Caleb 70 - Dana

Monday morning arrived quicker than I would have liked. We’d stayed up late, just chatting and reconnecting with each other, something that had been kind of missed out on. Sarah was far more involved in the discussions than she had been and I sensed a change in her attitude to both me and the rest of the girls.

She’d been getting more and more relaxed around us as things had progressed. However, I’d never before gotten the sense from her that she was completely at ease with us, as she seemed to be now. Her very minor dalliance with Amanda had seemed to break down her remaining reservations. My attitude to her had also relaxed and, whereas before I’d had no plans to add her to our network, I was seriously thinking about it now.

I held off though, mainly because I didn’t want to get in the way of what Sarah and Arnie were building. It was important to me that they make their own way together, and I didn’t want the connection or our interference to get in the way of that. What would happen once they had established themselves? Well, that remained to be seen.

Melanie and I went out for a run. It wasn’t raining and since Melanie wasn’t up to my level, I held back a little bit to stay with her. Despite that, I enjoyed myself far more. Running can be a lonely occupation and having someone to run with. It made running much less tedious.

When we got back to the hotel we showered together, spent some time washing each other, and then joined the girls in the room for breakfast which had been ordered from room service.

I’d decided that I was going to find an architect today and, over the weekend, had sent out a couple of emails to see if anyone had any availability to speak with me this week. I had no idea what kind of waiting times these kinds of professionals had, but I wanted to get to see someone sooner rather than later. There was less than a month before we’d be ready to start thinking about digging foundations and until and unless we had a plan, we’d be sat doing nothing. I was already unhappy with the thought of how long it would take to get the rebuild done and the thought of things standing idle made my teeth itch.

One promising development arrived in my email inbox mid-morning. The realtor for our new temporary home had sent me a message saying that we would be able to access the property to take measurements. She gave us the option of Tuesday or Wednesday evening.

I thought it might be good to get Marcia to go with so she could plan her work, as well as perhaps looking at doing some other things like installing a proper workbench into Jules’ Workshop.

I had a couple of hypnotherapy sessions in the morning. My deaf client was doing well and her friend, who had come with her as chaperone, asked if I would be able to help her too. She’d been skeptical at first, especially given her friend was deaf. The fact I was able to converse with her friend in ASL without difficulty seemed to have changed her mind about me.

Just after lunch I relocated to the range, in time to see my singing star client. He was looking much better and was very pleased with his progress, having had neither relapse nor craving in weeks. He told me that his roadie-dealer had moved on. My client had apparently recommended his services to another band who were as interested in his extra-curricular activities, as much as his skills as a roadie. I also suspected that there had been a significant payment made for him to just quietly ‘go away.’ I still wasn’t sure that that was the end of the matter, but I wasn’t interested in getting involved any further with that situation.

I called Marcia and set up the appointment for Wednesday for us all to go and see the ‘new’ house, since I was expecting to be back teaching my martial arts class on Tuesday.

Since my last appointment didn’t finish until four, I didn’t bother going back to the hotel but made my way directly to the airport for my flying lesson. When I got there, the Cirrus was back on the tarmac, and Danny was waiting for me beside it.

“No Arnie today?” I asked.

“No,” he said. “I’ve given him the week off. After what happened on Saturday, I thought it better that he had a little time to gather himself. I took him up earlier for an hour just to see how he felt about it, and he seems okay, but a few days off won’t do him any harm.

“I would have suggested that you take a break too, but something tells me that what happened didn’t affect you quite so much.”

I smiled at him.

“I’m fine,” I said. “It was a great learning experience and, aside from losing my headset and logbook, I’m none the worse for it.”

“Here,” he said, passing me a new, boxed headset. It was the same make as the one I’d had before, but the higher model.

“This isn’t the kind I had,” I said. “Will the insurance pay for the upgrade?”

“That’s from us,” he said. “Kind of a thank you. No matter the cause of the accident, most people would have been screaming about suing us for what happened Saturday. The idea didn’t even seem to enter your head.”

“In truth,” I said, “it hasn’t. What happened wasn’t your fault, possibly not anyone’s fault, but if there was blame to be had it would likely be with the rental company. The NTSB will sort that out. Suing you would be a stupid thing to do. My instructor, your son, saved my life, getting me down in one piece, under some very difficult circumstances.

“Considering his age, which I know seems incongruous coming from someone only a couple of years older, he was amazing.”

“You didn’t have to wash his underwear,” he joked as we started the external checks on the Cirrus.

As we passed around the front of the plane, I grabbed the prop and gave it an experimental tug.

“Just checking,” I said grinning at him. He laughed.

“Asshole!” he said.

Later, as we were tucking the Cirrus up for the night, he said, “That completes your instructor hour requirements, but if you want to take another shot at your cross-country flight next Saturday, that plane is still in Nevada awaiting collection.

“I won’t charge you anything for the flight at all. It’s really the least I can do.”

“Will it be you or Arnie coming with?” I asked.

“Arnie,” he replied. “Only this time you’ll be flying the Cirrus.”

“Well,” I said, “at least we’ll have the parachute.”

“Don’t,” he said grimacing. “That’s not even funny.”

When I got back to the hotel, Arnie was there with Sarah. They were sitting together, chatting amiably with the rest of the girls.

Arnie looked at his watch as I entered.

“My god,” he said. “It’s that late already?”

I grinned at him.

“You still in one piece?” I asked. “You can’t have been here that long.”

“I think Sarah’s been protecting me,” he said, sharing a glance with her. I accepted hugs and kisses from all the girls, Sarah included. Arnie looked on, a mix of amusement and admiration on his face. I was pleased to note that there wasn’t a hint of jealousy in his aura.

“Did dad ask about Saturday?” he asked me after I settled down.

“He did,” I said. “I said yes.”

“What’s happening Saturday?” asked Sarah.

“We’re going to try again to get that plane,” I said. “I’m going to do my cross-country flight back from Nevada.”

“Can I come?” asked Sarah instantly.

I looked at Arnie.

