Date: Sun, 23 Nov 2003 04:05:00 -0800 (PST) From: Thomas Gaige Subject: My Step-Brother Jacob - Chapter 43 DISCLAIMER: The following story is FICTIONAL. It contains descriptions of sexual activities between teenage boys. If you are not over 18 years of age, or if you find this type of story offensive, or viewing this material is illegal where you are, then please DO NOT READ IT! If you choose to read it, then - I hope you enjoy it! My Step-Brother Jacob Chapter 43 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday night I didn't sleep well. I was wired about Grandma and the twins arriving the next morning. Their flight was landing at Heathrow at 8:30. Although it was our last day of school before the Easter/Spring break, I wasn't going. I was going to drop Jacob and Andy off at school, then go to the airport to pick Grandma and the twins up. The alarm was set for 5:30, but I was awake already at 5:00, so I turned it off, got up, showered, and dressed. I made sure Andy and Jacob were awake, then I went downstairs to make a pot of coffee, and cook our breakfast. Jacob wandered into the kitchen just as I'd finished frying some bacon. Andy followed a few minutes later, still yawning. Jacob fed Jack and got juice for everyone, and Andy made toast, while I scrambled some eggs. We ate together quietly, then picked up the kitchen. After breakfast, we still had a few minutes before we had to leave, so we stripped Jacob's bed and re-made it, as the twins were going to sleep in his room. We also made up the bed on the sleeper-sofa in the den for Jacob. Elizabeth had already changed the sheets on her bed. She and Grandma would be sharing it, although, for the most part they'd be using it at different times, due to Elizabeth working the night shift. When we were finished, we left. * * * I dropped Jacob and Andy at school, then drove to Heathrow. I arrived there at 8:15. The information board said that their flight was running 10 minutes late. I had about 25 minutes until they were due to land, so I bought a newspaper, went to a coffee shop, got a large coffee, and sat down to wait. A while later, there was an announcement that their flight had just landed, so I finished my coffee and made my way to the waiting area outside of customs. After a short wait I saw them queuing up in line to be checked through. The boys were waving wildly at me. Grandma stood by smiling and waving too. I grinned and waved back. After about another 15 minutes, it was their turn. They were processed swiftly, without even having to open their luggage, and a minute later, the boys were running toward me at full force. Dropping their luggage they both leaped into my arms. Grandma calmly walked toward us, smiling, as I wrapped my arms around the boys, hugging them tightly. "Well, we made it!" Grandma exclaimed, as she walked up behind the twins. It took me a couple minutes to extricate myself from John's and Scott's arms, so I could give her a hug too. "Welcome to the UK!" I said grinning, as I stood back and looked at them all. The boys had both grown another inch or two since January. They looked good. Grandma looked good too, although she appeared tired from the flight. I took her luggage, and told the boys to grab their's, then I led them out to the car. It was a tight squeeze, but we fit all of us and their luggage into the car. I drove directly back to our house, as Grandma and the boys eagerly watched everything that went by, asking a lot of questions, and marveling at driving on "the wrong side of the road". * * * Arriving at home, Jack went wild when he saw Grandma and the boys. He still remembered them, and couldn't get enough of their scents. Elizabeth was home from work, and hadn't gone to bed yet. The boys and I took the luggage upstairs, then came back down and I made us all a snack and we sat around the kitchen table eating and catching up on the news from both sides of the ocean. Eventually, Elizabeth said she needed to go to bed. Grandma said she could use a nap as well. They agreed that since Elizabeth's was a king size bed, there shouldn't be a problem sharing it, so they both went upstairs to get some sleep. The twins were both wide awake. They'd slept a while on the plane and were very excited about being in a foreign country, and back with me again. We picked up the kitchen, then went up to my room and laid on the bed and talked for a while. We talked a bit about school back home, and what was new in the neighborhood, but then both boys started poking me. We ended up wrestling around on my bed with each other then, as they kept goading me into tickling them. The room was filled with their giggles for the better part of a half hour. I