Candace and Beth descended upon Jean’s house at three-thirty, and Beth filled the women in on events the day before, recapping somewhat when Louise and her boys arrived at three-forty five. Damian was surprised at the amount of attention his Big Bro had gotten the previous day … Toby sat around, pretending ignorance while noting that his mother shuffled events somewhat to get herself out of a jam over just how and when she’d had sex with Terence…
Of the girls, Sally arrived first with Lon and was introduced around to everyone she didn’t know. Rick and Teela arrived on the dot at four and Teela got the same round of introductions — all very formal and friendly. When everyone was settled around Jean’s coffee table with coffee or a soda in their hands, Jean and Candace exchanged glances and Candace waved to Jean to start. "Okay," Jean began, "We’re all here — and that puts the two of you at a distinct advantage over us, I’m afraid…"
"Oh?" Teela asked, more or less as a formality.
Candace smiled. "You know all of our names, and you know what we’re doing — and you know that it is strictly-speaking illegal. That’s blackmail material…"
"Well, maybe," Teela agreed, "But if I said anything, it would mean breaking up with Rick…"
"We’re concerned about things happening the other way around," Jean murmured.
"Oh," Teela replied shortly. Sally held her peace.
"Young couples seldom make it over the long haul," Jean continued, "and that makes planning for such breakups our problem. In the past, we’ve, um, manufactured skeletons to put in the closets of new members to ensure their silence — if they didn’t already exist. You two represent a problem in that neither you nor your close relatives are in a compromising position…"
"So I need to do something illegal?" Teela asked.
"Illegal, immoral, and fun would be better," Damian chuckled.
That got him several glares, and a question. "So, what do they have on you?" Teela asked.
"Mama," Damian replied matter-of-factly. "Just like the others, she’s fuckin' young dick — and they got pictures. That’s enough, I figure, although…"
"Shut up, Little Bro!" Terence grated.
"What?" Damian frowned. What the fuck did he think I was gonna say? he wondered.
"You don’t need to be…" Terence burst out. Everyone looked at him as he dragged to a halt.
"Okay," Candace murmured, "so, there are some additional secrets floating around? I, for one would be very interested in hearing them…" Her gaze swept the host of poker faces before her — it seemed like EVERYONE knew whatever it was except her and the girls…
"Jeez, Big Bro — do you think I’m that stupid? Now YOU’VE busted us!" Damian howled.
"Shit! Shit! SHIT!!" Terence howled.
"Take it easy, Man," Toby counseled calmly. "It’s all in the family." Turning to Candace, he released the minimums, "Terence and Damian had been experimenting in, um, bisexual behavior."
Jean blinked. "That’s incest."
Toby rolled his eyes. "Give me a break! Who’s going to get pregnant, here?" Terence sat with his head down and his face covered; Damian glared around the table.
Candace sighed. "Okay, interesting, but irrelevant. Forget about it, boys; most of us girls have done same-sex stuff. Well, maybe not the girls." She swung her gaze to Beth, "Did you do what I told you, yesterday?"
"Yes, Mistress. They’re both holding rain checks for a future date," Beth replied.
"Uh huh," Candace looked at Teela and Sally. "Is that true?"
"Yeah," Teela nodded. Sally nodded, too.
Candace’s gaze swung back to the Carter boys. "See? No problem."
Lon sighed. "No, Mama, it’s different with guys — especially guys our age. And especially jocks like Terence and me. Reputations get ruined. If this got out at school, their lives would be Hell — even if the law didn’t mix in it."
Candace waved a hand, "It can’t be that bad."
"I disagree," Toby argued. "It’s NOT bad, in and of itself, but Lon’s right — Terence and Damian would be trashed at school — and maybe elsewhere. They’d lose a lot of friends and take a lot of crap. It would ruin them, basically. You need to realize how important it is and not go there — ever — with anyone outside the group."
"It’s not like we have pictures," Candace argued.
"We don’t need them," Toby replied. "The accusation is enough — just like our situation and incest. They’d get fried the same way." Mentioning that he HAD pictures wasn’t prudent…
"Whatever!" Candace waved her hand again, angrily. "Can we get back to the girls?"
"In a minute." Beth got up and sat next to Terence, pulling his head onto her shoulder; Terence was crying. Louise sat next to her younger son and held his hand while he glared around. Nobody gave him any crap; Lon threw out his hands when the glare settled on him, "It’s cool, Man." Toby nodded; so did Rick.
"More refreshments, I think," Jean said, bouncing up.
Teela followed Jean into the kitchen. "How bad is all this?"
"The boys?" Jean asked.
"No, us. Sally and I."
"It would be nice if you weren’t loose cannons. Lon and Rick, well, weren’t thinking. On the other hand, we couldn’t expect to monopolize them into their thirties…" Jean sighed, fishing a bag of cookies from a cupboard.
"How do we fix it?" Teela asked.
"I can’t think of a thing, Dear. We need a handle on you — and, frankly, Rick isn’t enough. The issue that Terence and Damian faces is good for boys, but the taboos aren’t as forceful for girls…"
"Meaning that if you took pictures of me and Sally, umm…"
"Right," Jean agreed. "It would be embarrassing to you, but not serious enough, probably."
"Well, it’s a start, I bet. I’d be willing…" Teela offered.
Jean smiled. "It’s something to think about, Dear. Shall we?" She led the younger woman back to the living room.
Things had settled down somewhat. Terence wasn’t crying any more — something unexpected in a guy so large and generally forbidding. Lon and Sally were whispering to each other — but the subject was anybody’s guess. Candace had throttled her impatience and Damian had throttled his anger; everyone else had apparently calmed down, too.
Jean restarted things with, "Obviously, the situation is a bit tense — maybe for no reason. If we’re all ready…" She glanced around; nobody demurred, and Candace waved for her to continue. "So, what do you think about what you’ve been made aware of? Is it a problem?"
Teela took the question first, replying thoughtfully, "Thus far, it hasn’t been a problem. Maybe I should be grateful, even…"
"Do you have, um, moral issues with what we’ve been doing?" Jean pressed.
"You mean do I feel compelled to run out and tell someone about it so they’ll stop it for your own good?" Teela raised her eyebrows, then snickered. "Hell, no. The legal thing is arbitrary — the guys were obviously MORE than ready. Nobody has been exploiting anyone; nobody here is NEAR twelve…"
Jean swung her attention to Sally, "And you?"
"Teela’s right," Sally declared. "If anything, the fact that you all got together has benefited Lon — and me, for that matter. And the only wrongs done have been against legal fictions…"
" … Which are bullshit, anyway." Teela interjected.
"That said," Candace took up the lead, "are you planning on joining us?"
Teela flicked a glance at Rick. "That’s … not clear. Maybe. In some limited way. We have a relationship…"
"That’s been frowned upon, to date," Jean muttered, "but there were other factors involved." Clearly, there was a sore spot there…