“She’ll have to travel back with you,” I said, “so it’s up to you.”

Sarah turned to her boyfriend giving him the ‘Puss in Boots’ look. I think Ness had been giving her lessons, although for some reason blue eyes didn’t have quite the same impact. They seemed to do the trick on Arnie though.

“Sure,” he said. “If Caleb is happy to fly the outbound with you onboard, then you can hitch a ride with me on the way back.”

I could feel others wanting to ask if they might come too, but they restrained themselves wanting to allow Sarah and Arnie some alone time.

Sarah squeaked happily and threw her arms around Arnie. He blushed but grinned as she kissed his cheek.

“Aren’t you on a curfew?” I asked him after a few minutes. He glanced at his watch and jumped up.

“Oh shit,” he said. “I need to go.”

To give her her due, Sarah didn’t pout at all, merely standing up, and walking him out to the elevator, where they spent a few minutes while they waited for the car to arrive.

“I like him,” said Amanda after they left. “He’s a nice guy, and clearly besotted with Sarah.”

“Head over heels,” said Ness. “Even I can see that.”

“They both are,” said Mary. “Did you notice Sarah’s aura when they’re together?”

I nodded. “They certainly seem to be a good fit,” I said.

“So, when are we going to tell him?” asked Amanda.

“Give it a chance,” I said. “They’ve only been going out a couple of weeks. We’ve got the break coming up soon. We need to decide what we’re doing for that. Also, we need to ask Sarah.”

“Ask Sarah what?” asked Sarah as she came back into the room, her face still a little flushed from the goodbye kisses.

“We normally go up to the ranch in the break,” I said. “I was wondering what you were going to do.”

“The ranch?” she asked.

“Our parent’s place,” said Jules. “We go stay with them for a few weeks.”

“I’m really looking forward to it,” said Melanie.

“There’s no pressure,” I said. “If you want to stay here, or go see your parents, or come with.”

Sarah bit her lip. “Can Arnie come?” she asked.

“If he can get time away,” Jules said. “I’m sure Mom and Daddy would be fine with it. Do you think he would be able to?”

Sarah shrugged. “I have no idea,” she said.

“What about your parents?” I asked. “Won’t they want to see you in the break?”

Sarah frowned. “Things just keep getting more complicated,” she complained. “I just remembered I told them I’d try to get to see them this weekend. Dad was going to come pick me up. But if we’re going to Nevada on Saturday…”

“How about,” I said. “I drive you over to see them Sunday?”

“Would that be okay?” she asked.

“Sure,” I said. “We can head up there reasonably early, you can spend the day with them and either your dad can bring you back, or I can collect you.”

“You’re not going to come with?” she asked, looking a little hurt.

“I thought you might like some time with your family,” I said.

“You are my family,” she replied.

I smiled at her.

“There is another option,” Amanda suggested. “Maybe see if Arnie would like to go meet your parents?”

Sarah looked aghast. “Not yet,” she said. “I need to speak to them about him first.”

“And warn him about them,” she added after a moment’s thought.

The next morning, while Melanie and I were training, Sarah joined the other girls, who usually ran a couple of easy miles in the morning. Since Empathy wasn’t that strenuous on the body, the twins didn’t need to train heavily, although they were all attending the martial arts class I was teaching on Tuesday night. Sarah had decided that she too would join. I did warn her that she’d need to probably train more than the other girls, since Compulsion was actually harder on the body than Empathy was. She didn’t exactly look pleased at the prospect.

Wednesday morning my ethics professor announced that he planned to assist all of us who were doing our senior thesis on an ethical subject by debating each of our hypotheses in a classroom session. He requested that we each submit to him the question that we were going to consider, and each week we would have a discussion on that topic. That way, the person who was actually writing the thesis would get some perspectives that they hadn’t perhaps considered for themselves.

It turned out that there were sixteen of us in the class who had decided to do this, and we had until next week to send him the information requested. He would then determine the order in which they would be discussed and how long we would spend on each discussion.

He also told us that we would not be told who was considering each question, only that it was going to be considered. Finally, he said that he would also be injecting a couple of questions of his own. That way we would not know whether the topic up for discussion was, in fact, one related to a class member, or simply something the professor wanted us to consider.

I sat and thought about the actual question I was going to ask. I knew the general topic was going to be the ethics of a ‘superhero’ but that was such an all encompassing subject that I wanted to distil it down some. . .to make it more focused.

I decided to consider something that I’d been struggling with a little.

The statement ‘With great power comes great responsibility’ was what had been troubling me. I could kind of understand that from one viewpoint. For instance, if you had a lot of power, you had to use it in a responsible manner, and not abuse it, or those around you. But what did that actually mean? Did that responsibility include righting ALL the wrongs you came across in your life? Did I have the responsibility to insert myself into EVERY situation where I could see people were suffering? If so, where would it end?

I decided that that would be the topic of my senior thesis and quickly constructed an email, and sent it to the Professor, even before the class was over.

Dana and I walked out together.

“How are you doing?” she asked, linking my arm as we walked, as she so often did. “I heard about the crash.”

“Not so much a crash as a bit of a rough landing,” I corrected her with a smile.

“You ended up in a tree,” she said. “That, in my book, is a crash.”

I conceded the point. “I’m good. It wasn’t as big a deal for me as it seems to be for everyone else.”

“Often the case,” she said sagely.

We walked in silence for a few minutes.

“Gracie asked me to ask you when you are going to come over,” she said, rushing the words a little as if she’d had to work herself up to it.

“Come over?” I asked.

“You and I have some unfinished business,” Dana said blushing a little. “And Gracie misses you too. We were hoping you could come spend the night one day soon?”

“Things have been a bit hectic recently,” I said. “What with the fire, and the crash. Living in the hotel is nice, but I think I’m going stir crazy in there. It’s surprising how limiting it is. I haven’t had the chance to cook in forever, and eating out for every meal has definitely lost its appeal.”

“Then come over and cook dinner,” she said. “I certainly won’t complain about getting a decent meal. My cooking isn’t great, and Gracie can barely boil water.”

