Chapter 34: Graduation ll

Kim and her family didn't stay long. They hung around the reception, picking at hors d'oeuvres, cheap coffee, and lemonade while chit-chatting with my family members. But after only about a half-hour – right after Viktoriya stopped by to congratulate us, say hello to Kim, and move on – Kim told her father she was ready to go. I'd kept her by my side for the entirety of those thirty minutes, enjoying any opportunity to be with her after far too long apart, particularly for a special occasion like this. But I think she left because she thought I wasn't paying enough attention to everyone else, and knowing that I'd never even think of sending her away, she took it upon herself to do "what was best for me" by removing herself and her family from the scene. Certainly, everyone else seemed to loosen up a bit once they were gone, and the six Tri-Delts who'd come to see me miraculously returned from wherever they'd disappeared to over the previous thirty minutes.

But even the six of them left shortly after to see other friends at other ceremonies. The rest of us students did the same, and I got the chance to say 'goodbye' to Gwen and Robin, although they seemed to be gawking back and forth between me and Dawn most of the time, watching to see how we interacted with each other.

After all the ceremonies were done, Bert and his family went out to a restaurant for dinner with Lynne, and Paige went with them since she would be driving Lynne back to Stanford afterward. The other fourteen of us filled up the living room of the Berkeley House and ordered pizza.

NOW my academic career was done.

"Hey, little brother. Come give us a hug."

I stood over the kitchen sink, washing off the finger-grease from my last slice of pizza, and glanced over at the doorway. Brandi and Dayna both stood just inside the kitchen, Dayna with her arms folded beneath her breasts and Brandi with her arms already outstretched for that hug she'd just asked for.

Reading her tone, I frowned while I dried my hands and asked, "Are you two leaving already? It's still early."

Brandi took three steps toward me and wrapped her arms around my neck and shoulders while replying, "We're meeting up with some friends. And there's this guy I kinda wanna see again." She stepped back with a shrug and a smile while brushing a lock of her bangs behind her ear.

"'This guy'?" I arched an eyebrow at her before directing a questioning glance at Dayna.

"He's nice. Nothing's happened yet, but she likes him," Dayna explained while she stepped forward to hug me as well.

I patted Dayna's back before frowning and complaining, "Aww, does this mean I don't get a repeat of your graduation night?"

The blonde grinned at me, put a finger to her lips, and gave me a coy look. "Why whatever are you implying? Were you expecting all six of us to stick around here and bury you in girlflesh all night?"

I blinked at her, mentally counting up the two of them, Adrienne, Sasha, Brooke, and DJ, and replied quite plainly, "Well now that you mention it ... sounds pretty good to me!"

The girls both giggled, but I rapidly waved them off.

"No worries," I added. "Wishful thinking perhaps, but I honestly never expected anything. You two enjoy your evening and I know I'll see you both soon. And Brandi? I really hope things work out for you with 'this guy'."

"Thanks, Ben," my older sister replied with a bashful smile. She gave me a final wave and the pair of them headed back into the living room.

But right after they went out through the doorway, Brooke and DJ walked in. "Hey Ben, we're leaving too," Brooke explained.

I felt my heart sink just a little bit in disappointment. While I honestly hadn't expected a wild orgy tonight with Brandi or Dayna, I had harbored some hope that Brooke and DJ would stick around for a repeat of Wednesday night's "Let's show Sasha our real relationship" fivesome. DJ caught my look, and she was the first to come over and hug me.

"Hey, relax," she told me with a smile while buzzing her nose against mine. "It's Adrienne and Sasha out there. You know you're getting laid tonight."

"Of course, of course," I replied, but I still gave moon eyes to DJ.

She smiled warmly at me and kept her hands around my back as she partially pulled away. "There will be a time for us again – we're 'Family' after all – just not tonight. Not all of the froshlings have left town yet, and we're meeting up with them before everyone goes their separate ways. Besides, the lease on Faye's apartment is up at the end of the month, and you already know Brooke and I are staying in the Bay Area for our internships. So you'll see us soon, and we'll be back here to visit before you know it. So stop looking all disappointed."

I smirked and buzzed her nose with mine. "I know, I know. The last thing I want to do is come off like I'm 'entitled' or anything. But can you blame me for wanting to celebrate with you?"

DJ giggled. "Of course not. But like I said: your 'celebration' is already taken care of tonight."

I grinned and leaned in for a kiss. DJ seared my lips for just a moment, short enough that I didn't get any ideas but long enough to remind me that she still loved me, and she let go and stepped back.

Brooke promptly shoved her tongue down my throat. She moaned and rubbed her crotch against my leg, dry-humping it for a moment until DJ tapped her shoulder and muttered, "Ahem."

Only then did my randy little sister drop back down onto her heels and sigh in resignation. "You. Me. Fucking. Soon." Brooke's eyes sizzled.

I chuckled and rubbed her cheek. "Yes, ma'am."

Brooke took a deep breath and the fire left her eyes. All of a sudden, she looked ready to cry, and the next moment her face was buried in my chest while I wrapped my arms around her with my left bicep cradling her head.

"Hey ... hey ... What's wrong?" I asked, stroking her back with my right hand.

"I'm sorry. This semester ... this whole year ... hasn't really been the best for us. I should have done a better job communicating with you when I was busy taking care of DJ, should have done a better job telling you how I felt BEFORE DJ got pregnant, should have done a lot of things better..."

"Hey..." I soothed, stroking her again. "You don't have to apologize. You're my sister. You'll never have to apologize."

Brooke squeezed me tighter, tight enough that I had a little difficulty breathing, and she mumbled into my chest. "I want you to trust me again."

"I do. And I did. Always have. Always will."

She picked her head up, looking at me with moist eyes. "You really mean that?"

"Of course, little one. Always. I love you."

"I love you, too." And she got up on tip-toes to kiss me again.

When we finally separated, I felt a little moisture in my eyes as well. But I blinked it away and goosed Brooke's ass before she got out of reach. She giggled and glanced back at me, saying, "We'll see you tomorrow, okay? Both of us. Call it 'continuing your celebration weekend', huh? I'll clear it with both of your ladies."

I chuckled and waved her on. "Sure thing. I look forward to it."

Brooke went out, but DJ paused in the doorway, tossed her hair as she glanced back at me, and gave me one of the sauciest, sexiest poses I'd ever seen from her. "See you tomorrow," she intoned in a raspy bedroom voice.

I grinned and blew her a kiss, and once again I was alone in the kitchen. But just as I started to push off the counter and follow them out, Dawn stepped into the doorway. First Brandi and Dayna, then Brooke and DJ, and now Dawn. I resumed leaning back against the counter and shook my head with a wry grin. "Did you all plan this?"

Dawn blinked at me and looked after Brooke and DJ for a second. "Plan what?"

I chuckled and waved her off. "Nevermind."

Blushing, Dawn walked into the kitchen and came to a stop a few feet in front of me. She looked nervous and glanced through the doorway to where both sets of parents and the twins were finishing their goodbyes to our sisters and Sasha. She looked back at me, shrugged, and explained, "So it looks like everybody's leaving."

I nodded and replied, "So I gathered. Are you staying with your parents tonight?"

"No, actually. I'm spending the night at Dayna and Brandi's place. They said we're going to go to a nightclub downtown for a bit to enjoy the rest of our evening and also do some catching up. I've spent precious little time with my sisters lately."

"Makes sense," I replied with a nod. "And you won't see them again until school starts in late August, right?"

"The 27th, although Dayna was talking about a weekend trip to visit in July, just like you guys did last year."

"Huh. I'll have to ask her about that and maybe tag along."

Dawn brightened. "I'd like that."

I arched an eyebrow. "But would your boyfriend like that? Having an ex like me drop in on your little paradise?"

Dawn shrugged. "Nick knows all about our history. Believe you me, we've done a LOT of talking about you."

I snorted. "And he still wants to date you? I could be wrong, but I thought that spending a lot of time talking about an ex is a fast way to NOT be in a relationship."

Dawn gave me a bemused shrug. "He's a very understanding guy."

I blinked. "You really like him, don't you?"

She nodded. "I do."

I arched an eyebrow. "Do you love him?"

