Storiesonline.net
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                       Transformations: Diversity
                               by Shrink42

Copyright© 2008 by Shrink42


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Description: The radical new approach to getting lives turned around has survived six months and some serious challenges. Management feels they have developed their style and approach, but little do they know what is ahead of them. This episode actually starts before the opening of the 'Tee'. The story codes shown do not reflect everything that happens.

Codes: MF mf rom 1st teen sch cons
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AUTHOR'S NOTE - Please read:

This next segment of the Transformations series is separated from earlier segments by an unfortunately long time. I have not tried to bring everything up to date within this story. It may be necessary to review 'Transformations: Nice Guys Club' and 'Transformations: Immersion' to fully understand all of the characters and the incidents referred to in this episode. Also, it will be necessary to be familiar with 'Naming Convention' for one part of this story to be meaningful.

The events in this story are physically possible. No superhuman or paranormal capabilities are involved. However, the legal situations referred to may not exist anywhere, and I will not that the actions portrayed are normal or common.

Rather than worrying about the realism or lack thereof, I hope you will just get into the story. Get to know the characters. Hopefully, enjoy some titillation.

This story is completely finished and all editing has ceased. 45 chapters are 'in the can'. I plan to release them quite rapidly, but not all at once.

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Chapter 1


[Dale] Early October

Now, after three futile weeks, he was more discouraged than ever.

Dale Rubens, and particularly Muriel, his mother, had been thrilled when the full ride scholarship to Thurston College had come through. It was one of several full rides that he was offered, of course. His high school grades and his stratospheric SAT scores had made him an object of desire for some of the premier economics departments in the country.

As far as Dale was concerned, one of the larger universities would have been a good choice. Muriel, however, was absolutely blown away by the honor of an offer from such an elite institution. And there was no doubt that Thurston had produced far more than its share of renowned economists. After what she had sacrificed to give him a chance at a top school, he did not want to raise any objections at all.

It was a matter of grim humor between mother and son: Dale's passion for economics when he did not have two quarters to rub together. Somehow, the complex interactions of economic systems and even the imprecision of the discipline fascinated him.

Unfortunately, there was a lot about Thurston that one could only find out from being there. Even Dale, who was not very socially aware, quickly understood that Thurston ranked at least as high in snobbery as it did in economics. That correlated strongly with enormous average family incomes for its student population.

While most of the few thousand students seemed hard pressed to find ways to spend their leisure time and their excess money, Dale was desperate to find a job just to keep a few dollars in his pocket. So far, he had come up empty. The community was small, and there was not a whole lot of commerce. With only a bike and a totally inadequate bus system for his transportation, Dale's choices were even more restricted.

He had lied to his mother a little. He had assured her that his scholarship would provide what he needed, and that he had enough saved up for incidentals. In fact, his cash hoard was only three hundred dollars when he arrived, and that had almost evaporated. Given how hard it had been for her to come up with bus fare to get him there, how could he say anything? They had managed to purchase an old car, but it was definitely not up to a cross-country trip.

As it had been for years, Dale's major weapon against depression and stress was exercise. He had been a promising wrestler when he entered high school, but with his father's death and the discovery of the financial mess left behind, he had to drop out for a job. After yet another session of unsuccessful job-hunting, he headed for the school's activities center and the nicely equipped workout area. He would work off some of his frustration before dinner.

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Dale had been a heart-breaker in high school, but not intentionally. He was universally proclaimed a hunk by his female classmates. Unfortunately, he did absolutely no dating. Between his fanatical commitment to his studies and the hours he spent at his part-time job, there was just no time. Not to mention the need for every penny that came into the household.

If there was any extra time, Dale spent it with his mother, who lived on the ragged edge of emotional breakdown. Muriel had had to enter the work force for the first time in many years. Her feelings of inadequacy because of the low-level position that was all she could obtain just contributed to the other pressures on her psyche.

One additional time and money commitment for Dale had been taking accounting courses at the local university extension. He really did not have to study much to get top grades in high school and he thought that a grounding in accounting would be valuable to him. Not only would it aid in his study of economics, it could give him a fall-back employment choice.

At first, the extension courses were free, part of a co-op program through the school system. All it took was a recommendation from a teacher, and Dale had two or three standing in line for that privilege. When he quickly ran through all of the co-op options, he was faced with having to pay tuition.

Dale was ready to give up on the co-op courses then. He was at a point where he could have graduated from high school a semester, or even a year early. Muriel, however, got together with Dale's math teacher, Clark Renfrew and they found some scholarship money for three more courses.

Clark was also the wrestling coach, and it was indeed strange that he took such an active interest in helping Dale. Dale's inclusion on the team would have made it better, but Clark did not hold that against him. Of course, the fact that he had a definite interest in Muriel was a factor, also. As yet, Muriel showed no inclination toward any romantic involvement.

Dale's father had been a wheeler-dealer. He made good use of his natural charisma and the model's physique that he had passed on to Dale. Not at all a shyster, he was hard-working and ethical, but a risk-taker. He had used everything they owned as collateral for one penultimate real-estate deal. In his defense, his risky venture had a high probability of making them very rich. That is, had the small plane he was riding to a podunk town not gone down.

There was no way the creditors could make Muriel pay back the uncovered debts, but literally everything of value was taken from them - house, furnishings, cars, cabin, boat, jewelry. In retrospect, filing bankruptcy might have saved their home, but they had neither the resources nor the sophistication to pursue it.

Besides being left destitute after a life of relative luxury, Muriel loved her husband deeply, as did Dale, and she suffered greatly from the loss. Despite the dangerous risk he had taken, he had been a good husband and father. With almost no family on either side, and none with any extra money, mother and son were really set adrift.

Within weeks, they were evicted from their house and forced into a one-bedroom apartment where Dale had to use a fold-out couch for his bed. They both took whatever jobs they could find, just so they could qualify for the lease and get food on the table.

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As he set up the weights for his first machine of that workout, memories of the past few years' struggles once again cycled through Dale's mind. Also on his mind was his mother and his concern for her. He had wanted to go to Addison University, in the town where they lived. It was a highly-regarded private school, strong in most subjects, but not particularly renowned in economics. He would have been able to live at home and not leave Muriel on her own. It was an argument he lost.

The workout room at the activities center was not large, given the small enrollment, and Dale was naturally observant. He noticed an attractive fiftyish woman that he had seen working out before, but thought nothing more of it. It did seem that she was watching him at times, but that was no new phenomenon. He was aware of his exceptional body and its appeal to women. He had just never been able to act on it.

The locker room and showers at the activities center were very nice, and Dale generally used them, rather than showering in the dorm. The dorm facilities were also excellent, but it was definitely a dorm. The underclassmen were housed two to a room, with a large common bathroom on each floor. Dale's roommate was fine, but he did not feel comfortable with many of the residents of his floor.

The dorm was co-ed, with alternating male and female floors and no restrictions on movement between floors. He had lived in close quarters with his mother, and they had agreed that total modesty was unreasonable, but the casual attitude in the dorm still bothered him. The gym was much better.

When he left the locker room that night, the woman that he had noticed earlier was waiting and approached him. "Mr. Rubens," she said "I'm Professor Claremont. Could I buy you a coffee? I'd like to speak with you about something."

Dale was surprised that the woman knew his name and was reluctant to join her. She was, however, a professor, if she had told the truth. That gave her instant credibility, so Dale just nodded. The gym was in the same building as the student union, so the coffee shop was right next door.

Unaccustomed to women buying him food, Dale nevertheless let her do as she had offered. With his money shortage, he had literally eaten nothing that was not covered by his meal plan, and he was not about to splurge on coffee.

When they were seated with their drinks, Professor Claremont said "I am a professor of art. I would like to have you model for my figure classes. You have a classic male physique."

"Model? I ... I've never done anything like that," Dale protested.

"It pays $25 per session and over the rest of the school year, I could use you for at least twenty sessions. I don't know if the money makes any difference," she told him. Actually, she was sure that the money did make a difference, since she had researched her prospect quite carefully.

Finding models was always a challenge for her. Not many students needed the money, and the town was so small that there just weren't many good prospects. It never seemed to be a problem finding female models, but finding men was tough. She had been trying since before the semester started, and she had rearranged her schedule about as much as she could. She needed Dale badly.

