Just the Six of Us Ch. 29

*****

Mike glanced up at the clock, shielding his eyes from the light of the sun blaring through his window. Danni was snoring softly beside him, the covers pulled up tight around her, with just her pink cast showing. He smiled and climbed out of bed as quietly as he could.

"So... sex with the twin or Blondie McHugeknockers?"

'Neither,' Mike thought.

"So you're gonna go barge in on grumpy-ass, or maybe go back in and fuck the cripple so much that you break her other leg?"

'No,' Mike thought again. 'I'm not in the mood.'

"Haha, funny. Seriously, which one is it?"

Mike ignored the voice as he headed downstairs. Beth was sitting at the table reading a thick book and drinking a smoothie. He glanced over and saw that Sarah's door was open.

Beth followed his gaze and shook her head. "Don't bother, she was gone when I got up."

He sighed and turned to make himself something to eat.

"Dude, seriously, which one?"

Danni came thumping slowly down the stairs. Mike stood and headed over to help her.

"No!" she warned. "I'm going to have to do this when you aren't here, so I'll have to get used to it."

"Seriously man, are we fuckin' or what?"

Mike nodded, but positioned himself at the bottom of the stairs, just in case she fell.

"Looks like we're missing class today," he muttered as Danni thumped her way down.

"Yeah, it'd be a perfect day for getting' some! But nooooo! Fucker."

Danni seemed to be getting the hang of the crutches, but her progress downstairs was slow. Mike was patient, however, and she soon reached the bottom. She quickly sat in a chair to catch her breath.

"Want me to make you something?" Mike asked.

She shook her head. "I can do it."

"Quit being so stubborn. Of course you can do it, but that doesn't mean you have to," Beth said as she stood. "I've already got you a smoothie ready."

Danni smiled and reached out for the glass as Emma appeared at the base of the stairs.

"Sarah up yet?" Emma asked as she entered the kitchen.

Mike nodded his head at her door. "Beth said she was gone when she woke up."

Emma sighed, sounding more than a little like her brother. She glanced over at Mike. "I'm sure she'll be fine."

He nodded. "She's just pissed."

Danni rolled her eyes. "You were going to spend just as much time with her as you were with the rest of us."

"She's mad at me because she was worried about me, and I made her worry for no reason," Mike said.

"Yeah, but believe me, that's not the only reason."

"Why else would she be mad?" Mike asked.

"Yes, do tell," said a voice behind them. Standing at the front door was Sarah, having quietly entered while her siblings were talking. She looked like she'd been out for a walk, by the way she was dressed.

Mike turned and could feel the palpable tension in the room. "Sarah, lets go outside and talk please."

"No. I want to hear the other reason why I'm so pissed."

"Like you don't know," Danni said.

"Both of you knock it off," Emma said.

"Come on, let me hear it!" Sarah said loudly.

Danni shook her head and rolled her eyes.

"Danni, Sarah, let's just—" Mike started.

"You just want him all for yourself," Danni said quietly, her words cutting through the air.

"There's the old Danni we all know and love!" Sarah yelled. "Go ahead! Let me have it!"

"Even before his accident, you would get all pissed when he didn't spend any time with you. How many times did we hear about, 'I wish Mike would visit my room!'" Danni yelled mockingly.

"This from the one that gets to spend every night with him?" Sarah yelled.

"Don't even go there," Danni spat back.

"It's true, isn't it!"

"Fuck you, Sarah," Danni said, sounding just like her old self.

Sarah came forward quickly and raised her hand to slap her sister, but decided against it and stopped the swing, flipping her off instead. Then she turned and headed to her room.

"Run away again," Danni yelled.

"You're all so spoiled and ungrateful. I didn't ask for any of this!" Sarah yelled, tears rimming her eyes.

"Sarah... don't," Emma called after her.

"Do you think I wanted to take care of four kids when I was seventeen? SEVENTEEN!" she yelled, stopping and turning at the edge of the kitchen. "I gave up everything for you and I never ask anything for myself. NOTHING! All I ever wanted was for y'all to be happy. I wish like hell that mom and dad were still here so that I didn't have to deal with all this bullshit. I'm almost sorry that I started all of this... this stuff with our brother."

Mike had had enough. He sighed and turned to head upstairs, reappearing a few seconds later with his shoes on and keys in his hand. Danni and Sarah were still having at one another.

"Mike, where are you going?" Emma asked, stopping the argument.

