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It's about to be revealed.", "count": "12", "submission_left_submission_id": "2599022", "submission_left_file_name": "3836358_daveb63_stepping_out_3.doc", "submission_right_submission_id": "2600411", "submission_right_file_name": "3838476_daveb63_stepping_out_5.doc" } ], "description": "Terry and Danette dance a Paso Doble for Madame Ostrakova", "description_bbcode_parsed": "Terry and Danette dance a Paso Doble for Madame Ostrakova", "writing": "The bright and unforgiving main lights in the studio were dimmed. The curtain was drawn across the mirrored wall. The “show lights” illuminated the floor but shadows gathered around the walls and corners. In those shadows, Terry and Danette knew, Natalia and Irina were sitting, their presence revealed by their half-defined and dimly visible silhouettes by the desk and the controls for the sound system. As they walked to their places they felt a tension gather, the air seeming to somehow get thicker as they stopped, waiting in stillness for the moment to break.\n\nTerry could just see Danette out of the corner of his eye, her deep crimson dress leaving everything and nothing to his imagination. He kept his eyes to the front, resisting the urge to look sideways and confirm she was precisely where he knew she would be. [i]Don’t look. Trust her. She’ll be exactly where you expect her on your first turn. Don’t look because if you do you’ll lose it and just stare at her like an idiot.[/i] Less than three minutes earlier, Terry had told her he loved her. I’ve never said that to a girl before. And she said she loved me. [i]Focus, Terry, focus. If you lose it and screw this up she’ll go from loving you to despising you in a heartbeat. You can do this, you’ve been dancing and winning for years.[/i] Every dancer carries a critic in their head. Terry’s inner critic was smirking. [i]So now you dance with a woman you love, a woman you genuinely desire for the first time.[/i] For the first time in your life. [i]Pressure’s on, hotshot[/i]. Terry resisted the urge to shake his head to clear it.\n\nDanette stopped exactly the right distance from Terry. He was to her right and very slightly ahead of her, right where their first steps would bring them together in the center of the floor. [i]Stop looking at his ass. The music is going to start any second. He’s going to touch me, he’s going to hold me, and I need to dance with him, not tear off his clothes and climb him like a tree.[/i]\n\nOne guitar chord rolled across the room and Danette was the first to move. The first few beats were hers alone. She forgot the steps but didn’t forget them – they were just there, there was only the music and Terry, and as her hand reached his shoulder he turned into her touch. Danette nearly gasped as their eyes met, nearly lost it, almost forgot her place in the dance, but the music caught her up again and they moved in perfect sync.\n\nEvery touch felt like it was on fire. Terry wanted, desperately wanted, to make each one a caress, but he kept to the shapes of the dance, lifting his hand from Danette when required, no matter how reluctant he felt to let her go. [i]Can you see it in my eyes, Danette? Can you feel me telling you how much I love you, how much I want you?[/i]\n\n-----=====-----\n\nThis wasn’t like any of their rehearsals. As they stood, poised for the beginning of their dance Irina almost forgot to hit “record” on her phone. [i]Oh my God… What did they say to each other before they stepped out here? This was supposed to be a hot and steamy routine but I never expected this. They could dance each other right out of those clothes and they’d not even make it to the nearest bed. I’ve seen dance couples that I knew were lovers before, seen the sparks they strike off each other, the chemistry between them, but this… this is intense. He’s never partnered me like that, not even that Tango when I’d gone into heat the week of the contest and I staggered off the floor with my knees like jelly, my nipples like rocks and desperate for him to just pin me to the wall and fuck me ‘til I howled. I’m sort of glad he didn’t. If he had I’d have been SO fucking preggo, species difference be damned, my dance career would have been over and this would never have happened. Sweet merciful Lord, those two are on FIRE.[/i]\n\nThe final bar of the music rolled from the speakers and Danette let herself fall backwards, holding her body straight. [i]I can’t hit the floor. He’s got me. I’m safe, right here in his arms[/i]. Poised in an instant of silence, their arms wrapped around each other, Danette inches from the floor, her head tilted back and her hair spread out on the floor like a halo, their eyes locked on each other. It was maybe a second, no longer, but that silent moment felt like an eternity before Terry whispered “Yes!” and rose straight up, keeping hold of Danette and setting her back on her feet. By an unspoken mutual agreement they turned and hugged each other close, only the dimly remembered fact that this was actually a dance test stopping them from leaning in and sharing their first kiss.