Chapter 71

Our sponsors' reaction was pretty predictable. Farris summed it up, "If he breaks me in half, his summary execution afterward isn't going to matter much to me. Besides," he wrinkled his nose, "Terise needs a lot of work!"

"So did I, Dear," I reminded him.

"Duly noted," he grunted -- but that was the end of it.

We looked at maybe two dozen couples with kids -- and none stood out. The Wrights only did so, probably, because they presented so many challenges. Kathy had five couples on her 'short list' and couldn't really get excited about any one couple -- and I didn't blame her, because I was having the same problem. Bernie's women seemed to just be along for the ride -- moral support for Kathy, apparently.

I hit up Farris in private in bed that night; he was feeling somewhat mellow -- something to do with the deposit he'd made in my sperm bank, no doubt. "I'm not victim to racial prejudice," Farris mused, "but Ramon is imposing. Still, he and the children are the most impressive group we've seen; if you would like, we can interview them in person. I just don't see me getting a lot of respect from a three hundred fifty pound grizzly bear..." He eyed me. "What about you? Do you want that lying atop you?"

I was a little surprised. "Would he be?"

"I think it is fair to assume that it would happen at some point," Farris mused. "Impregnation is one thing, but if he were to prove tractable, I certainly would not deny him access to Terise and at some point it might tickle your fancy to try him out..."

I really didn't know how to answer that...

Monday evening Felicity and I put our heads together and went to Bernie. Somehow, I got the lead, which was hairy now that Bernie has rolled over and come up swinging. Man, did HE take me by surprise!

"Master? About this afternoon..." I began.

Bernie's eyes narrowed. "What about it?"

"Well, there wasn't much -- but there WERE the Wrights..."

"So?" Bernie eyed me. "What's YOUR interest in this -- as if I couldn't guess!"

I waved my hands. "Not guilty, Master! We were just trying to figure out how to help Kathy. They were kind of uneven in person, but they have a lot going for them -- on the other hand, they're a BIG jump for Kathy..." I flicked a glance at Sis, hoping for support.

She came through. "I think that Terise, in particular, is someone Kathy could, well, not worry a lot about -- AND she has good parenting scores -- VERY good, actually."

Bernie cocked his head. "What about Aretha?"

"She would be more of a threat," Sis admitted, shrugging, "but I think race works in their favor in that Kathy isn't all that worried..."

"Ramon is a problem," Bernie mused.

"Is he, Master? He seems sensible," I stuck my oar back in. "Okay, so he's big -- muscular..." I made the modification to keep the size of Ramon's dick out of the conversation, although it really wasn't any bigger than Bernie's. "He's also smart..."

"That might put him one ahead of me," Bernie muttered. "And that means he's one ahead of Gene, too. They're a lot to take on. There is also Wesley; he's ready for sex, I bet -- and in six months we could have another male concubine on our hands."

"Isn't he sponsor track?" Sis argued.

"He's on track, but that doesn't mean he'll be one," Bernie shot back.

The AI busted in, the way they tend to, with, "We have excellent data from his educational work. Wesley Snipes Wright will be a sponsor."

Bernie glared at the ceiling, then shrugged. "Okay, one less problem. It's STILL a lot for Gene and Kathy."

"What if you guys doubled up?" I burst out. I don't know WHERE that came from...

"What?" Bernie kind of rocked.

"Well, you and Gene hang out together all the time and Kathy needs help. I dunno, I just thought..." I petered out.

Bernie sat a moment, thinking. "I don't know if we can do that. AI?"

"There are a number of cases of sponsors operating combined households and even sharing resources. This does not always work and may be temporary, but it is an available option. Kathy Bradley is improving, but the timeline is tight and the quality of the remaining concubine couples continues to dwindle. Asset authorization for the combined household is equal to that of the two sponsors -- and a couple is essentially a free addition, as credit for accepting the male offsets the headcount reduction for accepting the female," the AI declared.

"So we have everything to gain and nothing to lose," Bernie mused.

"Precisely," the AI agreed.

"Still, this is between Gene and me..." Bernie eyed me.

"Absolutely, Master!" I threw out my hands. I didn't want to get into THAT again...

