Starting from Scratch Ch. 13

Chapter 13 - Monster Come Uninvited

Leslie's arms were crossed over her breasts in a pitiful attempt at self-comforting as she watched Margaret drive away. Tears cut silent trails down her cheeks. Lauren came up behind her, silently padding across the front porch on bare feet, and wrapped her mom in a hug from behind Leslie.

Leslie sniffled as she tried to compose herself. The birthday party inside was still going on now that Cheyenne was sent to her room.

"I'm sorry Mom," Lauren apologized again.

Leslie responded by patting her daughter's topmost hand wrapped around her waist just below her fat 36 J-cup breasts but said nothing. Really, what was there to say? She and Margaret had, after years of loneliness for Marg and an abusive marriage for herself, finally met a man who loved them honestly.

Sure their relationship was a little unconventional, but for once in her life Leslie had felt safe. Safe to live, and safe to love, again. What Cheyenne had pressured Lauren into doing with her was so--manipulative, mean-spirited, and just downright evil. Even if her initial reasoning was protective and selfless.

"We'll talk about this more later," Leslie said firmly as she gave her daughter a firm pat on her hand before pulling at it signaling for Lauren to let go, "Go to your room."

Lauren didn't answer. Leslie left her standing there as she pushed the screen door open and walked out to the barn. She found a currying brush and went in search of a horse.

Later that evening, after the party and the visiting children present for Gwen's birthday party were gone, picked up by their parents, Leslie sent a moody twelve-year-old Hannah just coming into her womanliness, and a cheery, now, eleven-year-old Gwen off to their rooms. She had told them to do whatever they wanted before bedtime, but to keep quiet. Leslie cleaned the kitchen and dining room as the house fell silent. Once she was done she went to the living room.

She turned on the television and VCR, then put in the videotape the private investigator, Emma Recaras, made for them. The video was of Thomas and Margaret in their bedroom so many months before. She listened to Thomas tell Margaret how much he loved her and why he was not interested in Cheyenne or Lauren. He had been telling the truth the whole time. He wasn't interested in her daughters. They were too young and too immature, and nothing but trouble. Cheyenne and Lauren have proved to be all of those things and malicious as well. Well, Cheyenne had. Lauren had proved to be remorseful even if it took five months to get there.

It was pitch outside. It was a cloudy night and a new moon to boot. As black a night as there ever was. The wind was blowing as well causing the house to creak and groan and the trees to rustle outside. Leslie thought she heard noises and turned down the television, then turned it off completely as she struggled to hear what had caught her attention in the first place. She heard the horse whinny and it didn't seem to be coming from the barn.

Walking to the front door Lauren threw it open and walked out onto the porch. Out across the yard milling around were all of Margaret's barn animals. Horses. Chickens. Pigs. Sheep. And cow.

"Shit!" Leslie cursed emphatically as she ran back inside towards the kitchen and the mud room as she yelled, "Girls! Get out here now! Someone left the barn unlocked! The animals are out! Hurry up! Grab your boots and come help me get them back into the barn! Hurry!"

"Mom! I'm only in my panties," Cheyenne complained.

"Me too," Lauren added.

"I don't care!" Leslie shrieked, "Get your fucking asses out here now! I don't care if you're naked!"

Sure enough, a few seconds later Cheyenne and Lauren were pulling on their work boots in only their panties. Hannah and Gwen were there too though both of them were in long nightgowns. Leslie was the only one still dressed. They all pulled on their boots and then marched out the back door of Margaret's home to the cold February wind.

The nearly waist-high snow didn't help much this night. Usually, when the moon was out, the white snow gleamed and glowed in the moonlight that was only out-shown by daylight.

As they came around the house Leslie moved to secure the horses while Cheyenne moved determinedly to get the cow as she growled, "Shit! It's so cold! My nips are so hard they hurt!"

"Mine too," Lauren agreed as she held her hand over her breasts and tried to shoo the pigs back towards the barn with her elbows.

"It feels good to me," Gwen chortled as she and Hannah worked together to herd the chickens back toward their pin.

"It feels like Christmas to me," Hannah said with a wide grin on her pretty face.

"Take off your nightgowns and do this naked and let's see if you still feel the same," Cheyenne retorted tauntingly.

"Okay!" Hannah replied immediately, accepting the challenge.

