floating.
Jim kept her only inches from the ground, both in case he lost concentration,
and to make it look as though it was difficult to do.
 
Once the audience could see she was off the ground, they applauded loudly.
 
"Wait!" Jim commanded, letting them know the trick was not done. "There is
more!"
 
Concentrating further, he tensed his arms and made his hands tremble, and then
lifted Jen another three feet off the ground. At this point, he began to
rotate her body until she was floating head-down in the air.
 
"Wave to your fans, dear!" he said with a flourish.
 
Jen waved. The gathered crowd cheered and clapped.
 
As the applause died down, Jim twisted her in the air until she was, at last,
lying flat on her back, floating about four feet off the ground.
 
"Who here," Jim called out, "Doesn't believe this woman is actually floating
unaided?"
 
Four or five hands in the audience went up. Jim pointed to one of them. "You,
miss, please come forward."
 
A middle-aged woman, whom Jim did not know, began to step forward. "In fact,
all of you step forward," Jim added. The others who had their hands up joined
the woman, and they all moved to the stage.
 
"You don't believe she is floating, unaided?" Jim asked them. They shook their
heads negatively. "What can I do to convince you?"
 
"She has to be held up by strings somehow," one man insisted.
 
"Ah, the old marionette routine!" Jim shouted derisively. The audience
laughed. "Let me prove to you that there are no strings! Andie, my hoop!"
 
Andie stepped on stage and handed him a hula hoop.
 
"Shall I do it, or do you want to?" Jim asked the man. The man, slightly
embarrassed, indicated that Jim could do it.
 
Jim held the hoop in his hand, and passed it down the length of Jen's body,
letting her pass right through it, clearly showing that there were no supports.
 
"Then it has to be some kind of magnetic field in the stage," a woman
suggested.
 
Jim placed his hand on Jen and gave her a shove. She floated out over the
audience, just above their heads. With a concentrated effort, Jim pulled her
back to the stage.
 
"Any further doubters?" Jim asked.
 
"Maybe it's the girl, and not you!" the initial woman challenged.
 
"Ahhhh," Jim said, getting what he'd been waiting for. "So, if I were to lift
someone else, then you would believe. Someone like... *you*, for instance?"
 
"Me? I, well, I..."
 
Before the woman could finish her sentence, Jim had set Jen on the stage, and
he focused his attention on the woman. He tensed his arms again, theatrically
making his hands tremble as he held them out toward her. He raised his arms
slightly, and the woman cried out as her feet left the ground.
 
"Aah! Put me down!" she shouted.
 
"Find the strings!" Jim teased. "Or maybe it's just a magnetic field!"
 
"Okay, okay!" she responded. Jim slowly set her on the ground, safe and sound.
 
"The power of anti-gravity, ladies and gentlemen!" Jim shouted, bowing to the
crowd, which erupted in applause. He motioned to Jen and Andie, and they came
on stage and bowed to further applause.
 
"Thank you, everyone, that's all. Good night!" Jim said, and stepped down off
the stage. Just as he sat down with Jen and gave her a kiss, the first of the
fireworks erupted in the sky.
 
"Love you," he said to her.
 
"I love you, too, Jim," she replied, then snuggled against him tightly.
 
From several yards away, Simon watched his son, wondering if he really had
figured out the truth.
 
