Chapter 16

Lives In a NightWizards and Unicorns

 

For my other Chris, my beloved Big Bro. Get well. I miss you to the depths of my heart.

 

Tonight you're mine completely
You give your love so sweetly
Tonight the light of love is in your eyes
But will you love me tomorrow.

Carole King

 

There were green alligators and long-necked geese,
Some humpty-backed camels and some chimpanzees.
Some cats and rats and elephants, but sure as you're born,
The loveliest of all was the unicorn.

Shel Silverstein

 

 

"It's about motherfucking time!" Sandra barked at the Corrections Officers, one male, one female, both burly.

"Calm down," the male CO – CPL Bragdon according to the stenciling over his left shirt pocket – said with an almost amused patience. "You're not going anywhere unless you're ready to cooperate, I don't care if it is for an attorney appointment."

"Fuck you," Sandra snarled. Time had not softened her inner certainty that she was the victim, not the criminal. "I'm gonna sue you people's asses for keeping me locked up alla time."

"Playing by the rules will get you out a lot sooner," Bragdon answered, opening a pair of handcuffs. "Put your hands through the opening."

However grudging it might be, Sandra at last did as she was told. She was escorted to a carrel where she sat on the opposite side of a thick glass barrier from her court-appointed attorney, Denise Ashton. She was uncuffed, and the COs stepped back and cast wary eyes on her.

"When the fuck am I gonna start getting outta that goddamned cell?" Sandra demanded.

Ashton grimaced and looked down, pinching the bridge of her nose. She looked up and tried not to let her disgust show. "Probably when you start playing by the rules. Look, being your attorney for this case does not include trying to get the rules changed for you. You do as you're told and follow the rules of the game, you'll get the appropriate privileges."

"They're all assholes! They're all the time flicking shit at me, and I ain't afraid to flick it right back."

"Fine, but you aren't getting out of your cell into general population until you smarten up," Ashton said with more than a hint of exasperation. "But I didn't come here to get you out of your damned cell."

"Well, what did you come here for?"

"To try to bring you up to date on where things stand."

"When the fuck am I getting outta here?"

"You really don't get it," Ashton said with amazement. "You'll get out when you post twenty-five thousand dollars bail, not a minute sooner. If – if – you start playing by the rules and doing as you're told, maybe – maybe – by this summer I can file a motion for bail reduction. Until then, as long as you keep acting like a goddamned bitch, you aren't going anywhere. Do you understand me?"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Sandra grumbled. What a bunch of fucking bullshit, they get to push me around, and I gotta shut my mouth about it. Fuck it, I need outta here, I need some meth before I go nuts, I'll play their little game. "Alright, alright, I'll play their fucking game. So, where the fuck are we at?"

"There's not much good news for you. Shhh, shut up, let me talk."

Sandra swallowed her bitterness, but her inner outrage remained. "OK, fine, go ahead."

"First off, your daughter's attorney has filed a motion for termination of parental rights?"

"What did you say?" Sandra snapped. This was something that hadn't occurred to her. She needed Laci for the state aid checks she brought. Without her, the money well dried up. Sandra had long since convinced herself that she and her boyfriend were only trying to defend themselves against Laci and her bitch, not trying to rape and murder her. "What the fuck's up with that? They can't do that."

"Oh yes they can, sunshine. You can have an attorney present at the hearing, but you have to pay for him or her out of your own pocket, and I'm not touching that with a ten-foot pole. The right to a court appointed lawyer doesn't extend to child custody cases, only criminal, and she has one of the best family law attorneys in the state on her side."

"No way!" Sandra cried with outraged dismay "What the fuck is up with that fucking shit? She's the one who tried to rob me and Gerry, and I might be the one losing custody? How am I gonna live with no state aid check?"

"You don't smarten up, you won't have to worry about that for a while, because the state will be paying your room and board while you live in Waverton."

Sandra was acutely aware that Waverton was the home of the state's prison for women, and for the first time since the night since her arrest, Sandra felt a surge of real fear. "Holy fuck. But I thought you was gonna get me acquitted."

"Where the hell did you ever get that idea? I told you with any luck, I can work out a plea deal with the prosecution. That's best that you can hope for, the only way I'd represent you at a trial is if the court forced me too."

Having convinced herself that she was the victim, she expected the injustice of it all to be swept away at trial. She only dimly remembered Ashton telling her the same thing at their first meeting. "Holy shit, they're fucking me over hard. OK, what's the deal?"

"Right now, nothing is on the table, the state is only now getting their case together, but I hope I can meet with the prosecutor next week. So far, your case is being handled by the attorney general's office, not the district attorney's."

"What does that mean?" Whatever it meant, it sounded bad.

"It means they're playing hardball, unless you start cooperating with me and following the rules, you're facing a very long time in prison. Got it?"

Sandra understood and respected fear. It was a great motivator, one she'd used many times, great and small, to get something she wanted. Bluster, fighting tooth and nail, anger, righteous indignation, hadn't worked so far. Since it was now clear the state held all the cards, she swallowed her pride in order to survive. "Yeah, yeah, I got it. So talk to me, what am I looking at if everything goes wrong?"

"Finally," Ashton sighed. "Theoretically, you could be looking at twenty plus years, but that's theoretical only. I don't know the guys from the AG's office as well as I do the DA, so it's harder to have a sense of what they're looking for, but my guess is they're going to start by offering fifteen years with five suspended...." Ashton held up her hand when Sandra started to protest. "Listen, don't talk. You, sunshine, are small potatoes. They want your boyfriend. It's my sense he's been involved in some pretty heavy duty narcotic dealing, probably armed robberies, and they want him bad. If – if – you testified against him, you might get off with time served and probation."

"Are you fucken crazy?" Sandra cried in genuine shock. "You want me to get a fucken bullet in my head? I love the guy `n' all, he's my boyfriend, but he'd as soon kill a snitch as lookit them, and that's what I'd be, a goddamn rat, a snitch. He's got friends, there's no fucken way I'm snitching. I don't wanna be in jail, but I don't wanna be fucken dead either."

Ashton rubbed her eyes. "OK, let's put that aside for now, with luck it won't even come up. Look, between you and me, how much do you know? You don't have to be specific, and whatever you say is safe with me – attorney-client confidentiality. So do you know a little, a lot, or somewhere in between?"

Sandra sighed. This was seriously dangerous territory. In her own way, she loved Biron, or at least felt a degree of attachment to him that passed for love. She knew a lot, a lot more than she was willing to admit. She sighed and lied. "Somewhere in the middle. Listen, just for shits and grins, what am I lookin' at if I keep my mouth shut, no bullshit, just an idea."

Ashton scowled. "It's hard to say with the AG's people. If it were handled by the DA's office – and it might yet – I think I could talk them into seven years or so with all but two or three suspended, long-term probation, and no drugs or alcohol with random urine tests. That'd be contingent on a couple of things, not the least of which is drug and alcohol rehab, either during incarceration or on release."

"What about my kid?"

"What about her? I'll be very, very surprised if your parental rights aren't terminated, which means in the eyes of the law and the bureaucracy, you won't be her mother anymore. She's what? Thirteen, fourteen? If you don't play ball, you'll be in prison until after she turns 18 and then it won't matter."

"That no good, fucken little cunt...."

"Spare me!" Ashton barked. "I don't want to hear it, and if you keep using that word, I will walk out. There's no call for using that word, I don't care how upset you are. So spare me the sob story, and listen to me. You're in deep trouble right now. I seriously don't think you understand just how much trouble you're in. This isn't district court misdemeanor stuff, it's real, no shit felony stuff in Superior Court, and you've already pissed off the judge who may well preside over your case, so you better wake up and stop being a hard-ass if you want to see the outside of a prison anytime in the next ten years! Got it?"

Sandra's street survival instincts had finally kicked in. "Yeah, yeah, I got it, I'll play nice."

"You'd better. OK, that's enough for now. Like I said, I'll try to talk to them by next week to see what their thinking is, see if it's worth trying to suppress evidence, so on and so forth. Once I have something more concrete, we'll meet again. Just remember, cooperate. Honey attracts more flies than vinegar." Sandra motioned for the butchy CO standing outside the glass door to the cubicle that served as the attorney-client conference site.

The CO opened the door. "Done counselor?"

"Yes, all done for today, she's all yours. She's been read the riot act, so I think she'll be a little less ... hostile, isn't that right Ms. Harper?"

Sandra simply glared. Some shit just had to be swallowed.

* * * *

Once alone, Denise Ashton sat for a moment rubbing her eyes. It seemed each year she came to loathe her job more and more. It so often left her feeling dirty. While some might see the work as somehow noble, standing up for the downtrodden as they faced an indifferent, even hostile legal system, she did not share those feelings. She couldn't recall the last time she had a client who was truly innocent of the charges they faced. Her clients were all guilty, and it seemed her career consisted of trying to free criminals to roam the streets and repeat their various crimes over and over again.

Ashton finally picked up her papers and slipped them into her briefcase. She stood and made her way out of the county jail and into corridors leading to the Superior Court in the county building complex. At last, she stood at the top of the steep granite stairs leading to the sidewalk. It felt good to be in the fresh air. It was a warmish day, and the snow finally seemed to be losing its battle with the sun. She paused while she slipped on her jacket.

Why, she wondered, couldn't she be like Gail Wright, who was fighting to get the daughter away from that slug of a human being, Sandra Harper? That was the kind of work that actually did the world some good.

Ashton lived alone in an apartment two blocks from District Court, a very nice place in a renovated old brick building, only a couple of blocks from where Gail lived. Oh, how she wished she had the courage to invite Gail for a cup of coffee, pick her brain a little.

It was well known that Gail was a lesbian, but that didn't bother Ashton, no ma'am, not one bit. She fantasized about Gail most nights. In her favorite fantasy, she and Gail opened a law practice together dealing exclusively with family law. Yes, that would be like winning the lottery.

