Starting from Scratch Ch. 10

Chapter 10- Family for Christmas, pt 1

Over the next month, Thomas traveled back and forth between his home, Anna's, and his mother's. He didn't see Janette, or the rest of the Masquerade mummies, or any of the other ladies he had been seeing as of late. He did, however, send them invitations to his New Year's Eve party. Then, in that time, Thomas picked up the phone and nearly called Margaret at least fifty times. However, as soon as the phone rang he hung up. He wasn't sure why. Fear he reckoned. He spent a lot of time analyzing his feelings and chastising himself for being a coward, but still, every time he picked up the phone with the intention of calling Margaret, he just held onto it and stared at it until he set it back down.

When he wasn't obsessing about Margaret, he spent a fair amount of time with Martin arranging his assets. That is, what wasn't already sheltered in a trust under Margaret's name. He redoubled his efforts in programming his new phone app, TBomb, and he started a new company. Goodspeed Distributors to manage his new apps launch and distribution. Then, he bought all the surrounding properties around his mother's home and started building two new wings the size of two new homes to each side.

When Christmas came he invited the entire family to his beach home for dinner and a slumber party. That is, everyone but his father. Thomas reasoned that if he had wanted to be a part of their family then he wouldn't have left. Besides, he was too busy with his new family anyway.

It was a cold and wintery night, but inside his home, it was warm and intimate with parents, grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles, and grandchildren all gathered in one location. Thomas's house was bursting at the seams. The men folk sat around the living room with legs stretched out or propped up on the coffee table as they watched the football game playing on the television. The women folk milled around the kitchen and dining room as grandma Henrietta led them in cooking and preparing Christmas dinner while talking about life, children, and husbands. The older children hung out in the Batcave or talked, played on their phones, or watched football with the men folk. The younger children watched a movie in the master bedroom.

Since Franklin divorced Rhea most of his family didn't really do much with Rhea or her kids anymore, and the grandparents were dead. So, that was that. On Rhea's side of the family, there was grandpa Thomas Variette and grandma Henrietta. Then there were Rhea's younger brothers and sisters, Lionel, Mary June, Daniel, and Annalee.

Lionel is forty and married to Bianca who is thirty-five. Together they have three children, Jamin, Raegan, and Christopher. Their ages range from thirteen to nine.

Mary June is thirty-seven and married to George Lowell who is forty-seven. The story with her goes that she was the wild child and after Rhea married she decided she wanted to have sex at fifteen. She met George and a year later she was pregnant and married. After that, Mary June had five more children for a total of six starting with Thelma, then Amanda, Benjamin, Cheryline, Jasper, and Ingrid. Their ages range from twenty-one to eleven.

Daniel is thirty-four and married to Bethany who is thirty-two, and so far they have no children.

Anna Lee, the youngest of Rhea's siblings, is twenty-four and the only one unmarried. She is also the only one currently pregnant.

Lastly, there were Thomas's siblings. Rhea's children. Gretchen is twenty-two years old and married to Jeremy Lukson. Between them, they have two children, twins, Melody and Harmony. Then there is Annalee who is twenty and named after her aunt Anna, Damian who is eighteen, and Scott who is sixteen.

Through the evening food and alcohol flowed freely. Whiskey. Wine. Eggnog. And fortified eggnog. Everyone had a very good time.

Around ten o'clock everyone threw on their coats and pulled on their shoes and they all went for a walk down the beach. Papa and grandma walked down to the water's edge and stared out at the ocean. Rhea and Anna walked down the beach and quietly talked. That left Tomas to walk with Emma. All of the adults separated into married couples for the most part.

As for the kids, Annalee and Thelma were the oldest and led a group of the older kids that included Amanda, Damian, Scott, Benjamin, and Cheryline. Of the younger cousins Jamin and Jasper's group included Raegan, Christopher, and Ingrid.

----(!)----

Jamin led Jasper, Raegan, Christopher, and Ingrid to a dune and watched all the parents amble away as they went on walks down the beach.

"Are we really going to sit here on this dune and wait for everyone to get back," Jasper asked.

Jamin and Jasper were the oldest in the group being thirteen. Jamin was the outgoing one while Jasper was the quiet one. So, Jasper let Jamin take the lead most of the time even though her cousin was much smaller.

