Travel Delays

Note: This is the fourth chapter in a series. I suggest that the reader begin at Chapter 1. This installment includes transgender elements, in addition to explicit incest. If that does not bother you, please read on...

ANDY -- BREAKFAST

I woke holding my sister, but kept my eyes closed, enjoying the closeness. We were definitely not in the tiny motel bed; it was much too comfortable for that. But we were naked. I realized that about the same time I noticed that my cock was between her legs, a hand gently stroking it. When I moved my hand off Al's hip, I felt someone else in front of her. It wasn't Alison's hand rubbing me.

I opened my eyes and lifted my head, just making out a face in the dark. Mick's games room didn't let in much light when the blinds were closed, and the only illumination currently came from the electronic displays of the media equipment.

"Shel?" I whispered.

She smiled. "Morning. The others went up to Chris's room at three. Since we're alone, I was going to give Allie a nice wakeup, but something was in the way. Any idea how this got here?"

I glanced over at the A/V equipment; the clock on the VCR read 7:30. "Um, I'm claiming morning wood. Automatic, and I had no control over it."

"Uh, huh. And, why is it growing now?"

"Because a pretty girl is playing with it."

"The pretty girl is still sleeping."

"One is."

"Stop it."

I placed my hand on the side of her face. "Shelby, you are pretty. I don't know anyone who has eyes like yours, and everyone notices them."

"Andy, I don't want to be the pretty girl. I know that I'm the butch, and I plan to play the part of her husband."

Shelby jumped back and yelled 'Shit!' as Alison jolted up.

"Shel? What do you mean?"

"Allie, I...I...forget it."

Alison reached forward, but Shelby pulled away.

"Shel what's wrong?" She just shook her head, terrified. "Honey, you know that I love you. Tell me what you meant about becoming my husband."

She just shook her head, mouth moving silently.

I placed a hand on Alison's shoulder, looking Shelby straight in the eye. "She needs to know, Shel." She continued to shake her head, so I explained it. "Alison, you know that Shelby loves you. She has for a long time. But she wants to be more than just a friend. She wants to marry you."

"Can two women marry?"

"Not legally," I told her.

"I don't care if it's legal or not," Shelby whispered.

"You really want to be married to me?"

Shelby looked down, nodding slightly.

Alison leaned forward and Shelby shied again. "Don't run away, Shel. Let me come to you."

Alison crawled to her friend, pulling her close. She lifted Shelby's face into a gentle kiss. Shelby leaned into Alison's embrace, the tension slipping from her shoulders.

"Darling, I'll take you any way you want," Alison said softly. "I realized yesterday that I want to grow old with you. And I will marry you, Shelby Saunders. I don't care if it's legal or not. I'll marry you right this instant."

Shelby broke into tears, hugging Alison tightly. My sister turned to me with a tiny smile.

"Andy, do you mind giving us some space? I think we need to talk."

I kissed her cheek and nodded. Pulling clean shorts and a tee from my pack, I quickly dressed and headed upstairs.

"So, the dead arise," Mick said as I entered the kitchen. "Late night?"

I stretched. "Late enough. But, it's not that late for a Sunday morning."

"Unless you have an eight o'clock tee time."

"What?"

He laughed, "Actually, it's for nine. I thought that you might want to join me. I was going to pick up Finn and his friend in half an hour. We could use a fourth."

"I'm not much of a golfer."

He smiled and placed a plate of bacon and eggs on the table. "Then you'll fit right into our group. Here, you better eat up. There's coffee in the pot."

I filled a mug and sat down. "Um, thanks. What's the dress code?"

"Oh, this is a small course with lax rules. They get a lot of younger guys, and what you're wearing is fine." He put some more eggs on and waited until I had started eating to speak again. "So, anything interesting happen last night?"

I shrugged and swallowed a mouthful of eggs. "Alison may have found the person she's going to marry."

"Well, that sounds like big news. Who is he?"

"That's a bit complicated. But, it's a friend she had when we lived here. They'll have a few issues to sort out before they know if it will work. I probably shouldn't say any more right now."

"It's not Finn, is it?"

"No," I laughed. "Not Finn. Or Chris in case you're wondering."

"I wasn't before, but now I am. So, any boys stay over last night?"

"Just me, and I spent the night downstairs."

"Yeah, about that. Evie and I got home around three. I thought I heard feet running upstairs when we came in. Chris and her friend Roslyn were doing a bad job faking sleep when I checked on them. Any idea what they were doing down here?"

