Mike & Karen

Disclaimer: All characters are 18 years of age or older while actively engaging in sexual activity. This story is a prequel/sequel (sprequel?) to my other work, Alex & Alexa. As always, many thanks and gratuitous panty shots from Freja and Jeanie to my long-suffering editor and beta-reader for their assistance in polishing up and improving this work. Reviews are welcome; flames will be snickered at and deleted with extreme prejudice. Enjoy!

Please Note: There are incest themes with a secondary couple in this story. Just a forewarning.

Chapter XVI -- Closure Isn't Always an Ending



"Tell me is it really true,

This feeling that I feel for you!

Your own kind of loving that makes me think nothing

Could ever take the place of you!



And it's so funny funny

What you do, honey honey

What you do, what you mean to me!

And you know honey honey

That is so funny funny

That you mean all the world to me!"

Alex and Alexa stood in the entrance to the kitchen, watching in amusement while Mike and Karen danced around together, the radio on the windowsill playing the bubblegum tune from the early Seventies. The song had begun playing and his parents just got up from the table and began dancing together. If the older couple was aware of them, they took no pains to show it, since they were focused solely on one another.

Thus it was, and ever shall be, Alex thought as he watched.

"Ever since you came my way,

I knew it was my lucky day!

The sun started shining when you started smiling

And I know it's gonna stay that way!"



"And it's so funny funny

What you do, honey honey

What you do, what you mean to me!

And you know honey honey

That it's so funny funny

That you mean all the world to me!"

"I can't believe what total dorks you guys are when you're together," Alexa drawled from where she leaned against the door frame, just watching. "I mean, you're the scariest power couple I know, bar none, and then I find you doing this."

"Are you sure you're not just jealous because you two don't dance around like this on a whim?" Karen pointed out, holding her giant husband's hand and pirouetting under and past him. "Because we'd totally understand if you were."

"She's kinda got a point," Alex mused, shrugging. "We're usually too busy getting immediately naked and ravsging each other to spend any time dancing."

"Well, husband, maybe you should get on that and start thinking about what we dance to," Alexa declared, giving him a sidelong look. "I'm not used to being shown up, even by my big sissy."

"Who, if I'm following this logic correctly, is showing you up by dancing around the kitchen with my father to a Sweet song from seventy-one?" he posited. "Is that right?"

"Count on these two to find a way to make that possible," Alexa sighed, shaking her head. "D'you think we'll ever be that in love?"

"I dunno," Alex replied. "Gotta remember, we caught you dancing around in your underwear to 'Disco Inferno' soon after you got here. You don't have a lot of room for judging their musical tastes."

"Whose side are you on, nephew?" she almost demanded, trying to sound offended, but failing.

"This is one of those losing questions where there's no right answer for me, so I'm just gonna stay mute," he announced.

"First time for everything," Alexa, Mike and Karen all answered in unison before laughing. At least they were all in agreement about something.

***

The St George Campus, the following day ...

"Still can't believe you were pulling the wool over everyone's eyes," the brunette girl said as she sat at the table with Alex and several others, pointing her plastic fork at him. "I mean, how on earth did you manage to not broadcast that everywhere?"

"Hey, we were as surprised as anyone," Alex answered, opening his juice bottle. "We spent the whole summer and fall terrified that we were gonna give ourselves away somehow, and everything'd come crashing down around us, y'know?"

"Well, even if I can't directly sympathise, I understand about feelin' up against it," she agreed. "I kinda feel bad for teasing you late last year about how you didn't have the hots for your aunt."

"I feel bad for feeling like I had to lie and conceal it," he said, shrugging. "We both do, best believe it."

"Hey, nobody blames you," said another student sitting across from him, next to the girl. He was looking off at the cafeteria lineup, watching Alexa order something. "Like, nobody blames you for falling for her, and not for feeling like you had to conceal it. Had to be tough, man."

"You have no idea," Alex sighed, looking down at his plate. "And there's still fallout, y'know? We both still get nasty little notes taped to our lockers, calling us perverts and so on. We've even seen little pamphlets and posters around campus with caricatures of us, doing nasty things and announcing how depraved we are."

"I don't get it," said another girl two seats down from Alex, the one next to him empty and being saved for Alexa. "I've checked, there are lots of countries now that support that sort of marriage ... France, Australia, Brazil, Finland, Russia, France, the Netherlands ... I mean, these aren't exactly ghetto nations, y'know? Hell, there's even some states down south where it's legal. What's the holdup for us?"

Alex shrugged. "We're making a legal challenge, and it'll happen in the late spring, probably. Not like we're under the gun here. 'sides, my family's getting ready to move, so there's other stuff on our mind."

"Ooh, yeah, I volunteered for that," said the first girl, nodding. "I know a raft of us did. Not just to support you and Lexi, but because most people'd go out of their way to help your parents, y'know? So there's, like, thirty or more students who have volunteered to come and help you guys move."

"Still weird to me," Alex sighed, shaking his head. "Not like we can't afford a fleet of movers, after all. Well, I can't, but my parents can. And yeah, movers are taking the big stuff, but then there's all you guys too."

"Pretty sure a bunch of us are doin' it because everyone's heard your parents are turning your current house into student housing, so they're lookin' for an in," she quipped, grinning. "I'd consider it myself if I didn't already live so close to ca-"

Everyone paused in the conversation and glanced over toward the food line, where an argument had broken out. Alex noticed that Alexa was ahead in the line and now looking back. A student, who looked Indian at first glance, was having an angry exchange with one of the kitchen staff members, pointing over at Alexa. Sighing, Alex was reasonably certain what had happened, and got up to go and intercede.

He stepped up beside the angry student and smiled at her. "Hi, I'm Alex. Do I want to know what happened?"

She glanced at him for a moment, her dark hazel eyes flashing before pointing a shaking finger at the food prep worker, who was flushed red with anger. "She ... this woman, she spit in your fiancée's food when she thought nobody was looking!"

"I most certainly did not!" the worker shot back.

"Well, shouldn't be hard to prove one way or another," Alex said, shrugging. He beckoned Alexa over, and she walked up, looking curious. Everyone in the immediate area was staring at them quietly. "What did you order?" he asked.

"Thought I'd try the cordon bleu," the blonde girl replied. "Pretty sure I ordered mine without spit, though."

"I didn't spit in your food!" the woman behind the line protested through gritted teeth, glaring at Alexa.

Alex ignored her and asked the student to point out where she'd seen the woman do this. The Indian girl pointed to a prep line and said that was where she'd seen the woman do it.

"This seems easy enough," Alex reasoned. "We have the line manager check the order numbers to make sure that's Alexa's cordon bleu, then we check the footage from that camera up there ..."

He pointed at a small security camera.

"If she didn't spit in the food, we all owe this fine lady and apology," he continued. "If, on the other hand, she did hork in my fiancée's food ..."

The woman behind the line was now pale and trembling as Alex asked for the kitchen manager to be brought over. The manager listened to what everyone had to say, and then turned to her worker. "Anything you want to tell me before we check the video feed?"

The worker's nerve broke. "It's ... it's not right! What they're doing isn't right! It's immoral!"

"Not your job to decide, and certainly not your job to contaminate people's food," the manager said tersely. "Now all the food on the entire line must be thrown out, because you decided your bodily fluids should be in the mix. Go wait in the office, we'll draw up your termination papers there."

The prep cook's skin was ashen as she turned and walked away. The manager addressed the small group. "I know words can't really make up for this, but I'm sorry. What can I do to make this right?"

Alexa gave a small shrug. "You just did the right thing, and I appreciate it. I suppose just make sure that the staff understands that this sort of thing can never happen, no matter how much something offends their personal sensibilities."

The woman nodded. "There will be meetings for all staff tomorrow on the subject, and they'll all be signing agreements that they understand. You sure I can't comp your lunch?"

Alexa smiled. "No, I'm finding I don't have an appetite right this second. Thank you anyway."

Alex and Alexa turned and walked back to their table, inviting the other student who had taken issue with the kitchen to join them. Another student gave up her chair, and she sat next to Alexa. She blushed as Alexa took her hand, smiling warmly.

"That was very brave and kind of you to do that," she said softly, while several people around her nodded and agreed, thanking her. "It wasn't your problem, but you stood up for what you thought was right. Not everyone would do that."

"I had to say something," the girl replied, still blushing but now meeting Alexa's gaze. "If it could happen to you, it could happen to anyone, yes? She cannot decide who is right and wrong."

"What's your name?" the blonde girl asked. "I'm Alexa, but you probably know that."

The girl smiled sheepishly. "My name is Tanuja."

"That means 'daughter', right?" Alex asked from just behind his wife.

Alexa turned and looked at him, giving him a wry look. "Okay, since when do you speak Hindi?"

He shrugged. "I don't yet, but I've seen enough Bollywood movies to recognize the word and its meaning."

"Ignore him," Alexa said dryly while people around the table laughed, and even Tanuja giggled. "He gets it from his overgrown father. "Is this your first year here?"

Tanuja nodded.

"Mine too," Alexa said cheerfully. "What are you studying?"

"Business management and hospitality," replied the girl. "I maybe want to run a hotel, or a resort, or a fancy restaurant back home. Or maybe here, if I can figure out how to stay. I am already worried about my funds and my accommodations."

Alexa looked back at Alex for a moment, who gave her a knowing smile and a wink.

***

A certain dorm room, January 1987 ...

Karen and Lisa were sitting on Karen's large, plush bed, making out, their arms and legs wrapped around each other. Their breasts were squashed together, and their gooey pussies pressed tight, clits kissing. Their tongues rolled around inside each other's mouths as they expressed their deep affection for one another. They always ended up like this after making love, but it was usually just indicative of a breather (for Lisa) before the next round began.

The kiss ended and the two women sighed as they pressed their foreheads together, eyes closed and breathing slowly. Lisa's fingers stroked up and down Karen's supple back, while Karen's caressed gently through Lisa's long, red hair. Karen felt the pat of a single tear on one of her large breasts and smiled softly. She knew they weren't tears of grief, Lisa just happened to leak when she was feeling emotional.

And tonight was one of those nights.

Lisa opened her eyes and gave a tiny smile, her eyes still glistening. "Y'sure you're not mad at me?"

Karen's hands came to rest on Lisa's cheeks, and the bronze-haired goddess smiled lovingly, her eyes locked with her lover's. Her thumbs stroked along those pale cheeks slowly, reassuringly.

"Why would I be mad, my love?" she whispered, her lyrical voice giving Lisa shivers, the way it always did. Was she completely insane for what she was doing?

Lisa almost sniffled as she answered. "I ... imagine it's not every day that someone breaks off a relationship with you, Kar. I just can't picture it."

"Oh?" queried Karen, her mouth making a cute little 'o' shape as she teased her friend. "Were we in a monogamous relationship and I missed the memo? Because I'm reasonably certain I've had my share of fun times with others on this campus. I think even you might have."

"Well ... once or twice over the past two years, maybe, but nothing to speak of," Lisa said, looking off to the side and blushing. "I just ... oh, you know I'm no good at saying these things, Kar, I -- gnnnn!"

"I'm aware of the fact that you think you're no good at this sort of thing," Karen whispered, reaching down and brushing her thumb over Lisa's clit, making the slender redhead shudder and moan, biting her lip as her back arched. "But I think you're just afraid to hear yourself say what you need to say. So I'm going to edge you closer and closer to orgasm, but not let you cum, until you say what's rolling around in that pretty little red head of yours."

"Gnnnnnnn, no fair!" Lisa whined, writhing but unable to escape, since Karen had her strong dancer's legs wrapped around her. "How'm I s'sposed to think when you're turning my nervous system to Jell-O?"

"You'd best hurry, then ..." Karen said simply, strumming her thumbpad across the little bud again.

Panting and squeezing her eyes shut, Lisa tried to compose herself through the subtle erotic onslaught. Karen knew everything about her sexually, and Lisa had no defences when her roomie was engaging her will. There was only compliance. Once again, the notion of how insane she must be to give this up clouded her thoughts.

"I ... I love you, Kar, and falling in love with you would be the easiest thing in the world," she said in a quavering whisper, somehow talking over the electric jolts of pleasure lancing around her body, courtesy of Karen's gentle, but relentless thumb. "But I'd ... I'd spend the rest of my life trying to measure up to you and feeling like I never could. And I ... I can't do that."

Karen's thumb stopped moving over her clit and pussy and Lisa collapsed forward into her lover's waiting embrace, shaking and panting, her eyes closed while she waited for the unreal bliss to pass. She hadn't cum, but Karen made even edging so pleasurable that she preferred it to orgasms with almost any other woman she knew of.

She had to be crazy to give this up.

"Are you really that concerned?" Karen whispered, stroking Lisa's hair. "Why do you think you don't measure up?"

Lisa let out a deep sigh as she finally caught her breath and lifted her head to look into her friend's eyes. How she loved Karen's eyes, the bewitching golden-amber colour that could be so soft and loving, or so focused and intimidating. She felt so drawn into them, and maybe that was part of the problem.

Losing herself.

"I ... I know myself, Kar," she admitted. "And yeah, maybe I am really awesome in some ways, but ... if I was committed to you, like, in love with you, that's exactly what I'd be -- a creature of commitment. And I'm worried I'd lose all sense of myself that had nothing to do with you."

She blushed and buried her face in her friend's shoulder. "I don't know if that makes any sense to you. It probably sounds silly to someone as composed as you are."

"Not really," Karen answered, hugging Lisa tight before pulling her face up to kiss her again. She smiled as she looked into her Lisa's eyes. "Do you remember me talking about the 'Hall of Ancestors' back in my parents' home?".

Lisa nodded, always somewhat amused at how Karen referred to the Blackwell Manor, the giant estate she'd lived in her whole life, as her parents' home, rather than her own. It might very well had been that this remarkable young woman felt more at home here on campus rather than back in that huge mansion she described as a mausoleum. "You might've mentioned it eight or nine million times."

"Well, I assure you, I understand your fears about 'measuring up,'" Karen said, stroking Lisa's cheek with her thumb again. "Every time, when I was a little girl, I'd have to walk down that hall to get to the stairs going up to my bedroom if I was in the west wing of the house."

"Mmmm, poor little rich girl," Lisa teased in a soft voice, rubbing her nose against Karen's.

"Hush, and let me continue my monologue," Karen chided. "As I was saying, I would have to walk down the hall, and along the walls were these portraits of my ancestors, staring down at me, assessing me, judging me."

"Kids' minds play evil tricks on them," Lisa agreed.

"No so much a trick of my mind as a cunning trick of artwork," replied Karen. "The oldest portrait goes back to the mid-seventeenth century, to old Wyllyam Blackwell. It seems my ancestors had a penchant for being painted with expressions of disdain or judgment plastered across their aquiline features, and commissioned their artists to make it look like their eyes were fixed on you, following you when you looked at them."

"Nothing creepy about that ..." muttered Lisa.

"Passing down that hall, and the halls of the various Blackwell estates that came before it, was meant to be a challenge, my love," Karen explained. "You were meant to feel the weight of earlier generations looking down on you, judging and assessing you, to see if you measured up."

"That's really heavy for a little girl," Lisa mused, knowing that she couldn't have made it out of a hall like that without crying. If her great-aunt Esther had been looking down at her from a wall, Lisa would've peed herself in terror.

"One day, my mother came home, and she found me standing on top of a chair and a large stack of books in the hall, precariously balancing so that I could stare back into the eyes of Henry Blackwell, patriarch of our family during the early nineteenth century," Karen continued. "I was nose-to-nose with him, glaring back, because I was so sick of the way he kept looking at me."