"Okay, tomorrow you can brace Kathy on the Wrights and see where she stands and I'll talk to Gene. There's no knowing at this point what he'll think of this..."

I nodded; Sis did, too. We went away and I spent some time examining my motives -- and I REALLY wasn't in this for Gene's dick -- or Ramon's. They were a nice addition, but...

Tuesday morning we dropped the kids at school after breakfast and went over to visit with Kathy. Sis opened with, "Pickings were kind of thin yesterday, huh?"

Kathy nodded. "There was only one family with really good numbers, and they..."

"Were black?" I guessed.

Kathy wrung her hands. "That wasn't so godawful, exactly -- I mean, that Terise... I wouldn't have a lot of worries about her and Gene. Aretha, well, she's young -- I think we could, you know, meet, kind of. Ramon..."

"Yeah, Ramon," Sis muttered. "What did Gene think of Ramon?"

"He made him nervous, you know? Gene is just getting used to his new equipment and Ramon has basically the same thing... And he's HUGE... Then there are the boys..."

"It's a lot," I agreed. "What if you had help?"

"Help?" Kathy blinked.

Felicity took the plunge. "What if we were there?"

"For what?" Kathy asked suspiciously.

"All the time," Sis explained. "What if you guys moved in with us. Then there would be you and me and Trini and Harrah, rather than just you. And Gene would have Bernie for backup."

"I..." Kathy thought about it. "It's more of a guy problem, really, isn't it? What am I giving up?"

I kept my big mouth shut and let Sis address it carefully. "I guess that would be up to what the guys negotiate. There would be a bunch of stuff on the table. Does Bernie share Terise or Aretha? What kind of, um, access, would they offer Ramon?"

Kathy nodded, head down. "That's big. I just don't know if I'm ready to take on Ramon -- and if it's just us, I don't know how I could avoid it fairly. I mean, for him to be the first man besides Gene to..."

"Well, you've already done something with Bernie," I pointed out.

"I sucked him. That's not..." Kathy muttered.

"No, it's not," Sis agreed, "But if they decide to do this, you might end up having Bernie, um, visit you, occasionally..."

"That's... a lot less scary," Kathy admitted, "But..."

"Us?" Sis pretended surprise. "Maybe Gene will limit himself to Terise and Aretha..."

"And maybe he won't," Kathy sighed. "I wouldn't want him to, anyway. I can probably work my way up to Ramon..."

Sis shrugged. "Start with Bernie..."

"If it's what Gene wants..." Kathy shrugged. "I'm... getting used to the whole thing." She pointed to her collar. "This helps." I smiled. "What?"

"Nothing..." I turned away.

"Felicity?" Kathy turned her attention to Sis.

"You don't think the BOYS thought that up, do you? They recognized a good idea when they heard it, but Trini came up with it," Sis replied. Outed, I smiled, embarrassed.

Kathy eyed me. "I thought you just wanted..."

"Helping you was always on the agenda," I replied. "Anything else was a bonus. I admit that getting into Gene's pants was on my short list of fringe benefits, but Bernie lowered the boom on me when he figured THAT out!"

"This would give you what you want," Kathy mused.

"Hey, I can leave it totally alone..."

"Not if Gene wants it," Kathy shot back.

"None of us has that choice," I noted. "In the end, we do what we're told."

"Yeah. I'm learning that," Kathy agreed.

"So..." Sis pressed.

"If Gene thinks it's a good idea, I do, too," Kathy replied.

So now I had this bright idea to pitch to Gene. Now, granted, I wanted Gene with me at work -- but was I Super Mentor where family matters were concerned? I was certainly pretending I was... I took Gene to the Brinkman meeting and Dr. Chambers was good with it; I figured we had a lot of conversion work to do and a steep learning curve and Toni was going to be up to his/her ass in the helpdesk function. Coming away from the meeting, I hit Gene with the idea. "The girls think it might help Kathy if we combined households."

Gene was as surprised as I had been the night before. "How would that work?"

"I think the details are up to us," I replied. "We're probably going to want to sit down and be very clear about it -- Kathy is an issue, for example."

"Yeah." Gene nodded. "The ring thing helped, I think. She wants to make the leap, but I'm not sure if she is ready."

