Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience.
 
 Was it Fate?

   by Oblivion

   0.  Prologue





   Just where does a story begin?  What makes it a beginning?  There are
always things that come before, and many more that follow, so where does
this story start, and why...

   I have often wondered how different my life would be if I had made other
choices at what I now see as the turning points in my life.  Who would I
have become if I'd made the choice to do better in school or drop out. 
Would I have met and married my ex-wife if I'd gone to another college. 
The list could go on for several pages.  Of course the crux today is what
would have happened if I had decided to fly home on Monday instead of doing
some shopping before going home to California.

   I know, stop philosophizing and get on with the story.

   It was Monday.  I had just singed the last of the paperwork.  The
contract for my first book was in the bag.  The publisher felt good enough
about the book that they had agreed to give me an advance on my royalties
as well as a signing bonus.  I was standing in the lobby of a Manhattan
skyscraper looking at that check.  Sixty-two thousand dollars, I had never
in my thirty-five years had that much money in my hands.

   My flight home was for six that evening but I decided to cash the check
and do some shopping instead.  So after rescheduling my flight for the next
day and extending my stay at my hotel I walked the four blocks to the bank.
Forty-five minuets later after wiring the rest of the money home I left
with my bonus in my backpack.  Twelve thousand dollars.

   I spent the rest of the afternoon going to a camera store and then to a
computer store.

   Other than writing, I had always thought I would want be a photographer
so I bought a good thirty-five millimeter camera and accessories.  After
debating with myself for about an hour I also bought a really good digital
camera package as well.  I had wanted a laptop computer so I got a good
one, not top of the line but respectable, and got a memory and hard drive
upgrade as well.

   When I got back to my hotel I realized that I could have still made my
flight but shrugged it off and took myself out to a nice dinner.  Getting
back at about eight I figured it was time to gloat a little.  I pulled the
number out of my wallet and dialed the phone.

   "Hello." The voice was my ex's new husband.

   "Hi, Randy this is Jason, is Terri home."

   "Yeah, she's here.  Is this about the child support?"

   "No, I'm just calling to check if the kids need anything for school."

   "O.K., I'll get her." I heard him put down the phone.  A few seconds
later I heard an extension pick up.

   "Daddy, is that you?"

   "Yes, Kelly it's me.  How ya doing?"

   "O.  K., I guess.  I miss you." Her voice sounded flat almost like she
had no emotions at all.  It worried me.  I hadn't been able to visit my
girls in almost a year and wondered what was happening.

   "Don't worry honey I'll be there to see you and Jill soon, I promise."

   "I'd like that Daddy!" She sounded more like I remembered now.

   "Good, don't tell your mom yet though, I've still got to make the final
plans O.K."

   "O.K.  Daddy I won't"

   "So, do you and Jill need anything for school this year?"

   "Jill's math teacher says that she should get a calculator but Randy
says they're to expensive.

   "I'm O.K.  but a new coat would be nice."

   "Are you sure that's all you need honey?"

   "Yeah, Daddy, I know it's hard."

   "Well, honey, it looks like things are starting to get better."

   "What's getting better?" My ex was on the line.  There was something
about her voice I didn't like.

   "I was telling Kelly that things seem to getting better."

   "Yeah, like you'll ever get ahead."

   "Kelly could you let your mom and I talk please?"

   "O.K.  Daddy, Bye.  I love you Daddy."

   "I love you too honey and tell Jill I love her too."

   "I will Daddy, Bye." The extension hung up.

   "If you loved them you'd agree to pay the higher child support." Terri's
voice rough and gravely.  She was angry.

   "You know how much I make Terri, and how much it costs to live here
too." I decided not to tell her about the book or that I was in New York
instead of home in California.

   "Like I care how hard it is on you.  You don't have to raise two kids do
you?  No, you don't and you don't seem to care how much it costs to live
here either." It was going to be one of 'Those' calls now.  For the next
ten minutes I listened and made appropriate noises when they were called
for.

