Welcome Home
by Winter

Chapter 6:

After breakfast, there was a bit of tension in the air as they cleared away the dishes. Tanya still hadn't been able to get rid of the last shred of guilt over the way she had touched her brother that morning, and over the way their relationship seemed to be evolving beyond that of brother and sister. Terry seemed to have something on his mind as well, but she had no idea what that could be, and he didn't seem willing to share. Every now and then he would sniff the air, and it took her a little while to figure out why. He must have smelled her in the shower!

She blushed slightly, remembering the way she had masturbated earlier and realising that the smell must have lingered. And now he was trying to see if she still smelled like that. For a minute or two, she pondered telling him all about how a female's scent changed with her arousal, but she decided against it. Answers would only lead to more questions, like why had she been aroused, and why had she felt a need to masturbate. She did not feel ready to answer those questions, not yet.

Instead she patted his back when they were done, again telling him what a good boy he was for helping her, and again thoroughly enjoying the way he shone with pride. With her arm around his waist, she led him out into the entrance hall and told him to put on his shoes.

"Where are we going?"

"I thought I'd show you around the garden."

"Cool!"

* * * * * *

They spent almost an hour strolling slowly among the orchards and flowerbeds and herbal gardens of the front yard. Tanya explained that their father had been very fond of his plants, and that she had inherited some of that fondness. She paused to pick some raspberries for him, and he was munching happily on them when they reached the edge of the forest.

The estate, she explained, included a good twenty square kilometres of forest, with a tiny creek running through it. It was fenced in, but wild animals still somehow always managed to come and go as they pleased. If he were lucky, she told him, he would get to see both deer and raccoons and rabbits and maybe even wild foxes. This made Terry bounce with excitement, to Tanya's delight; as she had thought, he hadn't seen much wildlife being a city boy.

She led him down a well-used path in among the trees, and after a short walk they reached the creek. Now in the summer it was little more than a trickle of water, but when the rains came it would grow to a miniature river, with tiny rapids and whirlpools. Terry quickly found a spot where the undergrowth left the banks alone. Within seconds, his shoes were off and he went splashing over to the other side. Tanya backed up a couple of steps, and with a running start she easily leaped the little creek without even touching the water. Terry's eyes went wide, and she found that she thoroughly enjoyed the stream of praising chatter that followed.

The boy was still talking about what a great jump she had made when they were back on the other side again, following the path. It split up a few minutes' walk later, one part going over a narrow wooden bridge across the creek and leading towards the edge of their property. The path Tanya chose to follow led back towards the house. They came out of the forest facing the short end of the house, and Tanya grabbed her brother's shoulder, pointing towards the upper row of windows.

"There's your room, Terry, third window from the left."

"Which one's yours?" he asked. "I haven't really been looking out the windows yet. Guess I've been too busy trying to convince myself that I'm really not dreaming."

"If you are, then it's a good dream, because I get to be in it, too." She put her arm over his shoulders, laughing heartily at the way his eyes seemed to glaze over. "But no, it's not a dream. I've already pinched myself a couple of times."

"Me, too."

"My window is on the other side of the house. So you didn't look out the living room windows either?"

"No." He blushed suddenly. "I've... I've only been in there once."

"I know." She smiled as his blush deepened. "I could smell you when I woke up."

"You were sleeping so nicely, I didn't have the heart to wake you up."

"So you went up to the attic instead?"

"Yeah. After I got myself a drink of lemonade. That's okay, isn't it?"

"Of course it is. You can do as you please, as long as you don't snack too much between meals."

"I won't." He beamed with happiness. "I promise I won't. So, what's outside the living room windows?"

"The patio and the grill." Tanya ticked off her fingers. "The tennis court. The pool."

"You're pulling my leg again!"

"Yeah, I am." She grinned as his smile immediately faded into poorly masked disappointment. "I left out the hot tub and the swings."

"Tanya, please!"

"What's the matter, baby? Don't you have a sense of humour?"

"Of course I do!" He grinned wryly. "But for a while I actually thought..."

Just then, they walked around the corner to the southern side of the house, and Terry's jaw dropped as he spotted the swings. Then the tennis court. And the pool. Everything she had said would be there, was there.

Judging by the boy's stunned silence, whatever he had thought or hoped or wished for was surpassed by reality. Tanya smiled to herself. The people who built the house had really known what they wanted. The only addition her father had made was the swings. She led Terry over to them and sat him down on a car tyre swing. He automatically grabbed the chains that held it up, but his mind didn't fully return to Earth until she started pushing him.