\n\n“I love you, Tom. I love you so much…” The faintest of whispers. Danette had to strain to hear the equally faint reply.\n\n“I love you, Danette.”\n\nThen the studio lights came up.\n\n“I am pleasantly surprised.”\n\nNatalia stood by the lighting panel, her hand still resting on the main dimmer.\n\n“I have some notes for you. Very minor ones. Danette, I caught your tiny falter as you first came together. That moment, when the lightning first flashes between your eyes, is the foundation of the entire dance. You must [i]generate [/i]that moment in every performance but you cannot let it overwhelm you. I could not tell which parts of the choreography were yours, Terrence, and which were Irina’s. This is good. Both of you had good lines, your shapes were well extended. That passion, that involvement in each other, is how a dance should be. A professional dancer can create that with any partner, even though their absolute best often only comes with one, or maybe two, in their careers. You are not there yet, you each have a long way to go, but if you wish it, I will make you champions. You, Irina, your choreography for this dance was at a level a professional could envy. I think you will agree with me that its only weak point was as they returned to hold for the second time, but at the moment I cannot think how you might have modified that sequence to make it smoother. I would have to watch it back several times.” Natalia paused, then sighed. “This is not a decision you must make now. You must take the time to think on it properly, but I will tell you this. If that was an indicator of your true potential as a partnership and if you work and apply yourselves, harness your talents and develop in both skill and maturity, there will come a time, sooner than you might think, when you will surpass Misha and I at our best. Now go, change. This is not a night for further training. You are all done for the evening.”\n\nWalking towards the changing rooms Terry and Danette had not let go of each other’s hands. As they approached the two doors that would force them to finally release their grip, Terry spoke.\n\n“Danette? It’s after the dance…”\n\nTheir first kiss lasted a very long time and Danette didn’t want the moment to ever end.\n\n-----=====-----\n\n“So, sweetheart? How did it go?”\n\nDanette’s smile could have lit up half the town. \n\n“Like a dream, Mom. Like a wonderful fantastic dream that I haven’t woken up from yet.”\n\n“Did you get pictures?”\n\n“Irina recorded the whole dance. She’s sending it to me tonight and I’ll forward it to you too… Mom? I need to make a doctor’s appointment.”\n\n“You didn’t hurt yourself in the dance, did you?”\n\n“No. I… think I need to get on birth control.”\n\n“Danette, did he… I mean, have you…”\n\n\"[i]No[/i], Mom. But I do love him. He loves me and I trust him. I put my safety in his hands every time we dance. Off the dance floor we’ve done nothing more than kiss. I [i]do [/i]trust him completely, Mom. I just don’t want any surprises if it turns out that I can’t trust [i]me[/i]. He’s in my head every second of the day, I live for the moments when we train together and I’m in his arms. I want him so bad it aches, Mom. It’s a wonderful delicious ache but it’s always there. I can’t even get him out of my head when I’m asleep. So let’s be safe rather than sorry, just in case.”\n\nCarla nodded, slowly.\n\n“I’ll take care of it. It’s good you’re being responsible, Danette, but…”\n\n“I know, Mom.” She started walking towards the kitchen door. “I promised Tom I’d phone him after I got home.”\n\n“Go. I’ll call you in plenty of time for dinner. You really do have it bad, don’t you?”\n\n“Actually, I think I’ve got it [i]good[/i].”\n\n-----=====-----\n\nAfter dinner, just finishing cleaning up, Carla felt her phone buzz in her pocket. Danette had headed back upstairs to study and get an early night, but she’d obviously checked her email before doing anything else. There was a forwarded message with a video attachment in Carla’s inbox.\n\nWalking into the sitting room where Charles was watching the late show, she tapped him on the shoulder.\n\n“Irina recorded Danette’s dance today. I’ve not watched it yet. Want to join me?”\n\n“You mean I finally get to see that dress you were so all-fired smug about?”\n\n“Yep.”\n\n“It’s funny. Don’t ‘normal parents’ follow their kid’s sports, their practices and stuff? Apart from that little demo she did with me in here, this is the first time we’ll have seen her dance. Dance seriously, that is.”\n\n“I know. I’m a bit nervous. Excited too, but nervous.”\n\n“You at least got to see the dress.”