   "Look, Terri, I've got to go to work.  I'll try to call in a week or so,
we can talk more then."

   "You'd better if you don't want my lawyer calling."

   "Bye, talk at ya soon."

   "You better."

   The call I'd thought would be fun now had me worried.  Something was
wrong in that house and I didn't have a clue what it was.  I sat and
worried for a bit, then decided that I'd call some friends that lived in a
town near the kids to do some discrete checking for me.  They agreed to
help but didn't know how much help they could be.

   "Any information at all is more than I have now, Beth.  This will help.
If nothing else it'll help me sleep better knowing someone else is checking
on the girls."

   "Alright, Jason, we'll see what we can do."

   With that out of the way I felt that could finally sleep and so went to
bed.

   I woke the next morning just before eleven.  "Must have been more tiered
than I thought," I mumbled to myself.  I got up and turned on the T.V.

   It was Tuesday, September 11, 2001



   The next few days were a living hell.  You all know how flights were
delayed then outright canceled.  Everyone wanting to get home and trying to
find a way.  People walking around with pictures of loved ones hoping that
someone had seen them after that fateful day.  The fear, loss and new
hatred that was forming in the aftermath.  My publishers had called to tell
me that there might be delays in the publication date of my book.  I told
them that I understood.  They told me that my advance was now an outright
payment.  That even if only a single book sold it was covered.



   It was Saturday, at ten thirty-eight in the evening when I stepped on
the bus that would finally start my journey home.  It would be almost four
more days before I got home, but I was finally on my way.  I walked down
the isle with my carry-on and a bag of snacks and drinks.  I knew how long
it would be between stops, this wasn't the first bus trip I'd ever made. 
All the seats were filled until the last row.

   Sitting at the window was a girl.  She looked up at me and I saw her sad
hazel eyes, there were bags under them and it looked like she hadn't slept
in days.  There had been a flash of fear in them as well but it was fading.
"It's OK," I reassured her, "I only look like I'll bite." She giggled a bit
then and I was reminded of my girls.  She looked to be about twelve to
fourteen years old.  Her long auburn hair was tied in a pony tail.  Her
clothes were as disheveled as my own.  As I looked her I thought about how
beautiful she would look when rested and she'd had a chance to clean up.

   I heard the door of the bus close and the engine rev up.  I reached up
and put my things on the rack over the seats and then sat down.

   "Hi, my name's Jason."

   "I'm Amber.  How far are you going?"

   "California."

   "So are we."

   "We?"

   "My sisters and me."

   "Oh.  Are they on this buss too?"

   "Yeah, closer to the front."

   "Don't you want to be closer to them?"

   "Yeah, but no one would move to let me."

   "Point them out to me." She pointed to them and I stood up.  I took a
quick look at the seats in front of us.  It was a middle-aged couple
looking just as tired as I felt.

   "Excuse me." The woman looked up at me.  I saw the fear bloom in her
eyes.

   "What?"

   "The young lady behind you is traveling with her sisters and I was
hoping that you would be willing to trade seats with them so her sisters
can be with her." For a moment I thought she was going to argue with me but
then she sighed at poked her husband in the ribs.

   "Bob, let's move closer to the front."

   He looked at her.  "I thought you wanted to be near the back?" Then he
looked up at me and shuddered.

   "Let's just move, O.  K.?" She prodded him again to get him moving.

   "What ever."

   I helped get their stuff together and took them up to the girl's seats.
"Excuse me, but your sister would like it if you would join her at the back
of bus." When they turned to look at me I saw that they were identical to
their sister, triplets.  "Amber asked if I would help you to find seats
near her," I whispered to the nearest of the two.  She swallowed hard and I
saw her eyes get bright with tears.  There was no fear in them just worry
and a faint sadness.  I reached down and wiped the corners of her eyes. 
She started to sob and I touched her lips with my finger.  "Shhh, just come
on back and sit with Amber and me."

