Little Cherine Book 02 - BPost004

arthur.grafo4 (60)in #sfandf-fiction • 5 years ago

I felt the sadness in Alki and this tore at me. I had to control my pain, bury it for my baby. As I struggled, closing my heart, Cherine began to cry and Dommi held her. Only my babies seemed to not be crying. For the first time since the morning, Laura projected herself as a five year old. She went to Tina and Rosie and sat staring at them. Suddenly they also burst out crying.

731

The grown ups, the children of Tasso, all sat there woodenly, sensing us, but trying to understand. Socrati stood up and going to the centre of the room pulled the carpet away.

He began to stamp his foot. He sang a greek song to which he danced. It was an old Cypriot song that sang of great tragedy, of betrayals, and yet it was of the defiance of love that would not give in to despair. His voice was rough, not even always in key, his dancing not polished, but rough and full of energy and powerful. Within minutes tears were forgotten as they stared at him. Alki got onto one knee clapping in time, as they do at the bouzouki clubs. When he finished he was greeted with clapping and demands for another.

He bowed to everyone, put up his arms and began a second song. This time he gestured to Wendy to join him. I could not believe it when she did. It was as if she brought the atmosphere of the Middle East into our room. She embroidered and enhanced his singing, making his voice and dancing acquire a magical quality. By the end of this song there was a feeling of a party going on, with clapping and laughter. Dommi brought some ouzo and whiskey with glasses. Even the little girls shared a glass of watered-down ouzo, some enjoying the aniseed taste.

Bernie was soon off my lap, dancing to the beat. Socrati showed the girls some basic steps and then sang for them to dance with him.

Shyly, the only one not dancing, Laura came and stood by my side. I felt her yearning to be held, but I pretended not to notice. I saw my mother staring at me. There was a fear in her I had never seen before. I patted Laura on her bum and deliberately, as an adult talking to a child, I told her to go to her mother. What a brave little heart. She swallowed her hurt and proudly turned and looked at me before leaving. She lay in her mothers’ arms staring at me sideways. I could not understand what the hell was happening. My mother had turned her face from me, looking down at her little girl with sorrow.

By mindspeak, I let Dommi know where I was going and jumped to our flat and sat there in the darkness. Probably thanks to Dommi, I was left alone for the first time. I know it seems ungracious to have abandoned my guests and my girls at a time of celebration, but as Alki said, it was getting too intense for me. About twenty minutes later I got up to go look out on the balcony, hoping for a cooling breeze. I bumped the table and heard something fall. I put on the light and saw computer 3.5 inch diskettes. They were labelled Book 1 and Book 2. So Estella had kept her word. I saw a note still on the table.

Robbie,
I hope you will not cause trouble for my friend, you promised.
E.

Charles Dickens, that girl from…I could not recall the name of the book, oh yes, Great Expectations, she was trained to be unfeeling, to break the heart of the boy. Thank god none of my girls are like that. I suddenly appreciated their sweet hearts as I have not for a while. I am beginning to owe my little Cypriot friend quite a lot.

I jumped back to find the guests had left. Most of my girls were dozing, but all woke up soon as I arrived.

Dommi smiled. “I see it did you some good.”

“They annoyed with me?”

“Of course not.”

“I didn’t mean you girls, I meant our guests.”

“Oh them! They are getting used to you by now.”

“I owe Socrati. He was marvellous.”

“Come love, it is time for bed.”

“I have somewhere to go first. Can you all hold on?”

I jumped. I heard a squeak of fear and my mother turned on me in anger. “Don’t do that! You scared me. What are you doing here?”

732

“Why mum. Why were you afraid?”

“You know very well.”

“I’m not sure that I do.”

“What are you trying to do Robert?” Themi walked in as calmly as if I jumped in every night. He poured a whiskey and sat by my mother.

Curtly I asked, “Why don’t you tell me.”

“You are playing games with your mother Robert?”

“Okay, I’ll say it straight out. Why haven’t the three of you become a circle yet? You should have had your own World by now.”