*I will find out tomorrow.*
 


~~~ www.wolfpub.org ~~~
 


Laura Matthews was coming down the stairs after taking her morning shower. It
was Friday, but since Founders Day had fallen on a Thursday, the schools had
decided to take Friday off, as well. She heard arguing in the dining room as
she walked down the hall.
 
"I can't believe you'd think that of him," her mother said.
 
"Diane, I'm telling you it's got to be the truth. The story Jim told me -" at
this point, Simon saw his daughter standing in the doorway.
 
"Morning, guys," she said to them. "What's the matter with Jim?"
 
"If anyone would know for sure," Simon said to his wife, "she would."
 
"Laura," Diane started, "you're probably closer to Jim than we are..."
 
*If you only knew the half of it,* she thought to herself.
 
"Is Jim cheating on Jennifer?"
 
Laura's breath caught in her throat. She was not sure how to deal with this
question. She knew all of what was going on in Jim's life, but no one had
given her any idea what to do if she was confronted with the issue. She walked
in and sat down at the table. Her parents knew already that she knew
something, so she couldn't just tell them no.
 
"All I can tell you is that Jim... Look, you're aware that Jim and Jen are
sleeping together, right?" Laura asked, postponing her announcement.
 
Diane paled a little, but Simon was more rational about it. "I figured as
much. But that wasn't the question."
 
"Well, all I can tell you is that Jim has slept with other girls."
 
"While going out with Jen?" Diane demanded.
 
"Yes," Laura confirmed hesitantly.
 
"That boy needs a good talking to," Diane muttered darkly.
 
"What'd I do now?" Jim asked, entering the dining room at this point, and
being fairly sure that "that boy" meant him. He had not heard any of the
preceding conversation, so he didn't know what was going on.
 
"I think you'd better sit down, young man," Simon directed. Jim looked to
Laura, who would not meet his eyes.
 
*Oh, hell.*
 
Jim sat down in the chair next to Laura. He looked over at her, but she still
couldn't face him.
 
"Laura tells us that you are cheating on your girlfriend," Diane accused.
 
"I did *not* say that!" Laura objected.
 
Diane turned on her daughter. "You said he was having sex with another girl
while dating Jennifer. That's cheating in my book!"
 
"Actually, Mom," Jim started out as calmly as he could. He had thought through
what this day might be like already; he'd anticipated that his parents might
eventually find out what was going on in his life. He continued, "in order for
it to be cheating, I'd have to be sleeping with another girl without Jen's
permission. Otherwise, it's not really cheating, is it?"
 
"You're not going to sit there and tell me that Jen told you it was okay to
sleep with her *mother*, damn you!" Diane snarled.
 
Jim had almost hoped that his father would put two and two together, but he
wanted to know how they'd come to that conclusion. "What makes you think I'm
sleeping with Mrs. Young?" he asked as innocently as possible.
 
"The look on your face, for one thing," Simon said. "More to the point, your
little story a few weeks ago ties in very nicely with Mrs. Young's story of
how she became pregnant. Were you trying to tell me something then, Jim?"
 
"How could you do that to Jen?" Diane demanded.
 
Jim looked to his mother, then to his father, then back. "I'm not sure who to
answer first," he said.
 
"Jim," Laura said, "Why don't you just tell them the whole thing, from the
beginning?"
 
"Uh..."
 
"The *very* beginning," Laura said, so that he would understand what she meant.
 
Jim shook his head negatively. "I can't do that."
 
Laura looked at him for a long moment. She realized that he was protecting her
from her mother's ire. Laura said to him, "Okay. But I can."
 
Simon asked, "What are you two talking about?"
 
"Laura..." Jim said, trying to stop her.
 
She ignored him. "Technically, Jim cannot cheat on Jen, anyway," Laura said,
confusing everyone. "As the first girl he started sleeping with, he would
technically be cheating on *me*, but I don't care if he does, so..." she
shrugged. She actually thought it was amusing the way her parents' eyes were
bugging out of their heads.
 
"You forced yourself on your own sister?" Diane screamed.
 
"HEY!" Laura shouted, rather loudly. "How dare you accuse him of that! I'm
older than he is, anyway, and I can take care of myself! Us having sex was
*my* idea."
 
Diane was nearly hysterical.
 
Simon said, "Diane, settle down. You're not helping matters." He turned to his
son and said, "Laura's right. I think you'd better start from the top."
 
Jim took a deep breath after glaring at his sister for a moment. Then he
turned back to his parents.
 
"Do you remember the day I had to beat up that guy for hitting Laura?" His
father nodded. "Laura and I kissed for the first time that day. We made love
for the first time... what was it, about a week and a half or something?
Something like that, afterwards."
 
"Why?" Diane demanded.
 
"Because I love him," Laura said simply. "And because he deserved a reward for
standing up for me all these years... and because he's cute... and because
he's not *really* my brother in a genetic sense, so it didn't make me feel all
icky thinking about it."
 
"And you?" Simon asked his son.
 
Jim shrugged. "She didn't actually give me much choice the first time."
 
"You could have said no," Laura objected good-naturedly.
 
"True, I guess," he admitted.
 
"So you two have been doing this for months," Simon summed up. They both
nodded. "Okay... we'll get back to that issue a little later. How did Jen
enter the picture?"
 
"I have Jen in my biology class. One day, I kinda saved her from having some
acids splashed on her head. We started going out shortly after that."
 
"When did you start sleeping with her?" Diane asked.
 
"About a month after we started dating. Do you remember the night I had to
stay over?"
 
"There was no 'incident', was there?" Diane accused.
 
"Oh, yeah, that actually happened, and Jen was pretty shook up by it. It's
just that I didn't sleep in the guest room."
 
"Uh-huh," Simon said with a smirk. "And Mrs. Young was okay with you two
sleeping in the same bed?"
 
"Since he was sleeping with her? I bet she was!" Diane chimed in.
 
"Stacy - uh, Mrs. Young - and I weren't sleeping together at first. But she is
a very liberated mom. And... well, she likes me."
 
"Obviously," Simon agreed.
 
"Anyway, at some point after Jen and I got together, she asked me why Laura
was acting all weird around her."
 
"I wasn't acting weird."
 
"Yes, you were," Jim said. "Anyway, I couldn't think of any way to avoid
telling Jen... besides, I didn't want to lie to her... and so I told her about
Laura and myself. I would like to point out that I was *not* sleeping with
Laura between the time Jen and I started dating, and this day that she asked
me about Laura."
 
"Okay... so what happened on that day?" Simon prompted.
 
"After I explained the relationship Laura and I had been having, Jen told
me... and I swear this is the truth, even though I still have trouble
believing it myself... she told me that I could... and *should*... sleep with
anyone I wanted to."
 
"Bullshit!" Diane snapped.
 
"You wanna ask her yourself?" Jim retorted. "You think I have an easy time
understanding it? Especially given the part of the story you haven't heard
yet..."
 
"Maybe you should tell us," Simon said.
 
"Well, after that point, a few things happened."
 
"Like seducing Mrs. Young?" Diane accused her son again. Jim wasn't sure just
why she was so adversarial about this.
 
"Again, that was her idea, not mine. Not that I fought *her* off, either. It
was the day after Thanksgiving. Jen was away visiting relatives... I guess
that's a tradition of theirs... anyway, Stacy was lonely, and feeling a little
jealous, I guess. She invited me over, and... well, without going into some
personal stuff, we ended up having sex."
 
"So you went from sleeping with the daughter to sleeping with the mother,"
Simon summarized.
 
"With some other events in-between that had nothing to do with the Youngs,
yes."
 
"Were there other girls 'in-between'?" Diane asked.
 
"Yes," Jim answered.
 
"Are you going to tell us?" Simon asked.
 
