Chapter 31

July 27, 2017

Dear Ms. Diary,

The first sight upon opening my eyes this morning was Rhee’s face looking down at mine; she was smiling. I smiled back.

“Good sleep?”

“Oh, yeah,” I replied softly. I then thought of the others. “We need to see how the others’ sex-traveganza went. Come on!”

I pushed up, threw off the covers, and rolled out of bed. With Rhee at my back, we quickly opened their door and stepped inside.

“Aww, look at them. Aren’t they so cute all cuddled up together?”

I spoke quietly, but I was afraid that I’d already woken Liya, but she just turned a bit and re-settled. I noticed that Rhee was no longer with me, but I had a sneaking suspicion I knew why. When she re-entered holding her phone, my suspicion was confirmed. Rhee took her time and composed the picture, taking a horizontal from where we first saw them and a vertical from the foot of the bed.

The pictures would have been PG, but for Gracey’s left boob being visible on Heather’s left shoulder, as Gracey was on her right side, her left arm over Heather’s chest over the covers. Liya was snuggled into Heather’s left side.

I indicated to Rhee that we should leave, so we quietly departed and closed the door. I went back to my room and donned minimal clothing, just in case one of the girls woke up and found us downstairs naked with Dad and Mom. Rhee copied my actions.

Dad and Mom were chatting over coffee at the kitchen table, but I interrupted them.

“Mom, you have to come see this. Sorry, Dad, you’re not allowed. If you’d said ‘yes’ last night, you would have been allowed to see the sight this morning. Hurry, Mom, before they wake up.”

The three of us then traipsed quietly back upstairs and snuck open the door, pushing it wide.

“Oh, that is precious. Thanks for coming to get me. I also see why Charlie’s not allowed here. Did you get a picture?”

“Yeah, Mom,” answered Rhee.

Mom turned back to us and shooed us back out the door, which we closed, to our room.

“Rhee, Beth,” she said. “No matter what Gracey and Liya say, that scene right there is worth much more effort than Charlie and I put into those girls’ benefit. We were not exaggerating how thankful we are that you girls visit. We really do think of all of you as daughters and we value greatly the light you bring to our lives and the job you do in filling that hole that the lack of additional children of our own made. We are very happy, fulfilled.”

We nodded in understanding. I changed the subject.

“Mom,” I asked, “was Dad planning on making breakfast? We can help if he is, or we can do it if not.”

“He’s probably started already.”

“Okay. Please tell him that Rhee and I will be down shortly to help.”

Mom nodded, then started down the stairs.

Their bedroom door opened and Liya stepped out.

“G’morning, Ms. Exquisite-Ass.”

Liya rolled her eyes at me, then grinned.

“Oh, yeah,” Rhee exclaimed. “Your new initials are ‘EA.’” Her face went into thinking mode, briefly, then broke into a huge grin. “That also could rhyme with ‘See ya!’ I like it! ‘Liya Eeyah!’”

She then reached around and palmed that naked, exquisite ass.

“Hey! Hands off the goodies!”

Then Liya’s face changed from a very serious look to that incredible, sparkling-eyed grin she lets loose when very happy.

“Oh, god,” she continued, “last night was incredible. I lost track of how many times we made Heather cum. She can just go and go and go. Or, I should say, ‘cum and cum and cum.’ She’s also very good at returning the favor. But I suppose that you already know that.”

We nodded emphatically.

Her expression changed to something softer as she said, “I woke up in the middle of the night and was so happy when I could feel both Heather and Gracey there with me. You guys certainly know this, too, but it’s so much better sleeping with someone you love than alone. I certainly sleep much better when Gracey’s with me, and that was true even before we started having sex. It’s even more true now, though some or all of that may be due to the pre-sleep orgasms.”

That beautiful smile came out of hiding again.

We could hear movement in their room and, as one, we turned back to their room and entered to find Gracey sitting up, Heather still tucked under the covers, but awake, her crystal blue eyes smiling at us.

“A little birdie told me that you had your world rocked last night, Heather.”

“Oh, god, yes! They just about wore me out!”

I turned to Liya, saying, “You’re going to have to keep better count, else how can we have a fair competition?”

That grin returned.

“What,” Heather started, “are you talking ... Oh. No! You are not going to have a competition to see who makes me cum the most!”

She might have just about convinced an incredulous six-year-old that she was serious, but her sparkling grin also came out to play, ruining her serious act.

“Unfortunately, Dad will probably have breakfast ready soon, so if you want to avoid Dad and Mom smelling sex on you, you might want to take your showers soon. Rhee and I are jumping in, now.

We played Paradise at home today, our last regular-season game. We’ll have practice five days next week and then the tournament on Saturday.