Thirty-eight damned years old and going nowhere fast. I need to stop feeling sorry for myself and start looking for something else a little more meaningful, if it weren't for my personal injury and disability work, I'd be eligible for food stamps, what the hell kind of career is that after so many years of college and law school, to go home at night and feel dirty.

At last, Ashton hefted her briefcase and made her way down the steps, passed the statue of a Civil War soldier standing guard with his musket.

* * * *

For Laci, the return to school after a vacation was always a welcome thing. School had always been her escape from the bitterness and anxiety of her life in the old neighborhood and whatever dump she had to call home. Now school wasn't about escape, it was about growing.

Laci wanted to get to school half an hour early so she could track down Mr. Belden. Karen had no trouble finding a place to drop her precious cargo. The school was a squat, unattractive two-story building, looking more like a fortress than a school, designed to handle two thousand students efficiently while reducing its carbon footprint. It was divided into three discrete blocks connected by enclosed walkways and tunnels, with elementary, middle, and high schools each having its own separate pod, and the administrative offices the hub at the center.

Laci squirmed and bounced. "I can't wait to tell Mr. Belden all about the museum, and about Meg, and the club, and just ... everything!"

Karen chuckled softly. "You look like you're ready to molt and come flying out of your skin."

"I'm excited, Karen! He is gonna be so... Oh my God, when I tell him about Meg and her wanting to talk to him and all about the museum and...."

"Don't tackle him in the corridor," Karen said, still chuckling.

"Karen, don't tease me."

"You are so easy to tease, how can I resist." Inside, Karen seethed with as much energy as Laci, and it took effort to look and act nonchalant. Oh shit, I can't stand letting her off here, it'll be eight hours before I'll see her again, I can't stand it when I'm not with her, I want her with me all the time, it drives me nuts when she's not with me, I'll be a blathering village idiot when I pick her up again, damn, does she know what she does to me?

It was a struggle to resist the urge to lean over and kiss Laci. Even a chaste peck on the cheek carried risk.

* * * *

For the entire vacation, Amelia fretted over whether she should approach Laci and ask if she could join the art club. It was something she'd longed for ever since first hearing rumors there was going to be an art club. She liked to draw and help her mother design and make quilts, but even more she was desperate to belong to some group of peers.

Amelia couldn't decide which was worse, the verbal abuse from girls like Jenna, or simply being invisible to the cool kids – especially boys. It hadn't always been that way. Up until fifth grade, even though she'd always been chubby, and she came from a family without much money or social status, she had almost as many friends as any of her peers. A shy and passive girl by nature, when puberty began to loom and kids gravitated into cliques, she was left behind in a pubescent social purgatory.

Amelia fantasized about Laci endlessly, fantasies of being her friend, laughing together, sharing secrets, and talking about how cute certain boys were. Then there were the darker fantasies of death and suicide to escape the inner pain.

All week she struggled with the agonizing dilemma of whether to approach Laci about the club. You didn't approach the most beautiful girl in the whole school when you were at best a nobody. Her inner struggle brought her to tears many nights as she lay in bed and her imagination played out the various outcomes. Would Laci laugh at her, call her a fat loser who couldn't even stick up for herself, and tell her to get lost? Perhaps even worse, would Laci would give her a blank look, not even knowing who she was?

At last, she knew she had to do it no matter how terrifying it was.

She took great care in getting ready for school that morning. She couldn't do much with her shoulder length, dull brown hair except brush it, part it in the middle and hope for the best. She put on her newest pair of baby blue jeans, and her one and only Hello Kitty top (It pained her that she had to do all her clothes shopping at Wally World, rather than Old Navy or Abercrombie like the cool kids from well-off families did.)

Amelia was trembling, and her tummy was rolling and surging unpleasantly when she left the house to go to the bus stop. She hardly heard anything her teachers said. It seemed that her lunch break would never get here, and at the same time it would get here too soon.

At last the tone signaling the first lunch period sounded, and the time was at hand. Amelia knew Laci generally spent time in the library, hanging out and doing math homework with Emily. That was something that was vaguely puzzling – Emily was a brainy nerd, yet she and Laci seemed to be good friends.

When Amelia walked into the library and saw Laci sitting alone at a study desk designed for students to collaborate face-to-face, casually sketching something, her knees went weak and shaky, her tummy squirmed, and her mouth went dry. Her heart raced like a cornered rabbit, and for a moment she contemplated dropping the whole thing. What business did she have approaching the most beautiful girl in the school? Surely she would laugh, or say, "Who are you?"

No, she had to do it. She reached down for the last reserves of her courage, and she walked up to Laci in a fuzzy daze. What do I say? Oh God, I'm so scared, what if I faint, I'm sick to my stomach, and oh God. Some inner autopilot took over. She drew a deep, shaky breath, and what came out was a simple, "Um, Laci?"

Laci looked up, and said without so much as a pause, "Oh, hi Amelia. What's up?"

A great surging pang burst over Amelia, and for a few seconds she thought she might actually faint. OhmyGod! She knows me! She remembers my name! Luckily her inner autopilot was still working, and she heard herself say, "Um, I, um heard there's, like, gonna be an art club, and you're part of it."

Laci's expression was gentle and attentive. "Yup, I am. Whyn't you sit down?" she invited.

Amelia shook visibly as she fumbled for the metal and plastic chair directly across the desk from Laci. "Um, is the club for, like, anybody?" she said, her voice weak and distant.

"It sure is," Laci said. It shocked Amelia when Laci very gently reached over and touched her trembling knee as if to say, Relax, I don't bite. "All that matters is you like art and you wanna hang with others who like it too. Do you like to do art stuff?"

Laci's gentle touch had calming effect, and Amelia heaved a great inner sigh, though her mind still raced, and she was sure she'd say something really stupid. "Um, I like to draw and stuff. And, um, I help my Mom when she makes quilts."

Laci broke into a smile that was, as far as Amelia was concerned, radiant. "Your Mom makes quilts? Wow, that is so cool. What do you like to draw?"

"Um, you know, stuff," Amelia shrugged. "I have a kitty cat, and I like to do drawings of her." Why did I say "kitty cat"? That is so lame, something a little kid would say.

"That's so awesome. I always wanted a kitty cat of my own, but I've never been able to." Laci's face suddenly turned animated, even excited. "That's exactly what the club is gonna be all about, people who like to draw and stuff, and what's even cooler is that it's brand new, so we can make it work however we want, it isn't like joining up with a club that has, like, a thousand rules and stuff, we get to make the rules." She reached out and touched Amelia's knee again, as if to say, Look at me, it's OK, I'm not mean.

Amelia looked up shyly. Inside, she could feel herself actually relaxing, as if a great weight was being lifted from her shoulders. "Um, so you don't need to be, like, in the eighth grade or high school to join?"

"Nope, it's for anyone who likes art, even if they're, like in second grade, but I doubt many kids from the elementary side are interested in an art club." Laci paused and furrowed her brow quickly, before breaking into an even brighter smile. "I just had an idea," she announced.

Laci turned to the sketch she had started. "I'm waiting here for Emily to come help me with math – I suck at math, it is so lame – and I've been killing time drawing a picture of Swampy – Mrs. Marsh."

Amelia eased into a smile. Truth be told, she almost giggled. Mrs. Marsh was the sour-faced head librarian who paced the floor looking for violators of her rules of behavior. It was a simple truth that everyone called her Swampy. Still, Amelia wouldn't have expected Laci to call her that. It was another sign that Laci was just a normal kid.

Laci faced Amelia again, and put her hand firmly on the girl's hand and looked directly at her. "Know what? Drawing Swampy is boring. Why don't I do a sketch of you."

Amelia blinked twice, her shock unmistakable. "Me? A drawing of me?" she said almost in a whisper. "Why would you wanna draw a picture of me?"

"Why not? You're more interesting to draw than Swampy. Listen. When I look at someone I wanna draw, my brain kinda figures out what is it is about them that makes them look the way they do, and sometimes what my brain figures out isn't too interesting, and it's like, why bother? Like Swampy. She looks like she's got a stick up her butt and she ate lemons for breakfast. That isn't very interesting, but I hadda kill time."

This time, Amelia did giggle. She was totally enthralled by this encounter with someone she considered a social goddess. Wow, it's like I'm hypnotized or something, my God, she is just so awesome, why can't more people be nice like that?

Laci turned her sketch pad to a fresh page. When she turned back, she studied Amelia for several seconds. Amelia let Laci's gentle hands position her head, just as she'd do for the stylist at Supercuts. Her insides surged with a new and wonderful excitement.

"There," Laci said taking her fingers from the sides of Amelia's face. "Stay like that. I don't mean be a statue or anything, just don't like stick your tongue out at me and go phhbbbttttt, or cross your eyes or anything like that."

Amelia was giggling steadily. She couldn't remember the last time she felt so happy. It was ... it was exhilarating. She sat up as straight as a little girl posing for her formal portrait, her feet dancing and clapping together under the table in barely restrained glee.

Laci picked up her sketch pad and went to work laying the rough outlines. "I think," she murmured, "I'll use a charcoal pencil. Sometimes black and white is better for picking up on parts of you a colored pencil can't really do. Mr. B calls it being subtle, and it's really true, it's like if you have a sleep-over or something, and you turn all the lights off in the bedroom except for a flashlight. Then everybody looks completely different, just `cause of the shadows caused by the flashlight and it might, like make someone look spooky `cause now in the shadows her nose looks like it might be a witch's."

Laci laid the pad on the desk's smooth work surface, and it seemed as if some inner artist controlled the sketching, freeing up the larger part of her brain to tend to everything else.

Now Amelia relaxed as much as she ever would at school.

"Do you really help your Mom make quilts? I think making quilts has to be wicked fun."

"Uh huh, it is. Hard, but it really is fun."

"Does your Mom make a lot of quilts?"

"She's always got one she's working on. She's a CNA in a nursing home, and she's always making one for the old people she takes care of."

