Life after the Lottery Ch. 73

"Smart girl," Dawn said.

"We have got to go," Amy said.

The two of them left together.

"What time are your parents and Amelia arriving at the airport?" I asked.

"They land at 11:00. What time are your parents going to be here?"

"They said about 1:00."

"Do you want me to go and pick up my parents?" Dawn asked.

"I'll pick them up. I know you have a lot to do. We should be back by 12:30 or so."

"Okay. Once everyone gets here, we need to get them all settled in," Dawn added.

Dawn was putting the last dish in the dishwasher as I rinsed the sink.

"Honey, I need to ask you about something?" Dawn said.

"What?"

"I wasn't going to ask you about it because you didn't say anything, but since our parents are going to be here this weekend, I wanted to ask."

"Ask me what?"

"Is there a reason you didn't tell me about fucking your mom before she left? You know I know."

"I just didn't."

"Any reason? You know I wouldn't care."

"I just wasn't sure mom would want all of you to know. She wanted me to do it...finally."

"Well, I know you enjoyed it, and I know she did. The girls would be okay with it."

"Mom and I didn't talk about afterward. I don't think she wanted all of you to know."

"Well, if you don't want to talk about it, that's okay."

"Sorry."

"No, that is okay. You know I knew. Sam probably knows."

"I'll talk to mom about it and see if she is okay with all of you knowing," I said.

"I have a feeling she won't care. But, I wonder if she told your dad?"

"I'm sure she did."

"Honey, did you not tell us because I didn't let my dad fuck me?"

"No. It's just like I wasn't sure about you knowing about Deb."

"Well, we are beyond that now. Stop worrying about it."

Dawn pulled me down and kissed me, and I went to the den. I grabbed my laptop and sat and checked my email.

"What all do you still have to do this afternoon?" Dawn asked.

"Just get the rest of things ready."

"You and Bob are ready to go?"

"Yes."

I kept going through some email for a few minutes.

"I would let my dad," Dawn said.

I looked over at her.

"Fuck you?"

"Yes. I don't think he would have at Thanksgiving because everyone was here."

"What would your mom say about it?"

"She wouldn't be surprised."

I kept going through my email while Dawn went upstairs.

*****

"I'm heading out!!" I yelled at 10:30.

"Okay!!"

I drove to the airport and waited until Dawn's dad called and said they were heading my way. I waited until I saw the three of them.

"Hey, everyone."

"Hi, James," Ann said and kissed me.

We went to the baggage claim and waited.

"Are you ready to get this project going?" Ann asked.

"Oh, yes. I hope it takes off and runs itself."

Once their bags came out, we grabbed them and carried them out to the curb. Charlie walked with me to get the Escalade.

"When are your parents going to be here?" Charlie asked.

"They may be there when we get back."

"What time will we need to be ready?"

"The cocktail party starts about 7:00. The fashion show starts at 8:00. I'll have to leave early, and so will Dawn and the girls. You can take Dawn's Jag."

We drove back to the loading zone, and I was loading their bags into the Escalade while they got in.

"How was the flight?" I asked as I got in the front seat.

"It's not that long," Ann said. "Have you all been busy?"

"Yes. We have a lot to do this afternoon."

"What time are we all leaving?" Ann asked.

"Probably by 6:30. There is a party before the fashion show at 7:00."

"Sounds like all of you are going to have a big weekend," Amelia said from the back.

"We will get unpacked and get all our clothes ready," Ann said.

"My parents may be there when we get to the house."

When I pulled up to the house, I saw dad's car. Charlie helped me unload all the bags and carry them inside. It looked like my parents had just arrived because they were still standing and talking to Dawn.

"Hi, son," mom said and walked over and kissed me.

"Hi, you three," she said to Ann, Amelia, and Charlie.

"Good to see you two again," Ann said.

Charlie and I took the bags to the big bedroom downstairs. Dad and mom were coming back in with their bags.

"You all take the room you had last time," I told him. "We have a house guest staying in the other one."

They all went to get unpacked. I went to my study and started loading and checking all the film. Mom came in to sit later.

"Dawn said you will be the only one taking pictures tonight."

"Yep. Linda only wants me to take them. She wants control over what gets published."

