Downstairs, Jane and Alexia find Amber staring at the potatoes on the stove.
"Everything ok?" Jane asks.
"Yes, Mistress." Amber says. "I think the potatoes are done, I turned them off."
Jane checks, and they are. "Alexia and I can handle dinner from here." Jane says. "Can you unload the dishes while we cook?"
"Yes, Mistress." Amber says.
"If you run into something, and you don't know where it goes, just ask us." Jane says. "Alexia, do you mind catching me up on the conversation earlier?"
Alexia explains the conversation she and Amber had with Robert, about the prices of buying versus renting vans, and finishes by explaining the testing situation with Amber.
"There is one more thing though." Alexia says, looking over at Amber. "Amber, would you like me to explain the other thing from upstairs, or would you like to?"
"Would you mind doing it?" Amber asks quietly.
Alexia proceeds to explain about Jackson wanting to breed Amber, and her feelings of rejection when it didn't happen.
"I'm certain he didn't find you unworthy." Jane says. "We think you are an amazing girl."
"Thank you, Mistress." Amber says. "May I ask, does that mean you find me worthy?"
"Worthiness is not what I would question." Jane says. "You aren't ready yet. You need to get healthy first, and then if you want a child, tell me, and I will talk to Robert about it. It may take time though, ultimately it is up to Robert whether to entrust a woman with his child."
"I understand, Mistress." Amber says. "I will do my best to prove myself. If I were to have a child, would you be it's mother, or would I?"
"You would, of course." Jane says, a bit horrified. "We would never take away your ability to be a mother to your own child."
"Thank you, Mistress." Amber says. "But if I asked you, would you be willing to be a second mother to a child I had?"
"Of course, if that is what you wanted." Jane says. "I would be honored to be asked, but only if that's truly what you wanted."
"Yes, Mistress." Amber says. "Thank you."
"You are very welcome." Jane says. "I'm glad you feel comfortable enough to ask questions."
"You have all made me feel so welcome." Amber says. "The last girl is usually an outsider, and takes time to be accepted. This has been one of the best days of my life. Thank you."
Jane just hugs her, trying to keep it together and not cry. "I hope tomorrow is an even better day, and the one after that too." She manages to say.
A few minutes later Robert and Lucia finally make it downstairs, and everyone sits down to eat. "Thank you all for cooking." Lucia says. "It's so nice to have the night off."
"You are very welcome." Jane says with a smile. "When Mei shows up you will get every other night off, unless you two want to work together some nights. Besides, I think you were to bit too busy to think about cooking."
"I was." Lucia says, blushing. "Thank you for letting me have my special night."
"Of course, honey." Jane says. "I hope we can do this for everyone's first night with Robert, unless they want something different."
"That's a great idea." Lucia says.
"I suppose I don't mind." Robert says.
"Honey, this is a lady's conversation." Jane says.
"Maybe you should have it when just the ladies are present?" Robert says, laughing.
"Fine." Jane says, fake pouting. "What would you like to talk about?"
"Why don't we start with cars?" Robert asks. "Did Alexia tell you what we found?"
"She did." Jane says. "No point renting one, we just need to buy."
"It's 50 grand though, for the cheapest one. And 60 to 70 grand for the nicer ones." Robert says. "And we still have to bid on Mei, and potentially Amber, if the test doesn't go like we want. Plus the other girls we picked."
"We may have to change our strategy a bit." Jane says. "Lucia, if we don't get the girl from your school, are you going to be upset with us?"
"No, it's fine." Lucia says. "She isn't a friend or anything, just someone I thought might be a good fit."
"That makes it a bit easier. We need to set a limit on each of the girls we are bidding on, and a total budget, and we probably need to come up with other options as well, both for this auction and for any future auctions." Jane says. "We need to decide who to prioritize, and maybe be a little less picky."
"At the very least, I think we need to interview as many girls as possible at each auction. The profiles are hardly complete, and we may find a great fit unexpectedly." Robert says.
"I will spend more time on the profiles until the auction is over. If we all do that, and Robert goes through our favorites, maybe we can get enough options that we can keep in the budget, but still get some great people." Lucia says.
"Can I help?" Amber asks.
"Of course." Jane says. "If you sit with Lucia or Alexia while they are doing it, they can explain what we are looking for, and maybe you will have some new ideas too."
"Yes, Mistress." Amber says. "Thank you. Would we be interested in other Kajirae, If I see any?"
"I'm not sure about that." Robert says quickly.
"If you can vouch for them, we will consider them. If they are someone you recognize, but you can't be fairly certain will be a good fit, we may have to pass." Jane says. "We have to maintain a good environment in the house after all. I don't know that you will recognize any. Girls local to your old home wouldn't be in our auction, since we are in a different county."
"Master Jackson trained girls from other areas too, including this area. And also knew other Masters who lived here, some of whom purchased the girls he trained." Amber says. "I would be surprised if I didn't recognize one or two of them."
"It's worth a shot." Jane says quickly, directing a glance at Robert who was about to speak up. "Robert, we also need to get Amber a phone. Tomorrow after testing, can you take her to the store and pick one out? Unless we have a spare that would work for her."
"We have a few lying around." Robert says. "Probably best to start her on one of those, since she hasn't had one before. I'd hate to buy a nice one and it get dropped."
"I will be very careful, Master." Amber says. "I saw Master Jackson drop one once, and he was very angry. I was punished for several days after that."
"He punished you for something he did?" Lucia asks, horrified.
"Yes." Amber says, and then continues. "At first he just kicked me a few times, but then he dragged me by my hair to a pole in the yard, bound me to it, and belted me. When he was done he used my ass, and then put me in a slave box for two days."
Lucia gasps audibly, and Alexia just stares at Amber, horrified. Robert turns visibly red, and Jane quickly says. "That's awful. Jackson should be ashamed of himself." and reaches under the table to squeeze Robert's leg.
"I'm sure the Master thought I had caused him to drop the phone." Amber says, reflexively defending him still.
"Did you?" Jane asks, knowing the answer already, but needing Amber to admit it.
"No, Mistress." Amber says quietly. "At least, I don't see how I could have."
"He was wrong to punish you like that, and especially when you had done nothing wrong." Jane says. "Nothing like that will ever happen to you as long as you are with us."
"Does that mean you may not keep me?" Amber says. "I think you've said 'as long as you are here, or as long as you are with us' a few times now, Mistress."
"We will keep you until and unless you decide you don't want to be with us." Jane says firmly. "We never want anyone here against their will. If any of you ever wished to leave, we would do our best to find you a good home."
"You couldn't pay us to leave." Alexia says. "If a girl is dumb enough to want to leave, good riddance to them."
"I would agree." Amber says. "A girl who wished to leave a Master and Mistress like this, with two amazing first girls, would have to be truly stupid, and probably un-trainable."
"Let's hope we never have to deal with that." Robert says, finally recovering from his rage at Jackson's treatment of Amber. "Jane, I think after Amber is tested, we need to get her, and probably all of the girls, a physical. When did each of you last see a doctor?"
"Lucia and I had insurance from my job until recently." Alexia says. "Lucia lost coverage on her birthday, so we made sure to get all of her appointments done right before then."
"Amber?" Jane asks.