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The Secret - part 17

By DoggyStyle57 - April 2013

11/09/2012 (Friday afternoon)

Melanie Kelley was firmly of the opinion that one of the best advantages of her only working half shifts at her waitress job was that she had the time free to drop the kids off at school in the morning on her way in to work, and pick them up again in the afternoon. No worries about the kids getting drenched by a surprise rainstorm as they walked or rode their bikes. No worries about bullies accosting them as they went through the park or the neighborhood. And beside all that, she simply enjoyed driving her kids to and from school. That thought gave her a smile - the idea that 'her kids' now included Hans Bernerholdt, in addition to her daughter Ryan. Her handsome Bernese Mountain Dog boyfriend Karl's son was already calling her 'mother', and Ryan was calling Karl 'daddy', as if Karl and Melanie had been married the kids' whole lives. They were really becoming a family, and the 22 year old tricolor collie girl couldn't be more pleased. Another five weeks and they would take the next step, when Karl and Melanie would formally get handfasted - sworn to each other as a committed couple in front of their Pagan friends and the God and Goddess that Melanie and Ryan worshipped, and Karl and Hans were learning to respect. And then, hopefully, a year and a day later they would get legally married.

She sat in her car at the curb in front of the kids' school, watching as kids left the building. Soon the car door opened as Ryan and then Hans piled in, accompanied by a cold gust of wind. November had brought several cold fronts through the region, and some much needed rain, but it wasn't quite cold enough yet here in the valley for it to be snowing. The passes through the Coastal mountain range to the West and the almost all of higher Cascade mountain range to the east would have snow by now, with snow skiing on the higher peaks in the Cascades. On a clear day, from any of the higher points here in Fox Hollow they could see three snowy mountain peaks in the distance, and several other mountain peaks to the North or South of those along the crest of the mountain ridge. But here in the Williams River valley, between the two mountain ranges, they were less than five hundred feet above sea level, and it should be late December, or maybe even early January, before their town was embraced in snow. So as she pulled out of the parking lot and onto the street, all Melanie had to worry about were an intermittent spattering of big fat raindrops.

How was your day today?" She asked.

"Very good, mother!" Hans said happily. "We've been invited to a birthday party!"

"Oh? Well, I'll have to talk over the details with the child's parents, of course, but I'm very happy to hear that, Hans. Do I know the child? Whose party is it, and when?" Melanie asked.

"You know her very well, mommy. It's for Michelle Edwards' tenth birthday," Ryan said. "Her mom came to the school at lunchtime and visited us, to give us the invitation in person."

"Oh? That was very nice of Katie to make a special trip to your school to do that," Melanie said. "You know, I've considered sending you two over to Wind Valley Academy, where Michelle goes to school. Katie tells me that they only have fifty or so students there, instead of the six hundred and fifty that attend Sun Meadow School with you. And since it's a private school rather than a public one, they have a very pagan-friendly attitude. Would you like to consider that?"

"Wouldn't make much difference to me," Hans said. "I only have a few friends so far at Sun Meadow, and I could still see them outside of school hours. What do you think, Ryan?"

"Maybe. I'd have to think about that," Ryan said. "I've gone to Sun Meadow since kindergarten, and most of my friends that aren't pagan go there. But we do also know Michelle, and Darrin McIntyre also goes to Wind Valley, so we'd have some friends right off over there if we changed schools."

"Well, let's talk to Karl about the idea some time soon," Melanie said. "There's no pressing reason to change in the middle of the school year, but perhaps we could consider it for next year? They also have a high school, with the campus just across the street from the elementary and middle school campus, so when Ryan starts high school you two would still be close to each other."

===

When they got home, the kids were still happily telling Karl about being invited to the birthday party next weekend when the phone rang, and Melanie answered it.

"Hello?" she said. "Oh! Hi Katie! Yes, the kids are bubbling over with excitement about being invited to Michelle's party. So, what are the details, dear?"

She listened for a few minutes, and then said, "Yes, they could certainly both spend the night. Just so you know, Hans and Ryan are already mated, and sexually active with each other. They have our permission for that, as long as Hans always uses a condom, so Ryan won't get pregnant. Umm humm. That's right. Yes, I'm well aware of Michelle's situation. Oh? Well, I think we can manage that too. I'll talk with my family, but probably that's how it will work out. That won't be any problem with me, and I think the others will agree to that idea. Now, what about presents? Any ideas for what Michelle would like?"