Soon, though, he was shrieking with laughter as he went higher and higher, until at his highest points the chains were almost parallel to the ground. When she got tired from pushing, Tanya walked around the swings until she stood in front of him, then opened her arms. Catching on, Terry waited until the swing was at its highest, then leaped off it, right into her arms. She caught him easily and put him down beside her. He was all grins as they walked over to the patio and sat down on a couple of plastic sunbathing chairs.

"Did you like it?"

"I loved it!" he cried, his voice still a bit shrill after all the laughing and giggling. "Wow, Tanya, this place is so great!"

"So, do you wanna go swimming a bit before lunch?"

"Yeah!" Terry hopped up and ran towards the patio door. "I'll be right back!"

"Wait! Where are you going?"

"Huh?" He stopped with his hand on the door handle. "I've got to get my swimming trunks."

"Do you? There's nobody around for miles on this side of the house."

Standing up, Tanya pulled off her shirt. She couldn't help smiling as Terry swallowed hard, then blushed. After the shirt went her shoes, pants and finally panties. Terry's eyes were wide as saucers as he watched her fold her clothes, but his wide grin told her that he wouldn't mind a skinny dip. Just as she had hoped, he hurriedly slipped out of his own clothes, spreading them all around as he tried to race her to the pool. She beat him to it and dived in. She swam deep enough to touch the bottom, and as she surfaced he was already up for breath, shaking water out of his face fur.

The pool was half olympic size, twenty-five metres long and ten wide, and the two of them swam a few laps. Terry was a good swimmer, but nowhere near as fast as Tanya. She had been on the high school team, and even though the college had no swimming team she had still managed to keep in shape. So she swam at a leisurely pace, to let them stay side-by-side. After a while of quiet swimming, Tanya flipped over to swim on her back. She took Terry's hands, and the two of them moved along for a while using only leg strokes.

When they reached the shallow end, there was a sudden glint of mischief in the boy's eyes, but even though she had seen it, Tanya had no time to react when he suddenly yanked her hands and pulled her under. She was coughing and sputtering as she resurfaced, but she could still hear crystal clear laughter coming from her left, a giggle that turned into a frightened squeal as she gave chase.

* * * * * *

By the time they finally stopped playing in the pool, Terry was completely exhausted. It was all he could do to pull himself out of the water and collapse in one of the sunbathing chairs, closing his eyes but not yet falling asleep. His legs felt heavy and his arms were aching, and his cheeks hurt from all the laughing. As he lay there, enjoying the warm sunlight, he could feel that Tanya was watching him. His shyness was all but gone, though, so he didn't mind. If she wanted to watch him, she could. After all, he had done his fair share of watching already. The naughtiness of that thought made the tip of his tail wag, and a grin spread across his muzzle. A rustling noise told him that Tanya had just shaken water out of her fur, and he could hear her opening the patio door and vanishing inside. After that, his mind drifted away.

When he began to wake up, his fur was all dry and he was getting hot from sleeping in the sun. The smell of meat on the grill grabbed his nose and made him sit up before he was even fully aware that he was awake. He came to quickly, however, his mouth watering as he wandered over to the grill. Tanya was fixing them burgers and sausages, dressed in nothing but a yellow apron saying 'kiss the cook'. Grinning to himself, Terry happily obliged, hugging his sister from behind while standing on his toes so he could reach to kiss her cheek.

Laughing, she returned the gesture, but on the lips this time. There was no time to turn it into a deeper kiss, though, no matter how much Terry wanted to, because now it was his nose that took charge of him. Seeing that the burgers were just about done, he managed to tear himself away from Tanya just long enough to help himself to a bun and a fair share of trimmings. Tanya did the same, then took off the apron and sat down, patting her lap. Terry needed no persuasion; he hurried to take his place. They ate in silence, then got up for sausages. After that, Tanya had had her fill, but Terry managed one more hamburger.

By the time he licked his fingers clean of ketchup, though, his stomach was so full he could barely move. He didn't protest when Tanya told him to stay put while she cleared away the leftovers. Instead, he returned to his sunbathing chair, where he sat and looked around at this marvellous back yard. He wanted to go swimming again, but he knew that swimming right after eating wasn't a good idea, so he started thinking about what other things he might want to do.