\n\n“I still don’t have a clue what to expect. I’m sure it’s going to be quite striking, though.”\n\n“Come here, love…”\n\nCarla snuggled up against her husband.\n\n“Still feels as good as it always did, Charlie.”\n\n“Love you too. Now, let’s watch the show.”\n\nCarla hit “play”.\n\n-----=====-----\n\nUpstairs, wearing only a nightgown, Danette was watching it too. She was curled up with her own phone on top of the covers, all thoughts of studying gone. She reset it to the start, telling herself to watch it critically, as a dancer, looking for every little flaw in the performance so she could make it better. Like the first time watching it, though, she stopped even trying to critique the dance after that first turn, when the camera had caught the first time they looked in each other’s eyes.[i] I want him here. In my bed. No, in our bed. I want to be in his arms and feel him with every inch of my skin against his. I want him to be the last thing I see before I sleep and the first thing I see when I wake[/i]. She pressed her thighs together, wondering why she was resisting the urge to lift her nightgown and touch herself. It wasn’t like she hadn’t jilled off thinking about him before. She had. More than once. [i]Now, all I want is him, I want to feel his body on me, in me. Oh Tom, please, please help me hold off until it’s safe for us to make love. Then, when it’s safe and the moment is right don’t make me wait any longer. I need to be yours. All yours.\n[/i]\n-----=====-----\n\n“Wow…”\n\n“I will be dipped in shit… That woman can’t be our little Netty.”\n\n“You made us a beautiful, beautiful baby, Charles.”\n\n“Way I remember it, you did all the hard work.”\n\n“Only at the start. She wouldn’t have grown into the amazing woman she is without you as her dad.”\n\n“Woman. Yeah. Guess I need to stop thinking of her as a little girl now.”\n\n“You can’t. Nor can I. We just need to remember she [i]is [/i]a grown woman now, and she loves like a grown woman. She loves that man, Charles. She asked me to make an appointment with Dr. Austin this evening. I’m taking her in on Tuesday.”\n\n“Now, hang on Clara…”\n\n“You can’t hold back the tide or the wind Charles. Might as well spit into a storm and try not to get your face wet. I remember falling in love with you at the county fair prizewinner’s party like it was yesterday. Whether I take her in to the clinic or not, those two are going to sleep together. Not taking her in might delay it but it won’t stop it. It never stopped [i]us[/i], did it?”\n\n“No, that it didn’t.”\n\n“So stop worrying. She’s being sensible. Now how about you take your wife to bed and remind her of another reason why she loves you so much.”\n\n-----=====-----\n\n“Miss Clarke, there are a couple of things we need to talk about before I issue this prescription.”\n\n“I think I can guess a couple of them.”\n\n“The first is one all too many young ladies ignore. Read the data sheet. You need to be aware what things can potentially interfere with the protection this provides. Most are common sense, some are less obvious. Call me immediately if you begin to experience any of the side effects listed in section three. Most can be addressed by prescribing a slightly different formulation. As an equine woman, you should be aware that the mechanism of action of this contraceptive is not the same as for other species. For most species, a hormonal contraceptive simulates part of the hormonal condition of pregnancy, thus inhibiting ovulation. This causes unacceptable side effects in equines and so instead we simulate the hormonal condition as you transition into your seasonal anestrus over the winter. It will not inhibit your regular cycles but you will not ovulate. This means you can begin taking it at any time and you will theoretically be protected from pregnancy 21 days after the first dose. For complete safety I would advise leaving it a full month before you tip the man you’re ‘contemplating’ into bed without other precautions in place. What it does mean, however, is that if you suddenly stop taking it you will promptly enter a fertile cycle even if it’s ‘the wrong time of year’ for it. Do be aware of that.”\n\n“Ok, got that one.”\n\n“Now, the second thing. I presume you are here seeking this prescription because you are, or are contemplating becoming, sexually active.”\n\n“Very much at the contemplation stage, but yes.”\n\n“Indeed. My examination of you earlier showed me that you are perfectly normal and healthy in every relevant regard. There is another booklet I wish to give you. Much of the information in it you will find has been covered – poorly, in my opinion – by sex ed. classes at school. This is a little more detailed in a lot of areas. It is up to the state to rectify that curriculum but as a collaborative effort amongst other women in my field this was written by female doctors for women. It is our effort to repair some of those serious omissions and it gives you valuable information on preserving your sexual and reproductive health. As you are over the age of consent I am permitted to offer it to you without requiring a parental signature. It is not obligatory but I do urge you to take it.”