Caleb 58 – Siblings and Neighbors.

I woke the next morning with Marcia snuggled into my side. The twins were snuggled with Melanie, while Jules and Ness were on my other side. The bed was starting to feel a little full.

After our ‘talk’ yesterday afternoon, Marcia had stayed to eat dinner with us and ended up staying the night, although we didn’t get up to anything more than had already happened.

For the first part of the evening, she couldn’t look me in the eye. Every time I looked in her direction, she dropped her gaze. After I’d cleared away the dishes from dinner, and was sitting out on the deck, she came and sat beside me.

“I’m sorry,” she said.

“I thought we already dealt with that,” I remarked. She smiled.

“I guess,” she answered, “but I wanted to tell you again. Amanda and I had a long talk. Like you, I was brought up in a house where the rules were very different than they appear to be for people with powers. I judged you against those rules, even though I knew that I’d been lied to.”

“It’s something I can’t criticize,” I said. “I was brought up a norm and am having to really re-evaluate everything I was taught. Sharing was a big problem for me. Not me sharing, although that was an issue at first, but the thought of any of my girls with someone else, especially another man, really tied me up in knots. It’s taken me some time, but I’ve learned what’s important in a relationship and what is not.

“But as an example, and this is not meant as a criticism at all, why did you get upset when you saw me with Melanie?”

“Because you introduced her as your sister,” she said instantly, “and I was brought up to believe that it was wrong.”

“But,” I said, “you were happy enough to take the twins to bed?”

She opened her mouth, and then closed it again.

“So, I’m a hypocrite as well,” she said sighing. “Great!”

I laughed. “Like I said,” I said, “I’m not criticizing. I had exactly the same conversation with myself. When I first realized Melanie was interested, my thought was ‘she’s my sister’. But then I thought about the twins, and Jules and Ness, and realized that her being my sibling wasn’t the most important factor.”

“What was?” asked Marcia.

“Whether I had that kind of love for her,” I said, “and if she did for me.”

Marcia sat and thought about that for a minute.

“So, do you have to love everyone you sleep with?” she asked.

I shook my head, “You know that’s not the case,” I said. “We’ve already talked about sharing. I wouldn’t sleep with someone I had no feelings toward at all or actively didn’t like. But love – no.”

“And what about me?” she asked.

“Are you asking if I love you?” I asked, smiling.

She chuckled. “I guess not,” she said. “But you confused me. You made me feel so … so wanted, so safe, even when you were dominating me. There was no fear, just the knowledge that I was bound to do as you instructed. And yet I could have stopped at any time, I just didn’t want to.”

“A lot of people don’t understand what it is to be truly submissive,” I said. “In many ways, you are the one in control of the whole relationship. You are placing a huge amount of trust and faith in the person you are submitting to, forcing them to understand your need and how to give you pleasure while controlling you.

“You tried that once with a guy and he let you down badly. Perhaps you should be looking for a submissive male?”

She wrinkled her nose. “I don’t know if it’s my upbringing, or what,” she said, “but my father was a very domineering person and, before you get any ideas, no, we never ‘shared.’ My grandfather was also a very strong personality. I guess that’s where I get it from, but I could never accept a submissive male. I just, I don’t know, wouldn’t respect them. I can and do like submissive girls, in fact Amanda is the first girl strong enough to flip me.”

I smiled at her.

“You know all about sharing now,” I said, “and Mary and Amanda, and I would be happy to share with you again, if you wish. I don’t know about Jules and Ness, you’d have to ask them. Your sharing with Mary and Amanda doesn’t necessarily need to include me.”

Marcia smiled. “I’ve got about another week’s work here,” she said, “then I’ll be moving out of your lives, probably to never meet again, unless you want some more work doing.”

“Well, that depends,” I said. She looked at me, an eyebrow raised.

“On whether you do a good job this time. If not….”

She laughed, punching me gently in the shoulder.

I reminisced about our conversations as I did push-ups on the deck. I could comfortably do seventy to eighty push-ups before having to pause even once, and now wasn’t pushing for more reps, but was making sure my technique was perfect - that I was in perfect alignment, and I was going to the required depth. I figured I could push harder on the test day. I knew that as long as I could get them right, I could do enough to easily pass that portion of the fitness test.

The same thing with sit-ups. I could again comfortably do fifty to fifty-five in the minute, but I was slowing down again now to ensure that my technique was perfect. My hands on my shoulders, my elbows hitting mid-thigh exactly as it showed on the video. Once more I resolved to ask Marcia about fitting a pull-up bar on the deck somewhere.

I did that over breakfast.

“A pull-up bar?” she asked puzzled for a moment, but her eyes cleared when I explained.

“Mounting the bar wouldn’t be too difficult,” she said. “I’ve put up a few in my time. You can buy specific ones on fitness websites, and I’ll fix it to the exterior wall on the deck. It’ll take me an hour at the most. If you order one and can get it delivered this week, then I can do it while I’m here.

“Perfect,” I said. “I’ll take a look today and get one ordered up.” She smiled at me.

“What’s your plan for today?” Melanie asked me.

“I have to go to school,” I said. “I have Ethics, and then a couple of hypnotherapy sessions after lunch. I’ll be back around four.”

Melanie pulled her face.

“What am I going to do?” she asked.

“You could help Marcia,” I said, “or you could do some reading?”

She looked at Marcia. “Do you need help?” she asked.

“I’m going to be laying the floor in the middle bedroom,” said Marcia. “I’ll never turn down an extra pair of hands.”

Melanie grinned. “Okay then,” she said.

We all went our separate ways, and Dana and I arrived at ethics class together.

Our normal professor was back, but he looked terrible. He looked like he’d lost about thirty pounds, his skin and clothes hung from him, he had a sallow complexion, and his eyes were sunken.

I ‘looked’ at him and saw he had stomach cancer. The main tumour was quite large and he had metastases in his lymph nodes.

As we sat down, Dana looked at me. She raised her eyebrows.

“Good morning,” said the professor. “First, allow me to apologise for not being here for the last couple of weeks. I have, as you might have noticed, been unwell. I hope that you know me well enough to know that I’m not someone who adopts platitudes or sugar coats things. I believe that as adults, you should be told the truth about matters and that is the reason that I am back this week.

“I was recently diagnosed with cancer of the stomach. Sadly, it was caught too late for any of the treatments to be effective. I’d had some discomfort but, as one tends to do, I put off going to see my doctor until it was too late. So if there is one lesson I can teach you, something you can take away from my class, is to not do what I did. If you feel there is something wrong, go and get checked.

“My doctors tell me that I have about three months left, and so it is my intention to spend the rest of this week and next catching up with all my current students and preparing them so the next professor will be able to pick up where I left off. I apologise that I will not be able to see you through to graduation as I’d hoped, but sometimes life throws us curveballs and we just have to accept them and do the best we can.”

Dana put her hand up.

“Miss Reid?”

“This may seem like really bad taste,” she said “but I just had a question from an earlier debate we had. I thought given your current situation, you’d be uniquely placed to answer the question we posed back then, or rather something I thought about afterward.”

“Go ahead,” he said looking intrigued.

“We were talking about the ethics of being a superhero,” she said. “After the lesson Caleb and I were discussing it further and he gave me a scenario which I answered, but from my perspective at that time. I wondered if, given your circumstances now, you support his argument rather than mine.”

There was a murmur around the class. I could feel tension building. People were unhappy with this line of questioning, but the professor was actually smiling.

“Wait,” he said, quieting the class. “Might I come back to that in a second Dana?” That was the first time I’d ever heard him use anyone’s first name in the group setting.

“Most of you won’t understand why I’m so happy right now,” he said. “All my life I’ve been a teacher. It’s what I love to do. To nurture and mold young minds to make them think, make them reason, and give them the tools necessary to go and find the answers for themselves. Today, I came to class to say goodbye. I never dreamed that I’d have the opportunity once more to answer a question, to use my condition to teach, for perhaps the last time. So please don’t be uncomfortable with the discussion or hold Miss Reid’s question, whatever it is, against her. Just know that I’m grateful to her for one last opportunity to do what it is that I’ve loved to do my entire life.”