"Yeah, I know. We were kind of hoping that the girls could help her get over the hump."

Gene looked sheepish. "Who's gonna get ME over the hump?"

It was my turn to look sheepish. "Me, I guess -- not that I'm any expert."

"You've been right thus far," Gene pointed out.

"I had help." I thought about it. "Let's get a coffee at the mess."

"Good idea."

I didn't know it, but there were some smaller dining rooms off the mess; the AI pointed them out when I asked for a quiet place to negotiate. We settled at a table in an otherwise empty room and kicked back. After a moment of quiet sipping, Gene said, "I should probably talk to Kathy."

"Yeah," I agreed. "You could force it, but it wouldn't be smart. We want to help, not screw things up. She ought to have an answer ready; I think the girls hit her up this morning."

"No kidding? That will help. AI, can you set up communications to Kathy? I want Bernie to hear but not be seen."

"Affirmative. Link active." The AI just put it up in the air rather than using a wall; I assume that distance was a factor.

"Gene?" Kathy gave him a full frontal and I had a moment to admire her breasts. My girls didn't have as much up top...

"Hi, Hon," Gene replied. "Look, Bernie is pitching the idea that we might all want to live together..."

"Uh huh. The girls came by."

"What do you think? We don't want you to feel threatened..."

"We went over it, kind of piece by piece, and while if I'd been taken by surprise, my reaction might not have been all everyone could have hoped, I think it's a pretty good idea -- especially if we take on the Wrights," Kathy replied, forthrightly.

"The Wrights?" Gene blinked in surprise.

"Um, yeah, we discussed that," Kathy replied. "There would be problems if you and I just tried to take them on -- I mean, I just don't have the experience with men and Ramon is kind of threatening, even though I don't think he wants to be, so that is a big issue for you, I'm sure... This way, you and Bernie could sort of back each other up..."

Gene, clearly bothered, came back with, "Yeah, about Ramon..."

"I know he's a pretty big deal," Kathy said, musing, "for both of us -- but he IS the reason the Wrights are all up there for scores. And Terise has her physical issues, but they're fixable. If Bernie is around, that kind of dilutes things, you know? Ramon REALLY doesn't threaten anybody -- he's just a big guy..."

"I don't know," Gene mused, "I think his hackles went up..."

"Well, we were talking about playing with his equipment, weren't we? Would you want yours downsized?" Kathy pointed out.

"No, you're right -- I wouldn't even think about it, anyway," Gene agreed, "I'm not sure where it came up, even."

"Me, either," Kathy shrugged.

"Bernie and I probably need to negotiate some -- um, who gets access to whom -- that sort of thing," Gene ventured.

"Yeah." Kathy nodded. "We kind of played the scenarios. I think... I think if I'm ever going to graduate to Ramon, I need to start with Bernie."

"Um, yeah..." We were BOTH thrown for a loop! "So you figure you'll end up with Ramon?" Gene pressed.

"Not right away?" Kathy petitioned. "But if he's in the family, I imagine it will happen eventually. I will just need some time to adjust..."

"And the women?" Gene asked carefully.

"You know, I wanted to ask you to start with Terise and Aretha -- but that's silly, I think. Once we're all family, I'm sure it will be fine," Kathy was again forthright.

"What about pregnancy?" Gene asked.

"That's... not my call," Kathy replied. "In fact, none of it is -- but I appreciate you getting my opinion. You're in charge..."

"I understand that," Gene replied, "but the idea was to make sure we didn't break something while trying to fix it. How terrible would it be for you to discover you were carrying Bernie's child?"

"Once we're all having sex, I don't see how it makes a difference -- I mean, I love you, but... Isn't that part of the deal? More daddies? Mixing up the gene pool?" Kathy looked away, her eyes wet. "This is up to you and Bernie. You can control it, I bet, but maybe you won't even want to. We'll be family, right? One big family? Even Ramon?"

"That's not..." Gene began.

"Why not?" Kathy queried. "Terise and Aretha are going to get babies from you and Bernie -- and we KNOW Ramon contributes positively. Why would we NOT have his babies, too?" She looked at him for a moment. "Would YOU want to be told no?"

"It's within our rights as sponsors," Gene pointed out.

