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This work of fiction is part of a series; if you did not already read the preceding chapters, please do that before starting this one.
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The next morning, my sister showed up in my bed.
She and Katie giggled as they climbed on top of the bedcover to wake the three of us up. They woke the girls up with kisses and then climbed on top of me, trapping me beneath the blanket with their bodies.
I told them they were lard-asses and needed to get off. They retaliated by peppering my face and neck with kisses. I had freed my arms before they piled on - but I was still feeling a little claustrophobic - completely unable to escape from under their combined weight.
My older sister's hands cupped my face, and she gave me a kiss that no sibling should share with their younger brother. I looked up into her eyes as she studied my face after delivering her naughty kiss.
"I've missed you," she purred.
"I ... I could tell," I replied, sightly out of breath and completely caught off-guard by her risquΓ© behavior.
She giggled. I really didn't remember her giggling like that. It was nice.
Katie snuggled her face against mine and I hugged the two of them. All concerns about feeling trapped just melted away.
We went out for breakfast. Tanisha and Nicole spent the entire meal sharing their new business plan with my sister and her lover. I had hoped that she would counsel them against the idea but - of course - she instead offered to produce flyers and contact the sign company about getting a sign made for the place.
Before we left, she had called a realtor friend and had already initiated conversations with the property owners to determine whether my assistants-turned-managers were going to be buying or renting the place. The realtor immediately advised the girls to rent the place to see how things went.
I breathed a sigh of relief until my sister informed me that the realtor had somehow been involved in the cookoff event and suggested that they rent because she was already shopping for a more permanent (and larger) location. She anticipated that we would outgrow the little drive-thru place in the first 30 days.
At that point, I felt like the driver of a runaway stagecoach - heading for an abrupt and climactic end.
My sister threw her arm around my shoulder and dragged me off to her car. She shoved me into the passenger seat and condemned Katie to sit in the back with the other two. Based on the giggles as we rode along, she wasn't too put out about the change. I caught Tanisha rubbing her belly - and Nicole's - and just shook my head.
"We're what ...?" Katie asked, "like a month into our pregnancies?"
"Something like that," my sister replied, steering the car with one hand as she held my left hand with her right - our fingers laced together.
"If we spend three months at The Island, we'll still have almost five months at the new place once we find it," she said. "We'll be making bank by then. You and I can stop job-hunting."
"What?!" I gasped.
"Think about it," Nicole said, nodding her head at Katie. "I'm majoring in Hospitality Management - so I'll manage the restaurant."
"I've got the accounts, the payroll, the taxes, and the bookkeeping," added Tanisha (the Accounting major).
"I'll do the website and the online ordering app," Katie said.
"I've got advertising, signs, menus, and whatever else," my sister said, grinning.
"And me?" I asked.
"You do some computer magic to manage the inventory and - the rest of the time - you make sure we all stay pregnant," she laughed.
"Not me, thank you very much," Tanisha said, laughing as well.
I looked between all of their faces.
"I can't believe you're all serious about this!" I exclaimed.
"Micki says she wants in," Julie announced, looking at me.
"What?" I asked.
"She sees it as a tremendous investment opportunity. She was trying to figure out what to do with that settlement money. She and Patti want to be partners with us. My realtor friend is in as well. The five of us will run the business and we have three investors lined up to get us launched."
"I don't feel well," I said, laying my head back against the headrest.
"Are you fucking serious?" Nicole asked.
"Yeah," Tanisha agreed. "Your boss gave us $2000 just to feed 80 people. The only real question is whether or not we'll get the coffee shop."
"I wouldn't worry about that," my sister said confidently.
I felt lips press against mine. I opened my eyes to see my sister leaning across the car to kiss me.
"The light's green," I told her, smirking.
She giggled and sat back up to drive again.
A few minutes later, we arrived back at my apartment.
My sister dragged me into the house and shoved me into the recliner. She dropped onto my lap - sitting sideways. She laid her head on my shoulder and teased her fingers across the front of my chest. Quigley climbed up and sat on her legs. He curled up and then shoved his head against my chin.
"See," she said. "Quigley agrees."
"Traitor," I snarled at him.
He raised his paw, batted my chin, and then curled up and closed his eyes.
Somehow, that did more to settle my nerves than all of the words (and kisses) from the four women that I had come to think of as being "mine".
Tanisha leaned over and gave me a kiss. She pulled my hand to her breast and squeezed my fingers. I followed her suggestion and groped her a little as she kissed me again.
"I've gotta go do laundry," she said, smirking. "All my clothes smell like your semen for some reason."
She looked up at my sister.
"When do we want to get together to start making plans?" she asked her.