She arched an eyebrow right back. "Would you be jealous if I did?"

"Of you? Absolutely. But that's just because I will always love you, and I want to be sure you're happy. If Nick ... and Deedee ... make you happy then I'm all for it."

"Thanks ... I think." She chuckled and sighed, running a hand through her hair while staring away for just a moment.

I arched an eyebrow at her reaction and asked curiously, "So does he?"

"Does he what?"

"Make you happy."

"Well yeah. I mean ... I guess so."

"'Guess so'?"

Dawn sighed. "We certainly like each other. There's plenty of affection. And I definitely feel like we fill a hole in each other's life."

I arched an eyebrow. "But not love..."

She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "It's hard for me to get a good read on my feelings, you know? On the one hand, it's a very small group of people up there, all of us young and with X number of girls and Y number of guys. Everyone is hooking up with someone, and I think a big part of that is the need for companionship. Nobody wants to feel alone, and it's been really nice having someone to confide in while I've been gone. But in three months I come back here for college, and he's got family and a life down in Los Angeles. And while Deedee and I have become close friends and even lovers, to be honest we're kind of bonded to each other more through Nick than to each other. I honestly don't know what's going to happen to the three of us in the future."

"Fair enough."

Dawn wrapped her arms around herself and looked out the doorway for a moment. We both saw that while our sisters had come in here to say goodbye, none of them had actually left just yet. If anything, they were milling around waiting for us.

Dawn sighed and said, "I realize that I'm in a relationship, but at the same time I know I'm not ready for anything serious. I've spent a lot of time trying to get a grip on my feelings after everything I've been through, and while spending the last nine months at camp has helped give me space and time to clear my head, I'm still not sure of where I'm going with this, or who I'll really be when I hit the real world."

I shrugged. "It's called being twenty-two, or still twenty-one in your case. I don't think you're supposed to have it all figured out just yet."

Dawn smirked at me and said, "Then maybe it's the old perfectionist in me. I've set a goal to do just that – figure it all out – by the time I get back, and with that late August date getting closer and closer I feel like the pressure is on."

"Then think of it this way: When you return here in late August, you'll have our sisters and me and Adrienne and your parents and everyone else around to help you figure it out."

Dawn frowned. "Huh?"

I smiled and gestured out through the doorway. "You're not alone. You've never been alone, except for when you chose to be alone and took off for camp. Now I'm not saying that was the wrong decision. Clearly, we've both made some progress in the time we've been apart – the fact that we're standing here talking about it without all the angst and pain of our break-up is proof of that – but I hope you remember when you go back to camp that this is your home. Everyone outside in that living room is your Family. We all love you. We all want what's best for you. And we're all here to help you."

"I know that."

"Do you?" I leaned forward. "Are you sure about that?"

"I'm not stupid."

"Not saying you are. It's just that I've spent the last year trying to figure out how to get over you, to get over the failure of our relationship. I couldn't have done that by myself – no way. Now I'm not claiming it's all been smooth sailing, but I've been helped immeasurably by having friends and family around me. It's not that I'm dependent on others to tell me what to do. It's that the process of talking to people who genuinely care about me helps me figure out what's really important. And that's what everyone out there will love to do for you – what I'll love to do for you – whenever you finally come home. Because no matter what happened to us in the past, I'm your friend. I'll always be your friend. Your 'brother' even, right?"

Dawn chuckled and gave me a nod. "The 'way' you love me may have changed, but your core love for me will always stay the same."

I furrowed my eyebrows in surprise. "Have you been talking to DJ?"

Dawn giggled. "She told me about your little 'chat'. It made me feel better about where you and I stand."

I nodded. "It should."

Dawn added, "Made me feel better almost as much as finding out you were involved in taking down Rutledge."

I blushed and looked down, "Back to that."

Dawn stepped forward and raised my chin with her hand. When I looked at her again, she stared into my eyes with her sparkling blue irises boring into the back of my skull. "You don't know what it means to me to know you were a part of that. The day Gwen sent me that email was a turning point for me, the last piece of the puzzle in my recovery after spending all year trying to learn how to forgive myself. Spending all year thinking about the things I'd done, the mistakes I'd made ... the people I'd let down..."

She choked up for a moment, her lower lip quivering as she blinked a couple of times, moisture shining in her eyes. I raised my hands to her waist, just holding her while she gathered herself.

Fighting back tears, Dawn shook her head and continued, "You've never been one to struggle with your academics. It always came so easy to you, so natural and intuitive. It took a lot of hard work and studying to keep up with you, and in hindsight it's easy to see I made a bigger deal out of it than it was worth. You wouldn't have loved me any less had I gotten a 'B' or 'C' here and there, but at the time it was just so important to me, as if maintaining a perfect GPA was a requirement for being the perfect person."

"You never had to--"

"I know I didn't," she cut me off. "I know that NOW. But with everything else about our relationship crumbling around me, I clung to my academics as something separate from you and me. My grades had nothing to do with you – it was just me against the books. Maybe if I could figure out the Finance material, maybe if I could somehow repair my grade in that class and prove to myself I could fix something, then maybe I could figure out how to repair our relationship, figure out how to fix what was wrong with ME."

I lowered my forehead until it was pressed against hers, and with a sigh I muttered, "At the time, I didn't even realize our relationship needed repairing."

Dawn grimaced and whimpered, "Because I hid that from you, hid my true feelings. I couldn't let you see the cracks, couldn't let you realize your perfect Dawn wasn't the girl you thought she was. I loved you SO much, loved the idea of US so much, and I wanted nothing more in this world than to be with you like that forever and ever and at the same time I was terrified of being trapped forever and ever and I had these two sides of me going to WAR in my mind and our families' expectations weighing down on me while I second-guessed if it was really what -I- wanted while these urges started festering inside me until all I wanted to do was build a perfect porcelain statue of Perfect Dawn and grab a sledge hammer so that I could--"

"Hey, hey!" Having raised my hands to her shoulders, I shook her firmly and planted my face right in front of hers, demanding that she look at me. When her wild eyes managed to focus for just a moment on mine, I stared right into them and stated, "We are NOT getting into that again."

Multiple tears rolled tracks right down her cheeks. Dawn was pale, and with wide-open blue eyes filled with sadness and regret, she shook her head very slowly and added, "I couldn't control my feelings OR fears when it came to you, but I thought I had a grip on my academics. I challenged myself to make at least ONE thing right, telling myself 'I can DO this!' But no matter what I did ... no matter how much time I put into it ... I could never get my scores to come up. You mentioned that analogy of trying to swim to the surface of an ever-rising ocean. That frustration of studying more and more and trying harder and harder and still coming up short ... It gutted me ... I couldn't fail. I HAD to find a way to pass. Even if it meant ... No matter HOW wrong it would be to ... It ... I..."

She trailed off again, but this time the anguish on her face was so immediate and her eyes so haunted as she stared into the past that I couldn't help but raise my hands behind her back and pull her against my chest in a hug. She raised her fists to her own jaw and held her chin while she shuddered within my grasp. And I squeezed her tightly while she put her face down on my shoulder and broke down into sobs.

Neither of us said anything for a minute. Dawn kept crying on my shoulder while I held her, stroked her back, and whispered soothing words in her ear. Movement to the side caught my eye, and I glanced up to see Brooke inching into the room by the doorway until DJ rolled her eyes and jerked my little sister back by her collar.

Eventually, Dawn got her sobbing under control. I stroked her spine and repeated into her ear, "Hey ... It'll be okay ... It'll be okay..." Her heart rate slowed, and she took deeper and deeper breaths. She slurped up the drool that had been leaking out the corner of her mouth, and since her arms were still trapped between us, she used them to gently push herself off of me and stand up straight.

With a wince, Dawn gestured at the wet spot on my shoulder and mumbled, "Sorry about that."

I glanced down at the drool puddle and smirked. "Payback."

Taking a deep breath, she shook her head and muttered, "I'm sorry to dump this on you."

Taking her waist in my hands, I pulled her toward me, looked her in the eye, and said, "I'm happy you're sharing."