"OUT," he yelled. "I'm tired of being the focus of conflict in this house." He turned and silently walked out the front door, slamming it behind him.

*****

"Are you two happy now?" Beth asked.

"Stay out of this, Beth," Sarah yelled.

"No one asked you to take care of everything in this house, Sarah, so don't complain when you take it upon yourself to do it."

"Who else would do it, then?" Sarah spat back.

"It would get done," Danni answered, having no better answer.

Sarah rolled her eyes.

"Mike just wanted time alone with all of us, to make sure that we each knew how much he cared," Emma said, trying to calm Sarah down. She knew that the argument had blossomed into more than just Mike's memory, loss however.

"So he told all of you before he told me," Sarah said acridly. "I guess I should have expected that."

"Oh, get over yourself. We all have to share him, what makes you so fucking special?" Danni yelled.

"I never said I was special, or that I deserved him more. It hurts that he told all of you before telling me. He could have let me know he was okay! I'm the one that takes care of you guys. I'm the one that has to worry about everything!"

Danni rolled her eyes.

"Dammit, fuck you Danni!" Sarah yelled, crying again. She turned and headed back to her room.

"What the hell's gotten into you, Danni?" Beth asked, turning and following Emma upstairs.

*****

Mike hopped in his truck and started it, pulling out of the driveway and turning on the radio. He drove aimlessly, no particular destination in mind.

"Bitches, man, am I right?"

'Shut up,' he thought.

"That was a pretty serious fight."

'I've seen worse. Danni and Sarah can really get scary when they go at it. You should've seen them when Danni went to parties when Sarah told her not to.'

"So why did you leave if you've seen this before?"

'I caused this.'

"So are you going somewhere in particular?"

'No.'

"Okay..."

"FUCK!" Mike yelled loudly.

"Just take it easy, man."

Mike breathed in deeply and then let it out in a long, tired sigh. He drove around aimlessly for awhile, a few hours passed. "I need someone to talk to," he said eventually.

"You can always talk to me man."

'No offense, but I need someone that isn't in my head,' he thought.

The voice seemed to take that in stride and fell silent.

A sudden idea struck.

******

Emily sat in one of her dad's oversized shirts, painting her toenails when her phone buzzed. She set the brush down and peered down at the small device. It was Mike.

She smiled as she replied to him, and then stood to get dressed.

Twenty minutes later, he was sitting in an easy chair in her living room, looking tired and more than a little irritated.

"So what's the matter?" she asked.

"Is your dad here?" he asked, ignoring her question.

She shook her head. "He's still at work."

Mike nodded and seemed to relax. "I just wanna talk about personal stuff."

She smiled at him and nodded. "I'm here for whatever you need."

"HELL YEAH!"

'Not what she meant,' he thought.

"Danni was in a car wreck last night," he started.

"OH MY GOD!" Emily said, holding her hands to her face in shock.

Mike raised a hand to calm her. "She's okay, mostly. She got a cut on her cheek and has a broken leg, but other than that, she seems to be okay."

Emily still had her hands up to her face. "Oh my god! What happened?"

"Well, it was that same guy that's been pulling shit for the past couple of months."

"Oh no!" Emily said.

"According to the police, he tried to ram her off an overpass and when she slammed on the brakes, he flew over the railing and hit the road below. He died on impact."

"Oh my god!" Emily repeated. She tended to have a hard time moving past her initial shock when things like this happened. Eventually, Mike got her calmed down and they moved past the particulars of the accident.

"Well, just tell her that if she needs anything that I'll be happy to help."

"I will," Mike said, and fell silent.

Emily felt the air between them get uncomfortable.

"What?" she asked.

"That's not really why I came over."

"Oh," she said. "Well, what's up?"

Mike shifted nervously in his chair as she stood.

"Can I get you some tea?"

"Thanks," he said, nodding.

She headed to the cabinet and got a glass down, filled it with ice and poured some sweet tea for him.

He fidgeted with the glass, obviously not wanting to broach the subject.

"Mike, you can tell me anything," she said. "Remember, I've told you about tons of sex that I've had with men, women, and maybe a few others. You can't shock me."

"I'm just not used to talking about this," he said.

"Well," she said, thinking. "Just start wherever you feel comfortable."

He was silent for several long moments. Finally he cleared his throat and looked up at her.

"So you know what's been going on with my sisters and me?"