“Are you sure that Gracie is okay with it?” I asked. “I got the feeling that she was kind of pulling back from us. I don’t want to cause you guys any problems.”

Dana stopped and looked at me. She sighed.

“Gracie,” she began, “and, to a certain extent, I was pulling back. But not for the reason you might think.”

“Oh?” I queried.

“You know we both love you, right?” she said. I didn’t answer and she took that as affirmation. “Well, we were starting to be a little too much IN love with you. We were both beginning to feel like we wanted more than we had, like we wanted to be connected to you, like the girls were. We wanted to be a part of your family.

“I know that’s not what you wanted, nor was it really what we wanted truth be told, but living with you, day in day out, was drawing us in. I honestly don’t know how Louise and Josh can stand it. They are obviously a lot stronger than we are.”

“I think it might have something to do with them being together before they got involved with me,” I suggested. “Their love was already in place, even if they didn’t know it.”

“Maybe,” she said. “All I know is that since we moved out, things have become much clearer for us both. We still love you all, still want to be a part of your lives, still want to. . .occasionally. But having that space, that time apart, gave us the opportunity to find ourselves again, to be together, and not spend all of our time wishing for something that could never be.”

“I’m so sorry,” I said. “If I’d known it would be like that, I wouldn’t have suggested you guys move in with us.”

“No,” she said. “Don’t apologize. What you did, for both of us, was amazing. You took us in when we needed somewhere safe. You gave us the time and space to find each other. But it was time for us to move on.

“However,” she continued. “That doesn’t mean we don’t still want all of you to be a part of our lives, and for you to spend some time with us, if that’s okay with you, and the girls too.”

“I’ll speak to the girls,” I said. “And we’ll arrange some time, sometime soon.”

Dana smiled, then reached up, pulling me down into a long kiss.

Several people in the corridor stopped.

Just then Amanda arrived.

“Caleb,” she said.

“Uh-oh,” I heard one guy say. “He’s in trouble now!”

I heard a few chuckles from the other guys around.

Amanda ignored them all, walking up to us just as we broke the kiss.

“Dana,” said Amanda, “Nice to see you. Do I get a kiss too?”

Dana smiled at her, and they shared a short kiss, before Amanda kissed me.

“Oh wow,” I heard from around me. Along with some murmurs of “Lucky bastard.”

I grinned. “Lunch?” I suggested to the girls, and they nodded, each taking one of my arms as we walked to the cafeteria together.

We joined Jules and Melanie at a table and were soon joined by Mary and Sarah.

“Great idea,” said Mary, when Dana repeated her request for me to go spend the night with Gracie and her. “You’ve been banging around the hotel suite like a bear with a sore head. A change of scenery will do you good. When?”

“I don’t know,” I said.

“Why not Friday night?” asked Melanie. “Then Mary and Amanda can maybe go out and find someone to share with too. You’re not the only one that’s been getting antsy.”

Mary looked at Melanie. “Are we?” she asked.

Melanie grinned at her. “It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

Mary nodded, but then looked at me. “Would that be okay?” she asked.

I smiled at her.

“That would be perfect,” I said. “What about you, Jules, Ness and Sarah?” I asked Melanie.

“I’m sure Arnie will come over to keep Sarah company,” said Melanie. I think Ness and I can find some mischief to get up to. Jules will probably read. You know what she’s like. Once we’re in the new place she’ll be glad to get her workshop back.

I looked at Dana. “How does Friday night sound?” I asked.

“You going to stay over?” she asked.

I looked at the girls, and they all nodded, smiling.

“Okay,” I said. “But I have to be at the airport reasonably early on Saturday, so I’ll have to leave early.”

“You’re up at stupid o’clock anyway,” said Dana. “I’m sure we can get you on your way in time.”

“Check in with Gracie and let me know if it’s okay.”

“I’m certain it will be,” she said. “But I’ll send you a text after I’ve spoken with her. What are you going to cook?”

“I’ll think about it. If you or Gracie have a preference, let me know.”

I mentally made a note to go and buy some more knives. Ness’ knives had been in her locker at Catering College so they had been spared the fire. Mine had been ruined.

When I got home, there was a surprise in the form of two letters from the insurance company. The first was an offer for settlement for the personal possessions. They had conveniently itemized it and, when I looked through it, they had been reasonably generous. I wondered how much effect our relationship with Dean had on their decision to pay out. I was certain, given the amount of business that he did with them, that our the amount of our claim meant very little to them.

I sent them an email, accepting the offer, and gave them my bank details for them to deposit the funds. The letter said that once the acceptance was received the funds would be transferred within seven to ten business days.

I opened the second letter to find another offer of settlement, this time with respect to the clearance and rebuilding of the house.

I whistled at the amount, which was far more than I had originally expected. I never really knew how much the house had cost to buy since Dean had purchased it at auction from the FBI. I had guesstimated it to be about one point five million, but the offer for rebuild was over double that. Perhaps it cost more to build than to buy? That didn’t seem right, but I didn’t have much experience in this.

I decided to get some advice on this and called Dean.

“Hey Pops,” I said as he answered.

“Well if it isn’t Biggles,” he said. “Don’t tell me, you parked in a tree again?”

“Yeah yeah,” I said. “Very funny. How did you find out?”

“Jules called us, just after you told them about it,” he said. “Then she called again after you were picked up to let us know you were all right. You’ve certainly had an eventful few weeks.”

“You could say that,” I said.

“Are you coming up for the break?” he asked.

“We’re just figuring that out,” I said. “Sarah has a new boyfriend and wanted to know if she could bring him?”

“He the instructor guy?” he asked.

“Damn,” I said. “Does Jules send weekly reports or something?”

He laughed. “We speak to both our girls almost every day,” he said. “In any case – yes, he’s welcome. Will he be bunking in with you or will they need a separate room?”

“Separate room,” I said. “He doesn’t know about powers yet. I don’t know if he will by the time we come up, things are still fluid.”

