The Designer Ch. 17

"Of course," Thomas said, "There is nothing pressing for me today, only reading through boring depositions. I always hate doing that: I'd love to catch up with you. Judging from the bank statements I've seen you've been enjoying yourself."

I laughed, "Yeah, I'd say. That's part of what I need to talk with you about. I'll see you in a few."

I went back down the stairs and slipped on my shoes. The girls were still using all the hot water. I called to them, saying that I was going to visit my lawyer. They made noises like they heard and understood me. I walked up the back stairway and headed downtown. My lawyer's remodeled an old Victorian era house into office. It bordered on the same neighborhood as my house, so it was a quick walk.

When his secretary saw me, she ushered me into his office, and brought me a cup of coffee.

"Jeremiah," Thomas stood and hugged me, "It's good to see you, son. You need to stop by more often. Beyond being your lawyer, you know I consider you family. Connie asks about you often."

Connie was his wife, and she had practically adopted me after my mother passed away. I did consider them family, and was a bit chagrined that I had not stayed in touch. We weren't related but I'd always called them Uncle Thomas and Aunt Connie.

"I've had a wild couple of months Uncle Thomas." I shrugged, feeling a bit uncomfortable. "I really need your advice on some things, but I don't know where to start."

"Well let's start with this," he said, picking up an envelope off the desk and handing it to me.

"What's this?" I asked.

"It came in the mail," Thomas explained, "It was as part of a larger package of documents from another law firm that is handling your father's estate."

"What?" I asked, not sure I heard correctly.

"First I'd heard of it too," Thomas said putting his hand on your shoulder, "I know you haven't had any contact from your father in years, so it was a shock to get this yesterday. I didn't quite know what to do, so when you called this morning I took the opportunity to break it to you."

I was numb, having relived memories of my mother just a few hours earlier, my nerves were raw. My eyes filled with tears, and that confused me, because I really didn't have any feelings for my father at all. I fingered the envelope, looking at the front. The handwriting was foreign, yet oddly similar to my own hand. It simply said, "For Jeremiah."

"Do you want me to step out while you look at it?" Thomas asked.

I shook my head, and looked up at him. He understood, and sat in a chair next to me instead of going behind his desk. I slid my finger along the edge of the envelope, neatly opening it. It felt like I was opening a crypt. The envelope and paper inside was yellowed with age, like it had been in storage for years. I unfolded the single sheet of paper, and started to read.

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Jeremiah,

If you're reading this then I'm dead. I've always been plain with words. I left when you were four and I've thought of you often in the last ten years. I owe you an explanation for why I left.

I loved you and your mother very much, Jeremiah. I know it might not seem like that. I haven't enjoyed been away from either of you. I have kept a close eye on you, and have tried to provide for you as I could. I could not stay with you for reasons that may have become plain to you, or will become plain to you.

It's hard to just say this in a letter. So I'll just say it. I'm a psychic, or something. I don't know exactly what to call it. This ability was passed down to me by my father, and has been in our lineage for generations. I'm able to see people's emotions, and can influence how they make decisions. If you're old enough, you might have experienced how this works. If you're too young to have had it manifest, then I hope you never do.

It can be a blessing or a curse. My grandfather was able to help many people. My father, however, used his gift selfishly, and brought ruin to our family. I followed my father's example, and shamefully damaged the people I loved. Specifically your mother and you. Be careful, Jeremiah, use your powers sparsely, and only to help. Don't use it for selfish gain.

I know that sounds trite coming from your absent father. It could be true that I left selfishly. I have thought on that much over the years. You need to know, I left to protect you. You and your mother. I hope you can someday understand.

I love you Son,

Isaiah Jackson. --------------

I folded back up the letter and closed my eyes. I put the paper back in the envelope, folded it in half and slipped it into my front pocket. I looked at Thomas with guarded eyes.

"Did you read it?" I asked.

"No Jeremiah, it's just for you." he said softly.

"What else was there?" I asked.

"Bank records mostly. His estate is fairly substantial, and he left it all to you. I need to know what you want to do with it." Thomas said.

"Anything else?" I asked.

"A safety deposit key for a bank in Montana." he added.

I sighed, that could wait a while, too much was going on to worry about a box in a safe a thousand miles away. I sipped my coffee and considered what I had read. I'd have to let Alyssa read it too; I shared everything with her. Finally I looked at Uncle Thomas and smiled.