He looked at Dana, whose eyes were wet with tears, but she soldiered on.

“Caleb gave the scenario – that someone had the power to heal but they couldn’t reveal that power as they had to keep their identity secret. He asked ‘would it be right for that person to heal someone, without their consent, to maintain their own anonymity? Or would that be an abuse of power?’ So, I guess my question, Professor, is if there were someone who had the power to heal you, now, would you want them to, even without asking for your consent?”

“You realize,” he responded, “that I can only answer for myself. I can’t tell you how someone else, even someone in exactly the same position, would respond to that question. But, for myself, I would have to say ‘yes, I would want to be healed’, even if they couldn’t ask for my consent. I would consider it a gift rather than a violation of my rights.”

I went to work.

“Does that answer your question?” he said smiling at her.

She nodded, unable to speak.

It took almost everything I had but, by the end of the lesson, the professor was completely cancer free.  It would take a couple of days for him to feel the effect.

Dana slipped her arm around my waist as we left the class, helping to steady me.

“Let’s go eat,” she said. It wasn’t lunchtime yet, but the cafeteria was open all day and not just set times.

She watched me as I waded through the mound of food I’d loaded onto my tray.

“Is that enough?” she asked. “I could get you some more.”

I looked at her.

“I think I’ll be fine with this,” I said. “Did you think I wasn’t going to help him?”

She shrugged. “I didn’t know,” she said. “But I figured that since we had the opportunity to get his consent then…”

“And don’t you think it will arouse his suspicions when he suddenly is in remission after that question?”

“Maybe,” she said, “but it will be directed at me, not you.”

I shook my head, “You are a wonderful person,” I said. “Did you know that? I can see why Gracie loves you.”

She blushed. “I didn’t do anything,” she said. “It’s you that…”

“Yes,” I said. “You did. Thank you.”

“Could you help him?” she asked. I knew she’d been putting off that question.

I nodded. “You think I’m this hungry for no reason?” I grinned at her. “He’ll start to feel it maybe Friday. By Monday he’ll feel loads better and by next lesson, he’ll be back to his normal self.”

She smiled at me. “Thank you,” she said.

“Why are you thanking me?” I asked.

“Because someone should,” she said, “and it’s unlikely anyone else will.”

After a very long lunch I went to my hypnotherapy appointments, both of which were repeat sessions. This basically meant I had nothing to do since I was up to date with my other schoolwork. Neither of my clients had anything interesting I could learn from them. I was flicking through my emails when I noticed one from Dianna. It was the contact details for my two other siblings.

For a while I stared at the email wondering what to do. I spent a lot of time in the second session composing the e-mail that I finally sent, individually, to both of them.

Dear Sarah/Ephraim

You don’t know me.

Up until this week, I didn’t know me either. I thought I knew who my parents were, but it turns out I was wrong about that. Now I find that we share a father. You are my half-sister/brother.

I also met my other half-sister Melanie only last week. We finally found her after she’d been missing for twenty years.

It’s been really great getting to know Melanie and I would really like the opportunity to get to know you too. I know Melanie feels the same way.

I know our father hasn’t been in your life much and if meeting us would be difficult, or cause complications in your life, then we’ll understand and leave you alone. If you would like to perhaps meet up and get to know us, then you have my email address, we’d love to hear from you.

Your brother.

Caleb Stott.

I read it though several times, wanted to change it, scrap it, start again, or not send it. In the end, I sent it out, mentally crossing my fingers for a positive reaction.

For the rest of the session, I kept checking my phone to see if either had responded. It was dumb. They were both at school so probably wouldn’t check their personal emails until later tonight, but I still kept checking.

After I’d finished with my hypnotherapy clients, I headed home and found Melanie and Marcia hard at work laying the last of the floor. It looked good. I was almost wishing that we’d put new flooring in all three of the rooms, but I knew that there was really no need the other floors were fine. As was my habit I made coffee and took it in to them. They were both glad for the break but Melanie looked bone tired.

“You should stop,” I said.

“I told her that an hour ago,” said Marica. “But she’s too stubborn. She wants to get finished.”

“We’re nearly done,” Melanie said. “Only another two or three pieces and then it’s finished.”

Marcia looked at me and I shrugged.

“I’ve given up arguing with the women in my life,” I said.  She grinned.

“Good choice,” she said.

In the end it took them less than twenty minutes to put the final pieces down and the floor was finished. Melanie was so tired she could barely stand.  Marcia stood, but stiffly; her back seemed to be aching. She stretched it out.

“Come on,” I said to them. “I have just the thing for the pair of you.”

Marcia looked at me quizzically. I handed her a robe. “Go shower, then put that on.” She raised an eyebrow, but took the robe, and went to the main bathroom.

“Come on you,” I said, leading a weary Melanie into the ensuite in our room. I gently undressed her, and took her into the shower. I washed her hair and cleaned her of all the dust and dirt from working on the floor. Then I helped her into a robe and redressed having stripped to go into the shower with her.

When we came out of the bedroom, Marcia was in sitting in the kitchen wearing the robe.

I led them both out to the deck and pointed at the hot tub.

“In there,” I said, “both of you. Give it an hour and you’ll feel like new women.”

Marcia’s eyes lit up and she dropped the robe, paying no heed to her nakedness. We were way past that. She climbed into the hot tub and sighed in bliss as she settled into the warm water.

I helped Melanie into the tub and got her seated to one side. Once she was settled, I turned on the jets and they both sighed, the warm water and bubbles massaged their bodies and took away their aches and pains.

The girls arrived home about twenty minutes later and wasted no time joining them in the hot tub. Dana too jumped in. All the girls, including Marcia, knew that Dana was trans and simply accepted her for who she was. I caught a glimpse of her as she undressed.

Her breasts were progressing nicely, she was almost a full B cup now, and I thought that they looked good on her. I didn’t think she should go any bigger, but I’d ask her in a week or so how she felt about it. It was her body after all – if she wanted to go all the way to HH, I’d facilitate it for her. It was about what she wanted not about what I, or anyone else, wanted for her.

Dana caught me looking at her, and she stood straighter placing her hands on her hips, on display.

“Well?” she asked.

“You really are beautiful,” I said. “Gracie is such a lucky woman,”

“And don’t I know it,” said Gracie from behind me. I hadn’t heard her come in.

She came up and stood alongside me, admiring her girlfriend, who was stiffening under the attention.

“Why don’t you join them in the tub,” I said to Gracie. “I’ll make dinner.”

Gracie wasted no time, stripping right then and there on the deck, leaving her clothes on a chair and jumping in the tub.

Josh and Louise arrived home and, despite Josh’s objections that it was ‘girl time’, both were persuaded to join them too.

I gave them a ten-minute warning of dinner being ready and they all got out looking relaxed and refreshed.

They sat around the table in various robes and forms of undress. Louise, unsurprisingly, was naked and yet nobody turned a hair. In fact, the only one fully dressed at the table was me and I felt out of place.  

After dinner, Marcia dressed and went home. She was invited to stay over once more but she graciously declined and, to be fair, I wasn’t overly disappointed. I liked Marcia well enough but was happier to limit our bed to just us for tonight.

I checked my phone several times throughout the evening and still saw that there were no replies. I was starting to think that I wouldn’t get any and that they wanted nothing to do with a freshly discovered half-brother and a long-lost half-sister. I was saddened by that because I would have liked to have met them at least, but that was their choice.

I was getting ready for bed, when I remembered that I hadn’t tormented our neighbour at all that day and so, after taking a look out of the window and once more disabling his video camera which was sitting blinking on his window ledge, I pulled all the valves out of his tires. I decided to up the ante by removing the drain plug on his oil pan. I left the plug on the window ledge under where his camera was pointing.

+++++

I was making breakfast the next morning, when there was a knock on the front door. I opened it to find a man and a woman, both wearing dark suits, standing on the doorstep.