noticed that they both seemed a little stronger than I remembered, and it was a little harder than it used to be, although not yet impossible, for me to maintain control over both of them at once. I also thought that a couple of times when I was holding them up against me, that they both had hardons. * * * Eventually, we needed a rest from all our horsing around, and we laid back on the bed panting from all the activity. The boys seemed to get quiet and I noticed them glance at one another a couple times, then back at me. "OK - so what's up?" I asked. "Nothing," they chorused. "Bullshit! I know something's on your minds. Out with it," I said. They hesitated a minute. Both of them looked a little embarrassed. Finally, Scott asked, "Well, you know how you told us on the phone a while back that you and Andy are gay, and you're 'partners'?" "Yeah," I said. "Well, that means you guys have sex, right?" Scott continued. I snickered and said, "Well, yeah, we love each other, and we do have sex." They were both quiet a moment, then finally, John said, "Well, we don't get how you can feel that way about Andy, if you loved Lynn like you did. Did something change for you when Lynn died?" "I see," I said. I thought a few seconds then I said, "Well, first, I guess you need to understand that there's more than just being straight or gay. You can be one or the other, or, you can be what's called bisexual. That's when you're attracted to people of both sexes. I guess that's what I am. And I realized it years ago. In fact I started to realize it when I was about your age, before I even met your sister. Anyway, when I was with Lynn, I loved her very much, and I was very attracted to her. Obviously, since we had Dylan, we had sex together. Actually, we didn't just have sex, we made love to one another. And it was wonderful. If she had lived, I'd still be with her. But, she didn't. It took me a long time to get over losing her, and a part of me will always love her and miss her, but she's not here anymore. Enough time passed by the time I arrived here in England, where I began wanting to be with someone again. Andy was my first friend here, other than Jacob of course, but I considered Jacob a relative. I'm not sure what brought Andy and I together, but there was some magnetism that pulled us together. I fell in love with Andy, like I had with your sister. It didn't really present a problem for me, because I already knew that I was attracted to both girls and guys. And yes, Andy and I do make love together. We're partners, as much as Lynn and I were. I'm sure your sister is OK with it too. If it were she who was left behind, I wouldn't want her to be alone either. Do you get it now?" "I guess," Scott said. "Yeah. But -" John started, looking a little confused yet. I looked at him questioningly. He thought a minute, then said, "Well, say you're walking down the street, and a guy and a girl who're both good looking come along. You see them. Well, which one do you get a boner over?" I chuckled and said, "it depends on which one I find more attractive!" They both looked a little confused yet. Finally Scott blushed and said, "See the reason we're asking is, well, you know that we fool around together. Well, we only go so far, I mean we don't do everything. Thing is, we always get boners over each other though, but now, we're both starting to get boners over other people too. Mostly over girls, but well, sometimes over guys too, if they're really good looking." "I see," I said, "well, tell me something, just how far do you guys go with each other?" They both turned pink. Finally, John said, "Mostly just jackin' each other off, but some suckin' too." "Do you cum in each other's mouths?" I asked. "Eewww!" both boys cried at once, grimmacing. I snickered and said, "Guess not. Hmmm. Have you ever even tasted each other's cum?" They blushed again, but finally Scott said, "just once, and it was disgusting. "Ever try doing anything else together?" I asked. Still blushing, John said that they'd tried butt fucking once, but it hurt too much and both of them thought the idea of getting each other's shit on their dicks was gross. When I asked though, they both admitted that their dicks felt good when they'd finally gotten them up each other's asses, although they didn't have any time to enjoy it, as the one whose ass their dick was up was yelling for him to get out. Shifting gears a little, I asked if either of them had ever had sex of any kind with a girl. They both said they hadn't. Then I asked if they'd even ever seen a naked girl in person. Blushing again, they admitted that they'd played "I'll show you, if you show me" a couple years earlier with a couple