Chapter 53

August 24, 2017

Dear Ms. Diary,

[Written August 26]

I was a bit groggy after the alarm went off, which was due mostly to spending too much time getting caught up on the diary last night. I will have to tell Gracey and Liya about the diary, since they’re both going to be here for most of the next seven months. Hopefully, that will allow me to keep more closely to current. School will also help in that vein. I hope.

Mrs. Palecek dropped Civia off at 7:50, a result of the new plan that we discussed at their house last night. Civia’s mom works not all that far from the house, so it made sense for her to drop Civia to ride with us to practice. I had had the door open for her and waved at Mrs. Palecek as she drove away.

“Where should I put my overnight bag?”

“Upstairs. Come on.”

When we got to my room, Civia saw that Heather hadn’t, yet, dressed and said, “Are you going to practice like that?”

“Oh, wouldn’t that be great?!”

“You’d do that?”

“No, not really, although I wish it were legal. I don’t mind being looked at wearing nothing but my skin. I just don’t want the legal hassle.”

“I just spent only my second-ever night sleeping naked. I’ve decided I like it.”

From the door, Gracey asked “You do?”

“I do,” Civia responded as she saw Gracey and Liya. “Umm. I do. But would you guys really be okay with wearing something in bed tonight. I’m not sure I’m comfortable with that, yet.”

“We can do that. No problem, Civia,” Rhee replied.

“Thanks, Rhee. I hate to be a drag, but...”

“No, Civia. It’s fine. Really. Beth and I have always slept together nude, but Gracey and Liya have done it for less than two months. Don’t worry about it.”

A bit bashfully, Civia said, “Thanks. I’ll think about it again for ... Oh.”

“Yes,” I said to her, “there will be a next time. Don’t worry about it.”

Practice was a lot of shooting- and passing-skills assessment for Coach, Liya following her with a clipboard and some form or another. We stopped at the house for lunch, then went to the practice field to do more ball-handling practice for Gracey and Liya. Liya is doing okay. She’s not a natural, but she is picking stuff up more quickly than many of our teammates did in the first year Rhee and I played.

Upon returning home, we found the garage deconstruction well underway, so explained to Civia the changes to the house that we would be making over the next two months.

Liya said, “Liya and Heather downstairs, Rhee with Civia.”

Showers taken and laundry in the dryer, we sat around in the Go5 HQ talking about the high-school team, particularly about Shameka, who was much like Ann, but older, stronger, and even better. We commiserated that Brianna was going to East, because even with the three goalies we’ll probably carry on Central’s roster, none of them were as good as her. Around 4 pm, we came downstairs – dressed, due to the construction crew – and began prep for dinner: home-made pizzas. Sandy had made the dough last night, so our tasks involved slicing and shredding the various toppings.

About 4:30, I got a text from Dad and called out, “Dad’s home shortly due to a change of plans.”

Rhee asked, “No clue as to what change?”

“Nope.”

We continued our prep tasks until Dad walked in the front door ten minutes after he’d sent the text. Gracey was the closest to the entryway.

“Hi, Dad,” she said as she hugged him.

“How was your night at home,” he asked.

“It was good. Mom and I had a good, long talk that touched on a lot of things going on in our lives. I talked about being excited to being on the school team. I told her that as much as I learned from Ann over the past couple years, that Shameka – the team’s senior center back – could teach me more stuff. Mom explained more about the irons she has in the fire and why she’ll be gone so much over the next eight months. I’m really looking forward to us moving closer to here.”

Liya got Dad next.

“Hi, Dad. My mom and I also had a good talk. She wanted to know more about my sudden interest in soccer, although I’m not sure I got it across well. Of course, I’ve had trouble enough explaining it to myself. She explained to me that she first thought of taking me with her this winter but knew that I’d object to leaving my friends. I told her that I would have, even though it does sound interesting. I can only barely remember being overseas when I was really young.”

“Traveling is good, Liya. Seeing other places, other cultures is a great thing to do. Most Americans think we know the best ways to do everything; we don’t. Yes, six months gone would have been hard on you, but you should try to go with your mom on a shorter trip if the chance comes up. I know she’d love to spend more time with you.”

Liya looked up at Dad, then put the right side of her face against his chest and replied, “I probably should. It’s just that I’m so happy here, now. Thanks, Dad. I’ll keep your advice in mind.”