Sniffling, Dawn nodded and gave me a wan smile. Taking another deep breath, she exhaled and said, "I spent a lot of time working through all those demons, thinking about what I could have done differently and what I should have done better. I also spent a lot of time wracking my brain to try and figure out what I'd missed in that Finance course to deserve a failing grade. Did you know I had my mom mail me the textbook so I could go over it again?"

I blinked. "Really?"

"I HAD to know. HAD to figure it out. I was learning to forgive myself and move on from the failure of our relationship. But that Finance course stuck in my craw and wouldn't budge, not until Gwen sent me that email."

I nodded. "Must've been quite the revelation."

"Didn't change a thing about you and me, to be honest. It's not that we would have stayed together if only Rutledge hadn't done that to me – there were other, bigger issues with our relationship than just that – but like I said, it was the final piece of the puzzle. To realize that the perverted bastard was most likely playing me, manipulating me, it ... I ... I felt less like a failure, you know?"

"I get it."

Dawn shook her head. "Maybe you don't. There were a lot of other things going wrong in my life, things that while I think I've forgiven myself for, I can't forget that they were still my fault. The failure of our relationship, first and foremost, was mostly MY fault. Don't argue with me on this one right now."

I froze with my mouth open, my protest cut off while Dawn held up a finger at me.

"MY fault," she repeated. "Jaron: MY fault. Not communicating with you: MY fault. But Rutledge?" She stopped, stood erect, and started beaming at me despite the puffy red eyes and tear tracks on her cheeks.

"Not your fault?"

Dawn grinned. "Not my fault. ONE thing, at least, wasn't my fault. And maybe I wasn't a total failure. Like I said: It was a turning point. Changed my life. To realize HE was responsible for my grades, not me ... To realize that he got caught and lost everything because of what he'd done ... To hear that he's facing criminal charges ... And now to realize that you're the one that did it for me--"

"I hardly had anything to do with it," I interrupted. "Really, it was other people who--"

"It was you. I talked to both Sasha and Bert. They both said it was all you in getting things started. Yes, it was Casey McCahill who actually got the incriminating audio, and it was Viktoriya who brought in Samantha, but they both said none of that would have happened if not for you. So thank you, Ben. Alright? Stop trying to deflect and let me thank you." And with that, Dawn wrapped me up in that same 'suffocating-to-death' hug from the commencement ceremony.

Thankfully, she let go before I asphyxiated, and I gasped for breath while she chuckled and patted me.

"You had my back," Dawn said with a smile, fresh tears in her eyes, although this time they were happy tears. "Thank you for that."

I managed a smile while catching my breath and replied, "Anytime. You're my Dawn."

She smiled and replied, "And you're my Ben." She hugged me again.

We remained like that for maybe a minute, enjoying the simple embrace with neither of us willing to be the first to let go. But Brooke poked her head into the doorway again, this time muttering, "Time to go, lovebirds."

We broke apart in surprise and both blushed. Dawn flapped her arms against her sides as if not sure what to do, and in the end she shrugged and said, "I'll see you ... whenever."

I nodded and said, "Bye."

Dawn turned to head out through the doorway, but just before she got out of reach, I snagged her hand and stopped her. Pulling her back while stepping forwards myself, I wrapped her up in a hug from behind with my arms around her belly. Finally, I bent my head down to kiss the back of her neck. "I love you, Dawn. Even if only as Best Friends. I'm your Ben, and I'll always love you."

She shivered beneath me, and then turned her head to smile while she reached a hand up to caress my cheek. "I love you, too. And I'm your Dawn ... forever."

"Let's get more comfortable," Adrienne sighed after closing the door behind our departing family, leaving just me, her, and Sasha alone in the house. "Change into our PJs, maybe watch The Notebook again, you can give me one of your famous backrubs..."

My eyes lowered to mere slits.

Adrienne cracked, her laugh exploding from her mouth while her hazel eyes gleamed golden and she turned her face almost bashfully into the door. "I'm teasing ... I'm teasing..."

"Of course you are," I drawled without losing my frown.

Sasha moved in front of my face and took in my glowering expression. "Jeez, one might think you'd gone months without getting laid instead of having plowed through a dozen Tri-Delts – AND us – all day yesterday."

I shrugged. "That was yesterday. Today is today. I've graduated, I haven't gotten off once, and I wanna celebrate! Don't you?"

Sasha grinned. "Of course! I just hope you won't be disappointed if it's just the three of us. I mean, Adrienne told me about the wild five-way you guys had with Dayna, Dawn, and Brandi two years ago. I know we're two girls short this year, but--"

"It's fine," I interrupted with a smile, raising my fingers to Sasha's lips to quiet her. "We all know I enjoy having a bunch of girls around – and don't pretend like either of you don't like having a bunch of girls around, either – but I'm perfectly happy for it to just be the three of us tonight. I love you both, I love being with you both, and even if we never have another woman with us ever again, I'll still be the luckiest man alive to be with the two of you."

Adrienne and Sasha exchanged a look. Adrienne was the first to look skeptical. "'Never'? That's a pretty strong word given your personal history."

I shrugged. "I very much enjoy the variety – I won't claim that I don't – but if the three of us spent the rest of our lives having sex with only each other, can you really say you'd be unhappy?"

The girls glanced at each other, and Adrienne grinned while Sasha blushed pink. "Okay maybe not," Sasha admitted.

"Then you have your answer."

"Okay, we get it, we get it," Adrienne groaned while taking me by the hand and leading me down the hallway and up the stairs. "You love us both, you think we're very special in our own ways, and you can't imagine living the rest of your life without either of us. You're super-happy that we get along so well, and even more happy that we get along intimately, because it means you get to have both of us without jealousy or competition. And if it came down to it, you could be perfectly content being monogamous – well 'bigamous', I guess – with just the two of us with no regrets or blah-blah-blah-blah-blah."

I chuckled and let Adrienne lead me into my bedroom and shove me toward the closet. At first, I turned around and arched an eyebrow, wondering if the girls were going to pounce on me and initiate the sex I'd been craving all day. Sure, the Tri-Delts had done their best to wipe me out all of yesterday, and I'd woken up thick-headed and cotton-mouthed. But I'd slogged through all the ceremonies and the visits from family and everything else today expecting to get properly laid tonight, and well ... I was a little impatient.

But dammit, Adrienne was serious about changing into our PJs, as she came up to me and once again pushed me toward the closet with instructions to return downstairs appropriately dressed. She then left and headed downstairs to her own room without even bothering to say 'Trust me', and Sasha had never even come into my bedroom.

So I got dressed. And I went downstairs. And I waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Later, the girls would tell me they'd texted each other to coordinate their appearances. Sasha had waited in her room to hear my footsteps going back down the stairs before she went into the bathroom to put on her makeup and fix her hair, and Adrienne of course still had the vanity I'd built for her.

Adrienne walked into the living room first, wearing the exact same outfit she'd worn after our sophomore year: a spaghetti strap lace camisole with built-in underwire to support her massive breasts. The cami dropped just past her hips, but was short enough to show that she wore matching lace panties for bottoms. And with a saucy grin at me, she settled onto the opposite couch and pulled her legs up onto the cushion, flashing me a seductive smile.

Sasha waited two minutes, giving me ample time to ogle Adrienne first. When I heard the sound of her high heels clacking on the stair treads, I turned and caught my breath to see her dark hair curled and piled into an elegant up-do that left her shoulders bare. She wore a satin short-sleeved pajama set in the same Mediterranean turquoise as her china poblana, but only the top button was fastened while her big tits pushed out the fabric and revealed some impressive cleavage down the middle. Matching turquoise short-shorts barely covered her ass, and even the strappy heels with a horizontal band circling her ankles were in the same turquoise color.

"Wow..." I breathed, reaching over and pinching my forearm to make sure I wasn't imagining that I had such a gorgeous girlfriend.

"You're gonna love this next part," Adrienne said, reaching over and patting my knee. "I just want to say that the entire thing was her idea. Just so you know."

"What entire thing?"

Adrienne merely gestured with her eyes for me to return my attention to Sasha.