“Hello?” I said.

“Good morning,” said the man. “I’m Donald Raffertey from the City Housing department.  We’ve had a report about an illegal hostel being run from this property.”

“From Mr. Tom Pritchard,” I said, “I presume.”

“We’re not at liberty to disclose that” he said, but his mind screamed out the name. “May we come inside?”

“No,” I said, “you may not.”

“We need to…”

“You need to get off my property,” I said, “or come back with a warrant. As of now you are trespassing and if you do not leave you will be arrested.”

Both of their eyes widened.

“We are not…”

“Gracie?” I shouted through the door. She came and joined me.

“I’ve asked these two people to leave the property and they are refusing to leave.”

“Ma’am,” said the woman, “we’re from the Department of Housing.”

“And do you have a warrant?” asked Gracie.

“No, but we’ve had a report,” said Rafferty.

“And have you been asked to leave the property?” asked Gracie.

“Ma’am you don’t…” started the woman.

Gracie pulled out her own credentials. “Special Agent Gracie Jordan, FBI” she said. “Unless you have a warrant, you have been asked to leave the property. If you fail to do so, I will place you under arrest for trespass. Am I clear?”

“But…” said the male housing agent.

Gracie reached behind her and pulled out her cuffs.

They backed off the property.

“We’ll be seeking a warrant,” the man said. “We’ll be back.”

They got into their car.

“They will apply for a warrant,” said Gracie. I grinned at her.

“I know.” I said pulling out my wallet. “Let’s see if Judge Roder remembers the favour she owes me.”

Rather than call the judge directly, I decided to be a little more circumspect. I called Melissa Wragge.

“Melissa,” I said when she answered the call. “I wonder if I might beg a favor?”

“After what you did for my father,” she said. “I owe you, anything up to, and possibly including, bearing your first child.”

I laughed. “I’ll keep that in mind,” I said. “I was hoping you might have a quiet word with Judge Roder for me.” I explained the situation, from start to finish about the HOA, the blackmail, and his several and various reports to agencies trying to cause trouble. “And now he’s got the housing department claiming we’re running an illegal hostel, and about to get a warrant to force entry to our property.”

“Leave it with me,” she said. “Are you around this morning?”

“I am,” I said, “Why?”

“Well, the circuit judge that issues the warrants may be amenable to hearing your side of things when they call for the warrant – if you are around?”

“That sounds perfect,” I said.

I was just clearing the breakfast things away when my phone rang. Melissa.

“Hi, Caleb.” she said. “There’s a hearing set for 10am this morning. If you want to quash that warrant, you need to be there. Bring what evidence you can.”

Jules missed her first class while downloading various clips from the security system onto my laptop. She wasn’t too concerned about it, but she wouldn’t want to do it too often.

Melanie came with me to the courthouse.

I went to the main reception and from there was directed to wait outside one of the courts.

Just after ten, we were called into the court. There was a judge, a stenographer, a clerk, and the two people form the housing office.

They looked surprised to see us there.

“Your Honor,” said one of the housing office agents, “We are asking for a warrant to enter the premises as listed. We had a report of an illegal hostel, and when we attended the property this morning we were denied entry.”

“And I presume you, Mr…” the judge looked at his papers. “Stott. Are the owner of said property?”

“I am your Honor,” I said, “and I strenuously object to the invasion of privacy based on what has been a prolonged and targeted campaign of harassment by our neighbor, the latest evidence of which is this report of an illegal hostel.”

“Harassment?” he said.

“Yes, your Honor,” I said. “I can demonstrate several incidents and I have footage from my home security system as evidence.”

“First,” the judge said, “was this report made by the neighbor in question?”

“We’re not permitted to divulge…”

“Without a court order,” interrupted the judge. “So ordered.”

“The report was made by a Mr. Pritchard,” the female housing officer said. “I believe he lives across the street and so would be ideally placed to notice such an illegal hostel being run.”

The judge looked at me. I smiled.

I then told my story. I showed clips of my refusing to join the HOA, the attempt by Tom Pritchard to blackmail me, and the quashing of the HOA by Judge Roder. I also showed his placing illegal no parking signs up on our street at 2am, various visits from the police where our conversations had been recorded, his reporting us to the Department of Housing for working without permits, and even accusing me of vandalizing his car. The judge received the whole story.

I finished by looking across at the housing agents.

“I apologize to you,” I said, “for my actions this morning. I am just so sick of being harassed by this man that I’d had enough. As you saw from the footage, I co-operated fully with every other agency each time they came, but this was the final straw.”

“Who lives in your house Mr Stott?” asked the judge.

“The house,” I said, “is a six bed, five and a half bath, house. We are students. I live there along with my fiancée and her sister, my sister, another pair of sisters, and another two couples who are co-habiting. In total, ten people, all of whom are students studying at PSU with the exception of Gracie Jordan who is an agent with the FBI. She lives there with her girlfriend; they are one of the other couples I mentioned. Oh, my sister isn’t a student. We recently found her after she was snatched as a baby from the hospital. She’s staying with us too.

“That doesn’t sound like overcrowding to me,” said the judge to the housing officers. “It’s not unusual for students to share housing. And it sounds to me like there are more than enough bedrooms to cope with the number of occupants.

He looked at the housing officers.

“I’m also very concerned about this campaign of harassment,” said the judge, “to which you appear to be pandering. Therefore, I’m rejecting your application for a warrant.” He banged his gavel.

“Also,” he added, “might I ask why you haven’t sought a restraining order against Mr. Pritchard?”

“I honestly didn’t see the point, your Honor,” I said. “I figured that he’d just start reporting anonymously so it wouldn’t really make any difference. I was, we were, just trying to live our lives quietly. We get on well with our other neighbours in as much as we interact with them at all. He is the only one who has a problem with us. I am certain that it is all because of his attempts to force us to join his illegal HOA and its subsequent disbanding which, I’ll admit, I did have a hand in.

“You know Judge Roder?” he asked.

“Yes, your Honor,” I replied. “I am a consultant with the FBI and have had occasion to do some work with her in the past.”

He nodded.

“I’m drafting out an interim restraining order,” he said. “Any further occasions of harassment, or reports to agencies, will result in charges being brought. He is also to stay one hundred feet from your house. I have no doubt that he will appeal it, but if you can leave me copies of your evidence, when he does, he will have a lot of explaining to do before it is rescinded.”

“Thank you, your Honor,” I said.

“There will be a service fee for the court to serve the documents to him,” he said. I grinned.

“That’s no problem,” I said.

He banged his gavel again. “The clerk will take you to pay the service charge.”

The clerk stood and showed us out.

As we made it outside, I once again went to the housing officers.

“I am sorry,” I said again. “Like I said, it was just a culmination of a prolonged campaign of harassment.”

The woman actually smiled at me. “Thank you,” she said. “We are doing what we can to make sure people are safe and illegal hostels can be death traps. I understand your frustration though and, after seeing what that guy has been doing to you, I can see why you got mad. I think I would have too.

“I’m going to put a note on our system that if we get any calls, named or anonymous, about your address, we will treat them as malicious calls. We can’t legally completely ignore them, but we’ll treat them with a much higher degree of scepticism.”

“Thanks,” I said. “Maybe next time drop by for coffee?”

They both smiled at that.

The clerk who had been waiting patiently took us to a payment counter where I handed over my card and paid the service fee for the restraining order. I wondered what would happen when he received it. I had some idea though.

“This will be served sometime tomorrow,” said the payment clerk.

“Thank you,” I said.

I left with a copy of the restraining order, grinning like a maniac.

When I got home. Tom Pritchard was standing on my porch with a couple of police officers.

“There he is,” he yelled at the police. “Arrest him!!”

I sighed and opened my front door. Melanie went inside. I invited the officers in.

“Mr. Pritchard,” I said, “please get off my property. You are trespassing. Now please leave.”

“I’m going nowhere until…”

I closed the door in his face.