It did not take an economist or accountant to calculate the $500 dollars the job would add to Dale's anemic bank account. Even after taxes, that much could mean survival for the year and maybe enough to travel home for the holidays. His momentary excitement was quenched when he remembered from somewhere in his reading that 'figure' usually meant nude. His face must have shown his alarm and disappointment because she caught it and understood.

"Yes, the posing would be undraped. That's an artistic euphemism for nude," she said.

He just shook his head, blushing. "I couldn't do that. Sorry. Th ... thanks for the coffee."

He was on his feet ready to leave when her hand on his arm restrained him. "Mr. Rubens - Dale - wait. Please. Let me just talk to you for a minute."

"Professor, I'm sorry, but that's just not something I could do. This is a small school. Some of the people I would pose for - I would see them on campus. I might have classes with them."

"Some of the girls, you mean. That's what worries you, isn't it?"

He nodded, blushing.

"Dale, please don't be offended, but I've done some research on you. I know the struggle you've had, and I know that you need the money. I suspect that you could also use a friend on campus.

"I'm well aware of the wealth and the attitudes of the people here. I don't come from money. I worked my way through school. I know what you're facing. If you can just ignore the nudity for a moment and think about the opportunity..."

"How can I ignore that?" he protested.

"Believe me, before very long, you CAN ignore it. I know you have been unable to find work. The hourly pay is much better than anything you could have found. It is right on campus, so transportation is not a problem, and it is not physically exhausting.

"Beyond that, Dale, you have been blessed. Besides the intelligence that won you the scholarship, you have a body that deserves to be seen and ... and worshipped. That's what art can do, you know. It can be a way to worship something beautiful in creation."

Intellectually, Dale could understand what she was saying. The money sounded too good to be true, as well. But it wasn't just creation that he would be displaying for worship. It was HIS DICK! Hanging that out for women to look at and paint just wasn't possible. He just couldn't do it.

Catherine Claremont could read what Dale was thinking, and before he could utter what she was sure would be his final rejection, she said "Dale, I'll bet you haven't had anything but dorm food since you arrived, have you?" Not waiting for an answer, she went on. "Come to my house for dinner. Right now. It's Friday, and you can afford a little time off."

"Really, Professor, it won't do any good," he declared. "I just couldn't model for you."

"Dale, please. Be honest with yourself. If you can't find a job, you won't be able to stay here. You know that. My guess is that you've done a lot of things you didn't think you could do, just to survive, right? This is honorable work. Something that very few people could do. Maybe you can't do it, but give me a chance to persuade you. A home-cooked meal would be nice, wouldn't it?"

He already knew all of the possible choices at the cafeteria. He was puzzled why the quality of the food was not more in line with the cost of tuition. Almost anything that the woman could offer him would be a welcome break from the cafeteria food that was already monotonous. Besides that, she had an air of natural sympathy and kindness about her that he had been hungry for, even though he did not yet realize it.

He just gave a slight nod, and Catherine was on her feet, grabbing his hand. "Wait, I need to take this to my room," he said, indicating his gym bag.

"No need. I'll bring you back later." She was steamrolling him, but she understood how close he was to just walking away. Besides, she found him very likable, and she genuinely wanted to help him.

On the ride to her home, Catherine got on her phone and made a couple of quick calls. "Two of my very good friends are joining me for dinner. They are very bright ladies. I'm sure you will enjoy chatting with them."

"I ... I shouldn't horn in on your dinner plans," he objected.

"Oh, they know how much I need to find a model. They won't mind, at all."

The house was not far from campus, in an older, rather genteel section of the town. The first thing that Dale noticed upon entering was the delightful smell. Somebody was already cooking. The next thing he noticed was the two women who came to greet them. One looked very much like Catherine. At his questioning glance, she nodded and introduced her older sister. The other woman was in her thirties, and turned out to be Catherine's niece.

After the introductions, the sister and niece disappeared back toward what he assumed was the kitchen, and Catherine took on a rather serious expression. Opening her purse, she took out five twenty-dollar-bills and held them out to him. "This is yours if you will undress and spend the evening with us nude."

"WHAT?"

"You would be a perfect model for me, but you consider the nudity to be an insurmountable problem," she explained. "I am willing to pay you to spend the evening nude with three very courteous women. I want you to see that it is something that you can do, and that it is an excellent way for you to earn the cash you need so badly."

Dale just shook his head in disbelief, but Catherine was not done. "Dale, you are a really nice guy. I think you are in a situation that you didn't expect, and I would really like to help you. I know you are brilliant, but right now, in this town, that is not going to earn you any money. Your other major asset is a wonderful body. Let me help you use it to earn enough to get by. There is nothing dirty about modeling."

"But this is ... it's ... it's so embarrassing!"

"My sister and my niece are totally discreet. If it helps, my sister Caroline is a psychiatrist. Her daughter Carla is a pediatrician. Nudity is not something that will upset them."

"I wasn't worried about them."

She could not suppress a little chuckle at his unintentional humor. It just made him blush even more furiously. With a sigh, Catherine picked up a phone and dialed. When someone answered on the other end, she said "Talk to him," and handed him the phone.

"Hi, Honey," he heard the familiar voice say after his 'Hello'. "It's so good to hear your voice."

"But ... but ... what... ?"

"Sweetie, Catherine thought she might need my help to get you to take the job."

"Job!? Mom, I can't..."

"Dale, Honey, you know I would send you every last dollar. There just aren't any more 'last dollars' to send. I'm so sorry! Catherine is really a nice lady, and I know she wants to help you out. If you're worried that I might be upset about you posing naked, I only have one problem with it."

"Wh ... what's that?" At this point, he could hardly talk.

"I wish I could be there and take the class."

All Dale could generate in response was a strangled groan. Catherine took the phone from his limp hand, said goodbye to his mother, and hung up. "You can call her for a nice long chat before I take you home, later." She did not say it, but the implication was clear that it would be after he spent the evening naked with the three women.

Whether it was intentional or not, Muriel had played the trump card. She always felt guilty that she could not provide for her son what she thought he deserved. Dale knew that she blamed herself and he hated that. He would do anything to help assuage that guilt, even go naked.

Catherine saw that he had given in, and gave him a quick hug. Pulling back, she kept her hands on his arms and told him "Dale, this is a totally unorthodox way to acclimate a new model, but I need you in a hurry. Usually, in art circles, artistic nudity is considered completely separate from casual nudity. Every attempt is made to keep the setting rather clinical. I will be honest with you; it takes time and experience for the model to have that attitude. I need to try a different approach.

"Now, I've been working with male models for twenty-five years, and I've seen quite a few get aroused. My sister and her daughter are doctors. If it happens tonight, I don't want you getting all upset. We won't be. Why don't you use that bathroom to disrobe. Maybe you should, um, relieve the pressure a little while you're in there."

Catherine had said all of that in a very gentle way, and he was certain that she was trying to make it easier for him. All it did, though, was highlight his worst fear. Still, he had passed the point of no return. If he did not do this, his mother would worry, and her guilt would drive her to push herself to make more money for him. He could not allow that.

When he came out of the bathroom a while later, Catherine was waiting for him. His knees almost buckled when he saw her standing in front of him, and the urge to cover himself was almost overwhelming. She was looking at his face, though, and the look of genuine caring in her eyes went a long way toward relaxing him.

For long moments, they just looked at each other. Then, she raised an eyebrow slightly in question, he shivered but nodded, and she let her gaze sweep down over him. When her eyes came back up, she made a little twirling motion with her hand. He understood and did a three-sixty for her.

"Dale, I need to warn you right up front. You are going to hear many gasps from women the first time they see you. It is unavoidable. You have a body that just demands to be memorialized as art. Caroline and Carla are waiting in the dining room. You will see what I mean."

Not knowing if it would help him or make him more nervous, she took a chance and held his hand to lead him to meet the others. Only Carla gasped audibly, but Caroline's eyes widened noticeably. Both women were as gentle and as complimentary as they could be. Dale was not sure whether he welcomed the attention or not. What he really wanted to do was to hide.

When he first sat down on the towel-covered chair that Catherine led him to, he was not at all sure that it was safe to try to eat anything. Between the fact that the food smelled unbelievably good and the fact that his genitals were screened by the table top, he found the courage to try to eat, and he was soon digging in with a vengeance.

