Hearthstone Entertainment
52 Orphan Adoption
IT WAS TIME to get back to school.
We had some surprises. Hannah, Maggie, April, and Jason all reduced their schedules to a single class plus a guided study credit. And Nikki had been on set with Elaine the entire time she was back. I wasn’t surprised about Hannah because she was only taking classes that Lonnie told her would be good for some aspect of her work and wasn’t working on a degree. Nikki reminded me that classes didn’t resume at Brown until the first of February. I was worried about the other three.
“I could reduce my load to part time permanently. Next fall, I should take my last classes in order to graduate,” Maggie explained to me. “But I’m still enrolled for ten hours. The difference is that I only have one class I have to attend and can focus on my work, including traveling to wherever we are filming Heaven, without having ridiculous amounts of hassle with classes. My class is on production scheduling and planning, which fits what I need to be working on anyway. The guided study is something Lonnie has created for the four of us called, ‘Professional Career Development.’ It’s actually the same guidelines as a course that takes place at WIUB-TV where students intern for a semester.”
“I just don’t want any of you to damage your education by having to work on our shows,” I said.
“Brian, you are paying me well to produce and direct Redress. If I have to knock off the rest of my coursework at IU with a single class a year or night school for the next ten years, it would still be worth it.” We continued our production meeting. When I discussed the issue with Hannah, she assured me that April and Jason were in the same boat and were enthused to be working on Elaine’s show full time. I wasn’t sure how we were paying everyone.
“By the way,” Hannah said casually, “we got a check from Nappanee Manufactured Housing for their documentary this week. The $150,000 will keep us solvent for another six months of production on Chick Chat and Young Cooking. The next check from Lifelong Women’s Network will come in plenty of time to cover your expenses with Redress. After that, the last two checks from them will be profit. Nice job. You should talk to Louise about our financial statement.”
Fuck me!
“Patrón, may we talk?”
I was startled as I came out of the studio Saturday afternoon. Our first taping of the semester went well. Lauren had her new crew whipped into shape quickly. Lonnie had watched the production and was pleased with the way Lauren was developing as a producer and director. This was the most separated that I’d been from the production end since I worked with Harvey and Miss Polly. All I thought about was recipes and presentation. We were out early and I was actually looking forward to my Saturday evening cuddle with Danielle. I had some reading to do and I knew that after she’d squirmed and talked for a few minutes, Dani would settle down and go to sleep on my shoulder. I’d be able to study with no problem.
I wasn’t expecting Amber to be waiting in ambush as I walked out the door. She and Rich were standing on the porch.
“Amber! Rich. I wasn’t expecting to see you this weekend. What’s up? Let’s go in the house where it’s warm.” We walked over to the house, all got hot drinks, and sat in front of the fire. Rose curled up on my lap. She was wearing a fluffy robe, which many of the girls wore in the house now that the weather was so cold.
“I plan to attend IU in the fall,” Amber started. “I’d come here for no other reason than that I like all the people and the lifestyle. Please don’t think that I’m just coming down here to be with Rich. We’re getting along fine and the sex is great, but neither of us are making any big commitments at the moment. We’re just having fun being teenagers.”
“I’m glad you’re coming to join us,” I said. “Do you plan to come right after graduation with the rest of the seniors?”
“That’s what I want to talk about,” she said. “I’m not happy. I won’t say that my father is doing anything inappropriate, but he’s always looking at me and suggesting that we have a nude household. There’s a constant suggestion that I bring my girlfriends home for a sleepover. My mother is no better. I’ve actually walked in on them having sex while watching teen girl porn. I don’t think any of them are underage, but it’s freaky.”
“You might not call it inappropriate, but I do,” Rose said. “You need to get out of that house.”
Amber nodded. “I’ll turn eighteen on Tuesday. I’d like to stay here at the ranch. Our semester at SJVHS ended yesterday. Conveniently, the semester at West County High begins Monday. I can finish my last semester of high school here if it is okay with you.”
“We need advice from Daddy,” Rose said. “That’s legal advice so we’re sure we aren’t doing something wrong. I assume you have left home this weekend and don’t plan to go back.”
“I have all my personal things packed in Rich’s car. My parents know I’m moving out.”
“And they are okay with it?” I asked.
“Oh, they made a big fuss when we loaded the car this morning. My father threatened to report me as a runaway, but I just asked if he really wanted police investigating our home life. He just said he wasn’t supporting me any longer and I was on my own.”
“I think we can support you through the rest of high school,” I said. “We’ll have to figure out what comes after that.”