"Oh, wow, Kar," Lisa breathed. "Really got you, huh?"

"My mother, bless her, helped me down, and then she took me into the reading room and held me while I cried in her arms," Karen said somewhat distantly, remembering. "I was only nine at the time and had just come back from boarding school. I sure as Hell didn't need that old goat judging me."

She shook her head for a moment to clear it, and then smiled at her roomie again, enjoying the sensation of their bodies pressed together. She always did. But she knew what Lisa meant. "So yes, I do understand what you mean when you say you feel pressure about measuring up. And I am not mad at you. I may not completely agree with your assessment, my love, but it's your life, and you must live it for you. Not me, and not anyone else."
She smirked. "And last I checked, you were mostly a Jewish agnostic, so you're not exactly living for Yahweh, either."

"Pretty sure Him seeing us with our tits and cunts squashed together like this would clue the Big Guy in as to what I've been up to," Lisa muttered, still convinced she was bonkers for dumping this woman -- if she ever had been Lisa's to dump. "You're sure you're not mad at me?"

"Well, I'm done telling you I'm not, so it's up to you to convince yourself at this point," Karen said simply. "So, now that you're released from my tyrannical sapphic clutches, what does the future hold for Lisa Ruthelyn Heyman?"

Lisa snickered and rolled her eyes. "'Tyrannical sapphic clutches' ... here I was worried I was holding you back by being all clingy. But now that you mention it, I ... well, I'll just say it, I guess. Are we done, as, y'know ... lovers?"

"Is that what you want?" Karen asked.

"Oh, no no no," Lisa said rather hastily, shaking her head. "Nooooo, we're still roomies, and if you're okay with casual sex, so am I. I mean, I have no idea how long it's gonna take me to find a girl I'm interested in being steady with, so if it doesn't sound selfish, d'you think we could still ... y'know?"

Karen smirked. "I had other lovers while we were 'together,' as you put it," Karen answered, shrugging. "And I do very much enjoy our sex. So as far as I'm concerned, nothing has changed. We're roomies, dear friends, and lovers of the casual variety. I am at your carnal disposal, Red. Good enough?"

"I think we're onto something, princess," Lisa giggled again, leaning back now to support herself on her hands, and looking at Karen with lust building in her eyes. "So to celebrate our old new understanding, how about another round or six or girl-fucking?"

"That's the best idea you've had since you broke up with me," Karen purred, leaning back on her hands and then starting to squirm and grind her pussy against Lisa's, the slippery, wet sounds driving them both wild.

They didn't care if anyone in the hallway heard them moaning in passion and cumming together. Several times.

***

An old Victorian house in Kleinburg, the present ...



Mike sighed as he rinsed the last of the bodywash off his titan frame. He wasn't used to using this shower, or this bathroom, finding them decidedly cramped. But the en suite master bath was currently being assessed for remodeling, and there was no water flowing at the moment. Therefore, he would make do in here.

He'd decided to get clean and ready well ahead of time, since he and Alex were heading over to the Blackwell Manor to check on wiring and connectivity before the move began. There were updates everyone was keen to see happen, and he was looking forward to being able to connect with the university servers directly from home.

He stepped out of the shower and began drying himself off and came out of the bathroom. He still had at least two hours before anyone else would get home and --

He was greeted by the sight of a naked Alexa, hanging upside down from the doorway of her old room, an excited look on her face, one that contorted into confusion as she recognized him. Her long, golden-blonde hair caressed the carpeted floor.

They stared at one another for some seconds, both seemingly bemused and at a loss for words. Even upside down, her brother-in-law looked as terrifying as ever, and it didn't help that he was completely naked, his whole, massive body on display.

Mike raised an eyebrow, not at all certain why his sister-in-law was hanging upside down like some voluptuous bat from her door. Her massive breasts almost hung down in her face, except she was keeping her arms folded across her chest so that she could see. He noted that she kept her pussy completely shaved, as opposed to her older sister, his wife, who had that one thin strip of coppery hair just above her mound. Aside from that, though, their bodies were very similar.

"You're not Alex ..." she said finally, her tone flat. "You were supposed to be Alex."

"And Alex was supposed to be a Nova, so he's let us both down now," Mike replied, still staring at her. "Do I even want to know?"

"I thought Alex was the first one home, so I ditched class to sneak back," she said, still hanging there, but her face going slightly red as gravity took over. "I heard the shower, thought you were him, and decided to surprise him like this and then we'd have hot sex. Imagine my disappointment."

"If it's all the same to you, I'll pass," Mike said. "Sorry to dash your mistimed hopes."

Another few moments of awkward silence passed before Alexa spoke again. "Could you at least help me down?"

"Nooooope," Mike said, turning and walking away toward the master bedroom. "I have complete faith in your ability to extricate yourself from this self-inflicted folly."

Alexa huffed and scowled, folding her arms tighter across her chest as she heard the door close. "Well that's just great," she grumbled, scowling at the wall. "Guess chivalry's dead after all ..."

She was getting rather dizzy, though.

Some minutes later, Karen came up the stairs, remembering that her husband was the first one home, and perhaps she could get some alone time with him before --

She paused at the top of the stairs, staring at the weird sight in front of her, that being her younger sister hanging upside down from her bedroom door, completely naked and her face turning pink from the blood rushing into it. Her arms were folded over her chest and she seemed miffed.

"Do I even want to know?" Karen asked finally.

"Your big, dumb husband wasn't Alex. And he left me hanging like this, he wouldn't even help me down," Alexa grumbled. "Can you believe that?"

Karen sighed and walked over, taking a moment to appreciate her younger sister's lovely body, and how very similar it was to her own. "I don't know whether to be impressed with him for resisting such an open buffet or annoyed with him for leaving my baby sister hanging upside down until her head explodes."

"I vote for the latter," Alexa grunted as Karen knelt in front of her and then braced her by her rib cage. Alexa put her hands on the floor and then straightened her legs, letting go of the top of the sturdy bedroom door. Standing on her hands while her older sister braced her, she split her legs out and then tilted to one side, rolling slowly to her feet as Karen held her steady. Alexa sighed as she became right-side up, feeling suddenly dizzy. Karen eased her down to a sitting position on the floor, straddling her legs and massaging her face, neck and shoulders for some seconds to help her adjust.

"Silly," the older sister said, stroking Alexa's cheek and holding her naked body close. "And count yourself lucky. Michael probably would have helped you down by just flipping your feet off the door so that you landed on your impulsive head. Don't worry, Alex should be home in about two hours."

"What'm I supposed to do until then?" Alexa almost complained, not daring to move yet. It still sounded like there was an old-style locomotive chugging in her head.

"Damned if I know," Karen replied, standing up and unbuttoning her blouse, her large breasts contained within a lacy, frilly bra now exposed. "But if the lord of the manor's home, I'm going to go and get laid."

And with that, Karen walked down the hallway, stripping off her blouse and twirling it around on her finger before tossing it aside carelessly. She was already shimmying out of her skirt by the time she reached the master bedroom.

At least she had the decency to close the door, Alexa thought to herself darkly, left to her own devices once again.

Some twenty minutes had passed before Alex trotted up the stairs, stopping to stare as he beheld his aunt-wife sitting on the hallway floor, propped up against her bedroom door, buck naked. She had a decidedly unimpressed look on her face.

"You owe me," she said in a voice that brooked no dissent to her statement.

"Do I even wanna know?" Alex sighed as he finally finished ascending the stairs and heading toward Alexa.

***

Innis College, 1987 ...

Mike stretched out and sighed, lying naked on his futon while someone exited his room, closing the door behind them. He wasn't ever really one to turn down spontaneous sex, especially during weeks when his workload was heavy, and he needed all the relaxation he could get. The head of the Theoretical Physics department, Professor Osborne, had made it abundantly clear to Mike that grades had to be up right across the board in the department if they were to secure vital funding from Dean Marks and the university.

Mike frowned as he stared at the ceiling. While it was true that Theoretical Physics was the golden child of the Sciences faculty, few other departments appreciated how hard it had to work to keep that status, not to mention make the entire Sciences department look good on the national and international stage. True, other departments had to work just as hard, and were every bit as important in their own way, but quantum physics was what held the public's imagination and scrutiny. Ergo, results counted, not vague unprovable theories.

Then again, Osborne had been rather grouchy since not being promoted to dean the previous fall. The position had stayed with the tediously efficient (and rather excitable) Graham Marks, who had held it for some years. Professors Osborne and Dudley had been the other two contenders, aside from the incumbent, for the Dean's position, and both had lost because only Marks had not asked for a raise.

While he might have considered Mike some sort of proletarian colossus, Osborne could not dispute the benefits and utility that the herculean student brought to the table. Even though he was only a second-year, his understanding of quantum mechanics, especially Calabi-Yau and other manifolds, was nothing short of frightening. He was light-years ahead of even the most senior students, and even the professors were often scratching their heads at his suppositions.

Still, by sheer force of will and personality, he kept the Theoretical Physics department moving forward, allowing Osborne to see to other, crucial administrative matters. Mike's laser-beam focus kept the other students on task, simply because they had to try to keep up. One would think that with someone like Mike spearheading the department's practical initiatives, the funding and extra lab time would be a given.

But recently Mathematical Physics had been rearing its inexorable and calculating head. And Mike didn't need to guess who was responsible for that phenomenon. Karen Gordon was a second-year, like himself, but also possessed of a brilliant and clinical intellect, with quantitative analysis skills that even he was hard-pressed to match. He'd never seen anyone faster at math, even inordinately complex equations. It was almost inhuman to watch.

They were the driving forces behind their disciplines, and it had brought them into something of a rivalry, although neither liked to admit it. They shared the realms of Applied and Experimental Physics, making sure that his theories were sound, and that her calculations were correct. Great strides had been made in the past academic year, most of the credit for which sat squarely on their young shoulders.

He stretched again, feeling more relaxed than he had for some days now. True, Janet could be a vigorous partner, and she was no slouch at sex, but he felt no particular emotional attachment to her, outside of considering her a friend. Maybe even a good one. She could be counted on (usually) to lend a hand in mundane issues, especially if he bribed her with sex. She also came with the benefit of usually dragging along Lisa Heyman and Mona Bresciani, who were both good workers, even if the former was rather skittish. The fact that the three of them were usually attached to Gordon (especially Lisa), had not really become problematic as yet, although time would tell. For now, he had department funding to secure.

He sat up and looked around his room, admitting that it was indeed different from any other student's dorm accommodations. His sheer size meant he'd been given a room to himself, which was highly irregular for a first- or second-year student. Janet commented regularly on the fact that his room was spartan, and yet so cluttered.

He couldn't deny it -- his room contained nothing except his futon, which he rolled up and put away when it wasn't being used, his big desk and sturdy chair, a battered old radio, and endless boxes and piles of books. His only décor was some framed photographs of his family, some plastic models he'd built, and a battered electric guitar hanging on the wall. Mike was normally very fastidious, but there was just not enough space for everything he needed, even though he had the room to himself. So boxes and stacks of books were his décor.

He stood up and rubbed his face, noting that his shoulders were quite a bit more relaxed than they had been earlier. He had to give Janet credit; she did good work. All he needed to do now was shower, and then he could return to the task at hand. Theoretical needed that funding, and he had several projects on the go. Other students were helping with crunching the numbers, but Osborne was counting on him to have everything in order when it was time for submission, to impress the dean.

And given Marks' disdain for Mike, that was a tall order.

Scientific progress awaited.

***

The Bridle Path, the present ...

Most of the huge Edwardian manor remained tarped and under endless linen covers, as it had since the patriarch Jonathon Blackwell died almost two years earlier. But in one room, there were signs of life this night, and the flashing of a video game console and various mutterings were to be heard. The sitting room furnishings were still mostly tarped over, but a single large and ornate chesterfield was uncovered, as was an impressively large flat-panel TV. Sitting on the chesterfield, Mike and Alex were working the game console controllers furiously as their characters attempted to brutalize each other on-screen.

"Still don't know why you wouldn't get a screen this good for us back home," Alex mentioned as his character executed a series of absurd whirlwind kicks that Mike's character was obligated to block, lest he lose at least half his health bar.

"What would you have to look forward to once we moved here if I'd done that?" Mike reasoned, now counterattacking with a mind-boggling combination of his own.

"Gee, I dunno," his son replied, shrugging. "The fact that there's a two-hundred-inch version of this screen in the big media room?"

"Which is to be used sparingly," Mike chided, stopping his son's attack once again and initiating his own. "Not only for ethical energy consumption considerations, but remember the alarming amount of detail that it shows? Didn't you learn anything from watching the Lord of the Rings trilogy on that thing?"

"Ugh, don't remind me," Alex said sourly. "What I learned is that Christopher Lee's face was never meant to be seen up close in that kind of resolution."

"Now you're getting it," Mike agreed, launching another flurry of lightning attacks and knocking Alex's character flying. "Ooh, right in the labonza!"

"Really weird, y'know -- for someone who's built like Zangief, you sure spend a lot of time playing the speedsters in these games," muttered his son, recovering somehow and getting back into the game.

"What can I say, I like to play against type," Mike replied, shrugging. A couple more combos, and he finished off the match, narrowly beating his son. Alex sighed and leaned back into the couch, letting the replay count wind down. "Well, I mean, I brought other games, but have we really checked the connections around the place as thoroughly as we need to? How long are we gonna be here?"

"Overnight, I imagine," answered his father, putting down his controller. "Once it was established that you and I would be at least a few hours checking the place out, your mother and Alli got it in their head that they should host a girls' night sleepover, possibly the last one they'll get to have in the old house."

"A sleepover?" Alex queried, making a wry face.

"Yup," his dad confirmed, looking at his watch. "Should be well under way by now, in fact."

"Who would they invite?" wondered the younger man. "Freja, Jeanie ..."

"I think there was mention of Heather," Mike added.

"And I can already see where this is going ..." Alex muttered. "Mrs. Stevenson?"

"No, they're in Vancouver this weekend," Mike said, shaking his head. "I didn't hear of anyone else."

"Well, that's five," Alex reasoned. "And I somehow doubt mom'd let Freja and Jeanie anywhere near your bed, which means ... damn ..."

Alex pulled out his phone and fiddled with the settings for several seconds, and the TV in front of them responded accordingly, accepting instructions. In under a minute, the screen winked on, and a rather unusual scene came into view. Karen, Alexa, Freja, Jeanie and Heather could all be seen, lounging about in minuscule lingerie, in a darkened room.

"Yyyyyyup," Alex sighed, staring at the screen. "Basement sleepover. Only place big and comfy enough for this sorta thing with your room off-limits."

"You have webcams set up in your bedroom?" Mike asked, giving his son a curious look.

"Alexa and I like to make movies, so I have, like, eight of them set up down there in various locations," Alex replied, demonstrating by cycling through the cameras. The first camera, which seemed to have been somewhere above Alex and Alexa's bed, was showing the five girls sitting on the large mattress, drinking girly drinks, laughing and chatting.

Freja was lying on her stomach, wearing a tiny tank top and thong panties, while Jeanie sat beside her, wearing a pink see-through nightie that did little to conceal her body. One of her hands was casually caressing Freja's muscular butt while she laughed and replied to something Heather had said.

Alex fiddled with his phone again and increased the volume, so that they could hear what was being said.