“How can I help?” I asked the officers.

“Mr. Pritchard says you vandalized his car,” one said. “He says that you pulled out all his tire valves, for what is now the sixth time, and then removed his oil drain plug causing all of his engine oil to drain out onto his driveway.”

I nodded.

“And what proof has he of this?” I asked. “Did he see me do this, has he evidence, video, witnesses, anything at all?”

“He says he saw you.”

“He saw me?” I said. “At what time did he see me do this?”

“He said that he was looking out of his window at four thirty this morning and witnessed you vandalizing his car.”

“Four thirty?” I asked.

He nodded.

I beckoned them into the living room.

“As you saw,” I said, “I have a security system on my house. There are cameras front and rear.  Let’s look at the footage from this morning, shall we?”

I pulled up that morning’s footage. At four am I went out onto the deck and began training. I didn’t leave the deck until seven thirty when I went inside, for a shower.

“You can clearly see,” I said, “that he is lying. I was out on my deck from four until seven thirty. You can also see that nobody else left the house in that time, you can’t get out from the back, and even if you climbed the fence, you’d be seen by the security cameras. Nobody left the front of the house either.

“If you check your dispatch, you will see at least two other malicious calls made by Mr. Pritchard against me, and I have here a restraining order issued just this morning against him for a prolonged and malicious campaign of harassment which he has perpetrated on me ever since I got his HOA disbanded. He has not yet been served, so doesn’t know about this yet.”

One of the officers took the paperwork from me and looked it over.

He shook his head,

“This guy is obviously unhinged,” he said. He looked out of the window and saw Pritchard standing on my porch. “I clearly heard you to tell him to leave and tell him he was trespassing. He hasn’t left.”

He grinned at his partner.

“Thank you for your time,” he said. “I’m sorry to have inconvenienced you. We’ll log it again and also get dispatch to log the restraining order.”

He turned and opened the front door.

“Turn around and put your hands behind your back,” he said to Pritchard. “You’re under arrest for criminal trespass and filing a false police report.”

“What?” said Pritchard. “You can’t. . .No. . .No Stop. . .Get off. Help…”

It was only when they tased him that he stopped struggling and they were able to put the cuffs on him, load him into the back of their car, and take him away.

By that time several of the neighbours had come out to see what the disturbance was about. I looked across at Alan who was standing on his porch crying with laughter. Then my other neighbour John Gregson, the dour guy from the other side walked past the front of our property.

“Morning neighbor,” he said with a huge grin on his face. “Lovely day!!!”

I laughed. “Morning to you too,” I said.

We went inside and caught up with Marcia who was sanding the floor in the middle room. I made coffee which she gratefully accepted. She looked tired.

“Are you okay,” I said.

She smiled wearily at me. “Yeah,” she said. “It’s tax season, and I’m struggling with my books. I need an accountant, but I just can’t afford one.”

I thought about that for a few minutes. There were two solutions that sprang immediately to mind. I’d have to speak to Gracie later.

“So, what are we doing this afternoon?” asked Melanie.

“School work,” I said. “You’re going to get high school math boxed off.”

We’d spent time doing other subjects and I was confident that, in another few days, Melanie would be able to get her GED. I’d have to look into her taking the exam. I also checked her over physically. She had filled out nicely and her body was well on its way to recovering. I figured that I would probably remove her amulet sometime this coming weekend. I didn’t tell her because I didn’t want to get her too excited, but I was excited for her.

I got out my laptop to start showing her some math problems. I’d already given her the knowledge, but it was always good for her to see it in action. I, however, became distracted when I saw that I had answers to both my emails to John’s other children.  A shiver ran down my spine and, for a moment, I didn’t want to open them.

“Melanie,” I said. “Look.”

She looked at my laptop, unsure at first what she was looking at.

“I got replies from Ephraim and Sarah,” I said. Her eyes widened with excitement.

“Who first?” I asked.

She looked at me.  “Sarah,” she said. “She sounds friendlier. Ephraim sounds like a scary person.”

I smiled at her. It was only a name, but I had to agree.

I opened the email from Sarah.

Hi,

My dad, (Brian not John), said I should reach out to you. He thinks it’s a good idea for us to meet, although I don’t really have a lot to do with John. He pays for stuff, and likes me to call him Dad when he does see me, which is maybe two or three times a year.

I don’t mean to be mean, but I have a brother and a family, and they love me, and I love them. I don’t want to make them feel that I am trying to replace them. My dad (Brian) has been the only dad I really knew – and he’s been great, and I love him loads.

Dad says if you want to come over on Saturday, if you’re able, we can maybe talk and see what happens?

Let me know.

Sarah.

I looked at Melanie.

“She sounds uncertain,” she said.

“It’s not surprising I suppose,” I said. “She has a family, who it seems that she’s been loved by. She doesn’t want to upset them by bringing people who they might resent into her life. They sound like norms though, and she might need some powered guidance when her amulet is removed.

“What about Ephraim.” Asked Melanie.

I opened his email.

Caleb.

Sure – I’m at a party Saturday though – so it will need to be Sunday. I stay in the student dorms at PCC. Could meet in the campus cafeteria maybe mid-afternoon Sunday? 2pm?

E.

I sent emails to both, confirming with ‘E’ that we’d meet him in the PCC cafeteria at 2pm on Sunday, and to Sarah asking her a time and address to meet her. I was a little shocked that I had been that close, physically, to my half-brother and never knew it.

That done, we settled down to do some schoolwork until the rest of the girls came home.

That evening I chatted with Gracie about Marcia and her tax problem. Gracie said that, while she’d be happy to help, probably the best solution would be to give Marcia the knowledge for herself. That way, she’d be able to do her finances much easier and not have to rely on anyone else. I agreed and suggested that to Marcia. She stayed over once more, and by the morning, had the knowledge she needed to manage her own finances.

Since I had the information in my head too, I decided to hold onto it. Now I wouldn’t need to bother Gracie either.

By Friday night all the rooms were finished. The final part of the refurbishment would be fitting the bathrooms themselves. Marcia was confident that she could do that in the week she had left. Like she’d said before, the tiling would be the most time consuming. We thought about moving the furniture back into the bedrooms but decided to leave it until the job was completely finished. It would be a job for the following weekend.

Jules, however, was completely ecstatic to have her workshop back. She was happily tinkering in there even as the rest of us were watching television and talking, having decided not to go out that particular Friday. It had been a wearing week and we were all content to stay in and revel in each other’s company. Or in Jules’ case, tinker. I believed she was working on the game she bought in Paris after she had waited for some parts to arrive.

On Saturday morning, Melanie and I set out on the hour-long drive to Sarah’s house. We’d been invited to lunch and planned to get there around midday. There had been a huge debate with the girls as to whether we should ask if they could come too but, in the end, it was decided that it would be just Melanie and me for the first meeting. Perhaps, at some point in the future, we could invite Sarah and her folks over to meet the rest of our family. We’d have to play that by ear.

We arrived at the address we’d been given at about ten minutes to noon. We looked at the house. It was a moderate sized house, maybe three or four bedroom, over two floors. There were two cars in the driveway. I pulled up to the side of the drive, making sure not to block anyone’s access, and we got out of the truck. I saw the curtain in the house move. Someone was watching us from inside. I pretended not to notice.

I played the gentleman and opened Melanie’s door and helped her down as the truck was quite high. We walked together to the front door and rang the bell.

It took a moment before it was answered. A large man, maybe six foot three, stood there. He was broad but not fat, built not unlike Dean. He, too, looked military. He looked me up and down.

“Caleb?” he said.

“Yes, Sir,” I said, “and this is Melanie.”

He extended a hand which I shook. His handshake was firm but not brutal.

“I’m Brian. Happy to meet you,” he said. His voice was neutral. “Please come in.”

We followed him into a living room where there was a sofa and three chairs. One of the chairs was occupied by a young girl whom I took to be Sarah.

She stood nervously as we entered.

“Hello,” she said. “I’m Sarah.”

