Close knit family

kiss from her started me wondering.

Teresa pulled one of my arms around her waist, and Wendy put one of hers around me, before the five of us started toward the house; Donna and Karen were walking ahead of us, and I felt guilty again when I caught myself watching the gentle swaying of their firm little butts.

Inside the house, the girls were adamant that I needed to sit in the middle of the couch — Karen and Donna were content to sit next to me, but Wendy insisted on taking station on my lap.

Clearly amused at my predicament, Teresa sat in a chair nearby. All four of them caught me up on all that had happened, and been happening, in their lives — the girls more so than Teresa.

When asked if I wanted anything to drink, I said a beer would be good, if they had any. Donna said they did, and jumped up to go get it for me. When she came back and handed it to me, I couldn't help but notice the way the shirt she was wearing pulled taut across her chest, revealing a couple of small bumps about where her nipples had to be. I could feel myself blush faintly as I thanked her, and she just just gave me a smile before sitting next to me again.

Then it was my turn to tell them about my new job, and what I'd be doing. Engineering isn't what you could call a real exciting subject for most people, so I kept it brief in the interest of not putting them to sleep. By the time I was done, Teresa informed me that I was the guest of honor at supper that night. I thanked her, admitting that I'd gotten tired of either eating prepackaged stuff and my own cooking long before, which made her laugh. She detailed the girls to go out and get my stuff from my car and down into the basement, and only had to insist just once in response to their mild protests. When they were gone, she told me 'It really is good to have you here, Ted. Not just because you're family, or the added income, but because ALL of us have missed you — even me. Hell, maybe me most of all; that rat bastard I was married to always came in a pretty distant second, compared to you. But you were married to my spoiled older sister, and I know that I did the best I could to make MY life and family happy.'

I couldn't help giving her a wry grin before I answered 'When I started looking back on it, I realized how many times you tried to let me know what Judy was really like. But I never paid you the attention I should have; I just figured you were jealous, or something. I never said anything about Doug to you because I didn't want to interfere, but he always struck me as being kind of… dense, and like he was always trying to find a corner to cut. I just have to look at the girls to see that you were doing what you were supposed to; they're too healthy and happy for anything else.'

Teresa snorted before she told me 'Yeah, Doug was dense. When we graduated high school, he'd had to study long and hard to finish up with a solid 'C' average; and that insurance job was the best thing he could have gotten. Otherwise, he'd have been selling furniture or cars or SOME

damn thing or other. All he really had going for him was the ability to schmooze with people and get them to like him. He was useless about working with his hands because he'd end up hurting himself too much — hammering his thumb, or busting his knuckles with a wrench; that kind of thing. And that cutting corners thing is just what he was like; he didn't have the balls to do anything outright crooked or criminal, but he wasn't the least bit reluctant to try anything he thought he might actually get away with. That money he took from the insurance company before he disappeared? It wasn't a big check or wad of cash that he'd taken. He'd been hanging on to dinky little refunds that he was supposed to be giving people when they overpaid their premiums; the company figured out that there were a couple hundred people that hadn't gotten anywhere between ten and twenty dollars apiece. He was supposed to cut them checks after the company told him when it happened, but he never did — he just withdrew whatever the amount was from his 'draw' account. It wasn't until some guys widow was going over his insurance that she figured out that they'd been overpaying twenty a year for the last ten years and called to ask about getting a refund that anybody noticed what was going on. The manager where he worked called him into the office to ask him about it, and Doug claimed not to know what they were talking about. After that, he called here to say he was going to have to work late; then he left work early, and just… disappeared. I don't doubt that he'll turn up sooner or later — he's just too fucking stupid not to get caught!'

I'd never heard Teresa swear before, so that last bit told me better than anything else just what she thought of her absent spouse.