Civia was the next closest but looked a bit hesitant.

Dad said, “Hi, Civia. I haven’t seen you in, gosh, almost 24 hours,” and smiled at her.

She walked to him, saying, “Hi, Charlie,” and stepped into his arms. “I didn’t have a long talk with my mom, or with my dad, as I’ve seen them every night in ... almost forever. This will be the first night that I won’t see either of my parents in a very long time. It’s a bit ... sad, but I’m also excited to experience something new with my wonderful new friends.”

“I hope you’ll enjoy your night here. However, I’m counting on you to keep those five hoodlums in line, tonight. The Moms and I won’t be here, so you’ll have to crack the whip.”

“Where ... Sorry. That’s none of my business.”

“It’s not a big thing, Civia. Carol is a travel agent and occasionally gets some interesting perks. The Moms, Rhee and Beth, and I have been on a couple trips that were perks from her job. She suddenly got a chance to take herself and three others – although it will be just Sandy and me as the others – to a fancy restaurant that has a band and dancing. We’ll be dining and tripping the light fantastic into the late hours. Well, not too late, as we all work tomorrow. We’ll stay at the Devlin house tonight, which is why I was hoping you could keep the gang from burning down the house.”

Civia giggled. Rhee and I, in unplanned stereo, whined, “Da-addddd.”

Rhee and I both got our hugs in, Dad went off to the parents’ bedroom, and we girls continued in our pizza-making tasks. We were into dealing with the dough when Carol, then Sandy came home, entering through the front door. Each greeted all of us, then hustled into their bedroom. We had the first two pizzas in the warming oven and the next two on stones when Dad returned to the kitchen in shorts and T and handed a folded piece of paper to Civia.

“Civia, these are our cell numbers and the number of the restaurant should you need to get hold of us. Have the girls in bed by 9. They can watch one hour of TV, but they all have to agree to watch the same show or shows. They’re all potty-trained ... mostly, so you probably won’t have to deal with dirty diapers.”

By the time that Dad got to the TV part, Civia was giggling and by the end, the rest of us were laughing, although the laughing didn’t last long before changing to sniffles. We didn’t make a plan; the five of us just wrapped Dad in our arms.

“Dad,” Liya said, “you’re wonderful. We love you so much.”

From the hall, Sandy said, “Charlie, you’re a kook, but a loveable, adorable kook.”

Carol said, “Hear, hear.”

We let Dad go, with the others returning to pizza tasks.

“Dad, don’t you guys need to get going or do those sorts of restaurants seat late?”

“The latter, Cupcake. We won’t be getting out of your hair for another hour.”

“Oh, good! Feel free to have a slice or two to tide you over. We’ve already made one of your favorites.”

“Kalamatas and artichoke hearts?”

“Yup!”

“I sure hope you’re making pizzas that someone else will like.”

“Da-add,” I mock-whined, then added in normal voice, “you know that Rhee likes that one, too. You two would make a great couple, ‘cause you’re both weird.”

“Did you plan to use the kitchen table or the dining-room table?”

“Kitchen, but we can set the dining-room table if you three will join us.”

“I think we will.”

Gracey called out, “I’ll get plates.”

In less than three minutes, we had the dining-room table set, two more pizzas in the warming oven, two more fresh onto the stones, and nine people sitting at the table digging into four pizzas with a varied assortment of toppings.

Civia tried Dad’s and Rhee’s pizza, pronouncing it, “Different, but good.” Dad and the Moms ate only two pieces each of the small pizzas cut into six slices. I had lobbied for a pizza with jalapeños and black beans. While it was not the best combo I’d tried, it was pretty good; Dad liked it, too. While the parents ate no more pizza, they hung out at the table with us, chatting, for half an hour. Carol put Civia on the spot.

“What do you think about home-made pizza night at the Williams-Devlin residence?”

“Gosh, it’s great. It was so much fun making them. I couldn’t believe some of the combos that we made, but they were all good. The jalapeños and black beans pizza was good, but too spicy for me. Perhaps, that’s something else I must get used to or learn to like. I liked the white pizza with black olives and portobello best. But the best part was the ... comm ... camaraderie of making them. Mom and I nearly always split the cooking job between us while Dad studies, but these girls make everything so much fun. They also work together so well, it’s ... it’s just amazing. I’m so glad that Beth and Rhee invited me that first day. I’ve never had so much fun in my life as I’ve had this month with ... with these friends.”