It took the better part of the meal for him to progress beyond short answers to questions. Just when he was beginning to actually converse, they adjourned to the living room for coffee and all he could think about again was hiding his crotch. He knew that Catherine was doing it purposely to force his exposure, and he understood why. It still set his conversational ability back to almost zero. It was another half hour before he was doing anything that resembled conversation.

Just when he was starting to put some energy into a very stimulating discussion, Carla stood up and said with great glee "Look, it's starting to show!" She pulled her clothes tight across her stomach to show a small but definite protrusion. He never knew whether it was a planned move or not, but it caught him off-guard and the blood rushed to his penis.

Even if the move was unplanned, the reaction of the women to his arousal must have been discussed beforehand. He never noticed eyes directed at his crotch, and there was no break in the conversation. Carla turned a brilliant smile toward him and said "I'm over three months along, and I was wondering if I was ever going to show. I was just so anxious! We had to wait so long for her. I had to finish my residency and get established. I was told that it was still too soon to interrupt my practice, but we couldn't wait any longer."

Being apparently ignored convinced his cock that it was not worth standing at attention, and in a few minutes, he was back to pretty flaccid. He even managed to give Carla congratulations. He even got to the point he could appreciate the intelligence and the range of knowledge of the three women and begin to make some points of his own.

At one point, both Catherine and Caroline left the room for a few minutes and Carla asked "I have heard that some men find pregnant women particularly sexy. Was it that, or just that I was emphasizing my body?"

"I don't plan to major in psychology, so I'm probably the wrong person to ask."

"But what made you react?"

"Hey, I'm only eighteen, and I'm not, uh, experienced with girls. I guess it's just ... oh, shit!"

"I'll see if Mom and Aunt Catherine need any help," Carla said as she quickly stood up to leave the room. She turned back and gave Dale a gentle pat on the shoulder, telling him "Everything in me wants to stay right here and stare at your erection. It is magnificent and very arousing. You are truly blessed among men." When she left the room, he had not noticed her actually looking at it.

Of course, Carla's compliments did nothing to ease his aroused state. Assuming that the women would give him time to recede, he went to the powder room where he had undressed and jerked off again.

Catherine seemed able to sense just when he was starting to feel comfortable and she would up the pressure a little. "Let me show you my little studio," she said as the evening wore on. Walking around and trying to be sociable with the three women as Catherine pointed things out was more difficult than anything but his initial exposure. Again, it was their considerate behavior that made it bearable.

"Dale, let's step through what a modeling session would be like for you. Behind that screen is the dressing area. There's a robe back there. Go and put it on, and I'll walk you through a little practice session. Caroline and Carla will sit at those easels and pretend to be students."

Catherine put him through the paces, always emphasizing that this was a serious pursuit and not some male strip show. She made him hold a pose for about ten minutes, explaining that it would usually be twenty minutes or more in practice.

When Caroline and Carla had to leave, Catherine just led them all to the front door, never mentioning his clothes. Both women gave him a light hug and a kiss on the cheek as they left. When he turned around from the goodbyes, she was holding the phone out to him. He looked down at himself with obvious meaning, but she said "It would be better to stay undressed when you talk to her."

Better? He didn't know about that. It was certainly different, particularly when she began asking him specific questions about his evening. When she came right out and asked if he had gotten hard, he thought he had entered the twilight zone. "Honey, don't be so shocked. Did you really think I didn't notice all of those hardons over the years?"

"I ... I ... you never..." he stammered.

"I didn't want to embarrass you, Honey," Muriel said softly. "It's just natural, especially at your age. Honey, you need a friend there at school. I think Catherine is one of the really good people. Let her be your friend. Do what she asks you to do. It will make me feel so much better if you have someone there. Can you do that?" She was playing psychological aces again.

"Um, yeah. She's been great, even if..."

"Even if she made you hang it all out, you mean?" Muriel asked with a giggle. He groaned again in response. "Dale, Honey," she said, her tone now serious. "I am really sorry I pushed so hard for Thurston. I was wrong. But you're there, now, and we need to make the best of it."

They chatted for another twenty minutes, and he was almost surprised when he hung up and remembered that he was naked.

He had barely hung up when the doorbell rang. In a panic, he turned toward the powder room where he had left his clothes, but Catherine took his arm and he was too polite to wrench away from her.

"Dale. Will you please just trust me? I think your mother does, and honestly, I do want to help you. Of course, you will be helping me, too. Isn't it always best when both people benefit?"

"But, somebody's here, and..."

"Yes. Somebody's here. I know who it is and it is another very considerate person. I want you to wait right here, naked, and meet them. Please?" she asked.

"Wh ... why?"

"I told you that I need you badly. I am trying to do everything I can to get you comfortable quickly. This is part of it," she explained.

He just stared into her eyes for several long moments, seeing nothing but truth and honest care. He shivered and nodded. She moved to open the door before he could change his mind.

When the door opened and the visitor entered, Dale was too stunned to decide whether he should have agreed or bolted from the room. In walked an absolutely gorgeous girl. She appeared to be twenty-something. Quite tall, but slim and curvy. She had on very brief, tight shorts, a cropped tank top, and heeled sandals.

"Hello, Dale," the vision said, walking up to him, hand extended in greeting, eyes locked on his. "I'm Jolene, Dr. Claremont's graduate assistant. I've been modeling for her since my freshman year. She thought that talking to another model might be helpful to you."

It was going to be a while before Dale would be able to speak. In fact, it was looking like standing was almost beyond his reach at the moment. Jolene gave Catherine a quick glance and went right on with her bubbly talk.

"I went to your dorm room and got all of your books. I also got a change of underwear for you," Jolene told him.

"Wh ... why?" Dale vaguely remembered having stammered that same question not too long before, but nothing was very distinct at the moment.

Catherine stepped up to him and took a chance. She put her arm around his shoulder and hugged him lightly. "I have to confess to manipulating you a little, Dale. I told you that I am desperate for a model, and I honestly believe I am doing something good for you. So my conscience is clear - um, almost. I want you to stay here the whole weekend - naked. I need you to sit for a class Monday, and I don't see any other way to get you ready."

Dale could not help a flash of anger, and it showed on his face. He felt Catherine's arm stiffen slightly on his shoulder and she gave a little gasp. It was Jolene who spoke up, though.

"Dale, you don't know me, but please believe me. Dr. Claremont is the most thoughtful, kind person you will ever meet. I know because she has helped me through some really rough stuff. Please, do what she asks you. I guarantee that she will not do anything to hurt you, and before long, you will be grateful."

It was hard to drag his eyes from the vision who had just spoken, but even Jolene's words could not completely erase the anger. Turning toward Catherine, Dale said, in as even a voice as he could, "Can I assume that there will be other 'guests' that I will be exposed to if I stay?"

Catherine nodded soberly, and again, it was Jolene who spoke. "Dale, let's sit down and talk about this." She took his hand and pulled him from Catherine's gentle hug. Soon, they were seated at the kitchen table where his crotch was shielded from their view.

"I'm guessing that your mother wants you to do this, right?" Jolene asked.

"How ... how much do you know about all of this?" he demanded.

"Pretty much everything, I guess," Jolene answered. "I'm not apologizing, either. I owe Catherine a lot, and I'm doing you a big favor, too, even if you don't quite believe it, yet. Just listen to your mother, OK? She's the one person you're sure has only your best interest at heart. Didn't she tell you to do what Catherine asked?"

He nodded. "Good!" Jolene said. "That's settled. I do have something to confess, though. I don't usually dress like this. I did it to impress your dorm-mates. I made it a point to ask several guys where your room was and let as many people as possible think you were spending the weekend with me."

"Why would you do that?"

"Well, if you get a little reputation as a stud, and with your muscles, who's going to hassle you about posing nude?" she asked with a giggle.

It seemed like Dale had groaned more since meeting Catherine than in the whole last year, but that was again the only reaction he could come up with. Jolene's giggle irritated him at first, but it was so infectious that before long he was grinning.

"Good! I win!" she chortled. "But you win, too, you know. See, Dale, bodies are wonderful, beautiful things. We shouldn't be ashamed of them. We should enjoy them, celebrate them. Cocks are beautiful things, and yours is a really nice one. Why keep it hidden? Let us gals celebrate it."

