Sera Ch. 32

Kitten

I knew damned well he didn't have a clue as to how to go about fixing things with Gina. I didn't tell him that though, because I believed in his promise. I believed in him. Anyway, I assumed that, between my conniving and his nerve, we'd come up with something. I suppose that's how we ended up sitting in the very same Tim Horton's where Gina gave me my first vibrator, both of us staring across the table at one another and at a total loss as to how to proceed.

"If only you didn't tell her not to look me in the eyes," I lamented in a low voice. "It was the worst thing you could have-"

"Yes, okay, you've said that at least thirty times since we left Montreal and, incredibly, it's still not helping, Kitten."

"Well, it was dumb."

"Not at the time."

"Shitload of good that does us now. Dammit, sweetie pie, you immobilized our only weapon!" I hissed. "How are we supposed to get her to listen to us? She'll run for the hills the second she sees us!"

"Maybe we can surprise her," he moped without much conviction.

"Gimmie a break," I mumbled, taking a sip from my coffee.

After a pause in our deliberations, he ventured, "Maybe we're looking at this the wrong way."

"How's that?"

"Well, we keep trying to solve this problem with the idea that we can use Sera on her, but maybe what we need to do is use Sera on somebody else."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean like a middleman. Somebody who she wouldn't see coming and could approach her on our behalf. Somebody we can program to say what we need said, but who will forget everything afterward."

"It won't work."

"Why won't it?"

"Because I know her. She'll run the second she understands that we've sent this person. She'll have nothing to do with it any more than she ever had anything to do with other strippers. When she blocks somebody or something from her life, she doesn't mess around."

He sighed, understanding the gist of what I'd said, his eyes wandering in disappointed thought as he raised his cup to take a drink. The cup froze, his eyes suddenly locked on something over my shoulder as his expression changed.

"Maybe that all depends on who we send."

I looked over my shoulder just in time to see the big police officer with the flat-top brush cut catch my Stevie's eye. His expression immediately changed to 'asshole' as he interpreted Stevie's direct eye contact as a challenge, naturally glaring right back. Then his expression slowly changed to a blank look as he stood there in a trance.

"Oh, shit," I breathed as Stevie got up to approach him.

A minute later, he had the officer sitting beside me at our table. People were looking, albeit while trying to hide the fact, and I had to convince myself that the last thing anybody would ever think about this situation would be the actual truth of what was going on. Stevie, I realized, had a lot more nerve than what I'd given him credit for; that, or he was crazy. Or both. Either way, I was going to kill him later.

Glancing at the officer's nameplate, he started with, "We have a job for you, Alger."

"... Job..." Officer Alger replied.

With a sarcastically raised brow, Stevie commented to me, "Oh good, we've got a smart one."

"Sweetie pie!" I warned with a hiss as I darted nervous eyes around at the people who were still surreptitiously looking.

"Relax," he told me with an infuriatingly casual tone before condescendingly addressing the officer again. "Yes, a job. Pay attention, now."

Five minutes later, we were standing outside in the parking lot with our coffees, watching the officer leave in his cruiser to go do our bidding, then forget all about us. Stevie waved him off with a carefree smile and I gave him a hard, backhanded slap in the gut.

"Hey!" he protested.

"You crazy jackass!"

"Jackass? I just solved our problem!"

"By using a police officer!?"

"He's the only person she'll be forced to listen to. Anyway, what difference does it make? He's no more a threat to us than Mickey Mouse."

"Mickey M-?!" I started, changing my mind when I remembered some of his mummy's tales of the things he did in school. "Jeez, no wonder you almost drove your mummy insane! Let's just go!"

"I'll have you know my Mum loves me very much," he pointed out as he followed me to the Caprice."

I didn't reply because, with my back to him, I allowed myself a smile, one I couldn't let him see. His solution was brilliant but, since his dark and depressed personality had lifted with our bonding, the cavalier attitude that replaced it suggested the kind of personality that obviously shouldn't be encouraged. Daddy would probably love him for it.