"-- and so then Springsteen says to Madonna, 'Who could fuck in this weather?'" Jeanie said, eliciting gales of laughter from the younger girls, while even Karen put her fingers over her mouth and snickered. Alex's mother was wearing sheer black lingerie, almost completely transparent except for where solid black lace concealed various private areas and teased the onlooker.

Sitting cross-legged next to her sister, Alexa was wearing blue thong panties and a matching bra, the straps of which deserved an award for holding her large chest up. Her long blonde hair was done up in a sloppy ponytail. The only other thing she was wearing was her little yellow plastic Ring-Pop.

Heather rounded out the group, and she was wearing a tight Care Bears T-shirt and white bikini briefs. She seemed to be enjoying herself, and completely at ease within the group. As strange as Alex found the whole scene, at least there was that.

The radio on the dresser changed tunes, and now a hip-hop song came on. Alexa giggled in delight and scrambled off the bed, entertaining everyone for several seconds by wiggling about before she turned away from them and began twerking. The other girls all laughed and catcalled, with Freja reaching out and smacking her best friend's ass, causing Alexa to squeak, giggle and mince away, holding her cheeks.

The girls all began cajoling Karen into trying it, and after several moments of protest, she allowed her younger sister to pull her to her feet. She held up a staying finger while she deftly undid the secret seams that held the sheer black material in place over her midriff and she tossed it aside, leaving her now clad in only a lacy bra and tiny thong.
To everyone's amazement, including Alex's, she popped into a low stance and began pumping her hips back and forth, twerking with ease. She slowly turned away from the girls, letting them gape at her ass cheeks as she showed them how it was done.

"Ho-kay, didn't see that coming," Alex admitted, not sure if he was going to Hell for watching his mom twerk in barely-there lingerie.

"Your mom's full of surprises," Mike agreed, seeing no reason to point out that he'd already known his wife could do this, and had been able to for several years. Not that he was objecting, mind, since he happened to be the beneficiary of these 'hidden' talents.

Jeanie got up and joined Karen, running her hands through her long, curly brown hair and giving her wife seductive looks in the process. The song ended and Jeanie sat back down, snuggling into Freja, when a Rej3ctz song came on. Karen's ears perked up and she smiled wickedly, breaking into a dance while the other girls all looked on in utter astonishment.

"Um, dad?" Alex said in a quiet voice. "Why does mom know how to do the Cat Daddy?"

"She's obsessed with that Kate Upton video," Mike replied, not at all surprised by what he was watching. "We watch it a lot, and she learned the dance in just a few minutes so that she could do it for me. Looks like she might be spreading the wealth around a little, though."

Alex gazed on in wonderment as Alexa joined her older sister on the floor, slinking through the moves of the dance while the beat carried on. The sisters turned away from one another, bending down and resting their hands on their knees while squirming their shapely, tight behinds together. The other girls hooted and cheered in delight at the scene.

The music was still playing when the sisters stood up and turned, moving in close to one another, their bra-encased breasts pressing together. They were looking into each other's eyes and hands were beginning to wander while the other girls all hastened off the bed, closing in around them. Lingerie was starting to be removed while Alexa and Karen leaned in, their lips about to meet ...

"Annnnnd I'm done," Alex announced, standing up and pinching his eyes while he hit the mute button. He'd never be able to listen to the Rej3ctz again. "I don't need to see mom get ravaged by a bunch of horny teenage girls, even if one of them is my wife."

"Yeah, I don't need to see any more of Alli than I have already this week, so go ahead and kill it," Mike agreed, also standing up. "The activity in our basement aside, what really impresses me is how quickly you managed to link up from here with your cameras back home. That's no small feat, Alex, because you couldn't have been linked here already."

"Eh, I'm just good at that stuff, you know that, dad," Alex replied, shrugging. "Binary and computer languages are just another language to me. Harder to swear in, but still pretty useful, y'know?"

"Yup," said the giant blond man, patting his son on the shoulder. "Let's go and give the backups a look. I know there's even an old mainframe down in the one of the basements somewhere."

They walked along in silence down the long hall, with Alex noticing that all the portraits of his ancestors were still covered up, in storage until the move-in was complete. He knew they didn't bother his father, but then, Mike would probably have scared the bejeezus out of these men. Only Alex's grandpa had never been truly intimidated by him, and that was solely because of Jonathon Blackwell's ability to judge true character.

"I think you should bring Alli here," Mike mentioned as they stopped to check on a server box behind a well-concealed wall panel. "Just the two of you."

"But she's already been here with mom," Alex mentioned, watching as his dad used a pen light to check on some connections, judging them to be in perfect condition. "Think it'll make a difference?"

"Absolutely," Mike said, closing the panel, which seemed to disappear into the wall seamlessly; if someone hadn't been looking for it, then it would never have been seen. "She was overwhelmed the first time, here with her big sister that she'd lost, seeing this giant house she was born in but never knew, except from pictures your grandmother showed her. Alli probably has an encyclopedic knowledge of this place, everything Miranda could impart. She'd remember like it was holy writ. But this place will one day belong to the two of you, Alex, and it wouldn't be such a bad idea for Alli to get a feeling for that."

"So you think I should bring her over before the move?" Alex asked.

Mike nodded. "Spend the night, just the two of you, and find ways to make this place your own. Your mom had her whole early life to make her mark here, and even I have. And we'll continue to, but that doesn't mean you two shouldn't be getting comfortable and making your own spirit and presence felt."

"That's not a bad idea, dad," said the younger DeBourne, grinning. "I think she'd like that, just the two of us. Things've been a little hectic of late, so spending some genuine alone time is gonna be a good thing."

"And keep in mind that once we move in, we'll be needing to hire staff," Mike added. "Even if we personally feel like we don't need them, the Blackwell family has expectations of us as the stewards of this place, and they won't put up with it lying fallow because we can't look after it all at once."

"Staff," Alex sighed, shaking his head. "I had a hard time just having our cleaning lady, Fatima, coming around the old house to tidy it up."

"Sure, you did," Mike said, smirking at his son. "Didn't you lose your virginity to Fatima?"

"Well, my the choices were her or Aunt Janet, so you do the math," Alex grunted, trying not to blush.

"That settles it," Mike laughed cheerfully. "Your mom and I would never have heard the end of it from Janet if she'd had been the one to do it for you."

"Glad to know you have cherry-popping logistics down to an art, dad ..." Alex muttered as they descended the stairs to one of the basements.

***

Morning, back in Kleinburg ...

Karen was sitting and reading the newspaper quietly, enjoying the peacefulness of having nobody around. It happened so rarely, and it was quite the treat for her. It wasn't as if her house was always a beehive of frenetic activity, but truly solitary moments were few and far between. She sipped at her coffee and continued, reading the business section.

"Well, hello, naked Lady Prof," Jeanie mused as she emerged from the basement, followed by a somewhat groggy Freja. "What a --"

Without looking at them, Karen held out a staying finger that indicated there was to be no talking.

"Shhh," she said quietly, her eyes still glancing over the pages. "My coffee and I are having a moment. I'll deal with you two later."

Jeanie and Freja looked at one another and silently turned around and headed back downstairs, understanding the need to be scarce. Several more minutes passed before Karen smiled to herself and let out a quiet sigh.

"You can come up, Alli, I can hear you breathing, you know ..."

Her younger sister's head poked up from the basement stairs, and the blonde goddess stood and stepped up into the kitchen. Sure enough, her older sibling was sitting at a small, round table, completely naked, legs crossed elegantly, her elbow on the table and her chin on her hand as she read a newspaper. A mug of coffee steamed away beside her arm. Alexa couldn't remember ever seeing Karen do this before but had the feeling this was nowhere near the first time this had happened, either. Still wearing her lingerie from last night, Alexa felt decidedly overdressed.

"Kar, may I ... take a picture of you?" she asked rather sheepishly, feeling her cheeks warm. "You're the most beautiful and serene thing I've ever seen, sitting there like that."

"Why should my husband have all the fun?" Karen replied, still reading. "Just don't intrude on my Zen and we're good."

Alexa pulled her phone out from between her breasts and took some subtle pictures of her beautiful big sister, being careful not to disrupt her in any way. She was entranced as she quietly snapped away. She felt a need to capture this moment, much as she did just about everything else she could in life. She never wanted to forget anything.

"Thanks, Kar," she said in a soft voice as she tucked her phone away. "I'll go back downstairs and --"

She still didn't speak, but Karen pointed at the other seat just across from her at the tiny table, indicating that Alexa could sit if she chose.

"Oh, I ..." she began, wondering if it was really okay to join. "I know you banished Fre and Jeanie back downstairs, I don't wanna --"

"Yes, I banished those two yahoos back to the depths of Moria," Karen confirmed, nodding as she continued to read. "But you're my baby sister, and I can trust you with my serenity, so come and sit. Grab a coffee, there's plenty to discuss."

"You sure?" Alexa asked.

"If you're good, maybe I'll uncross my legs and you can take pictures of my goodies under the table," Karen added. "Now are you coming over or not?"

Alexa went over and made coffee for herself before joining her big sister at the table. Karen put aside the paper and smiled at her, taking her breath away. She couldn't help but just gaze sometimes, much like she did at Alex. Karen was so beautiful, enchanting to look at. Despite being nearly thirty years older than Alexa, in many ways she looked timeless, even youthful, and so very alive. Her golden-amber eyes met Alexa's sapphire blue ones and held her spellbound for some moments. She then shivered as she felt Karen's foot gently trace up and down her shin.

"Pity we've not had more moments like this together," the older woman said. "We'll make up for it, of course, but not here in this place."

"Are you sad that we're moving from here, Kar?" Alexa asked as she sipped her coffee. There was no such thing as white sugar in the DeBourne household (unless you were making something very specific), and the piloncillo added lovely, creamy sweet notes to her beverage.

"Of course," her sister replied, smiling. "Michael and I bought this house together, and we raised Alex here. It's been mine for just over twenty years. I love it with all my heart and soul."

The bronze-haired goddess put down her mug and traced her finger around the rim, pondering. "But change happens, Alli, and we are lucky enough to be moving somewhere that means something to us all; and we will still own this place, even if others will be living here. I'll be sad and emotional, but that's not an indication of regret."

Alexa smiled. "I was sad as I boarded the plane from Heathrow, realizing I was leaving my old life behind. But I was so excited to start my new life, Kar, with you, and Mike, and now Alex... so yeah, I get it. Sounds silly, but if you ever decide you're feeling emotional enough to cry about this place, can you tell me, and we can go somewhere and cry together? I... I've only been here for just over half a year, I know, but this became home to me, instantly, and I felt like I belonged, you know?"

"Because you do; this home is in your blood, even if you weren't here for most of it," Karen said softly. "I remember the day we officially got the keys and moved in. Mom and dad had you with them, and you were the third person to come inside."

"Third?" Alexa queried. "I couldn't've been more than a few months old."

"It was a big procession. The DeBournes were here, and quite a few Blackwells... mom passed you through the door to me, so that if I could bring you in," explained Karen. "Michael carried me across the threshold, but then put me down and I came back and took you from mom, bringing you inside."

"Oh," Alexa cooed, blushing and squeezing her hands together, feeling waffy. "I love hearing about how much you took care of me. I don't remember mom ever mentioning that bit, but it wasn't long after that when things went dark with dad, and ..."

Karen held up a hand and smiled gently. "Alli, listen to me, okay? There's no need to worry about that right now. The next few weeks are going to be plenty busy as is, with moving and then getting everything and everyone settled in. I want nothing but excitement and joy in our lives for the next month or so, because come the spring, life may get grueling again. There's the court challenge to consider, wrangling the families, and other tribulations lying ahead. We need the serenity where we can get it. I'm trying to convince Michael to let me have a coffee nook in our bedroom, so I can keep having naked coffee moments like this. Otherwise, it will be the end of an era today."

"Of course he'll let you," giggled Alexa, smirking. "He never says no to you. He practically can't. You two never say no to one another."

"True enough," Karen allowed, stretching her arms over her head, her large breasts jutting forward proudly. Alexa couldn't help staring. Her phone was instantly out and recording a video. Her big sister didn't seem to mind. "But to continue, I want this time to be a happy one, especially for you, Alli. You'll be going home, to the place you were born in, and there will be so many memories to bring to life."

Alexa smiled warmly at the notion, looking down at the table now. She was so full of emotion, she didn't have anything to say.

"There's all the time in the world for words, Alli," Karen cooed, reaching across to take Alexa's hand and squeeze it. "And all the time in the world for pondering life's problems, soon enough. For now, just contentment and happiness, promise?"

Alexa nodded. "Promise."

Karen rose from the table, keeping Alexa's hand in hers and brought her to her feet. She then walked around the large marble kitchen island, Alexa in tow, and stopped at the counters, smiling at the younger girl. Leaning back against a counter, she pulled Alexa in gently until their bodies were touching, their foreheads pressed together. Alexa was still wearing her silky blue bra and thong panties.

"However, you are simply much too dressed for a Blackwell-Gordon sisters morning," Karen whispered, her hands moving up from Alexa's hips to her torso, undoing the front clasp of the bra and letting her sister's magnificent breasts free. They both sighed as their nipples kissed, and then their breasts squashed together. Karen undid the side knot that held Alexa's thong in place, pulling the garment off her easily. Alexa looked up at the ceiling somewhat warily.

"Jordan?" Karen asked, smirking while Alexa's hips touched her, their pussy mounds barely kissing. "Darling, he's eighty-seven and upstairs down a hall in the guest room. He won't hear us, and he won't be up before noon in any event. We're fine."

"And the yahoos?" Alexa asked, a hint of a smirk on her lovely face.

"They can occupy themselves for an hour or so," said the older girl simply, her hands now gliding up and down her sister's body. "This is sisters-only time."

"One of my favourite times," Alexa murmured as their lips met.

***

Alexa was walking down one of the hallways having just finished one of her advanced Russian classes, laughing and talking with some classmates. The conversation was mostly about the impending move, since people had accepted her relationship with Alex and saw no need to comment further. When the court case began, there would no doubt be much to discuss.

"Kar said Alex and I can pick our suite of rooms, with the exception of the master suite, since that's where she and Professor Hulk are gonna be," she explained, eliciting laughter and giggles from people. She'd come to understand that one of the great things about having Mike and Karen around was that everyone respected them and thought of them so highly, that even if they would normally be inclined to question the morality of Alexa's relationship with her nephew, the fact that her sister and brother-and-law were behind it made people question their own beliefs on the subject. She certainly wasn't objecting. "Apparently I was born in the master suite, and I-"

"Uh, Alli? Maybe you should see this, there's a bunch of them around campus ..." a young woman who walked up said, blushing. She held out a sheet of paper, which Alexa took. Glancing down at it, she frowned while other gasped and whispered, appalled.

On the paper was a caricature of her, having sex with a toothless, drooling Alex, while a small brood of deformed children sat nearby. The statement below the picture called on students to stand up for decency and morality.

"Would you all excuse me for a few minutes?" she asked quietly. Everyone nodded and departed, a few of them giving her pats on the shoulder before leaving. Her radiant sapphire eyes hardened as she pulled out her phone and called a number, the colour coming to her beautiful face.

"Alex?" she began, staring at the wall, trying to keep her temper. "If I told you that I was shown the worst cartoon of us yet, what would you do next?"

She listened for some seconds and then nodded. "I'll meet you in the cafeteria. I think I'm officially done with all this nonsense, and I don't care who gets destroyed. Five minutes, yes. See you there ..."