\n\n“Thank you, Doctor. I will.”\n\nThe middle-aged woman on the far side of the desk made a note, removed her glasses and then looked directly at Danette.\n\n“Finally, I understand you are aware of your family’s genetic history.”\n\n“To some extent.”\n\n“Have the implications for you personally been made clear at any point?”\n\n“Not in so many words.”\n\n“Then, forgive me but I will be blunt. I know that you’re here talking about ways to [i]not [/i]become pregnant but you need to know that if you conceive naturally, without intervention, one in four of your children, half of the boys, will die either before birth or in the moments shortly after. Another one in four, half of any girls you may bear, will be silent carriers of the condition as you are. We can detect either status by chorionic biopsy or amniocentesis in the first trimester, but of course at that point you would already be pregnant and would potentially face the hard choice of whether or not to continue the pregnancy. When the time comes that you do wish to start your own family, I strongly recommend that you do so via IVF. We can screen harvested ova and make sure that only ones that do not carry the malformed gene are fertilized. I want you to be aware that with medical help, you can be certain you will not pass it on to a future generation. With that knowledge I would hope that you do not fear it and can, in the fullness of time, bear children of your own without that dread hanging over you.”\n\nDanette smiled.\n\n“As you said, I’m here about not getting myself knocked up unless I genuinely want to be, but it is good to know that when the time comes the only worries I need have are those normal to any new parent-to-be. Thank you.”\n\n“All that having been said, then…” The doctor signed two forms. “Fill this at any pharmacy and follow the instructions on the packaging and in the data sheet. If you give this to my receptionist she’ll get you a copy of the booklet we discussed. You seem to be a very smart and level-headed young lady, Miss Clarke. I wish all my patients of your age were similar. I will be here should you need me at any time.”\n\n-----=====-----\n\n“Grace, I think I know which of our boys can dance.”\n\n“Are you still picking at that, Alice? It’s been weeks.”\n\n“Least favorite words in any librarian’s vocabulary – ‘I don’t know.’ But this one, I think I might have finally figured out.”\n\nThe stocky Clydesdale stared at the slightly overweight Corgi for about five seconds, then sighed.\n\n“You won’t give me any peace until you tell me, will you?”\n\n“Nope.”\n\n“Ok. I’m listening.”\n\n“I think it’s the new senior, Tom or Terry. Goes by “Tom” a lot because those are his initials. I saw them in the hallway outside the lunchroom today. You know how sometimes when you see ‘em together a couple is very ‘together’? Just so aware of each other that they move almost as one without even thinking? These two make that look awkward.”\n\n“Have you considered the possibility that they might just be screwing each other? I know she’s started birth control, it made her put on a bit of boobage and she consulted me about it in case she needed to change her gym program.”\n\n“I dunno, Grace. If anything I’d bet they actually haven’t slept together yet.”\n\n“Alice, just about every girl I coach has him way up there on her own personal ‘hot as hell’ list. I do hear the gossip in the showers, even though they always think I don’t. [i]They [/i]all think she’s screwing him. Plus, Danette Clarke has suddenly and miraculously transformed into one of the loveliest young ladies in the school so if he isn’t boning her, or trying very hard to, he’s something unique in the history of high-school jocks.”\n\n“Ten-spot says he’s the dancer, Grace.”\n\n“You’re on. But how to settle it? Homecoming’s well past and Prom isn’t until spring.”\n\n“We’ve got the Sadie coming up haven’t we?”\n\n“She probably won’t even show. She hasn’t any other year.”\n\n“Let’s find out. If she doesn’t, bet’s off until Prom.”\n", "writing_bbcode_parsed": "The bright and unforgiving main lights in the studio were dimmed. The curtain was drawn across the mirrored wall. The “show lights” illuminated the floor but shadows gathered around the walls and corners. In those shadows, Terry and Danette knew, Natalia and Irina were sitting, their presence revealed by their half-defined and dimly visible silhouettes by the desk and the controls for the sound system. As they walked to their places they felt a tension gather, the air seeming to somehow get thicker as they stopped, waiting in stillness for the moment to break.