My girlfriend grinned, placed both hands on her waist, and cocked one hip to the side. "I've already said that Adrienne told me about the five-way you had two years ago on Graduation night. She said it was a celebration for the 'roommates' of the house after everything you all had been through. And when I thought about doing the same for us this year, it occurred to me that even though they were never formally 'roommates', there are two very special girls who spent the majority of their nights here with you and me."

I caught movement out of the corner of my eye, and saw Adrienne putting away her cell phone. Moments later, I heard the front door open, the sounds of more high heels clacking on the hardwood down the hall, and the front door closing.

I knew who they were even before they came into view, of course, and I merely grinned when Andie and Jamie appeared at the living room archway, both of them wearing bulky trenchcoats.

"Surprise!" Jamie enthused while yanking open her trenchcoat to reveal a completely transparent pastel purple nightie that left absolutely nothing to the imagination, showing off her big, round D-cups which were capped by shiny purple star-shaped pasties over her nipples and revealing the dark purple G-string she wore beneath.

Andie, meanwhile, didn't bother to open her trenchcoat. She'd waited ten seconds to let me ogle Jamie, but apparently those ten seconds was the maximum she could restrain herself before she ran forward and vaulted herself into my lap.

In the split-second before Andie's tongue invaded my mouth, I recognized that she wore the same white lace teddy/garter/stockings ensemble she'd worn a few other times, but then my view was full of excited, horny bottle-blonde cutie. We kissed for what felt like ten minutes, even though it couldn't have been that long. And when we finally broke for air, we grinned happy grins, both delighted to be with each other one last time.

"Tomorrow, I'm just your friend," she told me breathlessly. "Tomorrow, we go back to being broken up. Yesterday was playtime, just messing around with the whole harem. But tonight... tonight ... I'm your girlfriend, got it?"

I grinned. "Got it."

Andie giggled happily. "I'm Ben's girlfriend!"

And my Graduation five-way was on.

-- SUNDAY, MAY 21, 2006 --

"Gawd. Fucking. Damn. Andie!" I grunted in rhythm with the bottle-blonde currently bouncing her asshole up and down my upright cock. "The-fuck. Are. You. Doing. To-Me?!?"

Face-up on all fours above me, my cutie locked her arms and really worked her abs, glutes, and quads to almost violently thrust her pelvis to the air and just as violently sit back down. Her hair was clipped up by a couple of bobby pins, but tendrils still fell loose into my face every now and again while she gasped with the effort of vertically sodomizing herself.

"I'm. Making. Sure. You. Never. Forget-Me. Ever!" she grunted right back.

"Ohhh ... shittt!" I groaned, feeling my balls coil in the last few seconds before eruption. While my hands had been clamped onto her hips, they'd merely been along for the ride while Andie did all the work. But now I tightened my grip and took over, violently jerking her body down against my crotch three times in rapid succession <Bam-Bam-Bam!>

The dam burst, and pinning her body against mine with my dick at full depth I began spitting wads of hot jizz into her rectum. Sliding my hands up her ribcage, I palmed her tits and squeezed them while raising my head to bite down on her neck, intent on leaving a mark that would last as long as possible. And as she felt my cock filling her colon with cum, Andie rubbed herself off to a screaming climax as well.

Long after we'd both finished cumming, Andie remained naked, sweaty, and limp on top of me with my schlong still stuck up her ass. Panting for breath, she cradled my hands on top of her titties, directing my palms to rub them firmly. And after a moment's thought, I turned my face to whisper directly into her ear.

"I wish I could keep you," I sighed.

"You could, you know," she replied.

"But we both know I shouldn't."

"I know, I know ... Still ... I'll never stop loving you."

"Sure you will. With time and absence, you'll move on. You've gotten way too used to getting regularly pounded these last few months. Your libido isn't just going to go away once I move out of town."

She turned her head and gave me an intense look, one that told me she was coming up with some compromise to give her just a piece of me, like a request to only visit and fuck her once a week or something crazy like that just so she wouldn't lose me. But she didn't ask, and I didn't have to reject her. Instead, she turned her face to kiss me.

So I kissed her back, and when we pulled away I looked her straight in the eyes and said, "I want you to promise me something."

"What's that?"

"Never get a boob job. Ever. I love these puppies just the way they are," I said, squishing them in my hands again. "I love how sensitive they are. I love how I can practically give you an orgasm just by playing with them. And of course I adore the girl they're attached to. These are your boobies, Andie, and I wish you'd come to love them as much as I do. You're the whole package just the way you are, and one day you're going to make someone a lucky man. You deserve nothing less than a man who will devote himself to you, who will worship the ground you walk on and thank God for the privilege of giving you his love. You're worth it. Never forget that."

She blinked and stared at me for a long moment. In the end she didn't respond verbally, but she gave me a firm nod and leaned in to kiss me again. And only when we pulled apart did she sigh, "I'll never forget you."

"And I'll never forget you. And hey ... I'm not going away forever. My sister is here. Bert and Paige are here. I'll be back. Maybe I'll come knocking on the front door of the Chapter House one day, and if you're still single – now don't STAY single just for this – maybe a couple of old friends can have a good time."

"I'd like that," she replied and kissed me again.

"Aww, you guys are so cute together," Jamie giggled as she poked her head in above us. "Now can you please pull out so I can slurp up the creampie?"

-- SATURDAY, JULY 1, 2006, SIX WEEKS LATER --

Entry was difficult. I'd eaten her out to three orgasms and stretched her vaginal walls with three fingers. She was copiously lubricated and horny as hell. But still her pussy was skin-peelingly tight.

She was bent over in a modified doggy-style position, her ass in the air while she hugged a pillow beneath her chest with her cheek resting on the mattress. I watched her breathe shallowly, concentrating on relaxing her inner muscles to allow my entry as she felt my cock slowly burrow its way inside for the very first time in our new home.

It wasn't our first time having pregnant sex. That had been the Sunday night after I got the ball rolling on letting Kim play basketball with us. It had been a moderately successful encounter, but to be honest she was a little too keyed up and excited to make it last. Even though doing so had been my idea, I still felt a little weird knowing that Kim's father and older brothers were also in the house, and I was still quite emotionally-drained after the previous day's funeral ceremony. But I figured Kim had waited long enough to be intimate with me, and while our orgasms may not have been what we both knew we were capable of, they were still satisfactory.

Besides, I recognized that orgasms weren't the most important part of lovemaking; it was the connection to each other that truly mattered.

Subsequent visits to the Fukuzaki home also included lovemaking. Kim had a lot of pent-up passion to release, and pregnancy had apparently made her extra-sensitive, just one more thing to come true from my coma dream. Our enthusiasm was tempered by my respect for her father, and I'd rather have not done it in his home, period. But hey, it wasn't MY rule to keep Kim in the house. Of course, Mike had to go and crack that it wasn't like I could get Kim pregnant again, which didn't exactly make things less awkward.

But we weren't in the Fukuzaki home this morning and there were no fathers or brothers on the other side of the door. We had plenty of time, so we'd paced ourselves. She'd swallowed my cum. I'd eaten her to those three orgasms. I'd ordered her into this position. And then I'd reached forward to fasten a hot pink collar around her neck.

"Tell me if this hurts," I'd commanded as I nudged my cockhead against her folds.

"I will," she'd replied.

Her response was a far cry from 'I am yours to use, Master', and it made me smile. So I was gentle. I was patient. And I wondered how in the hell she would ever deliver a baby through this canal.

They say a woman's vagina is never the same after she's given birth. In this case, I rather hoped they were right. Lovemaking would sure be easier if it didn't always take five minutes to get fully enjoined.

Thankfully, Kim's whimpers were the sounds of pleasure, not of pain, as I slowly pushed in and out of her tight cunt. With my hands on her hips, I drove myself forward and back, relishing the exquisite friction while simultaneously angling myself to put extra pressure on her g-spot. And together we made love.

I gave her an orgasm in that position before her arms and legs got wobbly and I turned us both onto our sides. I entered her again in a spooned position, sliding my left arm beneath her pillow and using that hand to play with her breasts, which were a little rounder and a little fuller now that she was well over halfway through her pregnancy. My right hand diddled her clit and tweaked her erogenous zones, causing sensations across her skin she hadn't felt in a long, long time. And finally I brought my lover to a second climax, nothing earth-shattering but still plenty wonderful for a girl whose only orgasms had been self-inflicted for far too long.

