Chapter 216

June 5, 2018 (Tuesday)

Dear Ms. Diary,

We LA girls in the class gathered at Mr. Jameson’s desk after taking our last exam of the school year.

Liya stated, “We’ve all ... that is, all ten of us soon-to-be sophomores in our group ... signed up for the Human Geography class and we’re looking forward to it.”

“Ten? That’s over 40 percent of the planned class size!”

“What can we say,” Rhee asked. “All ten of us have had both of you for classes this year, and the 3^rd Bell slot worked for all our schedules, although Brit had to finagle hers a bit.”

After a few moments of wide-eyed silence, he smiled and responded, “Thanks, girls. Mr. Pavletic and I still have some details to iron out, but we’re both becoming excited about it. We’re still not sure how to teach it, whether we’re both in the class or if we trade off, but that will depend somewhat on external factors. I also hope to make a few of your home games next fall.”

After a grueling practice, the young girls joined us in the shower, with Liya announcing, “Brett and Char, Maren and Brit, Katie and Meka, Padme and Heather, Rhee and Cera, Liya and Andy, Rachel and Lana, Kim and Civ, and Gracey and Beth.”

After showers, Civ and Maren headed home, taking Padme with them, to have dinner there, along with Alicia and Richard, the first of the promised dinners there with various of the Thursday participants. Jeff and Kalina had decided to start small and have their daughters there, but most such evenings would be mostly adults, with one or two of the girls at a time. Civ and Maren would spend the next three nights at home.

At the W dinner table with all 16 of the sexual portion of the LA, plus Kaira and the five parents – all of us naked, Dad said, “Sprinter drivers, listen up. We’re strongly considering upgrading to a 20-person vehicle for carting the expanding set of girls around. However, having more than 15 passengers requires a Commercial Driver’s License or CDL. Would one or more of you be interested in or willing to go through that process?” When something like stunned silence met his words, he added, “Carol and I would do that, but if none of you are interested, then we’ll bag the plan.”

“I’ll do it,” Meka answered. “I’ve got the most free time. What’s the deal with the vehicle you’re considering?”

“It’s built on a pickup chassis, not a truck chassis, and it’s only slightly larger than the Sprinter. The seating is in a ‘U’ rather than rows of seats, and there’s a shelved storage area for stuff.”

That got us talking!

Lana stated what many of us thought, “That would be so much more convenient for conversations.”

Dad replied, “That’s what we thought, but the one real negative is that there’s no co-pilot seat, so the driver is going to feel more like a chauffeur, particularly with the storage area immediately behind the driver.”

That caused a hullaballoo, from which Rhee said, “I’m not sure that’s worth it. Is there any way to rearrange stuff so that there’s a seat right behind the driver?”

Dad furrowed his brow, responding, “I don’t know. I can look into that. The co-pilot space is taken up by the entrance, so there’s no way to fix that. I’ll ask some questions about ... modularity, I guess.”

Celeste added, “I have more free time until the first summer session starts at the university, so I could do the CDL thing. How time-consuming is it?”

“Not very.”

Kim jumped in, “I’ll do it, too.

When Civ and Maren escorted Padme back to the J after their dinner and socializing, Padme asked, “Where’s Kai?”

I answered, “At the W.”

Padme’s face fell a little and she asked, “She’s ... learning ... more?” When I nodded, she added, “Will she be sleeping here tonight?”

“If you want, certainly.”

“I ... I’d like that.”

I held my hand up to her and texted Mom, who responded in the positive almost immediately, after which I told Padme, “She’ll be over in 20 minutes,” for which I received a tight hug from her.

In fact, Kaira arrived less than 15 minutes later and pulled Padme into a long, tight hug.

After a few minutes, Kaira said, “I have to ... tell you something that I’ve been avoiding, Padme. On Sunday, I learned ... that ... sex can be ... incredibly good.”

“Kai?”

“I know, but all I knew of sex before was what I learned in India. Padme, I have to tell you some ... ugly, brutal things, as that will help me explain why I’ve been so ... negative about sex.” She breathed deeply, then continued, “Our father would make me watch as he raped our sisters. He actually told me that if he couldn’t teach me about sex personally, he would teach me by example. I ... so wanted to kill him but couldn’t find the courage.”