Neither of them wanted to answer me. I was damned if I would speak first though and just calmly stared back.

“I don’t think I want you as my whole brother.” Laura walked in, rubbing her eyes. “You are a nasty man.”

I gave her a huge grin. “You are the first little girl to ever say that to me. It was about time.”

She stared at me and burst into tears. Before I could react she walked out.

“Leave her alone Robert.”

“You know that is not the problem Themi. You still have not answered me. She is a delightful girl, there is no circle that would not be the richer for having her. So why haven’t you?”

“Dad told you to leave mum alone!” I turned at the sharp angry voice. Laura stood there, now a girl of over twenty. “Get out. Go home and leave us alone.”

“God mum, she is magnificent; that must be the Irish in her. Okay sis, I’m going. Love you all.”

I have not seen my girls laugh like this for a long time. They had seen and it tickled their funny bone to have Laura speak to me like that. I had to listen to at least a dozen wisecracks. The last one was Claudia. I grabbed her and began to tickle her in revenge. They all piled onto me and, since I am extremely ticklish, they paid me in kind. It was pure torture, but I loved sensing their exuberant mood.

Without any of them noticing, the tickling became erotic till I seemed to be covered by a mob of hot bodies. We hardly made it to our bed. During the tickling Dommi had changed herself to the same age as Wendy and she kept it now. I lost sight of her as I became entangled in all those sweet little legs. I did not always know who it was, at least until I was able to identify the signature of their feelings, yet nobody minded, because we all love each other more or less equally.

Suddenly I felt the force that was being used and I threw Diana off me and looked to see who it was, expecting it to be one of my virgin loves.

It was little Dommi. Even as she saw I had seen it was her, she sat down with force. She looked at me through her tears of pain with an intense look of triumph. I felt the intense pain. Sickened at what she had made me do, urgently I sent my healer in to take away the pain and repair the damage, but she kicked it out.

It killed the passion in me for the rest of the evening.

The girls who still were not satisfied were understanding. I was not. I could not understand this need they have to hurt themselves like this. I held my little Dommi to me, giving her tender body kisses and caresses, trying to remind it of my love, as if trying to tell it that it was not I who had abused it. There was not much point to my feelings, I could feel a deep need within her which had finally found a way to express itself, to find the satisfaction it craved. She was a happy little girl who nursed her pain with love, which kept her blind to my agony.

By the time I was falling asleep I could not help thinking that the first day of life of my Bernadine had been a remarkable one and hoped it is not an omen of how things will be.

733

The whole of the next day I spent listless and washed out. I hardly had the strength to get out of bed. Having a healer is not of much help, not when it is the spirit that suffers. Too much had happened, two babies nearly dead because I had not thought ahead. My little Wendy hurt by me and the problem of Laura. The experience with Dommi definitely had not helped either.

Those who went to school, went. The others stayed close by, their every movement a tenderness of love that helped fill my heart again. That afternoon I had a phone call from a firm of architects, the secretary wanting to arrange a time suitable for me to call on them. I explained to her there must have been a mistake, I am looking for a firm that cares about their clients wishes, not one that wants to prove to me how big, important and expensive they are.

I called Alki and explained to him, apologising if I had trod on any toes. Amused, he promised to get me someone who will fit my requirements and agreed that for a project of this size they should have offered to come to me. I had to explain to Dommi (thankfully her own age and healed again) that if the architect does not first come to see what we want, but needs to play games to make me feel they are doing me a favour by seeing me, then I do not want them. As far as I am concerned, it means they will not even try to understand and help us develop what we want.

“But Robert, are you sure they should come here? Are you going to let them see all the girls and then say you want all their bedrooms opening into yours? What will they think?”

Again I called Alki and explained. I heard him chuckling, but he promised me it will not be a problem, we will talk once he is home.

Once my schoolgirls had returned and I had a kiss and cuddle from each, my spirits revived a bit. I let them chat happily while I went to my office and put in the disc from Estella.