"This is going to be a big weekend. You have the store opening, and the limo business just opened. I hope you haven't been so busy you neglected anything."

"We have all been busy. Amy and Samantha have been helping get the store going."

"What about the limo business?"

"It has gotten off to a good start. All the limos are reserved for moving people around this weekend. There are a lot of people in from out of town and the press. Linda has a lot of contacts."

"Son, we didn't talk about what happened before we left last time," mom said. "Are you okay with what we did?"

"Sure, mom."

"Honey, did you enjoy doing it finally?"

"Very much."

"Good. I'm over 60. I didn't know if you would."

I sat next to my mom.

"Mom, you may be just over 60, but you still look very hot."

"Thanks, honey."

"I'm serious. You still have a very hot body."

"Hot enough, you would like to do me again?"

"Of course I would, mom."

"Your dad is hoping he can do Amelia and Ann again this weekend."

"I'm sure he can. Did you all talk about going to Hawaii?"

"It looks like June would be the best. Does that work for all of you?"

"It should...but I need to tell you about something?"

"What?"

"Dawn and the girls are planning on getting pregnant."

"What? All of them?"

"Yes."

"Honey, Dawn is 39 years old."

"Her doctor told her it would be okay. He said she has the body of a 28-year-old."

"She does...but Sam and Amy too? Sam is only nineteen."

"Yes. They sprung this on me when we were in Paris with Linda over New Year's. Let them tell you about it, please."

"Okay. Are you ready for that?"

"Yes. We have had some long talks about it."

"I hope so. What brought all this up?"

"Well...that is something else I need to tell you about."

"What?"

"It came up in Paris because...Linda wants me to father her baby?"

"What!"

"She and Rachel want to have a child, and Linda is 31 years old. She is not going to marry another man...so she and Rachel asked me."

"And you are okay with that...and Dawn is okay with that...and the girls?"

"They were all happy about it."

"With your history with her, I guess it makes sense."

"The plans Linda and Rachel have are to tell the child I am the father and not keep any secrets."

"Well...that is probably best."

"Linda and Rachel are also going to build a house on the land next to us."

"I guess as long as Dawn...and the girls are good with it, great."

"One more thing."

"Now what?"

"Rachel, Linda's partner, also wants me to father her child."

"Well...when is all this going to happen?" Mom asked.

"The five of them are planning to all get pregnant and have their babies, our babies, around Christmas."

Mom laughed.

"Five babies! They will all be busy!"

"I'll be busy! They need to get pregnant around the end of next month!"

Mom laughed.

"Just let them tell you about it, please."

"Okay," mom said.

"Mom, did you tell dad?"

"That you fucked me?"

"Yes."

"I did. He said it took you long enough to finally do it!"

We laughed.

"Next time...we will have to make it more special," mom said. "Anything I can help with?"

"I have all the film ready. All my gear is already set up at the store."

"Are you all going to eat before you go?" Mom asked.

"We probably better eat something."

"I'll go and find Dawn and ask her what I can fix."

Mom left my study, and I finished packing everything.

I was in the den talking to dad when Samantha and Amy came in from school.

"How did you do on your test?" I asked Samantha.

"Perfect...of course."

She sat next to me.

"What about your lab from last night?"

"I made it up this morning."

"Sam, are you going to be modeling lingerie tonight?" My dad asked.

"Of course...you dirty old man!" We laughed.

"Dawn and Amy are, too," I said.

By a little after 3:30, all the women were running around getting ready.

"Is your tux ready?" Dawn asked.

"Yes."

"We need to go shower and start fixing our hair."

Dawn went upstairs with Amy and Samantha.

"We need to start getting ready, too," Ann said.

For once, I didn't have anything to do. I went and got the big box of art photos I had made and showed them to Charlie and my dad. They thought they were pretty hot. Dad wanted one for the house.

*****

Mom and Ann had cooked a little, and everyone was running in and out of the kitchen snacking.

By 5:00, my girls went up to finish getting ready. Everyone else went to start getting ready. I was making one last check. I checked a few other things and got everything ready to go.

I went up to the bedroom, and Dawn was working on her hair.

"Will you three be ready to go by 6:30?"

"We will be ready."

I showered and shaved, and finished putting on my tux, and went downstairs. Dad and Charlie were in their tuxes and waiting.

