108: Summer of Youth and Joy

The Ides of March, that dreaded date in Roman history, proved to be a turning point for all of us. It was Doug's 26th birthday. He asked if we could celebrate at the big house and we all agreed happily. Sunday afternoon, we had a big meal and birthday cake that the kids chomped down with great joy. We sang happy birthday to Doug and he actually blew out all the candles on the cake.

"A few months ago, I wasn't sure I'd see this day," Doug said after we'd sung. "You guys are all so awesome. You stuck with me and helped my family. So I'm happy to say the doctor thinks I've gone into remission. This second round of cocktails has been powerful, but I made the decision to live. I've got one more treatment to go and then they'll run the whole battery of tests again. It's not like anything is a guarantee, but I'm feeling stronger every day." Shit, yeah!

Josh, Carl, and I got to him and had him in a hug so tight he could barely breathe.

I talked to Addison in mid-April. Long distance to Japan. She was having a good time. She was about finished with her master's degree but had decided she wanted to stay in Japan a while longer. I pressed her as to why.

"Well, there's this guy," she giggled. "He's pretty darn nice. He treats me better than the Japanese treat their women. He works in the office where I work and we hang out a lot together."

"That sounds sweet," I said.

"Yeah. I kinda think we're falling in love, Brian. I think maybe I'll bring him to the ranch for a vacation this summer. You know, that's the thing. He's not going to get much further if the family doesn't approve," she said.

"Addy, you know we'll welcome the man of your choice. If you love him, we'll love him. If we can't love him, we'll still love you."

"I love you, Brian. All of you. Thanks for calling to wish me happy birthday. It was yesterday, of course, but thanks anyway."

"What? It's April 15! I checked the time zones. It's only seven a.m. in Japan."

"Tomorrow. You have to take into account the International Date Line. In Japan it is seven a.m. on April 16. And I've got to go to work. I'll see you this summer."

Saturday was one of the difficult days for the family. It was that way every year, but we were coping with it better. It was the fifth anniversary of Lexi's death. The fifth anniversary of Samantha, Dani, Courtney, and I being wounded. We all went to the River and found several others of the extended family there as well. Ross, Monte, Judy, Amber, Pam, Susan, Leonard. They were all the ones closest to Lexi except TK and Nancy. Neither of them were still living in town. Of course Sly and Lily were there, as were the rest of Casa de la Tierra. I was surprised that Doug and Sandy walked out to the River with Matthew and C-Rae. We didn't say much, but we raked. We picked up stray leaves that had blown into the gravel. We smoothed the stones. We hugged each other.

And then we celebrated C-Rae's fourth birthday. Maybe just recognizing the fragility of the life we'd just remembered made us happier and more celebrative of the life of the little girl who had been born a year later. We spent the day playing with the kids, going horseback riding, and eating way too much not-so-healthy food.

It was a blast.

The next week, Cassie, Mary, and Josh moved into the master suite, or as Dawn referred to it, the birthing room. John and Bea had wanted them to stay at the Clinton house, but Cassie insisted that it was now a tradition that Casa del Fuego babies were born in the big house. I started every night in the big bedroom upstairs, but I ended up in the master suite cuddled up to Cassie or Mary.

Sunday the fun began when Cassie went into labor. Dawn was on hand, but she didn't have much to do for a long time. Apparently Cassie experienced a few severe cramps early on in her labor and we thought it was going to go fast. Then, after her water broke, the cramps slowed down. She'd get one that would double her up for a few seconds about every ten or fifteen minutes.

"That's just the baby shifting around and getting in position," Dawn said. "Don't worry. You'll know when contractions really start."

We knew. It was just about the time I was waking up Monday morning. Cassie just rode them out until they were coming about five minutes apart. Then we called Dawn back and let John and Bea know that the birth was imminent.

"Why don't you go make bread, Brian?" Cassie said about five o'clock.

"Cassie, I'm not going to leave here! Did you really think I'd go bake bread while you were in labor? Even with our cónyuge with you?" I said. I couldn't believe it.

"No-o. I just wanted to hear you say it." She gripped my hand as another contraction hit her. "I have to go poop." Josh took charge of getting her to the toilet and then Mary got the shower running and stepped in to wait for Cassie. Mary took charge of washing her cónyuge and getting her fresh and sparkling.

"It's not fair that you get to go first with everything," Mary moaned. "I'm not even feeling a twinge yet."

"Ugh. You could have had the labor for both," Cassie moaned. "Dry my hair, sweetheart. Please?" Mary did, fussing and petting Cassie between contractions. She even applied a little eye makeup and blush.