"I'm getting married," I said.

"Really, wow!," Thomas said, "To who?"

"Alyssa Monroe," I answered, "I think you met her once earlier this year."

"Oh yes, brown hair, glasses, beautiful eyes. Congratulations. She seemed like a very nice girl."

"Before I say anything more, what we talk about here is protected right? Confidentiality?"

"Of course," Thomas said, "Are you in some kind of trouble."

"No, not exactly." I answered and pulled out the letter and handed it to him, "You'd better read that first."

He read through the letter, looked up at me, then read through it again. Then he took off his glasses and looked at me.

"And can you..." he started, and I stopped him with a nod.

He sat back, and listened while I told him my story. I didn't leave out any detail. He was non-judgemental while he listened. He asked questions when he didn't understand what I was saying. I clarified until he understood. I told him about how I started our family, that I had become entwined with the four girls. He tried to understand, but was more focused on trying to get me free from the entanglement.

"Uncle Thomas," I said firmly, "I don't want to be free. I love them, all of them."

"You have to be careful, Jeremiah," Thomas said in his lawyer voice, "Society will not react well if it's found out you are living with four women. The state has laws against polygamy."

"I know, I have a plan, just keep listening." I said.

I told him about Kelly and her parents. About the Bed & Breakfast idea. How it could be a cover for my family. I used the word family repeatedly, because family was important to Thomas. I knew he considered me family, and I wanted him to consider Alyssa, Kelly, Alexis and Carmen as family too. He nodded as he began to understand.

"I don't know much about real-estate law, but I can research and find someone that can look over the contracts." Thomas said finally. "I think your cover story will work, we'll just have to arrange it carefully. Do Kelly's parents know about your... situation?"

"No, they don't." I admitted, "I don't think they'd respond well right now."

"No I think you're right." Thomas added.

"I want to have each of the girls covered should something ever happen to me," I added, "Alyssa will be covered by our marriage, but each of the others need to be covered as well."

He nodded, "Of course. I can handle that for you Jeremiah."

I slid over a piece of paper with Kelly's mom's contact information, "Here is Becky's information, I don't know where to start with the real-estate and property. I just want to have everything handled securely. I'll also need to liquidate some assets to cover the costs."

"I can handle all that," Thomas said, "Your father's assets are easiest because his estate is mostly liquidated already. I'll handle the documentation required to shift his accounts into your name. That should be enough for the foreseeable future. The rest we can figure out once the ball gets rolling."

I smiled, "If I know Kelly, she's probably pushing on the ball right now."

I stood up, and so did Thomas. We hugged affectionately, then he leaned back.

"I hope you know what you're doing, Jeremiah," he said, "Regardless, Understand this, son; I'll have your back as much as I can. I promise."

"Thank you, Uncle Thomas," I replied, "I know that I can trust you."

"Will you bring all your ladies over to meet Connie?" he asked, "She will want to meet all of them."

"I will," I promised, "I'll set something up. Send her my love in the meantime."

We shook hands, and Thomas indicated a box filled with papers from my Dad's estate.

"Anything important?" I asked.

"Nah, I'll put it all in storage. You'd better hold on to this though." he said holding out a keyring, "The information on the bank is on the fob, it's yours now."

"Thanks, Unc." I said and walked out of his office and back home.

It was lunchtime by the time I walked back home. I was hungry having skipped breakfast, so I was glad to see the girls had made sandwiches. I sat down to eat lunch, and slid the envelope with my father's letter over to Alyssa.

"What's this?" she asked intrigued.

"My dad's final instructions to me," I said with a shrug.

"Your DAD" she said, then opened the letter scanned the page.

"Can I see?" asked Kelly, "I don't know much about your family."

"You can read it, sure," I said, then related the story of my family, and how my Dad left when I was four.

"Jeremiah, this is huge!" Alyssa said.

"I'm sorry to hear your parents aren't alive," said Kelly taking the letter from Alyssa.

I shrugged, not wanting to open those emotions up.

"It is what it is, Kel, thank you." I smiled then looked at Alyssa, "Why is this huge?"

"Because, it explains that you aren't unique. We might be able to find more people like you, and understand what you can do a little better."

I slid the safety deposit key across the table, and Alyssa looked at it and up at me.