“Civia, Dear,” Sandy said, “you’re welcome here anytime. We enjoy you being here, and I was not joking the other day. You fit well here; you’re family.”

Civia looked down then back up at Sandy.

“Thanks, Sandy. I really like being here. I really like my family. Uh, my Mom and Dad, but this family is just so fun!”

“Anytime, Civia,” Dad said. “You’re welcome anytime.” He looked up at the clock, then said, “Speaking of time, ladies, we should be getting dressed. Girls, I’ll be here at 8:05 to take you to practice. Have fun, tonight.”

He then walked around the table giving each of the Go5 a kiss on the top of the head.

When he got to Civia, last, he asked her, “Do you still want to be just one of the girls?”

She looked up at him and nodded. He kissed her on the top of her head and walked off following his wives to the bedroom. We all looked at Civia, waiting for a reaction. She looked around the table.

“You ... you all have ... many parents. Don’t you? I mean, you really do think of all three of them as your parents. Right?”

In my quick eyeball canvas of my sisters, I knew that I was elected.

“Yes, we do. Rhee, Heather, and I aren’t all that close to Gracey’s and Liya’s moms, mostly because we don’t spend a lot of time with them, but my parents and Rhee’s mom treat all five of us ... now, six of us, as daughters, and the five of us think of all three of them as parents. It only makes sense, as we five consider each other as sisters, but closer, much closer, than a lot of sisters are. You and I are the only ones of the six of us with both mother and father at home and still in love with each other. If you’re like me, you may have a little trouble understanding why it is that the other four think my dad is so wonderful.”

Liya cut in, saying, “Charlie and Sandy, but especially Charlie, have helped all four of us directly, in various ways. He says that we more than pay him back for ‘what little effort’ he went through to help us. None of us agree with him on that. Our lives are so much better because of his intervention. The four of us agree that we cannot possibly pay back what we owe, but we keep trying. In fact, most of the reason that all of our parents – Charlie, Sandy, Carol, my mom, and Gracey’s mom – treat us mostly as adults is due to our efforts, with a little help from Beth, to be worth Charlie’s efforts on our behalf. All four of us would do almost anything for Charlie and Sandy.”

“Let’s get the kitchen cleaned up,” Rhee said quietly. “If we want, we can continue this discussion after the parents are gone.”

We had the dining-room table cleared and cleaned and were well into the kitchen-cleaning process when Dad and the Moms exited their bedroom.

“Civia, I’m sorry that we won’t get to enjoy your presence on your first sleepover here. We also missed the first multi-day sleepover of the Go5. However, I hope that you can give us a rain check, as we like to have family to-dos, such as playing cards or board games. If you’re interested in things like that, we’ll make a point of making it happen on your next night here.”

“I’d like that, Carol. The girls have already said that this will happen again, so I’ll look forward to it.” Civia snuck a peek at Dad, then turned back to Carol with a nascent grin on her face and said, “I promise that I’ll have the girls in bed by 9. You can count on me.”

There was much laughing.

Gracey, who was the closest to Civia, not only wrapped her up, but picked her up, hugging her tightly for a second, then putting her feet on the floor, again.

“That is why we like you. You fit so well with us! That’s something that Liya or Beth might have said under different circumstances.”

Dad chimed in with, “Civia, all of us appreciate wit, and what Gracey said is bang on. That was witty and funny. Is there any chance we could borrow you from your parents for, oh, say ... five or six years? We still have a king bed upstairs that generally has only two girls in it, so we have room for you.”

Civia blushed but smiled at Dad, then said, “Thanks, Charlie. That’s tempting, but my parents would probably demand a pretty high price for such a long-term daughter rental.”

“Aw, shucks!”

Civia then surprised us by walking quickly to Dad, hugging him, and telling him to “Have a fun night out,” then repeating those actions with both Moms. The rest of us decided to follow Civia’s lead.

Once the parents were gone, Liya said, “I’m really liking this version of Civia. You’re letting yourself have fun, letting your sharp brain out to play. I liked you before, but I like you even more, now. As Dad said, we all appreciate wit.