And so, Hannah and then Gwen pulled off their nightgowns and their panties. They were careful but still Hannah fell into the snow with a yelp to which all the girls began to laugh. The banter continued as Hannah and Gwen waved their panties and nightgowns in their effort to herd the chickens.

Cheyenne caught the cow, which wasn't all that hard. The cow literally just stood there as the eldest girl walked up to her and grabbed her bridle. Lauren had less success with the pigs, slipping and falling several times scuffing her thighs and buttocks, and even her breasts while trying to herd the obstinate animals toward the barn. It was Leslie who helped Lauren up the last time she slipped. Leslie had already gotten the horses back into their stalls and was now seeing who needed help. Together they worked to get the pigs moving in the right direction.

Cheyenne got the cow into her stall and went back out to find that the sheep were milling about. These she called by name since they knew her voice after having spent many days herding them from one side of Margaret's property to the other.

"Come on Gromet," Cheyenne called, "It fucking colder out here than a witch's tits, and I should know because mine feel like they're frozen!"

Gromet moved toward her and she started for the next, "Come on Comet!"

"Yo Reginald, follow me!"

"Come to me, Betty."

"Follow me, Winston."

Cheyenne was making her way to two more sheep when she saw a faint orange-red glow in the shadow-darkened trees beside the driveway. The glow brightened to yellow almost white and then dimmed again to darker orange-red. Cheyenne came to an abrupt halt and stared at the small glowing light as it moved down and shook before being lifted up to where it had been previously. It grew white hot again and then dimmed.

"Lambchop! Julius!" Cheyenne called out fearfully, "Come!

The two sheep turned and looked at Cheyenne then started meandering towards her. The whole time her eyes were fixed on that red glow. She knew what it was. It was a cigarette, and she also knew that her father smoked Marlboro menthols. Turning around, she nearly ran back to the house, but instead, she turned and led the sheep to the barn.

Feeling much safer near her mother and sisters, Cheyenne continued to help even while it took almost an hour to get all of the animals rounded up and secured inside the barn. All that time Cheyenne kept looking back toward the trees and the driveway but she didn't see the orange-red glow again.

By the time all the animals were secure and the barn was locked Hannah, Gwen, Lauren, and Cheyenne were all shivering. With teeth chattering they pulled off their boots as Hannah stammered, "You're right Cheyenne, it's cold without clothes on."

Cheyenne smirked but Leslie cut off any reply with her own curt command, "All of you go get in the big bath. We need to warm up. Then, it's bedtime."

She got no arguments.

After the bath, the girls went to bed and Leslie quickly followed.

----(!)----

The red glow plagued Cheyenne's thoughts the whole time she soaked in the large communal tub with her mother and sisters. She thought that she should tell her mom about it, but without proof, Leslie might think she was trying to cause trouble again. So, she resolved to go out in the morning and see if there was any evidence that someone had been in the trees watching them.

As Cheyenne pulled her top sheet and comforter up her body she relished the feeling of the cool fabric caressing her naked flesh. Ever since she started changing into a woman she always felt claustrophobic if she wore anything more than panties to bed. Not even George, her father, who had started visiting her and Lauren when their mother was working changed that about her. It felt so refreshing and clean to sleep naked after a bath. And after such an emotionally and physically exhausting day it wasn't long before Cheyenne felt sleep pulling her down into its dark depths.

Darkness swirled around her. She was lying in her bed. She was naked. Her covers were kicked down to her feet. She tried to move down to retrieve them but couldn't. She began to panic, but then she saw the silhouette of a man, black on black, standing in her doorway. Cheyenne could feel her terror rising from her belly. She wanted to scream but that same terror seemed to have an iron grip around her throat strangling any sound she made until it came out as only an unintelligible sob.

One moment the silhouette was standing in the doorway and the next it--he--was hovering over her. Her eyes were wide open. Her mouth was open, her lips curled in a begging cry of fear. She could feel him breathing over her. She could feel his hands reaching out toward her. He was so close. She tried to shrink away, to sink deep into her bed, but there was nowhere to go!

He was going to touch her!

He was going to--to--

Cheyenne woke up with a scream of unadulterated terror. She sat up and waved her arms defensively, but there was no one in the room. It had all been a dream.