"One of my friends, her name is Andie, was attacked by her father. He tried to
rape her. Some of my other friends and I got her out of the house before it
could happen, but she was kind of messed up by it, as was one of my other
friends. I was trying to help both of them through some tough times... and
ended up sleeping with both of them."
 
"Nice 'help'," Diane interjected sarcastically.
 
"Anyway... well, the tough part, I guess, is that Andie and I grew so close
while I was helping her work through the attack that... um..."
 
Laura broke in, "Do you guys remember how unpleasant Jim was to be around at
Christmastime?"
 
"Oh, yes," Diane said. "You were a veritable Grinch."
 
"Sorry. I was trying to deal with my feelings for Andie and Jen."
 
"I can see that would be difficult," Simon said, almost sympathetically. "And
what happened? I mean, you seem to still be with Jen..."
 
"If you can call fooling around on her all the time 'being with her'," Diane
said snidely.
 
"Well, I had confided in my *other* friend, Claire, hoping she would have some
advice. Eventually, in order to save me from myself, she revealed the problem
to Andie and Jen. They came to an agreement on my behalf, to share me."
 
"What?" Diane said in shock. "I cannot believe anything you are telling me at
this point."
 
Simon put his hand on his wife's arm. "You mean, literally, share you. You
have two girlfriends... and multiple other partners?"
 
"Yes. And they both know everything about... well, everything."
 
"And Mrs. Young's child?" Simon asked.
 
"Is mine, yes. That first day we made love, she wasn't protected. To answer
your earlier question, Dad, yes, I was kind of trying to feel you out about
the idea. I wanted you guys to know you had a grandchild, but I didn't want to
get Stacy in trouble."
 
"Did you really think we'd have her arrested, once you explained things?"
Simon asked, a little wounded.
 
Jim just pointed at his mother. "She's ready to kill me. I can only imagine
how she feels about Stacy."
 
Simon looked sideways at his wife, who was glaring at her son. "I see your
point," he said. "Still, you should have just told us what was going on."
 
"Simon, I can't believe you're accepting this 'explanation'! This is the
biggest load of horseshit I have ever heard!"
 
"Mom, I know it sounds weird. Absurd, even. But I swear to you it's the truth."
 
"I was there when Jen and Andie announced their decision to the rest of the
girls," Laura said. Jim didn't even know this part. "I admit, it's weird. But
he's not lying to you. I'm sure he's leaving out a few details here and there,
but nothing important."
 
"You, young lady, are never to enter his bedroom again!" Diane snarled.
 
"Diane," Simon said. "Don't be foolish."
 
Diane wheeled on her husband. "How can you sit there so fucking calmly! Our
children are committing *incest*!"
 
"Which would bother me if I thought either of them was being coerced, or if
Laura wasn't protected... or, as she points out, if they were genetically
related. I'm sorry, dear. I know you've always been a little more moral than I
am on these things, but quite frankly, it's just sex."
 
"And our grandchild? Was that just sex? You left her to raise *your* child!"
Diane growled.
 
"I didn't, haven't, and don't plan on 'leaving' her to do anything," Jim
retorted. "Stacy told me flat out that she didn't expect me to help raise the
baby, but that I was welcome to be a part of her - that is, the baby's - life
if I wanted to be."
 
"How do you know it's a girl?" Simon asked, getting sidetracked.
 
"Because Jen is dead certain she's going to have a sister." Jim shrugged.
 
"I can't listen to any more of this! I am going to the bedroom," Diane said.
She stormed out of the dining room, and no one made efforts to follow her.
 
"Will Mom get Stacy in trouble?" Jim asked his father.
 
"You let me worry about your mother," Simon replied. He had long experience
dealing with his wife on this kind of thing, and he knew what it would take to
calm her down. "You do realize that I will want to meet with Stacy, and Jen.
And Andie. How many other girls are there?"
 
"Laura, Jen, Claire, Stacy, Andie... that's all of them, in chronological
order."
 
"Will there be others?" Simon asked.
 
"I don't know. I never expected there to be that many. Hell, I went from no
girls interested in me at all, to having what amounts to a harem in a few
months. I have no idea what's going on anymore."
 
Simon chuckled at his son. "You know you have the kind of life a man dreams
about, don't you? Good-looking women sleeping with you and letting you sleep
with other good-looking women..."
 
"It's not as fun as it sounds like at times," Jim assured him.
 
Simon nodded. He knew his son would take things seriously, which was why he
was not as upset as his wife. He had mainly been shocked at the concept.
"Okay. I would like you to keep us more informed of what's going on with your
life from now on. Especially since you've started having a 'family'."
 
"Okay, Dad." Jim got up from the table to go, but his father stopped him.
 
"One more thing. How did you really do that levitation thing last night? I
know enough about magic to know that was no magic trick."
 
Jim looked at the two people left in the room, and sighed. "I guess if we're
revealing secrets, might as well get them all out of the way now."
 
"Good plan," Simon agreed.
 
"It wasn't a magic trick. She really was levitating."
 
"Right," Simon said in a long syllable.
 
"Seriously. Pick an object on the table."
 
"Okay... the creamer."
 
"Um... could you pick something that won't spill?"
 
Simon chuckled. "How about the salt shaker?"
 
"I feel safer with that." Jim concentrated, and lifted the salt shaker off the
table, moving it through the air to his father's hand. His father held it,
looking all over the shaker for wires, or some kind of magnetic device. He
could find none, of course. He set the shaker down.
 
"Holy shit," Laura murmured.
 
"How do you do that?" he asked.
 
"Telekinesis," Jim said. "I just... *think* it. Last night, I was holding Jen,
and then that woman, up with it."
 
"Could you lift me that way?" Laura wanted to know. Jim closed his eyes a
second, to concentrate, and then Laura rose out of her chair.
 
"Yipes!" she said, once she felt it.
 
"How long have you been able to do that?" Simon asked as his son carefully set
his daughter back down in her chair.
 
"A few years. It started out really weak, but it's been getting stronger as
I've gotten older."
 
"And why didn't you say anything to us?" he asked.
 
"Because I didn't want you to think I was a freak."
 
"Jim..." his father objected.
 
"No, Dad, really. It's freakin' weird that I can do this stuff."
 
"That answers my question about how you would have rescued Andie from her
father. If you can do that, you could have pulled him off her."
 
"Yeah, it was something like that. It's also how I rescued Jen from the acids."
 
Simon nodded. "How did you know her father was doing it, anyway?"
 
"That's a long and very personal story," Jim evaded. His father stared at him,
but then gave in.
 
"Okay. I think that's enough for me to digest in one sitting. I *will* have
more questions for you. And I want you to arrange a meeting with everyone
involved... this Claire girl, too, if you can get her to come."
 
Jim kept his mouth shut about how easy it was for him to get Claire to 'come'.
 
"Okay, not a problem. Dinner sometime next week, maybe?"
 
"That sounds fine."
 
"I'm sorry, Dad. I guess I should have trusted you guys more. It was just that
so much was going on at once..."
 
"I know. And there will be consequences from all of this, but I need to get
your mother to calm down before we can consider it all. I promise," he said to
both of them, "I will prevent her from sending you both to boarding school. I
know that I can't keep you two from having sex, and I don't much care if you
do. Just... try not to get caught, okay?"
 
"I *was* trying not to get caught," Jim said, "Until someone opened her big
mouth..."
 
"I wasn't going to let you take the heat for everything."
 
"Okay, you two. I'll let you work out your own problems between you. I have to
go deal with your mother now. I guess I'm not gonna make it to work today."
 
"Sorry, Dad."
 
"No problem."
 


