At five o'clock the four of us walked into a restaurant, having made reservations previously. Alan and I looked quite respectable in suit and tie, but the girls, that was a whole different dimension.

Getting dressed, Cindy asked, "Are you SURE, Dan? I mean, another dark green dress?"

"You don't like it?"

"Oh, no, baby, I think it's beautiful. But..." she started.

"I just think that it sets your hair off perfectly. You're beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. And I can't help but want to show you off just a little bit."

"Okay, then. I LOVE the dress. Even more if you REALLY like it." She slid up against me and pulled my face downward to kiss me. I kissed back. The dress was tasteful, short-sleeved, and she had a matching sweater to go with it, a concession to the cool temperatures. Make-up? Nothing past the perfume that extended tendrils, beckoning me to her. Those green eyes, the luxurious long lashes, the arch of red eyebrows, I knew that when she walked in, she'd be the prettiest thing in the place.

And now here I was standing beside Alan, and his Tina was no less a beauty, her only slightly darker hair counterpoint to a navy blue dress.

Dinner was subdued, simple, not too filling. The girls complimented each other on their attire.

Tina said, "Don't you think it's nice, seein' 'em in suits every now and then?"

Cindy nodded enthusiastically. "Kinda lets me know that he really IS civilized, sometimes. That's one of the nice things about these concerts, you know."

"Uh-huh," Tina said. "And you can look at him and see how he stacks up against the others, you know..."

Cindy giggled. "And feel sorry for all those other ladies..."

Walking out after the meal, yes, heads did turn. Alan elbowed me somewhat discretely. "Man, we did REAL well, buddy!"

"Yes, we did indeed," I said. I smiled as the two girls looked back at us over their beautifully clad shoulders.

At the concert hall, we were equally proud as we entered with our wives.

The concert. In a word, soaring. Other words: Grand. Ornate. The music was done to perfection, and it WAS a favorite set of pieces. I was moved. Equally moved was my Cindy. Her hand clutched mine tightly, and several times I looked over to see her with her eyes closed, tears on her cheeks. It was THAT kind of performance. I admit that she wasn't the only one carried away by the pieces.

We worked our way out of the place afterward and headed back to the hotel. Well, not exactly. Back to the pancake place, first.

The waitress came to the table. "My, don't you folks look GRAND?!?" she said.

"Thank you!" the girls said in unison.

"Hey!" I said, "She could've been talkin' about me an' Alan!"

"Wasn't," the waitress quipped. "Might've just blown my tip, though."

Cindy tossed her head, smiling. "Don't worry! We'll take care of you!" She was backed in her assertion by an equally smiling Tina.

Hot chocolate and pastries all around, and we chatted amiably about the concert and the days' events.

"You know," Cindy said, "The music was great! The best! But what made THIS weekend is US all getting together."

It was obvious that Tina shared that sentiment. As for me, I wasn't unhappy with it, I was just rolling one scenario after another through my head.

I had entered the weekend with a little plan, a path where I stayed in Alabama to support Cindy's college career. I hadn't given much thought past that, thinking that if she pulled off a solid performance in college, she's have another layer to her 'rock star' performance and that she could leverage that into a selection of engineering jobs before she was old enough to drink.

Now I was looking at my old buddy, Alan, certainly a VERY capable engineer in his own right, and the scenarios involved how we could connect our two overlapping skillsets into a viable business, and further, how we could match up Tina's college performance with Cindy's. It was a whole new rainbow of possibilities.

Cindy read my face. "Baby, what are you thinking?"

"Just all the possibilities we have before us. Buncha thoughts, babe!"

Alan was apparently there with me. "Uh-huh. Lots of things to consider. But, yes, I am glad we all met."

Tina said, "And we're gonna keep in touch, right? I know Cindy and I will. I'm talking about you two."

It's Alan's wife, so HE hung his head. "Yeah, I know, baby ... I'm just a guy ... Some things just slip. And I need a good woman to civilize me..."