“Okay,” he said. “We’ll play it by ear.”

“I got an offer from the insurance company,” I said. “For the rebuild.”

“Okay,” he said, “how much?”

I told him the figure.

“That sounds about right,” he said. “I’d accept if I were you. The sooner that’s all sorted the sooner you can start the rebuild.”

“I’ve got a contractor clearing the site as we speak,” I said. “Hopefully we can start digging foundations in a couple of weeks. I’ve got an appointment tomorrow afternoon with an architect. Hopefully we’ll be ready to apply for permits by the time the ground is cleared.”

“What about your new house?” he asked. “When are you moving in there?”

“We’re going to take some measurements this evening. Hopefully the realtor will have an update for us then too. It can’t come too soon for me. This place is amazing, but I’d rather be in my own home.”

“I know the feeling,” he said. “Before we settled here, Cheryl and I spent a lot of time building the business, and I spent a lot of time on the road. I stayed in really nice places, but hotels aren’t homes.”

“You’re not kidding,” I said. “I’ll be glad to get out of here.”

He laughed. “Hopefully it won’t be too much longer. Give our love to my girls.”

“I will,” I said, knowing that he was talking about all the girls, including Sarah. He and Cheryl seemed to have adopted all of us as a family. I loved them for that, and I knew my girls did too, although Sarah had yet to really get to know them. “Give our love to Cheryl. Love ya, Pops.”

We ended the call and I typed out an email to the insurance company, accepting the offer for the rebuild as well. Once the money was in my account, I’d have to transfer money to all the girls, Josh, Louise, Gracie, and Dana according to the list that they’d sent.

I spent the time waiting for the girls to return from school working through the lists that the insurance company had sent, and working out how much of the money they were going to send would be given to each person. I hoped that they would be happy with the amount.

Once the girls got back, we met up with Josh and Louise and went for an early dinner. The appointment at the house was for seven, and Marcia was waiting for us when we arrived.

“Hey Marcia,” I said as she got out of her truck when we pulled up. She was grimy from, I assumed, just coming from our old house having been working there.

“Hey, Caleb.” She said. “Any news on the plans yet? We’ve demolished the rest of the house and are just in process of removing all the remains from the site. Once that’s cleared, I’m going to be digging out the old foundations. Two weeks and the site is going to be ready for the new foundations to be dug.”

“I’ve got an appointment with an architect tomorrow,” I said. “Hopefully we can at least get some plans underway. I think it’s probably going to take a couple of months for that to happen, and then we need to apply for all the permits.

“In the interim there is the work on this place to be done.” I finished.

She turned and looked at the new house, just as the realtor pulled up in her car.

“Mr. Stott,” she said getting out and walking towards us.

“Good evening,” I responded, smiling at the older woman.

She simply handed me a set of keys.

“I’ll wait in my car,” she said. “You go ahead and do what you need to do.”

“Any progress on the sale?” I asked taking the keys.

“I suspect another couple of weeks,” she said. “I’ve been trying to push it, given your circumstances, but there is only so much we can do from this end. Hopefully I’ll know more by this time next week, and maybe by then I might even have a date for you to be able to take possession.”

“That would be nice,” I said. “There are things we need to order, and it would be good to be able to have a date for that.”

We went through the house, taking measurements for drapes and furniture, and decided that the bigger bed would definitely fit in the master bedroom.

Marcia spoke with Jules about how she wanted her workshop set up, and made a definitive list of the jobs that she’d alluded to when we’d viewed the house prior to buying it.

When we came out, Bob and Angela were waiting on the front yard.

“I thought that was your truck,” said Bob grinning at me. Angela came over and gave me a huge hug, pressing her body into mine. I was still not sure what was going on with these two.

“What are you doing here?” Bob Asked.

“We need a place to stay after the fire,” I said. “We bought this place to use until our house is rebuilt.”

“Wow,” said Angela. “We’re going to be neighbors?”

“Almost,” I said. They lived about four houses down. “Is there anything we need to know about the neighborhood?”

“Nah,” said Bob. “Most of the houses on the street are rented to students at PSU, except for this house and the house where…” he stopped, not wanting to say Harold’s name.

I nodded. “Who owns that place now?” I asked.

“It’s a young family,” he said. Looking at the house next door. I hadn’t realised that we lived that close to Harold’s old house. I looked at the house and noted that there was a late model pickup truck on the drive, and a smaller compact car.

“I pity them,” I said with a laugh. “Living among the rabble.”

“Cheek,” Angela said, slapping my arm gently. I grinned at her.

“I do hope you’re having a housewarming party,” said Bob, “when you move in.”

“We’ll think about it,” I said. “Don’t want to upset the neighbors.”

He laughed.

“Invite them all,” he said. “That’s what we do.”

“I’ll think about it,” I said. “We need to get in first.”

“Well let us know if you need any help moving stuff,” said Bob.

“Sadly,” I said, “there’s nothing to move. Only our clothes and some tech we bought after the fire – everything else went up with the house.”

Bob grimaced.

“Sorry, man,” he said. “That really sucks.”

“It’s fine,” I said. “Good opportunity to get some new stuff.”

We finished off at the house, bade goodnight to Bob and Angela, and went back to the hotel. Marcia had made a list of jobs for which she was going to send me an estimate.

Thursday afternoon found me standing outside a small office building which was let out to a number of small businesses. It wasn’t the most elite of places, but the offices were clean and neat.

I walked through the door to find that there was no reception, but there was a directory of sorts on the wall in the elevator lobby. There were only three floors total in the building. Looking at the board I could see the office I wanted was on the second floor. Rather than waiting for the elevator, which appeared to be stuck on the top floor, I took the stairs.

There were two offices off the second floor elevator lobby, one seemed to occupy the majority of the floor, and another which looked to be about the same size and shape as a broom closet. It did have a half glazed door which was currently slightly ajar. There was a company name etched in the glass. At least at first glance it looked etched. On closer inspection I could see it was a simply plastic sticker, made to look like etching. It made sense. Replacing the full pane of glass would be costly each time a tenant moved out.