   I took her hand and helped her out of the seat and then reached up to
the rack.  "Is this your stuff?" She nodded.  "And your sister's stuff?"

   She pointed to another bag.  I grabbed it as well setting them down and
then picked up the couples stuff and put it in the vacated spots.  With a
little shuffling we got the couple in their new seats and I picked up the
girls things again.  Just then the bus took a hard turn and I felt myself
falling.  Just before I could drop the girl's stuff they both grabbed me
and held me up.  The first one was sobbing now, quietly but I could see it.

   We stood there for a moment.  My hands were full with their bags and
they were both wrapped around me holding me so tight I thought I'd have to
fight for breath.  But it was just a moment.  Then they released me and we
walked to the back of the bus.  As I put the girls things in the rack the
first girl almost crawled into Amber's lap and was now openly crying.

   Amber looked up at me.  I could see tears in her eyes now as well. 
"Thank You."

   "No problem." I shrugged.  Then the other sister took my hand.

   "I'm Alison," she reached out with her other hand to caress her crying
sister, "and this is Ashley."

   "I'm Jason." I watched them as Alison stroked Ashley's hair for a
moment. "Would you like the isle or the window seat?"

   "The isle for now I think."

   "Sure, we can trade later if you want."

   Alison released my hand and I took my new seat.  As I worked on getting
settled I felt a hand touch my shoulder.  I looked.  It was Amber.

   "Put your seat back."

   "Sure you'll have enough room?"

   "Yeah."

   So I did.  Amber had raised the armrest between her and Ashley and
snuggled close to her sister.  They looked comfortable.  I rolled up a bit
onto my side and watched them for a while and as the bus moved though the
night I fell asleep.

   I felt a hand in mine.

   Soft and small.

   Another hand was on the side of my face.

   Also soft.

   And small.

   I felt breath on my face.

   Then a kiss on my left eyelid.

   Breath again.

   A kiss on my right eyelid.

   Breath.

   A kiss on my lips.

   Pause.

   Hands moving.

   Soft.

   Small.

   Breath.

   Kiss left.

   Breath.

   Kiss right.

   Breath.

   Kiss.

   Pause.

   Hands.

   Soft.

   Small.

   Breath.

   Kiss.

   Breath.

   Kiss.

   Breath.

   Kiss.

   Three voices.

   "Thank You."

   I opened my eyes.

   Three angles.

   One by one.

   Kiss, "Thank you."

   Kiss, "Thank you."

   Kiss, "Thank you."

   "But I....." Finger on my lips.

   "Shhh."

   Kiss.

   Kiss.

   Kiss.

   Three voices.

   "Thank You."

   "Your welcome, Amber," who was now on the seat beside me.

   "Your welcome, Ashley," beside me one row back.

   "Your welcome, Alison," beside her sister behind me.

   Three voices.

   "How'd you know?"



   "I'm not sure, just knew."

   Just then the driver announced the next stop.  One and a half hours. 
Breakfast.

   We set about making ourselves as presentable as possible.  Soon we were
seated together in a small diner waiting to order our breakfasts.  The
girls were whispering to each other.  I'd catch an occasional word but
never a sentence.  They didn't seem upset, but did seem to want to ask me
something.

   "Alright club triple 'A' what do want to ask me?"

   "What?" came back at me.

   "What, what?"

   Alison got a perturbed look on her face.  "What did you call us?"

   "Club triple A."

   "Why?"

   I chuckled.  "Triplets?" That got a nod.  "Amber, Ashley, Alison?"
Another nod.  "Heads together keeping secrets?" Nod.  "Club."

   "Oh!"

   "Yeah, Club triple A." With that they were all smiles.  "So what did you
want to ask?"

   "Well," Amber's face was quickly turning red, "we're sort of, well ... "

   "Your out of money aren't you?" I finished for her.