I did not need to read it word for word. Not even page for page. The bastard has written every single fact I have written, all that matters, though he sometimes uses his own words and even the sketches only have an approximate quality. I cringed when I saw them and wondered how he had done it. When I looked very closely I realised he had searched the internet for pictures or artwork that resembled mine and then worked on them with an art program - which suggests he is not getting my pictures and sketches, just an impression of them. For an obvious amateur he has not done too badly and I felt a lot better knowing it is not the actual pictures of my girls.

One thing did bother me though. Why hadn’t he put any personal comments of his own - or does he really think every word he writes is of his inspiration?

The weirdest thing: till this paragraph I am writing now, he had already written it. I am actually copying these paragraphs from him. How can that be? How did he know of what was to happen before it happened? Are we then figments of his imagination? It sure does not feel like it.

At last I am writing my own words again. I sat for a while after typing in the above paragraph. The girls must have sensed how absorbed I was and when I tuned in to them they had not put up a privacy signal. I knew it was not right of me, but it was their mistake.

“I still think we have to do something.”

“There is nothing we can do Cherine. We just have to hope that Bernie grows out of it, for his sake. And ours. I also don’t want him growing harder, hiding his emotions from us.”

“Will you get angry with me if I say something?” Claudia asked in a timid voice.

“Of course not moro mou. You have a right to your opinion.”

“I think this thing with Bernie might be a good thing. I also do not want him to grow harder. But he must get tougher. Not for our sakes, for his. Look at how many things have gone wrong in the last six months. He disappears and you all die. He fights a war and at his moment of happiness, he kills Wendy. Now the two babies die, or nearly die. He saved everybody. But every time he feels guilty, that he is to blame. If he keeps on doing that, at some time it will be too much and he will break. Look at him today. I have never seen him like this before, it frightens me.”

“You have a point. How do we help him get tougher without making him harder?”

734

They all got involved then, each having to admit in the end that they did not know. I was surprised to hear my own daughters wanting me to get tougher, to hear how worried they were. Only one person stayed silent. They finally noticed.

“Wendy. What are you thinking?”

“I think you are all wrong. If Meli was her, I think she would agree with me. You make him tougher and he will break. His weakness is his strength. Like a blade of grass, the wind blows and it bends over. You step on it and it lies down crushed. But soon it is upright again, waving in the wind. The only way would be to take away his ability to feel so strongly. Then he will not love us so much and we will all be weaker. His deep way of loving is our strength. I think that is why he is the only one in the whole world who has a protector. Because he loves so much he has to have one, for the ones he loves.”

That little girl has never been loved so much by her fellow girls, by her wives. They inundated her till even I as a witness was overcome. When Cherine hugged her, sobbing her heart out, I decided I maybe should get back in to the thick of it.

“You are all right, but Wendy I think is the most right of you all. Sorry, I overheard the conversation. I agree, Bernie is a problem. I cannot afford to have her share with me. Please concentrate on finding a solution to that. Claudia, the points you made, they were damn good. I am pleased to find that you do use your mind, not just slavishly follow your heart. I am proud of all of you.”

“Robert, you must not change the gift Bernie has.”

“What! You changed your mind Wendy?” She cringed, but Cherine encouraged her.

“Bernie is not like you Robbie. She has a very strong spirit. I think that if she shares your pain it will not hurt her, she will use her strength to draw some of the pain from you, help you.”

“Yes, I too feel that strength. I also feel she has no fear in her. Except of not being loved maybe. I am honestly torn in two. I would want that each of you grow up without the slightest fear in you. It can be dangerous though. Experience teaches fear which then teaches us to be more cautious, careful. I want you all to be careful. So, which do I go for, a bit of fear or none?”

“Wake up Robert. Girls are human beings, just like you. They are not so malleable that you can choose every detail of their lives for them.”

“It has nothing to do with being girls. I would not want my son to feel fear either. The same applies.”

“You then think of children as being some kind of putty you can transform into the kind of adult you want?”