"OhmyGod! Really? That's so fricken cool, doing something like that for people who can't do it themselves any more. Do you do any of the sewing? I don't think I could learn to use a sewing machine. Probably sew my finger to the table."

Amelia giggled excitedly. "She's just started teaching me the stitches, she usually makes the quilts by hand, and she only uses the machine when she's in a hurry. The sewing's really the easy part. It's way harder to figure out how you want it to look, what kind of patches and panels and designs you're gonna use, and how they all fit together like a puzzle."

"No way! I never thought of that. It makes sense. Hey! Who says that isn't art? Sure sounds like it to me. Oh wow! You could maybe design a quilt for the art club, you know the whole thing, sew it together and everything, and like, give it to your Mom as a present."

"Oh yeah! I never thought of that!" Amelia fairly hummed with delighted energy. "You think I could do that?"

"Of course you can."

Amelia wasn't quite sure if Laci meant that she was capable of making a quilt, or that a quilt was an appropriate project for the art club. Maybe she meant both. She automatically decided to avoid seeming like she didn't totally grasp exactly what Laci meant by answering with a neutral but enthusiastic, "Oh I hope so, I really hope so, it's such a cool idea, and my Mom would love it."

Laci's eyes moved between the sketch pad and Amelia, and both of her hands moved about their appointed tasks. Every now and then, she would reach over and gently lift Amelia's chin, or nudge her it to the left or right. Her face took on a more serious expression.

"You know," Laci said, "You don't need to be scared of me, Amelia. I'm not a mean bitch like Jenna and her little group of A-holes. I know you were nervous `bout talking to me – I don't know why, well I do, but I don't get it – but please don't be."

Amelia could only nod in stunned agreement. Laci's casual words were yet another surprise in an encounter chockablock full of surprises. Even in her wildest fantasies, she never expected things to play out like they were.

Laci licked her thumb and worked a smudge on the pad, and when she looked up, she smiled. "There's Emily come to teach me math."

Emily, wearing a t-shirt silk-screened with the two Mythbusters' faces flanking the aphorism, "I reject your reality and substitute my own", eased her backpack to the floor, pulled up a chair and sat perpendicular to them. Amelia didn't sense any cause for concern in Emily.

"Sorry it took so long to get here," she said as she took her glasses off and rubbed her eyes. "I had to talk to Mr. Bowman about the project I'm doing for the science fair competition next month, and he was, like, talking to that new biology teacher at the high school, I don't remember her name but I think he has the hots for her. So whatcha doing anyway," she said, craning her neck to look at Laci's handiwork.

"I was sketching Swampy to kill time when Amelia stopped by to ask about joining the art club. I figured she was a lot more interesting to draw than Swampy, so why not."

"Can I see? Holy Christmas, Laci, that's fricken awesome!" Emily's eyes widened. "You did that? In like ten, fifteen minutes?"

"Yeah, so? I bet you could tell me when the moon'll be full in June 2075 in the same time."

"No I couldn't, and besides, it's not the same, not even close." She pointed at the sketch and continued, "That looks like it could wink at us."

Amelia's eyes widened and she was all but holding her breath. She didn't dare look at the drawing until Laci said she could.

"Wouldn't you do doo-doo in your pants if it did."

"I hope we don't find out."

* * * *

Amelia made her way back to her locker in a daze. Everything she thought she knew about her place in the world was wiped away in a short half an hour. A warm, tingly knot settled in her lower tummy. She was a few years away from understanding the sensation had sexual overtones. Right now, it simply made her feel like she was walking while wrapped in a warm cocoon.

When she reached her locker and opened it, she stared at the drawing trembling in hands. Her eyes burned, and she knew she was about to cry. She struggled to hold back the tears. Even though the corridors were empty, she didn't want to be caught crying. Crying was what losers did.

Still, her mind reeled. I can hardly believe it, the prettiest girl in the whole school drew my picture and wants to see my drawings, and she talked to me like I was normal and not some loser blimpo. It must be amazing to be her friend, I know older kids call her a slum bitch loser, she's a druggie, and her mother got high on crack and meth and tried to kill her, but all that stuff is just lies and stupid rumors, and I bet she doesn't even know how awesome she is, oh God, maybe I can be her friend, that would be fricken incredible.

At last, Amelia lost the battle with her tears. She leaned against her locker and wept.

* * * *

"That was awesome, Laci," Emily said in a low, admiring voice.

"What was awesome?"

"You drawing that picture and giving her a hug like that."

"No, that wasn't awesome. If treating someone decently is awesome, we're in trouble."

Emily frowned. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"All my fricken life I've been surrounded by hateful people who like to hurt and destroy, and I'm sick of it. There's too much of that crap in this world, and I'm not going to add to it. Other people can do whatever they want, but I'm done with it. Except Jenna. I'd love to pop her in the face a good one, she better not fuck with me."

Emily chuckled softly. "Yeah, you're probably right, but damn! You made that girl's day."

Laci shrugged. "What's so hard about being nice to people? It's pretty sick when being mean is what makes you feel good about yourself."

"I kinda think people who're fuckwads don't even like themselves."

"Emily!" Laci cackled. "I think that's the first time I've ever heard you swear! And an F-bomb at that! I oughta wash your mouth out with soap, like in that Christmas movie."

"As long as it's Palmolive and not Life Buoy."

"I bet you know every line in that movie," Laci chuckled.

"Said the girl who's read every Harry Potter book ninety-eleven times, which makes you at least an honorary nerd, by the way."

Laci shrugged. "Better'n being a bitch."

* * * *

Karen lifted her head, closed her eyes, and massaged the bridge of her nose. It had been a very busy but productive day. One couple put a genuine offer on the table for one of the three remaining residential properties she still listed. Then she spent three hours working the phone trying to arrange a meeting with a developer interested in a half-million dollar commercial property she carried. There were potential zoning issues involved, so a lot of fingers needed to be in pot.

Then there was the all too brief phone call with Jay Belden confirming she got the email list of supplies Laci needed. He also had the welcome news that he thought he'd found the perfect private instructor for Laci, but he mischievously refused to say more until he had more details and a firm commitment in hand.

There was no question Jay Belden was utterly enthralled by Laci. She wore her excitement on her sleeve, and she owned any gathering she attended by force of her effervescence and beauty – "deadly combination," he'd said with a smile in his voice. One thing he said made Karen chuckle even now. "This town is an artistic and cultural dead zone. There are plenty of very talented artists in the area, but they're not collaborating, they all seem to have private agendas. I think Laci and I together can kick some butt and give a jumpstart to get some things going! Nobody'll be able to resist her."

The call ended with a loose plan to get together with the prospective instructor on Sunday or Monday night. There was also a looser plan to meet with school admin about her $5,000 donation offer. Karen was comfortable with loose, fluid schedules, a necessary attribute in her business.

She glanced at her watch. Half past four, time to start wrapping up so she could get out at 5:00 and go get Laci at school. The girl was never far from her mind. The minute her thoughts drifted from the task at hand, whatever it might be, Laci jumped into the breach. Whenever that happened, Karen would gasp softly, and her heart would race.

Now Laci's sleek, lithe body leapt into Karen's mind. Her girl curves were fully established and rapidly maturing, her skin soft, and so sensitive. Laci loved to be held and touched and caressed, and her body came alive under soft touches and strokes. Oh yes, that taut body, aching to be touched, stroked, kissed....

Karen's insides knotted up. She bent her head back and let out a long groan. "How do you do this to me?"

Nothing sent Karen into sexual orbit quite like bringing Laci to orgasm, even if only in her mind's eye. Oh yes, when she let her mind wander down that path, she stopped whatever she was doing, looking for all the world like she was in a trance. It didn't matter how she did it, using her fingers while talking to Laci in between frantic kisses, or between the girl's legs, feasting on her, using her mouth and her tongue to coax out tricklets of thick nectar until....

And oh God, when she cums it just sends me to the moon, oh Christ, the way she quivers and then – then when she explodes, Jesus H Christ, I have got to get a hold of myself, here I am staring off into space, my pussy ready to overflow, dreaming about getting Laci off, goddamn I'm hotter than a two-dollar pistol. If I started rubbing myself, I'd go off, it wouldn't take two minutes. Oh yeah, have Marcie or Dave barge in and catch me fingering my twitchit and getting off like a rocket? I have got to come back to earth, it's time to close up shop.

Karen sighed. It took effort to push the images of her lover off the center stage of her mind and back into the wings, waiting – waiting.

It was nearly quarter of five – she'd lost fifteen minutes ruminating about Laci and getting herself worked up into a juicy mess, which wasn't going away on its own. She set about closing down. She filled her bag with papers (weren't computers supposed to make paperwork go away?) file folders, and finally she nestled her laptop into its spot. (I need to get a tablet. And a Smartphone. Damn, things change so fast these days I just can't keep up.)

Karen closed her bag and grabbed her phone from the desk. She debated calling Laci, but she knew hearing the girl's voice would turn her into a puddle of mush. She simply slipped the phone into her shoulder bag.

She had one more thing to do, something that wouldn't cool the swelling bubble of hot lava simmering in her loins. One of the perks of her position was a private restroom. It was only recently that she began to really appreciate it. She brought her bag with her when she slipped into the room and locked the door behind her.

Karen's hands were shaking, and her body rippled into goose bumps in anticipation. She opened her personal bag and took out a small portable pair of battery operated breast pumps. She quickly peeled off her light blue pull-over, and instinctively shook out her hair and ran her hand through it. She'd begun wearing bras designed for hands-free pumping – where the hell were these things when Amy was a baby? – and so far, Laci apparently hadn't picked up on it.

Karen was initially skeptical that a regular schedule of suckling and pumping could actually bring on lactation, but her doctor said it stood a very good chance of working. If it didn't, then they could discuss medications, so Karen gave it a shot – Laci's suckling at bedtime was now a ritual they both looked forward to every night.