"We have to do that, Tina," Cindy giggled. "Actually, most of the time, Dan's pretty organized. But he did let him an' Alan slip. That's guys, though. We're SISTERS!"

"I think we learned that," I said. "Alan and I got lucky, finding you two."

"Yeah," I added. "I saw the way people looked when you two walked into the theater tonight. Impressed. And that's just the outside."

"Weather's not looking good for tomorrow," Alan said. "Are you two okay for another night?"

"I told Bill there was a real possibility of me not getting back to work Monday," I said. "The room's not a problem. You guys?"

Tina looked at Cindy, smiling. "We need to get on the computer and see what to do tomorrow."

Alan said, "Apparently we don't have a problem, either."

Cindy said, "We can get up an' have breakfast together here, and then maybe museums or something like that."

"Rain," I said. "Probably rain."

"So, indoor stuff," Tina said.

I signaled the waitress for the check. "Sounds like a plan. How early for breakfast?"

"Nine?" Alan suggested, looking to Tina for approval.

Tina looked at Cindy. Got a smile and a nod. "Nine, then."

"Yeah," Cindy said. "I get awfully used to showering without worrying about running out of hot water. And room..."

"I'm with you there," Tina said.

I wrote a hefty tip onto the check. No sense in angering my cutie. We got up and walked out. I could feel the moisture on the shifting winds, presaging the new weather system. We went back to the hotel and went inside, saying our goodbyes in the lobby, then Cindy and I took the elevator to our floor.

I locked the door behind us, viewing Cindy, cute, desirable, as she walked ahead of me. "Turn around, baby," I said. "Let me get just one more look at you."

She turned, her head tilted, her eyes soft, lovely, the sweetest of smiles on her lips, holding her purse in front of her with both hands.

"You are the loveliest creature in the universe," I said. And I meant it.

"Would I be as beautiful if I was naked and freshly showered?"

"Yes. Absolutely, yes."

"Then you may want to help me out of this dress, sweetie."

I helped her to delightful, unadorned nudity. She was right. Slender, so perfectly shaped. I could see that she was still growing from the first time I saw her naked, the hips were a little broader, more feminine than boyish, the waist slender, and the breasts, while still small, had also taken on a more rounded shape. And she was MINE.

"You oughtta get undressed, too, honey," she said. "Shower. Then..."

In two minutes we were in the shower together, enjoying, as she'd said, the unlimited hot water, and the room to soap each other up with loving enthusiasm, followed by rinsing with equal enjoyment. We toweled off and she started drying her hair while I shaved. I finished shaving and took over brushing duties to finish our ritual and then I scooped her up as she giggled, and carried her to the bed, lowering her into the center of it, then putting my face in the center of her.

"Mmmmmmm, Dan..." she purred. "I love you."

"That's a neat thing to tell me while I've got you totally naked in our bed, ' I said.

"No, seriously! I LOVE you."

I looked into her green eyes and I knew she was serious. "I love you, too, Cindy Sue." Her given name was Cynthia Susan. I called her Cindy Sue when I wanted a happy giggle. I got a kiss that curled my toes. Then the giggle.

"Let's turn the covers back," she said. We did. Then she was on her hands and knees, facing me, smiling.

I crawled back into bed and she wrapped me up, rolling herself backward, drawing me atop her. "Sometimes I want you pressing on me, possessing me," she whispered.

"I want you, baby."

Flash of green eyes. "You got me. Now what're ya gonna DO with me?"

"Eat you. Starting right here. I LOVE necks." Her's was graceful and oh, so exposed, under the curtain of that red hair. I went in just behind her ear, bringing down peals of giggles

I pulled free.

"That's a good start," she said.

"Then THIS part." A pert pink nipple centered in a little aureole, just begging for sucks and nibbles. I did. "And look, another just like it!" I loved on the partner. Then I popped up and kissed her.

"I get to do some of that," she giggled, pushing me over on my back. "But I have a GOAL!" She went straight for my erection. When her mouth closed over the head and first inch of the shaft, I was transported to another universe.

"OHgodCindy," I blurted as I struggled to get my breath back.