“God knows, if I did think that way once upon a time, just Cherine by herself was enough to teach me otherwise. I think it is more often that I am the putty in your hands. Why do you take exception to my worrying about it my loves? Is it wrong for me to do so and yet right for you to all be sitting here worrying and scheming on my behalf? Does that mean you have prejudices about us adults?”

“He thinks he is an adult!”

“So, you have woken up Cherine.”

“Robert, for us, you are a child in many ways. Even though we all admire and depend on you, it is that child in you we do not want to lose. It is too precious.”

I told them about this ‘A’ who is writing our story. Of how he had written ahead of me so that I was forced to copy a few paragraphs from him, since that was what I would have written. I explained about the pictures, which made them also feel a bit better.

“What are you going to do about it Robert?”

“Maybe by him turning us into some kind of fantasy story he is doing us a favour. The more people who read it, the better. They will think of us as a fantasy, but will be better prepared to accept us and the gifts when the world learns about us. I am more worried about him. If he were caught now, Estella might think we are to blame. I do not want that.”

“So what are we going to do?”

735

“Nothing. I will meet with Estella. Give her a way to contact us if he is in trouble. That is all I can do.”

“I thought you said you wanted to find where he put our story on the internet and kill it.”

“Think about it love. Few would want to read about us. There is far too much dialogue and description of my love for all of you and your love for me. I put it in because it is part of our lives. Then there is my way of describing the lovemaking. For strangers it would be boring. There is too much love, too much probing of my conscience, too much care not to hurt, tenderness. Nobody wants to read about that.”

“And our gifts?”

“That is the fantasy part. You check what exists already, there are far more exciting stories out there. Ours is so exciting because we are living it, because it is real. If it was not happening to us, I would have thrown the book down a long time ago.”

Chapter Seventy Three

As Alki said, it was not a problem. We got rid of the girls, they mostly went to visit friends or family. The architect was told a wealthy Arab is purchasing the properties and has authorised me to handle the changes he wants. The design only lives up to the fantasy Westerners have about how Arabs live and there was considerable enthusiasm.

“Mr Teller, how many wives does he have?”

“That is not the kind of question I would dare ask him. At a guess I would say between thirty to fifty.”

“I cannot, within this space create room for so many.”

“If you look at my ideas they incorporate most of what my client wants. We need a central bed to be created with mattress, sheets and blankets to fit. As you can see the bed is nearly twice as big as a very large double bed (what would that be called, sheikh size?). It is also nearly twice as long.

We can fit ten to eleven rooms around this central area, with wide arches. The twelfth space will be taken up by the entrance to the area. Behind each room, at a raised level, there are to be closets for at least four women’s clothing and bathrooms - though we do not need baths, just showers. The beds have to comfortably fit at least four women. Do not forget the space needed for mirrors, make-up etc.

The central area must have its own closets and everything else, situated at a lower level, under the surrounding rooms. The rest of the space under the rooms can be guest bedrooms facing outwards and soundproofed. The main bathroom only needs to have one shower and two washbasins and toilets, though I suggest the shower be large enough to accommodate at least up to ten people. Do not forget bidets in each room. Each bedroom should have a window, a narrow slit will do, so that they have natural light and can see some greenery outside - but the glass must should only be one way, not allowing outsiders to see into the rooms. The central room will have to have its natural light from the roof. I thought maybe an upraised dodecagon mimicking the shape of the room with windows on the sides but a small domed roof on top, covered with red tiles.

The last things I can think of is telephones for all, a music system that allows each room to play their own choice without interfering with the others. Television sets for each room. Satellite of course. Also, put in computer cabling with wired connections to data lines. That is all for here.” (My healer had already warned me that wireless emits rays dangerous to our bodies.)

He looked stunned. “I do not see how that can all fit!”

“Be imaginative.” He shook his head in despair, turning my rough sketches this way and that, as if they would reveal some secret if seen from a different angle.

“Now come outside, let’s see what else we can do.”