However, even he was nervous later on when he turned the engine off in the driveway of my former home. Daddy's truck was in the driveway beside Peggy's car, Gina's Vette gone like I knew it would be, since she was at work. Sitting there, it somehow seemed as though I'd been gone for years, though in another sense, it was like I'd only been gone for the morning. The world outside the estate was strange enough after the time I'd spent there, but this, the prospect of what lay ahead of me within the walls of Daddy's house was downright frightening.

"You sure you don't want me to come in with you?" Stevie asked.

"No. I mean, I wish you could, but it's better if I go and break the ice by myself. Besides... you have to wait for Gina. ... Shit."

"Don't worry," he said as he himself worried almost as much as me. "I'll handle Gina and your dad loves you; from everything you told me about him, he'll just be happy that you're happy. And if all else fails..."

"I don't want to have to do that."

"I know, especially with Gina knowing... but if you think you have to..."

I nodded my understanding, took a large gulp of Tim's coffee that I'd spiked heavily with vodka and sighed as I opened the door. In my usual painted on, worn gray jeans and pink T-shirt, the walk to the foot of the eight steps that led up to the veranda on the side of the house seemed to take both forever and not long enough.

I'd just gained the top when Daddy came through the screen door, took four long strides and scooped me off my feet in a bear hug that drained almost all the tension from my body. He held me in this embrace for a good fifteen seconds while I hugged him back, the only man I'd ever known before Stevie, making me feel safe and protected like he always had. Strangely, it was only then that I really missed him.

When he finally let me go, he glanced down at the Caprice, then at me. Avoiding direct eye contact with the techniques my Stevie had taught me, I smiled and gave him a lingering kiss on the cheek, the one I often gave him in public that meant a lot more than what it looked like.

"I was worried shitless about you," he said, looking me up and down as though to assure himself that everything was properly in place and undamaged. "When Gina came home without you and she was... I knew something was wrong. Plus, you hadn't called and... Jesus, Kathleen, I was seriously thinking about going out there! Why didn't you at least call!?"

"I... Daddy, it's complicated. A lot's happened and I..."

"Sheila?"

I laughed, but nodded, adding, "Yeah, Sheila, but a lot more. Um, what all did Gina say?"

Before he could answer, Peggy came out and I found myself in her arms while Daddy took another look down at the Caprice. The feel of her boobies pressed against mine tickled my horny and I couldn't help checking them out for a split second when she let me go.

"I've missed you, Kat," she said with concern, but with a smile of relief that I was back. Especially after... Well, you didn't call and Gina came back in a funny mood about it... Why didn't you call?"

"I meant to, but things... It's complicated, Auntie."

I realized almost immediately why her expression changed slightly. After she'd moved in and became the woman of the house, I'd always called her 'Mummy', but now it was back to 'Auntie' and, in addition to my blonde, she knew there could only be one reason for that.

"Um, let's go inside," I suggested to her as I had to Daddy, glancing at him as he looked down to the strange car for the third time and while Auntie openly regarded my blonde.

"Who's your friend?" he asked with the slightest note of suspicion. He'd always been that way with outsiders, now with good reason, but it wasn't anything that would really be a problem once I got them sat down with each other.

"He's my... my cousin, actually," I decided, taking his hand and gently tugging it towards the door before he could get me off track.

He looked at me with an expression that said he'd kinda figured that, saying, "Steven. Yeah, Gina mentioned him."

"Don't worry, you'll like him, but we need to talk about stuff before I introduce you, so let's go inside, okay?"

I finally got them through the door, the particular smell of our house coming back to me, reinforcing how it felt like only this morning and also forever since I'd been gone. Without even thinking, I kicked my snakeskin ballbreakers off at the door, taking my old seat at the kitchen table as Daddy sat across from me, Auntie Peggy to my left. Despite my nerves, I smiled quite naturally, probably because of a feeling of familiarity, of belonging that the estate would never hold for me despite how I knew that was where I really belonged. Auntie smiled back with curious patience while Daddy just looked at me with apprehension as though he was waiting for something. It was actually Auntie that started things off, throwing all my careful rehearsals out the window.

"Sooo... was it Sheila?"

"Well..." I replied as the sound of an American V8 pulled into the driveway with impeccable timing, "yes and no. I mean, she was there, but she didn't send the invitation."