Leslie and Lauren came rushing into the room. Both were naked except for the thongs Leslie wore and the panties Lauren wore. They both saw Cheyenne's fear and they both rushed over to wrap her in a tight hug. Cheyenne sobbed into her mother's breasts for several minutes as Leslie reassured her that she was safe.

"Mom," Cheyenne whimpered, "There was someone in my room! He was hovering over me! He was about to touch me... He was going to..."

"It was just a dream, Cheyenne," Leslie purred, "You're safe now. It was only a dream."

But as Cheyenne met Lauren's eyes, she could see her sister's fear in them. Then, suddenly, there was a loud crack as the back porch screen door slammed closed!

All three women screamed.

Lauren whined, "Mom?"

Leslie pushed Cheyenne away and ran out of the bedroom with Lauren and Cheyenne hot on her heels, but when all three arrived at the back porch screen door there was no one there. Boldly, Leslie pushed the door open and stepped out onto the steps as she looked out across the yard.

It was pitch black though with no moon and clouds covering the night sky.

"Maybe it was the wind," Lauren offered weakly.

It was true there was a breeze but it was not enough to have blown the screen door open far enough to slam as hard as it did.

"Mom," Cheyenne said in a shanked voice, "I saw something out in the woods near the driveway when we were out gathering the animals earlier. I thought it must be my imagination playing tricks on me so I didn't say anything."

"What did you see?" Leslie asked from the steps as she looked out across the yard.

"A small orange-red glow," Cheyenne replied, "It brightened to a yellow-white then went back to an orange-red like someone was taking a draw on a cigarette."

"Did you see who was smoking it?" Leslie asked.

"No," Cheyenne said, "I was too far away and too dark."

Leslie was silent for a few minutes. Cheyenne could tell her mother was thinking it all over, but it was Lauren who asked, "Could it have been this person that let the animals loose?"

Leslie didn't answer at first. With one last scan of the area she turned and looked up at her daughters and said, "Get inside."

Lauren and Cheyenne nodded and turned back inside the house. Leslie locked the screen door behind her, then the back door.

"Lauren, go to the bathroom and lock that door too," Leslie commanded.

Lauren hesitated before admitting, "I'm scared to go by myself."

"Cheyenne, go with her," Leslie added.

Hand in hand Lauren and Cheyenne went to the bathroom, turning on every light in the house as they went. Leslie went to the front door, found Margaret's shotgun and grabbed it, and set it on her shoulder before opening the front door. She pointed the shotgun out in front of her and hesitantly stepped out onto the porch.

There was no one there.

With a sigh of relief, Leslie lowered the shotgun. Walked quickly over to the screen door and locked it. Returning to the house she locked the front door. By that time Cheyenne and Lauren had returned and were looking at her anxiously.

"Lock all the windows," Leslie said as she set the shotgun down, propped against the wall beside the front door.

Cheyenne moved together around the living room making sure all of the windows were locked. Leslie went to the kitchen. From there they moved through the house waking Gwen and Hannah who asked in groggy voices what was going on.

"Just locking the windows," Cheyenne offered to which Hannah asked, "Why?"

"Just go back to sleep," Cheyenne said before leaving her sister's room.

Once all the windows were locked Leslie looked at her still-frightened girls and asked, "Do you two want to sleep with me tonight?"

Both nodded eagerly, and so, Leslie led them to her massive king-size bed and they all got under the covers. It was a long time though before any of them found sleep.

----(!)----

The next morning Cheyenne and Lauren woke up late, both of them tangled in each other's arms and legs and both naked. Cheyenne was the first to wake but when she moved to disentangle herself Lauren started awake and clutched at Cheyenne in a panic.

"I'm here," Cheyenne reassured her sister, "I'm right here. It's morning, and I can smell breakfast so mom must be up."

The two sisters got up and went to their rooms first to get dressed. When they arrived in the dining room a little while later they found Gwen and Hannah already up and stuffing their faces with eggs, bacon, and hash browns and washing it down with a glass of milk and a glass of orange juice each. Cheyenne and Lauren wasted no time in proceeding into the kitchen where they found their mother just finishing her latest batch of bacon.

"Good morning sleepy heads," Leslie greeted warmly.

"Morning mom," Lauren replied.

"Is this for us?" Cheyenne asked.

"Yep," Leslie confirmed with a nod of her head, "But, don't be stingy. Grandpa will be here soon, so leave enough for me and him."