She listed again for a few minutes, and then replied, "Well, I think we can certainly get those for her. Sandy's Toy Store is just down the block from where I work, and I'm sure I saw at least three of the orange one when I walked by there today. Consider that taken care of. Umm humm. All right, I'll drop them off at one, then. See you next week!"

"Was that Mrs. Edwards, mommy?" Ryan asked.

"Yes, that was Michelle's mother," Melanie said. "She confirmed that the party is a week from this Saturday, at one PM to five PM. You two are also invited to stay and have dinner with their family after the party, and to spend the night while the girls have a sleepover. We'll pick you up again at ten on Sunday."

"Really? Yay!" Hans shouted. "I get to go to a sleepover!"

Karl had been listening attentively. His brow furrowed a bit as he asked, "They're inviting Hans to stay for a girl's sleepover? Isn't that a bit odd?"

"Well, you haven't really met Michelle yet, have you dear?" Melanie replied. "Do you remember that cute blonde ten year old Corgi girl that was wearing the 'anime school girl' costume at the Samhain party? That was Michelle. Ryan and Michelle have grown up together as friends, though we usually only see her family at pagan events. You met her parents, Ted and Katie Edwards, in the hot tub just before we left."

"Yes, I remember them. Nice looking Corgi couple. Only saw their girl from a distance, but she was cute, yes," Karl said. "But her parents aren't worried about their daughter having a boy at her sleepover?"

"Well, Michelle isn't really a girl, dear," Melanie said. "She lives as a girl full time, but she was born a boy. She's one of those people whose mental gender identification doesn't match what her body developed into - the kind of person who is usually much happier getting gender reassignment surgery at some point in their lives. She's thought of herself as a girl and preferred living as a girl for almost all of her life. She's one of the reasons no one commented at all about Hans showing up as 'Hannah' at that party. The Druids and Wiccans there all are used to seeing a boy behaving as a girl, and they accept her. She won't be interested in Ryan, and I see no harm in her becoming Hans' friend, do you?"

"Hummm, I guess that will be all right," Karl said, though he was slightly apprehensive about sending his son to a sleepover with what amounted in his mind to a gay boy. But he had promised to be supportive of his son's... differences... so he didn't complain. "Now, what's for dinner?" he asked.

===

11/10/2012 (Saturday)

On the next morning, Melanie took Hans and Ryan with her to shop for Michelle's birthday presents, and to get some nice 'party clothes' for both kids.

Their first stop was Sandy's Toy Store, on the edge of downtown. "Katie said that Michelle collects the 'My Fantasy Foxies' dolls," Melanie said, directing her comment primarily to Hans. "I'm afraid I don't know much about them though, since Ryan never plays with dolls. Do you?"

"Ummm, I've watched their Saturday morning cartoon show for about a month, mom," Hans said. "It's pretty good, really. The Fantasy Foxies are seven vixens that live in a small settlement in the woods. Each girl has a different color fur, like the seven colors of a rainbow. Most of them do magic, and they have adventures together. Which colors does Michelle already own?"

"Katie said she has every one of the dolls except the orange one, and I saw that one in the window display, so I'm sure they have at least one," Melanie said.

"Okay! That would be 'Rebecca' - she's the vixen that does healing magic," Hans said. Then he pointed to a shelf halfway across the store, and said, "I see her! Yeah, they have several of that doll over on the far wall, mom. Let's go!"

"Humph!" Ryan said. "When it comes to those dolls, he's as bad as half the girls I know. I'll admit the cartoon show is all right, but the doll sets are pretty lame, mom. Fancy dresses mixed with magic staves, wands, and camping gear and swords and stuff. They fight all sorts of mythical monsters but don't bother to wear armor, and they usually defeat their enemies without actually hurting anyone. They don't even seriously hurt the attacking monsters. I watched Connie Grayson and her friends playing with their Foxies dolls at lunch time one day. They were just re-creating the episode that had been on TV the day before and when they got to where it ended, they didn't seem to know what to do next."

"Well, Connie's only eight, isn't she?" Michelle asked, as they caught up with Hans. "Hummm - do you think I should get one of those dolls for Hans, later? He seems quite interested in them, doesn't he?"

Ryan sighed. "That's all I need, mom - for him to start decorating our room with dolls and other girly stuff. The next thing you know, you or Hans will be suggesting we paint our bedroom pink!"

"My little tomboy," Melanie said with a laugh, patting Ryan on top of her ball cap. "Would it really hurt you to do some girly things occasionally? I was thinking that when we were done here, we should get you a pretty dress to wear to Michelle's party."