   "We've got some left, but after paying for the bus we only had
sixty-four dollars left and we still had to eat and the toilets cost money
too and..."

   "So how much do you have?"

   "Seven fifty eight."

   "O.  K.  here's what we'll do.  Every time you three need something I'll
get a separate receipt and we'll find a way to have you pay me back later.
Does that sound fair to you?" All three of them nodded their agreement. 
"Good, so what are you having for breakfast?" They all smiled and started
looking at the menu again.  When they ordered I realized that they had
probably skipped more than just a meal or two in the last few days.  Or at
least I hoped they didn't eat a horse for breakfast every day.

   After we had eaten and were waiting for the check I decided to find out
a little more about the situation.

   "So, girls, when did you last eat?"

   "Breakfast, yesterday." Alison's face was starting to show a bit of a
blush.

   "You don't need to be ashamed by it Alison, sometimes things just are
what they are.  I assume you were supposed to fly home like me, right?"

   "Yeah, our flight from London was told to land in New Jersey and then it
got so confusing and they wouldn't give us the refund on the tickets
because our Dad bought them and we're under-aged and we didn't know what to
do next, and we couldn't get a hold of Dad and we were worried about him
too ..."

   "So the three of you were stuck in New York and this was the only choice
you had, is that right?"

   "Yeah."

   "Well, I think you all did a pretty good job of taking care of
yourselves."

   "You do?" Ashley looked surprised.

   "I do." The girls still had dubious looks on their faces.  "Look, you
found yourselves in probably the worst possible travel dilemma that anyone
has ever dealt with and you didn't panic, you stuck together and figured
out how to get yourselves home and found the means to do it.  Even if I
hadn't come along you would have gotten home." Amber started to say
something, but I motioned for her hold on for a moment.  "True you would've
been hungry, but you would have made it." As I spoke their eyes lit up and
smiles brightened the rest of their faces.

   "Yeah I guess we did O.K., huh." Amber looked at her sisters and saw
that they agreed with her.

   "Yep, I think you did."

   As I was paying the check the girls noticed a sign for the state lottery
be hind the counter.  It was up to eighty-seven million dollars.

   "Jason?" Ashley took my hand as she spoke.  "Would you buy a lottery
ticket please?"

   "Why do you want me to do that?"

   "Well, if you won, then that would pay you back for helping us wouldn't
it?"

   "Yes, it would, but you know the odds don't you?"

   "Yeah, but it would be fun to win."

   "All right, but only on one condition." She nodded.  "All three of 'you'
have to pick the numbers." With that I pulled one of the cards used for
selecting your numbers and handed it to her.

   "Me?  I mean, Us?"

   "Yep, if it's going to be my payback from you then 'you' have to pick
the numbers."

   "O.K." She took the card and almost skipped over to her sisters and they
quickly started marking it up.  After a couple of minutes she came back
with Amber and Alison in tow.  "We can't agree on the numbers Jason what do
we do?"

   "Well then, each of you picks a set."

   "But that'll be two more dollars."

   "It'll also be two more chances."

   "Oh, O.K." They ran back to the table and moments later returned with
the card and handed it to me.  I added the three dollars to the check and
we left the restaurant.  We still had a while before the bus was due to
leave so I suggested that we get some drinks, snacks and reading material.
The girls quickly agreed.

   We managed to still get back to the bus with ten minutes to spare and
settled down for the next leg of our trip.  I took the window seat again
saying that I was still tired and wanted to sleep some more.  They woke me
for the lunch stop and again I paid and got separate receipts.  They also
talked me into getting another three chances to win the lottery.  I made
sure they got a call in to their father.  He still wasn't home so they left
another message.  After lunch I offered the window seat to them and ended
up behind Alison.  Amber was beside her and Ashley beside me in the window
seat.  We all settled down into our own activities for next couple of
hours. I read and dozed off and on.  I woke from one of my short naps to
find Ashley snuggled up to my side, her head on my chest and her hand
softly stroking my beard.