Padme collapsed into racking sobs in Kaira’s arms, with Kaira quietly crying onto Padme’s crown, but when I tried to quietly steal away, Kaira stopped me, “Please, Beth. I need to tell you more. Please ... wait.”

I nodded, but closed my eyes and tilted my face to the ceiling only just managing to keep from crying, myself. I wondered if I had been in Kaira’s place whether I could have found the courage Kaira did not. I would have liked to have told myself that I could have, but I was not at all sure. The reason for Kaira’s reluctance about sex was suddenly crystal clear, and I wondered if I had made things worse for her but was heartened by her admission that sex could be incredible.

Padme sobbed for nearly ten minutes, during which a few of the other girls gathered, but Kaira indicated that they should keep a little distance.

Once Padme was mostly silent, but still wrapped in Kaira’s arms, the older sister softly said, “I’m so sorry, Padme. You need to know ... how ... much of an animal our father is. If he finds us, we have to fight him as hard as we can. Do you understand?” As Padme devolved into whimpering and nodding in response, Kaira liquidly told me, “I’m sorry, Beth. You must see why I was so ... difficult with you. I knew that there must be reasons that people enjoyed sex, but I’d never seen them. You and your family have been nothing but gentle and kind while fulfilling my request to learn.”

After Padme settled again, Kaira told her, “Little sister, I learned on Sunday that sex ... can be very wonderful, that it can feel incredible. I hope you can understand that, and not keep my previous words to you about how bad it is as your understanding of sex. Padme, the way that ... everyone here ... and also Katherine ... does sex is ... truly enjoyable. You might have figured that out, already, from how the girls here discuss sex and how happy they are here where they have lots of it.” When Padme nodded on Kaira’s right shoulder, she added, “I’ve begun truly enjoying my ... education. I needed to tell you that because I find I want to ... learn ... more, not so that I can be Veda, but so that I ... Kaira ... can know how ... to please ... lovers.”

Padme whipped her head off Kaira’s shoulder, looked into her sister’s face, and asked, “You really mean that?” When Kaira nodded with a smile, Padme stated, “Even Civia and Maren aren’t afraid of sex. You saw how ... casual they were about the ... s-sex that ... happened that time in the living room. While they didn’t see it, they were able to explain at least a little about what ... occurred and they ... treated it as something ... expected and ... that ... all the older girls enjoyed a lot. That makes much more sense, now.”

I responded, “Civia’s and Maren’s attitudes are probably a lot better than Kaira’s was when you arrived here. Their parents discuss sex with them ... calmly ... and, from what I understand, have explained a lot of the ins and outs of ... the interpersonal aspects of sex. With Kaira being your ... only ... related parent, now, I’m not sure whether this is appropriate or not, but you can probably ask our various parents any questions you have. Perhaps, Kaira could join you in such situations.”

Kaira answered, “Yes. That’s a good idea. Perhaps we could set up ... occasional times to discuss aspects of ... sex with ... I guess if I’m going to be your mother-sister, perhaps they’re your new grandparents, as I’m beginning to look at them as ... parents of mine.”

With everyone’s unbegrudged approval, Kaira and Padme joined us in the big bed for the night, and Padme seemed to revel in the opportunity.

“Kai, this is so ... enjoyable, so ... satisfying ... to have so many ... sisters. I know I can’t spend every night in this bed, but I hope I can sleep here more than just occasionally.”

“Part of that we need leave to Beth and the others, but we ... you and I ... also need to consider the ... longer-term future. After this week, I won’t be working at the call center, so we should plan to have a ... planning and strategy session next week to begin figuring out how we’re going to live. We’ve got some money and I’ll have a job here, but I feel that we need to figure some things out for ourselves.”

“Okay, but I don’t want to think about that, now. I’d like to just be happy with ... my sisters here as we go to sleep.”

June 6, 2018 (Wednesday)

Dear Ms. Diary,

We were home from the last day of school by 11:30. We thanked Kim for coming to get us and then were surprised by Meka and Padme having lunch ready for us. We dropped our stuff in the basement, stripped off, had Brett don a Katherine-made brief, and then sat to a nice lunch of gazpacho and salmon salad (tuna salad, but made with canned salmon) in romaine leaves.

