Jan

could recognize the individual words. You can get the results you want faster, while still helping her learn, by using the fewest words to get the idea across. Once she knows your voice, you could use the first instruction – she would 'parse' it to mean the second one. The difference between the two is that the first is easier for us humans to say, while the second is easier for Mabel to understand – even though both mean the same.'

'Yeah. By making it easy on 'Mabel' for a little while at first, that makes it easier for me later, for an even longer time.'

'That pretty much sums it up.'

'So how come Mabel doesn't answer up every time one of us says her name, Dan?'

'The system is programmed so that the name has to be said first, with emphasis, and a bit more loudly. Kind of like you would do if you were trying to tell one person in a group to do something.'

'Sure, that makes sense. How did you design this? I mean, how did you know what you wanted to do, and how to make it happen?'

'It was pretty simple, actually. There has been home control and automation stuff around for a long time. It was mostly older technology that was meant to just plug into an existing electrical system, and use that wiring to communicate. I looked at what that system was able to do, and then figured out how to do the same things better. Since I was building the house from scratch, I didn't have the limit of only being able to use the electrical system to communicate. That meant that I could design in a lot more efficiency and flexibility by running wiring specifically for what I planned to do. That I was able to do it in such a way that it also used the same wiring as I wanted for the computers just made it easier and more convenient. Cheaper even, since I could electrically 'glue' common parts together to do what I wanted. Remember, that's what I do for a living, so it's all pretty much second nature to me by now!'

Pretty much satisfied, Kelly let the subject go, and we lay there for quite a while before she spoke again.

'Dan?'

'Yes, dear?'

'It's okay with you if Mabel learns to recognize my voice?'

'Sure, why not?'

'I mean, for her to learn my voice, doesn't that mean that I would have to be here for a while before it was any use?'

'Yes. Why?'

'Then doesn't that mean that you expect me here more? That it's okay if I'm here more than just this one time?'

'Yup, that's what it means. Not that I expect you here more, only that you're welcome to be here more, if you want. I'm not trying to demand anything from you, only to let you know that if you want, you're welcome to come back again.'

'What about Jan?'

'Jan has her own family; you don't. And close as Jan and I are, it's not as close as you and I are, I think; and in a different way. I love her more like a daughter; you I love more like a friend or lover. Don't worry, though, about her – if you do come back' – 'I will!' – 'then I'll talk to her about it, and explain, if I have to. If she gets upset – I don't think she will, but if she does – then it might be necessary for both of us to get with her and discuss it.'

'Uh, would it help if I talked to her first? As her best friend?'

'It wouldn't hurt, I suppose.'

A little bit later, Kelly was surprised when Mabel informed us that the coffee was old, and cautioning us (me) that it might burn the pot. I used that as an excuse to get both of us up and into the shower before heading into the kitchen (still nude) for a late breakfast of croissants and coffee (me) and tea (Kelly).

Kelly and I spent the rest of the holiday in the house, dressing only briefly to answer the door for food deliveries – pizza and Chinese food on the two other evenings we spent together. With no pressures, we were able to enjoy each others company the whole time – sometimes content to simply lay on the bed and listen to music, other times sharing the couch for a movie, or each of us reading, or even joining in the lost art of having simple conversations with each other. We had several intimate times together, as well. A few times, I'd use my mouth and hands on her to bring her to climax without actually making love to her; sometimes she'd do the same to me. A couple times we went into full-blown lovemaking sessions that lasted an hour or better; and on one occasion, we partook in a mutual masturbation that left us both thoroughly drained and exhausted. All in all, it was a friendly, comfortable, affectionate weekend, with periods of intimacy mixed in, versus a sex marathon held together with recovery periods. By the time she left, I felt as close to her as I had anyone in my entire life – and given her one of the electronic 'keys' to my house, in the form of a fob for her key ring, so as to remain less obvious than the ring I wore.

As she was leaving, Kelly stopped to give me one of her patented ferocious hugs before looking up at me with tears in her eyes. When I looked at her in concern, she simply smiled at me, and said 'This was the nicest time I've had with anybody – except for our first afternoon; and even that was different than this. You were right, taking it easy and savoring the experience just made it better. I love you more now than I ever loved anybody. Not just for the making love – that was great! – but for the intimacy of your life that you shared with me. If you're not careful, you just might have me around here all the time!'

'Kelly, I enjoyed it too, for pretty much the same reasons. And what makes you think that I would object to having you around here all the time? You're smart, you're pretty, you brighten any room you're in, and I love you, too.'

Smiling, but with her eyes still sparkling from tears, she hugged me again – more gently this time – and kissed me softly before getting into her car. I opened the garage door, and she backed out, on her way to the house she shared with her parents.

It was a couple of days after Jan's birthday (Paul had bought her a gently-used VW Rabbit, I a genuine eighth- carat diamond for her bracelet), and Paul and I were sitting on the patio having a beer together. It was early evening, and we'd been having a 'mild spell', so the temperature was cool enough to make the patio worthwhile, but still warm enough to make the beer taste good. We'd been there for an hour or so when Jan came out to join us, sitting on the bench that diagonally faced the chairs we were sitting on.

'Daddy, can we talk a minute?'

'Sure, Pumpkin. What's on your mind?', Paul answered.

'Well, I'm 16 now' – 'yeah, I kinda noticed that!', Paul teased – 'and I think I'm pretty mature for my age.'

'Yes, you are – that's why you've got your own car, and I haven't told you where or when you can drive it.', Paul replied.

'Well, I think I'm old enough to make some other decisions for myself, too.'

Paul responded, 'Yeah, you probably are.', with a trace of suspicion in his voice.

'Well, there's something I've decided that I think I need to tell you about.'

'And that is?', Paul asked, now definitely suspecting something is going on that he's not going to like.

'I've decided that I don't want to be a virgin anymore.'

At that, Paul had a coughing fit while I decided everything in the back yard needed my detailed examination – everything, that is, but Paul and Jan. I tried generating an 'I'm not here' field around myself, using sheer will power.

When his coughing finally stopped, Paul looked at her, and said 'And how did you reach this decision?'

'Daddy, I'm 16. I see all the sexy ads on TV, I've seen the nudity and 'sexual situations' on movies, I hear the sex lyrics in songs – yes, even the Country Western you like! – and all the rest of it. Daddy, all that sex talk and everything is all around – did you really think I wasn't going to catch on, sooner or later? And want to find out what it was all about? This isn't the Fifties, for goodness sake; you can't pretend that it doesn't happen! I mean, watch just one 'Victoria's Secret' ad on TV, and you know something is going on.'

'So why are you telling me this?'

'Because I want to be honest with you, and when it happens, you know that I didn't lose my mind, or that I got drunk or stoned and someone took advantage of me. I'm telling you so that you know that I'm being mature about it, and not doing it from a passing desire, or anything like that. Daddy, I've really, really thought about it. I KNOW that once it happens, I can't undo it. I know that it will change me, forever – not just physically, but mentally and all the rest.'