"Cum in me..." Kim crooned as soon as she caught her breath. She took my right hand and rubbed it directly on her bare belly. One might think that such a powerful reminder of the fetus would put a damper on my enthusiasm, but it was just the opposite. The time we'd had sex a month-and-a-half ago in her father's house I'd been in too much of a hurry to really think about it. But now the gentle curvature of my baby mama's belly gave me a feeling of euphoria that simply blew my mind.

Kim was pregnant ... with MY son. I was making love ... to the mother of my son. Together we celebrated our procreation ... by repeating the very act that had led to this result. And I felt my heart fill with joy that she and I could share this level of intimacy, to feel a kind of closeness that could never truly be surpassed.

"I'll take care of you," I promised, and this time I felt like I actually KNEW what I was promising. It wasn't a concept anymore, a hypothetical made in the heat of the moment while the rest of my world crumbled all around me. I'd come to an understanding with her father, she wore my collar around her neck, and she was even here, in our home, without any of her family members standing guard or otherwise hovering over her. I had a job, I had a plan, and above all I finally had Kim.

"And I'll take care of you," I promised, although this time my words were directed to the little banana-sized life growing inside of my lover's womb. I rubbed Kim's belly for emphasis, and she giggled before putting her left hand on top of mine. With her right arm, she reached back to grasp my head and pull it toward hers, and I leaned over her shoulder to meet her lips with mine.

After our kiss, Kim started thrusting her ass back at me with a little more fervor. I gripped her breast with my left hand and held onto her belly with my right as I met each thrust with one of my own. Closer and closer to release I got, until finally I felt myself tipping over the edge. And at the last moment I gasped into Kim's ear, "I'll take care of you."

And then I came.

I thrust forward a final time, grunting my orgasm into my lover's ear as a quart of spunk flowed out of me to splash against the now-closed entrance to her womb. Moaning with me, Kim reached back with her right arm to tug our spooned bodies even closer together as she felt my pelvis grind against her ass while cum flowed out of my body to crash against her insides like waves cresting on the beach. The first wave would start receding only to be met by the second coming forth, and both our bodies twitched and humped together as I finished filling her up with my jism.

When I could spurt no more, I groaned and bent my head down so I could tenderly kiss the back of Kim's neck as I cuddled up behind her. Sliding my left hand down, I rested both palms on top of her belly. And imagining I could actually feel my son's heartbeat through his mother's skin, I caressed the round globe with an upwelling of emotion that practically brought tears to my eyes in the aftermath of our intimate lovemaking.

And then Kim repeated back to me, "I'll take care of you," and I actually DID form happy tears in my eyes.

We cuddled for a while, and my roommates left us alone until the time we'd agreed upon for them to come fetch me. Sasha even gave us an extra five minutes to tickle each other and mumble sweet endearments, but then she finally knocked and entered at our invitation. "Sorry to interrupt," she apologized. "But you wanted me to get you both ready before your families get here."

"I know, I know," I sighed, burying my face into Kim's cleavage before sitting up, taking a deep breath, and swinging my legs off the bed. "We're getting up, we're getting up."

Sasha smiled and left, closing the door behind her, no doubt to oversee final preparations for our housewarming party. It was more of an "apartment"-warming party, really, since this wasn't a "house". It was a 35th-story corner unit in the heart of San Francisco, within walking distance of both Sasha's and my offices and in the same apartment building as Brandi and Dayna (albeit 18 stories higher). And in another hour, we expected to pack the space to the gills since my family and the Evanses would be stopping by on their way to Morris Camp and the Fukuzakis would be coming over to inspect Kim's future home.

No, we hadn't managed to swing a palatial single-detached house literally across the street from my sisters in Berkeley, but I was no less happy with this place. It may have been a little bit smaller than the old house, but then I wasn't planning on hosting a harem of a dozen Tri-Delts here. And I knew the apartment would more than fit our needs.

Having been through the housewarming drill once before (well, not technically but I still felt like I'd already done this), I reached a hand out to the mother of my son and said, "C'mon. Let's go take a shower."

It wasn't exactly a command tone, but I already knew Kim would obey. She got up and let me lead her into the adjoining Jack-N-Jill bathroom. There, I sat her down on the newly-installed shower bench and proceeded to give her a full-body soap down, with extra-special attention paid to her belly. I then commanded her to do the same for me, a process which she decided must include a taste test to ensure that her Master's penis was perfectly clean, not to mention ensuring that her Master's testicles had been fully emptied of sperm. Once we were both clean, dressed, and presentable we left the room to rejoin the others. And that's when we found out that despite settling on a specific time when my family was supposed to arrive, it turned out that Mom, Dad, and the twins had gotten here early.

Everyone stopped what they were doing to greet us, and everyone of course fawned over Kim and rubbed her belly. But once we got the initial pleasantries out of the way, and Dad explained about having great traffic in addition to an early departure, Sasha resumed giving the grand tour while Adrienne called Brandi to let her know our family had arrived early.

"So my room is in here," Sasha explained, gesturing like an airline stewardess. "Adrienne has the Master bedroom of course – she's the one who got us this place. And Ben and Kim are splitting the Jack-N-Jill rooms. Once the baby comes, Kim will want to sleep next to the crib. And Ben will be just through the adjoining bathroom to help out in the middle of the night."

"And I know what Ben will be 'helping out' with in the middle of the night before the baby comes," Eden cracked to her twin sister.

"Girls..." Dad admonished.

"This place is incredible," Mom breathed, stepping away from the bedrooms for a moment as she walked toward the floor-to-ceiling windows offering a commanding view of downtown San Francisco. The ceiling was also vaulted in the room, about two feet higher than in the rest of the unit since there wasn't any ductwork or electrical wiring directly overhead, and of course it was decorated in only the most stylish and modern (but baby-friendly) décor Adrienne could design. "It must cost a fortune in rent."

"That's the best part," Adrienne began proudly as she closed her phone and returned to the group. "We're paying twelve hundred dollars a month in rent, plus utilities."

"That's it?" Dad frowned with an arched eyebrow as he glanced around. "How many square feet?"

"Sixteen hundred."

"In this part of the City? This is a million-dollar home, maybe two, and you're only paying twelve hundred a month in rent? Brandi and Dayna must be paying twice that for a place half the size!"

Adrienne giggled. "I know the owners."

I explained, "She signed the contract with Taylor's agency last month, and this is one of Jonathan Kwong's units."

Adrienne shrugged. "Hey, it's all about who you know in this business. What's the point of making connections if you're not gonna use them?"

Dad nodded and pointed at her, drawling, "She's got a point."

Just then, the doorbell rang. Adrienne perked up and looked over with a smile, saying, "Ooh, that'll be Brandi and Dayna. No one else could have gotten here this fast."

Everyone followed Adrienne over to the front door, but wrapping my arm around Kim's waist I steered her over toward the living room windows. Cuddled together, we looked out across the view. No, I couldn't see our old Berkeley house right across the street. And no, I wouldn't be able to see Brooke, DJ, or Dawn anytime I wanted.

But I was moving on. WE were moving on: Adrienne, Sasha, Kim, and I. College was over, the memories left to be just that: memories. Now we had a new home, new jobs, and new responsibilities that included parenthood for me and Kim.

Our childhoods were past.

Our college years were past.

Our Adult Years were just beginning.

"Hurry uuuup!" Eden whined from the last row of the van.

"Yeah!" Emma chimed in from opposite seat. The twins were stuck in back because Jack and Deanna Evans were riding with my family to Morris Camp rather than take a separate car. "We're ready!"

"Seriously, girls," Brooke groaned. "That got old before you were twelve."

"Leave 'em alone. They only get to be young once," I said, waving the girls off. I opened my arms and hugged my little sister while she buried her face against my chest. "You take care of my baby now, you hear?"

Brooke took a step back and grinned as she tossed the Mustang keys up before snatching them out of the air. "You betcha. And you take care of your baby – and by that I mean baby."