Alexa hung up her phone and began marching toward the cafeteria where she was to meet her husband. If anyone would have normally stopped her to say hello, this time they stepped out of her way quickly, intimidated by the blazing fury in those normally joyous blue eyes.

***

Alex looked at the obscene cartoon, grimacing, but not terribly upset. He'd been expecting this nonsense, after all. Alexa sat beside him, wondering what he was thinking, her hands in her lap.

"Sorry to bring this up," she said apologetically, blushing. "I got really angry, and I --"

Alex smiled and clasped his aunt's hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. "I'm glad you did. May be time to nip this in the bud, before these jerks get any traction or momentum."

"What can we do?" she asked. "I mean, even if this constitutes harassment, it's being done anonymously, so it'll be hard to prove who's spreading this crap around."

"One thing you can count on is that anyone who's got time to do this is probably not a freaking genius, and they're gonna make mistakes," Alex mused, still looking at the picture, scrutinizing it. It hadn't been drawn freehand ...

"C'mon," he said, standing up and taking Alexa's hand in his to bring her along. While they'd initially avoided physical contact with one another, once he'd announced their relationship to the world, he was mostly beyond it by this point, and was certainly going to hold her hand. "We're gonna break a few campus rules of our own."

***

"Couldn't we have used the computer in your dad's office?" Alexa asked as she watched Alex crack his knuckles while sitting at a console station in one of the computer labs and then begin opening programs. "I mean, I'm pretty sure it's the most powerful single personal computer on campus."

"And you'd be right, but I don't need power at the moment; what I need is anonymous access, which dad's comp couldn't give me," Alex replied, watching the screen while his fingers blurred over the keyboard. "In fact, because these comps are low-security, they often have an easier time accessing files no one would think to look in ..."

Alexa watched in fascination as Alex accessed screen after screen, opening new programs and logs one after the other. He'd always described computer languages as just another language set to him, as sensible and basic as Celtic or Semitic language groups. It fascinated her to watch him work, even if she had no particular idea what he was doing yet.

"That cartoon, it was done on a computer," he explained, as if reading her mind. "And I'm willing to bet that whoever did it thought they were being clever by using one of the computers here. If they were found out and sued by us, they could prove that they had nothing on their computers at home. That, and it's probably cheaper here. Idiots."
"You're thinking that someone might've created it here on campus, and now all we have to do is find proof. So you're narrowing searches to look for the type of file this pic would've been created with and stored as."

"Yep," he agreed, nodding but keeping his eyes on the screen. He'd express his admiration for her quick understanding later. "If I figure out what type of program was used to create it, I can just start looking for all those sorts of files and the dates they were created."

"Annnnd, that's why we aren't using your dad's computer, because you're hacking the university," Alexa said, smirking now. "You're getting right inside their data banks and looking for files stored among zillions of private files we have no business knowing about."

"Only thing I've been deeper in than these computers is you," he quipped cheerfully, pleased with the progress he was making. Alexa blushed and bit her fingernail while she watched her husband sweep away layers of security or simply avoid them by using back doors into programs and secured files. It was astonishing to see how quickly he was burrowing his way into the system. By this point, he could have been doing real damage if he'd been inclined. Thankfully, Alex was just about the most ethical and good-natured person she knew, a trait passed on to him by his titan father.

"Bingo," he said finally, nodding. "I bet this is the program used. Now people haven't known about us for that long, so I just need to gather and check out all the relevant files from the past few weeks ..."

Alexa moved a chair in beside him and began assisting in checking the files, looking for the picture she had brought to him, or others like it. Mere minutes passed before she pointed at the screen, indicating she'd found it.

"Good eyes," he said, smiling evilly. "Now, time to see who this file was created by, and where it leads back to ..."

"Thank God you only use your powers for good, Alex," she breathed quietly. "Because you'd be really frightening if you were petty, vindictive, or a sociopath."

"And there's our perp," he announced, sitting back in his chair and looking at the screen. "Jerry Leech, third year, poli sci department. Well, at least he's not from the Divinities."

"Oh, I think that's the douche that Fre kicked in the brain when she joined the martial arts club," Alexa said, recognizing the name. "He made disparaging remarks about us, and then called her and Jeanie fags, I think."

"No kidding," Alex mused, grinning evilly. "Well, that'll just make this all the sweeter, then."

"So now what?" Alexa asked, making a wry face as she looked at the picture on the screen. There were several others like it, all making disparaging statements about her and Alex. She kept her temper down and let Alex do his thing. "Report him?"

"Too easy," he replied, shaking his head. "You wanted him destroyed, remember?"

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a flash drive, inserting it into a port in the side of the computer. "Now I'm just gonna leave a little tracer in here so that I can get in whenever I like, and from wherever ..."

"Did you just put a Trojan into the university's system?" Alexa asked, somewhat aghast. "Won't it run up against the firewalls?"

"Only kinda sorta," Alex said, shrugging. "It's not malign, it just gives me access to this fucker's entire existence here at the university, and out into any other accounts he's attached to it. See? He's linked a personal Hotmail account to his university profile, probably his personal email. Now I have access to that as well. As for the firewalls, I'm already behind 'em, so no problem."

He turned and smiled at her. "I promise, I'm just using this in order to fuck this guy over, and anyone helping him. It'll have no effect on anything else in the system."

"Like I said, I'm glad you're on our side," she breathed, watching as Alex returned his attention to the screen. Before long, Alex had access to the man's Facebook page, email accounts, and other social media apps. He wasn't doing anything awful just yet, so much as setting himself up to inflict damage when he saw fit.

He did smirk evilly as he tweaked one tiny detail on the Facebook page.

"Oh, Alex, I wanted to destroy him, not condemn him to Hell," Alexa said, wrinkling her nose in distaste. "Did you really have to alter his profile to say he was Nickelback's number one fan?"

"You destroy our enemies your way, I'll destroy them mine," he said cheerfully as he backed out of all the programs, blanked a bunch of caches and then rebooted the computer. "There we go. Now I can keep track of this guy and his cohorts, and they're none the wiser. We can monitor their activities and take them apart however we like, from whatever computer, when we please."

"What'll we do?" she asked as they left the lab, walking down the hall now. "Leave evidence that he's a member of the alt-right? Link his personal uni page to zoophilia sites?"

"I can have him signed up on the deep web as a drug and gun runner if I like," he said, musing. "Maybe I'll link him to incest fetish websites, just for irony's sake."

"You're awful," she giggled, giving his arm a playful swat before looping hers through it and walking along with him quietly. She had confidence everything was now well in hand. They'd see this nonsense ended once and for all. "So now what?"

"Well, in theory I have Old English with Mister Carsdale, but I think he prefers it when I'm not there, since it forces the other students to actually answer questions," Alex said, taking her hand and squeezing it. "So I was thinkin' that if you're up for it, we might dip and go do something."

"Ooh, truant," she giggled. "What then, husband, didst thou in thy mind have?"

"We could let my mom and dad have the house for the night and you and I could go to the Manor," he suggested. "We haven't done that yet, just the two of us."

"Won't we be living there soon enough?" she asked, intrigued.

"Yeah, but I figure being there with you first seems like a good idea," he reasoned. "It's probably gonna be ours one day, way down the road after mom and dad decide to retire to a quiet life. And I want to be there with you, just the two of us, before things get crazy, y'know?"

Alexa smiled prettily. "As long as there's places to sleep, I'm all for playing hooky and then spending the night in a creepy mansion."

"Don't worry, I'll protect you from all the evil spirits," Alex laughed, looking forward to the coming night with his wife.

***

Mike walked slowly behind his lovely wife as they sauntered around the house together. Karen sighed wistfully as she touched things, her piercing golden-amber eyes rather misty: pictures on the walls, an old vase in a nook in the hallway.

"Remember when the Boyds gave us this vase?" she sighed as she picked it up and examined the cheap plaster thing. It was so very out of place with everything else, but she loved it dearly. "Their little girl Amy, God rest her, picked it out for us. She thought we'd like the pastoral scene painted on it."

Mike nodded and put his huge hand on his wife's shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. Karen smiled and tilted her head into the touch, nuzzling her cheek against it. A tear touched his skin, but he knew she was fine.

"I love it too," he agreed. "We'll need to find a special place for it when we're getting sorted out. A place of honour, really. Maybe paired with that Tang Dynasty horse your father loved so much."

Karen's sniffle was meant to be a small laugh as she turned the little plaster vase over in her hands lovingly. "Remember how bent out of shape he was when you pointed out that most Tang Dynasty ceramics and earthenware were meant to be burial items?"

Mike smiled at the memory. "I never quite figured out if he was unhappy because I knew something he didn't, or because it was such a glaring faux pas on his part. Thankfully, no one else knew or noticed. That, or maybe we can put it in the memories room, next to a picture of Amy. We have a few somewhere."

"Oh, I love that idea," Karen said, hugging the vase to her chest, bowing her head and closing her eyes. "It's a beautiful memory, Michael."

She put the vase down and they went upstairs, just enjoying looking around at the house they would soon be leaving. They stopped in front of a small hatch on the wall, both of them smirking.

"Remember that time your son hid in the dumbwaiter and got locked in?" she asked. "We'd left the house, not knowing he was home and he was crammed in there for three hours?"

"What I remember is him complaining that it was justification for making sure he had a cellphone," Mike chuckled. "I told him that to protect yourself from your own idiot stunts was not a good argument for owning a cellphone. Getting stuck at least twice more just proved my point."

"I have no idea why he was so obsessed with getting stuck in tight, compact places," she sighed, shaking her head as she lifted the small door and looked inside the old Victorian contraption. It had been moved up and down with pulleys back in its day, and that was how Alex had trapped himself. "Maybe that's why he was a week overdue."

"We're lucky he's not passive-aggressively slow about everything, then," Mike mused as they walked down the hallway, looking at the warm colour of the paint and wallpaper on the walls, the Victorian plaster moulds that bordered the ceiling, and the pictures and photographs that hung along its length. Within the next day or so, they'd all be taken down and carefully packed away for moving. Mike had it all down to an art and a science. Karen had every confidence it would all run with the precision of a Swiss watch.

"I'll never get the image of Alli hanging upside down buck naked on this door," Mike muttered as they passed her little sister's room. "Twenty years of history, and that's while I'll remember about this door."

"To be fair, in twenty years, nothing else ever really happened to this door," she said gently, reaching and out and caressing her fingers down the dark, carved wood. "Such a good door, blocking out the sounds our preteen son was making for those first few curious months..."

They approached their bedroom, Mike gesturing for Karen to go in first. She glided in and sighed, looking around the room. It was so beautiful to her. She was going to miss it. The student housing that would follow would certainly take effort to make happen, but she had faith they'd work it out.

The small lamps around the room gave it a soft orange glow, accented by the warm wallpapers they'd chosen. It was a large room, since it had to accommodate Mike, and any bed he fit in, but they'd found ways to make it seem cozy and feel like a den of comforts. Her boudoir area occupied one wall, just off from the en suite bathroom. A desk, complete with the private desktop computer they shared, occupied another, accompanied by personal mementos and heirlooms. The closets took up another area. Their enormous bed occupied the back wall. A huge bay window faced east, to let in the morning sun.

"We're so lucky we have a well-behaved boy," Karen mused as she walked around the room. "Imagine, all the naughty things we've done in here, over the past twenty years. If he'd been the horny, curious type, he could've been spying on us with those hidden cams."

"True enough," Mike agreed, just enjoying watching her saunter around the room. "Wouldn't be so sure about Alli, though ..."

***

Alexa shut the laptop quickly as she sat on the giant chesterfield in the Manor, blushing furiously. Sitting next to her, Alex just chuckled.

***

"Three days left," she whispered as she looked up into his blue eyes, his giant hands holding hers. "Are you sure you can put up with me being emotional and whimsical for the next half week?"

He smiled down at her, nodding. "I live to see it, and would be disappointed if you weren't, Gordon. I know how much this house means to you, how much it meant to us. Our first and only home together, barring housing on the military base, and the only one Alex has ever known."

"Do you think he's upset about moving?" Karen asked, now hugging herself to him, nuzzling into his broad, powerful chest.

"He doesn't seem to be," Mike mused, stroking her bronze hair. "He's probably eager for a change of scenery, not to mention all the opportunities the Manor will offer. He'll have a suite of rooms to mess around in with Alli, get his nerd on, and spread his wings. Just wait until we refurbish that old recording studio out back. We'll need a crowbar to pry him out of it."

"Or Alli to lift her shirt and wiggle her goodies at him," she quipped, smirking up at him now. "Alli offered to cry with me when I was feeling emotional. She's such a good little sister."

"The best, and I've got Ronnie to compare her to, so that's saying something," Mike agreed before cupping her cheek in his mighty hand. She trembled. Thirty years later, his touch still made her weak in the knees. "My father was right, you Gordon-Blackwell girls are the best thing to ever happen to us. And there isn't a day goes by that I don't thank the Almighty for it."

"And I don't care where we are," she said, gazing up into his vibrant blue eyes. "We could squat in a cave, but as long as you're with me, Michael DeBourne, I am the luckiest woman to ever live."

It was not the final kiss they shared before leaving that home, but one of the most passionate.

***

The Bridle Path, Blackwell Manor, some minutes later ...

"Oh don't you dare look back,

Just keep your eyes on me!

I said you're holding back,

She said shut up and dance with me!

This woman is my destiny,

She said oo-oo-oh!

Shut up and dance with me!"



Alexa laughed in delight as she twirled around her husband in the middle of the huge ballroom, the two of them taking up the center of the floor while music from the powerful speakers built into the walls filled the room with music. The couple danced with abandon, knowing they were the only ones around. It still seemed unreal to Alexa that this sprawling Edwardian mansion, a place she felt she knew intimately and yet seemed so unreal to her, would one day be theirs, if they so desired.

"I can't tell you how many times I've dreamed of dancing in this ballroom," she said almost breathlessly as she danced with Alex, her sapphire eyes sparkling. "With my dad, with my mom, with Kar, I just ... and here I am, dancing in this ballroom with the love of my life. Just the two of us. And it's so perfect, Alex."

"I'm getting that impression," Alex replied, grinning, "and I'm actually enjoying dancing in here for a change. I've had to do it growing up, and it was usually pretty tedious."

"Oh, muffin," she cooed, teasing him. "Forced to dance with relatives in a ballroom bigger than most people's houses ..."

"I know, I know," he chuckled, holding her close now as the song ended. Alexa had agreed, that very much was their dance song. It had to be. "Y'think you'd like if we inherited this place and live here?"

"It's a part of who I am, even if I've only ever been here twice," Alexa said, falling into his arms and letting him hug her. "I feel ... like I belong here, that I should have been here, you know?"

"I get it," he said, stroking her long, golden hair. "I'm lookin' forward to this because there's more room to breathe, I guess. I've lived in that one home my entire life, so a change of scenery can't be bad."

"And I moved every few years with mom in Europe, so a little stability is kinda welcome," she replied, taking his hand and leading him over to the large chesterfield, almost falling into it. They stared off at the giant bay windows on the far side of the ballroom, through which the expansive back lot was visible, moonlight glittering on the frozen pond.

"Kar told me that when they held parties here, sometimes she'd get up on the platform at the back there and sing," Alexa murmured, lost in thought. "Or play one of her instruments ... oh, Alex, I remember my mom telling me about my big sissy doing those things and how she held everyone spellbound when she did. I ... d'you think I can do something like that?"