To her surprise, Karen realized her breasts had indeed grown noticeably, becoming fuller and firmer, and her aureole and nipples grew large, just as they were before Amy was born. Laci had even commented on it, though Karen sidestepped the issue. She wanted to surprise her girl lover if and when she finally was able to give milk.

Her nipples were erect before she finished arranging the pump flanges in the bra. Pumps secured, she dropped her pants and dropped heavily on the toilet. Toilet schmoilet, there's no sense in worrying about it. She turned on the blessedly quiet pumps. The sensation, mechanical and impersonal as it was, still sent an electric surge through her.

She gasped and trembled. An image of Laci naked and prancing around, twitching, rolling, and swirling in a provocative dance flooded her head. Karen plunged her hand in the opening between her legs and the seat and grabbed herself. There was none of the gradual build-up of more relaxed masturbation. She probed deep and rubbed hard.

But it wasn't going to work – sitting on a toilet was not conducive to fingering herself. Luckily, it was only a matter of a stand-and-pivot and she was leaning over the sink, pump and bottles dangling and swaying incongruously in the process. Karen laughed at the thought of how absurd this must look. But that didn't matter. She was able to get her fingers where they needed to be.

A fresh image of Laci prancing naked around the room filled Karen's mind. She moved on her tippy-toes when she was excited, her beautiful face glowed and mesmerized. She danced over to Karen, offering herself. They came together, and...

Imaginary Laci's orgasm melded into Karen's real orgasm. She leaned on the sink and rubbed her sex furiously. Her body hitched and her breath caught. "Oh Laci, my baby," she gasped in a harsh whisper.

Karen went over the top, orgasm surging over her like the burst of a Roman candle in slow-motion. The second strong burst was a toe-curler accompanied by a long, low moan. After the third surge, she stumbled back to the toilet.

She panted and sat there trembling. Holy shit, look at me! Pair of pumps hanging down sucking on my girls, pants down, pussy soaked, sitting on a toilet – just another day in the neighborhood. I have got to get my shit together and get going.

* * * *

Karen eased the car into an empty pick up spot at the courtyard entrance to the middle school block. Her heart leaped and her tummy surged the instant she saw Laci jump up from one of the benches. Oh my God! she groaned inwardly.

Laci strode quickly but confidently across the granite-and-brick esplanade, her arms swinging, and the smile on her face as bright as a summer noontime.

She's grown so much just since January, it's easy to forget until I see her like this, Karen mused as Laci approached the car. It wasn't as much a physical growth as it was personality maturation. She moved with graceful confidence now, seemingly past the trauma of her previous life

Karen's already sticky wet vulva trembled and flushed afresh. She suppressed an audible moan when Laci cheerfully opened the rear passenger door and threw in her overstuffed backpack. I'm going to smell like a frigging cathouse pretty quick.

At last, Laci opened the front door and excitedly bounced in. "Hiiii," she sang cheerfully as she fumbled with her seatbelt.

"How did you get to be so beautiful," Karen answered with a smile.

"Karen, cut it out. I wish I could kiss you."

Karen sighed and squeezed Laci's thigh. "I know, I wish I could kiss you too. I hate being away from you." Truth be told, it was maddening to have Laci so close and not be able to kiss her. Even chaste kisses needed to be parceled out with care in public. She pulled her sunglasses from their perch atop her head and slipped them on. "How was your day?"

"OhmyGod!" Laci burbled, becoming even more animated. It was as if she'd burst if she held the events of her day in another second.

"OhmyGod! It was, like the most amazing day ever, seriously." She twisted around to better face Karen. "So like, I had math first period, and Mr. Bowman is such a dickhead! I hadda feeling he was gonna give us a pop quiz, so what's the first thing he says? Keep your books closed, surprise quiz. What a dickhead, it was ten problems, finding the area of triangles and circles, stupid stuff no one needs, but guess what?"

Her excitement seemed to reach a peak, her eyes glowing like 4^th of July sparklers, and she clapped the heels of her hands together. "I got a hundred! A hundred! On a math quiz! Can you even believe it? I was so shocked! And it's like Emily's tutoring is really helping. I'm kinda getting it in a way, I wish I understood it better, like what's the point. If there was a real reason to know how much area there is in a circle, then maybe I could understand it, but jeezum crow. And Emily goes, `You're not gonna need my help pretty soon,' and I go, `No way, girlfriend, I'm always gonna need your help.' And guess what? I got Em to join the art club! Really, I've been trying to talk her into it, and she keeps going, like, I can't draw a line without a ruler, an' I'm a scientist, not an artist.' So I went to the library at study hall so Em could help me with the new math homework, and do you remember that time a while back when I told you about me and Jenna almost getting into a fight because she was bullying this chubby girl from seventh grade? Amelia? Well, I got to the library and figured I'd do a sketch of Swampy, Mrs. Marsh the librarian, to kill time waiting for Emily, and that girl Amelia, she's wicked shy, like she was scared I'd be mad at her or something, and she comes up to me and she goes, real soft, `Is the art club for anyone who wants to join?' and I go, `It's for anyone, all that matters is you like art,' and she goes she likes to do quilting with her mom – quilting is art, right? – and draw pictures of her kitty cat and stuff, and I said, `That's so cool, you could maybe design a quilt or something, or learn how to sketch new stuff besides your kitty cat, and we'd love to have you,' and stuff like that. Then I got an idea right there, just popped into my head, and I go to Emily, `Amelia likes to do quilts and stuff with her mom, and quilts can, like, be made from shapes and triangles and stuff, I've seen them, so you could like work on designing a quilt with geometry stuff,' and she goes, `Alright, alright, I'll join just to stop your pestering.'

"Oh! I almost forgot! While we were talking, I was doing a sketch of Amelia. She just seems so shy, I thought it might be something nice so she won't think I'm, like, some stuck up bitch, and it wasn't like, anything special, I was hardly even paying attention, and Emily goes, `That's a pretty good drawing,' and the girl Amelia, I thought she was, like, gonna start crying, I gave it to her and you woulda thought I gave her a million dollars or something, her hands were shaking and everything, and that's because of that bitch Jenna and her little baby bitches, all stuck up on themselves and not worth pee holes in the snow, I just don't get it Karen, I mean I was nice to her and gave her a hug and treated her like she mattered, cause she does, and did it hurt me to do that? No, it did not, and it made her wicked happy, and that's all it took, but Jenna and people like her hafta be mean and nasty so they'll feel good about themselves, and that's like, so sick, but anyway, I gave her the drawing and told her I `spected her to show up at the club meeting after school, an' I made her promise to bring some of her kitty cat drawings to show me and stuff..."

And on it went. Karen didn't even attempt to interrupt the effervescent soliloquy. There was hardly a full stop, and only a few semi-colons in the whole outpouring. It was a joy to experience. Laci's hands were like a flock of chickadees, and her face reflected whatever emotion her words related.

Laci went into great and excited detail about the first meeting of the art club. She related how twenty kids showed up, how she was elected treasurer and all the responsibilities that entailed, how a senior girl with spiked green hair and "about a gazillion" piercings had volunteered to join just to help the club get organized. It was a seemingly endless roll of details great and small.

It wasn't until Karen nosed the car into an open parking spot at one of the local McDonald's that Laci's monologue tapered off to a mildly surprised, "Oh! McDonald's?"

"I don't know about you, but I'm hungry. And lazy. This is as good as anything else."

* * * *

She was so focused on telling Karen about the excitement of her day that Laci hardly noticed the drive through town. It took her a few measures to get her bearings, and then she blushed. "Oh jeez, I guess I got on a roll."

"Nothing wrong with that," Karen said as she looked through her handbag. "I like listening to you get on a roll." Karen opened the door and got out, hesitating for a second. "I'm not bothering with my coat," she said absently, as if thinking aloud. "It's above freezing."

Laci got out, hesitated herself, then shed her jacket. "Yeah, winter can take a hike, it feels almost like spring." She tossed it on the back seat atop Karen's greatcoat.

It was busy for a weeknight supper hour. They took their place at the back of a cluster of other customers and studied the menu boards. Laci was dimly aware that what seemed like every pair of eyes in the place surreptitiously turned to look her over. It registered and was instantly discarded as uninteresting. Something else, potentially embarrassing, entered her mind. It suddenly became important to her.

It was an unconscious fact of her life now to know which public displays of affection toward Karen were acceptable, which were risky, and which were prohibited. Hugging Karen's arm and pressing her cheek against her lover's shoulder was acceptable, something any girl might do with her mother or grandmother. So it was unremarkable when she hugged Karen's arm when asked what she wanted. "Don't tease me," was her cryptic answer.

"What?" Karen said with a puzzled frown. "How am I teasing you?"

"I just don't want you to tease me," she pouted. "I want a Happy Meal."

It took no more than two seconds for Karen's face to melt into a smile of understanding. "Ah, I see. Why would I tease you for wanting a Happy Meal?"

"'Cause it's babyish, but I want one, I never got them when I was a kid."

Karen chuckled softly and patted Laci's hand. She simply said, "Cheeseburger, hamburger, or chicken nuggets?"

Still hugging Karen's arm, she said, "Chicken nuggets. Are you gonna order for me? I don't want them to think I'm a baby."

"Yes, love, I'll order for you. Don't worry."

"Thank you," she said, her pout fading.

Her voice so soft Laci almost couldn't hear it, Karen said, "You're a treasure. I wish I could kiss you right here and now."

"Me too," Laci said, releasing Karen's arm. It was their turn to order.

The young guy taking their order looked vaguely familiar to Laci, probably a junior or senior at school. He eyed Laci furtively, and he seemed to have trouble tapping in the order.

Laci was aware that the men on either side of them were doing the same thing, trying to look at her without seeming to. Sometimes being mentally undressed by guys in public places gave her the creepy-crawlies. Other times, like tonight with Karen by her side, it wasn't a problem. In fact, she deliberately shifted her weight from one leg to the other, making her tight butt roll in a move that surely made a few onlookers gasp quietly. She added a little frosting when she deliberately raked her hair back from her face and gave it a little shake. Yes indeed, sometimes it was smugly satisfying to flaunt it just a little.