I showed him where I wanted a tennis court, the swimming pool to be changed so that it is free-flowing in form with waterfalls and rocks. I wanted a room for exercise, table-tennis, a full size billiards (pool) table. Telephones, music, television and computer points throughout. The lounge had to be designed in such a way that five people will feel cosy and a hundred fit comfortably.

736

By now Alki was shaking his head. He gave up and left us alone.

We earnestly discussed the possibilities of providing solar heating for water and the house, and since such technology is still considered innovative with advances every year, he was excited about using it. In addition, I showed him my design for something like a car radiator to be placed behind the fireplaces and up the flues. This would then also partly provide heating for the house. I wanted a large number of water tanks, for when there is a drought there are often water-cuts. Separate tanks for the toilets and rainwater storage for the garden. I wanted back-up electricity.

Once he had all this, I asked him to join me in the lounge. We sat down with a cup of coffee and I pulled out another sketch.

“The house next door is not suitable for such extensive adaptations so we’ll demolish it and extend this house according to the designs I’ve shown you. Before you build on the land next door, I want, from the edge of this house to the other edge of the next property an underground area of this design. A garage that will fit up to four stretch limos - think of it as being four 20 seater busses. That will be in this area. Here I want the usual laundry and storage. The rest of this space must have lines in for all the computers, telephones etc. The back-up electricity generators will only be for here. This complete area must be insulated, to keep out the heat. We need commercial grade air-conditioning in there. That’s it.”

He left with a wild look in his eyes - even though I made him sign a confidentiality agreement that forbade him from disclosing any details, apart from those he needs to divulge for the building permits.

“You are crazy Roberto. This will cost a fortune!”

“A substantial part of it will be the cost of our tissue banks. They will be directly underneath us.”

For the first time ever I felt his thoughts, his emotions. Behind his stern look was the feeling I imagine a father would be feeling, the indulgence for an extravagant but much loved son. I sent back my feelings of love, respect and admiration. My feeling of having a tower of strength by my side, in other words, a father. His stern look melted.

“You did that to me?”

“I had to show you how I feel about you. I owe you so much Alki, but more than anything else, I owe you for showing me what it should have been like to have a real father, not the cold unfeeling father I did have. You, as much as Cherine, have helped me to blossom and become whatever I am that is at all admirable.”

The look in his eyes, the pride that swelled his heart, they were all I hoped for.

That evening the girls were very sweet. They said they had not felt me enjoy something so much for a long time. I could not help ribbing them a bit, though it had to be by mindspeak, as Alki and Marian were present. I asked innocently, did that include our sex. Our guests have by now learnt to wait indulgently when my girls attack me with pillows and cushions.

Days passed in a very pleasant light-hearted manner. The school holidays began and I had the house full throughout the day. Maria-Elena was beginning to put in an appearance whenever she could, Cherine having seen to it that she developed her own healer and also strenthened her ability to jump. The first time, she arrived screaming with a delicious terror and excitement. Then for a time she would jump just for a quick kiss and hug and go back home. Her parents started to worry about her, thinking she was ill as she kept going to the bathroom so often. I had to lay down a few rules.

When I got a phone call one morning at six a.m, my displeasure disappeared soon as I heard the voice. I listened, my excitement mounting and I jumped up to get dressed.

“That was Wing. Girls, today is a wonderful day. We are going to Taiwan.” I saw the look on their faces. “That’s right. Wing says that after the last time we took them dancing, the three of them got together and decided they love each other. They need our help to make them a circle. They delayed calling us as Wing wanted the refrigerators to be in place so that we could also place our first tissue in our banks. It means we have our Maria bank and a second lot over there. We no longer have to fear what happens if the government finds out and grabs our tissues. I feel like I am flying!”

737

Wendy impishly sent me soaring and they all, except for Dommi, started jumping on the bed. It did not take me long to realise their excitement was from their pleasure in seeing me so happy.

“Cherine, my Cherry baby, think you can get Em-e to spend the day with us to take her to Taiwan?”

I had to fight with Alki. I insisted he and Marian come with us, the babies too. He has jumped with our help short distances, but this scared him. Marian told us to go home, she will see to it.