"Will they all be ready by 6:30?" I asked.

"They said they would," Charlie replied.

"You three take Dawn's Jag. Dad, you and mom, take your car. We will probably be there until late. You all can come back once things are over."

Dawn and the girls came down a little after 6:00.

Dawn had on a long black sequin gown and looked fabulous. She was wearing her diamonds, and Samantha and Amy also had on the same long black gowns with all their jewelry.

"You three look fabulous," I told them.

"Yes, you do," my dad said.

"We decided we would all wear black," Dawn said.

Dawn had all her black hair hanging down her back over her exposed skin. Amy and Samantha both had their hair in loose curls. The three of them looked hot with the plunging necklines.

"You three look very hot!" I exclaimed. "That is a lot of clothes to take off so you can model."

"What do we do with our jewelry while we are modeling?" Dawn asked.

"Put it in the safe at the store."

"Do we need our coats?" Dawn asked.

"It's about 45 degrees," I said.

"We can do without them."

Ann and Amelia came out looking fantastic.

"You three look nice," Ann said.

"You do too."

My mom came out in a sexy green gown.

"Oh, my. You three are gorgeous," mom said to them.

"You look pretty hot too!" Amy told her.

"Let me go start the cars and get them warm while you all get ready," I told them.

I went out and started the cars.

*****

We all arrived at the store just before 7:00. There were already limos dropping people off for the party before the fashion show. I had hired valets to park all the cars that pulled up. I pulled up after a limo pulled off.

"Good evening, sir," the valet said.

We all got out.

"The two cars behind us are our parents. Park them next to our SUV," I said.

"Yes, sir."

I escorted all my gorgeous ladies inside, and we waited.

A minute later, our parents and Amelia came in.

Linda was standing at the front of the store greeting people. She had on a full-length white evening gown and looked nice. We had let the press bring their cameras in for everything but the fashion show. They took several pictures of us as we walked up and gave Linda a kiss.

"You three look fabulous!" She said.

"Thanks," Dawn replied.

I introduced our parents to Linda and Rachel.

A waiter came by, and we grabbed some champagne.

"Are you going to model?" I asked Linda.

"Not sure," Linda said with a smile.

She introduced us as the owners to some people, and we talked to some press. We mingled and greeted people until about 7:30. Linda had talked to our parents for a few minutes.

"We need to go get ready," Dawn said.

"I do too."

I found our parents.

"We all have to get ready. All of you find some seats when it starts, and we will catch up with you after it is over," I said.

"Okay. Good luck," mom said.

We made our way to the elevator and went up to the third floor.

"Find Brenda or Sherri. They will have the combination to the safe on this floor," I told them.

We got off on the third floor. There were people running around checking lights and other things.

"See you later," Dawn said as they walked off.

I saw Bob sitting with my camera equipment and walked over.

"Is everything okay?" I asked.

"Yes. I just keep having to make sure they don't unplug our electricity. They did once, and I took a roll of duct tape and covered the wall plug."

I handed him the bag of film, and he finished loading it. I climbed up the step ladder onto the platform and checked all the camera equipment, and tested the flash units. I got down and sat next to Bob.

"I hope there are no surprises tonight," I said.

"There shouldn't be. I tape down some more cords."

We watched people run around for about 15 minutes. Then people started getting off the elevator and making their way to the chairs.

"How many people will be here?" Bob asked.

"About 350, I think."

I stood and watched as everyone made their way to their seats. I saw some of the people I had invited. I saw Deb, Pete, Angie, and Brian. With five minutes to go, everyone was seated. Linda walked by, heading to the back. Bob and I made sure we still had electricity.

The lights went down a few minutes later, and a spotlight came up on the stage. Linda walked out and every applauded.

"Thank you, everyone! Thank you!"

"We are happy you are here tonight. This is a special evening for myself and the Smiths. We have kept the store opening low profile until now. As you have seen, if you toured the store, we are going to carry a full line of imported lingerie and swimwear and high fashion ladies' wear. On the first floor, there is the ladies' high fashion area. We are carrying name-brand designers and other fashion accessories. The second floor is luxurious imported lingerie and swimwear. I am happy to announce that within a week, this floor will hold our upscale men's wear, complete with tailoring."

Everyone applauded.