I decided that I had to be honest -- without being too honest. "I turned out the lights around midnight. I never heard anyone going up or down the stairs after that."

"Okay. Could be they were raiding the liquor cabinet again. Did you see any of that going on?"

"Well, I didn't see any liquor out, but I think someone was putting a bit of vodka or rum in my coke later in the night. No one seemed to be impaired when they left."

He nodded. "As long as they're not going crazy, I'm not too concerned. Uh, I didn't see your sister upstairs."

"No, she stayed downstairs last night." His eyebrows went up at that. "She and Shelby wanted to talk privately."

"Privately meaning not around Chris and Roslyn."

"Mostly. Al kicked me out just now so they could talk some more." I tapped my fork on the empty plate. "Mick, something happened to Shel, but I can't say what it was. It really hurt her, though. The worst part is that I might have been able to help if she'd said something before. If she asks to stay a night or two here, could you accommodate her?"

"No details?"

"Not my life, not my details."

"I understand. If she asks, I'll help. Does she need to learn to use a gun?"

I smiled. "It wouldn't hurt, but that would not have helped in this case."

"I'm guessing that I shouldn't invite Lincoln when I'm teaching her to shoot."

"Yeah, that would probably be for the best."

***

AL -- BETROTHED

It took some time for Shelby to fully open up. When she told me that she loved me, and had for years, I had expected that we would be able to share any secret. But, she hadn't learned how to do that, not yet. We talked for over two hours after Andrew left, still sitting in the dark games room. I wasn't sure if she was aware, but we were also still nude.

"I don't really care if we're married or not," I told her. "As long as I'm with you, it's good enough for me."

"Not for me," she said. "I want it to be official. I want to be able to say that you are my wife."

"We can't do that right now. There's not a single state that will issue a marriage certificate to us. And, even if a clerk somewhere did, it would not be recognized."

"There is another option."

"Are you sure that's what you really want, Shel? Once you make that change, it's done. There's no reset button."

She sat back and blew out a lungful of air. "I don't know, Allie. It feels like the right thing for me, but I'm not positive."

"Well, until you are, you need to take it slow. I'll support you if that's what you really want, but you need to be a hundred percent certain before you start down that road. All right?"

She lifted my hand to her lips, kissing it the same way Andy liked to. "Yeah, all right."

The lights suddenly flicked on and we both cried out. Shelby realized we were naked and pulled the blankets over us.

"Come on, girls!" Christine called out. "Let's get going. We've got to get ready for tomorrow."

"I don't need to do anything but put on my dress and show up," I objected.

"And I am ready," Shelby growled.

"Oh, really?" Christine asked. "And where, exactly, is your dress and gown?"

"It's at home. Duh."

"When did you expect to get it? Tomorrow?"

"Chrissie, I'll get dressed at home and see you all there."

Christine shook her head. "Nope. That means you have to stay at home tonight and deal with douchebag. I won't let you do that, Shelby, and neither will Ros or Allie, right girls?"

"Um ..." I said.

"Shelby, this is for the best," Roslyn said softly. "Besides, wouldn't you rather stay here with Allie for the next two nights.?"

She looked as Roslyn, then at me. "Could I stay with you?"

"Hell, yeah," I whispered.

Shelby dropped the blanket and pulled me into a kiss. We both ignored the fact that our friends were watching until Christine cleared her throat.

"Uh, girls? Can we focus? You've got time for groping each other tonight. Right now, you need to get dressed. If you can make it quick, you have time for a shower first."

"Wash my back?" Shelby asked with a twinkle in her eye.

"Only if you wash my front."

"Deal."

We jumped off the bed and dashed, naked, to the basement washroom.

"I meant separately!" Christine called after us.

Roslyn just snickered.

The shower was actually just that. It was nice to have someone wash my hair and back, but we avoided anything overly sexual. We'd have lots of time to investigate that part of our lives, and neither of us was in a rush. Christine and Roslyn were gone when we came out, but I noticed that my suitcase had been brought down.

"Oh, are you sleeping down here now?"

I shrugged. "Don't know. Maybe. Did you want to?"

She smiled. "Well, it was nice sandwiching you between me and Andy."

"I didn't know if you'd be comfortable with him."

She shrugged. "I'm getting to feel like I can trust him. Um, I wasn't really planning to spend the night and don't have clean clothes. I guess I'll have to wear the same as yesterday."