~~~ www.wolfpub.org ~~~
 


Jim was ready to head out the door to go to the usual Saturday meeting of the
MDSA. He was confused by how the issue concerning Stacy had gone the day
before. His parents seemed to have taken the two extremes, whereas Jim had
expected them to come down somewhere in the middle. He was not entirely
surprised by his father's apparent acceptance of things, given their earlier
conversation, but he was perplexed by his mother's almost-hysterical reaction.
 
"Where are you going?" Diane Matthews accosted her son. It was the first thing
she'd said to him since the confrontation.
 
"It's Saturday. You know I always go to my club meeting on Saturday."
 
"Yeah, but what are you *really* doing? How am I supposed to believe you now?
You've been lying to me for months!"
 
Jim actually grew angry at that. "I have never lied to you!" he retorted.
"There *is* a difference between lying and keeping your mouth shut!"
 
"I'm your *mother*!" she responded. Before he could think up a good retort for
that, she went back into the bedroom and slammed the door. Jim stared at the
door for quite some time, then shrugged and went on to his meeting. He had no
idea what to do about his mother, and so he tried to put it out of his mind as
best he could.
 


-----
 


"So, yeah... no cases to discuss this week. Anybody got anything they need
help with? Claire, how's things with Mark and Rob?" Luke asked.
 
"Going good. Everything seems to be calmed down. Rob is in juvenile hall now
for filing a false police report and perjury. He'll probably get out in six
months. Mark and I have come to an understanding, and he's leaving me alone.
So, yeah, it's cool."
 
"Good," Luke said. He looked around the room, trying not to face Lori. "Anyone
have anything else we need to talk about?"
 
"Well, I'm not sure if it's important to the group as a whole, but I had a
little... um... problem... with my family yesterday," Jim started.
 
"What's wrong?" Andie asked, milliseconds before Jen could do so.
 