“Caleb,” I said holding out my hand. She took it and shook.

She turned to Melanie.

“A month ago,” said Melanie, before Sarah could say anything, “I was living on the streets. I’d been there since I was less than ten years old. I had nobody, nothing. Then Caleb, my brother, found me. He took me in, shown me love, and helped me like nobody else ever did.

“Now I find that I also have a sister. I understand if, after today, you don’t want anything to do with us. I know we make things complicated for you and John, our father, is about as much a dad to you as he has been to either of us. But, even if it’s just once, please, do you think I could have a hug from my baby sister?”

Sarah looked at her, tears in her eyes, and then nodded. Stepping forward to be enveloped in her big sisters’ arms. Melanie held her for a few moments, tears running down both their faces, and then she released her.

“Thank you,” she said.

“Please,” said Brian, “have a seat.”

We sat on the couch, and Sarah and Brian each took one of the other chairs.

A few moments later a small woman came in carrying a tray of coffees.

She smiled at us. “I’m Carrie,” she said. “Sarah’s Mom.”

“Pleased to meet you,” we said almost in unison.

Coffees were handed out, and then for a moment we sat in awkward silence.

In the end it was me that broke it.

“I only found out,” I said, “that John was my father a few weeks ago. Before that I thought that my dad was Nathan. No that’s not true my dad IS Nathan Stott. He’s the man that brought me up, taught me everything I knew about the world, and taught me how to be the person I am today. I completely understand what you said in your email. John may have been our sire, but he’s certainly not my dad, and it looks like your dad is sitting right there.”

Sarah looked over at her dad and he smiled at her.

“Mom and Dad told me from the start who my father was,” Sarah said, “but he’s never really been around. Yes, he pays money for stuff but, on the odd occasion I see him, he’s just some guy. He says that he loves me, but I don’t feel it.”

“Can we please,” said Melanie, “forget about John. Yes, he was the one who ‘sired’ us, as Caleb says, but this is not about him. You have a loving family, a mom and a dad who clearly love you, and who you love. Nothing is going to change that. You said that you have a brother too?”

“Edgar,” said Sarah. “He’s hiding in his room. He’s not good with strangers. He might come down at some point, but he has autism.”

“For a long time,” continued Melanie, “I had nobody. And now I find I have a family. Caleb and his fiancées are amazing, and they have taken me in shown me love like I’d never imagined. But you are my sister, and I would really like to spend some time getting to know you. Not to mention these.

She held her wrist out, showing the mark from the amulet.

Sarah held her own wrist out as if they were going to compare.

“They say they’re going to take it off in a couple of weeks,” Sarah said. “It’s kind of scary.”

“Ms. Forbes said that they didn’t used to take them off until people were twenty-one, but that they had changed the policy.” said Brian.

“Yeah,” I said. “I’m kind of responsible for that. The rules for power users are very different than for what we call ‘norms’. And please don’t think that is in any way a derogatory term, it’s just a way of identifying people who do not have powers.

“Muggles,” said Sarah. I smiled.

“Muggles,” I agreed. “I was brought up knowing nothing about powers, and then one day I had them. And I had no idea what to do with them. It was such a culture shock and, like I said, the rules are so different for us that it really messed with my head.

“I successfully argued that, if I’d been brought up with my powers, things would have been much easier. Not to mention that the amulet actually reduces your mental acuity and memory as well, so you’ll find things easier when you get rid of it.”

Sarah’s eyes went wide.

“It makes me stupid?” she asked. Melanie smiled.

“That’s what I asked when he told me that too”, she said. “It doesn’t make you stupid, but it does make you less bright than you actually are.”

Just then the door opened and a little boy about ten years old walked in. He was carrying a toy of some kind. He wasn’t really paying attention to his surroundings, just looking at his toy, and then he stopped and looked around. His eyes went wide as he spied strangers in his house.

He looked at me and then at Melanie.

Then he came over to me, clambered into my lap, and began to show me the toy he’d brought with him.

Sarah and both her parents looked on, absolutely astonished, as Edgar sat happily chatting away in a half whisper as he demonstrated his toy.

“He’s never done that before,” said Carrie. “He’s always been so shy with strangers.”

“Caleb just has so much love,” said Melanie looking at me with a smile, “that everyone can feel it.”

Brian cleared his throat. “You say the rules are different for power users,” he said. “How are they different?”

I grimaced. I was afraid he was going to ask me that.

“Can I ask,” I said, “if you have any weapons in the house?”

He looked at me shocked.

“I have a shotgun,” he said. “But it’s locked away. Why?”

“Because what I’m about to explain to you might have you running to unlock it and chase us out of here,” I said. “But to answer your question, many things are different. Morals are very different. Relationships are very different. I was brought up a norm and I struggled for a long time with it. It’s taken me a year to get my head around it and, I must admit, it wasn’t a pleasant year. This is why I am so adamant that power users were told about powers early and taught about the rules. It really messed with my head.”

“Did Maggie tell you anything about powers?” I asked.

“Only that Sarah has some and she is quite strong.”

I nodded. “Unfortunately,” I said, “we can’t tell what powers she has until after the amulet comes off and she starts using them. Its most likely she’ll have Compulsion as that is the prevalent power in the Stott line.”

“Compulsion?” asked Brian.

“The ability to make people do things,” I replied, “whether they want to or not. It was the reason for the amulets in the first place. Way back in history, Compulsion users abused norms terribly and that  caused all kinds of problems. The amulets were there to, essentially, protect norms, and even a user’s parents, from children. If you can imagine a toddler with the ability to make anyone do what they wanted…”

Both parents grimaced and nodded.

“There are strict rules about the use of Compulsion and the FBI has a division that deals with power users who abuse their powers. But there are a lot of good uses for it too. I personally use it to help people with things like weight loss and stopping smoking. They think I’m using hypnosis, but in reality, I’m using Compulsion. I have a 100% success rate and people are very happy with my services.

“So you have Compulsion?” asked Brian.

“I’m what’s called a multi. I have several powers.”

“Will I have more than one?” asked Sarah.

“We won’t know that,” I said, “until your amulet comes off and you start using them.”

“So, there’s Compulsion,” said Brian, “and what else?”

I ran through the list of powers and described each of them. I also told them about the powers I had, and about Healing.

“You can Heal people?” asked Carrie.

“Some people,” I said. “It depends on their illnesses.”

“There are other advantages of power users,” I said. “You might have noticed you never get sick?”

Sarah nodded. “I’ve never had so much as a sniffle.”

“You are immune to pretty much anything. I’ve yet to find a power user who got sick. You also have a longer life expectancy.”

“How long?” asked Brian.

“About three to four times that of a norm.”

Sarah’s jaw dropped.

“I’m going to live until I’m over two hundred?”

“Possibly,” I said. “We’re not invulnerable. If you get hit by a bus, you’re as likely to die as anyone, but other than that, you can expect a long life.”

Edgar was still happily chatting away, ignoring the fact that I was talking. He’d pulled my arm around him and made himself comfortable in my lap as he chatted. I realised he wasn’t actually talking to me but to his toy.

“So, none of this is making me run for my shotgun,” said Brian. “What aren’t you telling us?”

“As far as I know,” I said, “this only applies to power users that have Empathy. So, it may not apply to Sarah at all. If she isn’t an Empath, it won’t affect her.”

“You’re stalling,” said Brian.

“I am,” I said.

“Empath’s need to ‘share’,” said Melanie, “or it causes them physical problems. They age faster, and die younger. It also causes them psychic problems.”

“When you say ‘share’?” said Brian.

“She means they need to have sex,” I said. “With multiple partners.”

Sarah instantly went scarlet.

“I’m…” she said, “No, it can’t.”

“When you say ‘multiple partners’?” said Brian, his voice level.

“Okay,” I said. “Let’s back up. I’ll explain it how it was explained to me by someone far wiser than I.”

I gave them Jeevan’s explanation about the nomadic tribes, the relationship building, and the reason it came down to sex these days. When I finished Brian nodded.