"You know what I mean. If anything goes wrong – leaking oil or a check engine light or anything like that – you let me know and I'll come check it out so--"

"Yeah, yeah, let my Mr. Fix-It handyman brother save the day," she drawled sarcastically. "I got it, alright? You're not the only one in this family who knows how to stick their nose under a hood, remember? How do you think I kept that beater Corolla going all those years?"

I clapped Brooke on the back one more time. "Attagirl."

She smirked and circled around to the driver's side, eager to get behind the wheel of her new ride for the drive back down to the Evans house.

Meanwhile, DJ stepped alongside me on the passenger side of the car. Wrapping her arms around my neck, she kissed me firmly on the lips before asking, "When are we meeting up again? It's been a while and I'm getting antsy."

"Antsy? It hasn't been that long. And what happened to that cute Senior who was hitting on you in the coffee shop the last time we talked?"

"Psht. One date," DJ snorted. "Guy couldn't keep his eyes off my tits. I sent him home disappointed."

I promptly fixed my head at a forty-five degree downward angle and ogled the melons on display in DJ's scoop-necked tank top. "Well, these ARE worth staring at..."

She lightly slapped my cheek and breathed, "Don't start something you're not gonna finish right now."

"Fine, fine," I chuckled as I hugged her once more, pecked her cheek, and stepped back as she got into the passenger side of the Mustang.

But just as I was about to close the door, DJ looked up at me and asked, "So seriously: When are we meeting up again?"

"Umm, I dunno. You guys free next weekend?"

Dayna was just behind me, and she turned to say, "Actually, we were just thinking that would be a good time to visit everyone at camp. A weekend trip, like last year?"

I arched an eyebrow. "Last you mentioned this, weren't you thinking of going at the END of the month, like last year?"

Brandi explained, "Yeah, we'd talked about that. But Dawn's birthday will be the following Monday, so maybe we could celebrate early. The parentals have already said we're welcome to come by anytime, so long as we call first."

Dayna, Brandi, and I all shared a smirk at that, and Dayna added, "Just kind of a spontaneous idea to go early. We don't have to go next weekend."

I stepped back and glanced at my roommates. Sasha and Adrienne were still hugging and saying goodbye to the parentals, and Kim had already gone back home with her family. It wasn't that I was against the idea of a spontaneous visit to camp, especially for Dawn's birthday, but for some reason I found myself rather hoping either Sasha or Adrienne would have a conflict that prevented us from going.

Meanwhile, Brandi leaned over to say to both DJ and Brooke, "We can all go. It'd be nice if you could get off a little early on Friday so we can be there by dinnertime, but it's not the end of the world if we leave after work, too."

Brooke and DJ exchanged a look, Brooke shrugging like she was okay with it. But just as DJ said, "Sure, we're in" I also spoke up and said, "You know what? I think I'll pass."

The girls had started to look at DJ, but at my unexpected response everyone turned to look at me instead. Dayna was the first to inquire curiously, "Is this a 'Dawn' thing? You were okay going later in the month but now you don't want to go around her birthday?"

"What? No, no, nothing like that. It's just ... I actually don't think I'm going to visit at all this year. Don't get me wrong: I LOVE Morris Camp. It's a magical, special place full of so many good memories. It's meant so much to me as a part of my past, shaping both me and my relationships with all of you. And yeah, it's a place that's always been special to me and Dawn. Even though we only spent a month there out of each year, I feel like I can summarize my entire childhood just by highlighting each of those annual visits."

I trailed off for a moment, and the girls looked at each other before Brandi led me, "But..."

"But I feel like it's time I did a little growing up, you know? Today was our housewarming, and even though we've been in this new apartment for a while now, it felt like today was my day to announce to the world that I'm an adult. I've got a job, and I've got a baby on the way, and I honestly don't think I should drag Kim all the way up there with me – not with how overprotective her father is. I've got responsibilities here, and I've only had my job for two weeks. I don't want to go asking my boss to leave early on Friday just yet, you know?"

"But you can't not be there," Brooke protested, leaning across the center console of the Mustang. "Do you remember the last time we ALL were together at Camp? If you're the only one missing ... that's just... wrong."

"It's just a weekend, not the whole month."

"But we NEED you," my little sister whined.

By now, the rest of my family noticed the commotion and had circled around us. Even Eden and Emma had come out from the van.

I turned, looking at each of my family members whether blood-related to me or not. They were ALL my family, and the truth was that if I only said the word, we really would have everyone at Morris Camp for the first time in years.

But I knew what I wanted, and I knew what I didn't. And I simply didn't want to go to Morris Camp this year. I didn't want to disappoint everyone, but I didn't fear disappointing them either. "I'm sorry," I said with a shrug.

"Not this coming weekend? Or not at all?" Brandi asked for clarification.

"Not at all, not this year. Next year, maybe, and beyond. But not this year. I'm focusing on the future, not the past."

"So what, Dawn is part of your 'past' and no longer in your future?" Dayna frowned. "Or is it that you can't stand to see her and her new boyfriend together?"

"This has nothing to do with Nick," I said, shaking my head. "Dawn and I are fine, and she will always be part of my future whether I go up there or not. We've talked, and we're comfortable with where we're at in each other's lives. I'll call her to wish her a Happy Birthday, and I'll see her again in August. But until then, I've got my own stuff to deal with."

There were a lot of odd looks exchanged between everyone, but no one seemed inclined to try to talk me out of it.

Still, I added, "But I'm looking forward to seeing her again when she comes to Berkeley to finish school. Please tell her I said that when you see her, alright?"

Dayna said she'd pass that along, and ultimately Brooke and DJ agreed to go with the elder sisters next weekend. Dayna also invited both Adrienne and Sasha to go with them, but Sasha smiled and politely declined, stating that she'd rather stay with me, and Adrienne opted to stick around as well. Nobody was terribly surprised; both of them had far stronger connections to me than to the camp.

So in the end we all said our final goodbyes. My parents, the twins, and the Evanses loaded into the van. Brooke drove off with DJ in the Mustang. And Brandi and Dayna rode the elevator up with us until the 17th floor before getting off and leaving.

Once the three of us were back in our new apartment, Adrienne and Sasha turned to me with inquisitive expressions. Adrienne folded her arms across her chest, arched an eyebrow just like me, and asked, "So what was that all about? We've already talked about the idea of going up to camp to visit. Why the sudden change of heart?"

I'd been thinking about that myself ever since the words had come out of my mouth. In the elevator, I'd been lost in thought while the girls chatted with each other. And even now, I was sort of staring into space as I tried to process everything I was feeling.

Adrienne and Sasha continued to look at me expectantly, so even though I hadn't completely wrapped my head around my emotions, I stood up straight, looked right at Sasha, and asked the first thing that popped into my mind.

"Would you marry me?"

Watching Sasha and Adrienne simultaneously freak out and start babbling incoherently over each other snapped me out of my trance, and I immediately raised my hands and began gesturing for both of them to calm down while explaining that my question hadn't come out the way I meant it. Eventually, I managed to get them to sit down with me in our living room, the two of them on a couch and me sitting atop the coffee table in front of them.

"I'm not asking you to marry me and that wasn't meant as a proposal," I began. "We both know it's way too early in our relationship for that sort of thing and I'm sorry I just blurted it out that way."

"Jeez ... Give a girl a heart-attack why don't you?" Sasha put a hand on her chest and she was breathing pretty hard while glaring at me with wide eyes.

Adrienne reached out and smacked the side of my arm. "Don't you know better than to say something like that? Especially with your history?"

I frowned and looked back and forth between them. "Is the thought of me marrying Sasha really so offensive to both of you?"

The girls looked at each other, and Sasha's jaw flapped up and down for a moment while Adrienne sort of grimaced and waggled her head.

"Well ... like... eventually," Adrienne hedged. "This isn't the same situation as DJ being pregnant, and you certainly haven't known Sasha for nearly as long as you knew the Evans girls."

I raised both hands and made rapid downward waves to squelch that line of thought. "I know, I know, and I'm handling this all wrong. Let's try to forget the crap I've blurted in the last two minutes and start from the beginning. You wanted to know why I don't want to go to Morris Camp this year and--"

"And you asked if I'd marry you," Sasha cut me off with a 'well that happened' sort of shell-shocked expression.