   "Hi honey, you O.K.?"

   "Fine."

   "You sure?"

   "Well...."

   "Spit it out."

   "Could you hold me for a while?" There was no way I was going to refuse
that request.  So I shifted a bit and wrapped my arms around her, pulling
her even tighter to me.  I soon fell back to sleep.

   The dinner stop went much the same as lunch.  Including three more
lottery tickets.  After the bus was back on the road I remembered a book
that I'd been meaning to start on the trip.  So I got up to get my
backpack. It wasn't until I had it open that I remembered the new computer
sitting at the top of the bag.  I pulled it from the bag and powered it up.
Alison was sitting next to me and watched as I got it up and running.

   "Do you have any games on it?"

   "Nope.  I just bought it Monday.  I still haven't put all the software
in that I got with it.  I figure that should eat up a couple of hours. 
Something to keep busy."

   "What are you going to use it for?"

   "Well, mostly I'll use it to write when I'm not at home.  It'll make my
commute a little less boring"

   "You don't have a car?"

   "Nope, they cost too much right now.  With rent and the child support I
pay it's cheaper to get a bus pass.  I don't mind most of the time but it
takes almost two hours some days.  That's when this will be nice to have."

   "Two hours?  And I complain about the half hour it takes to get to
school."

   "Everything is relative Alison, how you see the world depends on who you
are at that moment.  What you see today affects how you will see the world
tomorrow."

   "I'm not sure I like that idea."

   "Oh, I wouldn't worry about it though, it happens every day.  It took me
years to notice how much I'd changed and by then the changes were so much a
part of me I couldn't imagine going back to the way I was."

   "So it's going to happen no matter what I do?"

   "Yep, every time you see something new, or learn new things, or meet new
people, you change a little.  It's only very rarely that you'll change
enough to notice.  It takes things like what happened on Tuesday make
significant changes in our lives.  None of us will be the same after what
happened then and those of caught in the midst of it will change the most.
We do have some choices though.  When the changes are large, there are
usually more than one or two ways to deal with what has happened.  Those
are the times when we have decide for ourselves where the next steps in our
lives will take us.  It's a freedom we don't feel often and some people are
afraid of the choices."

   "I think I can understand that, I don't want my life to change."

   "But that's the problem Alison.  Your life has already changed, you're
here on this bus talking with me instead of being home with your family. 
We're talking about things that you might never have thought about in your
entire life if things had happened differently.  You can't stop yourself
from changing, but with practice and some guidance you can decide how
you're going to change."

   "I'm only fourteen, Jason, I don't want to have to think about those
things yet."

   "That's why we have parents, friends and teachers.  They help us make
those choices.  Most of the time we don't even know that we've made any
choice, life just keeps going and we move with it."

   "Why did you chose to help me?" Amber's voice startled me.  "I'm sorry,
I didn't mean to do that." I looked at her and saw Ashley watching me as
well.

   "You've both been listening?" They nodded.  "OK, well I'd have to say
the first thing was that you looked so tired and sad when I first saw you.
But the thing that made my mind up was that you didn't seem to be afraid of
me."

   "Why should that have mattered?" Ashley was getting into the discussion
as well now.

   "Well, I've been told more that once that I tend to be a bit imposing."

   "So?" I couldn't figure out how they could all say the same thing almost
with one voice.  That was imposing.

   "Well, haven't you noticed how people avoid looking at me or speaking to
me?"

   "Not really." That was Alison.

   "Just watch for a while and you'll figure it out, OK?" They all nodded
their heads.  "Now back to where we were.  Part of it was that I have
daughters too, and knew I would want someone help them if they needed it.
There's more to it as well but most of it is locked up in my head and I
would have a hard time trying to sort it all out.  The bottom line was that
you looked like you could use some help and your lack of fear gave me the
hope that you would accept mine."