“So, you’re not saying she needs to have sex with multiple partners at the same time. Just that she needs it with different people.”

“And that’s what messed with my head so much,” I said. “Because as a Norm I was brought up to believe that once I’d chosen my partner, we would be faithful to each other. But I am an Empath, as are two of my fiancées. The thought of me having sex outside of our relationship was troubling, and the thought of them with other men was even more so.

“TWO of your fiancées?” asked Carrie. Oops.

“Yeah,” I said grimacing. “I kind of have four. Two power users who are empaths, and two Norms.”

“But,” I said, “we don’t know what power or powers Sarah has yet. If she’s not an Empath, no problem, no need to share. My Aunt just has Compulsion and she is married to one man, and happily so.”

I watched Brian, watched his aura. Surprisingly he wasn’t angry. He was concerned and I didn’t blame him for that reaction. Carrie was also concerned. Sarah, on the other hand, was mortified that we were talking about her sex life and suggesting that she might have to have sex with a lot of people. From what I could tell she was still a virgin, although she had a boyfriend.

Edgar had gone to sleep.

“What if I have Empathy and decide not to share?” asked Sarah.

“My friend tried that,” I said. “He aged very fast for a power user. It’s likely he cut more than fifty years off his life expectancy. And, from what I understand from my fiancées, its harder for women than men not to share. It becomes a physical need.”

“You’re immune from disease,” mused Brian. “I’m assuming that includes STD’s and HIV and the like.

“As an Empath,” I said, “you can see people’s aura. We can see the diseases in people who are sick with STD’s or HIV, even before they show symptoms. You wouldn’t share with a sick person but, even if you did, it is highly unlikely that you could catch anything from them.”

“You can see our aura’s now?” asked Carrie.

I nodded.

“And what can you see?”

“You and Brian are both concerned,” I answered. “Brian, so far, hasn’t decided to go fetch the shotgun and poor Sarah is mortified that we are discussing her sex life.”

I detected a tinge of amusement in Brian’s aura. He reached over and held his daughters’ hand.

“So, you have Compulsion, and Empathy, Telepathy? You can read our minds?” asked Brian. I nodded.

“If I wanted to, I could,” I replied.

“Everyone, norm and powered user alike, sometimes shout out what they are thinking. It happens a lot, and I hear that. It’s like overhearing a conversation in a bar. But I could also look and read pretty much anything from your mind. I don’t as it’s bad manners and a violation of that person. I won’t say I’ve never done it because I have, but always either with the person’s express permission or with a court order.”

“Court order?” asked Brian.

“I work with the FBI,” I said. “That is hopefully going to be my career when I graduate. But for the moment I consult with them.”

“You said you had four powers,” said Sarah. “That they come in two’s?”

“TK,” I said, “Telekinesis. I can move stuff.”

I released my empty coffee mug which I’d been holding onto. I’d not been able to put it down without disturbing Edgar. I floated it back onto the table.

“Wow,” said Sarah. “That would be so useful.”

I smiled at her.

“Having powers takes some getting used to,” I said. “I’d like to help you get used to yours when the amulet comes off. I, we’d, also like to get to know our sister and her family. You all look like amazing people.”

I looked at Sarah. “And if I may give you one piece of brotherly advice, stop pandering to John. Call him John. He is not now, nor has he ever been, your dad.”

Melanie giggled. “Show her what you did to him,” she said.

I frowned.

“What?” asked Brian.

I sighed.

“I only found out a few weeks ago about John being my biological father,” I began. I told the tale of how he’d manipulated my mother and ended up sleeping with her to father me.

“When I found out I was very angry with him,” I said, “and I let him know.”

“Show them,” said Melanie, almost bouncing in her seat with excitement.

I laughed.

“Fine,” I said. “If you want to see, I can give you the memory. You will remember it as if you’d been there.”

Brian and Carrie looked at each other.

“May I?” I asked.

After a moment they nodded.

“Sarah?” I asked.

She nodded too. I gave them all the memory.

Brian crossed his legs, Carrie giggled, and Sarah gasped.

I could see Brian’s eyes watering.

“We’re not really speaking,” I said.

“I wonder why,” said Brian. “Remind me not to piss you off.”

Carrie looked at her watch. “Lunch should be about ready,” she said. “Let me go check on it.”

I looked at Sarah, “You just finished high school?” I asked. She nodded.

“What’s next?” I followed up.

“I was hoping to go to PSU,” she said. “Unfortunately, my scores weren’t good enough for a full academic scholarship. Dad’s figuring out if we can afford for me to go.”

I looked at Brian. His aura looked uncomfortable. I was guessing he was struggling.

“Will John not chip in?” I asked.

“He would if we asked,” he said, “but Sarah doesn’t really want to ask him. She really doesn’t want anything to do with him.”

“My house,” I said, “is ten minutes from PSU. I’m there for another year before I go to Quantico. My fiancées are going to be staying there when I leave. Ness, who is your age, has just started cullinary school nearby. If it would help, there is room for you there. No charge. It’s a bit of a madhouse at times, but it’s never dull.

“Obviously,” I said to Brian, “you’re all more than welcome to come and look around and meet the inmates of that particular asylum first.”

Sarah looked at her dad, uncertainty in her eyes.

Carrie stuck her head through the door. “Come through.”

Melanie and Sarah got up, as did Brian. I, encumbered with Edgar as I was, looked up at Brian. He came over to me and leaned down picking his son up gently.

Sarah took Melanie through into the kitchen.

“Tell me to mind my own business,” I said, quietly, “but if you’re struggling to pay for Sarah to go to PSU, I’ll help. I have enough to pay for her tuition and, if you don’t want her staying with me, her room and board in the dorms, books, an allowance so she can eat out occasionally, and have a bit of a life too.”

“Why?” he asked, standing there, the sleeping Edgar in his arms.

“She’s my sister. My family. Family looks after family,” I said. “I don’t want to get in between you and her. I’d like to be able to consider you all as family. I know Melanie would love that too.”

“You don’t know us,” he said.

“I know,” I said, “that you took my sister in, loved her, and gave her a good home. You were her dad and she loves you. That tells me all I need to know about you.

“I’m not trying to muscle in. If you tell us to go away and leave you alone, we’re gone and you will never see us again.”

“Let me think on it,” he said.

“Of course,” I said. “But please come over and meet my girls at least once. They wanted to come but we thought that all of us descending on you would have been overwhelming.”

“Four fiancées?” he said. “You think?”

The lunch was nice, Edgar waking up to eat and, once more, insisting on climbing into my lap. I ate around him and we made small talk.

I managed to divest myself of Edgar, Brian once more taking the boy from me and into the living room, Sarah and Melanie following. Out of habit I stayed in the kitchen and helped with the clean up.

“You still haven’t told us everything,” Carrie said. “Have you?”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“You and Melanie are sleeping together aren’t you.”

“If you mean having sex,” I said. “We haven’t, yet. We do share a bed though. She sleeps with me and my fiancées. She feels safer with us.”

“You say ‘yet’?” she said. “You expect to?”

“She has told me she wants to,” I said. “It hasn’t happened yet.”

“And your fiancées?” she said.

“I sleep with them,” I said.

“And they sleep with each other?” she asked.

I turned to face her.

“You want full disclosure?” I said. “Here it is. My fiancées are two sets of sisters. One set of twins who are power users, and one set of sisters who are norms. We all love each other. I love each of them individually and they love me, and each other, equally. We all sleep together, we have sex together, and they have sex with each other.

“Melanie has had sex with the twins, although I don’t think she’s yet had sex with Jules or Ness. Jules is a little more complicated. We also share outside our relationship as I told you earlier. From the outside, our house makes Caligula’s court look like Sesame Street. But the important thing, THE most important thing, is that we love each other so completely that it works. Each of us has so much love for the others, and none of us would have it any other way. This is primarily what I was talking about when I said the rules were different for power users. Our genetics means that inbreeding is not a problem. The bloodlines get stronger rather than weaker and there are no problems with defects.