He smiled and squeezed her hand. He'd seen his mother do that exact thing many times over the years in this room, and he loved it. "Absolutely. You're every bit as talented as she is, Alexa, musically and vocally. Different styles, maybe, but this room's been missing your gifts and style its entire existence. Now's the chance to correct that, eh?"

Alexa blinked away the sting of tears. Alex always knew just what to say to melt her heart, and better yet, she knew he meant everything he said. He turned toward her and cupped her cheek gently. Alexa shivered at his touch, hoping that never changed.

"You're in the big leagues now, Alexa, maybe for the first time, I don't know. But it's where you belong, not something you have to aspire and work toward. We all know that already. Knowing my mom, and my grandfather, you must be bursting with talents. We've all seen you, heard you, and need you. This place needs you. Never doubt that."

She threw herself against him, hugging him tight and trying not to cry. Maybe it was the environs, since this was only her second time ever being in the manor, but her emotions were welling up within, and she didn't know how to contain it all.

Not that she needed to anymore.

She pulled back and wiped at her eye, smiling. "C'mon," she said, taking his hand. "We haven't even picked out our suite of rooms yet. Aside from the master suite, Kar says we can pick any one we want. Do you have a preference?"

"Whatever's farthest away from mom and dad's rooms, to be honest ..." he chuckled as he allowed her to bring him to his feet and lead him out of the ballroom.

***

St. George Campus, January 1987 ...

It was a mild night as the pair hustled across King's College Circle and the broad sward of Front Campus, currently sitting under a thin layer of snow. Lisa seemed breathless, but not so much from her exertions as from the activities they were returning from. Her arm was threaded through Karen's while they walked, their breath steaming in front of them.

"Well, that was ... different ..." the redhead said, still not entirely convinced she'd done that. "So that's really a thing now? Like, so close to campus and more or less condoned?"

"There's not really much the university can do about it one way or the other, unless they intend to try and strong-arm the student houses into a code of moral conduct," Karen answered, squeezing her friend's hand. "And given how badly the fraternities and sororities proper can behave, that's rather damned unlikely."

"But that was ... a lesbian party, in what is apparently a lesbian-majority house," Lisa said, still bewildered. Two years here on campus, and she hadn't truly known that such a thing existed. She wouldn't have thought it legal. "And we went to one of their parties. And it didn't get broken up, by campus security, or the police."

"Well, it's off-campus, so nothing the campus cops can do about it," Karen said, shrugging. "As for the police, even six some years after Operation Soap, they're still wary about making raids like that. That whole fiasco really turned the public against them, and especially the gay community."

Lisa nodded grimly, remembering the incident. She'd only been thirteen at the time, but it had been a big deal right across the country -- in 1981, the Toronto police had carried out punitive raids against several gay bathhouses downtown, arresting dozens of people. Not only were they put up on archaic immorality charges, but the incident 'outed' many prominent men who had not been publicly known to be gay. Suicides followed, even if jail time didn't.
Enraged, the gay community as a whole began marching, and lobbying for laws to finally change and allow gays and lesbians to live their lives free of scrutiny or harassment. The bathhouses may have been gone, but gay and lesbian-centered activities began to flourish elsewhere, openly. Not the least of these were student houses at the universities.

One of these houses had held a party for lesbians on-campus, and Karen had made sure she and Lisa got an invite. To Lisa's amazement, it wasn't simple tawdry debauchery. She had no reason to think it would be, but there she was, amazed all the same. Sure, some of the girls were the stereotypical dykes that had always intimidated her, yes, but other girls were far more ... normal, like herself. She'd even seen a woman professor there, although everyone was tacitly mum about it.

And she's been a big hit at the party -- lots of girls welcomed her, and they celebrated her 'coming out', even though she'd been gay for some time, not to mention dating Karen. She'd made new friends, been hit on regularly over the course of the evening, and generally had a good time, even if she was the quiet and mousy one.

"I ... I gotta admit, Kar, I'm kinda surprised at how you got treated," she said as they made it to the far side of the lawn. "I thought they'd be all over you, but most of them were, well ... bitchy, and kinda catty to you."

"I'm not surprised," Karen replied, shrugging. "They know I'm not gay, I'm bi, and that's not quite acceptable to most of them yet. It means I'm still fraternizing sometimes with the enemy."

Lisa giggled: "Y'mean men."

"I mean men," Karen confirmed, nodding. "I expected it, because I'm the wealthy, privileged bi girl. But I also intimidate them, so I was tolerated. And in being so catty toward me, it made you look extra yummy and desirable, methinks."

"Oh, so you're trying to get me eaten by a bunch of cannibal lesbians?" Lisa teased, knowing what her friend and lover meant. "I had a good time, but ... it was a little much, y'know? I'm glad to be back here, just the two of us."

"You tuckered out?"

"No, the exact opposite, I'm ... really hyped," Lisa exclaimed as they made it to their dorm and went in the front door. "I've got a lot of energy now."

"Still feel like celebrating, Red?" Karen asked, smiling at her roomie.

"Depends, whatcha got in mind?" Lisa wondered.

"Well, we both still have the reek of smoke from the party clinging to us, so we can't go back to our room yet," Karen pointed out. "So we'll have to wait a bit before indulging in any intimacies privately..."

She led Lisa down the hall on the first floor, toward one of the larger study rooms. She pushed the wooden door open and led Lisa inside by the hand. The room was dark, unused at two in the morning. She slipped off her camel leather boots and put them aside, now clad only in socks.

"Shoes off and hit the lights, please," Karen instructed as she made her way across the floor. This was one of her favourite study rooms, since it was older and had a sprung wood floor, recently refinished and sealed. It felt quaint and venerable. While Lisa flipped on the lights, she made her way over to the far wall, where a huge fireplace and ornate mantle stood. The fireplace was strictly ornamental at this point, of course, but it gave the room a lovely charm she quite enjoyed.

"Excellent, the sound system I donated to the room hasn't walked yet," Karen announced as she walked up to a large, black boombox that sat on a sturdy table next to the mantle. Lisa walked into the room while Karen fiddled with switches, buttons and controls on the Sony FH-7. The bulky device blinked and came to life while Karen found a CD from a small selection and slotted it in place on top.

Seconds later, trumpets sounded, and a famous tune from the late Fifties echoed through the room.

"Well, lookabell, lookabell, lookabell, lookabell, oooooh-weeeeee!
Lookabell, lookabell, lookabell, oooooh-weeeeee!
Ooh, ah, ooh, ah, oooooh-weeee!"

"C'mon, Red!" Karen said gaily, twist-dancing in the middle of the room now in her socks, her golden-amber eyes full of mirth as she held out her hand. "Let's dance this energy of yours away. I know the Twist dance by the Midnighters didn't come out until the following year, but I figure this song still fits the theme!"

"Ohhh, I can't dance like you, Kar," Lisa whined, moving closer slowly, trying to protest. "I'll look silly!"

"Isn't that what dancing is all about?" Karen replied, twirling, her arms over her head. "Besides, I've caught you in much more embarrassing positions than this, young lady. Need I remind you of the brussels sprout fiasco?"

"Dorky dancing it is!" Lisa said hastily, preferring to not let Karen bring up her digestive tract's failed war on cruciferous vegetables. She joined the bronze-haired girl in the middle of the room and began trying to twist like Karen, failing miserably.

"Well, she's so fine, fine, fine,

She's so fine, fa-fa-fine,
She's so fi-ii-ii-ii-ine,

She's so fine, fine, fine,
She's really sweet,

The finest girl you ever wanna meet!

Oh, oh, oh, oh

Oh-oh, oh, oh, oh
Rrrrrrrrrr-Reet Petite,

The finest girl you ever wanna meet!"

The girls laughed as they danced around the room together, the Jackie Wilson anthem accompanying them. And Lisa had to admit, she was really enjoying herself, no matter how dorky she looked. Karen didn't care, she was just happy to have Lisa dancing with her.

And Lisa realized that this was what she cherished most about her friend. She didn't need to be in love with her. Right here, this was ... perfection. Karen gave her courage, gave her support, and yes, gave her love, but it braced Lisa and convinced her that she could face the world, and she would leave her mark and make a difference one day.

Thank you so much, Karen, my love ...

She laughed gaily as she spun through and under Karen's arm.

***

Elsewhere on campus ...

The four men were sitting in the lab, struggling over their equations before turning to the powerful computers and charged laser apparatus that dominated the space. The light overhead was decidedly bright and bleak, giving Ping a headache.

"We cannot complete this math," he complained, rubbing at his eyes. "We are stuck in a circle! We need the math to feed into the computers, but the computers are what can do the math, which would make the experiment possible."

"We can do the math, Ping," Mike said from his place nearby, towering over everyone as he scribbled endless sheets of equations, progressing as quickly as he could. "We have to do the math. If we don't, Mathematics department gets involved, meaning You-Know-Who gets involved, and there goes our badly needed funding and lab time. So we will get this done. Take a drink of water and stay focused."

"Could we at least turn down the lights?" Indur asked, looking up from his calculator. "Ping, he's right, the light is giving me a headache."

"Sure, you guys go ahead and continue here while I strip the switches out of the walls and ceiling and install dimmers for the next six hours," Mike snorted. "We absolutely have time for that. I know this is hard, guys, but we volunteered for this. Osborne didn't put a gun to our heads, we walked right into it willingly."

"A kínkeserves kutyaúristenit!" Gergo spat as he slammed his pencil down on the desk he was sitting at. His Hungarian temper was getting the better of him, his brown eyes red-rimmed from stress, and his curly hair damp with stale sweat. "But we are still stuck in this loop where no one part can move until the others move first, Mike!"

"That's not true, Ger, it just feels that way," Mike pointed out. "The answer is here somewhere, we just need to find it. Now, back three steps, gents ... why can't we get the measurements of the folded dimensions correct?"

Indur sighed and shook his head. They'd been over this twelve times already. "Because the symmetry between the left and right particles is retained on paper, but not in a natural state. It violates the weak nuclear force rule."

"So we're not carrying a two somewhere," Mike muttered. "It could be that simple. The problem is that coordinating our numbers is proving difficult, since the computer won't read our input as a gestalt ... Gergo, have you narrowed down which string calculation will allow for the three particle states and holes?"

"Teljesen," grumbled the Hungarian, shaking his head. "I have narrowed it down to six thousand possible models. Shall we began calculating through them one-by-one?"

Mike sighed and paused in his relentless calculations. His fellow students were tired, and he had pushed them hard for days, all of them running on little sleep. Bright as they were, though, they were not his equal in endurance of mind or body. Sometimes, a good leader had to know when his troops were taxed and it was time to call for a break.

Even Alexander the Great had turned back at the Hyphasis River, no matter how much he personally might have wanted to go on.

"Guys, I think you're right, it's time for a break," he said heavily, standing up straight and stretching, feeling the weariness is his muscles. "Believe it or not, we've done good work, and we're quite a bit closer than we were. Yeah, we're not there yet, but it's only a matter of time. Go back to your rooms and rest up, tomorrow's another day."

Sighing and mumbling, the three foreign students gathered up their notes and plunked them down in front of Mike before exiting the room. They all knew he had no intention of leaving yet and was resolved to stay and keep working. Maybe their scrawled math and observations would help him in some way. Beyond that, they were all so sick of calculations and Calabi-Yau Manifolds that they wanted to be as far from them as possible at this point.

Mike sat down in a chair and exhaled deeply, his hands steepled in front of his face. Perhaps he was wearier than he wanted to admit. Eugenio Calabi and Shing-Tung Yao certainly had made his life difficult of late. It didn't help that they were both mathematicians who dabbled in physics. Their work opening up Kahler Manifolds was brilliant, opening up endless lanes of possibility, and endless problems.

He could really have used Gordon's help, if for no other reason than to speed up the calculations involved.

"Hi, Janet," he said aloud, not turning to face the door.

"And how did you know it was me, big man?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"When you stop in a doorway, you draw one foot into a raised pose, and I heard the sound of the sole of your shoe brushing on the tile," Mike answered.

Janet looked down, frowning as she noticed that she did indeed have one foot pulled into a cute toe pose. "Count on your brain to take the sexy out of mystery. Couldn't you have lied and said you recognized my perfume or something romantic?"

"I'm not big on lying," he replied, turning around in his chair to look at her now.

"Well, that's about the only way you're not big then, sport," she quipped as she closed the door behind her and then came into the room, looking up at the light and grimacing. "Man, you eggheads really need some dimmers in these labs of yours. You should look into that."

"So I've been told," he said, watching as she approached him with a sassy smile. "So what's up with you?"

"Well, Mona's gone to some indigenous art display at the AGO, Freckles and the Princess have gone to some lesbo party off campus ..."

She settled down into his lap and put her arms around his neck. "As for me, I was in need of a good fucking, and you look like you could use a good fucking from something that isn't a bunch of numbers. Tell me I'm wrong."

Mike said nothing.

"Look, you're tired and you're stressed," she said, putting her fingers on his chin to keep his attention. "You know I'm not a china doll, I can handle it. I kinda love it when you're stressed and getting it out on me, in fact. We both get a dopamine rush, you get refocused for tomorrow, and I have new trophy sex bruises to show off. Win-win, right?"

Clearly she didn't care if they got caught, because she slid off his lap now and down between his legs. She pulled them apart by the knees and began undoing his belt and the button on his jeans. Seconds later, she'd tossed his pants and boxers aside, and was kissing and tonguing his cock slowly, smiling up at him.

She was right, no doubt. He could indeed use a break, and a dopamine rush to help get him to sleep so that he could focus better for the next round. Janet was a 'no strings attached' kind of girl. They liked one another, but they were not a couple. At one point, they'd sort of been dating, mostly on her behalf, but she was also the one that called it off. Not that Mike really minded. The distraction of an actual girlfriend was something he didn't need right now.

As he allowed himself to relax, he felt her wet lips encircling his head, tongue swirling slowly and moaning quietly. He closed his eyes and simply let go, his fingers running through her long brown hair. Her hand was clasped on the base of his shaft, slowly stroking up and down, following her mouth. Janet seemed to be enjoying herself, so he just let her do her thing. His turn to reciprocate would come soon enough.

"Mmmmm, think anyone can see us through those open windows, stud?" she asked, popping her mouth off his cock long enough to speak. Her hand kept gently stroking his swelling member while she looked over at the windows, and the campus at night beyond.

"Hm, doubt it," he replied, turning his head to look over casually. "Not in our current position, anyway."

"Well, maybe we'll fuck in the window, put on a show for any night owls out there," she purred, enjoying herself. She knew he was still lost in his little physics world, his massive cranium flooded with equations, but she also knew that he'd willingly leave that behind for good sex. She'd be patient. He'd had a long day, after all, and she knew how reticent she could be about sex when she was in a mood.

Fortunately, that was very rare with her.

She pushed her mouth down on him again, humming around his shaft, a technique she'd actually heard about from Karen. Well, not directly from Karen, but from Lisa, who had been told about it by Karen. Humming vibrated her lips around a man's cock, and was an added stimulation that they loved. She used it to great effect on other men, and was keen to see the effect it had on DeBourne, who was a monster (in a pleasing way) in bed. The orgasms he gave her never failed to turn her legs to jelly for at least two days after. It was hard not to be addicted, but ... she couldn't afford to be in love with this man, she'd never live her own life if that happened.