"Yeah, but if it ... if I..."

"If you get hard? Big deal! Nice, big, beautiful deal!" The last broke her into another delightful giggle. "If you get hard in front of a class, all that will happen is that a bunch of panties will get damp."

"But I thought this was all supposed to be, you know, just for art - not sexual," he complained.

"Bullshit!" Jolene said. "I know that's the official line. I know when I'm up there, my nipples are usually hard. Know why? Because I know that the people in the class are having some sexual feelings when they look at me. It excites me."

"Jolene, I'm not sure you're helping," Catherine complained.

"Of course I am," Jolene shot back. "There's no use trying to fool him. I'll admit that nowadays, I don't react nearly as much as I once did. Maybe he'll get to that point, but it won't be by Monday, that's for sure. Exposing his genitals to a class of mostly women will be sexual for him."

"So ... so how can I ever stand that?" he asked.

"By being proud," Jolene answered. "At least that's how I got over the fear. Believe me, I was terrified at first, wasn't I, Catherine?"

"She, uh, had to dash off to pee after five minutes of posing, her first time. She, uh, didn't quite make it," Catherine said softly. Then, she erupted in full-throated laughter.

Jolene laughed with her while Dale just shook his head in amazement. Finally, Jolene was able to say "I needed the job, just like you do, so I had to get control of myself. Catherine told me to be proud, to go up there like I was showing off."

"But, I'm not that way!" he objected.

"Oh, I know that, and neither was I. But I had to do something. The next day, I kept talking to myself as I dropped my robe - in my head, that is. I said 'tell me you've ever seen better tits than these'; 'isn't my ass the roundest, smoothest you've ever seen?'; 'does any runner have a flatter tummy?'; 'no dancer has better legs than these'; 'have you ever seen longer nipples?'; 'isn't my pubic patch luxuriant?'. At the time, I had a lot of pubic hair."

He suspected that she was trying to arouse him, but the knowledge of her intent did not prevent the result. They could not see his erection, but they could tell from his face that it was there.

"See!" Jolene said. "It's pretty sexual. You just can't deny that. No offense, Catherine. I know the standard artist's line, but we're dealing with reality here. If Dale is going to be ready by Monday, he has to deal with reality, not the party line."

Catherine stared hard at Jolene for a moment, then smiled and nodded.

Dale had been watching the interplay between the two women and he was jolted when Jolene ordered "Stand up, Dale!"

"I can't! I ... I'm, uh..."

"Of course you're hard. If you weren't, it would mean I had totally lost my touch," Jolene said. "For male models, a hardon is the biggest fear, so we're going to start attacking that fear right now."

"No! I can't! That's too much!"

"Give me the phone, Catherine," Jolene said. When she had it in hand, Jolene looked at Dale and asked "Do you want your mom to have to be involved blow-by-blow, here? You know she wants you to do this, and you know she trusts Catherine. Would it be easier for you if your mom helped you through this?"

Again the groan. He stared at Jolene for a long time, then sighed and stood up. By then, he had subsided so that he was about horizontal, but still quite stiff. If he had thought it was tough facing Catherine the first time and not covering up, this was beyond impossible. The thought of his mother hearing about this, though, was a huge motivator. She thought that he was strong enough to do anything. He would not let her know that exposing his hardon paralyzed him the way it did.

Jolene broke from her commanding demeanor for a moment, stood up, and kissed him on the cheek. Then she sat down again and resumed her previous persona. "OK. You just dropped your robe in front of a class of eight women and three men. For some reason, you came from behind the screen hard. What are you saying to yourself? How are you letting pride get you through this?"

"Th ... there's nothing that could get me through that! I'd just flee."

"What was the last thing you ran away from, Dale?" Jolene demanded. Then, she got nasty. "What would you tell your mom about about why you quit?"

He glared at her. That was fighting dirty. In the process, he lost most of the rest of his tumescence.

"Well, now you'll have to brag to yourself about something else," Jolene said with a giggle. "Start with your six-pack. Say to yourself 'I know none of the guys in the class have one like mine. I'll bet none of these girls' boyfriends have one like it, either'."

Seeing the look of doubt and fear on his face, Jolene demanded "Well, it would be true, wouldn't it?"

"Yeah, but I don't brag like that."

"I'm telling you, you need to brag, but just to yourself. See, right now, you're thinking that posing nude is something shameful and humiliating. You'll never make it through the semester if you feel that way. It will tear you up inside."

Catherine had been letting Jolene carry the ball since she arrived, but she interjected a comment. "A lot of the male models I get are narcissistic assholes, Dale. They genuinely feel that way about themselves and it shows in their expressions and in their conduct. We know you aren't that way, but listen to Jolene. She knows."

"So what do you brag to yourself about next?" Jolene asked rhetorically. "How about 'I'll bet none of these girls have full, rock-hard ass cheeks like mine to hang onto when their boyfriends are fucking them?'"

Dale sucked in his breath as his penis rapidly inflated. He started to turn away, but Jolene's voice cracked out like a whip. "No! Stand there and show it off, dammit! This is what you need to brag about tonight. This is Fear Number One and you've only got until Monday to get past it."

Still another groan.

"Tell yourself 'I'll bet they've never seen a fucker like this. It's long. It's straight as an arrow. It's thick. The head is huge and it's getting really dark. I'll bet the girls all wish they could feel it ramming into their little twats. It would be the experience of a lifetime. These huge, full balls are just waiting to fill them up.'"

As soon as she stopped her little spiel, Jolene held up the phone. The meaning was perfectly clear, and Dale bit back the threat he had been about to make.

"Now, do you think you can do that when you drop your robe in front of the class for the first time Monday?" Jolene asked.

"I don't know if I will be able to think that clearly," he quipped, still blushing furiously as his erection throbbed to his heartbeat.

"The point is to be thinking about anything but the people staring at you," Catherine counseled. "I've only done it myself a few times. When I was in school, our professor made everyone do it so we had a better understanding."

"Why don't you just draft guys from class, then?" Dale asked.

"It would take them away from their work, and ... well, I didn't think it was a good idea when it happened to me," Catherine explained.

Dale sat back down and the discussion went on for a while longer. When Catherine got up to go to the bathroom, Jolene's attitude changed dramatically.

"Dale, I'm not really like what I just did. Catherine needed someone to play the 'heavy', and I'll do anything I can for her. I felt bad while I was doing it, except ... except ... God! You're one sexy hunk!"

"I don't know how I'm going to go through with this," he moaned.

"You've got to. It means we'll be posing together sometimes, and I can't wait!"

If that was supposed to motivate him, it missed the mark. It did, however, arouse him again. "I'm afraid I'll be hard all the time if I pose with you," he admitted.

"Nah. Won't happen," she assured him. "You will be a wonderful model." With that, she kissed him quickly and left.

When Catherine returned, she had another phone with her. She took both phones and led him to a couch where she sat right next to him and dialed. "Hi, Muriel," she said, smiling at him. "Yes, he came through with flying colors. Here, let him tell you all about it."

She handed him the other phone and stayed on the one she had. His mother, behaving in a way he had never seen before, dragged every detail of the encounter with Jolene from him. When he complained loudly one time, she told him "Sweetie, I won't pretend that what you're going to do will be easy. You know, it kills me that you have to do it. But this is the hand we've been dealt. You've got some good people who care about you to help you through it."

"But that's so personal!"

"Yes, it is," she answered softly. "But if you get concerned about revealing personal things, the posing will kill you. You have to de-personalize a lot of things."

"Where did you learn all this?" he asked.

"Oh, I've talked to Caroline, Catherine's sister a few times. You know, when Catherine first contacted me, I said 'No way! No son of mine is going to hang his penis out in front of a class!'."

"What changed your mind?"

"Well, economic reality, at first. Then, as we talked, they convinced me that it would make you an even stronger person."

"If I survive, you mean?"

He detected a hitch in her voice when she said "Just look at what we've survived already." All of the emotional artillery was too much for him.

-------

Because of their close living quarters, Dale had never slept nude, but Catherine insisted that it was important conditioning. It took quite a while and some intense jerking off, but he eventually lapsed into exhausted sleep.

