Hey all! I am back with the last chapter of Part 2!
This chapter has some fun surprises in store to wrap up the story I started in Ch. 13. If you are just now finding this tale, you're gonna want to go back there to get caught up (or better, go back to Ch. 01.
The Lit community's enthusiasm has given me the drive to keep this tale going. Without all the kind letters, comments and ratings (and occasional songs), this story would have simply gotten lost on a hard drive somewhere.
Part 2 (Ch 13 through 26) is roughly 136k words. Every single one of them was written for the wonderful people here to enjoy, and I certainly hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Enough from me. Let's finish this in style.
*****
Bigger on the Inside
"Ugh." Mike held up a hand to shut out the sun's light. It had been a late night trying to lay down all the new sod in the front yard. The lightning blasts and storm had killed off most of it, and only a few of the shrubs had survived. The delivery had showed up six hours late, and Mike and the others had to hastily unroll the sod beneath a scorching afternoon sun. Tink had crawled into bed with dirt on her hands and feet, her goggles pulled down over her neck. Mike had fallen asleep in his shirt, his back sore from hauling sod.
"Rise and shine, lover." Naia called out from the bath. "Sofia said to tell you that breakfast is ready, and if you don't come down soon, there won't be any left."
"Mergh." He slid out of bed and stumbled into the bathroom.
"You're filthy," Naia declared, standing on the surface of the water in the tub.
"Yeah. I was so tired." He stretched, his joints cracking. A yawn slipped out of him. "What's on the agenda for today?"
"Remodel of the garage. Zel hates the current setup, but she hasn't said anything to you yet. I think Tink used your computer to order the parts already."
"Sounds good." It had been over a week since he had chased the Society away, and he had spent those days fixing the mess they had made. He pulled off all his clothes and tossed them in the hamper. "Anything else?"
"It's the big day." Naia helped him into the tub so he wouldn't slip. She wrapped her arms around his waist. "Beth will be here any minute to make it final."
"Excellent." He closed his eyes, and felt the water in the tub surge around him. It took only a few seconds, the powerful vortex of water scrubbing his skin clean. The water fell back down with a splash, and Naia lathered his hair with shampoo. "I'm hoping things slow down soon. I feel like things have been a little hectic."
"At least nobody is trying to kill you today." She pressed herself against him again, her breasts squishing against him. The water vortex worked its magic, and Mike opened his eyes. Naia gave him a kiss on the nose.
"Thanks," he told her and got out of the tub. The water on his skin stayed behind, and he was instantly dry. He put on some clean clothes and left his room, closing the door behind him. The smell of fresh food made his mouth water, and he jogged quietly down the stairs, ducking at the bottom to avoid the sudden swirl of fairy lights over his head. As far as he could tell, Blue had run off with a piece of bacon, and Red and Green had given chase.
"It's about time." Sofia said, then set an extra plate on the table. She wore an apron over her gown. "I figured you were going to sleep through breakfast." Tink was already at the table, his laptop just to the left of her plate. She opened her mouth wide to shove in syrup covered waffles.
"Do I smell bacon?" he asked.
"Blue took the last piece. She was the early bird, she got the worm." Sofia handed him a cup of coffee. "You'll have to settle for sausage and toast."
"I feel so punished." He smiled at her, but she didn't return it. He took a sip of the coffee. "Tastes good."
"Of course it does." She rolled her eye. "Everything I make tastes great."
"I think you taste great." He reached around her and gave her ass a pinch. Her cheeks turned red. "Even if you are a little sour at first."
Sofia stayed quiet, but he saw the slight smile on her lips just as he looked away. "Today's the big day Tink. Are we ready?"
"Think so," Tink replied. At least, he thought that's what she said. It was hard to hear around the mouthful of waffles. He patted her on the head and sat down next to her. She was busy filling up his online shopping cart with decorative wood.
"Has anybody seen Dana?" Mike noticed that she wasn't at breakfast. Even though she didn't eat, she had been there every morning.
"She said she left you a note." Sofia pushed some sausages from her skillet onto his plate. "On the table by the front door."
"Ok, thank you." He put some butter on his toast. "Hey, do we have any-"
Sofia slid some scrambled eggs onto his plate.
"Thank you." He ate quietly, watching Tink scroll through six different websites to find what she needed. He cringed at the amount of syrup she was getting on his keyboard, but stayed quiet. He barely had time to use the laptop anymore, and he had passed on several of his clients to other web developers already. Mike's days of working a normal job were nearly over.
"Mmm!" Tink licked her fingers clean then slid off her chair and disappeared around the corner. He figured she was off to go fix something important. He slid his laptop over and gave it a quick wipe down with a damp paper towel before doing some shopping of his own.
His phone rang on the counter. Sofia handed it to him.
"Hey." It was Beth.
"I'm on my way back right now," she told him. "I will probably be there in just over an hour."
"How did it go?"
"We had some trouble, but nothing we couldn't handle." He could hear the smile in her voice through the phone's speaker. "I got everything I needed, so we are headed your way now."
"Stay out of trouble." He hung up the phone then finished his eggs. He helped Sofia with the dishes then walked out into the front room. He noticed immediately that the grandfather clock was gone. He looked around and saw that a large white envelope with his name had appeared on the mantle.
"Uh oh." He approached the mantle and opened the note to read its contents. He let out a sigh, then tucked it in his back pocket. There was nothing he could do about it now. He walked to the back door to see that Zel and Tink stood by the fountain, scrutinizing a diagram that Zel had drawn. He didn't feel like getting involved yet, so walked out the front door of the house to be alone.
Well, almost alone. Cecilia was on her swing, watching the front yard. He gave her a wave, then walked down the steps to where the sundial was. He gave it another twist, setting the defenses in place for twenty four more hours. He didn't feel the need to wait until it was almost done before resetting it.
"Did you sleep well?" Cecilia asked him when he stepped back onto the porch. He shrugged, then sat down next to her.
"I did, but not enough."
"I have always wondered what it would be like to sleep. Sometimes, if I sit long enough, my mind wanders to old memories."
"It can be like that. I used to dream a lot about my childhood."
"You don't anymore?"
"Not like I did. Those dreams weren't very good, but I quit having them not too long after I moved in. Our dreams are a place where our greatest desires or worst fears can find us. They can be chaotic or detailed, logical or just plain weird. I had a dream in college once that I became a pizza, and the other kids in the dorm were eating me and I got really upset because I was afraid I would miss my finals."
"That... is really weird."
Mike laughed. "Yeah. It didn't make sense. I guess the best way to describe dreaming would be if your memories blurred together and you ended up remembering things wrong or different than they actually happened."