Author's note:
This is, in all its seven parts and their many chapters, one very,
very
long story. If long stories bother you, I suggest you read something else.
No part of this story is written so as to stand on its own. I strongly suggest that you start with
the beginning of Part 1
and read sequentially—giving up at any point you choose, of course.
All sexual activity portrayed anywhere in this story involves only people at least eighteen years old.
This entire story is posted only on literotica.com. Any other public posting without my permission in writing is a violation of my copyright.
Monday morning came all too soon, even though we had set the alarm as late as we thought we could get away with. We shaved and dressed quickly, and went off to run.
Kelly was waiting for us where her route joined onto ours. Since this entailed a definite risk of missing us—we might have been early instead of late—I assumed she really wanted to talk to us on the way. I was right. She started right in, thanking us. "Dinner was wonderful, but it's really the time you took for all of us, yesterday and Tuesday night. I was in on it Tuesday only because of you, and you know it. And I wouldn't have been dancing if you hadn't invited me in October. And you still didn't call off our talk on Friday night. I could have told Phil all this, running, but Ellen, I need to thank you, too, for everything you both did for me in a really busy week." Neither of us managed to break in and respond before we were at the gym. It was clear that Kelly was still pumped up from the past week.
Elise was waiting, and she and Ellen got started running. Kelly and I started off, too. She said, "I wanted to tell you all that before we got here. Since Elise wasn't invited, either yesterday or Tuesday, it would have really felt impolite to say it in front of her. I guess I might have waited until after we ran, but I didn't want to wait. You've both been so good to me, I really can't believe it."
I said, "It was a wonderful week for us, too, but we're pretty tired, and we're behind on studying. And our schedules have taken a hit, too. We're meeting with Pastor Mac tomorrow, and hopefully that will turn into a regular commitment for a while—or else we need to look for someone else, I think. And tomorrow night I'm supposed to start with this martial arts club, and that's every week, too.
"And I really, really need to put in some time on the weight machines here, or else find some free weights and a bench that I can use at home. I'm loath to do that, because of the space it would take up and the hassle of having the things when the time comes to move. But last year and this both have been disasters as far as everything except running. Um. That's fitness-wise. There have been some other disasters, but mostly everything else has been really good." I hoped she understood that she was included in that.
We continued talking, about nothing much and everything, until Ellen and Elise slowed down and we caught up with them. We all chatted together for a moment, and then Elise went her way while the rest of us went ours. Before we reached the point where Kelly left us, Ellen's phone and mine both sounded tones indicating texts received. I said, "It can wait a minute," and Kelly continued what she was saying.
Once we had said goodbye to her and hurried on, Ellen checked her phone quickly. "Jenny wants to talk to us this afternoon after classes, conference call with Sam, and asks whether four-thirty our time is OK." We decided to wait to answer until breakfast.
We hurried through the shower, taking time for quick sex we both really felt we needed. I told Ellen, "Sometime this week, and I hope it's tonight, we're just going to have to make time for not hurrying through." She kissed me, but we did hurry.
While I fixed breakfast, she got the table set and then called Jenny. It went straight to voicemail. She said, "Jenny, this is Ellen, but Phil's listening. Four-thirty is too early. Five-thirty would be fine, but no guarantees on much earlier. We've never done conference calls, so we hope you know what you're doing. We'll be available for maybe half an hour longer now." She paused, and then said, "I hope this doesn't mean there's a problem, but you know we both love you, and Sam does too, so if there is don't shrink back from telling us, whatever you need us to do. Text us if you need to, we'll be in classes a lot." She disconnected.
Ellen said, "I'll text her with 'OK but later, listen to voicemail.'" When she was done with that, breakfast was ready and we got busy eating. We did a quick cleanup and hurried off. When we got to the point where our ways parted, she kissed me longer than usual, and said, "Phil, whatever it is, I'm here. Don't forget that."
I did the best I could, studying, as I stood waiting for class. Pete and Tammy came up, and we talked briefly. In the midst of the stress of having five people in that small an apartment, they were enjoying it too. "Scott and Martha are both really interesting to talk to," Tammy said. "We stayed up later than we should last night, in fact. They had some things to say that may help us, our relationship, as things develop over time.
"And Hannah is making me really look forward to having kids of our own, someday. Last night she really acted up for the first time, at least when we've been there. She didn't want to go to bed. It didn't get to the point of a temper tantrum, but I think it was headed that way. Scott picked her up and took her into their room and talked quietly to her for a bit. I say 'quietly' because we could barely hear his voice, and hers quieted down after a minute or two.
"Eventually—really not all that long, either—they came out with her in her nightclothes, and she apologized to Martha and to us for making a fuss. Martha oversaw her toothbrushing, and she went to the bathroom and said goodnight. And you've seen how sweet she is most of the time."