Her response was a giggle escaping around the hard shaft in her mouth, and more sucking, her tongue working me over, punctuated by gentle rakes of her teeth, something she liked and I doted on. Then she stopped and slid her lithe form up, straddling me, sliding higher, presenting me with perhaps the most perfect pussy in the world.

My nostrils flared as her delicate odor came to me, then I extended my tongue to the uppermost aspect of her slit. When it touched her sensitive skin, she reacted with a little jerk forward, burying my tongue in between her moist folds.

"YES! Dan, YESSSSS!"

I flicked and licked and sucked, knowing what made her happy. I thought I was doing well. I was certainly enjoying it. Her hands clasping on the back of my head, pulling me into her reinforced my assumption. Little quivers racked her body as she came.

She lowered herself onto me, guided by my waiting arms. It took a noticeable time for her breathing to become regular and when it did, our mouths merged for a long, loving kiss.

"Inside me, Dan. I want you inside me. Hard. Weld us together." A gentle tug indicated that we were supposed to roll over. We did, her legs splaying apart, opening herself in welcome. I entered her, relishing the slick, hot tightness. Her legs tried to clamp around me. Instead, her heels dug into my buttocks, urging me into a rhythm. I wasn't long for this stimulation. "Mmmmmm, baby," I moaned. "You're too much. Too good. I can't..."

"PUSH!!! DANNNNNNNNNNNN! Nnnnghhhh! PUSH!"

I had about two pushes left before oblivion, and I gamely gave them to her, the second resulting in an upward buck of her hips and a "YESSSSSSSS!!" hissed through clenched teeth.

My own orgasm erupted. I managed little thrusts in time with the eruptions of fiery ecstasy. "Ohgodbaby! Ohhhhhh goddddd!"

A gentle tug indicated that she wished to end up on top of me, a wish easily granted. With her atop me, she tugged a pillow into position behind my head, supporting me in kissable range to the angel on my chest.

"I adore you," I sighed.

"And I adore you. Dan, all those wonderful people we saw tonight. I wonder how many of them are as in love as we are?"

"I dunno, sweetness. You're the one that makes this possible for me. The ONLY one..."

"Mmmmm," she purred, drawing away from a kiss. "We do. Make it possible for each other, I mean."

"Mmm-hmmm," I answered softly. "We complete each other."

I felt the juices flowing from her as she relaxed. So did she. Her eyes met mine. "Towel. Or..."

"Turn around," I said. We cleaned each other, during the course of which she shuddered to another orgasm as my tongue searched for the remnants of our happy coupling.

We retrieved the covers and she snuggled into my side, lit only by the bedside lamp.

"Wouldn't it be nice if we all could end up together, Dan? You, me, Tina, Alan?"

"You're pretty serious about that aren't you, babe?"

"Mmm-hmm. I felt, like, a connection. Sort of like with you. Except you're my MATE. She's my sister. Yeah, I think I'm serious."

"Futures have a way of doing their own thing, baby," I said. " Alan and I, I know we can work, but we're talking about FOUR electrical engineers, two fresh out of school. That's an unusual way to start a business."

"Don't you have some technicians, too? Like Jason. That you trust?"

I was listening to Cindy's stream of thought and a plan was forming in my mind, one of Alan's 'business models'. "I see where you're heading, little one, and I'm not even sure YOU do."

That got me the same smile that I first noticed one day back in August. It was simply cute back then. Now it was everything. I kissed her bangs.

"Nope. I like that, but I want THIS," she said, pulling my face downward to connect our lips. I don't think she consciously batted here eyelashes at me, but they fluttered, doing delightfullness in my mind. I kissed her again.

"Never wanna do without you, Dan," she said. That was her last word before we slipped into slumber. Sometime during the night I turned the lamp out and rolled on my side facing away from her. A tiny whimper escaped her lips and she cupped her body against my back.

I woke in the morning facing her, our legs a tangle, her face a bit of angelic perfection. Gently I let my hand trace the sexy curve of her buttock from her waist to her thigh. I felt a hand flutter, searching, then fingers curling around my dick. She burrowed her face into my chest, rubbing, then turning to connect her teeth to my breast.

