Genie Chronicles Ch. 26

As Jack pulled out of the airport parking lot he groaned at the thought of the four-or-so hour drive ahead of him. His dream-filled nap on the plane had helped a little, but not as much as it might have.

"Want me to drive?" Jennifer asked.

Jack though about this for a moment, then had a better idea. "Can you conjure up a driver instead, while we cuddle and nap, and perhaps fool around a little?"

Jennifer looked at the loaded rear of the little SUV, then back at Jack with a questioning raised eyebrow.

"And perhaps, um, expand the back a bit, with a nice comfy bed in a little love nest?"

Tingle. Jennifer grinned. "Yes master." Jack suddenly found himself naked, snuggled with Jennifer under soft sheets in a bed in the 'expanded' rear of the SUV while Jennifer's 'sister' manned the wheel. Jack smiled in contentment and lazily pulled Jennifer close to kiss her.

Around three snuggly-nap-filled hours later, Jack developed a strong urge to pee. "Um, perhaps we should have her pull over. I need to take a piss." Jennifer looked at him with an expression that said he could do better.

"What?"

She continued to look at him expectantly.

"Oh! Um, can you get rid of my need to pee so that we can make love?"

She grinned, her eyes flashed, and his bladder was empty. "Not very creative considering the extent of my abilities," she lazily laced her fingers behind his neck and began to pull him down toward her, "but since it results in us doing my very favorite thing, I can't complain." Jack gently resisted her pull long enough to marvel anew at the matchless display of her long russet hair splashed across the pillows, at the golden tan of her skin contrasting deliciously against the light-cream of the sheets of their love nest, at both her brilliant green eyes and the full lips of her cute little mouth smiling up at him in open, lascivious invitation. He couldn't resist her draw for long, though, and it had almost nothing to do with her hands pulling gently on his neck. He lowered his lips to hers.

Their leisurely love making ended just in time to get magically cleaned up and dressed and zap back into the driver and passenger seats before looking for the beach house the family had rented for the week. After a couple of wrong turns they found it and pulled into the driveway. Jack looked over at Jennifer. She looked very nervous. He smiled reassuringly and said, "Don't worry, they'll love you." He had to admit that he felt some nervous excitement himself, though. He fully believed what he had just said, but he was still introducing what was in essence his life partner, eventually his wife if they formalized it that way, to his family. Who wouldn't be a bit nervous?

Leaving their luggage in the car for the moment, they climbed the stairs to the front door — like almost all houses in the area, this one was on pylons, or stilts, as his younger sister used to call them — and opened the door. "Hello?" Jack called.

"Woo Hoo!" came the response from somewhere above. "Up here!"

Jack grinned as he led Jennifer upward. "That's mom."

Two floors up they finally emerged into a large open combined kitchen, dining and den area. A slender, sprightly woman with graying brown hair was puttering around the kitchen until they topped the stairs. "Hey, mom!" Jack said.

"Jack!" she grinned, coming over to give him a hug, then held him at arms length. "Good grief, boy, what have you been doing to look so studly?"

"Mom!" Jack laughed in mild embarrassment. He indicated Jennifer. "It's all her doing. Mom, this is Jennifer Holiday. Jennifer, this is Katharine, my mother."

Katharine had turned at the introduction, and her eyes widened. "Oh, my. Yes I can see how Jack might be inspired to great efforts. You are absolutely lovely, dear." She had taken Jennifer's hand, and shook it warmly. "Welcome to our little family vacation. I hope we don't scare you off."

Jennifer blushed a bit but smiled graciously at the praise, then laughed at the welcome. "Thank you, Mrs. Phillips. That would take some doing, I'm afraid."

"Yes, I bet it would," she mused thoughtfully as she looked between Jack and Jennifer, "I'll wheedle details later." She changed the subject as she headed back toward the kitchen, "You two are probably thirsty. Lemonade?"

"That would be great, mom. How can I help?"

She waved him off, and then waved them both toward stools at the kitchen's counter-slash-breakfast bar. "You can't. It's ice and lemonade in cups. Sit. How was your trip?"

"Long, but... good," Jack said.

"'Good', eh?" she repeated, looking at him shrewdly, a look he remembered well, a look she used when she knew, somehow, that he wasn't telling the whole story, or the whole truth.

Jack grinned back innocently. Not this time, mom. You don't want to know. "Yep," he said out loud.