He was too big for her to get all the way in her mouth and throat, no matter how hard she tried. She'd even practiced on large dildos, but she still hadn't managed it. He didn't seem to object, however, and he was probably used to never being deep-throated. If Janet couldn't do it, she doubted anyone short of a porn star could, and Ginger Lynn was nowhere to be seen, was she?

Her free hand wandered up his massive, muscular torso, feeling chiseled and hard to her touch. His build intimidated a lot of women, who felt threatened by his raw power and masculinity, but Janet loved it. Her fingernails grazed over the taut skin, tracing the grooves between his striated muscles. He was just big all over, and it thrilled her no end.

It was weird to think about, because he looked like some crazy bodybuilder, like a jock; but his mind, the muscle between his ears, was every bit as powerful. She couldn't believe what this man knew, what he retained. He could tell her things about her own field of study, law, simply by having listened to her talk casually about it. His insights were annoyingly useful, so she tried not to talk about it around him. She didn't want to credit her graduation and future career successes to a guy she balled in university.

Only person as annoying as DeBourne for that sort of thing was Karen. How on earth did she get stuck between the two of them? What had she done wrong?

She shrugged as she continued sucking on him, pleased that he was now erect, his member throbbing in her mouth. She smiled up at him and winked. "Up for a little quid pro quo, to resort to legalese?"

Mike almost mentioned that the term quid pro quo was not exactly just a legal term, having considerable common usage, but decided that now was not the moment, especially since his dick was in her mouth, and she had teeth. He simply nodded instead.

Janet let his cock out of her mouth and stood up, taking his hand and leading him over to one of the desks not covered in papers. She giggled as she allowed him to lift her up and put her on the surface, then gently pushing her down to lie on her back. Without delay, he had pulled her slacks off, somehow leaving her pumps on. It felt sexy to her. She took off her shirt and her bra, tossing them aside as well.

Her scant panties followed half a second later, discarded on the floor with her pants and leaving her naked except for her heels. Then he pulled her legs apart with his powerful hands, exposing her neatly trimmed pussy and making her blush in delight. She shivered and whimpered as his tongue snaked around her already slick lips, and then flicked against her clit.

Janet moaned shamelessly as he pushed his tongue deep inside her, the powerful muscle lashing her walls and making her writhe, still pinned by his hands. Mere seconds had passed before she bit her lip and squealed, the first of what was no doubt many orgasms crashing through her. She never felt the need to hold back, because he could make her cum twelve times in a night, or until she passed out, whichever happened first. Not that she minded.

Her breath caught in her throat as one of his massive fingers slid inside her, his tongue now snaking around her pulsing clit. She bucked and thrashed beneath his onslaught, trying not to scream and alert the entire campus to the fact that she was having sex in one of the labs.

Janet's eyes snapped open and she forgot how to breathe as a second finger pushed inside her, along with the first, the pair crooking up and sliding along her front wall in a 'come here' motion. She clamped her hands tight over her face and screeched into them, her whole body shaking as another orgasm battered her senses. She thrashed wildly, certain she would black out. She shouldn't have been surprised; he always did this to her, even before he put that massive cock inside her somewhere.

"Gnnn, fuck me," she wheezed, staring wide-eyed at the ceiling now, her chest heaving. "Jesus, fuck me now, before you kill me, you bastard!"

Mike rose, pulling his fingers out of her and standing between her legs. He held her by the ankles, watching as she squirmed desperately, her glazed eyes pleading with him. Her fingers reached down and pulled her thick netherlips apart, opening her shamelessly and inviting him in ...

Janet groaned in relief as his huge cockhead pushed through her and then slid deep inside, filling her in seconds. It felt like he was in her thorax, and she was gasping as he bottomed out in her. She gripped his wrists tightly as he took hold of her waist, her legs now resting over the side of the table.

"Just remember," she said breathlessly, trying to compose herself so she could contribute. "I'm close to -- gnnnnnn -- my time, and we're not using a condom, so ... make sure you don't cum in me ..."
She knew it didn't need to be said, in fact, but she respected him enough to be thorough about this. He nodded and began pumping back and forth strongly, pushing deep inside her with every stroke. Janet almost wheezed as he fucked her, her fingernails digging into his forearms. She tried to match his rhythm, squeezing her pussy around him as best she could, but he was stretching her so much that she could barely tell if she was flexing or not.

"Ohhhh, yes ..." she rasped, feeling her stomach muscles flexing. "Fuck me, Mike ... fuck me ..."

Without warning, she pulled herself up into a sitting position, grappling onto him and kissing him greedily, her tongue pushing inside his mouth. His mouth always tasted like cinnamon to her, and she remembered that he'd said he included a lot of it in his diet. She didn't care why, she just loved how his mouth tasted. She bucked her hips back and forth now, matching his thrusts and squeezing when he slid inside her.

She shuddered again, squeezing her eyes shut and managing not to scream as she came for a third time, her body already streaming sweat. Her fingernails straked along his warm skin, and she clamped onto him as tightly as she could. She was pleased that he didn't seem to be holding back, his cock swelling slowly inside her, indicating he was about to cum.

"My mouth," she panted, her voice quavering as another orgasm crashed over her. "Let me take your cum in my mouth ..."

Mike stepped back, pulling out of her and making her shudder. His massive cock bounced around, glistening wetly as she pushed herself off the table and sank to her knees. Janet grabbed his member and stuffed it in her mouth eagerly, sucking loudly and for all she was worth. She wanted his tangy cum. She needed it.

Mike's hands gripped her head, massaging through her hair as his hips began to pump. She felt him stiffen and shiver, letting out a deep growl that thrilled her and gave her yet another orgasm. His cum exploded into her mouth, the torrents of pearly semen coursing down her throat. She moaned around his dick, lost in pleasure, her pussy still blossoming and tingling below.

But there was too much, and she gagged slightly, swallowing desperately before pulling her mouth off him. As she gasped, he continued to cum, thick ropes of his essence lashing her pretty face. He must have been really backed up to cum this much, and she was used to prodigious loads from him to begin with. Not that she minded, she enjoyed having his cum on her face.

She heard a relaxed sigh above her and smiled, knowing she'd done well. His fingers stroked through her hair once more before he brought them up to rub at his face. She stayed still as he moved backward, settling down into the chair he'd been sitting in earlier. She noted that even though he'd cum so profusely, he was still hard, his cockhead oozing yet more.

"So," Janet giggled, still kneeling in place, her hands in her lap, her face slathered in thick, pearly cum. "Do I get an A for effort, professor?"

"Yeah, I think that's a safe bet," he replied somewhat tiredly, clearly having spent himself. "And you even managed to take my mind off my --"

Mike stopped talking and simply stared at Janet for some seconds.

"What?" she asked, trying to not frown. "Something on my face? Don't answer that."

Mike leaned forward now, staring at her intently. She didn't know what to make of this behaviour. It wasn't like him to not have anything to say, let alone trail off in the middle of a sentence. What the Hell was he doing?

"Stay right there," he instructed hastily as he stood, moving briskly over to one of the desks covered in papers, his still-erect cock wobbling in front of him. She frowned again, starting to not enjoy the sticky mess on her face, which was threatening to get into her eyes and was already dribbling down onto her tits. "Don't move!"

"Easy for you to say," she objected, trying to sound indignant, although she was more confused than anything. "What am I su-"

He held out a staying finger, indicating that he needed her to be silent while he looked down at a bunch of notes. Her face turned pink under the thick layer of cum she was wearing, but she remained silent and still, against all odds. Why was she being so damned obedient? And why did she like it? Ugh!

His head snapped around to look at her, then back at the notes before turning to look at her again. One final, cursory check of the papers, and then he stood tall, punching his fist in the air.

"Yes!" he boomed, his voice thundering around the room, and probably into the hallway beyond the door. If anyone came in to investigate, they were in for quite a surprise. "That's it! Eureka!"

"Ummm, 'scuse me?" she asked, still flummoxed about what was happening. "Care to explain, Einstein?"

"Sticky beads!" he crowed, looking at her excitedly as he held up a sheaf of papers in his fist. "Sticky strings! The missing equation in Gergo's calculations about the weak nuclear force! The prediction of gravitational radiation with sticky beads means we can calculate the folds and holes now!"

He looked agog as he stared at a spot on the table. "It wasn't obvious because it couldn't be obvious. The one field is so damn far removed from the other in current study that you would never think, but there it is! The missing carried two! Gergo will piss himself!"

"He's not the only one," Janet grunted, trying to glare at him but failing because there was now cum in her eyes. "Any chance you can let me get up and possibly pass me a cloth or-"

"Yesyesyes," he said hastily, rushing over to help her up and passing a cloth to her. "Remington, you have no idea what this means!"

"Pretty sure I won't even after you explain it to me," she muttered as she wiped her face with the cloth, grimacing about the fact that the cum had gone tacky and would she would need to wash her face even more thoroughly now to get rid of it. "Because I know you will, you always do."

"I figured out the equation that's been stumping us for weeks now," he said excitedly, holding her by the arms as he looked down at her. "And it was totally by chance that I figured it out! The semen on your face, it reminded me of a theory Hermann Bondi about the influence of gravitational radiation on general relativity! If you hadn't let me do that, I never would have made the connection!"

"Lemme get this straight," she said as she finished wiping down her face. "Because I let you napalm my face, you just solved a physics crisis? If I'd let you bust your load in my cunt, you never would've seen it?"

He nodded again.

"Uh ... happy to be of service, I guess ..." Janet said rather uncertainly. "Sooooo, now what?"

"I hardly know, to be honest," he said, obviously ecstatic. "I should go and sleep, but I'm too energized at the moment, and my mind is racing."

"And I haven't got it in me to suck and fuck it out of you again," she sighed, shaking her head as she finally stood. "But I feel a lot better, so now I'm gonna go back to my room and sleep. My roomie won't be grumbling about my masturbating tonight, thanks to you. She's such a prude."

"Well, thanks for being horny, Remington, at just the right time. I couldn't have done this without you," Mike replied, giving her a hug, both still naked.

"Oh, please, you'd've figured it out anyway, I just ... I dunno, was your jizzy light bulb or something," she said, pushing her face into his chest so he couldn't see her blush. She needed weird things like this to keep happening once in a while, so that she remembered to not fall in love. She didn't want the rest of her life to be weird moments like this, even if he made her cum so hard that she forgot her own damn name.

Mike helped her dress and then walked her to the door, seeing her out before closing it. She knew better than to ask if he was accompanying her and left him to it. Once Remington was gone, he hurried back to the table where all the notes were gathered and began reading eagerly. He paced back and forth as he read, mumbling to himself when the door opened.

The Dean of the Sciences department, Graham Marks, stood in the doorway, gaping in astonishment.

Mike suddenly remembered that he was completely naked, except for his shirt, Donald Ducking it the whole way.

"I ... don't normally solve equations like this," Mike said rather lamely.

"I can't begin to tell you how glad I am to hear that, DeBourne ..." the dean croaked before turning and walking away.

Why did he always get the weird students?

***

The present: morning at the Bridle Path ...

They were standing on the roof of the manor, three stories up, with Alexa leaning against the solid stone rail that ran the length of the sprawling surface. Alex was pressed up behind her, holding her to him while they watched the sun rise. He had a warm quilt drawn over them both, because they were decidedly naked beneath it, except for little slippers.

Alexa sighed contentedly, looking east as the late January sun came up, the sky a glorious canvas of pinks, purples and brilliant oranges. It was an unusually warm morning, the stone beneath her hands not overly cold to the touch. Not that she minded, because Alex was keeping her warm enough, snuggled behind her.

"Can you believe we're going to live here?" she said softly, gazing out over the extensive grounds. The front lot centered around the long driveway leading out to the main road, but on either side were enormous swards of lawn, adorned with formal gardens, topiary, statues, and even fountains. The estate had been built back in the Edwardian era, just prior to the First World War, and was on an enormous lot. The back of the estate was huge, with what amounted to its own forest near the edges of the property. "I ... I guess I'd expect this sort of thing to offend my sensibilities, but it's my home. I was born here. It seems unreal to me."

Alex smiled and hugged her closer, kissing her neck. She sighed in pleasure and leaned into the touch of his lips. "I guess I've been here often enough that it doesn't faze me, y'know? I always kinda wondered if we'd end up living here one day. Mom grew up here, so it's her heritage as well. More than that, it's a trust, on behalf of the Blackwell empire, and I doubt mom'd let it go to uncle Rod or someone like him."

Alexa nodded, not bothering to think about her cousin, Rodney. She'd met him in Quebec City when she accompanied Karen to meet the Blackwells and settle things not only about the estate, but her currently illicit romance with her nephew, Karen's son Alex. She looked around again, finding the view breathtaking. The other properties seemed far away. She looked south, and saw the city in the distance, the sun glittering on the endless towers downtown. It all seemed so magical to her right this second.

And Alex was right about the Manor being a trust. It had been the most prominent estate of the family for a century now, since the Blackwell patriarch, George Blackwell, had moved away from Quebec to establish himself in Toronto. Most of the family and business offices remained in Quebec, but the family seat of power was now here, in Toronto. Whether the Quebec family liked it or not, they had to deal with it.

And that made Karen's decision to move her family into the Manor all the bolder, as well as necessary. It was a Hell of a game to play.

"It's not going to be quiet for very long, is it?" she murmured, looking over the property, picturing it bustling with employees and visitors. While it might be interesting, she wasn't terribly fond of the idea of the constant activity, either.

Alex shrugged, still holding her. "Won't be as bad as you think. Even when grandpa was here, the staff wasn't huge, because he didn't care for constant interruptions and endless bodies around. Yeah, there'll be more than a few live-in employees, because that's kind of an obligation on behalf of the trust, but more of the staff will commute in, I imagine."

"What kind of staff do we need?" she wondered. "I mean, yeah, the place is really big, but can't we do a lot of this stuff ourselves?"

"Nope," he replied, shaking his head. "We'll be employing people for groundskeeping, housekeeping, events, and such. We need a replacement for Mister Winson to coordinate all of this day-to-day stuff, too. He's retired now. He's earned it."

"So I've been told," she said warmly, thinking of the old man she'd heard so much about her whole life. "I'm so glad he's going to live with us. Hope he won't mind all the weird noises coming from our room or Mike and Kar's, if he's on the same floor as us."

Alex chuckled. "He's not gonna be. Lemme show you ..."

He kept them both wrapped inside the giant quilt, turned her around, and walked her across the vast, flat roof to look out over the rear of the property. Aside from the huge wings that stretched back, almost as large and long as the main building and forming an atrium in the middle, Alexa could see various outlying buildings, some of them very old and made of stone, no doubt Edwardian-era as well. Others seemed newer, but also fit the aesthetic of the estate. Alex pointed off to a rather distant corner.

"Y'see that little stone house?" he asked.

She followed his finger and nodded. "The little stone house? It looks like something out of a Thomas Kinkade painting."

"It really does in the summer, especially when the little stream is running behind it," he agreed. "That belonged to an old farmer who never sold the plot it was sitting on to George Blackwell, until the day before he died. It's very quaint and well-built, and I'm gonna suggest to mom and dad that we give it to him. It's private, and close enough that he can come to the Manor. Or, more importantly, we can all go visit him. Mom'll love the idea, and I think Mister Winson will too."

"I love how you still call him Mister Winson, even though he's not around," she said softly, turning to face her husband and touching his chin and cheek, caressing them. "You're so respectful of him."

"I was raised to respect my elders," Alex replied cheerfully, hugging her close. "Even my aunts."