"It's within your rights to shrink his cock down to this size, too," Kathy said, measuring about an inch between her thumb and forefinger, "but doesn't that make YOU the smaller man?"

BOTH of us took the hit from THAT remark! Gene shook it off and said, "So, no limits."

"I think that's fair," Kathy replied. "Oh, sure, I'm going to be shaky, but I think it is the right thing to do. You still have slots, too, Honey, for other girls -- we should work on those. This is about family; we want to pick some girls who will fit in and be of some help. Terise is a good start -- she's not beautiful, but she's a mother..."

"I'm very surprised..." Gene murmured.

"I'm being brave," Kathy blurted. "If things don't go right the first time with Bernie, I'll probably freak. But when I look at things objectively, that's how they should be. The girls have made it clear that they want to be my support group; I'm grateful, because I COULD be doing without..."

"How soon?" Gene asked.

"ASAP. Before someone else stumbles onto the Wrights," Kathy replied.

"Are Bernie's girls there?" Gene asked.

"They left a little bit ago."

"Call them. We'll let the AIs know. Get things moving; I think Bernie and I have an agreement in principle. We'll finish when Gina comes home from school," Gene directed.

"Okay." Kathy gave a tight nod and the air cleared.

"I think I gave away my bargaining position by letting you watch that," Gene said ruefully.

"I don't think it matters, do you?" I replied. "Kathy has it right -- we do the family thing."

"Somebody has to be top dog -- even between us," Gene noted, then: "Bang, you're it!"

"Gee, thanks!" I howled.

"You're doing a good job."

"I'll be taking opinions when possible, anyway," I replied. "Yours, in any case."

"So, no limits?"

"In house? Yes, that's fine," I agreed. "I think we might want to control conception if we can. We can rotate."

"What about the Wrights?"

"That comment about shrinking dicks stung," I grunted. "She's probably right. But if we're controlling things, we can make sure that Ramon isn't more effective than the rest of us."

"That's a point," Gene nodded. "Aretha? Terise?"

"Technically, they'll be yours, I think, if we ever split things. Besides, I'm hearing from Kathy that she might prefer that you try one of them first."

"I don't think so -- not any more," Gene argued. "If we're going to see the Wrights, we should have our ducks in a row. Do we test drive one of them?"

"Aretha is probably a virgin, and Terise needs work. I vote no. Similarly, Ramon has to wait."

"I think we need to test Ramon a little -- grope them or something," Gene opined.

"Yeah, maybe. Let's play it by ear. Um, a possibly awkward issue," I said diffidently. "Gay sex?"

"Not me."

"Me neither. I'm betting it won't be an issue with Ramon, either."

"If it is, he'll have to shelve it. I don't even want to bring it up," Gene declared.

"Fine. If he mentions it, we're not interested."

"Well, if he suddenly decides he might like to blow me, I'll think about it, but I'm not kicking out anything," Gene grinned.

"I don't want to get into what is fair and tit for tat," I said, waving my hands. "That way leads to me finding myself knelt up one fine day with his hands on my hips and his dick at my back door. No, thanks!"

Gene laughed. "Fair enough. Dead subject. So what's the plan?"

"After lunch we leave the little kids with Harrah and Susan -- again -- and -- no, change one, they don't have to be there. We can take one but probably no more than one. Even better, we can take Trini and Harrah and see what Ramon does. The others can watch from home. The girls make the appointment and we show up."

"Okay..."

"I think we're going to be negotiating with Ramon. If it goes further than that, it will be because Aretha decides she doesn't want to play. Do we care?" I asked.

Gene pursed his lips. "No."

I nodded. "I agree. Terisa, for all her faults, is the item being purchased here. Aretha is gravy. We'll get the boys -- and we'll get Ramon, if we're at all fair. What are we offering?"

Gene pursed his lips again. "Consensual access to women. We have NON-consensual access, if we need it, but I don't think we will. He can create kids -- but we pick the targets and the frequency. From the classes I got, we can do that with nannites acting as gatekeepers. If he looks like he's starting a one-man population explosion, we throttle him back. No direct monkeying with his baby making equipment." He cocked his head. "That's all fair, right? Do we keep him away from Aretha, since she's his daughter?"