While sitting at the table, Brett said, “Thanks so much, Padme and Meka. This looks wonderful.”

Padme grinned, then responded, “It was fun! Meka found the soup recipe in one of the cookbooks and we had a good time talking and making lunch!”

Brett returned with, “But we still greatly appreciate it, even if you had fun doing it.”

During lunch, Padme apprised us of her meeting with Garamai and was happy that she would be able to take her end-of-year exams in the A over the next two days with a proctor present. After lunch, we dressed in practice clothes and checked out the progress on the new hot tub – just about finished – and pool – not as close to finished. We walked to the practice pitch arriving before 1:40 and began stretching, with other team members straggling in over the next ten minutes. After calisthenics, laps, and a short rondo session, we discussed the game plan for GV. Argon would start with their new right-side personnel alignment, and we would play the game straight up, that is, without any enhancements or special assignments. We were all on our way home a bit after 3:00.

Civ and Maren walked back with us. I thought they just wanted to shower with us, but once we were on the way home, Maren asked, “Could we invite Padme to a sleepover?”

I asked, “Are you doing that for you or for us?”

Civ answered, “Mostly for us, but partly so you won’t have to banish Padme to the upstairs for the rest of the day.”

“How do you know that today’s the day?”

Maren replied, “Because we know all of you and you’re all very excited. Our moms thought it could be an all-day affair.”

I rolled my eyes and shook my head, then asked, “How is it that so many parents know as much about our love life as we do?”

Civ riposted, “Perhaps because you keep all of the W parents apprised. However, we thought that inviting Padme would be a good thing for you guys and Emma figured it out.”

Maren added, “Yeah, she’s good at that. But really. It didn’t take too much brain power, given that they knew that June was the month.”

“Oh, goddess,” Brett exclaimed. “I wonder if my mom is going to call and wish me well.”

There was much chuckling.

I returned to the original topic and said, “It’s up to Kaira, but I think it’s a good idea, and for multiple reasons. It’s obvious that Padme has really taken to you two, and given her situation, she can use some really good friends her age. However, don’t keep her up all night, as she’s taking exams tomorrow and Friday.”

At home, I called a meeting as soon as we walked in the door, and we gathered in the living room. Celeste, Katie, Andy, and Rache were not home but would be returning shortly. Hopefully.

“Civ, Maren, you’re up.”

When Maren tendered the invitation to Padme, she squealed, turned to Kaira, and asked, “May I?”

Kaira looked at me with a questioning mien, to which I replied, “I can’t see how your father would figure that out, considering we’ve been paying strong attention at practice, and we’ve not seen him nor anyone else Indian.”

When Kaira smiled at Padme, the young girl hugged her sister hard and then did the same with me.

While she was still in my arms, I stated, “However, I’d greatly prefer if one of our drivers would take you three over there, just to be even safer.” When Kim offered, I nodded at her in thankfulness, then finished, “Take Sandy’s car, as that’s not a car that gets used very often for ferrying us girls around. She rode with Inez this morning, and I think Nira’s picking her up.”

I was just about to suggest we get to showering, but a thought caught my attention. I pondered it for a bit, then asked, “Padme, I know you’ve showered with us, but would you like to regularly shower with us as Maren and Civ do?”

“Oh, yes, please.”

“You’ll have to do what they do, be under the rule they’re under. The rule is that you can’t see Brett’s naked front and he can’t see yours, but naked butts are okay. Is that all right with you?”

She almost blurted an answer, but turned and asked, “Kai?” When Kaira smiled and told her sister that she was good with that system, Padme squealed and answered, “I agree, Beth. Brett, is that okay with you?”

Brett slowly shook his head, grinned, then answered, “Why not? It’s worked with those two. The important part of all this if we’re going to treat you like Civ and Maren, is that if you accidentally see me naked from in front, just turn around, and we’ll discuss what to do to get ourselves out of each other’s view. Is that okay?”

When Padme glanced to her left, Civ and Maren both nodded, so she answered, “Okay.”

I said, “Once the pairs are announced, you two run her through the paces so you three can be first in the shower.”