When he awoke in the morning, it was to Catherine shaking him gently. He had a morning hardon and he tried to turn away from her. She sat on the bed and said "I thought I would wake you so you weren't quite so disoriented. And don't worry about that," she said, gesturing in the direction of his crotch. "I think we got past that problem last night, didn't we?"

"Don't think I'll ever really get past it," he said. "Uh, I've gotta..."

"Sure, go ahead. Shower if you want, then we'll have breakfast."

He had just stepped into the shower when Catherine came into the bathroom and said "I'm here to keep you company." No more was said until he stepped out, then she told him "I hope you realize that I am not really this bold and forward. I just want so badly for your posing to go well that I'm trying to get you past a lot of potential shocks."

"Well, this is a shock, all right."

"I know that with just the two of us, this is a lot different than posing in front of a group. I think the constant exposure will help, though." Her voice broke at the end of the statement. To her pleasure, he stayed facing her as he dried. When he dried his crotch, the sight of the parts being moved around caused a reaction that she had not braced for.

"Come on out to the patio for breakfast. It's a nice, warm morning."

"Outside? But the neighbors..."

"Only the ones on that side can see the patio. They're wonderful people, so don't worry." This was a huge test, and she knew it.

"You're trying to change me completely in just one weekend, aren't you? Do you do this with all of your models?"

"I told you, Dale. This is unprecedented. My other models have all responded to ads. Some of them have been terrified, too, but it was their own choice. Basically, I've shanghaied you. I don't apologize because I think it is a wonderful chance for you. But I feel obligated to do my best to prepare you. Besides, I can't wait to meet your mother. She and I really hit it off on the phone."

By that time, they had reached the patio. He looked around nervously and did not sit down until he was sure there was no one in sight. Catherine sat him so he was looking at the house next door. When he saw a man and woman and a young girl approaching across the back yards, he jumped up and fled to the house before she could stop him.



-------

Chapter 2


Dale went to the powder room, thinking that his clothes might still be there. He was still looking for them when Catherine found him. Wisely, she didn't say anything for a while, just looked at him with moisture in her eyes. "I guess I went too far, huh? Is it the woman, or the girl?"

"You know, in our state, it's actually illegal for me to be naked with a girl her age. What is she? Eleven? Twelve?"

"Lisa is twelve, and she is a prodigy. I will make her a famous artist. They are all totally discreet, Dale. Nothing bad will happen."

"But it's just not right for her to see me like this! It's not normal! How can her parents allow it?"

Dale was still in the small powder room with Catherine in the doorway. Suddenly, the woman from the family was beside Catherine. "H ... hello, Dale. I'm Marilyn, Lisa's mother. I'm truly sorry we caused you such distress. How can we allow it, you asked? Well, the subject has been a real sore point in our family for some time."

His confidence already badly dented, Dale began to feel trapped. He was naked in a small room with two women, one a complete stranger, blocking his exit. In addition, he was angry with Catherine, feeling that she had tricked him once too often. For him, anger was always tightly held in, but he still wanted to be out of that room, away from Marilyn's eyes on his privates.

"You have to understand just how exceptional Lisa's talent is," Catherine interjected. "She is far beyond anyone I have ever had in a college class. To make progress in line with her abilities, she needs to begin doing figure studies." She could see the emotions on Dale's face, and she was beginning to fear that she had blown everything by reaching too far.

"The problem is," Marilyn continued, "she is terrified of being exposed to a naked man. Truthfully, I don't want her exposed, yet. But I believe Catherine about her talent. We had hoped that while you were getting comfortable exposing yourself, you could help her get comfortable with a naked male body." Catherine was looking very uncomfortable and very guilty as Marilyn said that.

"But she's just a kid!"

"A prodigy is a grown up talent in a child's body," Catherine explained.

"But still a child's mind and an child's emotions," Dale countered.

"She is a young woman now," Marilyn insisted. "Her periods have started. She is already on her third bra size, and she has quite a bit of pubic hair."

Maybe Marilyn thought she was somehow helping with that explanation, but the main result was to send Dale's organ pointing upward. "Shit!" he spat out.

"Oh!" Marilyn gasped. She stood transfixed at the sight for a moment, then turned and fled.

"Did you hide my clothes? Am I a naked prisoner here?" Dale snapped at Catherine with very uncharacteristic venom. She recoiled as if he had slapped her, backing out of the doorway as the tears started.

"N ... no, they're not hidden. I wouldn't do that," she protested. "They're in the bedroom closet. Dale, please - I'm sorry you're upset, but I just thought..."

He bit back an angry retort, sighed, and said "I'm getting dressed. This has gone too far."

The clothes were in the closet as Catherine had said they were. Just as he was about to step into his briefs, there was a hand on his arm, restraining him. He spun around quickly, ready to give Catherine a piece of his mind, but facing him was Caroline.

"I told Catherine that she had gone too far, but she wants so badly for Lisa to succeed that she, um, lost perspective, I guess."

Caroline was not the one who had offended him, and in fact, he had found her to be extremely kind and sympathetic the night before. A lot of his anger drained off. "Please. Don't dress until we at least talk a little. I'm afraid if you put pants on, it will all be over."

"I think it's all over, anyway," he said.

"Come over here," she said, pulling him toward the window, which looked out over the patio. Looking down, he saw the girl sitting by the table, her father's arm around her. She was obviously sobbing her heart out.

"Shit!" It was not an expletive he used regularly, but that was twice already this morning.

"There's still a lot of little girl there," Caroline said. "She feels rejected."

"But that's not the point!" he insisted.

"I know it's not the point from your perspective," she answered. "It's just that there are other people's perspectives involved here."

"But this was supposed to be about getting me ready to pose on Monday," he objected.

"Yes, it is," Caroline agreed, carefully substituting present tense for past. "And being the only naked one among a number of clothed people was her way of 'acclimating' you in the shortest possible time. It was an approach I approved, but only because she did not have time to do it properly."

"But a twelve-year-old kid!"

"Girl," she corrected. "A twelve-year-old girl. Would you have cared if it was a twelve-year-old boy?" Slumping his shoulders, he shook his head.

"Isn't it illegal here?" he asked. "I mean, exposing myself to a minor girl?"

"I guess I don't know the law in detail," she admitted, "but I'm sure you couldn't get in any trouble in this setting - this context."

"But that doesn't mean it's right!"

"Is the legality, the rightness, really what worries you, or is it your ability to avoid an erection when she looks at your genitals?"

Dale's anger flared at that question, but just as quickly, he felt admiration for her intuition and her forthrightness. It was the way he liked to deal with people. Once again, his shoulders slumped, but this time he chuckled.

She barely restrained her joy at the apparent turnaround, but waited until he raised his eyes and looked right at her. Then, she stepped right up and pressed herself to him in a tight hug.

"This isn't very professional," she said with her face pressed sideways against his bare chest, "but you seem to make women want to do this. You are a beautiful person, inside and out, Dale."

She released the hug after several more seconds, and pulled him over to sit beside her on the bed. "Can you just forget this, Dale? Can you forgive Catherine for being overzealous. She really does care for you, you know. Right now she is dying inside, I just know."

He looked her in the eye, but did not say anything, so she went on. "Let's step back a little and look at what's important. You really need the job, don't you?" He nodded. "You had pretty well decided that you would go through the weekend and do the posing, hadn't you?" Again he nodded. "Good. Will you forgive her? Can we start over?"

"I don't want to be an anatomy lesson for a little girl," he insisted.

"Young woman. Young woman, Dale. Still, I can see your point. Will you talk to Catherine?" He nodded again.

Dale's impression of Catherine as a supremely confident, completely in control person received a shot of reality when she entered the bedroom. Tears streaming down her face, she charged toward him, sat beside him on the bed, and did her best to strangle him in a hug. He let her cry herself out.

"I wouldn't do anything to hurt you, Dale. You have to believe that!"

"I know," he answered. "I do appreciate what you're doing for me. It was just ... just too much."

He could tell she was struggling with the next question on her mind, and he was pretty sure what the question was. "I don't know if I can pose for her or not, Catherine. What I can't do is sit around naked with her at breakfast."

"But you can with her parents?"

"I don't know how I can do that with anyone, but I understand what you are trying to do."

"If you dress for breakfast, does that mean that you won't be nude any more?" she asked nervously.