“To change the subject completely, I’d like to ask about your dad, Civia, if I may.”

“Umm, okay.”

“You said he studies while you make dinner. He also buttonholed Charlie the other night about something to do with math. If you don’t mind, why is he studying?”

“Oh, I don’t mind, nor does Dad. He works in the electrical field, at the big power plant, actually. He’s got what they call a tech degree, but he’s trying to upgrade to an electrical engineering degree. He says it’s really hard, but it’s the only way up, only way to rise in the field. He’s taken a bunch of the easier courses he needs online, but he hopes to become a part-time student at the university here next year. He said he’ll have to give up coaching baseball for a few years to have the time. I’m sure glad he was still coaching this year so he met you guys, else I would not be here now.”

“Your dad becoming an engineer is a good thing, right?”

“Yeah, it would be. Money’s always a little tight, Mom’s explained, because they need to save for him going to school here and because we help out Mom’s mom a bit, you know, financially. They almost didn’t agree to pay for the premier team as it reduces our ... safety net for emergencies.”

Heather jumped in with, “My mother couldn’t afford it, either, but there’s a program. I can’t remember the name, but it’s specifically endowed to enable parents to afford paying for the advancement of girls, either in education or sports. That’s the only way I could have been on the team, and I found the program for her. I’m sure I can find it again if you think your parents would be interested.”

Civia enveloped Heather.

“Oh, yes, please. That would ease my dad’s mind a lot.” She then leaned back and said, “You girls keep making my life better and better. Thanks.”

“I hate to break up this mutual admiration society, but I noticed we’re all still wearing clothes,” said Rhee.

That caused a flurry of clothing to settle to the floor. We watched some YouTube videos, beginning with some dribbling instruction for Gracey, with the show being run by Civia, since she had learned many of her ball-handling skills from such videos. We transitioned into our general-learning game using videos, which took us to 9:30, when we began bedtime prep, making sure the downstairs was cleaned and locked. On the way to the stairs, Heather pulled Civia aside and told the rest of us to go on up. Heather and Civia joined the rest of us in the bathroom a minute or so after we’d gotten there.

“Heather told me I should pick whether to sleep in Beth’s and Rhee’s room or Gracey’s and Liya’s room and that she would sleep in the other. She also said that tonight will not be the last sleepover here for me, so that it doesn’t really matter, as I could trade off.”

Liya responded, “True, that. I predict that you’ll get lots of nights with us, and we’re happy to trade you back and forth.” She followed that up with a skin-to-skin hug with Civia, saying, “I have only one warning for you for the future: Don’t get caught between Rhee and Gracey in bed. Gracey is very warm and Rhee is a furnace. Beth says that it’s wonderful to share a bed with Rhee in the winter, but that it’s a good thing that we have a good AC here, now.”

Liya had said the latter bit with Civia’s face not even a foot from hers and their bodies still enmeshed in the hug. She gradually released Civia, then began brushing her teeth, a task that both Gracey and I had already completed.

“Since Beth and Rhee were the first to invite me, I’ll sleep in their room tonight, if that’s okay with everyone.”

“Sure,” Gracey answered. “We’ll just have to accept the consolation prize of Heather.”

Gracey grinned widely at Heather and Civia, the former putting on a huge fake pout and the latter smiling.

Once everyone completed ablutions, I hugged Gracey, Liya, and Heather good night, which began a round robin of good-night hugs.

Once in our room, I pulled my undies drawer out and grabbed a cotton panty, then pulled an old T out of another drawer and began climbing into them.

“Beth, wait, please,” Civia requested. “Umm, I’ve been thinking hard, and I want to change my mind about clothing. I’ve quickly become comfortable being naked with all of you and have begun being naked in my room. I’ve just had naked hugs with all of you. I have little doubt that I’ll become even more comfortable with ... the way you girls ... live. So, I’d like to start on that increased comfort tonight by sleeping how you and Rhee sleep. That is, if you don’t mind. I’m still a bit nervous, but I know that it’s just because it’s new, not because I think anything weird or bad could happen. Is that okay? Can we do that?”