"You should be able to fit into something of mine. I know that nothing Chrissie has will work for you."

I managed to find a loose off-white top and pair of navy capris that would fit Shelby. Of course, my bras were a bit too small, so she wore the one she'd had on the day before. I put on a simple sundress, white with pale blue flowers.

"Aren't you wearing a bra?" she asked.

"I don't really need to with my small breasts."

"I think you should."

"Do my nipples show through?"

"It's just...I don't want people staring at you and thinking you're available or cheap."

I looked at Shelby, trying to understand what she was saying. "Shel, is this about me, or you?"

"Both. I don't want to share you, Al. I don't want assholes like my brother drooling when you walk by. I don't want anyone but me to see that part of you."

"Come here, Shel." I took her hand and led her to the bed. "I'm going to go out at times wearing scandalously revealing outfits." She opened her mouth to object, but I stopped her with a finger on the lips. "No, just listen. I wear nothing but a bathing suit at the pool, and I'm there five or six days a week. But people will look at me, no matter what I wear. And people look at you, too. No one but you gets all of me. We'll have to talk about Andy, and you might want to make an exception for Chrissie and Ros, but you will be my one and only. That being said, I'm not going to let you dictate my wardrobe. I love you, darling, but you don't own me. You own you, I own me. We only belong to each other because we give ourselves to each other. Do you understand?"

She looked down. "Yeah."

"Good." I pulled a bra from my suitcase and slipped it on under the dress.

She looked at me, confused. "You're putting a bra on anyway?"

I smiled and winked. "Well, there's a chance your brother might see me. We don't want assholes like him drooling over me, do we?"

She smiled. "I love you, Allie."

"Love you too, babe."

When we got upstairs, Christine had already put out a light brunch, heavy on fruit and light on meat. I poured two cups of coffee, adding sugar and cream to mine, just sugar for Shelby. As she sipped her drink, I cleared my throat.

"What's up?" Christine asked.

"Girls, you two are my closest friends in Philly, and you need to hear this first."

"What about Shelby?" Roslyn asked. "Doesn't she count as a close friend?"

I smiled. "Not any more. And that's what we needed to talk about. Shelby and I..." I looked at her and she smiled, giving a tiny nod. "Well, we just can't be friends, any more."

Christine was shocked. "What? No way!"

Roslyn narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean, 'can't be friends'?"

"I want to marry her," Shelby said.

"Honey," Christine said seriously. "You can't marry her. It's not legal."

"Maybe not right now," I said. "But things change. If we can make it happen, we will. When it does, we expect both of you to be bridesmaids."

"This is a little...unexpected," Christine said, her face still showing her shock.

Roslyn went to Shelby and hugged her. "Anything you need, Shelby, I'm here for you. You're like my sister."

"I know. Thanks for listening to me."

"Wait, you knew about this and didn't tell me?" Christine shouted.

"I only knew that Shel had the hots for Allie. She never said anything about marriage."

"All right, important question here," Christine said. "Do you have a ring?"

"What?"

"Shelby Saunders. Don't tell me that you asked Al to marry you and never thought about an engagement ring!"

"Um, sorry."

"Sorry? Sorry doesn't cut it, hun. You've just added two hours of work for us to find her the perfect ring today. We don't have the time for this."

"I can wait," I said, squeezing Shelby's fingers.

"No, you damned well cannot." She started poking Shelby in the chest. "Shelby, I'm not letting you get engaged to my twin sister without a ring."

"You're not even related, Chris, let alone twins."

"Born same day, that means we're twins. Ros, are you going to tell her, or am I?"

"The ring is a big deal, Shel," Roslyn said quietly.

"All right, fine. We'll get a ring. God, you girls can be such a pain in the ass."

"No question who's playing the guy role in your relationship," Chrissie said with a wink. "Ros, I'm going to talk to Mum. It's a good thing she's got connections or we'd be SOL."

"You don't have to bother your mother about this," Shelby protested.

"What ... do you want to pay full price? I just need five minutes."

It was closer to ten by the time she came back with her mother, and we were just about done eating by then. Evie sat across from us, smiling at Shelby and me.

"So, you two want to get married."

"Uh, yeah," Shelby said in a quiet voice.

"I'm glad you found someone who makes you happy, Shelby. You are aware that you won't be able to officially wed as women, right?"

"Yes, Mrs. Cooley."