girls down the street. I chuckled and told them that was normal. I asked them if they'd gotten hard at the time. They said they hadn't, but John added that he almost did when they all touched each other. Scott said he'd felt the same way. "So, tell me, if there was a good looking girl standing here naked, and a good looking guy standing here naked next to her, and both would do whatever you wanted them to do, which would you choose? And be honest." I said. They both said they'd like to try the girl. "What would you want to do with her?" I asked. They both said they'd like to try fucking her. "If it was just a good looking naked guy standing here, would you want to do anything with him?" I asked. They thought a minute, then both sheepishly said they probably would. Both boys sat looking at me as I thought a minute. Finally I said, "Well, it's kind of hard to tell, but if you ask me, I think you both might be straight, or at most, maybe bi. I don't think you're gay though, or you'd be more attracted to guys already, and you'd be doing more things with each other. You guys are only just 13 now. As you grow more over the next couple years, your preferences will become clearer. Right now, I think basically you're both just really horny, like most guys. And, because you're brothers - twins at that, and you share everything, including a bedroom, you're just so close to each other, that you don't mind helping each other get off. I think you both already realize it's always better to have sex with someone, than alone. And guys, there's nothing wrong with that! As long as you're both happy with what you're doing, then go ahead and have fun with each other. As you get older, you're both going to end up developing relationships with other people though. It won't mean you're not as close to each other as you are now. It'll just mean that you're growing, and becoming more independent from one another. That's supposed to happen, and it'll be a good thing. When it does, you'll start to become interested in other people in romantic ways. From what you've told me, I bet you'll both end up with girlfriends, rather than boyfriends. If you do, that's great. If you end up with boys though, that's great too. Whatever happens, you'll always have each other as brothers, and you'll always have me too! I'll love you no matter how you turn out! I guess what I'm trying to say is that if you're a little confused now about what you like and don't like, then it's going to take a little time yet, before you know exactly what your preferences are. That's OK. Try not to worry about it. Leave yourself open to trying new things. If you like it, great. If you don't, well, then that's OK too, and you don't have to do that again. Most importantly, it doesn't matter what you decide you like, or how you turn out. As long as you're happy, that's all that counts." They both sat thinking that over for a minute, then Scott said, "so we have to wait and see then, huh?" "Yeah," I said, "but that doesn't mean you can't have fun while you're waiting!" They both grinned then, and I reached out and drew them into a hug. I kissed them both on the tops of their heads and told them I loved them and they hugged me back, and told me they loved me too. * * * We started talking about some other things then. After a while, the boys said they were hungry and asked when lunch was. I asked them if they'd like to go out for lunch, and they thought that sounded great. As it was a beautiful day, I took them down to the park along the Thames and we got lunch from the vendors. Then we walked along the river and I pointed out some of the sights to them. They went through a couple rolls of film, shooting pictures of everything. When it was almost time for Jacob, Andy, and Harry to get out of school, we went back to the car and drove over to get them. I took the twins in and showed them around, as we were a few minutes early, then before classes let out, we went back to the car. It was a loud and happy reunion when the guys ran out of the building and squeezed into the car with us. When we got back to the house, we found Elizabeth and Grandma sitting in the kitchen having some tea and crumpets. After saying hello, Jacob, Harry, and the twins all disappeared upstairs to Jacob's room, and Andy had to run off to work. I poured myself a glass of milk and sat and had a crumpet with Elizabeth and Grandma and we visited a while. Then I started getting supper ready. Since I had a little extra time, and it was a celebratory meal, I decided to make Beef Wellington! Along with it I decided to have tossed salad, stuffed-double baked potatoes, green beans almondine, rolls & butter, and wine. For appetizers there would be shrimp cocktail and cups of lobster bisque. Dessert was the twin's favorite - Death by chocolate! Grandma helped me with the cooking, and Elizabeth offered to help as well. We let her make the tossed salad, which was one of the few things Elizabeth was pretty good at preparing. