But you aren't a woman, yet, either. There are still too many things that you have to learn and experience before you are ready to make love.'
I saw the tears well up in her eyes as she told me 'You don't think I'm pretty enough.'
I cupped her face in my hands and guided her down to where I could give her a kiss before saying 'No, Marilyn, that is not the problem. I think that you are very pretty – even sexy, for your age.'
'Then why won't you make love with me?!'
'Because like I said, you're simply too young.'
She looked at me doubtfully, and I asked 'Marilyn, you're thirteen years old. Do you still like to do the same things as when you were eight?'
She shook her head, and I went on 'Do you even like to the same things as when you were ten years old?'
Again, she shook her head.
'So you have been growing up – as you have gotten older, the things you know and the things you like to do have grown with you. It is the same thing, now. In the next few years, you are going to learn more, and experience more – and finish being a woman. From when you were eight years old until now is only five years. Five years from now, you will be eighteen – and you will change even more in the next five years than you have the last five. If you don't believe me, you can ask Kelly, or Jan, or any of the others, and I will bet that they will tell you the same thing. Right now, you are a young woman; the difference between you and Kelly and Marlyn is that they are GROWN women, and you are still young – too young to make love. I love you very much, just as your momma Marlyn does. And it is because I love you so much, BECAUSE I'm your Tito Dan, that I won't make love with you. What you are asking is something*very* important, and
With that, the waterworks went into full production – tears streamed down her face as she started quietly crying in earnest. She resisted only slightly when I pulled her into my arms, rubbing her back as I tried to comfort her. Marlyn got it together enough to get Marilyn a small towel, then sit next to her on the chair as the two of us tried to comfort her. Finally, her crying slowed, and eventually stopped. When she'd dried her eyes, I could see that Marilyn was embarrassed at having made such a request, and having it refused. I pulled her into another kiss, and told her 'Its okay, Marilyn. I still love you. So does Kelly, and so does Marlyn.'
Slightly reassured that she hadn't done anything fatal, she quietly told me 'I think I want to go to bed now.'
'That's fine.' I told her. When she got up, she leaned down for a goodnight kiss, and even smiled when I gave her a soft pat on the butt before Marlyn went back to the bedroom with her.
Several minutes later, Kelly and I were still sitting quietly when Marlyn came back into the den with us. I could see that she'd shed a few tears of her own, but she appeared calm enough when she sat down.
She gave me a wry smile, and said 'Thank you, Dan. I know that was not an easy thing for you.'
'How is she?' I asked.
'Disappointed, a little. But I think relieved, too. We talked a little bit, and now both of us understand each other. She knows how much all of us love you, and thought that because she loves you, that she should make love with you, too. But she understood what you told her, and she's willing to wait, now. But don't be surprised if she asks again in a few years!'
I could see in Kelly's eyes that she thought I should give Marlyn a little more emotional support, so I patted my lap in invitation. Marlyn didn't hesitate to accept the offer, letting me hold her until it was time for bed.
It was a few days later that Marilyn surprised all of us by hesitantly asking if it was okay if she slept with Kelly and me that night. Marlyn was behind her, and though surprised, indicated that she didn't have any problems with it. Kelly and I said that it was fine with us; when we went to bed later, we found Marilyn sound asleep in our bed, with Cat lying on her stomach. After shooing Cat out, Kelly and I got into bed with Marilyn, one on each side. She woke up briefly as we were getting situated, and turned on her side to put an arm around Kelly. I turned to lie on my side as well, and spooned with her as the three of us fell asleep.
That event was enough to make Marlyn comfortable with the idea of sleeping with us, too – though for much different reasons.
Every few nights, she would want to sleep with one or the other of us – inevitably for a little fun and frolicking. Whether it was me or Kelly that got selected, the other would go in to share a bed with Marilyn – who was delighted with the company. Between visits from Marlyn, Kelly and I had plenty of nights alone for our own pleasures. The only exception was the night that Marlyn went out on patrol with Robyn, when Marilyn again slept with Kelly and me. The next morning, when Marlyn returned, we could see that she was fairly impressed with all she'd seen and done that night; she reported that she had a much greater appreciation for the difference between American and Filipino police.
It was a system that seemed to work pretty well, and we kept with it for the rest of their stay with us.
Quite a few times, one or more of Robyn, Jan, Susan, or Sandra would invite Marilyn over for the night. When that happened, it was just as likely that one of the rest would ask Marlyn over for their own 'sleep over' – though it was doubtful that there was much actual sleeping involved.
As all good things must, there came the time when it had to end: Bill reported that Marlyn was completely up to speed on factory operations and that he needed her to go back to the Philippines and help start hiring people.
A couple weeks before she was to leave, she announced that she was going to make supper for all of us – Kelly and me, Paul, the boys, Bill and his wife, Sarah and her husband, Bishop Ferguson, all the girls, and even Ted. Everyone accepted her invitation for the following Friday evening – and Bill told her to take the day off, so she could prepare.
And prepare she did. When Kelly and I got home, we weren't entirely sure we were in the right house because of all the delicious smells coming out of the kitchen. Kelly and I could both cook, after a fashion, but neither of us had any illusions. What we were smelling was far better than anything either of us had ever managed. When we tried to investigate, Marlyn laughingly chased us out, telling us that it was going to be a surprise.
So we waited in the den, almost literally drooling in anticipation.
Starting a little before the designated seven o'clock, people started arriving; by 7:15, everyone was there – and eagerly looking forward to sampling whatever was causing the delightful scents emanating from the kitchen.
It was perhaps a half hour later when she came in to tell us that everything was ready. We went into the kitchen to find that she'd prepared a number of different Filipino foods – pancit, lumpia, a couple different kinds of adobo, and several others. Throughout the meal everyone kept complimenting her on how good it all was. She'd prepared plenty of everything; but by the time we'd all sampled all of it, and gone back for seconds on the things we'd particularly liked, there was precious little in the way of leftovers.
A little over a month after Marlyn and Marilyn got back to the Philippines, I got an email from Marlyn, letting Kelly and I know that she'd found a house for the two of them. She also told me that the factory was nearing completion, and that she was accepting applications for jobs – but she wasn't quite sure what she should be looking for in some of the technical people, though.
I replied that I thought Bill would be sending me back to help with that part of it; it was only a couple days later that I got a call from him asking if I'd do just that.
Kelly went with me for that trip, and Marlyn naturally insisted that we stay with her and Marilyn. Without hesitation, things between all of us picked up pretty much where they'd left off. The big difference was that Marilyn was back in school – a grade ahead of where she would normally be, apparently due to all the reading she'd done in the U.S.
We did manage a side trip to the orphanage, where Father Villanueva was waiting for us. He cheerfully showed us the other orphanages that he managed, and told us about the improvements each of them had experienced before he took us in to visit the head of all the orphanages in the area, Bishop Magsalay – who thanked us profusely for all we'd done.
Kelly and I were there only a couple of weeks; when we left, I'd hired a half-dozen engineers for Bill. They were going to be his top-level 'working' engineers, and responsible for hiring the people that would be working for them. The people they hired would be responsible for training the factory workers to do the needed jobs at the needed quality and consistency. That was one thing that had gotten me my first job from Bill: my insistence on doing