She smiled, blushing a little. She cleared her throat. "I figured it was about this."

Mike blushed then. "I uh... I've... well... fucked up."

"Oh my god!" Emily exclaimed. "Which one is it? Emma?"

"What?" he asked, genuinely confused.

"Pregnant! Which one?"

"Oh god," Mike said, shaking his head. "No, no, no! None of them are pregnant, as far as I know." He shook his head repeatedly.

"Oh. Sorry."

"No, it's not that, thank God."

"Sorry," she said again.

He laughed nervously.

"Dude, that's not cool."

He ran a hand through his hair before speaking.

"When you and I went out, I still couldn't remember anything from the past year. I kept having headaches that night, but I couldn't remember anything. When we were standing out in front of your house and I kissed you, however, it all came flooding back." He took a long swig of his tea then before continuing.

"After I went home, I decided to tell Danni, but none of my other sisters."

Emily looked at him oddly. "Okay..." she said. "Can I ask a few questions first?"

Mike nodded.

"So they each know that you're sleeping with the other sisters?" He nodded. "They share you equally, or is there like a schedule?"

Mike chuckled, not realizing how silly it all sounded. "Well," he said smiling, "I mean, I can draw you a diagram."

She shook her head. "Just a rough overview is fine," she said, smiling.

"Well, Danni gets most of the nights. It started out as a means for her to feel protected, and then eventually it just kind of happened. Honestly, I don't really know how all of my other sisters got involved, but that's not the important part. They share me, but there aren't any set rules. I try and spend time with each of them, but there's only so much time in the day."

"So they're okay with sharing you then?"

"For the most part, I guess," he said. "I mean, I guess it's kind of like an open relationship. Or maybe like a plural marriage, except we aren't married. Hell, I don't know what the hell to call it," he said finally, giving up.

"So you didn't tell anyone but Danni, continue," she said.

"I know how it sounds. I had good intentions," he said. "Kinda. You see, I just wanted some time with each of my sisters, without them coming and jumping me."

The look on her face spoke volumes.

"I know, saying it out loud makes it sound absurd. The point is that I didn't tell my other sisters right off. I told Emma a day or so later, and I told Beth after that, this previous weekend at the cabin. I hadn't told Sarah about remembering until the accident. It kind of slipped out and she's furious."

"Understandably. I'd be mad too. Didn't your other sisters think she'd be upset?"

"They mentioned that a time or two," he said, a sheepish look on his face.

She smiled at that. "You're obviously the Alpha in those relationships," she said.

"How's that?"

"Well," she said, "you wear the pants with Emma, Beth and Danni. It's different, I expect, with Sarah. It probably has to do with her being the one that took care of y'all for so long."

Mike nodded. "I hadn't thought of that."

She shook her head. "Anyways, continue. I'm not wanting to get you off track."

He took another drink. "Well, she slapped the shit out of me at the hospital, and then when I woke up this morning, she was gone. She got back when Danni was saying some not so nice things, about her wanting to monopolize all the time with me."

"Was she wrong?"

Mike was quiet for a moment, thinking. "No, but they all get that way."

Emily rolled her eyes. "Oh you poor guy," she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

He smiled. "I know, I know. But I'm serious. It's not anything that's bad, but Danni gets that way too. I just don't know how to fix this situation. I'm just so pissed that I seem to keep causing all these difficult situations in my family."

"Maybe you shouldn't be fucking your own sisters," Emily said, trying to hide a grin.

"Jesus, Emily," Mike said.

"Well, what do you expect? If you were dating four women in real life that knew you were dating each other, how well do you expect that would go over? Women are very complex creatures, Michael."

"Yeah, no shit," he said.

She slapped him gently on the arm.

"My advice?" she asked.

He nodded.

"Just be honest. Tell them how you feel. Talking is how problems get solved, so just tell them what you're feeling, what's bothering you. My guess is that your sisters will be able to figure out a way to get through this. Sarah's mad and she has every right to be, but she'll get over it."

"You think so?"

Emily nodded. "She's a woman, but she's not insane. As long as you go back to her, I'm sure she'll be back on 'Team Mike' soon enough."

He laughed at that and suddenly realized how good it felt to do so. It was like all the stress over the past few days was lessened just a little bit.

"So what do you mean by 'alpha?'"

She smiled. "You just like hearing how awesome you are."

He grinned. "Of course I do, but I'm serious."