Still, I had to smile at her description of him, and she smiled, too, before telling me 'The only good thing about it is that because the money came out of an account that HE had to sign for, the insurance company isn't trying to come after ME to recover it. And because he took off the way he did, the lawyer I got when I filed for a divorce tells me that it's not going to take anywhere near as long for it to be granted, once the judge gets a chance to see it. He thinks a couple more months, maybe a little longer, and I'll be free again!', obviously pleased at the prospect.

Our conversation was put on hold by the reappearance of the girls. All of them insisted that since I was going to be staying with them, I simply had to see their rooms. By the time I'd gotten the tour and made all the appropriate remarks, it was close to time for supper. Teresa sent them in to get the table ready, giving her and I the chance to chat a little more before she got up to finish supper. I offered to help, and was politely informed that I was a guest that night, and that I'd have plenty of chances to help later if I wanted — so I'd better enjoy the break I was getting. I laughed, and gave in. Several minutes later, Karen came in to let me know that it was time to eat.

When I sat down at the table, I realized just how glad Teresa was to see me. She'd apparently gone all-out by preparing a roast beef dinner with all the trimmings. By the time supper ended, I was disappointed to see that we hadn't put much of a dent in the roast, despite the fact that I felt stuffed to the gills. When I looked at the girls, I could see that they'd had their fill, as well. My offer to help clear the table was rebuffed when Teresa told me that that was the girls job each evening. When Teresa and I had finished our iced tea, she suggested that she show me where I'd be staying while the girls took care of things. I agreed, and she led the way to the stairs that led to the basement. Along the way, she pointed out where I'd be able to get in and out of 'my' place without having to go through the rest of the house, and the latch on 'my' side of the door to the basement.

My home (for the next few months, anyway) was decently finished, though sparsely furnished or decorated — I had a bed, dresser, a small dining table and couple of chairs, microwave, two-burner stove/oven combo, single basic kitchen sink with some cabinets, small couch, some rough but sturdy shelving on one wall, an old but serviceable recliner, and bathroom with sink, commode, and (small) shower. When she showed me the bathroom, Teresa didn't hesitate to tell me that if I ever wanted to take an actual bath, I was more than welcome to use the one upstairs

— then teasing me about being on my own to find someone to scrub my back.

The place wasn't a fancy hotel room, but it wasn't anywhere near as expensive, either; and I had the benefit of having what I thought of as 'family' (my own parents had died in a car accident the winter after I started college) nearby. All in all, I was perfectly satisfied with it, and told Teresa so. She was visibly relieved at hearing that, and moved close to give me another hug before releasing me and saying 'I'm glad you're okay with this. I know it's rough, but the rest of us hardly ever came down here, so there wasn't any reason before now for us to think about doing anything with it before. I expect you'll want to fix it up a little; I'm willing to split the cost of materials with you, and I know any or all of the girls would be happy to help.'

'Don't worry about the cost. Any fixing up there is, I'll do a little at a time so it doesn't cost too much. If the girls want to, I'd be glad to have the help — I don't know diddly about matching colors and patterns and all that. If I'm not busy with work, any of you is welcome to come down for whatever reason.'

Smiling, she warned me 'If you say that where the girls can hear you, you may never get rid of them. They've all missed you sooooooo much' — imitating the greeting I'd gotten from Wendy

— 'that I can't begin to tell you. And all I've heard since you called has been 'Is Uncle Ted really coming to stay with us?', and they've all been happier than I've seen them for months. They know you aren't going to spoil them or anything, since you didn't do that when they were little; they just like you because you're such a nice guy, and are willing to pay attention to them the way you do.'

She hesitated a moment, then told me ' I'm glad you're here, too, Ted. Really glad.' before giving me another kiss on the lips that quickly matched the last one she'd given me. I put my hands on her hips, but nothing more. Technically, she was still married, and that whole marriage vows thing was always something real important to me. The other thing that occupied my mind was the knowledge that she had only recently gotten out on her own. Sure, she had three kids and a job and all that, but up until just a few months