She narrowed her eyes at him for a moment, "Uh, huh." She let it drop — for now - as she placed glasses in front of them. "Well, your father is taking a nap in our bedroom over there. Why he comes to the beach to nap in the air-conditioned bedroom, the same as he could do at home, is beyond me, but," she shrugged. "Um, let's see..." she ticked off on her fingers as she continued, "I believe Cindy is on the deck outside her room, reading a book. Doreen and Jonathan are taking a stroll on the beach..."

Jack turned to Jennifer, "Cindy was married to Dad's brother until he died in the line of duty. He was an officer in the Army. She's still part of the family, though. Doreen is mom's sister. Jonathan is her husband."

Katharine continued, "Sarah, Janie, and a friend of Janie's that came with her, Lea something-or-other, are sunning by the pool. Zane is down there too, trying to nonchalantly ogle the girls in their much too skimpy bathing suits while trying to hide his boner."

"Mother!" Jack laughed in shock.

She shrugged. "It's true," she said matter-of-factly. "Boys will be boys. And girls will be girls, I guess."

Jack just shook his head and turned back to Jennifer. "Sarah is my younger sister. We've talked about her a bit. Zane is Cindy's son, her only child. Janie is Doreen's and Jonathan's daughter, also an only child. I don't know who Lea is." Jack frowned and turned back to his mother. "What about Martha and Elizabeth?" Martha was Jack's older sister, the wild sibling, and Elizabeth was her young daughter, whose arrival had tamed Martha quite a bit. Martha wasn't sure who the father was. Jack and Jennifer had discussed Martha on several occasions.

Katharine sighed. "She couldn't get the whole week off. She'll be here Wednesday."

"Oh, Okay. Well, I guess we should get our bags moved in. Where is our room?"

Katharine pointed downward. "You guys are in the back bedroom to the left when you come out of the stairs. Sorry, the old folks got dibs on the ocean-front rooms. You should still have a great view from your little balcony, though."

"Okay. We'll go get unpacked, and be back up in a little while." Jack said, gulping the rest of his lemonade before heading for the stairs. Jennifer took a final sip of hers, placed both of their glasses in the sink, and said, "Thanks for the lemonade, Mrs. Phillips," before following after Jack.

Katharine waved her off. "Call me Katherine, please. No thanks necessary, although if you can get that boy to put his dishes away after he's done with them..." she shook her head while pointing to Jennifer having done it for him. A moment later she called down after them. "Dinner is going to be simple tonight; hot dogs and hamburgers. Jonathan'll be lighting the grill when they return from their walk on the beach in a few minutes, so chow time should be in about an hour."

Jack and Jennifer unpacked casually, exchanging frequent caresses and playful grabs as they moved around their bedroom. True to Katharine's word, while their bedroom was on a corner of the house opposite from the ocean, it had a private deck on the side of the house that enjoyed a great view down the beach, and plenty of shade from another deck above. After they finished putting things away, they relaxed in the hammock on the deck, Jack feeling slightly but pleasantly guilty as they swung lazily that he wasn't helping with dinner.

"Your mom's great, I really like her," Jennifer said with a grin, but Jack could tell that there was a 'but'.

"But?"

Jennifer screwed up her face as if she was a bit afraid to go on, or that the Genie was afraid to anger her Master. "Well, she's a little... different."

"Different? How? Do you mean, like, lesbian or something?"

Jennifer rolled her eyes. "No!" But then she frowned and shrugged, "well, maybe. I don't know exactly. She's different because I can't read her like I can most people."

It was Jack's turn to frown. "What do you mean?"

Jennifer thought for a moment. "Well, this isn't the best analogy, but think of most people as, say, a college dorm room, with an open door. Just by walking by the door and glancing inside, you can see a bit about the occupants, and without an invasion of their privacy. That's what I can usually do, sexually related, with most people, just through my basic ability and without a wish or anything from you. A step further would be to stick your head in the door for a quick look. That might roughly equate to the tote board.

"Now, the next step would be a closed but unlocked door. That's kind of what I get from your mom. I can read nothing from her now. If you wished me to, I could 'open the door' and look in without harming her in any way, as the door is 'unlocked', but she might be aware of something going on, just as you would know if someone opened your actual dorm room door and looked inside. There's also the question of if that's more of an invasion of privacy. It certainly would be in the case of the dorm room, but, well," she shrugged, "perhaps that's where the analogy breaks down a bit. Beyond that, as you have mentioned before, she also certainly seems incredibly intuitive."

Jack absorbed this. "So... what would cause this 'closed door'? And as for the intuitive part, we've always written that off as 'motherly intuition'."