After a long pause and another of his increasingly frequent sighs, he said "No, it doesn't mean that. I've got my mind pretty fixed on the money from that job. I'll trust you to get me ready."

-------

Catherine managed to corral everyone for a delayed breakfast, and Caroline joined them. Before they went out to the patio, Dale asked Catherine "Will just a few more minutes ruin the food?"

"No, why?"

"Could I talk to Lisa alone for a minute?"

"Oh. Sure." Her words weren't very enthusiastic, but he could tell from her expression that she was elated.

"Hello, Lisa. I'm Dale. I suppose you're pretty upset with me right now." He had almost zero experience talking to young teen girls, so the best he could do was talk to her as a contemporary.

"M ... me!" she stammered. "I thought you were angry with me."

"Nah. You didn't do anything wrong. A lot of people want to help you with your art, and I just got caught up in their plans. I couldn't handle it."

"So, you won't pose for me?" she asked, her lip quivering.

"Tell me, Lisa. Would you pose nude for me?"

"But you're not an artist! Why ... ohhhh! But you're a man. I've never been naked in front of anyone," she complained.

"Until yesterday, Lisa, I'd never been naked in front of a ... woman." He barely caught himself from saying 'girl'.

"Not even your mother, or your sister?"

"I'm an only child. My mother and I have only caught accidental glimpses of each other. I'm sure you know that being naked is more difficult for a man."

"You mean erections?" she asked and he nodded.

"Catherine says I have to paint naked people to improve. I'm afraid I'll just freak out the first time I try with a man."

"Have you ever seen your dad naked?"

"As if! My parents are pretty modest."

"So if I had been naked for breakfast, it would help you be less nervous if I posed?"

She ignored the main point of the question and asked "You mean you still might pose?"

"I really do want to help you, Lisa. It's just that I'm really nervous about some things. Let's go out there and get some breakfast."

When they came out to the patio, Marilyn could not look Dale in the eye. Barry, Lisa's father, shook his hand nervously and said "I'm sorry if this whole thing upset you." Dale smiled and nodded in reply.

The meal proceeded with minimal conversation, and Lisa hardly ate anything. When she seemed to have finished, Dale decided on a bold move. "Lisa," he said, "I understand you have a pool. Is it still open? Is it warm engough?" She nodded. "Why don't you go and get your suit on. I'll come and swim with you in a few minutes." Lisa looked to her mother for approval and got an uncertain nod.

When Lisa had left, Dale asked her parents "Have either of you posed for Lisa?"

"Oh, sure," Marilyn answered. "She's done lots of sketches and paintings of us."

"I mean 'undraped'," Dale added.

Husband and wife looked at each other quickly and blushed. "Oh, no. That wouldn't be appropriate," Barry said hurriedly.

Dale looked over at Catherine and then Caroline and received almost imperceptible nods. "Hmmmmm. I would think that for the sake of her potential future, you might want to redefine what is appropriate. You are both attractive people. You would make good subjects, and you are readily available."

Barry was obviously pissed and started to stand up. "Now wait a minute. You have no right to say something like that to us!"

Dale bristled a little, but kept his voice calm as he retorted. "Look, I don't want to offend you, but I was put into the middle of Lisa's situation. You were willing to use me as an anatomy lesson to get her used to cocks and balls. I think that gives me the right to say what I did."

"But parents and children shouldn't be ... I mean we need to maintain modesty," Marilyn objected.

"All I know is that if I was the artist and I needed a nude woman, my mother would pose without any hesitation," Dale asserted.

"Are the two of you pretty casual about nudity?" Marilyn asked.

"No. We live in a very small apartment, so there is not much privacy, but we do not expose ourselves to each other on purpose."

Barry had sat down again, but he was obviously upset. "So, how would you feel if your mother was in the studio when you posed?" He probably thought he had scored a big point.

"I wish she could be there," Dale said honestly. "If I could look in her face, it would be a lot easier to get past the shock and embarrassment."

"You're kidding!" Barry said.

"Not at all. Last night in bed, I was feeling bad about exposing myself to Catherine and the others. I wish Mom could have been the first one to see me. We have always been modest around each other and there has never been a reason to display our bodies. Now, I have to strip to make money that I badly need. There's a reason for other people to see me naked. I wish Mom could have been the first."

Dale heard sniffling from either Catherine or Caroline and Marilyn said "I don't know how you can say that. It has to be so embarrassing to bare yourself to someone you live with - someone who sees you all the time. How can you act normally around them after that?"

"Maybe you should ask Caroline that," Dale said. "You're getting into psychology that's beyond me. All I know is that no one loves me like Mom does. She would never do anything to hurt or embarrass me. Maybe you just have to work out a different 'normal', maybe a closer, more intimate one."

"Why are you wasting your time studying economics?" Caroline quipped.

Apparently, Catherine had had this discussion with Marilyn and Barry before, and she jumped in. "The way you handle that is to keep the nudity strictly in the studio. Walk in with a robe on, just like a professional model would."

"I mean no disrespect, Catherine, but that won't cut it with Lisa. For someone older, it might. She told me that she would be shaking so hard she wouldn't be able to draw if a naked man was posing. You knew that. That's why you wanted me naked for her at breakfast. She needs to see enough dicks so that they are no longer a shock to her."

Now it was Catherine who gave out the big sigh. "You're right, of course. I'm really sorry, Dale. I ... I just didn't think this through enough. And Marilyn and Barry, I'm sorry, too, for messing up Lisa's chance. I know she was hoping, even if she was really nervous about it."

Dale knew what he wanted to do, but he was still working up the courage to do it. He looked around at the others at the table, particularly at Lisa's parents, trying to decide if his bold move was worth trying. The downcast, thoughtful looks on the parents' faces told him that the were ripe for change. After another long pause, he made his decision.

"OK, everyone, let's not have a funeral here. I'll make a deal. I'll pose for Lisa..." he waited for the reactions, which he got, "but there are some serious conditions." He waited again, wanting someone to ask what the conditions were.

It was Marilyn who bit. "Wh ... what conditions?"

"You and Barry and I are going to go over and swim with Lisa, like I said I would. We're going to splash each other, Barry and I are going to throw you gals, we're going to do chicken fights - all the normal pool stuff. Is that OK?"

This was going to be terribly hard for Dale to do, but he still found himself having a little fun. He caught a glimpse of Caroline and he could tell that she knew what was coming. "S ... sure. That sounds fine," Barry said. "What other conditions?"

"Oh, the condition. Barry, you and I will be bare-assed."

"Whaaaattt?" Barry shouted. His shout was punctuated by Marilyn's gasp.

"That's crazy. I can't do that," Barry almost shouted.

"Just so everything is on the table," Dale continued, "the other condition is that Barry, Marilyn, and I will all pose undraped in Catherine's studio after our nice swim. We'll pose separately, of course, and I'll leave while Marilyn poses."

Barry was just shaking his head and Marilyn was staring at him in open-mouthed astonishment. "If you don't agree, I'll go and swim with Lisa for a while, but in shorts. There must be some men's shorts around somewhere. Lisa will never see my dick.

"Catherine and Caroline, would you come in the house with me a help me find some shorts? That will let Barry and Marilyn discuss the importance of Lisa's art career versus the sanctity of his dick."

Not taking any chances, Dale grabbed each of the women by the hand and led them to the house. "You knew what I was going to do, didn't you?" he asked Caroline.

"How did you ever come up with that?" she asked in response.

"Well, it started when I was angry," he answered. "They were all down because I wouldn't wave my dick for Lisa, but they wouldn't even consider baring themselves. That seemed sort of selfish to me."

"But you'll end up naked with Lisa after all."

"Yeah. I barely met her, but she seems like a really nice girl. She was so disappointed - guess I'm a sucker for tears."

"Fortunately for us women," Caroline laughed, "most men are. But don't you still think it's wrong to be exposed to her?"

"Yes, but skinny dipping is sort of, I don't know, excusable? And it will just be in the pool and when posing. Besides, Barry will take over after that."

"Do you really think he will do it again?" Catherine asked.

"Tears, remember?" That brought laughter from both sisters.

"Guess I'd better find those shorts," Catherine said.

"Don't bother," Dale said. "He'll do it. Let's watch from here where they can't see us."