"Mom! You know I hate wearing dresses!" Ryan said, pouting.

Melanie smiled and asked, "Will you wear a dress to the party if Hans gets to go to the party as a girl and wears a dress too? Katie told me that Michelle wanted to know if Hans could come to the party as Hannah, like he was when Michelle and met him at the Samhain party. I haven't told Karl about that yet. But Michelle's family and the pagan kids that are likely to attend the party have all seen Hans as Hannah already. So I think that if we get the dresses now, and then ask your father, that we can get him to say yes. I'm sure he would like to see you in a dress himself. If you wearing a dress for once as a part of the deal we offer to him, he's more likely to say yes, don't you think? Do we have a deal?"

"Well... okay, mom," Ryan said as they caught up to Hans in the toy store. "Hey Hans! Do you think Hannah would like to go to Michelle's party?"

Hans almost dropped the doll and three dress sets that he was holding. "OH! Oh yeah! Could we do that, mom?" he asked excitedly.

"That's what Michelle would like you to do, according to her mother," Melanie said. "We'll buy both of you a pretty party dress next, and then see if we can get your father to approve of the idea."

"Both of us?" Hans asked, staring in wonder at Ryan. "You too?"

"Yeah, well... Mom wants me to wear a dress, and she thinks dad is more likely to let you go as Hannah if I promise to wear a dress too - just to get me into a dress at all," Ryan replied. "So I'll do it, 'cause it gives you another chance to go out in public as a girl."

===

When Melanie and the kids got home from shopping, they found Mossflower watching TV in the living room.

"Hi there!" the Saluki said as they walked in. "Karl's upstairs with Dianna. We were in the neighborhood, so I brought her by for another 'fill-up'."

"Good! She can keep him busy while I get the kids into their new dresses, and do their hair. Wanna help me?" Melanie asked.

"Dresses? For your tomboy and your son? Oh, I wouldn't miss a chance to see that for the world, Melanie!" Mossflower replied. "So Hans, are you cross-dressing just for fun now? You were adorable in that princess costume at Samhain, but I wasn't sure if that was a one-time thing, or if Karl and Melanie were letting you cross-dress more often."

"Well, I wear girls' undies all the time now, except when I'm at school on days when I have gym class. I don't wanna strip down to shower and have the guys at school see that I'm wearing lacy bikini panties! But I usually wear girly panties, an' a bra too, under my school clothes whenever I don't have gym class, and any time when I'm not in school. And sometimes mom and dad let me wear a dress, or a skirt and blouse, here around the house. Dad's still getting used to the idea, but mom and Ryan and my grandma and grandpa Kelly are cool with me dressing like a girl."

"I think that's neat," Mossflower said with a grin. "Come on, kids, let's give your daddy a big surprise!"

===

Karl heard Melanie's car in the driveway, but the big Bernese Mountain Dog was rather occupied at the moment, with the purple furred Samoyed girl, Dianna, riding his cock cowgirl-style for all she was worth. She seemed intent on cramming at least one more load of his cream into her fertile and unprotected belly before she would be ready to return to her lesbian lover downstairs. He was glad that Melanie and the kids all knew about the agreement for him to impregnate Dianna as a favor to the primarily lesbian couple. He certainly wouldn't have wanted either of the kids to find him balls deep in any girl other than Melanie, without them already understanding and accepting the situation beforehand.

A few minutes later he heard a little noise in the hallway, and then in the bathroom, as the kids apparently came back up to their room. When he heard the shower start up, he relaxed, confident that he would have at least another thirty minutes to mate with this delightful canine girl before his family had any need of his attention.

He was almost right in that. Twenty five minutes later, he heard a knock on the hallway door, and Mossflower and Melanie entered the room. Karl was still flat on his back, with his throbbing knot quite thoroughly stuck in Dianna as he pumped his seed into her. "Unghhhh! Pardon me if I don't get up, ladies. I'm kind of stuck here," Karl replied as he climaxed.

"Well, Karl, you're taking good care of my girl, I see," Mossflower said. "How many times has he filled you, my love?" she asked the Samoyed girl.

Dianna grinned silently and held up three fingers, and rubbed her belly.

"Karl? We just got back from getting Michelle's presents, and I also bought some party clothes for the kids. Would you believe that I managed to get Ryan to agree to wear a dress to Michelle's birthday party next weekend?" Melanie said, with a small smirk on her face.

"Ryan? In a dress? Are you sure you brought the right kid back from the store dear?" Karl replied. "What did you have to promise your daughter to get her to even consider wearing a dress? Does she get Ice cream for dessert after dinner every night for the next month?"