"My parents found out about Stacy and me."
 
"Oh, shit," Jen said.
 
"Damn, man. How'd that happen?"
 
"Long story. I'm not too upset they found out, because I wanted them to know
about the baby, but... my mother is not taking it well. It's not just Stacy.
They know about Andie and Claire, as well." He paused, and then said, "And
Laura."
 
"Oh, shit," Jen repeated.
 
"How did you get out of the house?" Luke wondered. "You've got to be *so*
grounded..."
 
"They haven't come up with a punishment yet. I think my dad is waiting for my
mom to calm down, which she doesn't show signs of doing yet." Turning to Jen,
he said, "Also, my dad wants to meet with you and your mom. And you, too,
Andie. Claire, he also said if you were available, he'd like you to be there
as well."
 
"No problem. Just tell me when and where," she said.
 
"Don't I get a choice?" Andie asked with a grin.
 
"Well, I can't force you, but no, he didn't say, 'If she wants to.'"
 
"Don't worry, I'll be there. When?"
 
"I don't know yet. Jen, you think your mom would object to having dinner at
your house one night?"
 
"For you? Not at all. You'll need to talk to her about it, though."
 
"Yeah."
 
"I hope it all works out, Jim," Lori said.
 
"Me, too," Jim replied. "Thanks. There's one other thing, though it's not all
that critical. My parents, and Laura, now know about my telekinesis. I
figured, rather than have them discover it at some other point, I'd get it out
of the way while I was already in trouble. Besides, my dad was pretty certain
that was no magic trick I pulled on Thursday."
 
"The magician gets caught," Luke said with a smirk.
 
"So, anyway, that's it. I just wanted you guys to know."
 
"Good luck," Luke said. "Anyone else?" There were negative shakes of the head.
"Okay, then we might as well wrap this up. See you all at school on Monday."
 


-----
 


"So it didn't go so well, huh?" Stacy asked sympathetically. They were sitting
at the dinner table together. Jim had decided to have dinner with Stacy and
Jen, and they had invited Andie to join them as well.
 
"Well, Dad seemed to be okay with things, but Mom freaked out big-time. I
don't really know why. I mean, as far as I know, she's not like a big
Christian or anything... she goes to church maybe once every three months or
so..." Jim shrugged, unable to comprehend things.
 
"I'm sorry this is causing you such a problem, Jim," Stacy said. She blamed
herself for it all.
 
"Not your fault," he said.
 
"How do you figure? I seduced you, remember?"
 
"I do remember, and I remember that you gave up on seducing me, and then I
came to you. But that's not really important, because I'm not sure that you're
really the issue. I think my Mom just objects to the fact that I'm sleeping
with more than one girl at a time. Of course, she *really* went ballistic when
Laura announced that we were sleeping together."
 
"I can only imagine," Stacy said.
 
"So what are you going to do?" Jen asked.
 
Jim shrugged again. "Wait and see what happens. That's all I can do. I'm
trying to stay away from my mother as much as I can, though. I don't want to
make things worse."
 