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the dinner. We lingered at the table after dessert, visiting a while. Then the boys went to watch television, and Andy and I cleaned up the kitchen. Elizabeth had to go into work early, and Grandma decided to turn in early, as we were going to take them sightseeing the next day. * * * At 9:00, I told the boys they should go to bed early. The twins were falling asleep as they tried to watch TV. Although they'd slept on the plane, it wasn't enough, and the jet lag had started to catch up with them, so they trudged upstairs without having to be told twice. The couch in the den opened into a queen sleeper, so there was room for Harry to sleep-over with Jacob. I was surprised when they didn't argue with me about going to bed early too. They went upstairs right away as well. Andy and I finished picking up, let Jack out to pee, then went upstairs ourselves. As we walked past the closed den door, I heard the clicking of the computer's keyboard, then Harry exclaimed "Holy Shit! Look how big that guy is!", followed by Jacob's "Wow!" Andy and I snickered. "I guess I know why they agreed to turn in early," I said. Listening outside Jacob's door, we heard some faint moaning and sucking sounds. "Damn!" Andy said, "all this sex is making me horny!" Grinning I grabbed Andy's crotch and pulled him toward our room. Jack followed us, and plopped down in his bed in the corner, as I shut the door behind us. * * * I flopped back onto our bed, pulling Andy down on top of me. I pulled Andy to me and began kissing him, as I felt his cock beginning to stiffen against my stomach. My own penis was already hard, and was pressing into Andy's thigh. As we continued kissing, Andy reached down into his pants and adjusted his penis, then he began grinding it into me. After a couple minutes, I rolled us over, so Andy was laying on the bed facing me, then I began to unbutton his shirt. He couldn't wait for me to fumble with his buttons, and pushed my hands away and sat up and began unbuttoning his own shirt. I sat up and pulled mine off too. We both stood up and unfastened our jeans and dropped them to the floor, kicking them off our feet. Lastly we quickly pulled our briefs off, and dropped them on the floor as well. "John, would you fuck me tonight?" Andy huskily. I smiled and said, "I'll fuck you any night you want me too!" Andy reached down and pulled a tube of lube from the drawer in the night stand and handed it to me. He reached down and grabbed a T-shirt off the floor and threw it on the bed and laid down on his belly, so the shirt was under his penis. Then pushing his chest down and pulling his knees up and separating them, his ass rose up off the bed and his cheeks opened up for me. His pink pucker winked at me a couple times, as he contracted and released it. I grinned. I knelt on the floor just behind Andy, and smelled the musky, sweaty smell of his ass. I breathed in deeply, as I lowered my face toward his hole. I loved the smell of the sweat Andy's ass generated. It always made me ultra-horny. Tonight was no exception, as I felt a drop of precum drip from my dick onto my thigh. Quickly I dove in and began licking around and around the entrance to Andy's love tunnel. He moaned lowly, as I finally licked over his hole itself. I began licking up and down over his pucker, causing still more moaning. After a few seconds, I began pressing on Andy's anus with my tongue. I felt him relax, and my tongue slid through his sphincter, and up into his rectum. Slowly I began to shove it in and out of his asshole, as he closed his eyes and groaned into the pillow his face was pressed into. As I tongue fucked Andy's hole, I reached between his legs and gently fondled his testicles. After a couple minutes, my hand wrapped around his dick and I began masturbating him, as I continued sliding my tongue in and out of him. Andy was moaning regularly now, and after a minute or so he gasped "You've got to stop John, or I'll cum!" I released his cock then, and pulled my tongue from his asshole. Then I stood up and reached for the tube of lube. Andy rested, breathing deeply, as I squirted some lube into my hand. Then I reached for his ass, and wiped a good amount on his hole. Using my index finger, I worked the glob of jelly into Andy's asshole, then I began sliding my finger in and out of his now slick hole. After a minute, I