"My father's safety deposit box in Montana." I said flatly.

I was feeling a bit grumpy. My father's letter was over eight years old. I didn't know anything about my father, his name was never spoken when I was growing up. I didn't even know his first name until that morning. Then I started to feel angry.

"He knew, Aly, he fucking knew. And never told me. Wrote this letter to make himself feel better. Meanwhile, I have no idea. If I had known. I might ..."

My eyes closed as I swallowed the words I was about to say. I felt a cooling sensation and felt Alyssa take my hand. I wanted to say I wouldn't be in this mess, but that wasn't true. I loved being in this mess. These four lovely female that I had bonded with, as much as they had bonded with me. My anger sputtered to a low boil. My eyes opened.

"I don't know what I would've done..." I answered my unanswered question, "I'm glad I didn't know, because I'm so very happy with the both of you," I said looking at my two beautiful companions.

Alyssa looked at me with care in her eyes, I knew she felt my anger, my regrets. Kelly just smiled at me and snuggled against me.

"I never want to be apart from any of you, I can't wait until Carmen and Lexi get here tonight." Kelly said.

"I can't wait either," I said, meaning every word.

Alyssa looked at me with some concern in her eyes. She had felt my anger and rage at my father's note. I knew that my nerves were frayed. I felt raw, and if I felt raw, I knew that Alyssa would be sensing my frustration. She looked at me and gave me a comforting smile.

"J, listen, sweetheart," Alyssa said, "You've gone through so much in the last 24 hours. Anyone else would be a basket case. You found out a family secret from a father you hadn't heard from in years. You're starting a new lifestyle with us. You've gotten engaged to me. You're starting a new business. Babe, on the issues of lifestyle changes you're off the scale. I think you need to take a step back, cut yourself a break."

"This new thing..." I started, "This thing with my father, his note, that key." I started to ramp up my emotions again.

"Don't worry about it, babe," she counseled, "at least not right now. It was clearly triggered by your emotions. Keep your emotions in check for now. Later we'll figure out how to deal with that. This is all new, but you'll figure it out. Just like you figured out how to fix people."

"As usual, you're right," I said, relaxing trying to force a smile, and failing miserably.

"I think you need to take a nap," Alyssa said, "Alone. Kelly and I will be okay. She isn't going anywhere. I promise."

"Okay." I said and I stood up and kissed her. I walked down the backstairs and fell into our bed. I buried my head under a pillow and cried. Big heaving sobs. I didn't care, I just needed to release my emotions safely. After a few minutes, I stopped. At some point I fell asleep.

I woke to a hand combing through my hair, and I turned and saw Alyssa sitting beside me.

"Wake up sleepy head," she said smiling.

"Mmmm," I said blinking my eyes, can pulling her closer "Come sleep a bit with me, the nap was just what I needed."

"Yeah, I'm glad to hear that love" Alyssa said with a smile, "I think you won't want to nap much more when I tell you the next piece of news."

"What?" I asked, feeling a bit of resignation, what else would I find out today, "Tell me what it is."

"Carmen and Lexi are here!" she said with a smile.

I grinned and started pulling the covers off of me, Alyssa helped me out of bed. We hurried up the stairs to the kitchen where Kelly was happily hugging Lexi and Carmen. Lexi saw me first and hurled herself at me. Jumping into my arms and wrapping her legs around me. She hugged me furiously with her tight athletic body, and it felt so good. I swung her around, and then lowered her down to the floor. Carmen tackled me next, wrapping her arms around me and kissing me on the lips. Then kissing me deeper before pulling herself away.

"Man, I missed doing that," Carmen said with a glitter in her eyes.

I still felt emotional from the afternoon, so I went and hugged Kelly too.

Alyssa and Kelly had ordered pizza so we all sat around in the living room to catch up, and allow the travelers some time to relax. It was much different than the last time we'd all met, the sexual energy was still present but much more subdued. It felt so natural to sit and listen to Lexi and Carmen talk about their ride. Lexi was also very excited to relate that her training was improving very well since they had returned from the our hotel rendezvous.

"I've been having some great improvements in my times," Lexi said happily, "I just feel so much more confident and it's easier to push through the little walls. I think I'll have a good chance walking on to the cross-country team in the fall."