I felt as if I were walking on hot coals. I was a pest for the rest of the day, waiting for it to become day over there. Soon as it was five a.m. there, we began our jumping. We took our time at each stop, giving Em-e and Alki the time to adjust. Even so, it was no later than six when we arrived directly within Lisa’s flat. Lisa was already putting the final touches to the tea she had prepared for us.

As we appeared she jumped, startled, then yelped as her daughter took off at speed and landed within the arms of Wendy. They softly sang greeting to each other, forcing us to stop and listen to their magical love of each other.

I gave the special thermos Cherine was carrying to Wing. He took it as if I had handed him something holy and fearfully carried it to his refrigerator. I think he spent the rest of the time worrying the fridge would stop working and he would be shamed.

The girls and Alki kept Wing busy while Cherine and I talked to Lisa, Cherine probing for feelings hidden from us by her oriental face and eyes. To taste her feelings of love, first we talked about Lua. I apologised again for putting her at risk. We explained about Daniel and his heartache. Cherine reported an extraordinary amount of compassion which pleased me. Her eyes kept on glancing over at Wendy and Lua, still unable to believe the rapport between them. We told again the story of how the spirit of Lua met her before birth when they sang together.

The arrival of Charlie did not disrupt us. He saw what was going on and kept very silent, sipping his tea deep in thought.

When the conversation turned to Wing and how he had looked after her, Cherine reported that mostly she sensed a strong fondness, gratitude and respect. I had given up on my hope that they’ll truly love each other when I sensed an excitement in Cherine.

*Robert, I have never felt anything like this before. She has actually managed to hide from herself that she loves him. It is a very deep love, even if she is not in love with him.* *And old Charlie? How does she feel about him?*

That took a while longer. It seems what she loves mostly about him is his gentleness and humour. He is also the rock she depends on. I decided we will just have to hope that at our next dance, with the exchange kisses of love and the deeper melding we will lead them into, they’ll find the love that is needed to create their circle. It is not difficult to see that little Lua loves both of the men.

“Robert. Lua wants to speak to you.” I turned and gasped. Lua was a girl of about eighteen. Her mother cried out. They almost looked like sisters, if not for the influence of her father’s genes. She is an extraordinary looking girl, not just the Eurasian looks, but the sweetness and gentle look in her eyes. Luckily she projected herself fully clothed.

She came forward and bowed to her mother, Wing and Charlie and then turned to me. She spoke in the forthright manner of her father Daniel. “I know what you wish Robert. I cannot join any circle unless it includes my father Daniel. If I do, then I will be cut off from him forever.”

“I do not know if it can happen - it would certainly be a wonderful thing. What about your previous mother?”

“She has undertaken a new life. She does not recall Daniel nor myself. It may be better to leave it that way for now. Later, when she has joined a circle of her own, I will meet with her soul. It will be a meeting of joy.”

“You are a young lady who knows exactly what she wants. Let me first see if we can bring Daniel to the dance, we can then discuss it.”

“If they do not love him I will not join in the melding - you will not force me?”

738

“Oh Lua! How could we force you? Would Wendy do that?”

“No, my sister would not.”

“Then neither can we.”

I only took Meli of the girls and Alki with us to the facilities. The first custom-built refrigerator had been installed (we ordered fifteen of them). The samples were transferred from the special flask by a young man correctly masked and gloved. I stood by him, also sterilised and masked. The protector and healer have to know exactly where everything is. I was carrying with me seven healers of the girls and two the Tasso family. Anything happens, now they can instantly collect a cell.

As I had expected, we had to spend a few hours while they showed us how our investment is being used. Alki asked some very sharp questions I had not thought of asking. Though he has stabilised himself in appearance so as to look between thirty eight to forty years old, they showed him a lot more respect than they had shown me and answered all his questions. He pored over their paperwork and took the time to stop at almost every machine and ask questions. I was thoroughly bored, but luckily had my sweet Meli with me and of course Cherine and the others kept up a bright line of chatter, involving me every so often.

