had just spent a passionate, lust-filled night with her, they still felt a little uncomfortable about walking around in the nude.
'It doesn't look as though he was here at all last night,' Niven said. 'All his clothes are gone.'
As though she were in a panic, she bolted from Kate's and Mark's apartment through the hall to her own.
Everything was still there, though there was no sign of Martin. A closer, more careful look revealed that his suitcase and some of his favorite clothes were gone. Kate and Mark came up behind her, looking around for some sign of the man who had completely changed their lives. Niven was so distraught that she looked like she would go all to pieces, and this baffled Mark. She had seemed so strong, so confident. He didn't think it was possible for her to fall apart like this.
Kate was in possession of herself a little more than Niven, and she found an envelope addressed to the three of them, and Siegfried! Opening it, she quickly read through Martin's poor handwriting, trying to make out what he had said. Niven was leaning up against Mark for support, trying her best not to cry. It seemed to her as though her whole world had collapsed around her. She had known that Martin would leave someday, but she had not wanted to think about it until she had to. Now, the only thing on her mind was that she was alone, and the possibility that she would have to go back to the half-way home depressed her terribly.
'It says here that he thanks us all for being such good sports about his adventure,' Kate said. 'He wishes the four of us the best, and he hopes that Mark and I will look after you.'
'He what?' Mark said, still trying to clear the cob-webs from his sleepy mind.
'He mentions something about adopting Niven,' Kate continued. 'He thinks the two of us will give her the guidance she still needs.'
'Adopt…? How old are you, anyway?' Mark asked the lovely naked blonde girl.
'You mean you can't tell? Really? I'm… I'm sixteen,' she said, as though she were ashamed to admit it.
'I thought you seemed a little young,' Kate remarked. 'You may have seen a lot of the world, but there are still some things you haven't done… important things that were pretty obvious to me.'
'Martin's gone,' Niven said, not wanting to believe it but not really having a choice.
'Hey… come on now,' Mark soothed. 'You think that Kate and I would just put you out of our lives? After all we've been through, that could never happen. I like the idea of having you around. You might be a little young but there's plenty we could learn from each other.'
'You… you mean that?' Niven was beaming. Martin had been the only good thing that had happened in her life and the thought that something good was going to happen again was almost too much for her to hope for.
'Sure he means that,' Kate told her. 'And if Martin hadn't suggested it, I'm sure one of us would have thought of it.'
'Tell you what,' Mark said, coming next to his wife and circling his arm around her. 'I'll look into the paper work today at work. There should be some legal problems, but nothing to serious.'
Niven was speechless. She couldn't believe that these two wonderful people were actually going to take care of her. It was too much! She couldn't hold back her tears of happiness.
As she laid her head against Mark's shoulder and cried, Kate leaned over and whispered into his ear. 'You think you'll have time for that?'
'Babe, I'll make the time… for that and a lot of other things,' he answered. 'We were really lucky. We nipped our problems in the bud. Things could have gone sour before the marriage was started.'
She smiled and gave her husband a light kiss on his ear.
'This calls for a celebration,' Mark said suddenly, 'and I know just what we can do about that.'
Kate was beaming, but Niven had one more thing on her mind.
'Are… are you going to keep Siegfried as well?' she asked.
'Are you kidding?' Mark said with a false shock. 'He's as much a part of all this as you are. Besides… after what I've seen, I don't think the two of you could be totally happy without him.'
'That's some husband you have there,' Niven complimented Kate.
'You aren't telling me anything I don't already know,' the brown haired wife said.
Suddenly both women felt something warm and furry pressing against their legs.
'Speak of the devil,' Niven said.
'Come on,' Mark called, leaving them and heading toward the bedroom in Niven's apartment. 'Let's get this party started. Something tells me this is going to be one hell of a day.'
Niven and Kate looked at each other, not wanting to think about how wonderful their lives were going to be. For the lovely naked young girl, it was like the passing of a storm. She was finally going to be with people she liked… people who would not abuse her, and who could teach her the things she needed to know. Her day of having to put up with the shit of being unwanted and used were over.
But Kate was certain that, no matter what the young girl felt, it couldn't match her own happiness. Not only did she have her husband back, but as she imagined herself looking into the future, she could see that the honeymoon was never going to end after all.