"Mornin', cutie," I said softly.

"Mornin', guy," she answered. Her hair was tossed in delightful disarray from sleep. She propped up on one elbow and shook her head to bring it to some sort of order. Next issue was a good morning kiss. Or two. Or enough to get Dan trapped flat on his back by a fourteen year old cutie. For a few seconds, anyway, before said cutie bounded out of bed, headed to the bathroom, followed by her biggest fan.

Water was running in the sink as I finished my important business of the morning. I walked out of the bathroom as she finished washing her face. She smiled. "We can get dressed and then call Tina an' Alan for breakfast."

"Okay," I said, taking my turn at the sink. The moist cloth was refreshing, almost as much as the coffee I expected shortly. I entered the main room in time to see Cindy sliding yet another sweatshirt down over her head. She was wonderfully bra-less, just begging me to touch her firm titties, and she giggled and wiggled out of my grasp when I did.

"Don't start, Dan! You KNOW how I get..." she giggled.

"Oh, Oooo-kayyy," I said. "Too much temptation."

"Uh-huh," she smiled. "Get dressed."

She was sitting in a chair putting on socks, and in a second or two, so was I. I was sliding into my shoes when she punched up the room number for Alan and Tina.

"Hi, Sis," she chirped. Pause. "Yeah, Himself is putting on his shoes right now." Giggle. "Uh-huh. Looked like a sad little puppy dog when I said no." Another giggle. "Okay. We're on our way down. See ya!" She turned to me and smiled.

"Sad little puppy dog? What was THAT comment about?"

She waltzed up to me and grabbed my belt, pulling me against her. She turned her face up and I turned mine down and we kissed. "Just a teensy little joke, babe. Let's go!"

The crew assembled in the lobby and traipsed out to Alan's car under leaden skies. Sliding into the front seat and buckling in, I told Alan, "Us sad little puppy dogs need to stick together." Alan looked at me quizzically, especially when the two girls in the back seat laughed.

In the diner, we begged for immediate coffee and ordered breakfast. Alan looked out the window. "doesn't look good for flying home today," he said.

"Nope," I admitted. "I used to run under scud like this in Louisiana when I was in a hurry, but not when there was mountain range to cross. Or the love of my life sitting beside me. Maybe tomorrow will be better."

"Forecast says so," Tina said. "Oughtta be VFR at sunrise, so we can leave whenever."

"Mid-morning," I said.

"That gives us time to have breakfast together, huh?" Tina asked.

"Of course, Sis," Cindy smiled.

The waitress deposited the first of several plates of pancakes. Cindy grinned. "I love pancakes. First time Dan took me to breakfast, he bought me pancakes."

My mind remembered the almost unbearably shy, uncertain little girl that was Cindy then, and compared that to Cindy now, every day more poised, confident and capable. And every day I loved her more and more.

We laughed and talked our way through breakfast, then sat back and savored more coffee before heading back to the hotel. Alan and I sat in the lobby watching the news while Cindy and Tina went to Tina's room to search out a day's activities. It wasn't long before they came back with a stack of notes.

Tina read them off: a couple of museums, a German restaurant (lunch), and a movie.

"That's a day, there," I said.

Cindy nodded. "Yes, it is."

And off we went. By bedtime I was pretty well 'funned' out. Of course, after showering with Cindy, there was still enough of me left for "Baby? Hold me..." and afterward, another of those blissful slides into sleep.

The morning brought us all to the lobby before breakfast. We loaded up our cars, paid the bills, then met at the pancake place yet one more time, then had our own little two-car caravan to the airport under clearing skies.

We took turns oohing and ahhing over each other's airplanes. I was really impressed with the condition of Alan and Tina's 182. Of course, it hadn't spent the biggest part of its life flying mooseheads around Alaska.

"Who gets left seat flying home?" I asked Alan.

"She does. I flew here."

Cindy smiled. "Good, Tina. I'm left seat for us, too!"