"Nooo... I just had to make her one little promise," Melanie replied. "You know, Hans was dressed as 'Hannah' when Michelle first met him. Michelle knows Hans is a boy, like she really is, but she asked if Hans could attend her party as Hannah. Ryan has agreed to wear a dress, but only if Hans gets to wear a dress too. Please let them do this dear! I already bought their dresses, and they both look adorable! See for yourself. Come in, children!"

Hannah and Ryan walked in from the stairway. They were both in matching knee-length dresses with several layers of petticoats under the skirt, and the dresses had puff sleeves at the shoulders, and simple scoop necklines edged with white lace. They both had the same floral print fabric design - a random scattering of white daisies in various sizes - but the background color of Hannah's dress was red, while Ryan's was dark blue. They both had their hair loose and curled, with bows and ribbons in their hair that matched their dresses. And both of them had on white knee socks and black Mary Janes shoes. They could have been twin sisters, except that Ryan's facial fur markings were not quite the same as Hans' were.

They curtsied to Karl and Dianna, and then Hannah said, "Please daddy? Can I please go to the party like this? It will make Michelle so happy! And her family has only seen me as a girl anyway, so no one will care."

Dianna gave a low wolf whistle, and mimed a hug and a kiss while looking at Hannah.

"I agree," Mossflower said. "They are both simply too cute for words."

Kalr sighed, and said,"Oh, all right. I have to admit, you are both absolutely adorable. Yes, Hans, you can go to the party as Hannah. Just do me one favor? Bring a change of boy clothes, so you can become a boy again before you come home."

"YAY!" both kids said in unison, hugging each other and then hugging Melanie.

"You're such a good daddy," Mossflower said, as she sat on the bed beside Karl and Dianna, and gave her lady love a passionate kiss. "I think you deserve a reward. And the kids do too, for risking your displeasure to get approval for what they wanted to do. Melanie tells me that you've started allowing the kids to watch the two of you mating. Is that correct?"

"Yes. We've been allowing them to watch us, and we've been watching them and instructing them on how to do new things with each other," Karl admitted. "We don't go so far as to have sex with them ourselves, of course."

"Oh, of course! But if you do allow them to watch, would you mind then if they watched us now, as I give you your reward?" Mossflower asked. "Because if my Pet hasn't drained your balls dry yet, I want you to allow them to watch you fucking me, while I lick your cream from my lover. Let's show them what a stud you are, with two ladies at once! Melanie won't mind, will you love?"

Dianna grinned and nodded as her own approval of the idea.

"It's fine with me, if Karl doesn't mind," Melanie replied. "And for that matter, I'll join you. If we position ourselves just right, Dianna can lick me while she's being licked. Would you kids like to watch us doing that?" Melanie asked, as she started to get undressed.

"Heck yeah!" Hannah said.

"Umm humm! That would be cool!" Ryan agreed.

Karl gave a half-hearted grin, and said, "Well, then, I may as well make it unanimous. I'll let you know when my knot's about to slip out of her."

"Sounds like a plan," Mossflower said, as she quickly removed her own clothes. "Grab a chair, kids, and enjoy the show."

===

Hannah and Ryan set up two chairs close together, in a spot close beside the bed where they could see everything, and where Karl could also see them clearly. They kept their party dresses on, and snuggled with an arm around each other's waists.

First Melanie reclined at the head of the bed, and spread her thighs invitingly. Then Dianna got on her tummy between the pretty collie's thighs, and started lapping at her friend's sex, while raising her pelvis with her knees spread, and holding her tail curled over her back. Mossflower got on her back, scooted her head under Dianna's groin, and happily began to slurp Karl's cream from her purple-furred lover's cunny. And finally Karl stood at the foot of the bed, with his arms cradling the Sakuki girl's thighs, as he entered her and started fucking the slender redhead.

Ryan and Hannah alternated between watching the adults and kissing each other passionately. They were not quite sure if it was all right for them to strip and mate with each other while Dianna and Mossflower were in the room, so they settled for just kissing and avidly watching.

"You kids like this? You like seeing mommy getting licked by a pretty girl, while daddy fucks another of our lady friends?" Melanie asked, as she sighed and squirmed from Dianna's skilled licking.

"It's really hot, mom, yeah," Hannah said. "Man, we have the coolest parents and godparents ever!"

"Yeah, this is great!" Ryan agreed.