added a second finger, and then after that, a third one. As I fucked my hand in and out of Andy's asshole, he looked back at me and said, "Fuck me NOW John!" Grinning, I pulled my hand from his ass, and lubed my cock. Then I got into position behind him. Gently I pressed the head of my cock against his hole and pushed. I felt Andy pushing back toward me. Slowly, my cock slid up inside Andy. I continued pushing gently forward. Andy let out a low moan, as my pubic bone pressed against his ass, and the tip of my cock became buried as deeply as possible up inside him. Once I was fully inside Andy, I began to slowly pull back out, then as the head of my cock was about to pop back out of Andy's anus, I slowly plunged it back deep inside him, causing him to emit another moan of pleasure. I began slowly fucking him then, as he wiggled his ass around a little, enjoying the feeling of having my cock inside him. It felt wonderful sliding in and out of Andy's hole. It was really hot, and he squeezed his anus every so often. As I shoved my cock in and out of him, I knew it wouldn't take long for my orgasm to start. I placed one hand on each of his buttocks and began long-dicking him a little faster, as he groaned "Oh yeah!" After about a half a minute, I moved my hands so they were in front of him, one on each side, in the bend between his trunk and upper thighs. I began shoving in and out of him even faster, pulling him toward me with each forward thrust. Andy began moaning at each of my inward thrusts. I knew he was gonna cum soon, and I felt like my orgasm was going to start soon too. A few more thrusts, and suddenly I felt my orgasm beginning too build up. I started pumping in and out of Andy even faster, as he gasped, "Oh John! I'm gonna spunk!" "Me too!" I grunted, as I started slamming in and out of Andy as fast and hard as I could without causing him an injury. Seconds later, Andy let out a cry, and I felt his sphincter clamp tightly around my cock, as he began having his orgasm. Feeling that, caused me to climax myself, and with a gasp, I began filling Andy's bowels with my juice! We were both groaning and gasping as we emptied our loins of our seed, me flooding Andy's insides with mine, he squirting his all over the shirt that lay on the bed beneath him. After several spasms, I felt my orgasm beginning to wane, and I slowed my pace down. I could tell Andy's orgasm was ending as well. Finally, it was over for both of us. I remained standing behind Andy for a minute longer, my dick still up his ass. My legs were shaking, as I waited for that last bit of cum to ooze out of my dick. I clenched my ass and dick muscles, causing me to give one last little squirt. Then I pulled my dick from Andy's rectum. He lay there with his ass still sticking up in the air, his hole stuck open, gaping at me. "God that was good!" he exclaimed, as he slowly collapsed onto his side. The shirt that lay under him was covered with streaks of semen. I snickered as I picked it up, wadded it up and tossed it onto the floor. Then I collapsed next to Andy. We lay facing each other, resting from our workout. Andy Grinned at me, and I grinned back. After a few minutes, I suggested we get cleaned up and go to bed. He agreed, so we went to the bathroom and washed up, peed, and brushed our teeth. Then we went back to our room and crawled into bed together. We snuggled up to each other, and soon were both asleep. * * * The next morning, I awoke to find Grandma standing over us, gently shaking me awake. She was smiling down at us. "It's after 8:00 already," she said, "you said you wanted us to get you up early, didn't you?" "Oh yeah," I said, stretching and yawning. "You two look so cute sleeping snuggled up together," Grandma said, smiling at me. I looked at Andy, who was still snoozing in the crook of my arm, his arm draped over me. "It really doesn't bother you to see us in bed together like this?" I asked her. "No John. I told you when you told me you were in a relationship with Andy that I didn't care. I just want you to be happy and healthy. And you two appear to be both. Now, I'll get out of here so you can get up," she said, then smiling, she left, closing the door behind her. I nudged Andy awake. Groggily he sat up and looked at me blinking. He flopped back down after a minute, and we laid quietly a few minutes. Finally, I said that we'd better shower and get downstairs. Slowly, Andy got up and followed me to the bathroom. While he used the toilet, I shaved and brushed my teeth, then we traded places. Afterward, we shared a shower together. The water woke us both up. Andy took the bar of soap and began washing my body for me. He spent extra time on my