"I didn't mean like right away." I bowed my head and clasped my hands, pleading with them for patience. "I want to make absolutely clear that I'm not rushing you, not rushing us, and I'm not trying to put any pressure on this relationship."

She looked skeptical and deadpanned, "You're not?"

"I'm not. What was going through my head while you two sort of stared at me expecting 'a' response, was whether or not you think that someday, in the future, you and I might get married and raise a family and all that. Someday, but not today."

"Really? That's what you were thinking?"

I nodded.

Adrienne put in, "Then what was all that about not going to camp because you wanted to focus on the future?"

"Everything I said down there about not wanting to revisit the past so I can focus on the future was absolutely true. Morris Camp is a wonderful place that has been an instrumental part of my life and my development, but I honestly think that going back there would only lead me to dwell on what's happened in the past, to get nostalgic about old memories, and yeah, I'll admit that I'd think about all the time Dawn and I have spent growing up together. Thinking those things while she's working as a ranch hand and living in a staff cabin instead of with us? Seeing her with her new boyfriend and not with me? Yeah, I guess that IS part of it. It's not that I can't handle it or that I'm avoiding it – okay, maybe I am avoiding – but she and I really are in a good place right now. This ISN'T about Dawn."

"It's apparently about Sasha," Adrienne commented while popping her eyebrows.

"Because I don't want to think about Dawn or what could have been or what we might have lost. I don't want you to think that I'm still hung up on her, because I genuinely believe that I'm not. But Morris Camp and Dawn Evans are just so inextricably linked in my mind that it would be impossible for me to visit and NOT think about her." I reached forward and rubbed Sasha's knee. "I'd rather think about YOU and what we're building together HERE."

"We've just barely started dating. And you're fucking her every night." Sasha jerked a thumb at Adrienne.

I smirked. "So are you."

"Touché."

I shrugged. "We're not in a traditional relationship with each other, OR with Adrienne, for that matter."

"Certainly not. And I'm not expecting that to change now that we're dating. I know full-well that Adrienne will always be a part of your life, and so will Brooke. They're both your family, and I understand that while the level of intimacy you share with each other is maybe a little more than what polite society is used to, it's something that works for you all. It's not my place to interfere with that."

Adrienne sat up. "So you're really okay with me and him?"

"Of course!" Sasha took a deep breath, gave me a shrug, and added, "And really ... I think I'd be okay with you porking just about anyone."

That got eyebrow raises from both me and Adrienne. I blinked and repeated, "Anyone?"

"Well, maybe not anyone," Sasha conceded. "But after spending all this time with you and the Tri-Delts and Adrienne and Brooke and DJ ... Having you to myself has never been a part of our relationship."

"So we're back to the 'parameters of our relationship' we talked about a month ago."

Sasha giggled. "I guess so."

I furrowed my forehead and thought back. "So we talked about a Green List and otherwise getting permission ahead of time."

Sasha frowned and shook her head. "You know, I'm actually gonna say you don't need my permission ahead of time."

Adrienne's head jerked up. "Wait, WHAT?"

Sasha shrugged. "My relationship with you should not be about monogamy and 'permission' – it should be about communication and trust. TALK to me. Be HONEST with me. If you find yourself in a situation where you can't get a hold of me but you genuinely want to have sex with somebody – at least somebody you don't think I'll have a problem with – well... go for it. Just TELL me about it. Don't hide anything about your emotions or feelings or try to pretend that lying to me is in my best interests. Frankly, my entire relationship with Rod was spent tiptoeing around the truth trying to protect each other's feelings. It felt like living a lie."

I blinked, took a deep breath, and said, "Well then this is gonna sound patently unfair, because I don't want you hooking up with any other guys without express permission. Hell, I don't want you hooking up with any other guys period."

Sasha smiled. "I already told you: that's fine. You're you, and I accept you the way you are. I'm me, and to be honest the only variety I'm interested in is other girls."

Adrienne wrapped an arm around Sasha and squeezed her. "Just like me!"

I chuckled and shook my head in mild disbelief at my good fortune. "Still, I want to be fair about the 'fidelity' issue. I have to give you the same rights as me."

Sasha snorted. "No you don't."

I frowned. "I don't? Don't you deserve fairness?"

"We can be equal but different. Our relationship shouldn't be about being fair, but rather about understanding what we each need. You and I are different people and trying to balance what I 'deserve' against what you 'deserve' is emotional accounting. And the last thing I want is to spend our relationship saying, 'Well I let you do this so you have to let me do that.'"

I grimaced. "That sounds like hell."

"It does. Fuck 'fair'. I'm telling you I'm a big girl and I can handle your varied sex life. Now if you want to give me the right to hook up with another girl without getting your express permission, then that's fine; I'd like that. But again, I don't want our relationship to be about permission."

"But rather communication and trust. Got it."

Sasha grinned. "I trust you. I respect you. I believe that you'd never deliberately hurt me. And I hope you believe those same things about me."

I nodded. "I do."

"Fidelity is about emotion, not sex. If you want to bang somebody, then go ahead, as long as you're honest and open about it. But if you're developing feelings for somebody ... like... love feelings ... I don't want you to hide that from me."

"Of course not."

"It's easy to say that right now. The true test will be when such a situation comes up in the future."

"Sasha..."

She waved to cut me off. "I'm not going to get clingy and overbearing about it right now. We're very early in the relationship and neither of us can truly know if this will last."

"But I'd like to think you hope that we'll last, don't you?"

Sasha took a deep breath and briefly glanced at Adrienne. Her expression was such that Adrienne tighted her grip around Sasha's back and added a second arm across Sasha's chest to make it a hug. Within the reassuring warmth of Adrienne's embrace, Sasha took another deep breath and gave me a worried look.

"I hope that we'll last, I really do. But I worry. I worry that I'm just a placeholder."

"'Placeholder'?"

She shrugged. "Destined to keep you company until you don't need me anymore and replace me with ... well ... with one of them."

The tension in her eyes and the way Adrienne sighed made it obvious that we were all on the same page. I didn't even need a mystical connection to know Sasha was talking about the Evanses.

"Sasha, I can't--"

"You can't make me any promises, and I wouldn't believe you if you did. You just got done telling us about how you can't go to Morris Camp with the rest of your family because as a place it is inextricably linked to her, to them. There's something special between you all, something that still exists even though you've gone through these horrible break-ups with both Dawn and DJ. I was there when you broke down over Dawn, crying so hard you couldn't see straight and were drooling and leaking snot all over one of my favorite sweaters. I've spent the last several months living here and watching you avoid the mere concept of a relationship after the pain of DJ and the abortion. But it's obvious that you and DJ are still incredibly close, that it would be really easy for the two of you to fall back into a romantic relationship like you had before. And you have this 'best friends since birth' bond with Dawn that I don't think will ever be broken."

I swallowed thickly and nodded my head. "It's..."

"Complicated," Sasha finished for me.

I took a deep breath. "Dawn is and will always be one of my closest friends. You see the bonds Dayna and Brandi have, that DJ and Brooke have. That's kind of what it's always been like for her and me."

Sasha nodded.

"But that doesn't mean I'm using you as a placeholder. Being with you and being Dawn's friend are not mutually-exclusive, nor does having sex with DJ mean that I don't love you."

"I know that. And I'm not saying that I believe you'll break my heart for one of them. But can you blame me for considering it a possibility? For maybe thinking I shouldn't put my heart on the line just yet? Open communication, remember? I'm telling you how I really feel."

"And I'm telling you how -I- really feel. You're right: DJ and I have resumed a physical relationship, but she's still a student and I'm still with YOU. Dawn has come back to visit and we've had some talks to clear the air, but we still have a long road back. And even once we get there, I genuinely believe it will be as friends. We're better that way, I think."

Sasha glanced up at Adrienne, reading HER reaction, and Adrienne sort of shrugged but also nodded her agreement.

"I won't tell you that I love you more or less than I did either of them," I continued. "You and I have agreed that our relationship is still just getting started. But I do commit my emotional fidelity to you, to finding out what we can be together and seeing how our love can GROW. The Evanses have always shared my past, but I want us to share our future. Because even though I didn't spend the last twenty-two years of my life growing up with you, I think I can spend the next twenty-two years and more of my life growing OLD with you."

