We left our loving "fourple" in Steve's SUV as they were pulling away from Emily's parents' home in Albuquerque. Em and Jackson Foster were seeking a temporary respite there from their loss of employment, apartment home, and means of getting around. By sheer fate if not divine intervention, Steven and Cyan Albertson rescued them in the desert town of Barstow as things were looking even worse, if that was at all possible. They quickly bonded in the realization they shared an unusual lifestyle -- they were swingers, separated by half a generation.
As the couples became familiar with each other during their playful road trip on historic Route 66, it was becoming increasingly obvious the young couple were not going to be successful with their request for parental assistance during their time of need. Once it became clear to Steve and Cyan they had no backup plan, they offered a "Plan B" consisting of housing the couple in a guest cottage under renovation, and helping with living support while Em and Jax rebooted their lives.
Which was a good thing. The encounter with Emily's folks left everybody wholly traumatized from the unfettered hatred her parents channeled towards the foursome, a hatred rooted in their religious cult's convictions. Emily had just mirrored the extreme enmity right back at them in a display of justified outrage and anger, making it clear that her birth parents were to be out of her life... forever.
The mournful silence and Emily's soft sobbing in the car had to be interrupted, however.
"Guys," Steve breaks the chill. "We need lunch."
"What
ever
," Emily sniffles. Jackson is holding her tight in attempts to salve her grieving.
"Sweetie," Cyan follows, "we'll find someplace quiet. Steve? I recall a restaurant row on this side of town. Why don't we head that way?"
"Okay. It's 2:30, so there shouldn't be a crowd pretty much anyplace we go."
Emily tries to apologize again. "Guys? I am so,
so
sorry. This was
my
problem, and I dragged you all into a firestorm that my gut told me was inevitable."
"Don't be!" Steve replies. "It was really clear to us last night this was going to happen. You will recall I wanted to avoid the whole confrontation, but, well, sweetie, you and Jax needed to get it out of your system, frankly. It's obvious, to me at least, that this had been festering for a long, long while."
"Stevie? If we were so certain about it, then why did we get so crazy with those strangers in the hot tub? We should have been holed up in our room and sleepless in the anticipation of something really bad."
"Emotional refocus and release. You said it yourself at breakfast. 'Getting lost in the unrestrained sex' or something like that. Gawd. How many times did you cum last night? I lost count!"
Jackson moans and mumbles, "Uh huh. I stopped counting at fourteen. Three of those on Rob's cock."
"And you said you couldn't possibly take it!" Cyan chuckles.
"I did!" Emily giggles through the tears.
"See?" Steve has a satisfied grin.
"See
what?
"
"Refocus. The opportunity of extreme, no-holds-barred raunchy sex took your mind off of... ohgawd... just everything. And then there was the total embrace, comfort, and reassurance of the four of us right after. Pretty good therapy, if you ask me. Isn't that right, Solomon?"
The four chuckle as the puppy is doing its best to navigate the emotions swirling around it. He gives up and lays his head down on the pad in his crate.
"It's going to take some time to sort this all out," Em responds. "My parents, and then there's you guys. I was
supposed
to love
them
, but why do I love you two in that way? You're not my parents, you're my lovers. How can you be both?"
"Simple. Acceptance. Your parents' extreme faith model directed them to consider you as chattel, something that 'belonged' to them they were obliged to guide into the fold. You were almost an object. From my point of view they apparently were not equipped to accept you as a person once you became an adult."
"Okay. That's why they could deal with the idea of throwing me away. The 'shunning' part."
"Uh huh. Ugly, isn't it?"
"Wow," Jax quietly exclaims. "It also seems to explains why they couldn't accept
me
. I was so much useless detritus to them."
"Sort of. You had compromised their 'property'."
"What about my mother?" Emily ponders. "It seemed like she was trying to come to my defense. How do you think she feels?"
"Hurt. Badly," Steve answers. "But she couldn't buck back against your father."
"Can I contact her?"
"I dunno, sweetheart. I can't answer that. Do you think she's in danger if he found out?"
"No. Not in physical danger, at least. He never laid a hand on her that I know of. It was always 'doctrine this' and 'doctrine that'. As long as she was convinced to believe, that was her obligation."
"Did you ever hear her express doubts?"
"Sometimes. 'Meeting' always fixed that."
"Now
I'm
puzzled. How is it that they let you attend a public university?"
"Heh. Since the cult didn't have schools per se and my folks weren't equipped to do home schooling, going to regular public schools when growing up opened my eyes that the other kids didn't have nearly the restrictions I did, especially the ones that didn't make a lot of sense. So when I had the opportunities and especially the scholarships to pick a college 'just close enough to home'..."
"Ah. Liked we talked about yesterday."
"Uh huh."
"Sneaky. Smart! Hey... how does that place look?"
Jax replies, "The one on the left? '66 Diner'? Interesting looking building."
"Any objections?"
The girls shake their heads.
"Okay. Looks like I can't turn left. Hang on. Geez. Is it possible to make a U-ee before we get to Texas? Oh. There's a turnaround pocket just ahead."
Steve parks, and they unload and step inside. Emily excuses herself to the restroom, and emerges with her makeup freshened. Once seated, Cyan has to complain about the menu choices.
"Fried fried fried! Everything's fried!" she carries on.
"It's a diner, dear," Steve answers.
She grumbles, "Then it was a bad choice!"
"Oh, look, honey! Fried okra!"
"Well... okay. I see they have salads, too."
Em and Jax are chuckling at 'the adults'.
Waiting for their order, conversation turns to trip planning.
Cyan asks, "What are we doing about tonight? Our original plan was Amarillo."
"That's where we have reservations. Not a suite this time. You guys okay sharing a bed?"
Jackson chuckles and shakes his head, Em giggles and fakes a swat at Steve.
"So bad," Emily mumbles.
"Thank you, sweetie," Steve responds. "You're feeling better about things."
"I am. We're with you guys. Our new family."
"I don't think there's a lot of opportunity for fun at tonight's hotel. It's an okay place and they have a hot tub, but it's sort of in view of the lobby, so no fuckin' around."
"Fuckin'" got eyebrows from the late-twenties couple across the aisle. Cyan noticed this and smiled.
"We'll figure out something naughty, Steven," Emily grins, which elicits more eyebrows.
However, Steve keys in on the apparent disapproval from the eavesdroppers.