Terry could just see Danette out of the corner of his eye, her deep crimson dress leaving everything and nothing to his imagination. He kept his eyes to the front, resisting the urge to look sideways and confirm she was precisely where he knew she would be. Don’t look. Trust her. She’ll be exactly where you expect her on your first turn. Don’t look because if you do you’ll lose it and just stare at her like an idiot. Less than three minutes earlier, Terry had told her he loved her. I’ve never said that to a girl before. And she said she loved me. Focus, Terry, focus. If you lose it and screw this up she’ll go from loving you to despising you in a heartbeat. You can do this, you’ve been dancing and winning for years. Every dancer carries a critic in their head. Terry’s inner critic was smirking. So now you dance with a woman you love, a woman you genuinely desire for the first time. For the first time in your life. Pressure’s on, hotshot. Terry resisted the urge to shake his head to clear it.

Danette stopped exactly the right distance from Terry. He was to her right and very slightly ahead of her, right where their first steps would bring them together in the center of the floor. Stop looking at his ass. The music is going to start any second. He’s going to touch me, he’s going to hold me, and I need to dance with him, not tear off his clothes and climb him like a tree.

One guitar chord rolled across the room and Danette was the first to move. The first few beats were hers alone. She forgot the steps but didn’t forget them – they were just there, there was only the music and Terry, and as her hand reached his shoulder he turned into her touch. Danette nearly gasped as their eyes met, nearly lost it, almost forgot her place in the dance, but the music caught her up again and they moved in perfect sync.