"Jeez, don't call me that," she giggled as she hugged herself close to him, snuggling against his strong body. She felt so warm when she was with him. "Have you ... y'know, ever done it here?"

Alex looked down at her. "You mean here on the estate?"

"No, Kar told me she saw you getting it on once or twice with a girl here, including girls on dad's staff," she answered, her hands slowly moving up and down his back now. "I meant, have you ever done it here on the roof? Like, pinned a girl against the railing and given it to her while overlooking the family domain?"

"I'm sensing a suggestion here ..." he remarked, smiling down at her.

"Who knows, maybe it'll become a favourite spot of ours to do it," she mused, giving him a naughty smirk. "At least, until the place is crawling with employees, and then everyone'd be able to see you skewering me from down below."

"Guess I'd best take advantage of the chance while I've got it, hm?" he agreed, turning her around and pressing her against the solid stone railing that ran around the main roof. Alexa shivered as her quilt-encased butt came to rest against the barrier, looking up at him, desire in her sapphire eyes. He made sure the cover stayed wrapped around her while his hands moved to her magnificent breasts, beginning to fondle them. Her nipples, already hard from the cool weather, sent tingles through her and she bit her lip, closing her eyes. Alexa's hand trailed down his body and found his thick cock, stroking and massaging it slowly, bringing it to life.

They kissed as they sun rose over them, and mere minutes had passed before Alexa groaned loudly as Alex penetrated her. They made love under the morning sky, climaxing together for the first of many times they would do so on that vast roof, lost in one another and the entire rest of the world falling away.

Alexa cried gently, happy that she was home.

***

A very busy house in Kleinburg, the following day ...



"Right, I need Teams Alpha and Bravo over there in the living room," Mike called out loudly, towering over the bustling bodies and pointing toward the space he'd indicated. "Teams Charlie and Delta, upstairs you go, my wife will meet you there!"

Students and other volunteers were scurrying about, all wearing T-shirts that were colour-coded to their assigned team and had the appropriate Letter and a number on them. They were not the least bit surprised that Professor DeBourne had this down to an art and a science. He'd been in the military as an officer for quite a few years, after all.

"Alli, how are Echo and Foxtrot doing?" he called out to the kitchen.

"Running like a top, O captain, my captain!" she called back loudly as she handed people their assigned boxes of kitchen and dining room goods and sent them hustling off.

"O captain, my captain!" a bunch of students shouted gaily. Mike strode through the chaos effortlessly, people parting around him like the Red Sea, but not missing a beat for timing. While professional moving companies were handling the biggest items, a few dozen volunteers from the university, along with the Stevensons, were assisting by taking endless boxes of personal effects. They headed out the front door, where the next part in the carefully planned process awaited them.

In front of two yellow school buses parked in front of the house, Heather and Jeanie were waiting, each with a clipboard in hand, and a pen ready. Students lined up in front of the bus doors and stood patiently to be processed while holding their boxes.

"Alrighty, so," Jeanie mused as she looked at the student in the blue shirt with a large 'A' on it. "Alpha Three, you're carrying your assigned box, Alpha 308, from the living room, given to you by Alex ... okies, you're good. Your assigned seat is marked to match your shirt and number. Make sure you stay in it."

The girl nodded and got on board, while Jeanie checked in the next person.

The next bus over, Heather was checking her list. "Okay, Echo Five, you've got your assigned box, Echo 512 ... go find your seat, it matches your shirt. In you go!"

Inside and upstairs, Freja was helping direct up and down the hallway, while Karen was seeing to things in the master bedroom. Once the glut of students was headed downstairs, and before the next wave came up, she ventured into the bedroom where she found Karen looking around at the virtually empty space and sighing.

"You are feeling your emotions, aren't you?" she asked, coming up and giving the woman she'd grown so devoted to a hug. "I am not blaming you."

"Oh, I'm fine I guess," Karen replied, hugging her back. She adored Freja, even if she was a total lunatic. Maybe that's why she was so fond of her. Normal people bored Karen to tears. "This has been my bedroom, my little kingdom, for twenty years, and it's just hard to imagine that changing."

"I am understanding," Freja said, pulling back from the hug and nodding while still holding Karen's hands. "When I left Roskilde, it was sad, even if I was excited to be here with my Jeanette. And now, our condominium, it feels like home. For you, it will be even easier, since you are going back home, in a sense."

"You're very right, Freja," Karen said, smiling and caressing the Danish girl's cheek affectionately. "You're a very wise young lady in your own way."

"Not just syndssyg, a lunatic?" quipped Freja, winking.

"Geniuses are rarely sane, my dear," Karen replied, pointing vaguely to the main floor below them. "You have met my husband, after all."

Freja snickered. "He is very organized, is he not? He is having everything down with military precision. Everyone knows exactly what they are doing, beginning to end, and there is no chance of error. Everyone is in their team and their place, from here, all the way to the Manor, and after. It is all taken care of."
"Trust me, he wouldn't have it any other way," Karen assured her as she walked out into the hallway and went to inspect the other large bedroom, which had been used by Alexa, and before that, Alex. "He has an eye for details in planning that even I find boggling, and I'm thankful for it. People assume I'm the control freak, but he is the master planner. I'll defer to him any day of the week, just to watch that mind work. I love it."

"I am thinking, we have only one more trip up for teams Charlie and Delta, ja?" mused the Danish girl. "And you are thinking Jordan has everything set at the other end?"

"Knowing Jordan, he was ready before he was born," Karen assured her. "Everything gets packed in the buses, we let the moving companies come in and get the big stuff, we entertain and feed people while that happens, then Michael and I lock the front door one final time, and ..."

She stopped talking for a moment and bit her lip, looking at the ground and smiling. Her eyes stung. "Okay, maybe I'm a little more emotional than I let on."

"It is beautiful," Freja sighed, meaning it as she took Karen's hand against pressing it to her heart. "I am glad you are feeling these things. I would be worried if you were not. This is a big day."

"Yes, yes it is," Karen agreed, smiling. "Now let's get back to work before I pull you into a closet and kiss that expectant smirk off your face."

"I am really thinking that I need to develop for myself a poker face," Freja sighed in disappointment as she followed Karen into the hallway.

***

The movers emptied the living room first, allowing the owners to herd almost everyone into the now barren space, where they were fed from a variety of ordered-in foods, and entertained by Alex and Alexa while Mike and Karen supervised the movers. Everyone was laughing and clapping as the young couple played on guitar and bass, singing along with whatever song they performed.

"And while I'm not saying try to make a mess, guys, I'm saying don't freak out if you happen to spill a little," Alex told everyone in that easy DeBourne manner he'd inherited. "As long as we can identify your shirt colour and team, we're not too worried, there's professional cleaners coming in to take care of the place soon enough."

"Best to make a mess here rather than at the Manor, I bet, or Lady Prof assassinates us all to make sure she got the perp!" Heather quipped, drawing laughter from around the room. She finally felt truly at ease around Alex and Alexa, and she was enjoying herself. She really could move on and still wish them the best. It was a good feeling.

"Alex, I have a dumb question," one student said, sitting on the floor and putting up his hand to make sure he was seen. Old habits die hard. "Is that okay?"

"Only dumb question is the one you don't ask and never find out the answer to," Alex said, shrugging. "Or the one you ask twice because you weren't paying attention the first time. Learned that from my dad."

"O captain, my captain!" shouted a bunch of students before laughing. It seemed to be the standard response whenever Mike came up now.

"Well," the student began, a little unsure. "I imagine a lot of us would've helped anyway, but ... I kinda got on board because I wanna help you and your wife, y'know?"

Alex smiled and nodded while he took Alexa's hand. "We appreciate it, Cal. Thanks. I mean it."

"I guess, I ..." the student named Cal said, pausing as he tried to find the words. "Is it really gonna be okay for you guys? I mean, you're in for a long legal battle, and you're moving, and all this other stuff. I just don't want you guys all stressed out."

Several other students nodded and murmured their agreement. Alexa smiled beautifully and stepped forward slightly, looking at him. "We're gonna be fine, Cal, I promise. Worse came to worst, and if the laws didn't change, Alex and I would simply move to France or somewhere else where avunculate marriage is legal. I'm still an EU citizen, and we're both members of the Commonwealth, so we've got options. Thank you for your concern, though."

She moved through the knot of students and knelt in front of Cal before hugging him.

"Thank you ..." she said softly. Cal's eyes widened, but then he returned the hug. Alexa stood and then went back to join her husband, standing near the mantle and fireplace. "It's okay to ask questions, guys, really. To be honest, it's kind of a relief to talk after well over half a year of keeping it all bottled up as a secret, you know?"

"We can ask anything?" one girl queried.

"Well, not anything," Alexa replied, smirking. "If you ask how big his dick is, I'm not telling you."

The students all laughed, enjoying themselves and relieved to hear they could ask questions they wanted answers to.

"You two make the most amazing couple!" called out another girl. "I love seeing you walk around campus together, holding hands!"

"You should see them when they are kissing," Freja called out, smirking at her best friend across the room. "Now that, it is amazing."

Alexa rolled her eyes and blushed while people laughed. Jeanie, troll that she was, began a chant calling for the two of them to kiss. Heather picked it up quickly, as did Freja. Before long, the nearly three dozen people in the living room were calling loudly for the pair to kiss. Alexa was about to protest and calm them down, when Alex took her by the wrist and pulled her into him, kissing her deeply. She stiffened for a split second, but then melted into his embrace, kissing him back lovingly.

The world had fallen away, and the cheering was completely ignored.

***

In the large double doorway, Karen was leaning against the frame and watching as her son kissed her little sister deeply, oblivious to the cheers and catcalls from the others in the room. Mike loomed just behind her, watching passively.

"One of these days, their theatrics are going to be even better than ours, aren't they?" Karen mused to him quietly, so that only he could hear her.

He nodded and put his massive hand gently on her shoulder, still watching. "The way it should be, Gordon. And the world will be better for it."

And I can't wait to see it ... she thought, smiling warmly. Everything was going to be just fine.

***

Kleinburg, 1998 ...

"It's lovely, my dear," Miranda said as she stood just outside the house, along with her daughter, her husband, her daughter's husband, and several members of the DeBourne clan and the Blackwell family. In her hands she held her newborn daughter, Alexandra, no more than a few weeks old. She smiled as she looked at the old Victorian house, nestled on a posh, comfortable street in the little township of Kleinburg, just north of the city proper. "You should be very proud."

"It is nice to think of a place to call my own," Karen agreed, nodding as she stood beside her spouse, who towered over everyone. "I'm looking forward to raising a family here."

"Have you decided on a name yet, Kar?" Orion DeBourne asked, standing near Jonathon, her father. Against all odds, the two men actually got along reasonably well, given their very different backgrounds and upbringings.

She smiled. "If it's a girl, Nova Indis Amberley."

"Ha!" barked Mike's younger brother Connor, a little too close to Jonathon's ear, making the older man squeeze his eyes shut for a moment and wince.

"We haven't decided on a boy's name, yet," Karen continued. "But we know his middle names will be Orion and Dayraven."

"Lovely choices, my dear," Miranda said cheerfully. "Ry deserves it, and the name Dayraven hasn't been used in your father's family for generations now, but he was a remarkable man by all accounts."

"I happen to think the middle name 'Jonathon' has a nice ring to it," grunted the Blackwell patriarch quietly.

"Oh, of course it does, muffin," Miranda teased, patting her husband's arm.

"Well, DeBourne?" Karen breathed, looking up at her husband. "It's your home, you do the honours."

"Absolutely not," the titan man laughed, shaking his shaggy golden mane of hair. "It's the foothold to my queen's realm, and she should unlock it."

He held out the key and Karen took it from him. Everyone watched as she inserted it in the front door lock and turned it. There was a pronounced 'click!' and then she opened the door, ready to lead everyone inside. Karen was about to take her step in, when Mike scooped her up in his powerful arms and carried her over the threshold. Everyone applauded as she squeaked and then giggled while he brought her inside. He put her down, her face flush with joy as she looked back at everyone.

"Ekaterina," Miranda said softly, getting her daughter's attention. She stepped up onto the landing and held out her arms, presenting Alexandra to her. Karen put her fingers over her mouth and her eyes were glassy. Only a few seconds passed before she took her baby sister from her mother, making Alexa the third person to enter the DeBourne household. The little girl cooed and giggled as Karen held her close, cuddling her.

I wish you never had to leave this house and be away from me, Alli ... the older girl thought, looking down at the blonde child with tears of love in her eyes.

"C'mon, everyone," Mike thundered, gesturing grandly and making the baby jump in Karen's arms and giggle again. Mike's voice had that effect on her. Karen could identify. "We've got a housewarming to get underway!"

People began filing in, led by Karen, while Mike ushered them inside. Nearly forty people passed through the door that day, from family members on both sides, to colleagues and favoured students at the university, and new neighbours. Everyone was welcome.

Once the last person had gone in, Mike turned and looked around at the street, his hands on his hips and nodding to himself in satisfaction. True, he hadn't built his wife's house, the way his father Orion had for his mother, Annette, but it was a lovely old Victorian home, full of character, and Karen had fallen in love with it instantly. How could he say no to that?

There was a front lawn, and a spacious backyard, with large trees that afforded them privacy ...

"We can raise our family here, Michael," she'd said, squeezing his hand unconsciously during their initial survey of the property when it was for sale. "And after that, oh, Michael, we could turn it into housing for students in need when it's done with us. Wouldn't that be wonderful?"



It was a good life he was starting. No ... continuing. This was just the latest chapter of a great story they were writing together.

He turned and went inside, laughing as he heard the song 'Funny Funny' by Sweet playing.

***

Just outside a certain house in Kleinburg, the present ...

The last of the troops had been paraded out of the house and loaded onto the buses, with everyone laughing and talking gaily. Mike, Karen, Alex and Alexa held back, waiting just outside the front door. A thorough inspection had been done, making sure nothing was left behind. Everything had been accounted for in the moving trucks, the buses, or the small fleet of vans that friends like the Stevensons had brought. Only one vehicle remained in the driveway, Mike's enormous hybrid. All the others had already been taken to the Manor.

The two couples turned and looked back through the front door, with Karen and Alexa both sniffling slightly and trying to not leak. Alex put his arm around his wife, holding her close, while Mike stood behind Karen, his hands on her shoulders. She smiled and patted his massive hand gently. "I'm fine. Sometimes, tears are cleansing."

"This is just getting real for me," Alexa murmured, wiping at the corner of her eye. "I mean, you'll still own this place, but it ... it won't be your home anymore."

"It's okay, Alli," Mike said in his deep assuring voice. "It's still part of us, and we're still part of it. That'll never change. Its new, exciting chapter is beginning. Be happy for the old place."

"That's actually a really good way of looking at it," Alexa agreed, nodding as she sniffled. Nobody would believe her if she said it was the stiff late-January wind at work.

"Anthropomorphize your worries away," Alex said cheerfully. "C'mon, wife o' mine, we have buses to entertain. We'll see you guys over there?"

Karen nodded at her son, smiling and appreciating his resilience. "We'll be there when you get there, baby. See you soon."

Alex and Alexa each picked up their guitars and headed down the walkway toward the waiting buses full of chattering students. They stopped a shared a quick kiss, leading to cheers and catcalls from bus windows before they each boarded one of the long, yellow vehicles.

"Who knows the words to 'Rock Of Ages' by Def Leppard?" Alex called out as he got on board and the door closed behind him.