Rhee was closer than I was, pulling Civia into another hug and said, “Absolutely, Civia. We don’t want you to be uncomfortable, but I applaud your decision. I expect as you do, that you’ll get to our comfort level with all this quickly. We’ll give you the choice about where you’ll sleep, on either side – and you can have your choice of side – or in the middle. And don’t worry about picking one of the sides and disappointing one of us. That’s another facet that we can trade from sleepover to sleepover.”

“Ummm...”

I interrupted with, “How ‘bout this? Are you generally cool in bed such that you often use a blanket, even in summer or do you frequently wake up too hot?”

“Too cool, usually.”

“Okay. You take one side and we’ll put Rhee in the middle. That way, you probably won’t get too hot and you can gradually get comfortable with sleeping naked with us without having both of us naked next to you on your first sleepover. Is that acceptable?”

She nodded her head, swallowed hard, then hugged me.

“Thanks, Beth, for ... for ... everything.” She sniffled, then said, “I don’t know why you thought that you, all of you, would like spending time with me, but I definitely appreciate it. Thanks.”

“No thanks needed. We appreciate spending time with you because you’re fun. Now you have to decide whether you want the wall or the door.”

As I expected, she chose the door side of the bed, so I climbed in on the wall side. We all settled in and turned lights off. I snuggled into Rhee. The three of us chatted quietly for a bit about the banquet tomorrow night, then a bit about tomorrow’s practice, wondering what Coach would be having us do. The discussion became desultory and we drifted off to sleep.

August 25, 2017

Dear Ms. Diary,

[Written August 26]

I woke to my bedmates’ quiet talking, which surprised me a little, as I usually wake before Rhee. She seems to need more sleep than I do.

“Fill me in, Civia. How was it,” I asked.

“Good timing, Girl. I had just asked her that, and you just interrupted the beginning of her answer.”

Rhee rolled a little to send a grin my way, and said, “G’morning, Beth.”

I reached up and turned off the alarm, then said, “Good morning, all. Civia, please excuse me and start again.”

“Morning, Beth. The night was ... weird. I’ve never slept in a bed with someone else, so I woke up a few times when Rhee moved. Twice, I quickly realized why I woke, realized that I was with my friends, and got back to sleep. I woke up once with Rhee’s arm around me and with her ... I guess, snuggled up to my back. That was both the weirdest and nicest time. It was weird because that was new to me and it kept me awake thinking about what I should do, if anything. I didn’t want her to think I didn’t like her by having her move or moving myself. After a couple minutes, I realized that it wasn’t ... icky, that she was warm, and liked me enough to share her bed with me. I also realized that it was like Heather had said about showers, but it was like a longer-lasting hug. Once I thought of it as a hug, I put my forearm on Rhee’s arm around my belly to sort of hug her back. That’s the last thing I remember until I woke up a few minutes ago.”

Rhee responded, “Thanks for the hug back.”

“All in all, then, Civia, you’ll be up...”

I stopped talking, as Liya stepped into the room.

“Hey, Girl, you don’t have a shirt on. Are you wearing anything?”

Since I was now looking over Rhee’s form at Civia, I could see her blush.

“No. When I saw Beth getting clothes out to wear to bed, I decided I was being selfish and afraid of change. The last was particularly annoying to me considering the huge changes that my life has seen in the past month, all due directly or indirectly to you girls and all of which are wonderful. I decided to trust my five new friends. I was just telling them that it was weird, but nice. I think that Beth was about to ask me whether I’d do this, again. I definitely will. I’m still a little uncomfortable, but much less so. Considering how quickly being naked in this house went from weird to normal, I doubt that it will take long before I’ll think that sleeping naked with you is anything other than normal.”

Liya leaned over and gave Civia a quick hug, saying, “Great! You’ll be in our room next time. How was sleeping with the furnace?”

Liya followed the question with a beaming grin.

Civia smiled, and replied, “Nice. She’s warm, and I was comfortable, temperature-wise, all night with only a sheet.”

While tapping her nose, Rhee said, “Liya, the three of us will get breakfast started if you guys want to shower.”

Since we woke well before the alarm, we made a hot breakfast instead of having cold cereal. We heated some leftover rice and some refried black beans – from a can, cooked some eggs sunny-side-up, and warmed a bunch of tortillas. Throw in some mild salsa and we had our version of what Dad called – allowing for the replacement of typical refried beans with lard-free refried black beans – a “typical Middle American breakfast.” He and Mom had become enamored of the breakfast on their pre-me Costa Rica trip. As per typical, all six of us had tasks, with the three showering girls getting the tasks that could be done later in the process; we had the breakfast made quickly.