The tennis court looked like fun, but he didn't really want to let Tanya see that he had never even held a racquet before. What if he turned out to be no good at all? The swings were fun, too, but his full stomach wouldn't let him do that for a while. Maybe they could go back to the playroom. Maybe go back there and...

The memory of last night's kissing made Terry shiver with pleasure, and a sigh escaped his lips as he recalled the feeling of Tanya's tongue playing with his own. He could feel his sheath begin to swell, and a jolt of panic shot through him. Tanya would soon be back! With an effort of will, he managed to calm down. He felt a bit crossed with himself, partly for the way his body reacted but mostly because he let it bother him so. Tanya had seen him hard once again this morning. What was there to be embarrassed about? Plenty, he decided. What if she asked what he had been thinking about as he got stiff? What if she thought he was nasty? He couldn't quite stop thinking that, himself. After all, she was his sister! Kissing was one thing, but this? These thoughts he had, thoughts about...

He tried to form the word 'sex' inside his mind, but it refused to do so. That was too big a thought to handle. His panic did one good thing, though; it made him soft again, and he was back to his own self when Tanya came back out onto the patio, carrying two bottles of cola. The stirrings inside Terry's sheath returned immediately when he saw that she still hadn't put anything on, and when she pushed him aside and squeezed into the chair next to him, all his doubts seemed to vanish.

Somehow, it was only when she wasn't around that thinking about Tanya as sexy turned naughty to his mind. Her naked body was only part of it, he thought, suppressing a giggle. She would be sexy even dressed up from head to toe, just because she was Tanya. But at the moment, all such thoughts faded away. It was strange, Terry thought. If it was sex that he really, really wanted, then how come those feelings took a walk in the park as she lay there hip to hip with him, both of them all naked? Now that they were pressed tightly together, sipping their soft drinks and talking about everything and nothing, she was his sister again.

True, she was still just as cute and just as beautiful, but both his body and his imagination behaved. Even when she put her arm around him and hugged him tightly, kissing his cheek, it was just a loving touch. Nothing naughty at all. Purring happily, he snuggled up to her, closing his eyes and just enjoying the closeness.

"This is almost exactly as I remember it," Tanya said, her voice so low Terry could just barely hear her. "Almost."

"What is?"

"When I'd come home from school, dad would always have a snack ready for me. But first I'd get a welcome home hug from my little brother." She tightened her grip around Terry's shoulder, making him grunt as the air was squeezed out of his lungs. "We'd sit down to eat with you in my lap, and then we'd take a nap on the couch or out here. Every day. It was like our little ritual. And if I were late, you'd give me such a scolding."

"Sounds like I was a little pest."

"No, don't worry. I liked it. I used to joke with my classmates and tell them I was going home to my boyfriend." Terry giggled. "They must have thought I was crazy."

"I think I remember that. I used to watch dad as he fixed us something to eat, and sometimes I even helped. Then I sat in the window in dad's office and looked for the school bus."

"Did you?"

"Yeah. Then I'd have to run downstairs to catch you at the door."

"With a hug and a grin and a tail that wagged so much dad used to say it'd fall off any day."

"Really?"

"Yup. And sometimes I used to kiss you, and you'd act all disgusted but you'd still be back for seconds."

"I like it when you kiss me now, too." Their eyes met, and both of them broke into silly grins. "I really, really like it."

"That's good. Maybe we'll pick up that old tradition once school starts. Only this time I'll be the one waiting for the school bus, since I only have classes in the morning."

"You do? That's no fair! I go to school all day!"

"Maybe, but I'll get tons of homework."

"What are you majoring in, Tanya?"

"Literature. So I'll get to do a lot of reading in my spare time."

"Oh." Terry thought for a moment, then cracked up with a grin. "Will you read for me, then?"

"I don't know, maybe you'll find my books boring."

"I won't, I promise!"

"All right." She laughed. "We'll see, okay? But school's still weeks away."

"Then maybe you could read me something else? Something that's not boring."

"Sure. Let's go to the library and find something." She got out of the chair and pulled Terry to his feet. "Unless you feel like a nap, first."

"Are you tired?"

"No."

"Then I'm not, either." They started pulling their clothes on, but then Terry thought of something. "Tanya?"

"Yes?"

"You said it was almost like before, you know, when I used to sit in your lap and have a snack."

"Yes?"

"Well, why was it almost like before? Why not just like before?"

"Oh, that's an easy answer, baby brother." She grinned. "We didn't sit down to eat stark naked back then."

"Oh."

To be continued