Sharon was dogpaddling toward me. Her stroke was ungainly and awkward and her head dipped beneath the surface twice in the two feet she swam to get to me. I picked her up and held her against my chest as Heidi threw a dry towel toward us. Wednesday she swam nowhere. Heidi dropped her in the pool and I was waiting, camera beneath the surface, to catch her scrunched-up face on that, her first day
in
the water. As soon as her head broke the surface I grabbed her, hugged her to my chest and made sure she knew that she was the most precious girl in my life.
Two feet
! Not bad for her fifth day in our pool. I said, "Hey Andy, by the time
you
start training her I bet you'll have her doing complete laps." I brought her over to the pool's edge so he could kiss the top of her tiny head.
Andy really loved his little sister. She was sixteen days old.
Heidi had brought Andy into the house and came out with a pitcher of iced tea. As she poured she said, "I think we'll need to at least pull a permit to repair the
storm damaged
roof. Ken said that that's the common way to get around the laws limiting expanded construction on waterfront lots. Bayside can use at least three more bedrooms and if our offer is accepted on the property next door we can add five more.
Oh, and we've got five girls heading home to visit their folks. They'll all be back in a couple of weeks but we'll need to reassign their clients to the other girls. I'd like to expand Nancy's hours in the office to make up for my lost time taking care of Andy's little charge."
I just started to open my mouth to respond when she continued, "Did she tell you that Bonnie'd been accepted to do next year abroad at Oxford? I know that means she'll be lost to the lineup but it'll be great on her résumé whether for more school or a research job."
I was just about to add how proud I was when Heidi stepped on my lines again. "Louise just broke it off with the guy she'd been seeing 'cause she could tell he wouldn't buy into her side job. It's probably for the best, don't you think?"
That time I didn't even attempt to respond and she said, "You could at
least
try to show a little interest in what's going on around here!"
I decided to change the subject. "I was just wondering whether you felt together enough to
get together
tonight."
Her face instantly softened. She smiled as she answered, "I was wondering how long you'd hold out. To tell you the truth baby I kind of want to make out with you tonight but it still hurts when I pee so I figured it might be too soon for the other."
Her smile grew to a grin. "That's why we're throwing a birthday party tonight!"
"Who's birthday?"
"Her name is Amber and she just turned eighteen yesterday. She'll be starting at the community college in the fall and I had ninety percent convinced her to come to work for us when I came up with the idea that you could break her into the life." She leaned over and kissed me. "You're
great
at giving Sex 101 lessons.
You got her lingerie for birthday presents."
"I suppose I'd better get cleaned up then. When's she due here?"
"See I
told
you that you weren't paying attention. She's inside with Andy as we speak."
"Well I
still
need to get cleaned up. Shower with me?"
"Will you try to fuck me in the shower?"
"Cuddle yes, caress yes, fondle yes but penetrate no."
She extended her hand to me. "Sounds like just what I wanted."
As we entered the living room Andy and Amber were both sitting on the floor leaning against the sofa. Andy said, "Speak of the troglodytes..."
Heidi said, "Amber this is the other Andy who lives here even though the one you've been talking to sometimes thinks that the entire household revolves around him.
This house has almost every electronic advance ever developed including programmable artwork on the walls but the fact that we've drawn the line at X-boxes and Playstations Andy ascribes to some sort of technophobia. We think of them as wasters of massive amounts of time.
And by the way the sleeping lump in my husband's arms is our new housemate Sharon and it's her sixteen day birthday today."
Amber shook her hands, "The X-box issue sounds
way
too political for my tastes. I'll take a pass. Andy asked if he could show me the