Every touch felt like it was on fire. Terry wanted, desperately wanted, to make each one a caress, but he kept to the shapes of the dance, lifting his hand from Danette when required, no matter how reluctant he felt to let her go. Can you see it in my eyes, Danette? Can you feel me telling you how much I love you, how much I want you?

-----=====-----

This wasn’t like any of their rehearsals. As they stood, poised for the beginning of their dance Irina almost forgot to hit “record” on her phone. Oh my God… What did they say to each other before they stepped out here? This was supposed to be a hot and steamy routine but I never expected this. They could dance each other right out of those clothes and they’d not even make it to the nearest bed. I’ve seen dance couples that I knew were lovers before, seen the sparks they strike off each other, the chemistry between them, but this… this is intense. He’s never partnered me like that, not even that Tango when I’d gone into heat the week of the contest and I staggered off the floor with my knees like jelly, my nipples like rocks and desperate for him to just pin me to the wall and fuck me ‘til I howled. I’m sort of glad he didn’t. If he had I’d have been SO fucking preggo, species difference be damned, my dance career would have been over and this would never have happened. Sweet merciful Lord, those two are on FIRE.

The final bar of the music rolled from the speakers and Danette let herself fall backwards, holding her body straight. I can’t hit the floor. He’s got me. I’m safe, right here in his arms. Poised in an instant of silence, their arms wrapped around each other, Danette inches from the floor, her head tilted back and her hair spread out on the floor like a halo, their eyes locked on each other. It was maybe a second, no longer, but that silent moment felt like an eternity before Terry whispered “Yes!” and rose straight up, keeping hold of Danette and setting her back on her feet. By an unspoken mutual agreement they turned and hugged each other close, only the dimly remembered fact that this was actually a dance test stopping them from leaning in and sharing their first kiss.

“I love you, Tom. I love you so much…” The faintest of whispers. Danette had to strain to hear the equally faint reply.

“I love you, Danette.”

Then the studio lights came up.

“I am pleasantly surprised.”

Natalia stood by the lighting panel, her hand still resting on the main dimmer.

“I have some notes for you. Very minor ones. Danette, I caught your tiny falter as you first came together. That moment, when the lightning first flashes between your eyes, is the foundation of the entire dance. You must generate that moment in every performance but you cannot let it overwhelm you. I could not tell which parts of the choreography were yours, Terrence, and which were Irina’s. This is good. Both of you had good lines, your shapes were well extended. That passion, that involvement in each other, is how a dance should be. A professional dancer can create that with any partner, even though their absolute best often only comes with one, or maybe two, in their careers. You are not there yet, you each have a long way to go, but if you wish it, I will make you champions. You, Irina, your choreography for this dance was at a level a professional could envy. I think you will agree with me that its only weak point was as they returned to hold for the second time, but at the moment I cannot think how you might have modified that sequence to make it smoother. I would have to watch it back several times.” Natalia paused, then sighed. “This is not a decision you must make now. You must take the time to think on it properly, but I will tell you this. If that was an indicator of your true potential as a partnership and if you work and apply yourselves, harness your talents and develop in both skill and maturity, there will come a time, sooner than you might think, when you will surpass Misha and I at our best. Now go, change. This is not a night for further training. You are all done for the evening.”

Walking towards the changing rooms Terry and Danette had not let go of each other’s hands. As they approached the two doors that would force them to finally release their grip, Terry spoke.

“Danette? It’s after the dance…”

Their first kiss lasted a very long time and Danette didn’t want the moment to ever end.

-----=====-----

“So, sweetheart? How did it go?”

Danette’s smile could have lit up half the town.

“Like a dream, Mom. Like a wonderful fantastic dream that I haven’t woken up from yet.”

“Did you get pictures?”

“Irina recorded the whole dance. She’s sending it to me tonight and I’ll forward it to you too… Mom? I need to make a doctor’s appointment.”

“You didn’t hurt yourself in the dance, did you?”

“No. I… think I need to get on birth control.”

“Danette, did he… I mean, have you…”

"No, Mom. But I do love him. He loves me and I trust him. I put my safety in his hands every time we dance. Off the dance floor we’ve done nothing more than kiss. I do trust him completely, Mom. I just don’t want any surprises if it turns out that I can’t trust me. He’s in my head every second of the day, I live for the moments when we train together and I’m in his arms. I want him so bad it aches, Mom. It’s a wonderful delicious ache but it’s always there. I can’t even get him out of my head when I’m asleep. So let’s be safe rather than sorry, just in case.”

Carla nodded, slowly.

“I’ll take care of it. It’s good you’re being responsible, Danette, but…”

“I know, Mom.” She started walking towards the kitchen door. “I promised Tom I’d phone him after I got home.”

“Go. I’ll call you in plenty of time for dinner. You really do have it bad, don’t you?”

“Actually, I think I’ve got it good.”

-----=====-----

After dinner, just finishing cleaning up, Carla felt her phone buzz in her pocket. Danette had headed back upstairs to study and get an early night, but she’d obviously checked her email before doing anything else. There was a forwarded message with a video attachment in Carla’s inbox.

Walking into the sitting room where Charles was watching the late show, she tapped him on the shoulder.

“Irina recorded Danette’s dance today. I’ve not watched it yet. Want to join me?”