When the order was ready, Laci carried the tray – her Happy Meal and Karen's Big Mac and small fries – to an empty table while Karen got their drinks.

Laci absently chastised herself for asking for a Happy Meal. She intuitively understood that, as a teenage girl, certain displays of playful childishness didn't cause any raised eyebrows. On the other hand, a boy her age asking for a Happy Meal would certainly be razzed endlessly by his buddies. Still, I'm glad she didn't tease me about it, I know it's stupid to worry about being teased by Karen, I mean we're girlfriends, almost like engaged, but it's embarrassing to want a Happy Meal then worry about being teased about it.

Karen slid into the seat across from Laci. "There. Here's your orange soda. Ah yes, my Big Mac, a guilty pleasure." She rubbed her hands together, opened the sandwich container, and dumped her fries into the empty lid.

Laci opened her Happy Meal container and plunged her hand in to feel for the cellophane-wrapped toy. Her fingers found it, and she pulled it out with a triumphant smile.

"What is it? The toy?" Karen said with one of her enigmatic smiles.

Laci tore it open. "It's a wizard," she said, holding it out for Karen to inspect. "Like in Harry Potter. See, his arms move like he's waving a magic wand. Isn't he cute?"

"Oh absolutely. All that angst over a plastic wizard doll."

"Karen, don't tease me. What's angst? I don't know that word."

"Nervousness – more or less. Worrying.

"Well, I didn't want to be embarrassed, they're for kids. Did they have Happy Meals when you were a kid?"

Karen barked a short laugh, "Ha! Yes, and believe it or not, we had flush toilets, too."

"Karen, don't tease me!"

"No, baby girl, you had that one coming, thinking I'm old enough to be on social security."

Laci giggled impishly. "Well, I don't know these things, like how long Happy Meals have been around. Besides, if the foo shits..."

"Listen to her! Try to be nice and buy her a Happy Meal, and what thanks do I get? She disses my age."

Laci swallowed and defiantly stuck out her tongue.

"Oh look, and now she's making promises she won't keep."

"Oh yeah, just wait till we get home, old lady." Laci tingled warmly inside, only partly in her muffin. Playing little games like this was exhilarating, one of the pleasures of being in love.

"We shall see young'un. Not to change the subject, but to change the subject – or get back to the old one – my Dad told me when he was a kid, boxes of cereal had toys in them, and they were always down at the bottom, and you'd have to wait until the whole thing was almost empty to get it. He said one time he opened it by the bottom and tore everything apart, and his father – Grampy Cy – gave him a lickin' for it."

Laci laughed out loud, then nipped a bite off a chicken nugget. "Did he really get spanked?"

"I have no doubt he did. I can see Grampy Cy getting all worked up about it." Karen dropped her voice almost to its lowest register and tried on a local accent. "'Goddammit boy, pissin' away good money, tearin' up them boxes a cereal like they ain't no tomorrow. You think they's cornstalks that grow money `stead of cobs, boy? I tell you...'"

Laci laughed full and hard. She had an image of Grampy Cy, built from Karen's offhanded reminisces, that wasn't unlike a bigger Yosemite Sam, and that image, attached to Karen's words, was simply hilarious.

Karen, working her way through the sloppy sandwich, said, "God, I wish you could have known Grampy Cy, they broke his mold when he hit the world. He would have loved you, not just a pretty girl, but a beautiful one."

"Yeah, I wish I could've known him, I'd give him a hug and a kiss on the cheek."

"And probably give him a heart attack in the process. But yeah, he had a soft spot for pretty girls. I was always special to him, I could do no wrong, we had an understanding, I understood him, he understood me."

Laci's eyes sparkled in sync with the glow inside. "Did he ever give you a spanking?"

"Me? No way, not me, some of the other grandkids, the boys, I wouldn't be surprised, but not me. Sometimes some of the boys would get what he called `uppity'. They'd make the mistake of thinking just because he was all lamed up he was a pushover. No, no, noooo, you'd be in for a rude surprise if you thought that. I remember seeing him grab a seventy-five pound bale of hay in each hand and toss them up onto the trailer. None of the smart-ass boys could do that with two hands and just one bale. They had trouble just keeping up with the bailer"

"Did all of you kids help?"

"All of the grandkids had a job during haying. Mine was to ride with Grampy Cy up front and keep a close eye on the fuel gauge and tell him when it got close to `E'."

"No way, Karen, you're making that up, watching the needle to a gas tank go down?"

"I'm serious. I know it's a silly thing, like being sent to look for a bucket of steam, or a left-handed hammer, but I took it seriously."

"I like it when you talk about stuff like that. I think it's wicked cool."

"Maybe," Karen said, "but now it's time to get home. It's almost six o'clock."

Laci sighed and popped the last bit of chicken nugget in her mouth. "I'm ready," she said, stuffing her trash in the Happy Meal box. She carefully tucked the wizard doll in her purse. It was surprising, she mused, but for some reason, Karen's reminisces put her in the mood for loving. Her mound hummed restlessly.

She stretched when she stood, unconsciously displaying herself to the other customers. She waited for Karen to stand before taking the tray and emptying in the trash on their way out.

Karen started the car as they came out. She looked up at the sky while Laci bounced to her side of the car. "You know what's nice?" Karen said, sliding behind the wheel. "Going home at night and it's still light out. Spring beckons."

Laci wiggled into her seat, "Yeah, well it sucks, too."

"How's that, Little-Miss-Eloquent?"

"Duh, because we can't kiss unless it's dark," Laci explained, as if to a fool.

Karen felt it first, like an unseen presence in a darkened room. The nymph lately residing in her loins seemed to stretch like a cat waking from a nap at the first whiff of Laci's arousal.

Laci in heat was a thing to behold. At first, it came as restlessness, squirming like a five-year-old needing to pee. Her face flushed, her eyes became languid and glassy, and her voice thickened just a bit, as if she'd just taken a couple of bong hits.

Then, settling atop Karen's midsection like a heart attack came Laci's unconscious preening. Again and again, she ran her fingers through her hair and played with it, twirling strands around her fingers. Then she abandoned her tresses to retrieve a tube of lip gloss from her purse and make a show of primping herself for her lover.

"What are you doing?" Karen said, struggling to sound casual. "The Skinny Bop?"

Laci's curious smile said she suspected she was being teased. "What? What in the world is a skinny bop?"

Karen laughed, glad for the release it gave her. "It's like you have ants in your pants, all restless and fidgety. You're almost glowing."

Laci shrugged in dramatic fashion, and flopped back in the seat with a defiant swish of her hair. "I can't help it, I feel sexy."

A low-level jolt panged over Karen. "I can tell." Her casual demeanor was feigned. She shifted in the seat, unconsciously teasing her wet pussy with her movements.

Laci tried on her best frustrated pout. "What's the matter, you don't like it when I'm feeling sexy?"

"Good Lord, no," Karen gasped. "But I have to get us home in one piece, and you getting me juiced up makes it hard to pay attention."

Laci's little chuckle was devilish. She clearly understood she'd bested Karen, earning the power to choose what they did and when. Karen acknowledged as much when, her voice tense, she said, "Christ, another ten minutes before we get home, and now I'm doing the Unskinny Bop. I need a cigarette before the ants start coming out of my pants."

Laci laughed. "See? It's like, I'm sitting in social studies class and it's so boring, about some guy who was President before they had cars, so I started day dreaming about you and all the sexy stuff I want to do, and it's like, my muffin was getting all hot and wet right there in class." Her squirming was exaggerated for effect, her hips grinding in an undulating fucking motion. "It was like, jeezum, I wish I could rub myself a little, and I couldn't stop thinking about sexy stuff, I was, like, so horny in class, and no one even knew, the boys probably woulda died if they had a clue. It's a good thing I had stuff like art club and drawing Amelia to distract me, or I'da been in trouble."

Karen fumbled blindly in her purse and pulled out an e-cigarette, her latest aid to quit smoking. That, and lowering the window to let in the cool air, still forty-five degrees by the digital display, steadied her enough to keep from swerving as she drove, and Laci's flirting grew more emboldened.

It was the anticipation making her simmer; the warm, tense heaviness in her pelvis, the heat spreading over her like the wash of a warm tide, nerves alive and tingling, the intoxicated giddiness, all were given a palpable vitality from anticipating the journey to come. Oh yes, the getting there was the magical thing.

Laci twisted to face Karen again, sweeping her hair with a dramatic flourish, and she offered an impish, lewd smile. "If it was summer, we could do it outside in the back yard, just the stars and moon for light." She lowered her voice. "Wouldn't that be romantic?"

Karen shuddered when Laci scraped her nails on the back of her neck. "Laci, baby," she groaned. "We're almost home."

"You're no fun."

"Neither is getting buried in a snow bank."

* * * *

Laci scampered up the stairs and into the bedroom while Karen stayed downstairs a couple of minutes to read the mail and put her work stuff away. Laci's desire had been slowly ratcheting up ever since the less than innocent daydreaming during social studies class and now she felt downright vibrant.

She loosely fan-folded the covers at the foot of the bed, kicked her shoes off, then stripped down to her pink tank top and thong panties. She started to peel off her top, but she smiled and stopped. It was better to wait and let Karen finish making her naked. The very thought of their bodies coming together made her even more restless. Her mound glistened from the nectar oozing from her muffin.

Laci pranced into the bathroom to finish readying herself for loving. She stood before the mirror over the vanity. After giving her hair a quick brushing, she rummaged through her makeup until she had what she needed to freshen up. Karen called it preening, but there was nothing wrong with wanting to look sexy for your lover.

Laci was fully aware that Karen liked it when she was sexy, even a little slutty. Sexy and slutty she could do in spades. She cocked her hips side to side, and then rolled her pelvis out as if in offering. She tried on several expressions, from pouty to sultry, lifted her hair, and then shook it out. "Oh yeah, I guess I am a hottie," she purred, and then laughed softly.