   The conversation moved on then and later I told them more about my
daughters.  The subject seemed to shift at random for a while and then I
noticed it starting to head more towards my personal life.  I worked at
shifting the focus back to the girls and they soon realized that each
question they asked would soon be turned back at themselves and got the
hint.  Too many times I'd shared too much, and every time it had come back
to hurt me.

   That night as the bus rolled on I found Amber snuggled close, trying to
sleep, but not being able to.

   "What's up Amber?" I whispered.

   "I itch, and I feel dirty."

   "How long have you been in those clothes?"

   "Since we left London."

   "Don't you have your luggage?"

   "No, they couldn't find it when we landed, and when they did we couldn't
get back New Jersey to get it, so we told them to just ship it home."

   "No wonder you're uncomfortable, next stop we'll see what we can do
about it."

   "Jason, you're doing so much already, you don't have to do more."

   "Don't worry about it, I can afford it right now and it's not all that
much anyway."

   "But what about your daughters, they need things too..."

   I thought about that for a moment and a plan formed in my mind.  Crazy,
but I liked it.  Now that it was on my mind I knew I'd be working on it. 
But Amber was here now...

   "It's ok Amber, I think I got that figured out, or at least started.  So
spending a little more right now isn't going to hurt that, Ok?"

   "OK." She snuggled in again and I started thinking.

   After a while it was obvious that Amber wasn't having any luck trying to
sleep so I leaned over a bit and whispered in her ear.  "Amber, where is it
most uncomfortable?"

   "My bra...  and my panties, they just feel, gunky."

   "Well, you girls do have to deal with that much more than us guys.  But
I do have a suggestion."

   "Uh-huh?"

   "Take them off, it might make you feel a bit better."

   "What, my panties, or my bra?"

   "Both if you want, it's up to you."

   "But what would I do with them?"

   "I have a some big Ziploc bags in my carry-on, if we put them in one no
one will know."

   "Ok, can we switch seats?"

   She got out so I could give her the window seat while I got my bag down
and slid it under the seat in front of me, it would cramp my feet, but I
could put up with it for a little while.  I sat back down and rummaged
through and found one of the bags and handed it to her.  She sat up
straight and took a quick look around then started unbuttoning her
sundress, each of them was wearing the same dress, except in different
colors, they came down to just below their knees when they were standing
and with a couple of the bottom buttons undone were loose enough to let
them get comfortable in a seat, which was probably why they had chosen
them.

   "Amber..." I tried to hiss at her as soft as I could.

   She just put a finger to my lips and shook her head then kept
unbuttoning.  She slipped the dress off her shoulders the reached around
and undid her bra, took it off and handed to me to hold.  Her pert little
tit's were pale in the moonlight, her areola so pale I couldn't see them,
but I could see that her nipples were hard.  Then she lifted her butt a bit
and slid her panties down and off.  She paused a moment, all but naked the
raised the panties to her nose.

   "Damn, I stink." Then she giggled a little and opened the bag I'd given
her, stuffed her panties in, then grabbed her bra and quickly was zipping
it closed.  "That's better," she whispered as she relaxed back into the
seat.  Then she looked over at me again, ducked her head at me and
whispered, "Why do we stink like that?"

   "Amber," I whispered back, "you think your pussy might stink right now
but I don't know of any man that thinks a fresh, clean pussy stinks."

   "I don't know about that, but I'll take your word for now."

   We were both startled when Alison hissed, "Amber, what are doing?"

   "I was so uncomfortable and felt so dirty I couldn't sleep and Jason
suggested I might feel better if I took off my bra and panties and God I
feel soooo much better now, cool and dry and..." squeak "I'm still naked."
She quickly slipped her dress back on and started buttoning back up, giving
her sister sheepish looks as she did.

   I just sat there and shook my head, what else could I do?