“You mean I finally get to see that dress you were so all-fired smug about?”

“Yep.”

“It’s funny. Don’t ‘normal parents’ follow their kid’s sports, their practices and stuff? Apart from that little demo she did with me in here, this is the first time we’ll have seen her dance. Dance seriously, that is.”

“I know. I’m a bit nervous. Excited too, but nervous.”

“You at least got to see the dress.”

“I still don’t have a clue what to expect. I’m sure it’s going to be quite striking, though.”

“Come here, love…”

Carla snuggled up against her husband.

“Still feels as good as it always did, Charlie.”

“Love you too. Now, let’s watch the show.”

Carla hit “play”.

-----=====-----

Upstairs, wearing only a nightgown, Danette was watching it too. She was curled up with her own phone on top of the covers, all thoughts of studying gone. She reset it to the start, telling herself to watch it critically, as a dancer, looking for every little flaw in the performance so she could make it better. Like the first time watching it, though, she stopped even trying to critique the dance after that first turn, when the camera had caught the first time they looked in each other’s eyes. I want him here. In my bed. No, in our bed. I want to be in his arms and feel him with every inch of my skin against his. I want him to be the last thing I see before I sleep and the first thing I see when I wake. She pressed her thighs together, wondering why she was resisting the urge to lift her nightgown and touch herself. It wasn’t like she hadn’t jilled off thinking about him before. She had. More than once. Now, all I want is him, I want to feel his body on me, in me. Oh Tom, please, please help me hold off until it’s safe for us to make love. Then, when it’s safe and the moment is right don’t make me wait any longer. I need to be yours. All yours.

-----=====-----

“Wow…”

“I will be dipped in shit… That woman can’t be our little Netty.”

“You made us a beautiful, beautiful baby, Charles.”

“Way I remember it, you did all the hard work.”

“Only at the start. She wouldn’t have grown into the amazing woman she is without you as her dad.”

“Woman. Yeah. Guess I need to stop thinking of her as a little girl now.”

“You can’t. Nor can I. We just need to remember she is a grown woman now, and she loves like a grown woman. She loves that man, Charles. She asked me to make an appointment with Dr. Austin this evening. I’m taking her in on Tuesday.”

“Now, hang on Clara…”

“You can’t hold back the tide or the wind Charles. Might as well spit into a storm and try not to get your face wet. I remember falling in love with you at the county fair prizewinner’s party like it was yesterday. Whether I take her in to the clinic or not, those two are going to sleep together. Not taking her in might delay it but it won’t stop it. It never stopped us, did it?”

“No, that it didn’t.”

“So stop worrying. She’s being sensible. Now how about you take your wife to bed and remind her of another reason why she loves you so much.”

-----=====-----

“Miss Clarke, there are a couple of things we need to talk about before I issue this prescription.”

“I think I can guess a couple of them.”

“The first is one all too many young ladies ignore. Read the data sheet. You need to be aware what things can potentially interfere with the protection this provides. Most are common sense, some are less obvious. Call me immediately if you begin to experience any of the side effects listed in section three. Most can be addressed by prescribing a slightly different formulation. As an equine woman, you should be aware that the mechanism of action of this contraceptive is not the same as for other species. For most species, a hormonal contraceptive simulates part of the hormonal condition of pregnancy, thus inhibiting ovulation. This causes unacceptable side effects in equines and so instead we simulate the hormonal condition as you transition into your seasonal anestrus over the winter. It will not inhibit your regular cycles but you will not ovulate. This means you can begin taking it at any time and you will theoretically be protected from pregnancy 21 days after the first dose. For complete safety I would advise leaving it a full month before you tip the man you’re ‘contemplating’ into bed without other precautions in place. What it does mean, however, is that if you suddenly stop taking it you will promptly enter a fertile cycle even if it’s ‘the wrong time of year’ for it. Do be aware of that.”

“Ok, got that one.”

“Now, the second thing. I presume you are here seeking this prescription because you are, or are contemplating becoming, sexually active.”