"Some places do provide certain benefits for same-sex couples, but not many. Now, my enthusiastic daughter wanted to ensure that you took all of the proper steps, including getting a ring. While I would say to wait until after the graduation tomorrow, she seems to think that it needs to be done right now. She also knows that several of my clients are jewelers." She gave her daughter a wide smile. "I really can't fault her for trying to help you both. So, if you're ready, we can go right now and get your betrothed the perfect ring."

***

AL -- ANOTHER CELEBRATION

The unexpected Sunday shopping trip took us to mid-afternoon. We first stopped to pick up Shelby's things, promising her parents to get her to the school on time for the graduation. I thought her father was going to object, but her mother just smiled and told her to have a good time. If I had anything to do with it, she was going to have one hell of a good time.

After that, Evelyn took us to a jeweler she knew. I was not allowed to hear any of the discussions, but a tray with several rings was brought out for my inspection. None of them had large stones, but one in particular caught my eye. It was a simple white band with a very pale oval aquamarine, surrounded by tiny diamonds. A square sapphire sat to either side of the main setting.

"That one," I whispered.

"The aquamarine?" Shelby asked.

I could only nod. Shelby picked it up and slid it onto my finger. She held my hand as I inspected it. I think I may have stopped breathing for a minute as I stared at the ring.

"What do you think?"

"I love it. It's exactly the colour of your eyes. It fits perfectly, can I leave it on?"

She leaned in and kissed me. "I was hoping that you would."

"I love you so much, Shel."

She brushed my hair behind one ear. "Same here. You go show the girls while I settle up."

I felt a sudden weight in my gut. "Can you afford this much? It doesn't look cheap"

"Don't worry about it. It's not a cheap ring, but it's nowhere near the most expensive on that tray. I can afford it, for you." She motioned at the others, who were waiting on the other side of the store, at Shelby's insistence. "Now, go on. Be there in a sec."

I nodded and went to show off my new ring. Roslyn and Christine met me half-way.

"Show us!"

"Let me see!"

I extended my hand in the classic 'look at my new ring' pose. "Well, what do you think?"

"Rebel," Christine said. "You went away from the traditional diamond. I like it."

"I thought the aquamarine was appropriate."

"It's gorgeous. The same colour as Shelby's eyes," Roslyn said with a smile.

"Yeah. Now, I'll never forget her eyes, no matter how long we're apart."

"You're sure you'll be satisfied marrying a woman?" Christine asked. "I know how much you like what guys have."

"Well, we do have options. We'll work things out so we're both satisfied."

Christine sighed. "Well, I guess that leaves me no choice."

"What do you mean?"

She gave me her evilest smile. "Tonight, Shelby learns how to use a strap-on."

That shocked me. "You...you have one?"

"Oh, darling, I've got lots of toys."

"Hold on, who have you used a strap-on with? You've never suggested it with me."

Christine was suddenly blushing. "Oh, um. Well..."

"It was me," Roslyn said. "After that last guy cheated on me, I swore off men for a year. Chris was kind enough to...fill the void, so to speak."

Christine had gotten over her hesitation. "Oh, yeah. Repeatedly and energetically, if you get my drift. Not that Ros made a full year, it's only been five months. Of course, without you making me put in the bigger plug, she would never had tried anal. Now, we've got a whole new, uh, area, to explore."

"Sorry, Ros. I didn't realize I was creating a monster with that bet."

Roslyn looked from me to Christine. "What bet?"

"Oh, little miss 'I can get you off in two minutes' couldn't quite do what she promised. I'm not saying that's why we were late for lunch ..."

"Alison!" Christine squealed, blushing again.

"You were late for lunch yesterday? Because you were eating out Allie? Damn, Chris, you're insatiable."

She shrugged. "Well, what can I say? I'm a little bit of a nympho."

"She may be little," I joked, "but she's all nympho."

"You girls talking about Chrissy again?" Shelby asked, wrapping her arms around my waist.

I turned my head for a kiss "How could you tell?"

"Well, we don't know many people we could possibly call a nympho. Anyway, we're good to go anytime. What else do we need to do?"

"We still need to get everything ready for tomorrow," Christine began. "We have to be ready no later than three to get there on time, so I've got hair appointments scheduled for nine-thirty. You're all going with me. That means we have to do our nails today. We still have time, as long as we don't take too long for lunch."

"I wasn't really planning on spending a lot of money on beauty treatments," I told her. "I'll come along to talk and watch, but there's no reason for me to do all that."