"No." I looked away. "Not if I come to an agreement with Susie, especially."

Gene nodded. "Whatever floats your boat."

"I'm embarrassed, but that door is open, here. Susan seems to be interested..."

He shrugged. "Like you said -- it's okay. ESPECIALLY if it's consensual."

"Nothing will happen otherwise, even if she becomes a concubine." I grinned at him. "She'll be YOUR problem!"

"Oh, gee, thanks!" Gene rolled his eyes.

"Anything else?" I asked.

"Not that I can think of. Let's head for your place."

"OUR place."

"Yeah." We got up and tossed the cups in the recycler. "What about simple stuff?" I wondered aloud as we walked. "What about tonight, for instance?"

"Let me make that call, based on how Kathy is settling in," Gene mused.

"Works for me. If Kathy is good, you'll probably get Terise."

"That doesn't give Ramon anything."

"He'll have options," I declared. "He'll just have to ask. Trini will probably do him without a whole lot of coaxing."

"Yeah, okay."

Ellen was all settled in when Gina, Patty, Candy, Susan, Jerry, and Harrah returned from school. Gina wanted to know what was up; Kathy told her gently, "We're moving in with Patty and Candy and Jerry and Susie and Harrah. We're going to be one big family. Okay?"

Gina looked confused, but nodded dubiously. Kathy took her to see the new room the AI had carved from available space. From what I could tell, on the Valhalla, all sleeping rooms adjoined -- they just didn't appear to; the doors were masked or something. When a set of quarters had to grow, it was merely expanded to some more adjoining rooms. Initial planning allowed for growth in most families to the extent of authorized concubines, at the very least -- and if that number turned out to be underestimated, you just moved to somewhere roomier.

So we passed the word: "We're not limiting things -- this is one family. Gene has made me the titular head, but we will talk about anything that doesn't require an instant reaction. Below the concubine line, everyone is equal. There will be certain preferences, but we'll work around them and they might even disappear over time. For now, we'll take it easy and not shake anyone up we don't have to." Kathy blushed, anyway.

"Moving on to the Wrights," I continued. "We're fitting them in similarly, if negotiations succeed. Terise and Aretha are full sisters, if you will. Ramon is a little different, but not much. Gene and I have full access to each and every concubine, with or without consent -- you follow orders and do as you're told, right Trini?"

"Right, Master!"

"Ramon has consensual access," I continued. "That means if you have a headache, he moves on to the next contestant. Frankly, I don't want to see anyone having a headache all that regularly or I'm going to want to know why. We're going to allow Ramon to continue to father children -- and it's at our discretion whether it is random or we direct it, either from behind the scenes or by telling him to fuck one of you until you conceive. In any case, we expect that each of us will be producing a similar number of babies. Any questions?"

Harrah raised her hand. "What was this about directing things from behind the scenes?"

"We've been told that we can control conception by using nannites in your bodies as gatekeepers, keeping certain sperm cells from reaching target," I explained. "We may control things like that -- or we may not bother -- or, as I indicated, we may tell Ramon to keep trying with one of you until he succeeds."

"Is anyone off limits?" Felicity asked.

"Short term, maybe," I answered, "Long term, no. We're here to mix it up genetically. You should expect to have kids by every male in the pack. That could end up meaning Wes or Ray or Marvin." Felicity looked like she wanted to say something. "Out with it."

"So, do I have to have a child by Gene and one by Ramon before I can have yours again?"

"Greedy, aren't you?" I grinned, eyeing her. "Not necessarily. But it is in our hands. Gene and I will decide. You've had three of mine -- maybe you should get a little variety."

"So you're large and in charge?" Felicity's eyes challenged me.

"Yes, I am," I replied levelly. "Ask your sister how a good spanking feels -- among other things." Felicity looked mildly surprised and backed down. "Anything else?" I looked around. "Trinity, contact the Wrights. We would like to see them as soon as possible. Discover whether they have had any other bites. Harrah, you and Trinity are making the trip -- be on your best behavior and ready for anything." Harrah, surprised, nodded.

Tuesday afternoon, the AI made like an answerin' machine again. "You have a call." I dunno why it bothered ME with it...