Jamin took after her mother in looks and build, being short and petite. She also had her mother's blonde hair and golden skin, but she had her father's blue eyes. Jasper on the other hand was tall having gotten all of her pubescent growth in one burst. Already she stood 5 feet 10 inches tall, and developed so that many thought she was eighteen.

Following close behind Jamin was her sister Raegan, who held Ingrid's hand, who in turn held Christopher's hand. Raegan and Ingrid were of an age together, both being eleven. Christopher was the youngest being nine.

He may have been nine, but he already knew he loved his cousin Ingrid. He wasn't sure why. Maybe it was only because she was the only girl in the family close to his age that wasn't one of his sisters. Maybe it was her copper red hair, auburn eyes, or her olive skin. Maybe it was the way she always treated him nicely and always held his hand when they were together. Whatever it was, one day, he was going to marry Ingrid.

"No," Jamin replied to Jasper's question as soon as the last of the adults were out of earshot. Then she turned around and scanned her party as she purred, "It's a shame that Scott decided that he rather hang out with Cheryline and the others. It would have made 'playing house' so much more fun!"

"Yeah," Ingrid said excitedly, "Let's go in and 'play house'!"

"Yeah!" Raegan agreed, but then adopted a curious look before asking, "But, we're all girls except for Chris. Who will be our pretend husbands?"

"Chris will," Jamin replied as she walked over and took his hand, and pulled him back toward the house, "We can take turns. We will all be Chris's pretend wives, and we will all show him how good we are, and then we'll have him tell us who is his favorite."

"I don't know," Ingrid replied hesitantly while following along after the others, "This doesn't sound like it's going to be very fun."

"Trust me," Jamin chortled, "It will be very very fun. For us, and for Chris!"

With that, Jamin led her group back inside and into the Batcave where there was a small storage closet that no one seemed to know about.

----(!)----

Thelma took her auburn eyes off of Anna just long enough to take note that the younger kids had gone back inside the house before returning her attention to Anna. She envied Anna. Her aunt was so beautiful. So naturally graceful. And, she had her claws firmly embedded into Thomas!

She knew it was stupid. Falling in love with her cousin was wrong. It was incest! And yet, Thelma would shave her head if the rumors that Anna and Thomas had been having sex since they were twelve weren't true. So, if Anna could do it, then so could she!

"Hey," Annalee, Thomas's younger sister, whispered, "What's on your mind hun?"

"Nothing," Thelma replied. She could never tell her best friend that she had always been in love with her brother. Not when they are also family.

"Okay," Annalee said, sounding doubtful as she followed Thelma's gaze to her mother and Anna.

"Hey," Damian purred suggestively, "Why don't we go skinny dipping in the hot tub?"

"Isn't it a bit cold for you to be wagging your dick around," Annalee asked her brother in a shocked and condescending voice.

"Sure it shrinks in the cold," Benjamin retorted with a mischievous grin, "But, it expands in heat!"

"Yeah," Damian agreed with a nod of his head, then leered at his sister and female cousins meaningfully, "And, it helps that all of our female cousins are drop-dead gorgeous!"

"Ew!' Annalee retorted, "I'm your sister!"

"Let's pretend you're not," Damian replied as he ogled her in particular.

Annalee was twenty and Damian and Scott's older sister. She was also crazy beautiful with her mid-thigh length curly strawberry blonde hair, her ivory skin, and her gray-green eyes. Eyes that were exactly the same as Thomas's. She was 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighed 130 pounds. She was shapely in all the right places starting with her excessively large, 34g-cup breasts. A tiny by comparison 28-inch waist. And exotically broad 36-inch hips and a thick round bubble butt that added most of the girth to her measurement.

Annalee feigned shock and disgust, but Damian only shrugged as he said, "We're only going to see each other naked. It's not like we're having sex."

"Come on," Benjamin purred wickedly, "It'll be fun!"

Annalee shared a glance with Thelma and Amanda. Cheryline and Scott were already missing. Thelma looked uninterested as she stared off again at where Thomas was, across the beach walking off with Emma while Rhea and Anna trailed behind a little way. Amanda on the other hand had a big smile, her auburn eyes were lit up and seemed to almost glow red as she nodded that she too wanted to go skinny dipping with the boys.

"Alright," Annalee said in a resigned sigh, "Let's go."

----(!)----

"Scott!" Cheryline hissed as she followed Scott who was following her older sister Amanda.