   When she was decent again, Amber leaned forward to talk with her sister.
"I'm sorry Aly, but I just couldn't stand it any more, I had to get out of
those things.  I think I surprised Jason more than you did just now, look
at him."

   I don't know how much showed in the dark but I knew my face was burning.

   "Does it really feel better?"

   "You have no idea..."

   "Ok then, my turn, you get up here and wake Ashes while it's still dark
enough."

   It only took a couple minutes to get Alison in the seat next to and by
that time Ashley was in the isle seat in front of me, watching as her
sister started unbuttoning her dress.  Alison's hands hesitated more with
each button and she kept looking at Amber again and again.

   I touched her cheek.  "Alison, you don't have to do it the way Amber
did."

   Ashley looked at Amber then.  "What did you do?"

   "I took my dress off, then my bra and panties, I feel so much better
now, but I think my pussy still stinks."

   "Amber!"

   "Well, it does, we haven't been able to wash good for days, or change
our panties."

   Ashley sighed softly, "She right Aly, we probably do stink down there."

   Alison nodded her head then quickly finished unbuttoning her dress then
looked at me.  "What next?"

   I reached in my carry-on and pulled out another bag.  "Take your bra and
panties of and put them in here, then I'll seal it up and put them away."

   "Ok." She was still a bit hesitant, but did slip the dress off.  Unlike
Amber she slid her bra straps off her shoulders and then spun it so the
clasp was in front so she could reach it better.  She looked back up at me
and muttered, "I never can find the damn clasp in the back.  I don't think
my arms work that way."

   Once her bra was off she handed it to me and I put it in the bag as she
slipped her panties off.  I took them as well, put them in and sealed the
bag.

   "God, this does feel better." She relaxed back and as she did her legs
started to splay open a bit.  When that happened I got a whiff of her odor,
it was a bit strong.  That was when I remembered one of the little gifts
I'd bought for the girls.  It was a small bottle of Jill's favorite
perfume, vanilla and lavender.  I thought it was in the carry-on.

   "Hold on just a second Alison, I think I have something that'll help." A
moment later I found it and got it out.  Opening it I looked over at her.
"Here, put just a drop or two, ahhh...  ahh...  may I?"

   She nodded her head and then watched as I touched the stopper with my
finger then softly touched her, just above her cleft, I took just a moment
to make a horizontal path about an inch wide then re-wet my finger and
touched each thigh in turn, just below her pussy.

   "Ok, button up now."

   When she was done she kissed me on the cheek.

   "Why'd you do that?" I asked.

   "Thank you, that was so sweet and gentle.  I don't think I'm ever gonna
want to let you go away." Then she was hugging me, hard.

   I saw Ashley touch her sister's cheek, maybe to wipe a tear, but I
couldn't tell.  "Aly, it's ok, I think we all like him."

   A few moments passed then Alison pushed herself back and sighed.  "It's
your turn Ashes." Then we were switching places again.  Another bag,
another pair of panties and a bra.  This time though, after I'd wet my
finger Ashley took my hand in hers and placed it on her body the same way
she'd seen me do to her sister.  For just a moment she started to pull my
finger lower.

   "No Ashley, you don't want any of this there, please believe me."

   She relented and I did the last touches without her assistance.  When
she was dressed again, Amber wanted her turn again so she could smell
better so we switched again and Amber slipped her dress off for the second
time.

   "You know you didn't have to take all the way off." My eyes held hers.

   "I know.  But I wanted to."

   So I repeated the steps again with Amber as she spread her legs, giving
me a look of invitation.  I didn't take it though, the invitation.

   "Button up Angel."

   She sighed and looked up at me as she reached for her dress.  "That's
what dad calls us."

   "Hmmm."

   "He says we're his Angels."

   With her decent again she curled up against me and quickly fell asleep.
When I looked in front of me I could see her sisters had also returned to
their dreams.  What could I do?  I held this little vixen in my arms and
drifted off myself.