"Tonight, we are going to preview our full line of lingerie and swimwear. You will get to see what our buyers have brought us from around the globe. Tomorrow night, we will be previewing the designer fashions from the ladies' wear. I expect to see all of you back here tomorrow night at the same time."

"I am happy to announce that all of you will have the opportunity for an exclusive pre-opening sale tomorrow. The store will open at 10:00 and remain open until 6:00. Please come and take advantage of the private sale before the second part of our fashion show at 8:00. Then we will show our line of high fashion ladies' clothing."

There was more applause.

"Men, you make sure you come with your ladies. There will be something here for you too! We are looking forward to this store being a big success. It, along with the attached stores, is forming our lifestyle operations. In the attached stores, you will have designer furs, designer shoes, and handbags. A full-service luxury spa. I am pleased to announce that there will be a designer jewelry store also with plenty of one-of-a-kind items. We have a coffee shop and café for you to take a break at on one end of the strip. On the other end, we have an imported chocolate and wine store. We also have a men's shoe store that will carry fashionable shoes for men to go with the nice things they buy here. There will also be a men's high fashion activewear store."

"There will be other stores opening within a month. One more store that will be included is a modern art store. This will be my personal store and will have items I have selected from around the world. It will open tomorrow, along with all the other stores. I hope all of you are ready to enjoy the preview of our high fashion lingerie and swimwear. So, sit back, and enjoy!"

Linda walked behind the curtain to applause.

"Here we go," I said as I climbed up on the platform.

The lights went down, and the music came up. Spotlights came up from around the room, and the fog machines came on, pumping out low-hanging fog on the runway. I looked through my viewfinder and double-checked.

The first lady walked out onto the stage in swimwear and paused, then walked down the runway. She got to the end and stopped, and struck a pose. I pressed the shutter button, and the strobes went off. I quickly wound the film as she took another pose. I hit the shutter button, and she turned and strutted off.

The second lady was heading down the runway.

I didn't get much time to admire them as I rushed to take the photos. Bob would tap me on the leg, and I would pull off the film back and grab another one from him and lock it on, just in time to take two more photos. That was the way we kept going.

I locked down a new film back and looked up, and Samantha was walking toward me. She stopped and winked at me as I took the photos. Amy followed her, then Dawn. The three of them were wearing some very revealing thong bikinis.

It appeared they were the last ones because the next lady was the first one from the show, now in lingerie. Bob and I hustled and kept things moving. The women kept coming, and I kept shooting.

Bob and I had been working hard to get all the shots of the ladies in lingerie as they came out and walked down the runway. Several of them had come out in furs and opened them up when they got to the end of the runway, and I would take photos, and they would walk back with the fur held open. Many of the ladies modeling the lingerie had on things that I could see through.

I looked at my watch quickly after the third group, and it was almost 10:00. I knew we were nearing the end. Dawn and the girls came out for the third time in some very skimpy lingerie and wearing stilettos. I knew this had to be the end. They walked back after I took the photos.

All the ladies had disappeared behind the curtain, and everyone was standing and applauding. Then I saw Linda walkout. She had on a full-length black fur coat pulled together over her as she walked down the runway. Everyone cheered and applauded for her. She was nearing the end of the runway, and I got ready to take her picture.

Linda stopped and stood looking toward me. I took a picture and wound the film. Linda pulled the fur open and back and put her hands on her hips. I just looked. She was standing there in a sheer black bra and panties along with a black garter belt and black stockings. She had on her diamond choker and diamond earrings and looked very sexy with her hair gelled back. She smiled at me.

"James! Take the picture!" Bob exclaimed.

I took a shot and wound the film. Linda smiled and winked at me as she held the coat back as I took the second shot. She turned and walked away with her hands on her hips, and the fur pulled back. Everyone was cheering and applauding loudly.

"Damn," I said to myself.

Linda went behind the curtain. A minute later, she led all the women out onto the stage, and they stood as everyone cheered and applauded. Sherri and Brenda joined them, and I took several shots, and they bowed and went back behind the curtain.

I stood and took a breath. Everyone was standing and cheering while they applauded. I stepped off the platform and down the small ladder as the crowd began to break up. Several people came running up to me.

"Sir! Sir!" They were yelling as they pushed through the crowd to me.