As we rode back to the flat Alki was silent for a while.

“Your luck has held true this time Roberto. They have a good line of products. They also have a vast store of new products they can bring out. You will make a lot of money over the years. I see one problem. They should never have asked for four hundred thousand. To expand and capture the market before copy-cats follow them, they need to spend at least another one and a half million. I suggest you invest from the capital we made available to you. I will clear it with Elia, so get it done now that we are here.”

“Wow!! Praise from you, I cannot believe it! Wing, drop us off and return to negotiate the deal. I will do the finalising.”

As we walked into the apartment building, I sensed a small sadness in Alki. I turned to question him, but he spoke first. “Roberto mou, does this mean you will give up your job of graphic art?”

“I have been meaning to surprise you. I have three new Kaleidoscope World pieces and eight other works I have been preparing. They are nearly finalised and you will have them in a few days. I cannot just give it up Alki. I am first of all an artist, it would be like throwing away one of my gifts.” My face lit up. “Think of the world of Meli, how much I can find there to inspire me. Then our alien friends. My hands are itching to get at it.” Suddenly he was beaming at me again and I felt myself filled with love for this crazy coot; imagine him caring about me - it is just too amazing.

We went out that evening for a meal and we were all delighted by the most extraordinary gardens with the sea as a backdrop. The girls were seeing everything with the fresh eyes of Em-e and Bernie, giving them a new perspective that I had been unable to. Alki seemed able to command respect wherever we went so that the service was excellent and the trip was a pleasure for all. He got on very well with old Charlie and they even told each other some jokes.

We returned to the flat, having bought a jade necklace that caught the eye of Em-e (she can wear it whenever she wants to be an adult). I held it in my hands for a long time, drawn to the art and the medium, feeling the ages that have passed since the artist formed beauty out of his imagination. I have a feeling Em-e has a talent for real beauty. We’ll never let her know just how expensive the piece was, I want her to only treasure it for the pleasure of its beauty and the memories it brings back of her first trip with us.

I gave everyone time to relax and recover from the supper and we went to the void. Once I was certain all was well there, with Meli I left for her world.

We found Daniel at his home. I explained our dilemma. I was honest enough to tell him that I was not certain he can join us in the void, but asked him to try. Meli just gave her funny little smile and said nothing. Daniel relaxed and we called to him. It was a moment to remember when he appeared in the void. Not of our amazement, nor the fact that this was a historic moment. Just the joy of Lua and he. I had to run continual interference, reminding them not to meld.

739

It looked for a while as if things were going badly. Her mother and the two men were too anxious. Suddenly the flame of Lua swooped down to me and exchange kissed with me. We drank deeply of the love of each other. Then she returned to her mother and began to lead them in a dance, bringing her father in too. The pace picked up, Lua giving and taking love and seeing to it that all the others exchanged with each other. When she immersed herself into her mother the others followed her without hesitation. There was an implosion and they formed their own World.

The girls and I followed suit, taking our two new members in for their first time. Our Kaleidoscope World came into existence alongside Lua’s.

Even as I came back to being as the one of their greater parts, I sent my greetings to the Lua World. Their I greeted and acknowledged the I of the World of Robert as leader. I sent to the other I the knowledge I have gained through time and then left the other I to communicate with its parts of the Lua World.

The Meli part re-formed the bodies and they visited the green emerald isle, to cavort and communicate with her creations. I saw that even from this I was learning and I was pleased. The Robert part unfortunately decided to attack again, claiming that I am still immature and need to grow up, become more human and develop a sense of humour. I was upset and let them all return to their parts.

“What did you do Robert?”

I told them, not able to stop a grin from splitting my face. Our Chinese hosts stared at me in fear and awe.

“You are able to speak to the great I in such a manner!!”

“Charlie, the I is not a god. It is the collective spirit of the five of you. Keep a part of yourself for yourself. Do not give all to the I. As you needed to grow, from child to adult, so does the I. Play with it, tease it, teach it. Make it grow into something you would all want to be a part of. You cannot spend an eternity in awe of it. But if you can enjoy being part of the I, that might make it tolerable.”