Practice was more skills assessment/instruction, mostly of passing. Again, we grabbed slices of pizza to eat on the bus on the way home so that we could go straight to the practice pitch, where we gave Gracey and Liya more ball-handling and trapping practice, respectively.

Back at home, the deck was completely gone, and the garage was well on its way to following the deck. Inside, Liya said, “Heather and Liya downstairs, Gracey with Civia,” and we headed for the showers. Because of the de-construction crew, we again hung out in the Go5 HQ.

Gracey said, “We could do a lot more in here if we already had the remodel done. The house will be so sweet once it’s done, because all three bedrooms, as well as the living room, will be networked over fiber optic from a hub. Each bedroom will have a big display as well as a terminal. We could have run our YouTube game, or whatever you want to call it, here.”

“Oh, well,” Rhee came back. “I guess we’ll have to talk to each other.”

There was much chuckling.

We Go5 girls had decided to wear our first-day-in-high-school dresses to the banquet and began getting ready shortly after 3:30. The Moms were home one after the other just past 4, Dad ten minutes later. We were in the Sprinter by 4:40 and on our way to the banquet, which started at 5.

We were walking in the venue’s parking lot when Civia said, “Whoa! Look who’s here!”

I turned my head from Rhee to Civia to see where she was looking, then turned my head that way.

As the girl approached us, I said, “Charlize! What are you ... Let me guess. Coach invited you and your parents.”

As she stepped up to me and hugged me, she replied, “You got it.” She then whispered in my ear, “I’ve been missing spending time with you guys since the tournament. I convinced my parents to come primarily so I ... you know.”

With my arms around her, I quietly replied, “Do you think you could spend a weekend with us, sometime?”

“I’d love that. Let me see what I can arrange. Oddly, it will be easier once school is going.”

“Oh, I forgot. It will probably have to wait until after October. Our house is being remodeled to be finished before November. We’d love to have you, then.”

We released each other and Civia immediately stepped into Charlize so the two could hug.

“Hi, Charlize. It’s so good to see you again.”

“It’s great to see you, too.”

I found it interesting that all six of us lined up to hug Charlize, particularly as I was the only one to hug her when we first saw her at state. Of course, Gracey and Liya knew her then only as a member of our arch-rival and Civia didn’t know her at all. Everyone truly had enjoyed her presence at the tournament. All nine of us said “hi” to her parents when they joined us, and the dozen of us walked into the venue together.

Coach was at the door greeting everyone. We were behind Ann and Mia and some of their families.

There was much hugging.

As we were starting through the entrance, I heard Gracey exclaim, “Lana!” The two of them hugged, and then we had another round of hugs, in which Ann and Mia were a part.

Coach said, “Welcome back, Lana. I’m glad that you and your mother could swing this. It wouldn’t have felt right without you here. Thank you, Marla, for agreeing to bring her, as Lana is an important part of the team.”

There were only a few other team members here before us: Kanda and, of course, Dakota, Zahira, and Padme. Another round of hugs ensued, and it continued as more and more teammates arrived. Civia’s parents came in shortly before 5, and they immediately joined us and got hugs from Civia.

Mrs. Palecek asked, “How was your two-day stay with your friends?”

“It was great! Those girls are so fun!” Civia thought for a second, then added, “How was your two-day time with no annoying children at home?”

She followed with a wide grin for both parents.

“It was great,” her dad exclaimed. “No precocious girl to ask so many questions. No chatterbox talking our ears off about her wonderful friends. No quiet girl making us wonder what she’s up to alone in her room. Without those children around, it was nice. We talked a lot with each other and had a nice night. We did miss our wonderful daughter, though.”

Sandy and Carol chuckled and Dad smiled. Civia hugged her parents, again.

“Mom, Dad. I had a good time. Could I do it again, sometime? They already asked, although we haven’t discussed a date.”

“It will depend on a few things, particularly when. However, we don’t have any problem with the idea, as long as you enjoyed yourself this time,” Mrs. Palecek answered.