When she heard Karen's heels tapping on the floor, coming up, Laci's heart leaped with a fresh surge of excited anticipation. She darted to the bedroom and dove on the bed, rolling onto her tummy. Each tap of Karen's heels on the floor sent little pulses through her until her muffin felt like a beehive.

Laci's body surged when Karen came through the doorway. Karen's expression, one of make believe surprise at Laci's presence, indicated she was playing one of the subtle love games Laci delighted in.

"Well, would you look at this?" Karen said, hands on hips. "How did a strange, beautiful, half-dressed girl end up on my bed?"

Laci gleefully slipped into her role. She rose to her knees and shuffled to the edge of the bed where Karen waited with a smile. "Well, it seems I'm lost," she said, draping her arms over Karen's shoulders and snuggling close. "And I need somewhere to stay. I heard there was a beautiful lady living here who might be looking for someone to ... share ... her bed."

Karen touched her forehead to Laci's and sent her hands exploring. "Well now, who am I to turn away such a beautiful girl in need?"

Their kisses started light and playful, their tongues darting out on forays to joust with each other. In no time, the kisses became hard, wet, and sloppy, their growing passion given voice in sighing groans of happiness. Their bodies swirled and connected in an unconscious dance.

It didn't require a conscious decision by Laci to surrender complete control to Karen.

* * * *

Karen, one knee on the bed, her boots on the floor, cradled Laci's face in her hands and covered her baby girl with wet kisses until her face glistened. "All day," Karen hummed between wet smacks, "I couldn't stop – thinking about you – all fricken day – it made me – batshit crazy – mmmm." Karen let one hand slide down and gently massage Laci through her skimpy panties. "I couldn't take it – anymore – I fucked myself – before I picked you up."

Laci's restlessness grew by the minute. Her fingers fumbled with the buttons of Karen's blouse, while their lips continued dancing. "How's that fair?" Laci's voice was just above a whisper. "I got just as crazy thinking `bout you – but I didn't have anywhere to go to make myself cum."

Karen gave a throaty chuckle as she helped ease Laci onto her back. She climbed on the bed, and lowering herself to continue her wet kisses, she crooned, "Don't worry my precious love – I'll make it up to you – I promise." Her fingers stroked Laci through her panties, then snuck under the edge to brush the girl's tender mound. "Your kitty is sooo wet. I've been dreaming all day about going down to visit her and make her purr."

Laci's giggle was thick with arousal. "She meowing for you," and she lifted her hips to Karen's touch to prove the point.

Karen straightened and finished removing her blouse. She leaned over Laci, offering her breasts. "A little help, Mademoiselle?"

With a broad smile, Laci unhooked the front clasps of Karen's bra, with no indication she knew it was a nursing bra. Karen's breasts were much fuller and firmer than they'd been in a long time. Her nipples were erect, as big as the tip of her ring finger, and they beckoned. Karen now understood that nothing excited Laci as much as her breasts. A fleeting thought: If I ever do produce, she's going to go off like a five hundred pound bomb without being touched.

Her hands trembled almost imperceptibly when Laci gently encircled a globe and lifted it to nip, tug, and suckle. Electric thrills sparkled over Karen. "Oooohhhh yes," she cooed. "My girls love your kisses."

Karen kept stroking Laci's kitty all the while, and her lover responded by opening her legs as wide as she could. Karen, her hand under Laci's panties, lightly sawed her middle finger up and down the valley between her swollen labial mounds, her index and ring fingers sliding along in the creases between outer and inner labia.

Laci reluctantly surrendered her mother-lover's breast with a wet plop when Karen straightened, announcing, "Let's get those panties of yours off, they're getting in my way."

Laci giggled and lifted her butt for Karen. She was so wet her panties were translucent. "My God," Karen said. "You're soaked!"

Laci, her legs kicking, did her part in getting the panties off, and bit her finger demurely. "Well duh!" she said softly. "What did you expect, playing with my muffin and kissing me?"

Karen dangled the fragrant panties above Laci's nose then dragged them over her lips before bunching them up and burying her own face in them. "Mmmmmm," she hummed, "My favorite perfume."

Karen slipped her hand back between Laci's wide open legs and resumed caressing her lover's overheated muffin. She lowered her mouth to Laci's and they came together in hard, wet kisses. Laci squirmed, rocked, rolled, grabbed Karen's head in her hands, and fucked her lover's mouth with her tongue. Her every breath was a cooing groan of utter bliss. She was in her magic place, carried along by the rhythm of her arousal.

Karen let her fingertips savor Laci's finely sculpted vulva, until at last, she hooked two fingers deep into Laci's vault, drawing a loud gasp from her baby. "Karrrennnn," she moaned, her body arching to meet Karen's probing fingers.

Karen carefully let her thumb stroke and tap Laci's acutely sensitive jewel as her fingers slurped back and forth.

Karen's fingers worked their magic in Laci's fevered sex. Her fingers found and stroked Laci's inner sweet spots, sliding around the compact ridges and crevices to stroke and probe them with each roll of her wrist. Her thumb, not to be left out of the fun, bumped, rubbed, and flicked Laci's clit. She wasn't gentle, but then gentle wasn't called for.

"You like it when I fuck you like this," Karen growled. She hovered poised inches above her lover.

Laci, gasping as if little pings and pangs wracked her insides, could offer only shaky whimpers and guttural sounds in eloquent answer.

"Yes you do, oh yes you do, you're getting close, aren't you my hot, sexy baby girl, you're about to cum, and it sends me into orbit when you cum, oh yes, you are so wet, listen to my fingers squish while I fuck you."

Karen had to be careful not to take Laci too far and carry her over the edge, but she wanted her baby close. She watched Laci's eyes. When they were almost to the point of rolling back, Karen abruptly pulled her fingers from Laci's oven-hot kitty.

Laci gasped and her eyes fluttered open as she squirmed on the bed. "Karen! Why are you stopping?"

Karen responded with a wicked chuckle. She brought her hand, fingers glistening with the nectar of Laci's tender sex, up to her face. "Because I wanna taste you," she crooned. She sucked her fingers into her mouth and savored their essence. "Mmmmmmm."

Laci yipped more than laughed. "Karen, you are so bad."

Karen brushed her wet hand over Laci's nose. "Smell yourself."

She plopped both palms down as if doing push-ups astride Laci's head. She dipped her face as if to kiss her girl, but she stopped a mere fraction of an inch away. She let a strand of saliva drool from the edge of her lip, slowly drooping toward Laci's mouth, open in anticipation of a kiss.

Laci's tongue instinctively rose to capture the offering, and with a purring sigh, Karen completed the circuit when her lips found Laci's again.

Laci held Karen's face in her hands and smothered her lover's mouth with urgent kisses and strokes of her tongue. Karen finally eased her lips away. Laci chased after her, but Karen nuzzled her lips close to her ear. "Are you ready for me to cover your hot, wet kitty with kisses?" she whispered.

Laci, hot, flushed, sweaty and breathing in gasps, squirmed on the bed in answer.

Karen started to get upright, but Laci's erect nipples caught her attention. Laci's breasts, though still not much more than potential, were noticeably larger now, especially her nipples. Karen couldn't resist dropping down to take each in its turn between her teeth, and stretching it taut before letting it snap free.

Laci squealed, her hands fluttering, "Karrrennn! Oh God! You're making me crazyyyyy!"

"I'm sorry," Karen teased, her eyes sparkling.

"No, you're not," Laci panted.

"You're right. I'm not. But right now, I need to taste your muffin."

Laci waggled her legs restlessly. "Mmmmmm." Impatient, she slipped her own hand to her mound.

"Impatient, are we?" Karen crooned. She patted the pillows at the head of the bed. "Come, scoot up here."

Laci used her feet and elbows to wriggle up to the head of the middle of the vast bed. Karen managed to work her pants off, dragging her panties along for the ride.

Laci spread her legs as wide as she could, and drew her knees back lifting her sex in offering. Karen, kneeling naked before her girl lover, sighed a trembling groan. The sight of Laci so eagerly exposed sent a rush over Karen. There was more than a hint of reverence in her expression when she flopped down to face Laci's treasure.

Karen framed Laci's pussy with both hands and nuzzled her face against Laci's overheated mound. Laci jumped and squirmed. "Oh! Oooohhh, Karen!"

A chalice, yes, a living chalice overflowing with the nectar of her tender body. Karen breathed in deep, "Mmmmmm." She spread Laci's labia wide open, fully exposing her sex. It was a sight that made her groan. Was there a more erotic, beautiful sight in the world than Laci's compact, finely sculpted pussy? "Oh Laci, my sexy baby, your muffin just takes my breath away! So beautiful and wet and juicy! Yum!"

Karen ever so lightly drew the tip of her tongue up the center of Laci's sex, making her shudder. With her lips barely touching the peak of her lover's mons, Karen purred, "Do you want me to kiss your kitty?" Karen swiveled her face side to side, her lips ever so lightly brushing over the bump of Laci's clit nest.

Laci's head snapped up and she rose up on her elbows. Her eyes glowed. "Don't tease me, fuck me!" she cried, kicking her feet.

Karen chuckled. Now she drew her tongue up Laci's fully exposed sleeve in a slow, firm lap, finishing with stroke on her pearlescent button. She kissed Laci's mound, then dipped down for another long, slow lap.

At last, Karen buried her face in Laci's sex. She held her tongue back and let her lips caress and suckle the convoluted ridges and wrinkles of Laci's delicate labia before giving long, sucking, slurping kisses. Laci's tunnel flowed with tangy honey. She bounced and whined, seeking more than kisses.

Karen rose to her hands and knees. Before Laci could protest yet another interruption, she plunged two fingers, pads up, into Laci's overflowing canal. She pushed fingers into the snug but well-lubricated folds of Laci's sex, probing, searching. Laci rolled her hips and groaned.