“I see what you meant about the young ladies thinking you a strange one. You have no reverence for any power above you.”

“Oh come on. Show me a god and I will show it the proper reverence - as long as it too has a sense of humour.” That got Alki bellowing with laughter and Cherine first and then the others, giggling. Even baby Lua was gurgling.

“I am pleased to feel you are a circle. How will you manage with one part of your circle absent most of the time? How will he manage alone?”

“We shall discover that. It was the love of Lua that brought us all together. For her, we shall find a way.”

“If you do not, do not suffer in silence. Please call on me. Suffering is not part of our new way of life. We will find a solution.”

“Yes,” Charlie bowed his head so that I would not see the glint of amusement in his eyes, “I think you would too. Nothing is allowed to defy your determination.”

Mocking myself, I replied, “Now you begin to understand my friend.”

We were back in time to avoid upsetting the Kent family, Em-e hiding in her hand her treasure. Her spirit sent a glow to her face that spoke to her parents of the happiness she has found. I worried how she would bear being alone after our dancing, but Cherine thought I was being silly. Of course she would not remain alone. Soon as she could she would jump back. That meant we all had to wait for her. We let Alki and Marian go, though Meli and Bernie stayed with us, both as babies for now.

Since it was morning, Greece time, I asked Meli whether she wants to visit Daniel, to make sure he is alright, but she sleepily refused. I could not sit by the girls with the passions that were stirring my body with such fiery turmoil. I went to my office and did some work for Alki and brought my diary up to date. When a cup of coffee and a cigarette appeared at my side I accepted them gratefully. I avoided looking at Claudia, her body sending me such strong signals that I could not fight it if I did. We ended up, all of us spending a tense day till evening.

740

Once Em-e appeared I sent the protector to keep watch, to warn us should either of her parents decide to check on her. I found out later that for the first time my protector showed a bit of imagination. Her father came in and saw his daughter sleeping and tiptoed out again, even as she lay within my arms. Is it too learning to become deceitful, or was it doing whatever is needed to protect. Where does the fine line get drawn?

I refused, again, to take her virginity. Maria-Elena got upset, but until I have her father accept she is of our circle, I cannot ethically take that last step. By the time she jumped back home I could feel she was completely drained, satiated, but also a little girl with a grievance. With Diana I was passionate, but careful. I thought back to my daughters telling me that they had monitored me and sculpted themselves to be attractive to me. I wondered about the twins. Samantha just let me caress her till she had her orgasm and reverted to her true age. Soon as I had satisfied them all, I took Sam and Bernie in my arms and slept.

The girls wanted to know where we were going this year for holidays. I gave them the bad news. One girl a weekend to Paphos or to one of the other choices. We will have to spend a few months in a hotel while the house is being re-built, so the expenses are already too high for me. They did not plead as children would have, they showed they understood. We spent our time jumping for the day and returning. We also had to go for the day to Taiwan a couple more times. Lua soon picked up the long-distance jumping technique, but the rest of her family have not.

Sometimes Em-e was allowed to join us and a few times we took Laura with. Tasso and his wife were very pleased when I asked to take his kids out also. Slowly we were beginning to increase the frequency Pavlos comes with. I am not sure why we did, as he was surly and mostly sat by himself.

It was too hot to have any of the girls lie on me when sleeping, but they still insisted on sleeping up against me and I had to use the healer to cool me down, otherwise we would have suffered. It was almost the end of June and it would soon become even hotter.

Cherine and I had gone to the kitchen for one of our midnight snacks, which we often do even when not making love. When we returned to bed, her yawns were more frequent than her giggles. She lay up against me, her head on my shoulder for a while. As she slid into a light sleep she moved, her face buried against my side. I wondered how she could stand the heat and did my best to keep it cool for her.

I slid into a deep sleep, satisfied with my day, the work I had done, the feeling of family that bound us all together. I was happy.

…