From there, I started from the beginning, roughly and quickly outlining the whole story without getting into any real details and, of course, not mentioning anything about Sera. I also carefully omitted anything about Gina, as I had no idea what she'd told them of her time at the estate. Once an appropriate pause had passed, while they were processing my heavily and necessarily edited story, but before they could ask any questions, I asked after her for a second time.

"So, um, what did Gina say when she got back?"

Daddy, visually switching gears in his head, gave me an odd look while replying with, "She told us a little about your family- your aunts and your cousin. And Sheila, of course. Told us about your Aunt Ashleigh's estate... She was upset about something; we could tell, but she was hiding it, insisting that everything was fine. She'd only tell us that you didn't want to leave after your two weeks, that you two argued about it and that she had to leave by herself. Said she didn't know why you didn't call, but told us you were okay. ... The other day, when I mentioned going out there to check up on you, she got this... look. Like she was scared. She told me not to go there, that there was no need and that you were alright, that you'd call sooner or later. Told us she'd never have left you there if she thought you were in any danger. But, like I say, she wasn't being totally honest. Both Peg and I could tell that, no matter how she insisted that everything was fine. She's not the same Gina that left, Kitten, and I'm kinda curious as to what the fuck happened out there."

Making mental note to punch Stevie for thinking his solution would fix everything all neat and tidy here, I took a deep breath and began.

"Daddy, Auntie... I... You know how I've always been. My horny, I mean. Well, it turns out that I get that from Sheila's side of the family."

"We knew that," Auntie affirmed, looking at me with the understandable expression that this was no great news to either of them. "I mean, please don't take this the wrong way, but anybody who knows both you and Sheila would know that."

"Yes, but... I mean that we're all like that. Not just me and Sheila, but Auntie Ashleigh, Auntie Kathleen and m- and Stevie, too. So, like we do things here that we really shouldn't be doing, the same thing happens at the estate and... well, Gina and I weren't getting along the whole time because of some of that stuff."

Daddy nodded his understanding, but Auntie disputed this with, "Kathleen, knowing Gina as I do, I don't think that would bother her too much. She loves watching the three of us because we're all directly related."

"I know," I agreed, "but this is different. There's a staff there that ummm... provides... It's uhhh... not exactly like it is here, and Gina..."

"I see," Auntie said, a curious mixture of sympathy and judgement in her eyes as she sat back in her chair, then asking, "So, how are you and your mother getting along?"

Okay, that pissed me off, especially how she accented the word 'mother', with a pointed look at my blonde while her expression said everything was okay. Did she think I was stupid? Did she think I was a child?

The answer, of course, was yes. She did think of me as a child. She always had and always would. Furthermore, the same was true of Gina and even, most hurtfully, Daddy. I could understand how they'd think that, but they were wrong and it still angered me. I wasn't a child, especially not since I'd bonded, and I heavily resented being treated that way. If there were any lingering doubts as to where I belonged, Auntie Peggy's question settled them firmly, once and for all.

Obviously, she expected an answer, as did Daddy, for that matter, and she just as obviously had the nerve to look me in the eye while waiting for that answer. I mean why wouldn't she? That's how children are treated, right? So, moving my eyes from the bridge of her nose to settle directly on hers, I gave her the answer she so condescendingly expected.

"Actually, we're getting along quite well. You shouldn't have a problem with that."

After blinking in sudden, mild confusion, she replied, "No... no, I shouldn't."

"I mean, she is my mother and, as everyone has pointed out so many times, I'm a lot like her, so there's no reason why we shouldn't get along and that's perfectly alright."

"Yes," she agreed, "perfectly alright."

I looked at Daddy then, showing an appropriate smile that suggested I was at ease while still taking the conversation seriously. Inwardly, however, I was searching for any sign that he was aware of what had just happened.

Other than a quick glance at Auntie that suggested he found her reaction to my answer to be oddly out of character, there was no suspicion on his part that anything abnormal had just happened. And why, I suddenly wondered, would there be? How would he ever guess at my abilities?

"Kitten," he began, looking back at me, "I... Well, your attitude towards Sheila before you left wasn't a very positive one, and I have to wonder..."