A few minutes later, Marilyn walked off toward their house and the three watchers went out to talk to Barry. "Did she leave angry?" Catherine asked.

"No," Barry answered. "She thought it would be best to tell Lisa what was going to happen."

"And what is going to happen?" Caroline asked.

"I'm going to do it - Dale's conditions." Turning to Dale, Barry said "'The sanctity of my dick' - where the hell did you come up with that?" When Dale just shrugged, Barry said "Well, Marilyn wouldn't let go of that. She practically threatened divorce if I didn't do it."

"So you think you will be doing something wrong?" Caroline asked, quite obviously adopting her shrink role.

"Yeah, I do," Barry admitted, "but damn, Dale! You really hit us hard, there. Problem is, you were right. I love that girl so much. She really is more important than my dick. I have to believe Catherine that this is crucial for her, so I'm viewing it as my duty."

"But not a privilege?" Caroline prodded.

"In my heart, I know it's a privilege, but my gut is tied in knots," Barry said.

"And the skin of your ball sac is squirming and tingling, right?" Dale asked.

Barry's head snapped toward Dale and he blushed brightly. Catherine released a giggle.

"Catherine!" Caroline snapped. "You've underestimated how difficult it is for a man to display his genitals once today. Don't do it again. Barry is doing something courageous. He should have our support, not giggles."

Dale was surprised at Caroline's stern rebuke and wondered if that was a big sister thing. For her part, Catherine was very contrite and rushed to give Barry a hug.

"I don't know how I'm going to do this," Barry said. "What if I get, you know, aroused? I mean, I shouldn't think of my daughter that way, but I can't help it."

"Marilyn will probably wear that thong bikini, too," Catherine added.

"Oh, God! What have I gotten into?" Barry moaned.

"Barry, we've been through this same problem with Dale," Caroline said. "Men always think the world will end if they get an erection where anyone can see it."

"But she's my daughter!"

"Does she know what an erection is?" Caroline demanded. He nodded.

"Will she think you are going to rape her if she sees you get one?" He shook his head.

"Will she think you're a pervert?" Another shake of the head.

"Will she love you less?" More negative response.

"Here's what will happen," Caroline explained. "She will feel sympathetic because she knows it will embarrass you. At the same time she will be thrilled because she has been dying of curiosity about cocks and balls, as Dale put it, for years. Her nipples will stiffen and her little vagina will drool because she will think maybe she helped to cause it.

"Most of all, though, Barry, she will fall head over heels in love with her handsome, brave father who is willing to do this for her."

"You think so?" Barry asked, then with a glance at Dale added "Do you think she'll even notice me with Schwartzenegger here in the same pool?" That made them all laugh.

"Here's what you need to do," Caroline said, clearly in charge, "You take the powder room, Barry, and you use the upstairs bathroom, Dale. Undress and relieve yourselves to reduce the risk of erections. Then walk over together naked. Catherine and I will go up to her bedroom and promise not to look."

"You mean ... you mean masturbate?"

"Unless you want me to call Marilyn over to take care of it. I really think you should minimize the arousal risk."

"Ohhhhhh! I guess you're right. Uh, you two stay right here. Catherine will see me anyway when I pose, and you're a doctor. I guess a little shock would be a good thing before I face Lisa."

Dale hurried so he could be waiting for Barry. When he got to the patio, Caroline told him "Go back in and pretend you're not done yet. Make Barry wait at least two or three minutes for you. It will be good for him to have to talk to us naked."

Dale picked a place where he could see the patio but not be seen. He would have laughed at the way Barry reacted when he first walked out to face the women. He would have laughed, except that he remembered clearly how he had felt just the night before. After a few minutes, Barry looked around for him, so he walked out and they headed across the yard for the pool.

Dale made a little mistake. He was so focused on Barry and what was happening to him that the first sight of mother and daughter in their swimsuits almost caused him to erect. It was a very good thing that he had just come. Even so, he was not completely flaccid, although there was zero chance that Lisa would notice. She was transfixed, staring open-mouthed at Barry's crotch.

Fearing his own embarrassment, Dale did not wait around to see how father and daughter were faring. He saw that Marilyn was staring at his cock with a little smirk. With a quick glance toward her husband, she did a little pirouette on tiptoes, showing that she was indeed wearing her thong suit. Knowing that the odds were too great, Dale dashed to the pool and dove in, hopefully before he reached full inflation.

When Dale heard the splash next to him, he knew it must be Barry, fleeing for the same reason. "Staring at it is almost as bad as touching it sometimes," he said to Barry in commiseration.

For the next half hour, they did all of the typical pool things. Dale carried first Lisa, then Marilyn for chicken fights. With Marilyn's bare ass on his shoulders, he had to stay in fairly deep water. It was for sure that Marilyn saw his problem, but Lisa was probably too intent on the struggle.

When they all left the pool, Barry went into the house to dress, since he had not brought his clothes from Catherine's house. Marilyn saw Lisa hurry in after him and appeared ready to stop her, but flopped down on a lounger instead. She asked Dale to take the one beside her.

"You're not worried about what she's doing in there?" Dale asked.

"Probably begging to watch him dress. That's what I would have done at that age."

"Did you get to see your father naked?"

"Not that he knew about. I have two brothers. They made holes in the bathroom to spy on me and my mother. The price of not telling when I caught them was letting me spy on Dad."

" ... And your brothers?"

"I never managed to pull that off."

"So, is this new body openness going to cause problems in your family?" he asked.

"Well, we have to decide how we're going to handle it," she answered. "I mean, Barry is not just going to walk around bottomless all the time. The pool will have to be closed soon, so there goes the perfect place for 'education'. I think we'll deal with it OK. Lisa certainly doesn't seem traumatized at all."

"Who's the artist? You or Barry?"

"Why do you ask that?"

"An extreme talent is usually passed down from one parent or the other."

"I guess that would be me, but I'm nowhere near her."

"Have you done Barry 'undraped'?"

Marilyn did nothing but giggle in response.

-------

The posing for Lisa was for sketches, and Dale did the first twenty-minute sitting. Catherine was right over Lisa's shoulder the whole time, making occasional comments. Barry and Marilyn were seated in the room.

To begin the session, Dale went behind the screen and donned the robe, which he dropped before posing. Catherine insisted that he do everything just as he would on Monday. Afterward, he left the robe behind the screen and walked out.

Barry went next, the only difference being that he started out dressed.

When Barry went back to get dressed, Dale slipped out and went to help Catherine fix a late lunch. When the whole family came out of the studio, the beam from Lisa's face was enough to make any male do just about anything she asked for.

-------

Badly needing to spend some solid study time, Dale took his lunch to a desk and hit the books for a few hours. He assumed that he was not done being exposed to people for the day, so he was not surprised to hear the doorbell late in the afternoon.

Surprising himself with his boldness, he called out "I'll be right there," and walked to the entryway where Catherine was waiting for him. "I suppose there is someone else that wants to see my dick," he joked.

"Oh, Dale, it's not just that. You know why I'm doing this. From this morning, I'd say you're making great progress. Let's see who's here."

It was a shock, but after a moment's consideration, it was not a surprise that his mother came through the door. He should have guessed that this was another stop that Catherine would pull out to get him to pose, although his reasoning was not entirely correct. He noticed Caroline behind his mother, but was too pre-occupied to think anything of it.

There was only a fraction of a second for any such deliberation or speculation, though. Muriel almost bowled over her son with the ferocity of her charge, and soon, her tears were running down his shoulder. Despite his nakedness, she hugged herself tightly to him as she sobbed out her joy at seeing him. It had been over two months, and after the constant closeness and support for each other of the previous terrible years, it had seemed interminable.

Catherine just stood and watched with a smile on her face. After a couple of minutes, Muriel let go of Dale and went to hug her host. When she had finished greeting Catherine, she turned back to Dale. Putting her hands on on his upper arms, she looked him up and down, making no attempt to avoid his crotch. "Caroline said I should look right at it. She said you need to get used to that," Muriel said with an apologetic look on her face.

He could hardly believe himself when he teased "You mean you didn't want to?"

"Honeyyyyyy!" After her obligatory objection, Muriel looked right at his crotch again and admitted "Of course I did. You're SUCH a man! You're going to be fine for Monday, aren't you?"