Mike and Karen watched as the buses loudly pulled away, followed by the small fleet of cars. She leaned into him, holding her husband tightly as she sighed. "You sure your family is okay with not being here for this, Michael? There were here when we moved in; there's a certain appropriateness to them being here at the end."

"Trust me, Gordon, they're fine," Mike assured her, putting his arm around her shoulder. "Connor would just be an emotional mess anyway; you know how he gets."

She giggled through a sniffle. "He and Josh both, in fact. Ronny was the tough one."

"What does that make me?" he queried, looking down at her, his eyebrow raised.

"Completely and dazzlingly mythical," Karen replied dreamily, looking up at him. "Kiss me on this doorstep one more time, Michael, before I lock up ..."

Mike gathered her in his arms and leaned down to kiss her. As was her habit and delight, Karen went up on her toes to kiss him back, and the moment was timeless for the two of them, all sad feelings forgotten. There was only their continuing story.

The kiss finally ended, and Karen sighed before turning to look once more through the open portal. With heavy heart, she closed the door and locked it, the sound almost clanging in her ears. She withdrew the key and stared silently at the door for several seconds before Mike gently tapped her on the shoulder. She turned her head and looked up.

"You know we're coming back tomorrow, right?" he said simply.

She sighed and shook her head, smiling. "You're perfectly awful, and I love you. Come, my lord. Let's go home ..."

They walked slowly, hand-in-hand, over to Mike's car, and he helped her into the vehicle. Once he'd started the motor and begun backing up, Karen smiled and waved to the old house, promising to see it again the following day.

Even old houses can have exciting new chapters.

A life worth looking forward to.

***

Author's No-



*cue the record scratch*



"Hey, guys!" Jeanie chirped cheerfully as she popped up from behind the desk the reader was looking at. She wiped at the corner of her mouth with a finger and her breasts were plainly visible, her long, curly brown hair falling around her shoulders. "Sorry about breaking the Fourth Wall here, but we're gonna try a little bit of a different format today. Y'see, He-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed, otherwise known as The Author, thought that reading his notes as the end of every chapter might be gettin' a little ... I dunno, stale. And wh-"

*Jeanie pauses and makes a wry face at the readers* "What?"

*looks down and notices she's still topless*

"Oh, ffs, guys ..." she sighed as she reached under the large desk and found her T-shirt, slipping it over her head and down her torso. "They're just my tits, it's not like you haven't seen them before. Pretty sure the only fellas who have seen more of me or been deeper inside me are Alex and Professor Hulk ..."

Jeanie then rummaged around for something else beneath the table and then began wiggling, her hands out of sight and bumping up and down on her butt in the chair, as if she were putting panties on. "So like I was saying, before you got distracted by my funbags, the Big Kahuna was lookin' for a new way to keep things funky and fresh. And we characters here in the Alexaverse decided that --"

"Not all of us agreed, young lady," echoed a stern but feminine voice from offscreen.

Jeanie rolled her eyes. "Duly nutted, Lady Prof. Like I was saying, perhaps the best way would be if some of us, the actual characters, did a pinch-hit once in a while, going over some important things that happened, or even reading some fun reviews or PMs that Daddy's received from the readers."

She grinned at the audience. "And since it was kinda sorta all my idea to begin with, I got nominated to go first. I ... kinda forget most of what happened in this chapter, 'cuz, y'know, duhhhh..."

*she twirls her finger next to her temple and crosses her eyes*

"I'm not all the bright, y'know? I mean, yeah, I remember Lady Prof doin' the Cat Daddy dance during our little slumber party, but who wouldn't, right? And that woman can girl-fuck like nobody's business. When she mashed her cunt up against mine, I just about --"

"Jeanie!"

"Oh. Hah, sorry," Jeanie said hastily, blushing and coughing into her hand. "Got distracted myself. Uh, look, long-short, I'm takin' over today, and I'm gonna read some fan mail. Fortunately, we don't have to go old-school and read sacks of letters, we can just do it all right from my laptop here ..."

*Jeanie pulls out her laptop and hums a song to herself while she boots it up and signs in*

"Daddy gave me the password to his Lit account, so that I can just scan for reviews or check his PMs. He trusts me ..."

Jeanie then paused, frowning at the screen. She pushed a single key several times indignantly before blinking and then hanging her head and letting out a despairing sigh.

"Locked ... self ... out ..." she mumbled as she began typing again. "Too ... many ... incorrect ... password ... attempts."

She looked aghast and outraged. "Whaddya mean I'm locked out for an hour?! What's the horseshit?!"

The dizzy brunette squeezed her eyes shut for several seconds, composing herself before looking up at the top of the screen. "Daddy? I did it again, and I'm locked out for an hour. Can you, y'know ... do the speedy-uppy thingy?"

*The screen frizzes and distorts for a moment before coming into focus again. We're treated to the sight of Jeanie kneeling on top of the desk, naked from the waist down, riding up and down on one of her favourite giant and horrifically shaped dildos from Bad Dragon. Her pussy is split wide and glistening as she pants shamelessly*

"Oh, fuck yeah!" she panted, one hand squeezing one of her tits through her tight tank top while the other was running through her damp mass of curly brown hair. "Gnnnnnn, fuck yesyesyes ... it feels so good when you hit right there, Grom! That curve tickles the back of my --"

*Her eyes flicked open and she notices the audience. There's a high-pitched squeal as she throws herself off the desk and behind, the dildo popping out of her pussy and flipping through the air before landing out of sight with a thud*

"Ows!"

"Sorry, Fre!" Jeanie called out hastily as she poked her head up from behind the desk. She turned and looked at the reader. "Jeebus, was it really an hour? Sorry, I kinda get carried away when Grom is bruising my brainstem, y'know?"

*She resumes her seat, making no attempt to put her panties back on. She tries to get her hair under control and just gives up*

"Well, Daddy got me back into his account, so now I'm gonna start in on reviews, okay? I'll do one positive and one negative from previous chapters, okay? These can be from the Alex And Alexa storyline, Mike And Karen, or even Freja And Jeanie, 'kay?"
*she begins scanning through the available material* "Alllllllrighty, lessee here ... and I promise to not dox anyone by giving out real names, but if you recognize your review, holla!"

"Okey-dokey-lokey," she said finally, finding one that seemed to suit. "Dear Mister Hammer ..."

She stopped to giggle, her hand over her mouth. "That's so cute, I love it!"

"Dear Mister Hammer," she started again, reading away. "Big fan of the series, first-time reviewer. I must say I love all your characters, but I'm really falling for Jeanie."

*she turns and looks at the reader smiling warmly* "Well thank you. I know someone who gettin' a beej tonight ..."

"She may be a dimtwit... oh, true dat, I am so very not the sharpest bulb in the drawer... but I find her so pure-hearted and endearing, that I can't help but decide she's one of my three favourite characters in the series!"

*Jeanie spins in the chair for several moments, squealing giddily*

"Ahem... I really hope you have a happy ending planned for her and Freja, because they deserve it, even if they're both insane. Jeanie, the airhead with a heart of gold, and Freja, the crazy foreigner who can't say no. They're a great power couple, even if they aren't on the same level yet as Mike and Karen, or even Alex and Alexa."



Jeanie looked up at the reader. "Hey, it's good to have goals, right? Perfection is a road, not a destination. I think Jesus said that? Or was it Napoleon?"

Making a mental note to ask Alex or Mike later, she pressed on with her narration. "My only criticism is that your early stuff has a lot of typos and grammatical errors, no doubt due to not thoroughly checking your work before submitting."

"Hah," she scoffed. "Y'got that right, Jack. Before he got his editor-slash-proofreader, the only person who knew wtf he was saying was me. Howzat for sad? Really, he's just kinda lazy, I guess. He works in TV and movies on his off-hours, so he hasn't got a lot of energy left for when he's done writing our stuff, y'know?"

"Back to reading," she said, resting her chin on her hand as she scanned the review. "But your editing has gotten a lot better recently, so you're either paying more attention, or got someone working for you to make sure you pass mustard."



Jeanie paused and seemed lost in thought. "I never understood what mustard had to do with anything. I'm kinda a ketchup girl myself. And we all know Fre loves pickles."

"Yeah, she relishes these reviews!" called Alex from off-screen.

"DeBourne, y'know I'm not gonna get your dry little puns, so just mind your own dicky beeswax," Jeanie sighed, shaking her head. "Where was I? Oh yeah! This is a fantastic series, and you weave an excellent tale, good sir. I hope you find the time to make sure it never ends!"



"Oh, that was so nice," she said cheerfully, closing down the review on her screen. "Plenty of valid praise, but also constitutive criticism. That's what authors need, not troll flames. Some of my gf's in other authors' stories tell me about what they put up with, and I feel bad for 'em, y'know? We have great readers ..."

"Okies, lessee if we can find a negative one," she mused, scrolling. "Here we go! I only have one major complaint. I love this series, and I love how you write, but Alexa is a slut, and I hate her!"

"Hey, now," Jeanie protested, looking at the reader and making a wry face. "Firsties, Lexi isn't necessarily a slut, tyvm! And even if she is, so what? You're not complaining if Alex or Mike fuck every girl in sight, but a girl has a past and you think it's okay to slut-shame her? Not cool, my dude."

She went back to reading. "If she really loved Alex, she never would've done those things she did when she was growing up. Alex deserves a faithful wife who give her love only to him."

Jeanie looked at the screen again. "Kenny? Is that you? Are you reviewing our stories from prison? This sounds like more of your incel bullshit to me. Say hi to your cellmate Beefy Steve for us, you buttery little cornhole bitch."

She resumed scanning the review. "Wow, he's been reading for a while; this is from early in Alex And Alexa. Kinda creepy to wonder if this really is Kenny. And least he's hatin' on Lexi and not me for a change. Not that Lexi deserves it. Uhhhh, yaddaa yaddda yadda ... sluts don't deserve good men ..."

*she closes the review and just shakes her head* "Let's have some real fun and check in with some PMs that Daddy has received, okay?"

"Here's one from someone whose Lit name includes the word 'kitten'. I'm gonna assume it's a woman, so let's see what she has to say, hm? Hi. I love your stories, and not just this one. I'm a big fan of My Naughty Neighbour as well."

Jeanie smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I love that one too, because Lynn's like me and Fre, she's got a bit of a pee fetish. It'd be really hot if her, Fre and me got together, scissored all our legs together and peed on each other's cunts, wouldn't it?"

She resumed reading, but one of her hands had conspicuously slipped beneath the desk. "As a matter of fact, the girls in Sapphic Serenity like to pee together as well ... thinking about all these girls pissing on each other ... it makes me so hot ..."

Jeanie looked at the reader again, her eyes heavily lidded and her face getting flushed. Her arm was still moving behind the desk. "You'n me both, kitten. You'n me both ..."

Back to reading. "I really loved it when you had that first four-way between Alexa Freja Jeanie and Alex. I thought it was so hot ... I wish I'd seen Jeanie and Frejas wedding night, because I'll bet they fucked their cunts together all night long and then-"

"Gnnnnnnn!" Jeanie moaned loudly, leaning back in her chair and working her pussy furiously, arching her spine and finally cumming very loudly.

"Woo! Ten for shamelessness!" Alexa called from the sidelines.

"Oh, get bent, you slut," Jeanie said breathlessly, looking at the ceiling. "This kitten person really knows how to push my buttons. Hooooo ..."

She sat up and sucked her fingers and hand clean before resuming reading. "Alrighty ... uh ... here we are! You write such sensual scenes with women, and I can't wait to read more about the ladies getting their freak on. Well, I guess it's what we do best, right? It's a pity you can't all find out about what Fre and Lexi got up to in Europe together, because they weren't eighteen yet. Or me, for that matter. I was a naughty li'l girl."

She shuffled through some more PMs, until she found one that she thought would suit. "Okay, this one is titled 'The problem with your characters'. That looks promising for a negative response. Let's take a boo ..."

Jeanie made a wry face. "I ... already told you Alexa was a whore and that she doesn't deserve Alex ..."

"Kenny?" she wondered aloud. "Did you do this?"

She went back to reading. "All your women are sluts, but Alexa's the worst. Any woman who admits she took two cocks in her cunt at once is a degenerate whore. She doesn't deserve any decent man, and nothing good should happen to her! If I could I would tie her down in a chair and fling acid in-"



*Jeanie pauses and puts her hand over her mouth, her eyes wide*

"Dude, how're you gonna do that to her if you've just melted her face off with acid?!" the brunette exclaimed in horror and outrage. "I love my Lexi's face, don't you dare! You need a hug from your mommy, and to get a little more vitamin D. Get some sun and fresh air or something!"

"I think we've had enough of Kenny Redux," she said finally, pushing her laptop away. "And that's enough of reviews for now, because that last one kinda killed the mood. Lemme just say a few quick things about this chapter you just read."

She drew a deep breath, as if trying to remember everything she had to say.

"Yeah, a lot happened, but this was a big transition chapter, both in the present, and those flashbacky thingies. And maybe it felt a little bit ... oh, what's the word?"

"Disjointed, Jeanie," Karen called from off-screen.

"Uh, okay. Maybe it all felt a little 'disjointed,' to quote Lady Prof. But every single thing that happened is setting up something in a chapter coming soon. I kinda know some of what's comin' 'round the bend, and I'm looking forward to it. Also, 2020 is pretty much dedicated to catching up our story here in the Alexaverse, so all the other big stories are on hiatus for now, except Time Rider, with the quick arc about poor Becky trying to teach Nanu how to live like someone from our time."

She giggled. "I love Nanu, she's so silly! Anyhoo, the author now has plenty of time to write, since the entire movie industry is shutting down to deal with the covidium-19 crisis, and he's hoping to get a lot of catching up done. I guess I'll wrap up here, and I wish you all a very safe 2020. Be careful, and wash your damn hands, people!"

Jeanie blew a kiss for the camera and then sighed, hanging her head and shaking it, brown curls spilling everywhere.

"Whoa ... that was tougher'n I thought it would be."

"You did fine, yndling," Freja said as she walked out onto the screen and stood beside the desk, smiling down at her wife. "I ams the proud of you. It was your idea, and you did so very well."

"Thanks," Jeane replied as she took Freja's hand and stood up, revealing that she was once again naked down below. If she was aware of the readers seeing her pussy again, she simply didn't care. "Glad it'll be someone else's turn next time we try to do this."

"And I wish them the best, Jeanette," Freja said softly. "You have set the bar so very high for them."

"So," Jeanie mused as they walked off the screen and the lights dimmed. "Wanna take that kitten person's advice and go pee all over one another's cunts in the bathroom?"

"I was thinking you might never ask," Freja answered, making her wife giggle.

*silence*

"Hello?" called out a young male voice, echoing through the scene. "Anyone here?"

The head of a young Asian man, probably in his early twenties, poked around the corner of the screen, looking to see who was left. "Hello? I ... I'm a new addition to the cast and I was told there was a meeting?"

He walked out into the darkened scene, looking around uncertainly. "I mean, not yet-yet, but with all the additional measures happening at airports now, the author thought it might be prudent for me to- WAAAAAKKKKKKKK!!!!"

His legs flew out from under him as he stepped on and rolled off Jeanie's neglected Bad Dragon dildo, still lying on the ground. He came down with a thunderous crash behind the desk, and an eerie silence followed, interrupted only by the sound of the alien-looking monster dildo rolling across the floor. All that was visible of the visitor was a pair of feet in smart black shoes, twitching occasionally.

"This ... isn't going to be a good story for me ..." he rasped in the darkness.

***

~fin~