Finally the conversation turned around to Alyssa and I. Her ring had not gone unnoticed, with both Carmen and Lexi grabbing her hand to examine the ring, then hugging her in congratulatory hugs. Alyssa blushed each time, she looked like she wasn't quite comfortable with all the attention.

"When did you pop the question," Carmen asked after polishing off a third large slice of pepperoni pizza.

"Two days ago," I answered with a blush, "It was really a surprise to both of us."

"How could it be a surprise to you?" Carmen asked with a laugh, "I would have thought you would have asked her weeks ago."

"Really?" I answered a bit shocked at her reply, "I really wonder why you thought that?"

"Jeremiah, I might not have the best track record with relationships," Carmen said with a glint in her eye, "But I can identify true love when I see it."

Lexi also nodded while she curled into Kelly's side, "You two complete one another. It makes us all happy to see you two together. I think your relationship is the one that holds us all together."

"You might be right," I allowed, "I was thinking that some of you might feel some jealousy or something with the arrangement."

"Why would we feel jealous?" Carmen asked, "You've been pretty clear about our relationship since you gave us this pendant."

All of the girls lifted their hands to their chains and fingered their Celtic knot. I lifted my own hand to my slightly different knot. The connection we felt at that moment was full of love and comfort. My worries and guilt faded as I tuned into our mutual love for each other. I remembered that Kelly had the conversation with Lexi and Carmen about polygamy, and it comforted me knowing everyone accepted the truth of our unique union.

Alyssa looked at Carmen and Lexi, then to Kelly, "The ring might be on my finger," she said softly, "But all of you are a part of it. It felt so ... empty not having everyone together. This house finally feels like home now!"

We all raised our beer cans in a mutual toast. Then finished off the rest of the pizza.

"So give us the tour," Carmen said happily, "I want to hear more about Kelly's plans for this place."

Kelly took over and lead all of us through the house, starting in the upper floor. She had drawn a rendering of how she wanted the master suite to look that she had tacked to the wall. Then she started talking about the plans for the Bed and Breakfast as we toured the main floor. She mentioned the kitchen would need to be remodeled.

"I'd like to help with that," said Carmen, "I really love to cook. Would I be able to help Kel?"

"Certainly, Carmen!" Kelly said with her bright smile, "The more we all help the better this whole plan will work."

Finally Kelly led us downstairs to the basement. Talk of plans came to a halt as Carmen and Lexi saw the huge bed in the center of the basement. Carmen walked over to the foot and sat down, then bounced on it softly.

"Nice mattress," she said with a gleaming smile, then pulled her t-shirt over her head.

That started a cascade of clothes as we all hurried to get undressed. Lexi pulled me close, wrapping her body against me and pulled my head down to kiss her. I saw Carmen slide back on the bed with Alyssa crawling after her. Then I felt Kelly hug me from behind pressing her breasts into my back. The three of us shuffled over and fell onto the bed.

I spent many minutes kissing Lexi, cupping her small breasts and playing with her taut nipples. Kelly was busy below my waist licking and sucking on my engorged cock. I looked over to where Alyssa laid over Carmen as they both engaged in a lusty sixty-nine, moaning and lapping hungrily at each other. I snaked my hand down to cup Lexi's pussy, my fingers feeling her excited wetness as I wriggled my fingers inside of her.

"I need more than fingers, Jeremiah." she said breaking our kiss.

Kelly grabbed me by my shoulders and laid me back on the bed. I swiveled my legs from under me. Lexi pounced, straddling my thighs, then raised herself up and impaled herself on my rigid cock. My hands went to her waist, but then my vision was obscured by Kelly's tan thigh lifting over my face. I moved my hands to her thighs as Lexi started moving up and down my pole. I pulled Kelly down and started licking her tasty pussy.

Our room was soon filled with the joyous sounds of passionate lovemaking. Lexi rode my cock hard. She liked to go fast like she was galloping on a horse. Kelly rubbed her pussy over my face to a slower rhythm. I was stuck in the middle, not that I minded. Lexi's pace enabled me to hold still and just let her ride. I concentrated on lapping Kelly lovingly, enjoying her taste, the feel of her velvety folds, and her moans of encouragement. She responded lustily, her hips beginning to move faster. I moved a finger to enter her and it slid easily deep inside. I added a second and finger fucked her while my tongue lapped at her hard clitoris. The three of us rode our building orgasms together.