"Well, these ladies are all pretty special," Karl said, as he hammered away at Mossy's tight love channel. "Damn this feels good! I never would have dared to hope for a tryst like this, as recently as a few years ago. And it is pretty wild, doing this with the kids watching us."

"Well you're pretty special too, daddy!" Ryan said, her eyes locked on Karl's thick cock as he pumped it in and out of Mossflower. She squirmed in her seat as she watched the lewd display and fantasized about what it might be like if her handsome new daddy would actually agree to mate with her. His shaft was bigger than Hans - bigger than any male that Ryan had ever seen erect so far. But not so much bigger that it frightened her. Yet her daddy still didn't seem comfortable with the idea of adults mating with a child, even if the adult and child loved each other and trusted each other. So Ryan guessed she would just have to be happy with Hans, for now.

Hans was having similar thoughts about Melanie. His new mom was so sexy! And unlike Karl and Ryan, Hans knew that Melanie was just as willing as Hans to have sex with him, but was only refraining because Karl didn't want her to do it! Mossflower and Dianna were really sexy too, and he had to wonder if either of his bisexual godmothers would ever allow Hans and Ryan to join them in bed. Hans would really love to see either of his godmothers, or even Miss Melanie for that matter, having lesbian sex with Ryan! The poor pup wanted so badly to reach under his skirt and jack off, but he was afraid that if he did, this wonderful show would end. As it was, as soon as it did end, he hoped to haul Ryan off to their room for some frantic lovemaking.

Karl was the first to 'pop', groaning as he tied with Mossflower and filled her belly with his cream. "Mummm, wonderful," he said, stroking Mossflower's belly and fingering her clit. "Come on, baby. Cum for me!"

The three ladies each enjoyed their ride on the rollercoaster of orgasmic bliss. Melanie kept her eyes on her two kids the whole time, and saw the way they looked at the adults. She wondered if Karl was aware of how much the kids appeared to be lusting after their elders. She climaxed again as she imagined her little girl sharing her wonderful lover, while Melanie bedded his adorable son.

When Karl was able to slip free from Mossflower, he immediately bent down and lapped his own cum from the Saluki's cunny until she was clean.

"Thank you Karl!" Mossy said, patting his head as he cleaned her crotch. "My! We're getting you quite well trained!"

When the adults finally started getting dressed, the kids thanked them and rushed to their own room, hand in hand.

"We should do that more often," Mossflower said, as she slipped her tube top back on and adjusted it. "The kids certainly liked it, and I think we all enjoyed knowing they were watching us."

===

11/12/2012 (Monday)

On Monday, Dianna came by as usual for her 'fill up', and Karl filled her four times with his seed before she went home, happily humming to herself.

That same evening, Mossy called Karl, and said, "Well, I do believe you're going to be a daddy again Karl. Congratulations! We just checked our calendar and confirmed that Dianna's period is now several days late, so I'm pretty sure you've successfully knocked her up. But it's only been three weeks since your first mating with her, and no home pregnancy test kit will show a positive result until five or six weeks after conception, so starting about two weeks from now we'll test every few days until we get a positive result for sure, or until her period happens again and proves me wrong. We'll let you know as soon as we know for sure."

"Well! That is good news, yes," Karl replied. He took a moment to pass that news on to Melanie and the kids, and then asked, "So, does that mean Dianna will cease visiting me?"

"You're sad to be losing your 'harem' so soon, dear? Well, there's not much reason to continue with the daily attempts, now is there?" Mossflower replied. "We'll still come by to 'play' now and then. But I do think Melanie will appreciate having you capable of performing more times each day for her benefit. Maybe you should think about giving her the same gift, dear? You know she would love to bear a child for you."

"We're... considering that. Just not quite ready to commit that far yet," Karl replied. "Well, give our love to Dianna, and congratulations to the both of you, as well. We're all very happy for you."

===

11/17/2012 (Saturday)

On the day of Michelle's party, Melanie had both kids shower and wash their hair thoroughly, and then she carefully did each kid's hair and makeup, taking more than two hours to get them dressed and pretty for the party. It was eleven o'clock when she led the kids downstairs, to grab a light lunch with Karl before Melanie would take the kids to the party.

"Well, take a look at our two beautiful girls, Karl!" Melanie said as they got to the living room.

Karl had been reading a book in the living room. He set the book aside, stood up, and turned to look at them.