"Good idea," Andie said. "I hope it works better for you with your mom than it
did with me and my dad."
 


~~~ www.wolfpub.org ~~~
 


Luke was moping. Having seen Lori at the meeting the day before and not being
able to sit with her, or touch her, or even really talk to her much, had been
very painful for him. He knew he couldn't talk about this with Zoe; she would
take Lori's side.
 
*As she probably should. I'm probably being a dick. I just can't handle the
idea of her sleeping with some other guy.*
 
What he needed, he knew, was something to take his mind off the problem.
Unfortunately, he had no homework, and he didn't have any projects running. If
they'd had a case, it would really have helped, but they'd been without one
since they'd wrapped up the Woodward Case a couple weeks before. 

He was heading toward the kitchen to get himself something to munch on when he
saw his mother heading toward her room.
 
"Hey, Mom. Whatcha doin'?" he asked, just to occupy himself.
 
"Just about to take a shower, Hon."
 
At that moment, he had an image of his mother in the shower, naked and wet,
and he realized that there was something he could do that would take his mind
off things, and also would solve another problem he had.
 
Moving over toward her, he asked, "Going somewhere tonight?" He placed his
hand on her hip as he spoke.
 
She smiled at him. "Nope. I just feel like relaxing a bit."
 
Luke moved closer to her, his other hand coming to rest on her side. "I can
think of better ways to relax," he said, as his hand rubbed her side gently.
He slid his hand up onto her breast and squeezed lightly, to let her know just
what he meant.
 
"Oh, God, Luke," Barbara moaned softly. He leaned in and kissed her, sliding
his tongue deep into her mouth. The two continued to kiss passionately as they
entered the bedroom. Luke closed the door quietly, not wanting to alert Zoe to
what was going on. Not that she didn't already know, but he hardly wanted an
audience, even one standing outside a closed door.
 
Luke reached down and took hold of his mother's shirt, pulling it up and off
her body. He broke their kiss to remove it, and then took the time to ogle her
naked tits. They sagged only slightly, and they were more than a handful. He
cupped them in his hands and tweaked each of her nipples with a thumb. She
squeaked in surprise and pleasure, and smiled at him.
 
Leaning down, Luke took one of her nipples into his mouth. He wrapped one of
his arms around her waist, pulling her into him. His free hand strayed across
her abdomen until it reached her waistline.
 
It took Luke only seconds to unfasten his mother's jeans, and then he pushed
his hand inside. As he continued to lick and suck on her nipple, he worked his
hand down in-between her legs. Barbara was groaning now, as she felt his hand
caressing her pussy through her panties, which were now soaked with her juices.
 
Luke didn't take too long before he pulled his hand out of her jeans in order
to start pushing them off her hips. Barbara helped him, and they soon fell to
the floor. She stepped out of them as Luke started to push her panties down,
as well. In a few more seconds, Barbara was completely nude. Luke, on the
other hand, was still fully clothed.
 
He wanted to keep it that way for the moment, too. Once she was naked, Luke
released his mother's tit, and walked her over to the bed. He gently pushed
her down onto the bed, and helped her scoot up onto it so that she was
comfortable. He used his hands to gently part her legs, which she then spread
for him readily. Luke moved onto the bed, and bent down to look at his
mother's wet pussy.
 
Luke had not seen his mother's cunt close-up before, and he looked it over for
a moment before doing anything. Her pussy hair was curly and kept tidy, so
that it highlighted her pussy. Luke wondered why she did this still, since she
had not been dating, but figured it was just habit. 

Leaning in, Luke slipped his tongue out to run along Barbara's outer lips. She
groaned softly at the feel of it. He lapped back and forth several times
before pushing his tongue in and caressing her inner lips. Barbara's moans
grew louder, and her hips began to push down toward him. Luke kept up his
licking for a while, and then he inserted a finger into her pussy, slowly
moving it in and out of her.
 
Barbara was lost in pleasure. She had not been eaten out in years, and had
almost forgotten just how good it felt. She felt her body heating up, and she
loved how her son was making her tingle all over.
 
As Luke slipped a second finger inside his mother's pussy, he moved his tongue
upward and started to flick the tip of it over her clit. Barbara cried out in
sudden pleasure, and started writhing on the bed.
 
Luke continued to work over his mother's pussy, licking and sucking on her
clit while his fingers thrust faster and faster into her cunt. His mother was
soon on the verge of climax, and then, with a scream, she came, her body
trembling against her son's tongue and hand. Luke continued to lick her clit,
but he stopped moving his fingers, and slowly pulled them out of her as she
started to come down. Once he was sure her orgasm had passed, he also removed
his mouth.
 
Standing up, Luke looked down at his mom, who was pretty much out of it for
the moment. He took off his clothes, and then joined her on the bed. He moved
up beside her, and laid his hand on her breast, squeezing firmly, but gently,
to let her know he was still there.
 
After a few more moments, she opened her eyes and looked at him. "Oh, God,
Baby, that was really good," she said.
 
"Glad you liked it," he replied. "Ready for more?" As he asked, he fondled her
tit and then pinched her nipple.
 
"Oh!" she squealed. "Mm, Hon, you're really good at this."
 
"I like making you feel good," he said as he rolled on top of her. He placed
his cock at her entrance, and pressed in. Barbara mewled as his dick sank into
her all the way to his balls. Luke paused a moment, and looked down at his mom.
 
Luke sat up so that he was kneeling, while still keeping his cock inside his
mother's warm cunt. He reached down and took hold of her legs, lifting them
until her ankles were on his shoulders. He leaned over a little, neatly
folding his mother in half. Then he started to pound into her.
 
Barbara was gasping immediately. "Oh, fuck, yes, Baby!" she cried out.
 
Luke reached down and played with his mother's nipples, twisting them and
pulling on them. Barbara loved it, and her moans and cries of pleasure let him
know that. He started to grind his pubes against his mother with each inward
stroke, moving his hips in circles to arouse her further.
 
Barbara was in heaven. She hoped the fucking would never stop. She couldn't
remember the last time she felt this good, and she didn't want it to end. She
could feel herself rising to her next orgasm, though, and soon it was upon
her. She screamed out her son's name, and her body bucked against him, forcing
him even deeper inside of her.
 
Luke continued to thrust throughout her orgasm, but as she tapered off, he
slowed to a stop. He looked down at her, seeing her lovely face bathed in
sweat and her ample tits heaving while she tried to catch her breath.
 
"Oh, God, Baby," she said. "That was fucking great!"
 
Luke smiled at her and ran his hand along her cheek. She smiled up at him, and
then got a concerned look on her face. "I don't think I've got another
go-round in me, though... and you still need to come. You want to just fuck
me, or should I suck you off?"
 
Luke considered for a moment, and then pulled out of her, lowering her legs to
the bed. He slid up her body, straddling her, until his cock rested between
her tits. At that point, he got a naughty idea. He pushed her tits together
around his cock, and then started to rock back and forth.
 
"Oh, yeah," Barbara sighed. "It's been a long time since my boobs were wrapped
around a nice hard shaft like yours." She saw the effect her words had on her
son, and smiled. She continued on. "I love the feel of your hard cock just
sliding between my melons. It turns me on to watch the head of your prick just
pop out from my tits like that."
 
When Barbara leaned down and started to lick the head of his cock with each of
his up-strokes, Luke could take no more. He blasted a huge load of cum all
over his mother's face. The final dribbles of his climax ended up on her upper
chest.
 
"Wow," Barbara said. "That was a strong one!" She scooped some of his cum off
her cheek and into her mouth. Luke, meanwhile, collapsed beside her on the
bed. It took him a solid minute before he could talk.
 
"That was intense," he gasped. He looked over at his mother, and smiled. "And
now you really do need a shower!"
 
The two laughed. "Care to come clean me off?" she asked.
 
"Gladly," he replied.
 