genitals, then after he rinsed me off, he dropped to his knees and sucked my dick into his mouth. He began sucking swiftly up and down my cock. I felt his finger snake between my ass cheeks, and he began massaging my asshole as well. Within a couple minutes, I was gasping and filling his mouth with cum, as I clutched the grab bar. When I was done, Andy stood up, and I grabbed the bar of soap and began washing his body, spending more time on his hard cock than the rest of him as well. After I rinsed him off, I too squatted and sucked him off similarly to how he'd done me. Grinning at each other, we got out of the shower, dried, dried our hair, shared some deoderant and cologne, then wrapped towels around us and scooted to our room to get dressed. * * * When we got downstairs, I smelled brewed coffee, and Grandma was at the stove cooking up slices of French toast. Elizabeth was home from work. She and the boys were all eating already. I grinned. Seemed like with Grandma visiting, I was going to get a break from cooking now and then. She told us to sit down and she'd take care of us. I didn't even have to pour my own coffee. Breakfast was delicious. When we'd all finished eating, Elizabeth excused herself to go up to bed for a while, but said she'd join us for lunch later if we were home. We said we would be. I looked at Grandma and the twins and said that we had an itinerary planned out for their visit, but that it didn't start til that afternoon. I pulled out the itinerary we'd made up and showed it to them and asked if they wanted to make any changes. Grandma and the twins looked it over and thought it sounded great. "Well, then, we've got a couple hours this morning with no plans, what would you guys like to do?" I asked. I rather expected them to ask us to take them shopping. Grandma looked at the twins meaningfully, and they both nodded at her. "Well, we'd like to go to the cemetery and pay our respects to your father John," Grandma said. I hadn't expected that, and was caught off-guard. I noticed a look of apprehension flash across Andy's and Jacob's faces as everyone looked at me. "Um, hmm, hadn't thought you'd want to do that," I said finally. "We haven't been to see him since the funeral," Jacob said quietly, looking at me, "Maybe we should go once." Andy put his hand on my shoulder and squeezed it. Grandma began to look apprehensive then too. "OK then, we'll go to the cemetery," I said. We all worked together quietly and cleaned up the kitchen. Then we put on our jackets and went out to the car. "Oh, this is gonna be fun!" I said, as I realized there were seven of us, and I was the only driver. Everyone looked at me. "It's OK, we can fit in back together," Jacob piped up, and he, Harry, and the twins all squished into the backseat. They just fit. So Andy, Grandma and I got in front, and I drove us to the cemetery. Grandma asked if we could stop on the way and get some flowers, which we did. * * * When we got to the cemetery, I realized I had no idea where my father's grave was. The cemetery was large, and I had only been there the one time, for Dad's funeral. I hadn't paid much attention to how to get to his grave then. Luckily, he was buried next to Elizabeth's parents' graves and Jacob knew the way. Eventually we got to the section Dad was in, I parked, and we all got out of the car. Jacob began to lead us across the lawn, toward a garden of holly bushes in the middle. As we drew closer to Dad's grave, I noticed Jacob was walking slower. I walked up next to him and put my hand on his shoulder. He looked up at me. His eyes looked watery. Mine were too. The two of us stopped, as Andy, Harry and the twins continued. Jacob looked across the lawn, and drew in his breath sharply, as his eyes fell on Dad's grave. "The headstone's been placed," he said. "If this is too hard for you boys, we don't have to do this," Grandma said, as she stopped next to us. I smiled a small smile and said, "That's OK. The first time's the worst. We need to do it, then it'll be over with. Go on and give us a minute. We'll be OK." Grandma continued on, and joined Andy, Harry, and the twins at Dad's grave. Jacob looked up at me. He was fighting back tears. I pulled him up to me, and held him as I too felt tears trying to force their way from my eyes. "I still feel so responsible," Jacob whispered to me. "I know. Me too." I said, hugging him tighter, as he began weeping quietly. We stood wrapped in each other's arms, crying quietly together for a couple of minutes. Then I heard Andy clearing his throat next to me. The others were already heading back to the car, and were glancing at us with concerned looks. I looked at Andy and gave him a small