I knocked on the door.

“Come in,” said a voice. It sounded young and, when I opened the door, I found myself facing a desk which occupied about a third of the space in the room. Behind it, to one side, there was a drawing board, and on the other some filing cabinets and a large format printer which looked to have seen better days.

Between the desk and the door where I stood there was about ten feet of floor space, in which stood a couple of mismatched chairs.

A young man, who looked to be about my age, was sitting behind the desk. He examined me as I examined him and his office.

“Mr. Stott?” he asked.

“Yes, sorry,” I said entering his office and closing the door behind me. He stood.

“Aaron Jenkins,” he said. “We spoke on the telephone.”

“We did,” I said still looking around the office.

“I’m just getting started,” he explained. “I finished school two years ago and went to work for a firm across town. Unfortunately that didn’t work out and I decided to set up on my own.”

I raised my eyebrows, catching his stray thoughts.

Aaron had been a rising star in his office but, although he knew his business and had qualified with honors, he had no head for office politics. When his rivals at the office started playing games, Aaron found himself completely outmatched. Eventually, his rivals had managed to engineer a situation between Aaron and the owner’s daughter and he ended up being fired. The owner had vowed that Aaron would never work in Oregon again so he was left with the choice of leaving the state or setting up on his own, as no other firms would hire him. Now he was scratching a living doing small jobs like ours while wishing he’d been better at the game.

“Please,” he said. “Take a seat.”

I sat and looked at him.

“You said on the telephone that you wanted plans drawn up for a rebuild, following a fire,” he prompted.

“Yes and no,” I said. He arched his eyebrows.

“Yes,” I clarified, “our house was burned down, but no I don’t want to rebuild, or at least not the same house. We now have an empty plot of land, a blank slate so to speak, and I’d like to build a new house on it, but we’d like to change the design.”

“Okay,” he said. “Do you have any ideas as to what you’d like to do with the space?”

I smiled at him and then described the house we wanted. At the same time, I was finding out more about him and deciding whether he was, in fact, someone we could work with.

I was there for nearly two hours while we talked. It had taken me about thirty minutes to decide that this guy was someone I could work with. He was honest and, from what little experience he had, he was good at his job. He’d aced all his exams and had plenty of ideas of how to achieve what we wanted. He took what the girls and I had discussed and, as we were talking, started sketching on a large pad on his desk.

“So,” he said finally, showing me a sketch he’d done of the proposed build. I had to say it looked really good, and I was impressed at his level of skill, not just at visualizing what we wanted, but also in drawing it out, in realtime, while we were talking.

“I’ll need to go to the site and take some measurements,” he told me. “Then I can draw up some plans for submission. At that point we can start applying for building permits. They say it should take about thirty days to get a building permit, but at the moment you can just about double that. The sooner we can get the application in, the sooner you can start the build.

“I’m not exactly rushed off my feet at the moment, so I can probably have a first draft of plans to show you by mid-week next week. I’d suggest bringing your partner with you at that time to review them.”

“Sounds good,” I said. “Should we make an appointment now for that or did you want to let me know when the plans are ready, and we can make the appointment then.”

“Now would be fine,” he said. Then he grinned at me. “I work better to a deadline.”

I laughed. “My only problem is that the only time we’d be able to make an appointment would be after five.”

He sighed, theatrically, but there was a hint of a grin.

“Okay,” he said. “Just for you guys, I’ll do that – shall we say next Thursday at five thirty?”

“There’s one thing we haven’t discussed,” I said. “How much?”

“Depends on whether you just want the plans drawn up,” he said. “Or you want me to actually manage the build. I can assure you that I have managed projects of a much bigger scale than yours, so I am fully capable of doing so.

“If you just want the plans drawn up – then I charge $200 per hour, and I’m thinking it will be somewhere in the region of $2500 to $3000. If you want me to manage the build then I work on a percentage fee of the project cost. That includes everything, applying for permits, hiring contractors, arranging all the relevant inspections, project managing the build, sourcing materials, and of course supplying all the relevant drawings for the build.”

“And what is that percentage?” I asked, having already discovered that some architects charged up to fifteen percent of the project cost.”

“Four point five percent,” he said.

That sounded like a lot of money. A project that cost a million dollars would net him a fee of forty five thousand dollars. I expected that the build would probably cost closer to three million than two, which would mean he would be earning over one hundred and twenty thousand dollars. I considered whether I should change professions.

“I have a contractor I’d like to use,” I said. “She’s currently doing the site clearance, but she’s a sole operator.”

“I can speak to her,” he said. “But I’ll want to get references. If I manage this build, then it’s my reputation on the line and I need to make sure that all those involved are worth hiring.”

“Sounds reasonable,” I said. “She did some work for us previously, so I’m happy to provide at least one reference,”

“That wasn’t why the house burned down was it?” he asked. I laughed.

“No,” I said. “We were burned out. That’s what you get for having an FBI agent living with you.”

“Oh,” he replied, looking stunned. “I’m so sorry.”

“Okay,” I said. “For now, I’m happy for you to draw up the plans, you can bill us at your hourly rate for the work you do. After our next meeting, we can figure out the rest. Is that reasonable? I don’t want to commit without discussing it with my fiancées first.”

“Of course,” he said, not seeming to notice the plural. “I’ll have some plans for you by next week, and if you could pass on your contractors’ details, I can make a start on getting her checked out.” He was trying to close on getting the whole job, but I held back.

“Let’s leave that until after we meet again,” I said. “There’s no point in you going through all that unless you’re going to be managing the project.”

He managed not to sigh out loud, thinking he’d closed the deal, but getting a final push back. Personally, I was probably going to get him to manage the project. It was one more thing I didn’t have to do, and I didn’t think that Marcia, as a sole operator, would be able to do it. I wanted the girls to meet him though, and get their opinion. The house would be something we’d all have to live in, and I wanted them to be happy with him too.