Karen let her thumb nuzzle and massage Laci's clit, drawing a gasp from the girl. "Your beautiful little kitty is alllllll wet," Karen crooned. "Just listen how my fingers squish and squash in you. Oh yes, your honey pot's overflowing, but I know what you really want. You want magic kisses while I fuck you."

Laci, propped on one elbow, swept her hair back. "Karen, why do...?" Laci started to protest. Before she could finish, Karen pounced. She deftly exposed Laci's clit from above, pressed up against its base from inside, and sent her tongue to dance with it. She strode the tip of her tongue back and forth over Laci's pliant button, circled it, poked and flicked at it until Laci's hips were undulating up and down in a fucking motion and she moaned with each breath.

Karen used her fingers to fuck and rub Laci's muffin while she kissed and tongued the girl's clit, coaxed it out from its protective cowl. She sucked the girl's button into her mouth, held it so her tongue could kiss it, then let it plop free.

With a shuddery groan, Laci buried her fingers in Karen's hair and held her lover's head snug against her pussy. Karen snuffled and slurped, sucked and tugged, while Laci undulated her hips, and every breath was a groan, moan, or whimper.

Growling, Karen pushed her tongue as deep as possible into Laci's tunnel. She let the tip follow the natural path offered by the folds and fissures of Laci's beautiful young pussy. She explored and tickled, thought about playing with Laci's sensitive asshole, but she couldn't do it properly without a pillow under Laci's butt, though she gave Laci's rosebud a few teasing flicks.

Laci held her breath and whined deep in her throat. She lifted her trembling hips with each stroke of Karen's tongue. They both moved restlessly on the bed, while Karen continued to feast on her girl lover. Laci's groans were growing more urgent and mixed in with gasps. Her hands tugged at Karen's hair, and she scraped and shuffled her feet on the bed.

Karen used her hands to massage Laci's muffin, her thumbs coaxing out a stream of translucent nectar. "Oh yes," it called to Karen, and she couldn't resist any longer. She used her tongue to scoop up Laci's offering and slurp it into her mouth.

Karen quickly glided her body up until she hovered inches above Laci. She continued fucking her baby girl's muffin, her hand as wet as if she dunked it in water – squish-slurp, squish-slurp, fingers darting out to massage the slick, hot face of Laci's kitty and her throbbing pearl.

Karen swished the mix of muffin honey and saliva she held in her mouth. Laci, flushed and sweaty, each rapid breath an urgent, panting whimper, lifted her face, seeking Karen's kiss. Karen let a thick strand of the juice drool over her lip and droop down, the droplet stretching by a tendril toward Laci's mouth. As if by instinct, Laci sent her tongue in search of its prize.

The globule touched the tip of Laci's tongue and broke, flowing over it like chocolate sauce over a hot fudge sundae. Whining like a cat in heat, she grabbed Karen's hair and pulled her down so their mouths connected and she sucked in the rest of Karen's offering.

Should I or shouldn't I? She's about to go, if I do she'll be spent, but oh God, getting her off that way, making her cum like that...

Karen hooked her ring and middle fingers deep into Laci's seething sex and jostled them around until she found it, the fluctuant magic bean behind her baby-love's clit. In a single, fluid move, she released Laci's lips and slid back down to face her muffin. She dove in and suckled Laci's button while she stroked and massaged from inside.

Laci almost came unglued. She kicked and writhed and squealed. She held her breath, as the inner tension grew to the breaking point. Release came with a keening howl, "Karrrrrrennnnnnn! OoooohhhhmyGod!" Her rigid body went momentarily limp. A surge of fluid flowed around Karen's probing fingers. Karen quickly slid down to drink the manna from Laci's chalice. Her magic spot grew to the size of a grape under Karen's massaging fingers.

Laci rapidly cycled back up, and Karen urged her on, "Cum, baby! Cum for me. Oh yesssss, cum hard!"

Laci's next release came with a fresh wail and surge of honey. Karen had to give up massaging Laci's spot so she could slurp up as much of Laci's tangy sweet essence as possible. She wrapped her arms around Laci's sleek thighs and devoured her. Laci writhed, her back arched, and she gave a final cry of ecstasy before collapsing back on the bed, spent but for the sharp aftershocks.

Karen knew she was worshipping at an altar. When making love to the love of her life, reverence was demanded and given with enthusiasm.

* * * *

Though still flushed and sweaty from the intensity of their lovemaking, Laci was cooling off rapidly. She lay under a bunch of blankets hastily pulled up, regaining her bearings. She chuckled softly at the realization of how messed up and wet the bed was.

Karen took a final drag from her e-cigarette and put it on the bedside stand – Laci hoped it would be the thing that would help Karen quit smoking; it certainly smelled better – then slid under the covers herself. "Come," she said. "Cuddle up to me."

Laci didn't need a second invitation. She scooted as close to Karen as she could. Karen wriggled her body and gathered Laci into the warm, protective cocoon surrounding her body. "Mmmm, it's so awesome to have you in my arms," Karen crooned.

She never felt quite as warm, safe, and blissfully content as she did at these moments. The residual fragrance of their lovemaking, rich and musky, was simply intoxicating. She had a vague sense that she'd shortchanged Karen during their passionate loving, but Laci also sensed it was pointless to bring up the subject. Instead, an idea was forming in her head about a way to make up for it a little later on. "I love being held by you," Laci said simply.

Karen's tone of voice was matter-of-fact. "I have a feeling we'd better appreciate our chances to make love. What with you becoming more involved with stuff at school and your lessons, you're going to be a busy girl."

Laci wasn't sure what to make of what Karen was saying, and it left her mildly uneasy. "Why won't we be able to love each other because of school?"

Karen stroked Laci's hair. "No, we're not going to have to stop making love, it's just that loving like this is going to have to come after other important things. Our priorities need to be straight, and my number one priority is you. You're an incredibly smart and talented girl, and I couldn't live with myself if I was so selfish I held you back. School and your art need to be the number one thing we concern ourselves with. I have no problem imagining you graduating from high school with high honors. Having a hand in that would make me very happy."

"Yeah, well that seems to be a stretch. I stink at math." In spite of her skepticism, it sent a pleasant thrill through her that Karen thought she was capable of being an honors student. Could it be?

"I think between me and your friend Emily, we can help you get math."

"I dunno about that. Did you know there's actually a math club at school? How can anyone think math is fun enough to have a club for it?"

Karen chuckled and gave Laci an extra squeeze. "Their brains are just wired differently from yours. People who like math are the ones who become engineers and such."

"You remember how I said I got Em to join the art club? What if she wants me to join the math club with her in return?"

"You have to admit, it'd be an interesting way to learn it, all those math whizzes, someone's sure to help you be able to get it."

"Yeah, well give me art any day. Is it really true Mr. B is coming over here Friday night with the person he thinks ought to be my tutor?"

"That's the plan. They'll come over, give you the chance to see if you like what he or she has to offer, what their expectations are, what yours are."

"Do you know if it's a woman or a man teacher? If it's a man, I hope he's gay or something, and not some creepy guy wanting to touch me, and stuff."

"I don't know, he hasn't told me, it's a surprise, but don't worry. Mr. B wouldn't set you up with someone creepy, you're his protιgι. Anyway, they'll go over the list of things you need to get started with us, then we'll go to Baytown bright and early Saturday, and when we get back, we can start getting the studio room set up."

Laci smiled. "I still can't get over it, my own studio. Aren't you nervous?" she asked, rolling onto her back, tacitly inviting Karen's touch.

"Nervous about what?"

"It's just that Mr. B seems like the kinda guy who's all into fancy get togethers and stuff. You know, fancy dinners. I mean, his fiancι is wicked smart, and he probably hangs out with other super smart rich people."

Karen laughed as she caressed Laci. "I don't think Mr. B expects a formal – a fancy – dinner party. I'm thinking I'll get the stuff for everyone to make their own pizzas, I doubt it needs to be any fancier than that."

"I wish he wouldn't be so secret about who it is. If it's a lady, will she be gay?"

"Who knows? Or cares. I highly doubt Mr. Belden is friendly only with other gay people, any more than you or I are."

"Still, it's not every day you have a teacher come to your house. Why shouldn't I be nervous?"

"Relax honey, just mind your Ps and Qs and be yourself."

"Mind my what? Peas and cubes? What the heck do you mean by that?"

Karen chuckled. "Mind your Ps and Qs, the letters. It means mind your manners, more or less. Or just be mindful of what you say."

"Oh. Whatever you say, just another one of the sayings you keep in the same bag as your million different smiles."

Karen gave a hearty laugh. "I come prepared."

Laci giggled right along with Karen. "I never know what kinda weird sayings you'll come out with."

"It comes from being from `the olden days' when we had actual imaginations and we actually talked to each other, not texted. I just don't get the fascination with texting. Why not just call and talk."

Laci shrugged. "I never even had a phone that I could text with until you got me that one I could use with my mother's free account for Christmas year before last."

"I'm only teasing, you know." Karen squeezed Laci's thigh, smiled and winked at her.

"Um," Laci began. She looked as if she were confessing to a serious breach of trust. "I've been texting Amy."

An inner jolt shot through Karen on hearing her daughter's name. She nearly blurted out something accusatory, but she caught herself in time. "Really?" she said, still startled. "My Amy?"

Laci looked Karen at from under her eyebrows in her best contrite kitten look. "Uh huh, only a few since last week, no big deal."

"How did you get in touch?" Karen said, still trying to catch her bearings. "Does she know you're living with me?"

Laci instinctively went into "Duh!" mode. She teased with a smile. "Um, Facebook? You know, the internet? And of course she knows I'm living here with you. Everyone knows, once it's on Facebook you don't control it anymore."