smile. "Take the others back to the car. We need to go see Dad a minute." I said. He nodded and headed off, telling the others we'd be along directly. With my arm wrapped around Jacob's shoulders yet, I pulled him with me toward my father's grave. The headstone had turned out nicely. It was a big black granite one. Elizabeth's name and birth date, but no death date were engraved on it as well. I don't think Jacob had been prepared to see that. He stared at the stone with a look of horror on his face for a moment. Then, he laid his bouquet on the ground in front of it. He quickly laid a second one on his grandparents' grave, then sniffling, he turned and walked swiftly toward the car. I squatted in front of Dad's gravestone and laid down the flowers I'd brought. Then I pulled my wallet out of my back pocket and from inside it I withdrew the picture of me that Dad had been holding when he was killed, that the ambulance driver had given me. I'd had it laminated, so that I could leave it at Dad's grave whenever I finally visited. I wedged it into a tiny crack between the headstone and its base, so it wouldn't blow away. "I'm so sorry Dad!" I said softly, as I sat back against my heels, wracked with guilt over being the cause of his death. My chest hurt, and I felt tears begin to cascade down my cheeks. Burying my face in my hands, I began to sob uncontrollably. After a minute or so, as I was beginning to calm down, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked up, and saw Andy looking down at me. Slowly I stood up and turned toward him. Silently, he enveloped me in a hug, and held me while my sobs subsided. When I'd finally pulled myself together, I glanced one last time at Dad's stone, then turned and let Andy lead me back to the car. Back at the car, Grandma apologized for making me come to the cemetery. I smiled ruefully and told her it was OK, that my first visit to my father's grave was long overdue, and it was good that we came. I noticed Jacob had been crying a bit as well. I smiled sadly and winked at him. Then I started the car and drove us home. * * * "Oh my God! What's wrong Jacob?" Elizabeth asked, as we walked in. It was still obvious that he'd been crying. Then she saw me, and said "You too?" "We're OK. We've just been to visit Dad," I said. Elizabeth looked rather surprised, then sad. "Oh," was all she said. I quickly changed the subject, suggesting soup and sandwiches for lunch. Everyone agreed, so I quickly got it together. After we'd eaten, it was time to go sight seeing. Andy had taken off from work, and Elizabeth decided to join us too, so we took two cars, and drove into the center of London. One of our first stops was Parliament. * * * Strangely, Elizabeth appeared almost nervous about visiting Parliament. In fact, she'd tried to dissuade us from going, saying it was really rather boring. I thought this was rather odd for her. Grandma and the twins insisted though that they'd like to see it, so we went. We'd just entered the House of Lords, when several of the Lords came out of the main chamber. As they passed by, Elizabeth suddenly caught her breath as one of them stopped momentarily across the hallway from us. He looked directly at Elizabeth. Their eyes met for a moment. He nodded almost imperceptibly at at her. She became flushed, and stepped behind Jacob and put her hands on his shoulders. The man's attention moved then to Jacob. He stared at Jacob for a moment, then he looked at Elizabeth again and gave her a sad smile, nodded, and left. Andy and I had been standing off to the side, and appeared to be the only ones in our group who noticed. Even Jacob hadn't noticed. Elizabeth glanced about quickly, as if to see if anyone had seen the exchange. She saw the two of us staring at her, and suddenly looked frightened. She looked at me with a pleading look, then her attention was diverted when Jacob turned and asked her something. "What the Hell was that all about?" Andy asked me quietly. I shook my head and said "I really can't say." He looked at me oddly, and said "You can't? Do you know who that was?" I looked at him and said "No." "That was Lord Justin Pemberly. He's an Earl. They call him 'Lord Justice' because of certain laws he's gotten enacted. He's quite popular, and quite powerful! He's also distantly related to the Queen! How is it he knows Elizabeth?" Andy said. "I don't know," I said, "but I don't think we should ask either." Andy looked at me and said, "You know more than you're telling, don't you?"... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The next chapter in this series will be published shortly. ____________________________________________________________________________