I left his office, having paid him a retainer. He gave me the sketch of the house he had drawn while we were talking. I’d be interested in seeing my girls’ opinion of it.

I was later back to the hotel than I’d anticipated, and all the girls were already back when I got there. We decided to go to the range as usual then grab dinner on the way back to the hotel, rather than eating in the restaurant.

I showed them all the sketch of the house and they each had suggestions as to how it might be improved, although on the whole the reaction was positive.

Friday morning I was walking to my first hypnotherapy appointment when I ran into Dana, or rather she came looking for me.

“Hey Caleb,” she said, a little out of breath. Apparently she’d had to run to catch me up.

“Hi,” I said. “How are things?”

“Are you still coming over tonight?” she asked.

“If that’s okay with Gracie?” I returned.

“She’s looking forward to it,” she said. “We both are.”

“Then I’ll be there,” I replied. “What time?”

“Are you cooking?” she asked, an unspoken plea in her eyes.

I laughed. “Okay,” I said. “What do you want me to cook?”

“Gracie really liked your Paella,” she offered, “and so did I.”

“Okay then,” I said. “Paella it is. I’ll pick up the ingredients this afternoon. See you about six?”

She gave me a peck on the cheek, and then dashed off, being close to being late for her first class.

After my hypnotherapy sessions, I went shopping. I picked up a new set of knives, once more going for the same Zwilling Pro as I’d had before. I’d been very happy with them and saw no reason to change. I also picked up all the ingredients for dinner and dessert.

I arrived at Dana and Gracie’s place just after six, having stopped off at the hotel for a shower. Mary and Amanda were not going out until later, so didn’t need to get ready so early.

“Are you not going with them?” I’d asked Melanie knowing that, as an empath, she needed to share as much as they did.

“Not this time,” she’d replied. “I’m not really feeling the need. I think meeting so many new people at school and everything has met my need to connect for now. Maybe next time.”

Gracie opened the door to my knock, and her face split into a grin as she saw me.

“Caleb!” she exclaimed, almost as if it were a surprise I was standing there. For a moment I was concerned that Dana had engineered this without telling her girlfriend, but a quick check of her surface thoughts reassured me that that wasn’t the case. I was also pleased to note that she was genuinely happy to see me.

She pulled me into a hug, holding me to her for a long moment. I couldn’t really return the hug as I had bags of stuff in my hands.

“Gracie,” said Dana from across the room. “Let the poor boy in and put down his stuff. You can devour him later.”

With a slight blush Gracie released me and then led me into their small kitchen where I unloaded all the groceries I’d bought.”

“Before I forget,” Gracie said and went to her jacket which was currently draped over the back of one of the chairs. “Maggie asked me to give you this.”

She handed me an envelope, which I opened.

It was a note from Maggie.

Caleb,

Those assholes at HR are going to write and reject your application to the bureau on the grounds that you are under the age requirement for the FBI.

I could get involved, but it’s easier if you sort it yourself.

I need you to contact them once you receive their Rejection and tell them that you are exempted from the age requirement, based on Regulation 443, Section iii, Appendix b. They will try and get you to explain further, but they do not have the clearance to know more. Just cite that regulation and that should resolve the issue.

DO NOT under any circumstances reveal anything more than that.

Maggie.

I sighed. Bureaucracy gone mad. Keeping secrets from your own organization. I could see the reasoning for it, but it didn’t seem right. I tucked the letter into my pocket and then turned back to the girls, who’d both been watching me.

“Trouble?” asked Gracie

“H.R.,” I said. “Just hoops I need to jump through to join the bureau.”

She grunted. “Get used to it,” she said. “They are the bain of every agent’s life. Can I get you a drink?”

I accepted a beer, and we sat chatting for a few minutes, before I took the remainder of my beer into the kitchen and began to cook dinner.

The kitchen wasn’t huge and both the girls came in with me. We continued to chat as I worked and then as we ate, once dinner was ready.

Despite it being less than a couple of weeks since the girls had moved out, we had plenty to talk about. I told them, also, about the insurance and how I was hopeful that the payout would arrive within the next week or so. I gave them both the figures that I’d calculated, based on the lists that they’d prepared, and they seemed content with that.

After dinner, I cleared the table and went into the kitchen to start the clean up. It had become almost a ritual by now. I was interrupted by Gracie who walked up behind me as I was carrying the dishes in. Once I’d placed them on the side she turned me around gently and pressed up against me, bringing her lips to mine in a kiss that was part promise part need.

“Forget about this,” she said in a half whisper as she draped her arms around my shoulders. “We’ve both been waiting for too long for you to come over.”

She kissed me again, running her hands up and down my body, while she pressed against me. After the kiss, which left me somewhat breathless, she took my hands and led me from the kitchen, through the lounge area, and into a bedroom. As we entered, Dana emerged from the bathroom, wearing nothing but a robe. She looked both excited and a little nervous. Her arousal was easy to see from the tenting of the robe.

I locked eyes with Dana and she smiled at me, at the same time, dropping her robe. Her body was lean with a slight suggestion of definition. She had perfect, pert, b-cup breasts which stood proudly without any suggestion of sag. Her nipples were pink and stiff, displaying her arousal. Completely hairless other than the hair on her head and eyebrows, she had rounded hips that promised a pert luscious ass. Her cock stood to attention, bobbing gently to the beat of her heart, with a bead of precum already glistening on the head, a further attestation, if any were needed, of her arousal.

“You are perfect,” I said breathlessly looking at her. She smiled a little self-consciously.

“Thanks to you,” she said.

“No,” I said. “You were perfect before we met. Gracie is an incredibly lucky woman.”

“And don’t I know it,” Gracie said coming up beside me. She too, now, was naked having shrugged all her clothes while I was admiring her girlfriend. I turned to look at her. She, too, was beautiful.

Her body was more defined than Dana’s, I guessed due to her profession. Another difference was that she had a neatly trimmed landing strip just above her pussy, which I could see was glistening with moisture even before we’d started anything. Her breasts were slightly bigger than Dana’s, probably a C cup, and her nipples darker. They, too, were as stiff as Dana’s, demonstrating that she too was more than a little aroused.