Rental cars were turned over to the rental company and two couples walked out to the flightline. With one little folding ladder there, our two pre-flight rituals were a model of choreography. I held the ladder while Cindy checked the wing tanks, the passed the ladder to the waiting Alan.

Pre-flight checks complete, Alan and I shook hands and the girls administered hugs all around. Within minutes two Continental engines were spinning propellers in the crisp morning air. I watched Cindy, amusingly incongruent in her jacket, the communications headset on her head, shoving that red hair into interesting configurations. Her voice filled my ears over the intercom as she ran through the checklist. We rolled.

"Careful, babe," I said. "We have company." Indeed, Alan and Tina's 182 was a couple of hundred yards ahead of us on the taxiway.

Alan's voice popped through on the radio, advising traffic in the area of their impending departure. I followed almost immediately with a transmission of our intent. As their plane taxied onto the runway and turned into the wind, I saw Tina waving enthusiastically out the window. Cindy waved back. We watched the plane accelerate, then rotate and lift its wheels off the runway. They were on the way. We waited until they cleared the end of the runway, headed north, before we mirrored their action.

Cindy loved take-offs. "I'm doing a 'short-field', she said. This was literally a stretch for five foot two Cindy, as it required her toes on the brakes while she simultaneously hauled the control yoke back to keep the tail down while she ran the engine up to max power.

Oh, I'm cautious. My hands and feet were mere factions of as inch from the controls in case things went wonky, but there she was with that little 'I'm concentrating' wrinkle on her nose, right between her eyes.

"Ready?" she asked.

"Let's do it!" I said. I felt the lurch as her toes came off the brakes and we rolled. She let the tail come up just clear of the runway. We accelerated and I knew she was reading the feel of the aircraft as lift developed over the wings. The main gear came off the runway and she let us accelerate to best rate of climb speed and held that, flicking the trim wheel knowingly.

"How's that?" she asked.

"Pretty much perfect," I admitted. Apt student.

A quarter mile off the end of the runway she rolled into a turn that put us on a direct path to our little home field and lowered the nose into a comfortable 'cruise-climb'. Cindy looked at the GPS. "Groundspeed's 'way down. Stiff headwind."

"Yeah," I said. "Had one behind us coming. Works against us going home. Could be worse, though."

"Worse?" she asked.

"Yeah," I said. "We got it on our quarter. Alan an' Tina's got it right on their nose."

"Alan 'n' Tina," she repeated. "Didn't see that coming, did you, baby?"

"Not in my wildest dreams," I admitted.

"Could be one of those life-changing events," she said.

"Everything's a life-changing event," I said.

"You know what I mean," she said.

"Interesting thought you had about a community, ' I said.

"Was just thinking of you trapped inside ONE plant forever. Like using a hammer to swat flies, I think." She sighed. "But I wasn't sure how I could work out with goin' to college an' you going on the road."

"I wasn't sure how that would work either. I mean, chances are there that we'd end up with some decent neighbors and you'll probably have friends you meet in college, so you'll have some network going on."

"But we don't KNOW that..." she said. "I get nervous."

"Not as nervous as you USED to be," I said.

"I love you, Dan, that you're willing to change what you do, just to take care of me. But if we can do BOTH..." she looked at me. "This might be a way."

"Might be." I smiled at her. "And you two COULD be sisters."

"I think so," she smiled. "But, you know, I looked at Alan 'n' Tina, an' I can see how people must see you an' me, you know, the age thing."

"Worse for us," I said. "You look considerably younger than Tina."

"Not that much," she said. "'Nother thing, too. I saw how she looked at him when we were driving around. She's in love, Dan."

"Good. Alan took that divorce hard. We traded 'lost wife' stories."

"I didn't know guys talk about those things." Green eyes.

"Some guys do," I said. "First time we both didn't buy into the 'drink beer, chase women, and raise hell' thing at that project."

"Same thing me an' Miz Helen noticed about you," she said.

"Took a little redheaded girl to make me think I needed more than a buddy," I said.