~~~ www.wolfpub.org ~~~
 


"Pass the potatoes, please," Simon Matthews asked. Jim handed them over. "This
is a wonderful meal, Stacy," Simon told her.
 
"Thank you," she said.
 
"I know this is awkward," Simon said, trying to get the conversation going, as
no one had managed to do since dinner started. "I'm not trying to be
judgmental, I just want to understand why each of you has chosen to spend time
with my son."
 
Claire said, rather tactlessly, "Have *you* spent time with him? He's a great
person."
 
Jim blushed at Claire's compliment.
 
Laura, who had invited herself to the meal, told Claire, "I told him that,
too, but he doesn't believe me."
 
"I believe you," Simon objected. "I know he's a good guy and all, but... being
a good guy doesn't get you... this," he said, gesturing at the females at the
table. They all chuckled.
 
"I'm not sure it's something you can explain to someone," Stacy said. "There
is simply something about Jim that makes a girl want to be with him... and not
just sexually, but to spend time with him, just be in his presence."
 
"Besides," Andie chimed in, "he *is* a great guy, and he's always helping with
problems."
 
"Like your father," Simon said.
 
Andie frowned. "Yeah, like that. That was a very rough little while for me.
Jim really helped me through that."
 
"I think it's safe to say that, other than my mom, he's helped each of us
through something. Well, and maybe you, Laura..."
 
"Hell, he's helped me through high school. I tend to make a lot of enemies,
because I speak my mind. Sometimes their boyfriends get involved, and then Jim
always steps in and protects me."
 
Jim was blushing through most of this, and he kept quiet.
 
Simon sat for a few moments as he finished up his meal. He was considering
everything he'd heard.
 
"So," Stacy said, taking the initiative for the first time that evening, "What
are you and your wife going to do about Jim?"
 
Simon sighed, and then looked at Stacy. He looked quickly around at everyone
else at the table, but then came back to Stacy.
 
"You said, when we were talking at the Founders Day celebration, that you
really enjoyed the time Jim spent here."
 
"That's entirely true," Stacy said, wanting to make sure that it was
understood that Jim was not imposing on them or pressuring anyone into
anything. She had misunderstood the question.
 
"How would you feel if he was spending a little extra time here?" Simon asked.
 
Stacy, still not seeing the question for what it was, replied, "Jim is welcome
here as often as he wants to be here."
 
Simon shook his head. Jim was staring at his father, because he knew what was
coming. Laura was, as well. Simon said, "I'm asking... would Jim be welcome
to... live here?"
 
Stacy sat back, shocked. "What?"
 
"You're kicking me out?" Jim asked, his face going ashen.
 
"You guys can't do that!" Laura snapped.
 
Simon put up his hands for quiet from his children. "Let me explain?"
 
Everyone quieted, and waited for his explanation.
 
"When she was young, just out of high school, Diane - my wife - had some very
bad relationships with men. I don't want to go into detail, but there were
some serious psychological issues... she's been in therapy over them on and
off ever since.
 
"When she found out you were with multiple partners... it triggered some very
painful reactions from her old relationships. It's dredging up things she had
thought she'd forgotten, and things that, honestly, she doesn't need to
remember.
 
"She went to her psychiatrist on Monday. Without revealing any specifics, she
related the current situation to him. He stated in no uncertain terms that she
needed to remove herself from the relationship with this person. Of course, he
didn't know it was her son.
 
"We've spent the last couple days trying to think of alternatives. But the
fact is, Jim, that you have someplace to go, if Stacy will accept you here."
Turning to Stacy, he said, "Of course, we'd cover his expenses, food,
clothing, school supplies and that kind of thing. I don't want anyone to think
we're doing this because we're mad at you... oh, well, I'll admit, your
mother's still furious. But that's not why this is happening."
 
"I just thought you'd ground me," Jim said quietly. Jen reached out and took
his hand. Andie took his other hand.
 
"Jim, I really don't want you to think of this as a punishment. That's not
what this is about. And yeah, we probably would have grounded you for lying to
us."
 
"I didn't lie!" he said heatedly. "I just -"
 
"Didn't tell the truth?" Simon finished for him.
 
"No, I just didn't say *anything*! That's different! You never asked me, 'Hey,
do you have more than one girlfriend?' or 'Hey, is your relationship with Jen
what most people would call normal?' All you ever asked was how Jen and I were
getting along. I never lied, because we get along great. Granted, I left some
things unsaid, but that is *not* lying! It's like not telling me... that you
were going to kick me out of the house! Did you lie to me before dinner
tonight?"
 