“I think,” I said, “that Dana is just as lucky. You are beautiful.”

“You are a smooth talker,” smiled Dana.

“And also,” said Gracie closing in on me, “way overdressed.”

I looked back to Dana who had, by this point, closed on me from the other side. She reached up and took my face in her hands, bringing her lips to mine and kissing me, as her girlfriend started to unbutton my shirt.

Goosebumps raised on my skin as Gracie caressed my bare chest and back, my own nipples straining as Dana continued the kiss, her hands now busy at my belt. There was no real urgency in either of their movements, knowing that they had me trapped between them. I caught fleeting thoughts from the pair of them as to what they intended to do to me, and what they wanted me to do to them. They had a plan and I was more than happy to go along with it.

Dana broke the kiss turning my face to her girlfriend who had moved in front of me. Gracie wasted no time in capturing me in her kiss while Dana, having opened my belt and pants, slid down my body, taking my pants and boxers with her. Subconsciously I lifted first one foot and then the other for her to remove the remainder of my clothes. I jumped slightly as I felt Dana’s hot mouth close over the head of my cock, and then slide down the shaft, until she held about three quarters of me in her mouth. She sucked gently swirling her tongue around. My cock throbbed and she gave a small moan of appreciation as a dollop of precum squirted onto her tongue. She lapped it up like a kitten with cream before standing once more.

Gracie moved us to the bed, guiding me gently as she continued the kiss. Once more Dana took over the kiss, drawing me back with her onto the bed and pulling me on top of her. I wasn’t quite sure how she managed it without powers, but soon I found myself laid on top of her supporting the majority of my weight on my arms as we kissed. Our bodies pressed together, her breasts pressed into my chest, nipples scoring hot lines down my flesh. Both our cocks were trapped between us, rubbing against our bellies, and each other, lubricated by the pre-cum that was flowing freely from each of us.

Gracie had laid down beside Dana, and was stroking my back as I kissed Dana. I started to move down her body, kissing at her neck, and then capturing one of her nipples in my mouth drawing it in and gently nibbling at it.

She stiffened and probably would have moaned if Gracie hadn’t already taken over the kissing. She was fully occupying Dana’s mouth while I kissed and licked at her breasts, connected now to her body so I could feel what she felt. I knew exactly what felt good, and what felt great.

I found that she liked me to bite at her nipples, probably harder than I would have done had I not been getting instant feedback from her. Each tiny spike of pain, as I nipped at her, sent sparks of arousal straight to her groin. I was certain that, if I continued, I could make her cum simply by doing this.

I moved further down, continuing to stimulate her nipples with my fingers, while my mouth began a journey across her belly. I could taste both of us on her; her’s and my own pre-cum had mixed and been spread over her toned stomach, and I dipped my tongue briefly into her navel.

She moaned when I breathed on her cock. It twitched as if begging to be touched. Gracie had taken over playing with her breasts as they kissed, and I slid my hands down Dana’s sides and onto her thighs, gently pushing them even further apart than they had been.

I could feel the heat radiating from her cock, and the scent of her musk filled my senses, almost making me dizzy with my own arousal. I wanted so much to taste her, to possess her, to make that beautiful piece of her spurt its payload into my mouth. But this was not about what I wanted. I’d made her a promise and I wanted this part to be about her.

It didn’t stop me from having a taste though, and I ran my tongue along the full length of her cock. I dragged it over her ballsack before slowly sliding up her stiffness until I reached the head, slick with her pre-cum. I slipped my lips over her head, sucking her into my mouth and relished the taste as I took her right to the back of my throat.

I was used to deepthroating Josh’s much bigger cock, so I took Dana to the root with no difficulty whatsoever. I enjoyed the heat, the taste, and the feeling of her pulsating in my mouth. I applied a little suction and then realized that she was right on the edge of cumming.

Gently I pushed her orgasm down, holding her cock in my mouth as I did, and allowed her to ‘cool off’ a little. I knew she didn’t want to cum yet, and wanted this experience to be as good for her as possible.

Slowly I pulled off her cock and licked my way back down to her balls, gently lapping and sucking at them as she spread her legs even more, pulling up her knees and exposing her taint and pucker to me. A clear invitation.

I cheated. Using TK I pushed her legs even further up, while lapping at her ballsack, and worked my way further back.

I decided to see if Gracie wanted in on this, and I extended the invite for her to be able to share in her lover’s sensations. I felt her stiffen on the bed beside us. She’d continued to kiss Dana, and was gently stroking and playing with her breasts, apparently not yet clued into the fact that Dana liked things a little rougher. I felt a little disappointment from Dana that she was no longer feeling the tiny spikes of pain that had so turned her on earlier. I also ‘heard’ that she’d never found the right way to let Gracie know that she wanted that.

That was easily rectified and a small ‘suggestion’ to Gracie had Dana squirming in delighted torment as Gracie finally ‘figured out’ what her lover needed.

While this was going on I’d placed my hands on Dana’s delicious ass, and spread her cheeks, fully exposing her to me. The first time I ran my tongue across her asshole I had to push her orgasm down yet again as the combined stimulus of Gracie’s new discovery and my tongue on her pucker had brought her right to the edge.

I started to rim her, probing her ass with my tongue, both wetting and opening her up as I slid my tongue into her ass. She mewled and squirmed still trapped in Gracies kiss, the sensations of my tongue sliding into her forcing me to yet again gently restrain her release. She was on a hair trigger right now and I was certain that, without my ability to hold her back, she’d cum before the main event.

“Stop teasing,” Dana said breathlessly breaking the kiss with Gracie. “Come up here and fuck me.”

Keeping her legs up, I worked my way back up her body, pausing briefly for another taste of her delicious meat, which made her groan in mixed annoyance and arousal. Gracie twitched also. She’d accepted the invite and was now feeling everything that Dana felt. She lay on her back beside Dana. They held hands, but Gracie was gently playing with her own clit as she experienced the feelings that I was eliciting within her lover’s body.