She knew he had a crush on her sister, almost everyone did when they weren't crushing on Thelma, Annalee, or Anna. It hurt her feelings though. It seemed like no one ever crushed on her, the fat sister. Still, a part of her knew she wasn't really fat. Most of it was just the first fat stores of prepubescents before her growth spurt. Of course that was like three years ago. So, when was all the extra fat going to burn off like it did her sisters leaving her what people call slim-thick and curvy? She, on the other hand, was just thick and curvy.

"Scott," She hissed again, but this time she grabbed his hand.

Scott looked back at her with a perplexed, maybe just a little annoyed expression, but when her eyes met hers his annoyance dissipated as he replied, "What's up Cheryl?"

Looking down at the blankets in her other hand she asked, "Will you come lay on the beach with me?"

Scott looked back at the rest of the group. Really, he was looking at Amanda who was still talking to Annalee and Thelma, and Cheryl struggled to not feel hurt. Turning back to Cheryl he replied, "Sure, let's go."

----(!)----

"It's a beautiful night tonight, isn't it?" Emma purred warmly as she snuggled against Thomas's arm.

"It is," He replied.

"I love seeing the stars and moon hanging over the ocean on nights like this," She said as she looked out at the stars and the almost perfectly still water.

Stopping to look up at the stars he enjoyed their soft, twinkling light. He picked out the planets he knew, and then said softly, "This reminds me of Montana. There isn't much to do there, so once it's dark Margaret and I would go out and lay on a blanket and look at the stars. I don't know what it is. The elevation? Or, just how it gets so dark there? But, mountains surround you. They seem to loom all around, and then directly above is the sky, big and beautiful, and appearing as if you're looking through a weird lens that makes everything look like it is right there in front of you. You feel like if you just reach up you can pluck one of those twinkling lights right out of the sky and hold it in your hand."

"Sounds beautiful," Emma whispered.

"It was," Thomas replied.

"You're thinking of her again, aren't you," She asked, again softly.

He could hear this time in her voice, concern mixed with disappointment. Pulling his arm out of her grip he pulled her around in front of him and wrapped his arms around her waist. One hand strayed further south to grab a handful of her generously rounded ass as he leaned in and kissed her tenderly. When he pulled back, Emma sighed, and he smiled as he apologized, "I'm sorry Emma. I guess it's always the one not present that occupies the mind most. I'm sorry."

Emma smiled. Her eyes seemed to gather up the little light there was from the moon and stars and reflecting off the white sand all around them so that her eyes were glowing emerald green. Those glowing eyes were filled with so much love and hope.

Releasing his grip on Emma's ass, Thomas brought his hand up to play with her curly brown hair. What was long enough to play with. She always kept it cut short with the top styled as a chin-length pompadour.

He caressed her cheek, and then he leaned in just as she lifted onto her toes for another kiss. This time when they pulled back to breathe and smile lovingly at each other, Thomas held a letter in his hand.

Emma looked at it curiously until Thomas explained, "It is an early Christmas present for you."

Hesitantly, she took the letter, then paused and asked, "Should I really open this now?"

"Sure," Thomas replied in a whisper.

The moon was full and bright and Emma could easily read the words on the white page. She smiled, and then as she kept reading her eyes filled with unshed tears. When she finally looked up she gushed, "I pick option two! I will always pick you! I don't care if I have to share, I want you!"

"I want you too," Thomas whispered, and then they embraced again, and this time they didn't stop kissing until they were both breathless.

----(!)----

Gretchen looked on from about a hundred yards away with Jeremy by her side. As she watched Thomas and Emma kiss, Rhea and Anna sauntered over to them.

Rhea and Anna were holding hands very much like two particularly close sisters despite their age difference. Maybe that even lent to their closeness. As they approached Thomas and Emma, Emma pulled away from Thomas and showed Rhea and Anna a letter in her hand.

Anna took the letter and read it while Rhea listened, then all three women began talking excitedly before they all hugged. Gretchen couldn't overhear, they were much too far away for that, but she witnessed their moment. Then, surprisingly, Rhea and Anna kissed Emma's cheeks but Emma kissed them both heartily, fully on their mouths. Before long Rhea and Anna were kissing Emma back just as passionately, and then Rhea and Anna started kissing each other!

"What the fuck?" Jeremy gasped.

"Come on," Gretchen said as she pulled Jeremy around to walk in the opposite direction.