"We've got digital cameras now. You want to look nice," Mary explained.

"Evil woman," Cassie said. "Just you wait." They came out of the bathroom and Cassie crawled onto the bed. "I think I'm ready now."

"Let's take a little look and make sure," Dawn said. Cassie spread her legs and Dawn shown a light up inside her. "Looks like you are fully dilated, hon. When you feel ready, you can start to push."

"Juice?" Cassie asked. "I think I need some energy." We had the apple juice ready and I crawled into bed behind Cassie. She was going to try a squatting position and I was there to stabilize her. Josh was in front, ready to catch. Cassie leaned back on my knees. The contraction hit and she pushed. For the next hour. This was supposed to make it better and easier to deliver, but whatever was inside Cassie wasn't coming out willingly. I was behind her. Mary was on one side supporting her and helping her breathe. Dawn was on the other side going through all the motions as well.

"I see something!" Josh said.

"You've got your face in my pussy. I hope you see something," Cassie responded.

"Yes, but I think ... Wow!"

"Yeah! Ow!" Cassie wailed as she pushed through another contraction.

"Keep coming, honey," Josh said. "I have her head in my hands. We're having a baby, Cass!"

"You think I can't tell that? Ahhh!" Cassie yelled.

"Yes! It's ... She's beautiful!" Josh called. Cassie fell back against me and I held her between my legs.

"Oh, god! Look at her! She's so sweet!" Mary cried. "Look, Cassie. You've brought us a precious little daughter." Josh laid the baby on Cassie's chest and Dawn checked her vitals and used a squeegee to suction out the mucous from her nose. Then she moved around between Cassie's legs to clean up the mess of the afterbirth.

"Okay, Daddy. She's breathing on her own and the cord has stopped pulsing," Dawn said. "Here's a clamp. Now cut it right here."

Josh cut the umbilical cord of his first born child. He crawled up beside Cassie and gently laid a blanket over our daughter.

"I need one more good push from you, Cassie," Dawn said. "Then all this messy part will be over." Cassie pushed and we all heard the squelch of the sac and fluids gushing out of her.

"That's a lovely sound," Cassie snorted.

"I've changed my mind," Mary said. "I'm not going to have a baby. I'll just enjoy yours, okay?"

"It's a little late to think of that now," Dawn laughed.

"Oh, baby. You made me go through twenty-six hours of labor. Don't think I'll ever let you forget that. I learned how to make a child feel guilty from a professional," Cassie said.

"Speaking of whom, we'd better pull a blanket over us so your parents can come in and see their granddaughter," Mary said. We were, of course, all naked. Once we were all settled and Cassie was covered by a shawl so she could let her parents see the baby, Dawn called them in. Bea rushed to the bed and practically crawled over the top of Josh to get to her grandbaby.

"Mom and Dad, here's your first little granddaughter, Ruth Anne Whitaker." Cassie's and Mary's middle names. Josh and I were both proud fathers. When Bea took the baby, Dawn moved in to weigh and measure, then handed her off to John. He never said a word.

He just stood there crying.

I'd like to say that Mary's delivery was a lot easier, but I can't. It seemed like she was matching Cassie's entire process. But four days later, I caught my son while Josh held Mary from behind and Cassie and Dawn from the sides.

"Look at you. You're going to be a basketball player, aren't you?" I said as he balled up his fists and screeched out his displeasure at being in the cold cruel world. "Ow. Or a cheerleader."

We introduced our son to the family as Robert Allen Whitaker. My middle name and Josh's. We were two mighty proud daddies. Again.

The next weekend, was graduation. Our youngest clan members were getting their BAs. Dani completed her MA. And much to everyone's surprise, both Courtney and Brenda were receiving their PhDs! We had some damn smart women in this clan.

"So what does a woman actually do with a PhD in math?" I asked Brenda.

"Well, I'm going to follow through on my analysis of interesting ways to learn math," Brenda said. "Specifically, I want to compute the probability that I can employ the same study techniques to master a different subject."

"Study techniques?"

"Sometimes you are so dense, Brian. What math concepts did you learn just before you came in my ass before finals four years ago?"

"Oh! That was calculus derivatives. What does that have to do... ?" I cut myself off as what she was saying sank in. "What would you like to study next?" I asked.

"Hmm. Let's get our little heads together and discuss that."

"Yeah. Our little heads."

"You did it! I'm so proud of you," I said to Courtney.

"Amazing, huh? I thought I just was tinkering around with computers. Now I am one," she laughed.

"I had no idea robotics had gone so far. A walking-talking sex doll. With a PhD."