Dana moaned again as I nipped gently at her nipples as I passed, making it seem that I was going to pause there, but she lost patience and pulled me up, until my face was over hers.

“Do it,” she said breathlessly. “Take me.”

She reached down, taking my cock in her hand, pulling me toward her and lining me up against her.

“Wait,” I said gently. “We’ll need some lube.”

Dana growled. But indicated the side table where a tube of lube lay.

It was out of reach, but my TK was up to the task and I soon had it in hand.

Gracie, who had moved closer, took it from me, opened it, and squeezed some into her hand. I jumped a little at the cold sensation as she slathered it all over my cock and then, for good measure, added some more.

She wasn’t finished there though, and applied even more to Dana’s pucker. She rubbed it all around her ring, before she slipped first one, and then two, fingers into her girlfriend. Dana moaned.

I heard that Gracie had bought a strap-on to use with Dana, but both had held off, wanting me to be the one to take Dana’s anal virginity.

I knelt between Dana’s legs while she looked at me, her eyes a mix of apprehension and lust.

“Please,” she said.

I moved forward and placed the head of my cock at her entrance. I rubbed it gently over the sensitive skin of her anus. She moaned, trying to press herself onto me.

“Slowly,” I advised gently. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

“I want you to,” she said. “I want you to ram that big dick inside me and make me scream!”

I figured that was just the lust talking and did not do that. I knew there might be a little discomfort at first, but I neither wanted to really hurt her nor damage her.

I pressed the head of my cock against her hole and applied a gentle steady pressure. I felt her ass resist at first but slowly, as the muscle tired, it gave way and relaxed, allowing me to press forward almost imperceptibly. She opened up a little as I slipped the first quarter inch of my cockhead into her.

Both Dana and Gracie tensed a little. There was no pain yet, but there was the expectation. I sat still waiting for Dana to relax before pressing forward a little more, gently stroking at her thighs and her balls while I did so.

I remembered the first time I’d fucked Josh, and began a gentle rocking motion, pushing forward and easing back, each time moving the smallest amount forward, stretching her out a little more with each small thrust.

Dana started to moan quietly in her throat as I pressed further and further inside of her until, with a little catch, the whole head of my cock was inside her.

She’d felt the tiniest spike of pain as the widest part of my cock had slipped inside her, but that passed quickly and she smiled up at me.

“I’ve waited so long for this,” she said, reaching for me, and pulling me down. She was folded almost double, but she didn’t seem to mind as she pulled me into her. I slid deeper inside of her, the lube making it almost effortless. She moaned as my cock pressed deeper, pressing against her prostate and stretching her out.

“God that feels so good,” she said.

She’d released Gracie’s hand by now and reached up, cupping my face.

“Fuck me,” she whispered, and then pulled me down into a kiss.

I tilted my hips a little, pulling out of her, before pressing forward once more, all the time battling her tongue as she tried to devour me.

Beside us, on the bed, Gracie lay watching, her fingers rubbing at her clit as she shared the sensations of her lover, and felt her ass being stretched as I moved in and out, each time moving a little further, and pressing back in a little harder.

Dana started to grunt into my mouth as I got into a rhythm, sliding in and out of her ass. The feeling of her, tight around me, had me building quickly toward my own orgasm, while Dana’s cock spurted jets of precum each time my head pressed on her prostate.

I was holding Dana’s orgasm back. Not pressing it down as I had before, but allowing it to come almost to its crest, and holding it, as I had with Sue. Taking her far beyond what would normally be the point at which she’d cum, and she started to keen in her throat as the pressure built and yet couldn’t release.

Gracie was twitching and moaning beside us on the bed as she furiously frigged herself, her orgasm tied to Dana’s and frustratingly held back as she not only felt her own ministrations, but the sensation of my cock ploughing in and out of Dana’s ass, filling her up and battering at her prostate.

Dana broke the kiss, gasped for breath and reached out with her hand to find her lover, who grasped hold like a drowning woman.

I sped up even more, plunging my cock in and out of Dana’s wanton asshole. I felt it clench and release around me as Dana tried her best to find her orgasm and, at the same time, bring me to climax. She desperately wanted to cum, but even more so wanted to hold on so that we could cum together, wanted to feel me spurting and spasming inside her, feel me filling her insides with my seed. She wanted that to be the stimulus for her to finally reach her peak.

I was really close, feeling Dana’s asshole sucking at my cock like a greedy maw. The head of my cock rubbed against her insides, and I relished the friction against the walls of her rectum, and the tight ring of muscle clenching and releasing around my shaft. Finally I couldn’t take it any longer and, with a loud moan of my own, pressed deep inside her, dumping spurt after spurt of hot thick creamy spunk into her willing bowels.

At the same time, I released her orgasm, and she and Gracie both screamed as they came simultaneously, spurts of cum jetting up from Dana’s cock soaking both our chests and bellies as we rutted together. Gracie had become so frustrated that she had four fingers plunging in and out of her own pussy and a jet of girlcum squirted out of her as she all but fisted herself.

Dana clutched on to me as she rode out her orgasm, one arm and both legs wrapped around me, while her other hand held a death grip on Gracie’s. She twitched and spasmed for a few minutes as I continued to thrust inside of her, emptying my balls into her.

Finally she relaxed. I allowed her legs to fall, causing my softening cock to slip from inside her.

“Thank you,” she breathed, with a contented sigh. “That was…”

“That was amazing,” said Gracie and I simultaneously. She caught my eye, and we laughed.

“Thank you,” I said to Dana, kissing her gently. “You are amazing.”

“I think I need to move,” said Dana, a slight look of discomfort on her face.

I moved off her, and she slid out of bed, scuttling to the bathroom.

“You bastard,” said Gracie, laid on her back panting. “I had so many plans as to what I was going to do to you. And now I can’t move.”

A few minutes later I heard the shower start in the ensuite.

“Maybe later,” I said with a laugh. “But first, I need a shower.”