They were both in their new party dresses. As before, Hannah's dress was red, while Ryan's was dark blue and they both had a scattering of white flowers printed on the fabric. They both had their hair loose and curled, with bows and ribbons in their hair that matched their dresses. And both of them had on white knee socks and black Mary Janes shoes. But unlike when Karl saw these outfits on the kids the first time, this time both kids also had on makeup and perfume, and Melanie had taken her time getting their hair just right. The makeup wasn't excessive at all, but it definitely changed their appearance, and even included mascara to visibly lengthen and darken their eyelashes.

For close to a full minute Karl just stared at the kids. Then he coughed and said, "Well! ... I can hardly recognize either of you! You have outdone yourself, Melanie. They look almost like twin sisters."

He faced Ryan and said earnestly, "Ryan, you are every bit as pretty as your mother. You really should try to look feminine more often. You have been hiding a precious jewel with your usual ball caps and hidden braids and boy's clothes. Then again, if you showed up at school every day like that, I might need to buy a shotgun, to keep all the drooling young men away from you!"

"Awwww. Thank you daddy!" Ryan said, blushing at the complement.

He turned to his son and said, "And... Hannah, you... Well, when I first looked at you I was dumbstruck. You remind me so very much of your mother when I first met her. I did love her a great deal you know, before she cuckolded me and things went bad between us. Maybe that was why it hurt me so much when she... well, forget that! You are my true child, and I love you - even... even when you look like a girl. And though it is difficult for me to admit, I have to say that at this moment, you are a very beautiful girl. You always have favored your mother in the face, and especially in your eyes. With your hair done up so nicely, and that makeup and perfume..."

Ryan suddenly held her hands to her muzzle and giggled, causing Karl to stop speaking and stare questioningly at the girl.

"What is so funny Ryan?" her mother asked. "I thought that what Karl was saying was very sweet."

"Oh, what he said to both of us was really, really nice mommy," Ryan said, giggling again. "But... daddy! Daddy's getting a boner! And it started while he was telling Hannah how pretty she is!"

"What!? I... N-no, you... I wasn't!" Karl stammered, as he stared down at the bulge in his pants that was contradicting his denials.

"Well, you most certainly are pitching a tent, dear. But there's no shame in admiring a pretty girl... even if that girl happens to be your son in drag," Melanie said.

"B-but I'm... No! I'm not... I'm not..." Karl slowly said.

"Not Gay?" Melanie prompted. "I most certainly hope not! I would be very disappointed if you suddenly swore off the pleasures of the fairer sex. But you might be bisexual, just like me," Melanie said. "Think about it dear. All your life you've had every reason to deny that sort of impulse haven't you? It would never have been acceptable for you to appear the least bit sexually interested in other males when you lived at home with your gay-bashing parents. And you married while still in college, and then tried to be a monogamous, faithful husband. Am I right?"

"Well, yes, but..." Karl started to say, lost for how to proceed.

"But now you're living as part of a family that openly accepts bisexuality and sees nothing wrong with it," Melane stated. "You've begun to relax around us, even when we do things like dressing your son up as a girl. So... Maybe it's safe now for you to explore those feelings that you've repressed all your life? I doubt that Hannnah would mind exploring that with you, but it doesn't necessarily have to be with your son. If looking at a cross-dressed boy really does turn you on, then there are several gay or bisexual adult males that I know who are closer to your age, can cross-dress quite convincingly as a young girl, and who could be trusted to be discreet. Just think about it, okay? And close your mouth before a fly buzzes down your throat, dear."

Karl rapidly closed his mouth, which had in fact been hanging wide open. Then he looked at Hannah, and said, "Son? I... Really! I just got to thinking about you... I mean about your mother, and..."

"Stop! Don't you dare say you're sorry or make excuses for giving me the biggest complement that any guy possibly could offer for how pretty I look, daddy!" Hannah said insistently. "I'm not mad or scared because that happened. In fact... I'm... I'm really kinda glad it did. In a weird way, it makes me feel like maybe you do really understand me now. Maybe I just reminded you of some sexy times you had with mom, or maybe I really did turn you on, at least just a little. But either way, dad, you looked at me, and you reacted in a way that would make any girl know that you found something about her to be very attractive. I'm happy that you did that."

Karl looked pleadingly at Melanie, and then back at both kids. Then he said, "We... Melanie? Ahhh, shouldn't we better get lunch into these kids? They'll be late for that party if we keep this up!" Before anyone could reply, he rushed to the kitchen to make sandwiches.

"Melanie just sighed and nodded to the kids, saying, "You heard your father. Let's get lunch and get you to that party. But tomorrow, after you get home, we are going to continue this conversation, I assure you."