Close knit family

have any, he started getting pissed off. When I tried to tell him to leave, he knocked on the floor.

After I got up, we had a little bit of a shoving match while we argued. He kept saying I had to have some money because the place looked too nice. He grabbed Wendy and said he was going to take her with him, when you showed up.'

'I heard it when you were arguing with him; not the words, just loud voices. It wasn't until I heard you hit the floor, and you and him fighting that I figured I'd better come up and find out what was going on. I thought his voice was familiar, but I couldn't place it until you said his name right before I came in here. Sorry it took me so long to come and find out what was happening.', I said, the last part apologetically.

Teresa waved it off again, saying 'No, there's nothing for you to apologize about — you did come up, and you were here when we needed you, and you damn sure took care of the problem!'

'Well, the cops have him now, so he's going to have to face up to the crap he pulled before, and what happened here tonight. I don't think anybody is going to have to worry about him for quite some time; seems a pretty safe bet that he really is out of you life for good, now.'

After that, things were quiet while all of us were occupied with our own thoughts. I finally heard Teresa say 'Okay, it's way past bed time for you three, so finish whatever is left in your glasses and get going.'

When I looked over at the clock, I was surprised at how late it was — it was well past even Donna's bedtime, which was the latest of the three of them. None of the girls made any protest, and Wendy and Karen both got up to take their empty glasses into the kitchen; after draining the last little bit out of hers, Donna followed them. When they got back into the living room, all three of them kissed me on the lips before thanking me for being there, and wishing me a good night. I gave each of them a gentle pat on the butt before wishing them the same.

Once it became clear that none of the girls was going to come out for anything, Teresa quietly got up, then came over to sit next to me on the couch — where she promptly tucked herself into my side before pulling my arm around her. She sat there in silence for several seconds before telling me 'After the cops got here, I realized that you were trying to get Doug to come after you… and that I maybe messed things up when I talked to him after you did. If I did, I'm sorry.'

'Don't worry about it. It all worked out anyway, and the cops have him now.'

'Still, I'm never going to forget that you were there; and you tried to get between him and me, or the girls.'

I didn't have anything to say to that, so I just gave her a soft hug.

A couple of minutes had gone by when I heard Teresa tell me 'After everything that's happened tonight, there's something I think I have to tell you. I'm not real proud of it, because I feel like I've been practically lying to you, and I just can't do that anymore — not after what you did. I've got a confession of my own to make, too.'

After taking a deep breath, she told me 'When you first called, and agreed to stay here with us, I had a talk with the girls. All three of them were as happy as they could be that you were coming, but it was Wendy that wanted to know if you staying here meant that you and I might get married. I think you know how surprised I was to hear her ask that, and I told all of them that it wasn't just up to me — that you had to want to be married again, too. They wanted to know what I meant, and I explained to them that even though you and I really like each other, being married was a whole lot more than just that. I also told them that if you and I were going to get married, then it was a lot bigger thing for you than it was for us… that we would be adding just ONE

person to OUR family, but that you would be adding FOUR; that you had to want to be married not just to me, but to them, too. I didn't think anything about how I explained it at the time.'

She tilted her head to look up at me, and I just nodded for her to go on. She did by saying 'After you got here, and you saw Donna that first time, I really was serious about what I said about trusting you, and knowing that you wouldn't do anything to them. When they started running around naked, I wasn't happy about it, but I wasn't worried, either. I couldn't figure out what the deal was when they started wanting you to touch them — you know, their breasts and all that -

but I still knew you weren't the one trying to make it happen, and that I could trust you. I meant what I said to you about them coming to you, too; about it being stuff that they'd probably want to know, anyway, and that I was okay with them learning it from you, and why. But I was still curious about why they were doing it, too…'

Another breath, and Teresa continued 'It wasn't until Karen came to me about birth control that I even started to think that they were actually escalating what they were doing with you. It was after Karen gave her virginity to you that I finally understood what was going on — that they were taking what I'd said before about you marrying all of us, including them, literally; they know that married people have sex, so they were simply including that as part of trying to get you to want to marry US. They all loved you so much that I don't doubt for a moment that you could have done anything that you wanted to with them if you'd asked, even before you got here; once you were here, it gave them the chance to show you how much they loved you — and what I'd said about you marrying all of us was all the reason they needed to actually do it. And I need to tell you that I'm really not upset about everything that's happened between you and them. When I saw how happy you'd made Karen after that first time, I realized that you were treating them the way they should be while they're learning about sex and all that — that you were being so much more patient and gentle and understanding and everything than they could expect from anyone else that they might have wanted to learn from, or experience that stuff with.

You damn sure left Karen a lot happier when you were done with her than I felt after it happened with me! Anyway, that's why you've had three teenage girls all so willing to get so intimate with you.'

As both of us sat there in silence, I thought about what she'd just said to me — and what it meant.

My reverie was interrupted when Teresa told me 'That's the part that I had to tell you about. I'm not real happy about it, and feel like I've been lying to you because what I have to admit is that ever since you got here, I've been wishing to hell that it was me you were with. When I showed you the downstairs, I was trying to let you know that I'd be agreeable if you wanted to get more… friendly with me than we were before, but you didn't act like you were interested.'

I spoke up then, telling her 'Oh, I was interested, all right. But after what happened with Doug, I didn't want to try to rush you, or anything. I figured you'd want some time to figure out what you wanted — and to tell the truth, I wasn't all that sure that you weren't just trying to make up for him leaving you.'

She considered that for a few seconds before answering 'Okay, I can understand that. Those really weren't problems for me, but I can see how you might be worried about them. Anyway, I tried to let you know how I felt again when you took me out for dinner — and afterwards, too. I knew you felt something for me, but whatever spark there was between us still didn't catch. For a while, I actually thought that it might be because of what you were doing with the girls, before I realized you were being too careful with them for it to be that.'

After a wry laugh, I told her 'I sure felt the spark, too, that night. But by then I was already doing things with the girls — with your permission, no less. I knew that you weren't pushing them toward me, but there were still a couple of things that kept me from following up on that kiss outside.'

'What were they?'

'Part of it was that you knew that the girls were being with me; I figured you knew how clear and obvious they'd have to be before I'd do anything with them, so I expected — wrongly — that you'd make it real clear to me if you wanted US to be together. The other part was not knowing how you and me together would affect things with all of us. Not that I wanted to keep going with them while it was you and me, but HOW to change from me-and- them to me-and-you; I figured you had to realize that you knew them — their personalities, I mean — better than I did, so if you wanted US to be together, then you'd know that it had to be up to you to make the change.

Since you never said or did anything to indicate you wanted them to stop, I didn't think that you wanted US to get involved with each other that much.'

She looked at me in silence for a few seconds before asking me 'Didn't it ever occur to you that it might be okay with me if you were with ALL of us? Not like a big orgy, or anything; but that you could share a bed with me, and still be with them like you have?'