Before the game, a girl came up to Rhee and me shortly before Coach arrived. We were hoping that Civia Palecek would show up and introduce herself to us. While this girl looked young enough, maybe, to be Civia, she seemed too tall to be an 11-year-old. Her slightly swarthy complexion was topped by rich dark hair not quite to her shoulders with the front in a headband braid.

“Rhee? Rhee Devlin?”

“Yes,” Rhee answered, “I’m Rhee. Are you Civia?”

When the girl nodded, Rhee said, “Wow. I didn’t expect you to be so tall. What are you, 5’3” or something?”

Civia nodded, then said, “A half-inch shorter than that; I’m the tallest in my class.”

“I’d guess so. Civia, this is Beth Williams, our team captain.”

“Hi, Beth. You’re ... you’re really pretty.”

“HAH! Yes, Civia, she is, but she’s not really sure that she believes that.”

I punched Rhee in the arm, though not hard. “Thanks, pal.” I stuck out my hand for Civia to shake it, but she gave a wishy-washy return. I thought about it, then decided to go for it. “It’s nice to meet you, Civia. I know that this will sound weird, but my first bit of advice for you concerns your handshake.”

She looked at me, her eyebrows raised, her expression guarded.

“We hear that your coach thinks that you’re good at this game and your dad told us that you wanted to try out for this team next year. If you’re good and you wind up filling Rhee’s shoes, you’re going to meet a lot of people, so you need a better handshake, one that befits your hoped-for status.”

I explained about firm handshakes, and Rhee and I demonstrated what we meant. We also explained about looking in the eye of anyone with whom she was shaking hands.

“Okay, Coach just arrived, so let’s catch her before she gets busy trying to corral this lot of ne’er-do-wells. Coach has something of a reputation as fierce, but she’s actually really nice, as long as you don’t piss her off.”

We walked her over to Coach and introduced her.

Coach said, “Oh. I’ve heard good things about you, Civia, but I hadn’t heard that you were a giantess. How tall are your parents?”

“Thank you, Ma’am. Dad...”

Coach interrupted, saying, “Call me ‘Coach.’ I don’t know how to be a ‘Ma’am.’ I’m too ... earthy to be a ‘Ma’am.’”

Civia smiled, then continued. “Dad’s 6’3” and Mom’s 5’9”.”

“So, you still have some growing to do.” With Civia’s nod, Coach continued. “That’s interesting. Height can be good, but you’re a bit scrawny. As you get into the older divisions, the play gets rougher. A lot of things that would be fouls at your current level are not at older levels. One of the reasons that Rhee is so good is that she’s very physical and quite strong, so she can bang bodies and come out the winner. Would you be interested, at least willing, to start a training regimen that will help you increase your overall strength?”

Civia looked a little worse for wear. First, I had taken her to task for her handshake and now Coach was saying she was scrawny. She looked at her feet, then looked up.

“I really want to keep playing soccer and see how far I can take it. I really enjoy it and I think I’m pretty good. I know that I can get even better, but I need to be on a team that challenges me and whose opponents can challenge me. This summer was too easy. Coach, do you really think that such training will help me?”

“There’s no doubt about it, Civia. If you’re going to grow even just another six inches, and you may have more to go than that, if you don’t get your body developing outward as well as upward, you just won’t have the strength to mix it up with the older girls. They’ll run over and through you, even if you’re a lot more skilled than they are.”

Coach looked calmly into Civia’s eyes waiting for her response. I did, too, as I was seeing another aspect of coaching that Coach seems to have down cold. I really like learning how she does what she does.

“Coach, if you say so, then I have to believe it. It’s just that I’ve spent so much time building my ball-handling and shooting skills and learning how to play the game, I don’t know where I’d have found the time to do this.”

Civia could see a response coming, apparently, in Coach’s face, so she held up a hand in the ‘Stop’ sign.

“I know. Effort breeds success. My Dad’s told me that a lot. That’s what got me putting so much time into learning how to do what I can do. He also says that none of us can have everything we want, that we need to prioritize among our desires. I guess that I just didn’t know how much work some goals take to achieve, because just learning what I’ve learned seems to have taken most of my free time.” She looked at her feet, again, then back up. “Yes, that’s an exaggeration, but that’s really the way that it’s felt at times.”

Coach said, “Hang on a second, Civia.” Then she yelled over her shoulder for Ann, who came jogging up. “Ann, please get them going on stretching, calisthenics, and the usual drills.”

Ann nodded and headed back to the knot of players; we heard, “Gather ‘round.”

Coach then turned to Rhee. “Why don’t you join the team. I’d send Beth, too, but she needs to be here.”

Rhee nodded, and jogged over to the rest of the team.

“Civia, are you feeling sorry for yourself?”

“Uhh, no Coach. I really want this, and I’ll do whatever you say I need to do. I want on this team, while Rhee and Beth and the rest of this incredible offense is still here. I’ve seen your last few home games, and I know that I can learn a lot from this team.”