"Yes ma'am," The two sisters agreed as they retrieved plates from the cabinets.

Leslie made up her plate of food and her father's. She put a napkin over it and then went to join her daughters sitting and eating at the dinner table. Sure enough halfway through eating their food there was a knock on the front door. Gwen was the first to bound to her feet ahead of Hannah and Lauren and ran off toward the front door. A few seconds later Gwen cried, "Grandpa!"

"Hey Dad," Leslie greeted with a wave of her hand toward his breakfast, "I made you a plate."

"Thank you dear," He replied.

Virgil Two-Horses was a tall and thickly built man. His sun-darkened copper skin was creased with age. His glossy jet-black hair was more white now than black, but at the wizened age of sixty-eight, his dark onyx eyes sparkled with an inner youthfulness that belied his appearance. His black eyebrows raised when he took in his daughter and granddaughters for all three had the well-rounded bellies of pregnancy.

"How far along are you?" He asked, clearly indicating he meant all of them.

"Five months," Leslie replied.

"All of you?" Virgil asked as he sat down beside his daughter and pulled the napkin off of his plate of food.

"Yes," Leslie replied with a nod, "We all made love, at least in my case, with the same man the same night and got pregnant at the same time."

Virgil growled and shook his head before hissing, "Thought I could trust that man. I guess he turns out to be just as big a scumbag as Larry. Well, did you call the police and have him arrested?"

Leslie motioned for the girls to leave before turning to her father and saying, "No."

Virgil inhaled, his copper skin blushing with rage until he looked like he was going to explode while Leslie patted his arm soothingly before explaining, "There were extenuating circumstances, Dad. Please, before you say any more let me explain."

Virgil still looked spitting mad but he held back his rage as Leslie told the story of the night they celebrated the joyful news of Margaret's pregnancy. When she got to the next morning and finding Thomas in bed with Cheyenne and Lauren, his countenance darkened to something close to murderous. But she held up her hand and continued the story all the way to the present and the latest revelations from Lauren that it had all been set up by her and Cheyenne. They had done the unthinkable to exact precisely the action Leslie and Margaret had taken in sending Thomas away. And now, Lauren and Cheyenne were belly full with the consequences of their actions.

By the end of Leslie's recounting of the events Virgil was still angry, but more at the whole situation since he couldn't rightly be angry with Thomas, and he didn't want to be angry with his two incredibly foolish granddaughters. Letting out his anger in a hiss, he cut his eyes to Leslie and asked, "I see the point of your punishment, but still, those girls are young, would it not be prudent to take them up and get abortions? This will ruin their lives."

"So be it," Leslie replied without a shred of empathy, "Tell me, Dad, after knowing your granddaughters, would you have had me get abortions for all of them? Larry's behavior changed so quickly afterward that I could have, you know."

Virgil thought it over and as he did Leslie asked another question, "Do you think, Dad, that Cheyenne, Lauren, Hannah, and Gwen were at fault and responsible for Larry's sudden change in personality, or my error in marrying him?"

"No," Virgil replied, his anger muted now, then added defiantly, "But, it doesn't change the fact that they are a reminder of your decision to marry Larry and they tied you to him after you found out the sort of man he was for far too long, and still tie you to him now."

"No, Dad," Leslie rebutted firmly, "I stayed with Larry because I was weak and scared and stupid. If I had been stronger I could have, and should have left Larry long ago, but I wasn't and I didn't. As it is, these babies in my and your granddaughters' bellies are not at fault for my decision, or theirs. Yes, our being pregnant is a consequence of our actions, mine in making love to the man I love, and in your granddaughters' cases for drugging and raping Thomas against his will. However, none of these consequences warrant killing the unborn lives we now bear. Cheyenne and Lauren will now have to grow up and live with the consequences of their actions."

"And if they don't?" Virgil asked.

"Cheyenne and Lauren have me to support them," Leslie said then paused before adding, "And, if either of them or both reject their responsibilities then they will have to leave and I will raise my grandbabies on my own."

Virgil gave me a solemn look and then a nod before taking a bite of his breakfast. Once it was chewed and swallowed he said, "Speaking of Larry, he's out."

Leslie's expression paled and her hands began to shake, and she almost lost her breakfast and continence right there. It took several minutes for her to regain her equilibrium, but when she did she asked, "How long?"