"Oh, yeah, I didn't think about that." Shit, where is this going? Damn, another brick in the hod, just what I need. Relax, don't get so wound up, don't make a big deal out of it. Karen used Facebook solely for business purposes, not social networking. It was easy to forget how much a part of the social fabric of Laci's generation it was. It was a massive grapevine for the digital age.

Karen was recovering. "What'd she have to say?"

"Not a whole lot. She says she's glad I'm safe with you, y'know. She seems OK that I'm here with you, but it's hard to tell for sure. And it seems like she's really happy there, even has a couple of guys she thinks are cute checking her out."

Karen, her stress evident, reached for her e-cigarette automatically. "Does she seem calmed down?" she said at last.

"Yeah, I think so."

"Did she mention me at all?"

"Nuh uh, not so far." Laci fell back into her defensive, contrite kitten expression. "Karen, please don't think I'm bad or awful or anything for thinking it, but I don't want Amy coming back! I should feel bad for thinking that, but I can't help it."

Karen offered a wan smile. My God, what kind of mother am I? Laci looked at Karen with distress. "Trust me, baby," Karen said in a murmuring whisper, "I understand exactly what you mean. Exactly." She sighed, and then, firmer, "We knew ignoring the situation could last only so long. We knew we'd have to deal with it, and now we're getting closer."

"My feelings get all mixed up inside," Laci groaned. "And I'm, like I don't even know what to think."

"It's called ambivalence. Look, let's not get all worked up over it, the fire isn't anywhere near the door. Let's not jump to conclusions. Keep texting and let things happen naturally. Don't worry about whether the things you think are bad – they're not. Period."

"You know the weird thing? I miss Amy at the same time. She was the best friend I ever had – honestly the only real friend I ever had, not the stupid kiddy BFF kind."

"I know all about that." The image of a full moon flashed through her head, further unsettling her for some reason. She forced her attention back to Laci. "It's normal, it's part of the ambivalence."

"You're going to have to talk to her sooner or later." Laci seemed more composed.

"I know. We're both stubborn mules. I learned to stand my ground when I was a teenager working in my Dad's construction company. Amy was born stubborn. I guess eventually one of us has to blink, and since I'm the adult, that would mean – me."

* * * *

Laci gave her still-sensitive muffin a quick swipe before she stood up from the toilet. She felt warm and deeply relaxed, yet her entire being still hummed with residual energy from Karen's loving. She pulled on a clean oversized t-shirt with a unicorn on the front.

She pulled her hair through the collar of her sleeping tee, shook and raked it out, then padded quickly back to the bed. Karen sat propped against the head board, her breasts unfettered. Her nipples were large and erect, sending a tingling burst rushing over Laci. She had long since accepted as fact that their bedtime ritual was as important to Karen as it was to her. Lately, Karen's breasts excited her almost more than anything else did.

Karen broke into a broad smile when she saw Laci, and it sent a fresh thrill through her. "Feeling better now that you've piddled and got PJs on? That's a pretty unicorn, I don't think I've seen you wear it before."

Karen lifted the blankets for her. The wet spot was covered with a towel, the bedding straightened out, and a quick glance confirmed Berryanne was in her accustomed spot, with the Happy Meal wizard in the bear's embrace. Laci climbed over Karen and nestled into her part of the bed. "I just grabbed what was on top," she explained.

Karen slid down and turned to face Laci. She stroked her fingers through Laci's hair. "You strike me as a unicorn kinda girl."

"Yeah, I think they're awesome. I've always wondered what it would be like to ride a horse, but to ride on one that's so beautiful and magic, too...." Her voice tapered off. Karen wouldn't tease her for it, but she'd always been fascinated by unicorns, flying horses, the wizards and worlds of Harry Potter, and that could easily be seen as childish in a girl her age.

"That's a wonderful image, a stunningly beautiful girl riding a beautiful unicorn like the wind."

Laci fondled Karen's breast, cupped and squeezed it, toyed with the erect nipple, making Karen shudder. Her boobs were unquestionably bigger, firmer, the nipples larger. The nightly nursing ritual was doing something to Karen's boobs. Was it too much of a stretch to think they just might....

It was time to clear her head, just as she did every night before her dry bedtime feeding. She let her mind wander into the magical world of unicorns, flying horses, and wizards, the inner world that had sustained her most of her life.

"Do you think they're real? Unicorns and things like that?" Karen was just about the only person she would ever pose that question to, even half in jest. Whenever she'd ask silly questions like that, usually relating back to her new favorite book, "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland", Karen reassured her that part of being an artist was dreaming about such things. "I mean, like once upon a time?" Laci added.

"I don't know," Karen said with a pensive scowl. "I'm sure they exist somewhere." Karen shifted and lifted, and grabbed one of the pillows.

Laci did her part in the well-practiced routine of pillow placement and body positioning to enable them to nurse in comfort, each breast having its turn. Laci used the large, firm pillow to prop her up while Karen lay on her side.

Situated, Karen lifted Laci's chin with her fingers and seemed to study her face. At last, she touched her lips to Laci's for a long, soft kiss. When she finished the kiss and relinquished her lover's mouth, Laci took Karen's nipple in her mouth and nipped it, making Karen twitch and gasp. Karen stroked her silken hair and whispered, "I love you, my precious baby girl."

Laci slid her free hand down Karen's tummy to her mound in answer. Karen had an orgasm stuck inside because she'd given all of her passion to Laci without getting any love attention in return. When Laci nuzzled her fingers over the curve of her lover's mound, Karen instinctively bent her knee and raised her leg, opening herself to Laci's touch.

Laci smiled around Karen nipple, and then gave it a nip. As she did, she slid her finger up and down the sleeve of Karen's sex, a little firmer with each stroke, drawing nectar to make her slick and slippery. "Oh God, baby girl," Karen gasped. "Oh! Oh! My beautiful love, my sexy baby."

Laci found Karen's swollen clit with the flats of her fingers and she starting massaging it. She rolled and rubbed the tender button, up and down, side to side, dropping down to draw up more honey, much as she would if she were masturbating. Karen rocked her leg restlessly, and her breathing grew subtly faster.

It took some doing, but Laci found a rhythm where her fingers and suckling worked together. She paid close attention to Karen's responses to direct her.

Laci stroked Karen's nipple with her tongue, using it to hold the long, pliant nub against the roof of her mouth while rasping back and forth as she suckled. She gave little nips, which made Karen gasp, then held the nipple in her teeth so she could explore the little cup at the tip of the nipple, the place the milk would flow from if it ever did start.

Her fingers sloshed around Karen pussy, brief dips inside to release more nectar, then up to roll and massage Karen's clit with a firm touch. Karen's breathing became faster, and she murmured, "Oh baby, oh baby, oh my sweet baby, my love."

Laci increased the tempo of her fingers' dance on Karen sex. She squeezed and tugged on Karen's clit, then rubbed it firmly with the ball of her thumb while her fingers dipped inside. Karen let out a yipping gasp and jumped.

Karen rocked her open leg and her hips restlessly, and a small gasp punctuated each breath. As Laci's massaging grew ever faster and firmer, each of Karen's panting breaths was an urgent moan. Laci's ministrations were in perfect sync now with Karen. She could almost feel in her own body what Karen was feeling as she drew her lover ever higher.

Karen stiffened and held her breath. She made a muffled whining sound as she strained, until at last her body trembled and gave in. She let out a long, quavering cry of, "Ooooooohhhhhh fuck! Ooohhh yes!"

Laci could feel Karen's body twitch and shudder with each orgasmic burst. Karen's movements led her to roll onto her back, pulling her breast free of Laci's mouth. It glistened with saliva, the aureole swollen, nipple fully engorged. Laci coaxed out a final surge, and Karen's body went lax.

Karen, flushed and sweaty, groaned of utter contentment as she regained her composure. She wore a blissful smile. "My sweet, darling baby girl, oh my! You are amazing!"

Laci lifted herself onto her elbow, and with her other hand freed, swept back her thick mass hair, and then sucked her still wet fingers into her mouth. She needed to taste her mother-lover's essence. When she looked at Karen, eyes closed a serene smile on her face, a sudden, almost overwhelming surge of emotion that could only be love washed over Laci. She impulsively pounced on Karen's mouth with her own in a deep, probing kiss. Karen, mildly startled, chortled in her throat and accepted Laci's kiss.

When Laci pulled back, her hair spilling around their faces, she said, "You didn't think you could get away with me not making you cum, did you?"

Karen's chortle became a chuckle. "I had a feeling you had something up your sleeve, I wasn't worried, you're too amazing."

"I love making you cum just as much as you love making me cum."

"I can't argue with that," Karen said, and she rolled onto her side again so they faced each other and snuggled together.

"No, you can't argue with that, because it's true."

Karen nuzzled her nose and lips against Laci face. "I love you," she whispered. "Let's cuddle for a few minutes. I want to feel you close to me."

Laci sighed contentedly and let Karen pull her closer. Karen raked her fingers through Laci's hair, taming and untangling it. As Karen stroked her hair, Laci began to relax and let the grogginess waiting just below the surface settle on her.

Karen started humming a soothing tune that was vaguely familiar. Almost as an afterthought, it seemed, Karen starting singing the song while she caressed her lover's hair. "There were green alligators and long-necked geese, some humpty-backed camels and some chimpanzees, there were cats and rats and elephants, and just sure as you're born, the loveliest of them all was the unicorn." Karen laughed quietly. "Your PJ top reminded me of that song."

Laci tried to suppress a yawn. Groggy was becoming sleepy, and she hadn't finished nursing. "I have a tired baby girl," Karen said. "Ready for sleepy time?"

Not only would Karen not tease her for wanting to be childish at times, Laci was beginning to realize her mother-lover took great pleasure from it when she did. Laci simply nodded.

Karen twisted and shifted until she offered up her as yet untouched breast. Laci only needed to lean in just a bit, and she drew Karen in and began suckling. Her lids grew heavier when Karen sang the song again. She barely heard Karen say, "Nighty-night, my precious baby girl."

Satisfied, Laci slept.