As Gretchen turned away, Rhea and Anna moved to kiss Thomas, and it was no motherly or aunty kisses they were smothering him with.

"What is up with your family," Jeremy asked.

"We're just really close," Gretchen said, trying to excuse what they had just witnessed.

"Yeah," Jeremy remarked sarcastically, "It sure is that!"

"Why don't I take you to bed," Gretchen purred as she snuggled up against him, "and I'll show you just how affectionate I can be!"

"Lead the way honey buns," Jeremy growled, "Lead the way!"

----(!)----

Scott and Cheryl walked down the beach for almost a half mile. As they walked they held hands and talked.

"Scott," Cheryl began hesitantly, as her long brown hair and olive skin soaked up the moonlight, "I know you have a crush on Amanda."

"What? No!" Scott denied emphatically, then moderated his tone and continued, "No I don't."

"Sure you do," Cheryl said with a small grin, "You don't have to deny it with me, I understand."

Scott remained quiet but pointedly stared off toward the ocean.

"Scott," Cheryl purred, "It's plain as day that you like Amanda. At least, it is to me. It's just so frustrating!"

"What's so frustrating," Scott asked.

"That you don't look at me like you look at her," Cheryl confessed, "Scott, Amanda looks at Damian the same way you look at her. At least, she does when there aren't other boys around. What's funny is that Damian looks at Annalee and Thelma the same way Amanda looks at him, and they in turn ogle Thomas. Everyone is always looking at and lusting after the person that doesn't see them. I am no better because I, in turn, look at you, Scott. I love you. I always have. Ever since we were little. If only you would stop pining for Amanda and look at me--I promise I will never look at anyone else the way I look at you!"

"I'm sorry," Scott replied in a thoughtful tone, "I didn't realize."

Cheryl pulled Scott to a stop then. She regarded him as he turned, and for the first time she could remember, he truly saw her.

Cheryl stood there enveloped in the moonlight. She was only a couple of inches shorter than him. She was full-bosomed and plump without being fat. She was just as beautiful as her older sisters if only just a little plumper.

Taking her hands, Scott stepped in closer to Cheryl and kissed her. Her mouth was full and ripe, and so incredibly soft. Quickly their kissing became more intense. Needier. More passionate.

When they finally pulled back Scott whispered, "Cheryl, will you be my girlfriend?"

She giggled like a little girl despite herself, and tears rimmed her lower lashes as she replied, "Yes Scott, yes I will be your girlfriend!"

They kissed again, but this time it was only for a few seconds before Cheryl pulled away and laid out the blankets between two large dunes. They were thick quilts sized for a king-size bed. So, once they were laid out, despite the cold, Cheryl and Scott were very comfortable as they stared up at the stars.

----(!)----

Damian and Benjamin both settled into the hot tub. They were the first to change clothes and arrive. As they made themselves comfortable Damian turned on the jets and then the lights before they both took their shorts off.

The hot tub was a large sunroom built off to the side of the house made of wood-paneled walls and large windows. Thomas had it built so that it blocked the cold winds coming off the Gulf while also allowing whoever was using the hot tub to have a spectacular view of the beach. The walls were all solid wood paneling facing the house and inland toward the road. The deck floor was raised so that it was even with the top of the hot tub which was also lowered two feet. So, this put Damian and Benjamin below Thelma, Annalee, and Amanda as they came scampering into the sunroom.

The boys' eyes opened wide as they ogled all three girls. Thelma wore a small black French-cut one-piece, Annalee wore a nude skin tight bikini that matched her ivory skin, and Amanda wore a forest green string bikini that flattered her auburn hair and eyes. Each of them carried a towel in her arms, and all three were chattering about how cold it was before sighing audibly upon entering the warm sunroom.

Amanda closed the door to the normally well-lit room and it was suddenly thrown into the darkness except for the light coming from the hot tub and moonlight streaming in from over the Gulf of Mexico. Only a silver shine could be seen on the girls' eyes as their gazes fell on Damian and Benjamin's well-muscled torsos. Their expressions were, for the most part, unreadable when they caught sight of the boy's shorts sitting on the deck beside the hot tub except for their smirking mouths that were outlined by a shadow cast by the blue light emanating from the churning water below them.

The girls tossed their towels down and then started to climb down into the hot tub. Damian and Benjamin were both struck immediately with disappointment that the girls didn't take off their bathing suits first.