“Now, I understand if you don’t want that for your daughter. My offer to help her into PSU is in no way conditional on us even having contact with her in the future. Talk to Brian, talk to Sarah. One thing I will promise you is that if she does come and stay with us, nobody; not me, not any of the girls, nobody; will lay a single finger on her if she doesn’t want them to. And nobody will use any kind of power on her to make her want to, either.”

She stared up at me gazing into my eyes.

“I see him in you,” she said. “Just a little bit, around the eyes. But his eyes always had a sly mean cast to them. Yours are more open, more honest.”

“Nobody can make this decision but you,” I said. “You as a family. But the first semester is already three weeks in. If she’s going to enroll this semester, it’s going to have to be soon or she’ll struggle. I’ll be able to help her catch up but, again, that’s up to her and you.”

We finished in the kitchen and then joined the others in the living room. Edgar was now sitting on Sarah’s lap talking to his toy again.

“It’s probably time we got going,” I said. “Thank you so much for meeting us and for lunch. I’m sorry if what I said shocked you, but you needed to know so you could be prepared. Maggie tells me she’s looking at removing your amulet in a few weeks. You have my contact details. If you want to talk, or just keep in touch by email, then that’s cool too.

“My offer holds no matter what. We’ll wait to hear from you. If we don’t then I’ll assume you don’t want to keep in touch and we won’t bother you again, but my offer still stands. Give your dad my email address and we’ll sort the details.”

Sarah looked from me to her dad as if to say, “What offer?”

Melanie stood. “Thanks for lunch.” She said smiling almost sadly. “It was lovely to meet you.”

Edgar climbed off Sarah’s lap and came and hugged me.

I leaned down and hugged him back. “It was nice meeting you too,” I said.  He let go and went back to his sister.

Brian showed us to the door.

“Pleasure to meet you, Sir,” I said shaking his hand.

We left.

Melanie watched me for a few minutes on the drive back.

“You were really good with Edgar,” she said.

I smiled. “He was a nice kid.”

“You’re going to be a great dad,” she said looking misty eyed at me.

“Not for a while yet,” I said. “There’s a bit I want to do before having kids. There’s plenty of time.”

“Not as much as you think,” she said. “For me, and the twins, yes, but remember Jules and Ness. They don’t have the time we have. You need to think about that.”

That was true. I’d been thinking that there was plenty of time and, in reality, there was, but Jules and Ness would probably want kids sometime in the next ten years. I’d been thinking quite a bit further out than that.

When we got home we gave the memories of the meeting to everyone and, almost as one, they turned and looked at me misty eyed, even Dana, Louise, and Gracie. Josh just grinned at me.

Later I was lying in bed, all my girls around me, and realized that I had done something. . .wrong.

“I’m sorry,” I said.

Mary looked up at me from her position against my side. For once Amanda was behind her. Jules and Ness on my other side with Melanie between them.

“What for?” she asked.

“For offering Sarah a place here without even thinking to ask you guys,” I said. “I shouldn’t have done that.”

“Hands up all those in favour of offering Sarah a place with us,” said Mary.

Instantly five hands went up. Even Ness’ who I though was asleep.

“All against.” All hands went down.

“There,” she said. “We voted. It’s fine.”

I chuckled. “I know,” I said. “But I still should have asked.”

“Caleb,” said Mary, “family belongs together. If your brother needs a place, then that’s fine too. We might have to figure something out, since we’re getting short of rooms, but it would be fine.”

“He seems to be settled at PCC,” I said. “I guess he’s probably got another year or two there, but we’ll see.”

Mary snuggled into me and I felt her power flare. She rolled love and relaxation, and I felt more than a soupcon of pride in there too. I wondered about that as I slipped into sleep.

+++++

I could feel Melanie’s nerves as we entered the PCC cafeteria the next day.  We were a few minutes early and so we went and grabbed ourselves each a drink and found an empty table. The cafeteria wasn’t that busy, so we sat in a fairly obvious location hoping that we’d stand out to Ephraim when he arrived.

I was scanning people around, keeping lookout for him, and a few minutes later I felt his approach. He had someone with him. A girl.

He looked around the cafeteria as he entered. I stood drawing his attention to me.

They made their way over.

“Caleb?” he said.

“Ephraim” I said. He winced.

“I prefer ‘E,’” he said. “That biblical shit gets me all kinds of stick.”

I nodded. “This is Melanie,” Melanie stood and smiled at him. We looked at the girl.

“I’m Connie,” she said. “If I waited for this big lunk to introduce me, well, I’d never meet anyone.”

I smiled at her, liking her instantly.

We all sat.

I looked at E. He was taller than me by a couple of inches and built like a linebacker. He was built like the stereotypical ‘jock’. I wondered about him.

Connie was watching me.

“No,” she said. “He isn’t.”

“Isn’t what?” I asked.

“He isn’t a Jock,” she answered. “Well – he is, he’s on the football team, and in a fraternity, and all that, but he’s not the movie Jock.  E and I have been together since middle school. We’re going to get married and he’s a caring loving gentle man.”

“Well,” said Melanie, “that’s zero for two then.”

E frowned “What?” he asked.

“John,” she said, “is an asshole. And if you’re not like him, then that means his assholeledness has failed to breed true into either of his sons.”

E laughed.

“Maybe it bred to his daughters?” he suggested with a grin.

I bristled at this, but Melanie laughed.

“Not to Sarah,” she said. “She’s lovely. Possibly to me, but you’d have to get to know me better to find out.”

Connie was watching me still.

“He can be a bit of an asshole with his humour,” she said to me quietly. “He doesn’t mean nothing by it.”

E looked at me and his face dropped a little.

“Hey,” he said. “I didn’t…”

I took a breath.

“I only found Melanie a couple of weeks ago,” I explained. “She’s had a very hard time and so I’m a little over-protective of her. Don’t worry about it.”

“Only found her?” asked Connie.

Melanie explained about her early life, telling them the story up until I met her at the diner.

“Then this guy,” she finished, “walked up to me and invited me to lunch. I figured why not? I’d get something to eat out of it, maybe a few dollars if I could convince him to… but instead he fed me, took me home, and loved me. And that’s how I met my big brother here.”

I could see tears in Connie’s eyes.

“I can see why you’d be protective,” said E. “I’ll try and rein my humour in in future.”

“Is there somewhere private we can go to talk?” I asked. “There are things we should discuss that are best not shared in public.”

“We can go back to  my place,” he said. “I share with a guy, but he’ll make himself scarce if I ask him.”

We stood and followed them back to a small apartment just off campus. There was a guy sitting on a small sofa reading a book. He looked up as we entered.

“Steve,” said E, “his is my half-brother Caleb and my half-sister Melanie.”

Steve nodded to me but then looked Melanie up and down, a leer growing on his face.

“Hey,” said E. “My sister, man – not cool.”

“Sorry Bro,” said Steve looking down. “I’ll get out of your way.” He picked up his book and left the room.

“He’s a good guy,” said E, “but a bit of a horn dog. To hear him talk you’d think he had girls hanging off him, but between you and me – I think he’s still cherry.”

I chuckled.

He and Connie sat where Steve had been sitting. Melanie and I took seats opposite.

“I take it this is about what the FBI lady came to see me about?” he said rubbing at his wrist.

I looked at Connie.

“Connie knows,” he said. “We don’t have secrets.”

“Did they say when they are going to take off your amulet?” I asked,

“They said next weekend,” he said. “I must admit I’ve got kind of mixed feelings about it. I mean having some freaky power is cool and all but I like what I have here. I’m with Connie and we’re set to get married. I just don’t want anything to ruin that.”

“There is always the option of getting rid of your power,” I said. “But it’s not something I’d do without a lot of thought. You don’t even know what power you have and it could really be of benefit to you. Also, you have to think ahead. The chances are you’ll have powered kids and, if you had no power, you may struggle to control them.”