Jennifer shrugged. "Hard to say, at least without a wish from you to investigate, and even then my investigation would be restricted to sexual. Or protection, of course, but I certainly don't sense, or expect at this point, that your mother is any danger to you."

Jack raised his eyebrows. "I would certainly hope not!"

"I don't know if you Mom's 'closed door' and intuition are some innate ability, or perhaps something magical. I think I can say, though, that if they are magically related, it isn't Jinn-wrought."

"Huh? What else would it be?"

Jennifer lifted her head from lying on his shoulder to look at him with a raised eyebrow. "It could be many things. You don't think Jinn magic is the only magic, do you?"

Jack looked back at her in shock. "Well, no, I guess not. I honestly haven't thought about it at all, but now that you bring it up, it only makes sense..." he trailed off as the implications flooded his brain. "Holy shit! How could I not have thought about this before? Does that mean that there are, like, really witches and vampires and wizards and stuff?"

Jennifer shrugged again. "Now? I don't know. Back in my original time..."

"Jack?" Jack's dad's voice interrupted from the deck above them. "Are you kids down there?"

Jack was so engrossed in Jennifer's revelation that he nearly jumped out of the hammock in surprise at the call. "Hey!... Dad. Yeah, us 'kids' are down here."

"Well come on up. Dinner is almost ready, and all of us are dying to meet this girlfriend of yours. Your mom tells us she's quite the looker."

Jack shook his head and shrugged apologetically to Jennifer. Typical Dad, Jack thought to himself. Jennifer just giggled. Jack sighed and started maneuvering them out of the hammock. "I guess we'll have to continue this later. Ready?"

Jennifer looked nervous again, but Jack just grinned.

Jack and Jennifer climbed the stairs to the living area to be greeted by a cheerful, slightly cacophonic welcome. Jack looked around to find that all the adults were present, but the kids still must be changing. He waved at everyone and said a general howdy, then steered Jennifer toward his Dad. "Dad, this is Jennifer Holiday. Jennifer, this is Ronald, my Dad."

Jennifer returned Ronald's firm hand shake and said, "It's wonderful to meet you, Mr. Phillips." She released his hand and performed a graceful little spin. Even in her current simple light green pair of corduroy short-shorts, matching sleeveless v-neck t-shirt, and comfortable nearly-flat sandals she was heart-stoppingly gorgeous. She had brushed her long hair until it glowed a deep red, and as she turned she flashed to good effect legs that, in flats, more than equaled what a pin-up model would require spiked heels to achieve. So the answer was already a given when she looked at him, head tilted, eyebrow raised, a saucy little grin playing on her lips and asked "I hope I meet your 'looker' expectations?"

Jack's father was a generation older, and thus a bit old-school, the breadwinner while his wife was the homemaker. Still, he had been a good father, showing up at the important baseball games, dance recitals, etc. Sometimes he was a bit clueless on the finer points of family goings on, and interpersonal interaction, but he knew enough to 'harrumph' and look a bit bashful, now.

Jack's mom laughed and slapped his arm, "Serves you right!" She grinned and held a thumbs-up to Jennifer, "Good for you!"

Jennifer grinned back and shrugged.

Jack led her to a middle-aged couple, next. "Jennifer, this is Jonathan and Doreen Schubert. Doreen is mom's younger sister. Jonathan, Doreen, this is Jennifer Holiday, my girlfriend."

They both greeted her warmly. Jonathan made a heroic effort not to ogle. He was somewhat successful.

Last of the adults was a short, attractive dirty-blond. She was slender and lightly curvy, and Jack was happy to see that the only change in her since the last time he saw her was a slight deepening in the laugh wrinkles around her eyes and at the corner of her mouth. "Jennifer, this is Cindy. Cindy, this is Jennifer Holiday."

Cindy smiled. "It's so nice to meet you. Finally, someone worthy of my favorite nephew!"

Jennifer blushed and said thanks, while Jack snorted. "Cindy, I'm you're only nephew!"

Cindy shrugged. "That just makes my standards higher."

They all stood around and chatted casually while awaiting the arrival of the grilled meat, which Jonathan had gone to retrieve, and the rest of the younger generation, at whom various adults took turns yelling down the stairs to hurry up. Everyone wanted to know how Jack and Jennifer had met, of course, and they repeated their now familiar, totally BS story. There wasn't time for much of anything after that, as the burgers and dogs arrived, followed seconds later by the stragglers. The first was Zane, Cindy's son, a gangly, stick-thin young man sporting a shock of unruly brown hair. Jack was surprised at how tall Zane had grown since the last time he had seen him, but determined not to mention it. That was way too grown-up a comment.