"I understand," I said," but it's like I told you, like you, Auntie and Gina have always told me: I'm a lot like Sheila. The fact that I seduced you is proof of that, the fact that I maneuvered Gina into the house even further proof. I'm not saying I agree with what she did to you- to us- but, after hearing her side of things, I understand why she did it, that she actually left for us. She told me that she could never have been a proper wife and mother to us, that she'd always be a humiliating embarrassment to us both. She knew it then and I saw it for the unfortunate truth it was, even though we weren't getting along when she told me. She didn't want to leave. She loved you, and, I think she still does in her own way. She says that we're her only regrets."

I paused while Daddy seemed to accept this before I continued.

"Also, she knew that Auntie wanted you, that she'd remain true to you and be the woman you deserved. She stepped aside for what was best for us. She herself admits to being a whore and a home wrecker, but nobody's all bad and that includes her. And... neither am I. Daddy, I'm not home to stay. I wanted to see you, to explain what's been happening, but I'm going to be living with my other family from here on."

Again, he nodded slowly as a sad smile spread across his face and he said, "I'm not surprised, not after Gina's description of the place and all."

"Daddy, that's not why I decided to live there. It's because... because I am like Sheila, my mother. Because it's the right decision for both me and my family here in Langley in the same way that Sheila's decision to leave all those years ago was the right decision for us. I don't belong here anymore. I belong with the side of my family that shares all of my... peculiarities. I was never... I was unhappy here because I'm so different. Because I was isolated from others on account of it, but that's not how it is there. At the Estate, I'm not... I'm not..."

My eyes filled with tears as I tried to explain, but I should have known that I didn't have to. Daddy got up and came around the table, putting his arms around me and making me feel so protected again, the little girl I knew I wasn't anymore.

"I understand, Kitten. I do. And you're right, your life here... It wasn't healthy. It was just what we felt had to be for your own good, your own protection from yourself. But I can tell you've changed since you've been gone, I saw it as soon as I came through that door and, even though I'm losing my daughter, I know that what you've gained is a lot more important. From the very beginning, I've done my best to provide for you, to teach you to be what you've always had such trouble becoming. I can't stand in the way of that now that you have it, and our relationship, as much as I cherished it for so many reasons, did stand in your way. I always knew it did, even though you didn't, but I was selfish."

Still crying, I tried not to sob, "Oh Daddy, I seduced you; it's not your fault."

Shaking his head, he countered with, "I was responsible for what was best for you. Yes, you seduced me, but I allowed myself to be seduced for my own selfish reasons. I... I wanted you. I hate myself for this, but it's like you were a second chance at..."

"Sheila," I finished for him. "I know that, Daddy. That's what I was counting on. I knew how you felt about her and I used it against you. You should be mad at me."

With tears standing in his eyes, his response was to wrap his arms around me again, lifting me clear out of the chair this time, hugging me close as my arms wrapped around his back, legs around his waist. After a minute, he put me down, my horny shifting to second gear as I looked up at him, sniffing and smiling now that we had this sad understanding between us.

"So..." he began, gesturing with his head at the door.

"Yes," I replied, correctly reading him, "Stevie and I are together. We're very happy and... alike."

Once again, he nodded understanding, but said, "Well, I'd like to see that for myself. Why don't you run and get him?"

I looked at Auntie, closed her up neat and tidy as she looked at me with an understanding smile, then back at Daddy, agreeing with, "Okay. Daddy, you'll love him, I know it."

Steven

As soon as Kitten and her family went inside, I got out of the car, leaning against the closed driver's door in the rattiest work clothes I owned, (This, according to Kitten, would make the best impression on her father) and taking a heavy swig of the supposedly odourless pint of vodka from my back pocket. Swallowing the vile stuff, I tried to calm my nerves, remembering the time I met Staci's parents.

It hadn't been planned. I just happened to be there because she wanted to get changed before we headed out to a party. Her parents weren't there when we'd arrived and, watching her get changed in her room, I couldn't convince her to let me fuck her on her bed. She was afraid her parents would come home. Well, they did and, while they were polite enough after Staci's introduction, I could sense a dismissive attitude towards me on their part. At the time, I thought it was because they didn't consider me to be good enough for their daughter, which may have been an accurate assessment on my part but, standing there in John Hale's driveway, I suddenly realized another very probable reason for their attitude towards me.