“Very much at the contemplation stage, but yes.”

“Indeed. My examination of you earlier showed me that you are perfectly normal and healthy in every relevant regard. There is another booklet I wish to give you. Much of the information in it you will find has been covered – poorly, in my opinion – by sex ed. classes at school. This is a little more detailed in a lot of areas. It is up to the state to rectify that curriculum but as a collaborative effort amongst other women in my field this was written by female doctors for women. It is our effort to repair some of those serious omissions and it gives you valuable information on preserving your sexual and reproductive health. As you are over the age of consent I am permitted to offer it to you without requiring a parental signature. It is not obligatory but I do urge you to take it.”

“Thank you, Doctor. I will.”

The middle-aged woman on the far side of the desk made a note, removed her glasses and then looked directly at Danette.

“Finally, I understand you are aware of your family’s genetic history.”

“To some extent.”

“Have the implications for you personally been made clear at any point?”

“Not in so many words.”

“Then, forgive me but I will be blunt. I know that you’re here talking about ways to not become pregnant but you need to know that if you conceive naturally, without intervention, one in four of your children, half of the boys, will die either before birth or in the moments shortly after. Another one in four, half of any girls you may bear, will be silent carriers of the condition as you are. We can detect either status by chorionic biopsy or amniocentesis in the first trimester, but of course at that point you would already be pregnant and would potentially face the hard choice of whether or not to continue the pregnancy. When the time comes that you do wish to start your own family, I strongly recommend that you do so via IVF. We can screen harvested ova and make sure that only ones that do not carry the malformed gene are fertilized. I want you to be aware that with medical help, you can be certain you will not pass it on to a future generation. With that knowledge I would hope that you do not fear it and can, in the fullness of time, bear children of your own without that dread hanging over you.”

Danette smiled.

“As you said, I’m here about not getting myself knocked up unless I genuinely want to be, but it is good to know that when the time comes the only worries I need have are those normal to any new parent-to-be. Thank you.”

“All that having been said, then…” The doctor signed two forms. “Fill this at any pharmacy and follow the instructions on the packaging and in the data sheet. If you give this to my receptionist she’ll get you a copy of the booklet we discussed. You seem to be a very smart and level-headed young lady, Miss Clarke. I wish all my patients of your age were similar. I will be here should you need me at any time.”

-----=====-----

“Grace, I think I know which of our boys can dance.”

“Are you still picking at that, Alice? It’s been weeks.”

“Least favorite words in any librarian’s vocabulary – ‘I don’t know.’ But this one, I think I might have finally figured out.”

The stocky Clydesdale stared at the slightly overweight Corgi for about five seconds, then sighed.

“You won’t give me any peace until you tell me, will you?”

“Nope.”

“Ok. I’m listening.”

“I think it’s the new senior, Tom or Terry. Goes by “Tom” a lot because those are his initials. I saw them in the hallway outside the lunchroom today. You know how sometimes when you see ‘em together a couple is very ‘together’? Just so aware of each other that they move almost as one without even thinking? These two make that look awkward.”

“Have you considered the possibility that they might just be screwing each other? I know she’s started birth control, it made her put on a bit of boobage and she consulted me about it in case she needed to change her gym program.”

“I dunno, Grace. If anything I’d bet they actually haven’t slept together yet.”

“Alice, just about every girl I coach has him way up there on her own personal ‘hot as hell’ list. I do hear the gossip in the showers, even though they always think I don’t. They all think she’s screwing him. Plus, Danette Clarke has suddenly and miraculously transformed into one of the loveliest young ladies in the school so if he isn’t boning her, or trying very hard to, he’s something unique in the history of high-school jocks.”

“Ten-spot says he’s the dancer, Grace.”

“You’re on. But how to settle it? Homecoming’s well past and Prom isn’t until spring.”

“We’ve got the Sadie coming up haven’t we?”

“She probably won’t even show. She hasn’t any other year.”

“Let’s find out. If she doesn’t, bet’s off until Prom.”
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