"Yeah. I guess I'm ready to retire now."

"Really?"

"That company out in California just offered me a deal I can't refuse. Don says that I can still develop the professional version of the software if I want to, but I license the core tech to this company and they get to sell it to consumers. They have to develop the user interface and all that. I didn't even know consumers were interested in video editing. The world is changing so fast!" she sighed. "When am I ever going to be able to stop and raise a family?"

"Honey, you are only twenty-six..."

"Twenty-seven next month."

"Only twenty-seven. We have lots of time. We don't have to rush into getting you pregnant," I said.

"What do you think I'd look like with a big tummy and big tits like Rachel has?" Courtney asked.

"My courtesan, you would still be beautiful if you gained two hundred pounds and wore a pup tent."

"But wouldn't you prefer if I was still 115 and wore nothing?"

"It's the way I like you best."

"Then undress me, Brian. I had to wear a bra today and my breasts need a massage," she said.

"Yes, my courtesan. I live to serve you."

"Pam told me you don't do goodbye fucks. How about a graduation fuck?"

"Laurie! That's not the way it works. I only make love to women I've built a relationship with."

"Could we build a good relationship this afternoon? Like as soon as my parents leave?"

"You are sounding very horny. I thought you had a boyfriend," I said.

"Mmm. Not exactly. He's a boy. And a friend. But we're not compañera, you know. He's improving, but he has a lot of work to keep up with all three of us," she said.

"Three of you?"

"Rees and Pam and me. Can you believe he actually complained that his dick was going to fall off?"

"But Rees ... I thought Brett..." I stumbled. Laurie looked at me and cocked an eyebrow. Oh my! Pam and her little brother? Oh fuck!

"Talk to Theresa. I'll bet she has a nice cream you could use to soothe it. Non-irritating, too." I smiled at her. Laurie leaned up and whispered in my ear.

"Next time you're with Pam, you might find me in the same bed."

"It only took five years!" Dani said as I hugged her to me.

"And look at everything else you've accomplished in that time. You three are opening your second café. That's astounding."

"Well, we had to have something to do to keep Dolly and Debbie near George. It just means that I'll be working more hours in the café here. I've hired some good people, though," she said.

"I could spend more time at the café in the mornings if you'd like."

"Oh, Brian, my love. If you came to open the restaurant with me in the morning, Matthew, Xan, and C-Rae would all have to come, too. Can't you just see the three of them padding through the streets in their jammies so they could sit at the counter and listen to Papa talk?" Dani laughed.

"It's worse," I said. "I turned around Thursday morning and Eleanor and Leslie were sitting there with them. I had to call Theresa and let her know where her children were."

"There'll be more," Dani said as she relaxed into my arms and kissed me, her fingers fluttering over my face and chest.

I petted her long, lean torso, marveling in the smoothness of her skin and how peaceful she made me feel. It had always been this way. Even when we were making love, we fit so well together that we were often connected before we realized we were making love. There was no doubt about it this time, though. She turned in the chair to face me with her legs straddling mine and sank down on my shaft. We both sighed our satisfaction.

The kids were all in bed. Josh, Cassie, and Mary were in the master suite with our two new babies. Rhonda and Sam had gone to Sam's parents' house. Nicki was at the writer's cottage with Elaine to work on a new idea she swore would make Elaine even more famous than she already was. Jennifer had taken Courtney to Kokomo to spend the rest of the weekend at the James's. Liz and Doreen were in the 'mothers' room' with their four children and Xan asleep in the overcrowded nursery. Only Rose was still up, puttering around in the kitchen.

Dani lifted herself and sank back down on me. Again. Her nipples were just at lip height in this position and I softly nibbled and licked them. Doreen and Rachel had lost a lot of feeling in their nipples after their children's exuberant nursing. Liz never really nursed and was as small and tight and sensitive as before she gave birth. Dani's nipples, only able to provide half the nourishment that Xan needed, ended up more sensitive than they had been before. Or perhaps it was because we were more aware of them as an erogenous zone than when she'd begun her stay at the ranch.

"I have cookies and cocoa," Rose said as she came into the room with a tray and stopped short. "Oh. Perhaps you'd rather not be disturbed."

"I don't think cookies and cocoa would disturb anything. Do you, Brian?" Dani asked as she stroked up and down again.

"Join us, Rose," I said. "We love you an awful lot. We'd like to share."

"Oh, you two!" She set the tray down on one side of the chair and came around to the other to crawl up on the arm next to us. We wiggled around a bit to make sure she could get comfortable and began including her in our soft petting while Dani continued to raise and lower on my cock. I reached for a cup of cocoa.