She shrugged and smiled. "Well, in the bedroom and if you guys were able to date in a public setting, you'd be the one calling the shots. For instance, when you're having sex with them, are you the one putting them where you want them?"

Mike thought for a moment. "Yeah, for the most part. Danni and Emma are definitely like that, but Beth gets a little... rambunctious and takes over sometimes. Sarah though, she usually does take the lead. I always assumed she was just more experienced and knew what she was doing more than I did."

Emily laughed at that. "Don't mention that she's more experienced if you wanna live through the night."

He laughed at her. "No shit."

"That's what I mean by Alpha. You're then one in charge. If you say do this, they do it. For me, it was different. Sean was only slightly more experienced than I was, so neither of us were at the 'Alpha' stage when we got together. When he started to share me with girls and other guys, some of them were Alphas, but I got to where I knew what I liked, and began to take over in the bedroom."

Mike nodded. "I wouldn't have pictured you as the 'Alpha,' he said.

Emily smiled. "Sweet little ol' Christian Emily?" she said, crossing her eyes, drawing a chuckle from him.

He stood then and nodded. "I knew talking to you would be a good idea."

She smiled and came around the counter, opening her arms up and wrapping him in a hug. It felt really good.

They separated and she walked him to the door.

"Thanks again, Emily," he said as she shut the door.

*****

It was late when Mike made it home. He didn't see Sarah, but her car was in the driveway, so that at least made him feel a little better. He headed to the kitchen and made himself a sandwich, then headed to the living room to watch some SportsCenter. After a few minutes, he'd wolfed his snack down and clicked the TV off. Heading upstairs, he entered his room to find Danni sitting on the edge of his bed and trying to work a pair of pajama bottoms over the cast. Smiling, he moved to help her.

"I've got it," she said.

He raised his hands and took his shirt off, tossing it at the hamper, followed by his pants and socks. He reached into his dresser for a fresh pair of boxer briefs and slipped them on after he'd shucked his current pair. Turning, he waited patiently for Danni to finish and then slid in beside her. He wrapped his arms around her and inhaled her sweet scent deeply.

A long moment of silence passed and finally she turned. "Are you mad at me?"

Mike pulled back a little bit. "No, why would I be?"

She shrugged. "Because I'm a bitch."

He shook his head. "Why would you say that?"

She sighed, sinking back into him. "I just can't believe all the things I was saying to Sarah. It's like it was the old me, all over again. I don't want to go back to being that person."

Mike smiled. "I don't know, I think our sex would be pretty athletic, you throwing books and shit at me while I was fucking you."

She pushed back into him forcefully. "I mean it. I don't like the old me. I don't want to be that girl again."

Mike chuckled. "I don't think that's gonna happen, goofy."

"Were you listening to the argument?"

"You were just upset, Danni. Probably just a lot of pent up fear and frustration, anger from the accident. You aren't going to be reverting back to 'Old Danni.'

"How can you be so sure?"

"Well, what's different between before and now?"

There was silence while she thought. "Well, besides us, nothing, really," she said eventually.

"Exactly. You're a different person when we're together."

"So what you're saying is, because I'm fucking you, I'm nicer?"

He grinned. "Yep, I've got a magic dick."

"Abracadabra, Bitch."

She erupted into laughter.

"And, since I'm not planning on losing my magic dick anytime soon, I think you'll be nice from now on."

She laughed even harder, clutching at her stomach. "Ow, ow, ow," she said eventually. "Don't make me laugh so hard, it makes my leg hurt."

He smiled and nuzzled into her.

"So do you wanna try and fool around?" she asked, pressing her buttocks into him and wiggling around.

"SAY YES, SAY YES GODDAMMIT!"

Mike squeezed her up against him. "I think we'd better give it a day or so. I don't want to break your other leg," he said.

She giggled again. "I don't know, if you were fucking me THAT hard, it'd probably be worth it."

He grinned. "Let's just go to sleep tonight, we can try and fool around tomorrow."

"Okay, my love," she said, scooting back into him further. Sleep took them both quickly.

*****

Mike rubbed his eyes, the dawn just peeking in his window. He rolled out of bed and headed downstairs after he pissed. Sarah's door was open, but she wasn't there. He headed to the kitchen window and peered out. Her car was gone. He sighed and grabbed a bowl of cereal. A little later, Danni thumped down the stairs. He kissed her on the forehead and headed back up to change for class.