"Ramon, best you put that thing on hold, Hon," I told my man, ducking into the room where he was watchin' a round ball game -- probly an old one. "We got another call."

"No shit..." Ramon talked to the AI and the video stopped and one a them women from the day before appeared.

"My masters wish to meet with you," she says.

Ramon gets a look and says, "Excuse us," and mumbles for the AI to cut 'em like they cut us yesterday. "What do you think of that?"

"Sounds serious," I answered. "No more fuckin' around with the harem."

Ramon eyed me. "Before I answer the phone, you got anything to say?"

"Are you still gonna bone me when you got a shitload of narry-assed redheads to pick from?" I asked.

My man rumbled a chuckle. "That's IF they don't cut my balls off and IF they don't shrink my pecker to the size of my pinky and IF they even let me SMELL a narry-assed redhead... Shit, maybe they'll turn YOU into one!"

I laughed. "THAT would be a change!"

"Best get Aretha in here," Ramon told me. "She's got a stake. The boys will go where we do, anyway." I nodded and went into the next room to gather Aretha, who was practicin' her concubine poses with the AI correctin' her. She got up and followed me and settled on her knees, pretty as you please; I sat my big ass in a chair...

Ramon had the AI crank up the volume. "What can we do for you?"

"As I said, my masters wish to meet with you," the narry-assed redhead replied. "How soon can we meet? Is twenty minutes convenient?"

Ramon, he frowned and pursed his lips. "Why are you in such a hurry?"

She shrugged. "Maybe there is no rush. Have you been contacted by anyone else? My masters just wanted to make their offer before someone else came along."

Ramon, he kept frownin', "Should I be expecting another call?"

"Not necessarily," Red replied. "Someone else with our selection criteria might find you on the list, that's all."

"What are your selection criteria?" Ramon asked.

"I'm... not at liberty to say."

"Huh," my man grunted, and mumbled to the AI to turn off the sound. "What do you think?"

"They seem anxious," I answered, "but we ain't got shit, so I dunno if we can bluff."

"Aretha?"

"I ain't seen a man yet, Pa."

My man, he thought about it for a bit. "We can talk. We can always walk." After mumbling to the AI to turn shit on again, that's exactly what he told Red, "We can talk. We can always walk. Thirty minutes. You got a place?"

"Suite thirty one seventy," Red replied. "Thirty minutes." Blip! She was gone...

"Get the boys so we're headed in the same direction. Get 'em to wear something decent. Hurry up, woman! It'll probably take twenty minutes to dress Marvin!" I got my big ass out of that chair and grabbed Aretha to help me get the boys rollin'.

We was early -- and they wasn't. I guess that wasn't no surprise. Ramon, he said we were holdin' the high ground, at least, but I could tell he was nervous. He sat around pickin' his fingers and worryin'. He called me and Aretha over an' he said, "I don't know what they want. They could want just Aretha. They could want just you and the kids. They might be thinking about taking me -- and they might not. Whether they are or not, it's probably gonna be all about me. They're gonna fuck with me to see if I'll get stupid -- and the best way to fuck with me is to fuck with you two. So they're probably gonna want to see how big your pussy is or poke a finger up your ass -- or maybe they'll want a fuck or a blowjob and get rough about it. If they do and I do something about it, my ass is out, so I can't. Probably the best I can do is complain to the AI. And even if I DO complain, they don't have to stop. You two, you need to understand -- I can't protect you. I'll WANT to, but if I try, I'm a dead man. I think you would rather I was alive..." It was fuckin' sad; he was pleadin' with us to understand that if we got fucked over he couldn't do shit...

Aretha said, "I know, Pa. You just sit there and don't worry -- they won't bust anything..."

"Except your cherry," Ramon grunted. He looked kinda pained at that...

So there we sat, waitin' and worryin' and fidgetin'... After a minute, my man Ramon, he said, "If they want the boys out of the room, there's gonna be some shit. They won't want them to see anything -- Wes in particular, because he's old enough to try something and he wouldn't get killed for it -- but mostly because they wouldn't want the boys to see them doing stuff to you that they might never do again, and they wouldn't want to boys to see me get killed." My stomach got achy and my throat got dry and Aretha kinda settled herself and took a big breath...

... And they come in.