"That's sort of what happened with Tina 'n' Alan," she said. "'Cept they have an ex-wife and a little girl to deal with."

"And all YOU have is a herd of whacked-out Cajuns."

"I LIKE my new family, guy. Tootie says she likes ME better'n YOU."

"That's cuz you didn't grow up in the same family, terrorizing one another..."

"I bet ya'll were horrible when you were kids, ' she giggled.

"Mom an' Dad wore us out more'n once," I laughed. "Tootie told you some of the stories. Just the ones where SHE looks good. Wait'll next trip. Ask Jerry."

"When IS our next trip, baby?"

"Asks the girl flying the airplane," I laughed. "Let's have a weekend or two to ourselves, and then make an excuse."

"Isn't it almost Mardi Gras?" she asked.

"This week," I said. "We talked..."

"Oh, yeah, I remember," Cindy said. "We really DID want the Bach thing instead. Thank you. I always wanted to see that performed live. An' I know you did, too."

"You an' me'll be married a long time, baby. We'll have plenty for time for Mardi Gras. Maybe next year..."

"So when do we visit home for the weekend?"

"Maybe a week or so. Let's see how the project's going."

"Yeah," she said. "Tomorrow you're taking me with you. Turbine start-up, right?"

"Yep. Reminds me. Lemme call Bill and let 'im know that we're on our way back."

Bill's voice on the phone was relaxed. "Everything's on track for tomorrow," he said.

"It's still okay for Cindy to come?" I asked.

"I talked with the owner reps. As long as she's escorted. And no more 'Let's get Cindy to take pictures inside the boiler' stuff," Bill said. "Mean's I'm gonna have to get more skinny engineers."

I laughed. "Cindy, Mister Bill says you don't get to go inside the boiler any more. You're upsetting the safety department."

"Hi, Mister Bill," Cindy said, loud enough for him to hear.

"Tell 'er I said 'hi' too. We'll see you at breakfast?"

"Sure will. And have we got stories to tell." 'And pictures, ' I thought. Of our mutual friend Alan and his new wife.

The miles passed easily beneath us and finally we were curving downward towards our home strip. Cindy executed an almost flawless landing and thirty minutes later the plane was behind locked doors.

Cindy flipped open her cell phone. "I'm calling Tina to let 'em know we made it home." She punched a button. "Hi, sis!" Pause. "Yeah, we're on the ground. Home." Pause. "Uh, okay. Call when you land. And email an' stuff." Pause. "'Kay! Love you too! Bye!"

I caught the 'love you too' comment and filed it. Maybe they WERE serious about that 'sisters' thing. I mean, outside of doting husbands, neither had real family, at least not family that cared. We loaded into the truck, Cindy firmly tucked in beside me, and we were headed to the park.

First order of business was to stop at the office and give a synopsis of the weekend to Helen and Charlie.

"Wait!" Cindy said. "We have pictures!" She retrieved the laptop and put it on the counter. After it booted up, she opened the photos. "Me an' my new sister!" It was a picture I'd taken of her and Tina on Saturday after lunch. Two sweatshirt-clad cuties."

"Goodness sakes," Helen said. "There is a resemblance."

I let her recount her version of the Alan 'n' Tina thing. The judge shook his head. "Right down to needing to get a judge to sign off and marry 'em. Mighty fine!"

Cindy's cellphone rang. She flipped it open. "Hi, Sis!" She turned to Helen and Charlie. "It's HER!" then back to the phone. "Ya'll are landed? Good!" Pause. "Yeah, we'll talk. Take care. Bye!"

Cindy showed them the best picture, in my opinion. It was her and Tina, fully decked out for the concert, standing together. Striking. Breathlessly beautiful. I said so. Helen and Charlie agreed. Cindy blushed.

Finally we left for our trailer. Cindy held the door as I hauled in bags, and then we locked ourselves in. I turned the thermostat back up to 'living creatures' and we started putting things away. Didn't get finished before a diminutive redhead accosted me.

"Something about being in OUR place, babe," she giggled. And she tugged my hand, pulling me toward the bed.