"Okay, okay there, Tiger," Adrienne cut me off. "Laying it on a little thick now. Weren't you just saying you weren't going to pressure her into a lifelong commitment?"

I chuckled, rolled my eyes, and sighed. "It's hard for me to not be optimistic about this, okay? What, you're gonna tell me you don't think Sasha is wonderful and special and wouldn't make a fabulous life partner?"

Adrienne blinked and stared at Sasha for a moment. "Okay. You're right," she replied with a grin, still staring at her.

Sasha blushed and giggled while shaking her head. "You're trying to reassure me that you don't see me as just a placeholder to keep your bed warm until Dawn or DJ comes to their senses and returns to win you back."

"I really don't. I honestly think those two and I will be friends – and 'sisters' – forever. But I honestly think you could be my wife ... eventually. And no, I'm STILL not asking you to marry me and that's STILL not meant to be a proposal. I'm going to repeat that I'm not trying to pressure you about getting married or having a family anytime soon."

"But you still asked if I would marry you."

"Well ... You wanted to know what I was thinking about, and well ... I'm trying to do better with this open communication thing. You're right: we've barely started dating. And it's hard for you to emotionally invest yourself into being with me long-term when you're not entirely sure if I'm truly over my exes. But I'm asking on a purely thirty-thousand feet conceptual level: Is marriage and family even on your radar? Someday? With me or even anyone else? And let me add that I've sorta already had this conversation with Adrienne, and her answers to both were rather definitively 'NO'."

Sasha raised her eyebrows at Adrienne, who shrugged and gestured back to the brunette. Sasha took a deep breath and looked back at me. "I ... guess ... I mean, yeah. I always thought that someday I'd get married and have kids. Eventually. And yeah, I'll admit that I've at least thought about those things with you."

"There? Now was that so hard?"

Sasha rolled her eyes at me. Then she took a deep breath and seemed to be gearing herself up to add something, so I waited patiently while she composed herself, and finally she explained, "But I've never thought about any of that in any concrete form. I'm not one of those girls who planned out her wedding when she was fifteen. I haven't spent hours daydreaming about white houses with picket fences and 2.5 kids and all that."

"Unlike Ben here," Adrienne commented dryly.

For that I smacked her in the arm.

Sasha smiled and continued. "To be honest, my life has been such a mess these last few years that it was hard for me to really think about the future. First it was my dad going to jail and my mom leaving. Then it was being taken in by Rod and his family and then breaking UP with Rod and not being sure where I stood with his family. Adrienne's been super-helpful in that regard, and we've certainly bonded over our common experiences."

Adrienne smiled and squeezed Sasha's hand.

Sasha took a deep breath and returned her attention to me. "I spent so much time living paycheck to paycheck, finding peace with my stripping profession, and then coming to terms with these two sides of my personality that you've shown me, that I haven't really had much time to think more than a month ahead. My goal was a job and financial security, and not much beyond that. Even when I thought of being together with you, my 'hopes and dreams' kinda only extended as far out as becoming your girlfriend. The idea of marrying you and having kids ... well that was just so distant into the future as to be irrelevant."

I nodded. "Okay, okay. That's fair."

Sasha suddenly leaned forward and took my hands in hers. She interlaced her fingers through mine, parked her face just in front of mine, and gave me an earnest look. "But when I stop to think about marriage and kids right here, right now ... with you ... I have to say that I love the idea."

I blinked in surprise.

Sasha smiled. "Not now, not yet of course. We're young, we're just starting our careers, and my brain knows that it's WAY too soon in our relationship to seriously contemplate that sort of thing. We're honeymooning over the recent decision to make our relationship official and moving into this new apartment together and all that, even though we've been fucking for a long time already. I consider myself a pragmatic, rational person. I've spent such a long time divorcing my emotions from my decisions, doing my best to remain calm and really think about what I truly need in my life and keeping that awareness separate from what I might want."

I smiled. "That's smart."

She shook her head with a smile. "But when I'm with you all that rationality just goes out the window. You DO something to me, something terrible and wonderful at the same time. You make me feel ... feel..."

"Crazy?" I smirked.

Sasha grinned. "Happy. Giddy. And yeah, a little crazy. I completely lose my head when I'm around you, willing to do anything to make sure I remain a part of your life. I'm helpless in your arms, because you make me feel like I've never felt before. It's like I can FLY when I'm with you, and after spending my entire life like every other earthbound schmuck who slogs through life WALKING, I'm simply blown away by the possibilities you've shown me, and I never want to merely 'walk' again."

Adrienne wrapped an arm around Sasha's waist and chirped, "I know exactly what you mean."

Sasha smiled at her friend and rubbed their shoulders together. She turned back to face me, a beaming smile on her face as she took a deep breath and said. "When I'm with you, I feel like anything is possible, that I have this bright new future I could never conceive of before. And I want to feel like that forever. So the answer to your question is: Yes, I would marry you ... but not today."

I snorted and squeezed Sasha's hands, the first half of her 'answer' enough to make me giddy with delight. I knew what she meant about feeling like she could fly as I didn't even feel the floor beneath my feet when I leaned forward and met Sasha in a quick kiss followed by a fierce hug while we buried our chins into each other's neck. Adrienne wrapped her arms around both of us in a group hug, and together we rocked as one right there in our new living room.

"I'm so happy I get to face my future with the two of you," I sighed happily, pulling an arm out so that I could wrap it around Adrienne.

"I'm so happy you found me and let me into this brave new world," Sasha chimed in, rubbing her cheek against mine.

"I'm so happy I wanna have sex RIGHT NOW!" Adrienne enthused, causing Sasha and me to crack up laughing and ultimately break the group hug.

Sasha and I looked at each other and nuzzled noses, both of us floating on the buoyant delight of our shared future.

But Adrienne was already tugging us off the couch. "I'm serious. I wanna FUCK!"

Chuckling, I allowed Adrienne to pull me to my feet first, and we grabbed one of Sasha's hands each and dragged her with us. Adrienne quickly let go and practically raced for the Master bedroom, shedding clothes along the way. Sasha giggled and wrapped an arm around my waist, but rather than hug her I bent, hoisted her over my shoulder, and spanked her ass while she squealed in delight.

"Hey A.D.! Get out the blindfold, handcuffs, and the double-ended 'Big Ben' dildo!" I called ahead. "I'm in a mood."

"WOOO!!!" Adrienne cheered, turning around to shake her unfettered tits at us before disappearing around the corner.

Ten minutes later, a blindfolded and spread-eagled Sasha lay naked on her back with each of her limbs tied to a post of Adrienne's four-poster canopy bed. Adrienne straddled my girlfriend's face to ride Sasha's tongue and hold up those glorious naked Sports Illustrated/Victoria's Secret-famous tits for me to motorboat my face in while I sawed my swollen schlong in and out of Sasha's snatch. Presently, Adrienne shrieked her way to a climax while I bit on her nipple and Sasha slithered her tongue as far as she could up Adrienne's pussy. And after Adrienne toppled off onto the side, I bent forward and kissed my girlfriend while she moaned happily into my mouth.

"You're amazing, you know that?" I said with a smile that Sasha couldn't see but she could certainly hear.

"Sure, but it's still nice to hear you say it," she replied with a blind grin of her own.

"I love you, Sasha," I added sincerely, nuzzling her ear while I continued to pump in and out of her.

She sighed rapturously, and her pussy rippled as if she had a minor orgasm just from me saying that. "I love you, too."

We started kissing again, but just when we broke apart in time to see Adrienne climbing back onto the bed wearing the double-ended 'Big Ben' strap-on, there came a knock at the bedroom door.

Brooke poked her head around with her trademark evil grin, holding aloft the spare key to the apartment we'd given the girls just before they left. "So we had just gotten onto 101 when DJ realized that if we're going to Morris Camp with Dayna and Brandi next weekend, we'll end up missing our regularly-scheduled orgy with you guys. So we HAVE to get our fixes this weekend while we can."

DJ's head followed right beside Brooke's, and she was the one to ask, "This a private party? Or is there room for two more?"

Tomorrow is the first day of the rest of my life.