Unsurprisingly, Zane headed straight for the food, giving a grunted reply to any greeting he received on the way. He didn't even notice Jennifer until he had a plate overloaded and started looking for a place to sit. He almost dropped it, then, and spent the next while staring at her while managing to look everywhere but. And shoveling in food, of course.

Last up the stairs was Sarah, Jack's younger sister, and what appeared to be her entourage; their cousin Janie, and a girl Jack didn't recognize who must be Lea. Sarah was worthy of the entourage from a girl's point of view, he supposed; a pretty blond who had always been popular, always a cheerleader, always with the 'in' crowd. Now a senior in college, it wasn't surprising that the younger ladies idolized her, especially Janie, who would be a college freshman at the end of the summer. Long, straight dark hair to Sarah's long, curly blond, slender, understated curves to Sarah's more voluptuous figure, Janie looked like she might be catching up to Sarah in the looks department, even if her look was quite different.

Lea, though, was a surprise, and a bit of a puzzle. Her slightly short, stacked figure had larger breasts and a rounder, fuller, tighter ass than Sarah, yet had a tiny waist and toned, tan legs that only a teen could possess. Her pretty face and lustrous, wavy brown hair combined with the rest to make for a very hot young lady, yet she gave every indication of being extremely self conscious, and deferential to both of the other girls. Jack made a mental note to nose into that a bit.

Sarah led her little procession halfway into the room before she spotted Jennifer, and then she visually deflated. Jack and Jennifer walked up to the trio. "Hey, Sarah. This is Jennifer, my girlfriend. Jennifer, this is my sister Sarah, my cousin Janie, and this must be Lea, yes?" Lea nodded mutely as she stared at Jennifer in awe. Janie said, "Um, hi," as she did the same thing. Sarah managed to extend her hand and shake Jennifer's as she said, "Nice to meet you," while also staring half in awe, half in something a bit more sour. Jennifer greeted them all warmly.

"Come on everyone, let's eat before the food gets cold... or Zane eats it all." Katharine said. Zane blushed slightly, but didn't stop shoveling it in, or staring in what he hoped was a surreptitious manner at Jennifer. Jack and Jennifer slowly moved toward the buffet where the food was laid out, winding up in line behind the girls. Filling their plates, they looked for a place to sit. The girls had ensconced themselves at one small table, and the youngest two at least were giving Jennifer looks as if they hoped she would join them. Jack looked over at Zane. "I'm going to sit with Zane. He looks a bit lonely."

"Ok, I'll go with you."

"Sure you don't want to sit with your new fan club?"

Jennifer smiled ruefully, "I have a feeling there will be plenty of that this week."

"Aw, poor baby." Jack said completely insincerely. Jennifer narrowed her eyes at him.

Zane sat up straighter and looked a bit uncomfortable yet excited when it was obvious they were heading his way. "Hey, Zane! Mind if we join you?" Jack asked.

"Uh, sure!"

They sat, and then realized they had forgotten beverages. "I'll get them!" Jennifer said, bouncing back up. She looked at Jack with a raised eyebrow and asked in a voice suspicious for sounding remarkably flight attendant-like. "Ice cold bottle of beer, sir?"

Jack narrowed his eyes in return, "Sure."

Zane observed the obviously charged exchange, then Jennifer's captivating backside as she walked away. He noticed Jack noticing his noticing, and looked hurriedly down at his plate. Jack smiled. "Zane, let's go ahead and take care of something now."

Zane looked up with a miserable 'busted' expression on his face. "Yes, Uncle Jack."

Jack snorted, "No, let's take care of that first. Call me 'uncle' again and I'll smack ya. It's just Jack, got me?"

Zack grinned. "Yes, un... Jack."

"Good. Now. She," he indicated Jennifer across the room putting ice in a cup, "is incredibly hot, yes?"

"Yeah, I guess so." Zane said noncommittally, obviously unsure of where the conversation was going.

"You 'guess so.' Not to brag, but honestly, have you ever seen anyone hotter in person?"

"Um, no, I guess not."

"Good. So, it would be very unfair, and unrealistic, for me to expect you, a healthy young lad, not to admire her, yes."

"Uh, I guess so?"

"Right. Therefore, I give you permission to ogle her as much as you want. I don't mind, and she won't either."

Jennifer returned at that point, cutting off their discussion. She looked back and forth between them suspiciously. "Have you boys been talking about me?"