They pretty much stayed in Jan's room for the rest of the evening, coming out only for supper (pizza and sodas), during which time, Jan was watching me a little, with love in her eyes. Kelly, on the other hand, was looking at me in a very contemplative manner; I kind of felt like a bug under a microscope, or something, but was careful not to take any notice of her, other than to chat with her a little about school and such.
The boys and I retreated to the den after clearing the table, and had a rousing game of Life that lasted past their bedtime. John and Leo battled it out to the very end, with me far behind. Ultimately, John won, but just barely, with Leo second, and my distant third. Playing a game of sorts, I'd let the boys stay up past their bedtime, and let them slide on baths that night, with the promise that they'd take showers the next morning. As far as they knew, it was our secret that I was so lax.
Paul knew, of course, but pretended not to: he didn't mind, since I was careful to only do it on weekends. Soon they were in bed, and not long after that, sound asleep. I'd returned to the den, and was able to catch the start of the evening news.
About the time the sports came on, Jan came in and sat next to me on the couch, snuggling into my side, pulled my arm around her, and held my hand in her lap. I could tell she wanted to talk, so I turned the TV off (I don't care much about sports, anyway, which she knew), and gave her a kiss on top of the head to encourage her.
'Uncle Dan, I've been talking to Kelly, and thinking about what you said to us earlier.'
'And?'
'And I've decided that I really don't mind if Kelly wants to be with you more than once.'
'Is that so?'
'Yup. Talking to her tonight, I realized that she's already a little in love with you, and that I didn't mind. When I started thinking about that, I knew that if you, uh, helped her, she'd be even happier, and more in love with you – but that it wouldn't change anything about the way that you love ME. And I know that if you help her, you won't be able to help but love her, too; I mean, that's just the kind of guy you are – you wouldn't do it just to touch her or see her naked or anything like that, you'd do it because you cared about her, and wanted her to be happy and make her feel good. Just like I love you, I love her, too, in a different way, and want her to be happy. If that means that she's with you more than once, then it's okay with me, because I do love her -and you.'
'What do you mean, she's already a little in love with me?'
'When you were talking to her, it wasn't like she was a kid or something; you didn't worry about anything except being honest with her.
Even when you said that about her being lonely, and it hurt her, you didn't try to baby her. Nobody's ever really been like that with her before; the ones that know she's smart still treat her like she's stupid, if you know what I mean. So, when you didn't worry about it, she understood it to mean that you actually respected her, and that whole thing you told us about respect kind of kicked in. So, because you respect her, she loves you a little.'
'Trouble, don't tell her this, but when I said that about her being lonely, I did it the mean way, just to find out if she was going to be grown up or not. If she'd started crying or acting up about it, I'd know that emotionally she wasn't ready; but because she responded with adult emotions and thoughts, she proved to me that she's a young woman, not a little girl.'
She looked up at me for a moment, to say, 'You're sneaky.'
'Yeah. And your point is… what?' earning myself a giggle and hug from her.
She returned to snuggling against me, and asked, 'So when she asks you again, what are you going to tell her?'
'So, spying for her, are you?'
'No. Well, okay, a little. What are you going to say?'
'That depends. If she's really thought it through, and knows what she wants and can tell me, then I'll probably say 'yes'' – a small gasp next to me – 'But she has to understand that no matter how much I like her, even love her, I'm not going to do it unless and until she's able to convince me that she's really ready; and I think – I hope! – you can vouch that that isn't easy.'
'Yeah, I can!'
'Good. Now you can go back and tell her that you were able to weasel the answers out of me, without my even knowing you were doing it.'
'Yeah, like she'd believe that.' she answered, but got up anyway, and headed off.
I turned the TV back on, and got it tuned to the channel that offered 'Politically Incorrect', a rather irreverent kind-of talk show that I sometimes enjoyed. Usually, the guests were actors, authors, and other folks that lived far enough from reality as to have no idea that clues even existed, never mind having one. But, every so often, he'd get a group together that actually had something interesting to say. Once set up, I muted the TV, so I could get a little more out of the book I'd started.
I was mildly surprised, then, when about a half hour later, when the two of them came walking into the den. Kelly, wearing her robe, sat down in one of the chairs diagonally across from the couch, while Jan, in her nightie, sat on the hearth. I noted the page I was on (never have needed to fold pages (horror!), or use bookmarks), and put it down, waiting for one of them to speak. Kelly cleared her throat, indicating that she wanted to speak first. Interestingly, she looked nervous, but quite resolved about what she'd come in there for.
After a couple of false starts, she was finally able to say, 'Dan, I've thought about what you said, and the questions you had. When I've, uh, masturbated, I've had what I thought were orgasms; but nothing like what Jan has told me she's experienced, so I don't think that's what they really were. So what I want from you is for you to help me learn what kinds of things will help me have stronger orgasms, and help me
Honestly, I don't even really know what*I* look like, down there, where my vagina and everything are.'
She looked at me, hesitantly, and I nodded for her to continue.
'If you're as patient and gentle and everything as Jan has told me – and I think maybe you are, now – then I might even want to go as far as, uh, losing my virginity.' At that, Jan's head snapped around to look at her, eyes large as saucers. Clearly, that last hadn't been discussed between them.
'Okay, Kelly, you've got my attention, and you've settled my mind about some of the things that worried me. Do you understand that I wasn't trying to embarrass you, or make you ashamed or anything like that?'
'Yes. I know – now – that you were just trying to make sure that I was really serious, and that I understood what I was getting myself into. I think that I can show you I'm serious, and that I'm not afraid of what I'm asking you.'
'How so?' I asked.
She answered by standing up, and dropping her robe, to stand naked in front of me. That seemed to surprise Jan, as well.
I looked first at her face – she returned my look without flinching or blushing. As she stood there, hands hanging at her sides, neither hiding nor exposing anything in particular, I looked her over, slowly and carefully. On her own, she turned slightly, so that I could see a bit more of the back of her, for a couple of minutes before turning back to face me.
I looked her in the eye again, and still she didn't blush. I said, 'Okay, you've convinced me of that part, too. You can put your robe back on, now.'
She started to reach for it, but changed her mind, and simply sat back down on the chair – again, taking no special steps to show or hide anything.
'Well, you've convinced me. My opinion of you has improved greatly – not because of how you look; nice as it is, there are millions of pretty girls in the world – but because of your intelligence, character, and yes, even soul. If you really want me to teach you, I will, as long as you understand that you can cancel the whole thing at any time – and once you cancel it, that will be the end of it – I won't ever bother you about it, and you won't ask me to do it again. As for losing your virginity, that's up to you – if you want to stop short of that, that's fine, I'll understand, and