Simon cocked his head, and then said, "Fair enough. But for... misleading us,
then, you would have been grounded. But this is not about punishment. This is
about your mother's sanity and family harmony."
 
"So we value one family member over another?" Laura demanded.
 
"Laura, what do you want from me? Your mother didn't choose to be the way she
is. Jim *did* choose to be the way *he* is. By that standard alone, he is the
one who has to suffer the consequences of this."
 
"That's complete bullshit!" she screamed. "I can't believe-"
 
"Laura," Jim said. When she didn't stop immediately, he said, "Laura... Laura!
Stop." Finally, she calmed down, and looked at him.
 
Jim turned to Stacy and asked, "Do you mind?"
 
Stacy smiled at him and shook her head. "Not at all."
 
He turned to Jen and asked, "Do *you* mind?"
 
"Of course not," she replied, almost insulted at the question.
 
He turned back to his father. "Okay. I'll move in here, then. I'm sorry to
have been such a problem." He was keeping his voice under tight control, and
everyone knew it.
 
"I'm sorry, Jim," his father said. "Personally, I don't have that much of an
issue with what you're doing. And, for the record, and you all heard me say
this, neither your mother or I will say anything to anyone about Stacy and
you. We're not out to get anyone in trouble. We just need to re-establish a
calm environment."
 
"Thank you," Stacy said.
 
"Will you or Mom even want to see the baby?" Jim asked. "It is your
grand-daughter, after all."
 
"I can't speak for your mother. I would certainly like to know her."
 
"Well, at least it wasn't all for nothing, then," Jim said.
 
"What do you mean?" Simon asked.
 
"Helping you find out about Stacy. It wasn't for nothing. The whole point was
so that you could know about your grandchild. I'd hate to think that I ended
up getting kicked out of my own home for nothing."
 
"Jim, I..."
 
"Mr. Matthews," Claire said softly, "there's nothing you can say at this point
that's gonna sound good to any of us." Her tone was not mean, but he
understood the message: he was in 'enemy territory' now.
 
"Yeah," Simon said. "Um... maybe I should go, then. Jim... do you want to come
home tonight, or... how do you want to do this?"
 
"Stacy?" Jim asked.
 
"You do whatever you need to, Jim. The spare bedroom is yours."
 
Jim smiled at her, though it was a little forced.
 
"Laura, you want to help me pack up some stuff?"
 
"Yeah, I guess."
 
"We'll be by in a little while, then," Jim told his father.
 
"Okay. I'm sorry, Jim."
 
Jim didn't say anything more. He just stared at his father. Simon got up and
left the room; nobody accompanied him to the door.
 
Once Simon was gone, Laura returned to venting. "I can't believe them! How
could they... don't they even give a damn about you? This is just total
bullshit!"
 
Jim finally cracked a smile as Laura continued to ramble angrily. Finally, she
looked at him and asked, "What's so damned funny?"
 
"Are you done yet?" he said with a grin.
 
Laura blushed crimson.
 
Stacy said, "Of course, you realize that we'll have to make some
re-arrangements of the house."
 
"Huh?" Jim said.
 
"Come now, Jim. We both know you're never going to end up sleeping in the
spare bedroom." The girls all giggled.
 
"Hey, I might!" he retorted.
 
"Uh-huh. *Sure* you will," Jen teased.
 
Jim just rolled his eyes in surrender.
 
Growing more serious, Stacy said, "I'm sorry, Jim. I hate that I've come
between you and your mother."
 
Jim looked at her strangely and asked, "Weren't you paying attention? I think
you're the *least* of Mom's problems with me at this point. Little Miss
Irritated over there would probably be more than enough to get me kicked out
of the house," he said, motioning to his sister, who blushed again.
 
"Still," Stacy said. "If not for me, and the baby, then your parents probably
never would have found out about all of this. I hate to cause this kind of
upheaval in your life."
 
Jim shrugged. "What upheaval? I'm over here half the time, anyway. The only
person whose life is being horribly upset is Laura's."
 
"How so?" Jen asked, confused.
 
"'Cause now I have to come over here to have sex with him!" she said, and then
blushed crimson. Everyone else laughed at her.
 
"You *are* welcome whenever you want to see him, Laura," Stacy said. "I don't
want you to feel like you're intruding. You just have to make it past Jen."
 
"Couldn't I just face a den of vipers or a nuclear bomb or something?" Laura
asked. Jen blushed.
 
"I'm not *that* bad," she replied. "And I'm gonna have to get used to giving
him up more now, anyway."
 
Jim looked at her, confused.
 
"Until now, your other partners - well, other than Andie - have happened...
away from me. Even your time with Mom has been when I wasn't around. This will
be the real test of whether I'm truly as okay with our relationship as I seem
to be."
 
"I'll try to be as discreet as I can, Sweetheart."
 
"Oh, I know. I'm just saying that it's something I'll have to get used to.
I'll adjust."
 
Stacy smiled at her daughter, and her new boarder. Finally, she said, "Who
wants cheesecake?"
 


~~~ www.wolfpub.org ~~~
 
~~~ www.wolfpub.org ~~~
 