“Okay, Civia, I’ll take your word on that. I’ve already shown you the stick, now I’ll offer the carrot. Do you have anything taking up your mornings for the next couple weeks?”

“Not really.”

“If you want and have the time, you are welcome to practice with the team as long into the post-season schedule as we last. Interested?”

I already knew that she was interested, as her eyes got brighter and brighter toward the end of Coach’s offer.

“Oh, yes! Really? You’d really let me practice with you?”

“Yes, but you have to make a commitment. If you’re just going to show up every so often, the offer is rescinded. However, if you’ll be here every day. On time. Ready to give everything. Then, yes, you can practice with us.”

“Okay. Yes. I’m in.” Then her face fell a bit, but she pulled a Heather, gritting her teeth, and continued. “I’ll have to figure out how to get here. Both Mom and Dad work and it’s too far to walk. I can look into buses, I guess.”

“Where do you live, Civia?”

“Near the Old Theater.”

“Oh,” I cut in, “that’s over by Ann and Gracey.” I raised my eyebrows at Coach; she nodded. “I’m sure that you could catch rides with one of them. Your mom brought you, yes?” At her nod, I asked, “Is she still here?”

“No, she dropped me off, because she couldn’t take the afternoon off. I’m to stay here until she gets out of work.”

Civia looked a little nervous when Coach wandered off to the team.

“I see you have a phone. Would your mom be okay with it if we got you a ride home after the game?”

She grimaced slightly. “I don’t know. She’s kind of nervous about that sort of thing.”

“Okay. How ‘bout this? Could we call your dad and ask him? He knows me, and I could introduce him to Coach on the phone. Would that work? We could do FaceTime if he wanted to be sure of all of us.”

Her look got happier. “I think it might. Thank you, Beth. Um, don’t you have to warm up or something?”

“Besides being the Team Captain, I’m also the Assistant Coach; I’m wearing that latter hat right now. This is exactly the sort of thing that assistants do to make the coach’s job easier. Besides, this is more important.”

Civia’s face beamed. “I’m more important than being with the team before your last regular-season game?”

“Sure. It’s more important to get the team’s future star striker lined up than it is to go through one more warm-up session. One more question before we call your dad. Can you also make it to our post-season games? Are you even interested?”

“I’m definitely interested, but isn’t the sectional tournament in New Paris?”

“Yeah. Is that a problem?”

“Well, I’m sure that my parents would let me go, but would you guys really want a kid tagging along?”

“No, we wouldn’t. However, we would want a provisional team member that might cause Rhee to actually work for her position as the starting center forward next year to join us on the road at the section championship.”

I was surprised when she squealed and hugged me. Pleasantly surprised. So, I hugged her back. She then let go, very tentatively, and stepped back.

“I’m sorry for being so forward.”

“I’m not. We’re a hugging kind of team, so you’ll fit right in. Now, let’s grab Coach and we’ll call your dad.”

The team was doing calisthenics when we walked up, so I corralled Coach. Everything worked out with Civia’s father, particularly since he’d already at least seen Gracey. Civia’s dad would clear things with her mother. I gave Mr. Palecek my phone number in case he had questions or problems. I pulled Ann and Gracey out of warmups and introduced Civia to them and explained the need for rides for her. They said that it should be no problem for her to ride with them.

“You’re welcome to hang out with the team during the game if you’d like, Civia.”

She nearly squealed, “Really?”

“Sure. You’d earn another brownie point or two if you offered Coach your help if she needs anything. You should also take the time to introduce yourself to other team members. You can tell them that you hope to be a teammate next year, if you want. Be careful, though, some of these girls can talk your ear off. Don’t let them, as Coach really wants the backups to watch the game so that they’ll be prepared when they go in. Of late, we’ve been getting all or nearly all into games.

“See the girl on the left end of the front line. That’s Lissa, she’s a co-captain. You definitely should introduce yourself to her. She knows everyone else quite well and lives and breathes soccer. She’s our best dribbler and she and I have spent no little time talking strategy and tactics. If those are the sorts of things that you like, you’ll enjoy talking with her. Ann, one of the girls that lives near you, is the other co-captain.”

I’m looking forward to seeing how much game Civia has.

I did my stretches and a quick warmup and then joined in the various mundane drills that we always ran before a game. When Coach met with the officials, I called out, “Gather ‘round.”

Once I made sure that Civia had also come to the rally call, I started into the usual pre-game recap of the game plan.

“We haven’t seen this team since early in the season. Likewise, but perhaps more importantly, they haven’t seen us since early in the season. From looking at stats and game summaries, Paradise doesn’t seem to have changed much. They’re a good team. Quite a good team. However, we’ve become a great team. Our D has become very stingy, while our O has become something of a ball hog. We want both those facets of the team to continue today. If we play like we’ve been playing this month, we’ll come out ahead and avenge our one loss of the season.