“You have power?” asked Connie. “I see you don’t have the mark.”

“I lost mine last year,” I said. “I think it broke. I came into my power early.”

“And you have Compulsion?” she asked.

“I’m what’s called a multi,” I said. “I have Compulsion, Empathy, Telepathy, and TK.”

“So you can read our minds?” asked Connie.

“I could,” I said. “But I’m not. I don’t do that without permission.”

“Can you tell what power I have?” asked E,

I shook my head. “Not until the amulet comes off and they manifest. My Compulsion manifested first and then the others kind of came along later. I can see you have power, and roughly how powerful you are, but other than that I can’t see anything else.”

“Is it cool having powers?” he asked me.

“It has some advantages,” I said carefully. “But you can’t just go around using your power indiscriminately, especially on Norms. We’re watched pretty closely and, if you break the law or abuse norms, they will catch you and you will go to jail. There’s a special prison for power users. I believe it’s not a place I’d want to go.

“There’s also a whole section of the FBI set up to detect, catch, and detain power users who are breaking the law.”

“Wow,” he said. “So working my way through the cheerleading squad is out then?”

Connie elbowed him in the ribs.

“Not necessarily,” I said. “But if you used your powers to do it then, yes, you’d get taken down, and hard.”

“That does bring me to another topic that you need to be aware of,” I said. “It will only apply if you have Empathy, but you should know about it before hand just in case.”

I spent the next half hour talking through that particular scenario. Far from being pleased, E actually looked worried.

“I don’t want to…” he said but then stopped. “Wait. Didn’t you say you had Empathy?”

I nodded. “I do,” I said. “It was what caused me the most issues when I got my powers.”

“So you have to share?” he asked.

“As do two of my fiancées who both are empaths.”

“TWO of your fiancées?” Connie asked. “Just how many fiancées do you have?”

“Four,” I said. I pulled my phone out and showed them the picture of me with blaze and the girls. I had taken a picture of the painting done with all four girls in. It was so good.

“That’s Mary and Amanda, Jules and Ness.”

“I don’t know if I should be jealous or sympathetic,” he said. “I struggle to keep Connie happy. I don’t think I’d cope well with four.”

I looked at them both and saw the love between them. I really hoped that he didn’t have Empathy.

“Well,” I said, “if it’s any reassurance, you are of the Stott line. You will almost certainly have Compulsion. Multi’s are rare, perhaps one in ten or more. The likelihood is that you will just have Compulsion. Don’t get me wrong, that’s a big enough thing to deal with on its own but it doesn’t require sharing. Also, did Maggie tell you that you’ll likely live a lot longer too?”

He nodded. “And I won’t get sick either.”

“What’s your life plan?” I asked. He grimaced.

“I was going to play pro football,” he said, “but I injured my knee. I can still kind of play but I’m not up to the standard I was.”

“Can I look?” I asked.

“You a doctor?” he shot back.

“A Healer,” Melanie said. “His powers sometimes allow him to fix things.”

“You sure this isn’t just an excuse to get my pants off?” he said grinning.  I laughed.

“You can keep those on,” I said. “I just need permission.”

He looked at Connie, who shrugged.

“Sure,” he said, “go ahead.”

I looked at his knee and saw the damage. Ligaments had been partially torn and there were holes in cartilage that shouldn’t be there.

It took me about ten minutes to set things in motion to put everything right again. It would take about a week to take full effect.

“Give it a week and then try it out,” I said. “You should be good to go. And quit with the painkillers. You don’t need them anymore.”

“I can’t sleep without them,” he said.

“You will be able to from here on in,” I responded. “If it’s a problem stopping taking them, let me know – I‘ll help.”

“Thanks,” he said. His aura told me he didn’t believe that I’d done anything. He’d wait a week as I’d suggested but he wasn’t getting his hopes up. Strangely, Connie seemed more convinced than he did. She was very protective of her ‘big lunk’ and she really hoped that I had helped him. He’d been devastated when his plan for the future had come apart. He’d apologised to her so many times. He had promised her so much when he got into pro football and it had all been taken away from him.

She didn’t want any of that shit though. She just wanted him and loved him fiercely. She’d loved him since fourth grade, when he’d allowed her to play with him and his friends, over their objections. She had deftly managed the transition from being a friend to being a girlfriend as he discovered girls and fended off all comers. They’d given each other their virginities as sophomores after a prom and they fully expected to be together their whole lives.

My revelation about Empathy had her worried, and she was also worried that he would change once he had powers. She worried that he would become someone else and wouldn’t love her because she didn’t have powers. What she didn’t know, couldn’t know, was the depth of the love he had for her. He literally worshipped the ground she walked on. He only had eyes for her and his biggest worry about gaining his powers was that she’d see him as a freak and wouldn’t want to be around him any more.

I shook my head. “You know I said I was telepathic?” I said. They both nodded.

“Being a telepath is like being a guy in a bar where everyone is shouting all the time,” I said. “Pretty much everyone’s mind screams out what they are thinking at the time. It takes skill and practice not to do it. For instance, I just heard ‘oh shit’ from Connie just now because she knows what else she’s been screaming. I haven’t been looking, but both she and you have been screaming it at the top of your lungs. I couldn’t have not heard it no matter what I did.

“Then there are your private thoughts that I’d have to go looking to find. That’s something I’d never do unless I had very good reason, or your permission.”

“Normally I don’t reveal to people what I hear.” I continued. “Normally it’s not my business. But right now I think I’m going to break my own rule. I’m not going to tell you; I’m going to show you.”

I gave them both the memories of everything I’d picked up from both of them. Showing each the depth of love they had for each other and the fears and concerns each had about the E coming into his powers.

“Whatever happens,” I said, “you’ll face it together and get through it together. You have so much love for each other I doubt a tiny thing like E having powers could possibly come between you.”

“And,” I added, “Connie, if he does have Empathy, and the need to share, I know it will be difficult. Fuck knows I know. But I also know that you’ll figure it out between you. Sex isn’t the huge thing for power users that it is for Norms. Sex isn’t important, trust is. He’ll always be yours, always come back to you, and always put you first in everything he does. My grandmother said it best to me. She said my fiancées could be mid orgasm on the biggest cock in history but, if I needed them, they’d push him off them and come to me. I know the truth of that. When you realize that truth between you and E, then him sharing with some girl or some guy won’t be an issue.

“Some guy?” said E – “Do I have to…”

I laughed. “It’s not mandatory,” I said. “I guess I should tell you that I’m Pan, so I play with both girls and guys, and if you were to come over to our place, you’d find we have a trans girl living with us too. We all play together. But there’s no requirement for you to go outside your own comfort zone.

“You said that two of your Fiancées are norms. Do they share?” asked Connie.

“They are happy to play with other girls,” I said. “But, so far, they haven’t played with any other guys. I haven’t prevented them from doing so. It’s their choice as to if, and when, they would.”

“And what if they got pregnant?” she asked.

“They can’t” I said. “I’ve stopped us all having kids for now. I’ll reverse it when we’re ready. I don’t want to get some poor girl pregnant when I’m sharing, nor do I want to have kids yet. I do want them but when I’m ready.”

“You can do that?” she asked, glancing at E.

I nodded.

“Could you make it so I won’t have kids until we’re ready?” she asked. “I’m on the pill but it made me put weight on and I hate it.

“You’re beautiful,” said E. She smiled fondly at him.

“If you want,” I said, “Yes, I could.”

“Will you?” she asked, and I nodded.

I saw her mentally preparing herself. I did what I needed to do.

“Okay,” she said. “Where do you want me?”

I came so close to making a joke but thought better of it at the last moment.

“It’s done,” I said. “You’re good.”

“But I…” she began.

“It’s all done,” I said, then looked at E. “I’d suggest you too, but only if you have Empathy.”

I would never have thought that a jock, when confronted with the possibility that he would HAVE to have sex with multiple partners, would have looked so miserable.

Connie looked at him.

“We’ll figure it out,” she said taking his hand. “Like Caleb says.”