“You don’t have to. My grandparents set up a trust fund for me when I was a baby. I get control of it when I turn eighteen. I can pay my rent and expenses and have my college tuition covered. It’s not like I can just quit everything and go travel around the world for the rest of my life, but I won’t be a burden,” she said. Her lip was quivering and Rich hugged her. I glanced at Rose and the two of us held out our arms. Amber practically flew into our laps. Rich came and knelt beside us, holding Amber’s hand.
“You’re safe now, Amber,” I whispered. “You’re with your family.”
“I know you don’t need another kid, and you have a baby of your own, but if you could hug me sometimes, that’s all I ask.”
“It’s going to make it kind of hard on you, Rich,” I said. We’d moved all Amber’s things to the girls’ dormitory. We were standing in the middle of the big room that used to be the bedroom for Casa del Fuego. Now it was empty unless the whole clan was gathering. I was thinking that we would split the whole upstairs into men’s and women’s dorms when the younger kids got here in the spring. Younger. They were all going to be eighteen, like we were when we moved down here. Amber was just the first.
“We’ve talked a lot,” he said. “It will be hardest on Amber because she’ll go to a school where she doesn’t know anyone. She’s pretty cute, though. I’ll bet she has a date by Valentine’s Day,” he laughed.
“That doesn’t bother you?” He shook his head.
“No. I’ll miss her. I’ll even try to get down here on long weekends if she wants me to. But like she said, we’re pretty sure we aren’t in it for a long term commitment. If we discover that we’re still interested in each other when I get down here this summer, we might get together again. But we’re both free this spring to date where we want to.” He walked out to the deck over our front porch and I followed him. It seemed like there was something else on his mind. “Brian, thank you for doing this for Amber. And for me. It’s going to keep me from beating her dad to a pulp.”
It wasn’t long after dinner that Danielle came and settled into my lap. She put a lot of little kisses on my shoulder and neck and then rubbed her face against them. I ran my right hand over her body as I held my philosophy text in my left hand. It was a great idea to take the Radical Thinking class Doug told me about. It was one of the options for my intensive writing requirement and was interesting, too.
Danielle didn’t seem to mind where I ran my hand as long as I was touching her. I petted her breasts and her side. She turned in my lap slightly so I could rub her tummy. I never tried to probe between her legs, but I ran across her mound one direction and the other. When I lifted my hand to turn a page, I kissed her forehead or hairline. She often had a hand on my chest, petting my sparse hair. I just wasn’t one of those hairy guys. Neither one of us dwelt on particularly erogenous zones. I touched her nipples, but didn’t attempt to tease them. She sat with my cock trapped between our bodies, but I seldom stiffened for more than a few seconds. I was pretty sure she wasn’t wet, but I wasn’t planning to check.
Still, I realized that I loved her. Or do I just love the peace of holding her? So calm.
She stirred and got up to go to the kitchen or bathroom—I wasn’t sure where. Dolly approached me.
“Could I cuddle with you just a little?” she asked. I held out my arms and she crawled into my lap. She was in the exact same position Danielle had just been in. Her hand was on my chest and my hand was on her stomach. I swear, I hadn’t even touched her breasts. My cock hardened and pressed between us. Her nipples stood erect and waiting for my attention. I wasn’t getting any more studying done. All I could think about was her sister’s pussy as she had held it open for my inspection. “Any time you want,” she whispered in my ear. “I asked Rose’s permission and she said it was up to you. I want to clamp my pussy around your cock while Debbie eats us.” She reached between us and stroked my cock.
“I think you’d better get up now,” I said, giving her a little shove. “I really don’t want to make a mess here.” She reluctantly pulled away. I could see a glistening wet spot on my thigh.
After dropping games against both Northwestern and Iowa, Whitney floored it on the road against Minnesota Sunday. She dropped in six three-pointers and ended up with twenty-four points in our 79-70 win. She was pretty stoked when the team got home that night.
Amber had no difficulty enrolling at West County High School. She’d talked to a guidance counsellor over the summer and had laid the groundwork. The counsellor had her paperwork prepared and dated for Tuesday the 21st, her birthday. She still got to attend classes on the 20th. We tried to include her in some of our family things, but she was very happy to be with Addison, Dawn, and April. She caught a ride with me on Monday morning and I dropped her off before I had to be on campus for my 9:05 class. I had plenty of time to get coffee and study before class. Tuesday, a school bus stopped at the end of our drive at 7:15. Amber was out there ready to go.
We had a nice celebration of her birthday that night, hosted by Casa del Sol. I was happy to see Theresa and Larry take an active interest in her and talk to her for over an hour. Amber even seemed to enjoy holding Eleanor for a while.
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