"I don't know. This is all like some sort of a dream," Dale answered. "When I get to school on Monday, I may wake up and freak out."

"Dale, stop talking like that," Catherine scolded.

"When it looked like everything was falling apart this morning," Caroline said, "I decided I needed the shock troops."

"I got a call from her office manager," Muriel recounted, "telling me a cab would pick me up in fifteen minutes. "I just barely made the flight. I'm glad you didn't need me, but I'm thrilled to be here."

Not worrying about his nakedness or anything else, Dale engulfed his mother and told her "You can't imagine how much I need you. Now that you're here, I'm sure I'll make it."

"So, is that it for today's surprises?" he asked after he released Muriel from the hug.

"Welll, not exactly," Catherine said softly.

-------

"I've invited Carla, her husband, Caroline's other daughter Claire, Claire's husband, Jolene, and Lisa and her parents," Catherine explained about dinner.

"Lisa? But I thought it was settled that only when I was posing..."

"Honey, just go with it for the weekend," his mother urged. "It won't hurt the girl. Just call this, I don't know, a time-capsule or something. It's like there is a different set of rules right now."

Dale could do nothing but accede to his mother's request. Besides, he finally thought about all of the others he would have to face, including three that he had never met. The presence of the two men he found surprisingly disturbing. "That's ... that's eleven!" he said in shock.

"It could be a hundred, Honey, and you could still do it. Catherine and Caroline know what they're doing. All of these people are here to help you. They admire what you're doing. And the women ... I'll have to fight them off of you!"

Dinner turned out to be a barbecue. Muriel stayed as close to Dale as she could get, drawing many warm smiles from the others. Dale felt himself entering a real twilight zone.

Lisa proved her credentials to Muriel just a little later. Muriel was looking at Dale with an expression of unrestrained love and admiration, and Lisa caught it. Instantly, she had her sketch pad in hand and lost in concentration, she drew. "Mrs. Rubens, can you look at Dale like you were a minute ago? I mean the same position. I got your expression already."

More than a little surprised, Muriel complied and they held the pose for a few minutes. When she was finished, Lisa handed Muriel the page from her pad and mother and son both gasped at what she had drawn. Muriel's expression was captured so beautifully that it brought her to tears.

"Lisa," Dale asked. "Would you please sign and date this. Someday, it will be Mom's retirement fund." With a nervous giggle, Lisa did as he had asked.

-------

At bedtime, Catherine surprised them. "You two are sleeping in the master suite. It has a king bed and it's own bathroom."

"But we can't..." Muriel started to object.

"Sure you can. In that bed, you can be almost as far apart as in your little apartment," Catherine quipped. "I'm not worried about you doing anything wrong, not that I would care if you did. I just think this is a highly emotional time for you two, a time when you should be together." Her tone made it clear that this was a done deal. Dale had gotten used to her calling the shots for the weekend, so he did not object. Muriel was so grateful for the unexpected chance to see Dale that she did not object, either.

The years in their tiny apartment had made them comfortable being in close quarters. Of course, Dale's nudity made things more than a little different, but things were not strained. These were two people who were about as close emotionally as a mother and son can get.

"So, Mom, you're really OK with your son hanging his dick out in front of an art class?"

She treated the question very seriously, thinking carefully before she answered. "No, I'm not OK with it. I wish you didn't have to do it. I wish we had your dad back. I wish his big deal had made us all of that money. I wish we had back all of the things we lost, but this is where we are.

"I wish I could do more, but I can't. I'm proud of you for doing what has to be done. I'm proud of your beautiful body - every single bit of it. I think it should be worth a lot more than $25 a sitting, but it's what we can get. If you have to 'hang your dick out', your lovely dick, I'll be your biggest supporter. Does it, um, make it harder, I mean more difficult when I see you naked?"

"You know, my first reaction was that I couldn't stand it if you saw me. After some things that happened, though, I realize how silly that is. In a way, no one should have seen me until you did. I mean, as close as we are - the way we share things..."

Dale had never been stingy with affectionate statements and actions, but that affirmation hit Muriel very hard. She broke into sobs and threw herself on top of him. He hugged her, stroked her, and generally comforted her.

When she was cried out, she asked "Did you really mean it - that I should have been the first?"

"Yeah, I wish you had been. I would never have just bared it for you, though."

"Well, we have caught glimpses now and then, you know," she said as she sat up, turned on the light, and pulled the covers off of him.

"What... ?"

"I know Catherine and that girl, Jolene, saw you hard last night. I don't think anyone else should until I get to," Muriel said firmly.

"Maybe it will never happen," he said, forcing himself to lie on his back just as he was.

"Honey, if I know Catherine, she will make sure some more people see you hard before Monday."

"Y ... you think so? Why would she do that?"

"She is determined to get you ready for posing. She does not want the first class to be so traumatic for you."

"Well, I'm not sure that's possible. But getting me hard on purpose for someone to see! That's ... that's..."

"That's what you fear the most, isn't it?" she asked.

"Yeah," he admitted.

"If you get past your worst fear, the first class should be easier. See, if it never happened to you, you would be worrying about it every time you posed."

"What makes you think I wouldn't worry even if it did happen?" he queried.

"The fear of something unknown would be worse. If it preys on your mind, it could arouse you," she explained.

"That's right, you took psychology before you dropped out of school, didn't you?" he asked.

"And I loved it. I'm, uh, afraid all the psychology degrees in the world couldn't help me right now, though."

"What do you mean?"

"I've, uh, got this struggle going on as I look at your body. We've always been respectful and pretty modest. At least as modest as we could be in close quarters," she said softly.

"I guess that's pretty well ended, isn't it? The modesty, I mean," he quipped.

"We were kind of forced into it, weren't we?" she mused. "Honey, I don't think you can understand how a mother feels looking at the body of her adult son."

"Looking at my body, or mostly looking at my penis?" he asked. "I always wonder what women are most interested in when they see a naked man."

Muriel paused for quite a while before answering, debating with herself over how honest and revealing she should be.

"Mom, I'm not hiding anything here. Just tell me what you're thinking."

"I can't speak for all women, but I have to admit that a man's penis is by far the most intriguing part of his body. When your dad..."

"Honesty, Mom."

" ... when he was alive, I was fascinated by it. I would fall asleep at night holding it. Almost every night, I would fondle it, usually getting him hard."

"So the term I've heard, 'penis envy', is real?"

"Hmmmm. I hate to admit it, but probably so," she replied. "You see, that," and she pointed at his crotch, "is what will spread part of me, my genes, across the gene pool. In a sense, birthing a son, a cock, makes me kind of eternal. Oh, I'm psycho-babbling now. Sorry!"

"Why sorry? Uh, this talk about, uh, is getting to me. I'd better cover up."

"Sweetie, I said I wanted to see it hard before anyone else did."

"But it's ... it's..."

"It's embarrassing. Sure it is," she said. "my guess is that for you, for any man, the only part that you worry about exposing is your privates, right?"

"Um, yeah, I guess. Not that I have much experience to go on."

"Tell me: if you could wear a jock or a thong brief, would posing be as difficult for you?"

"No, you're right. It wouldn't."

"I've heard that a man's whole persona centers around his sex, so that makes lots of sense," she said.

"Mom, do you realize how weird this is - me lying here naked, talking about this stuff?"

"Do you realize how weird it was for me when Catherine called and said she wanted my son to pose naked for her classes?"

"So, you're saying the rules have changed?"

"We need to come up with some new rules," she said, "and pretty quickly. Right now, I'm struggling with the urge to reach out and touch you to make you hard."

"'Fraid I'm no help in that struggle," he said, then "uh, guess you didn't need to touch it."

"Doesn't stop me from wanting to," she complained.

Suddenly, she stood up and shed her sleep clothes. She stood facing him with her arms at her sides and said "Somewhere in this posing, you're going to be with a naked woman. I want to be your first. Am I?"

He could only nod, triggering an ear-to-ear smile from her. She turned all the way around slowly, then got on her knees beside him on the bed.

"You really are beautiful, Mom."

"Thanks, Baby. That means a lot to me. Is it as hard as it gets?" He grunted 'Huh, uh', and she begged "Honey, please! You do it. Make it nice and hard for me."

"What? You want me to... ?"

"Please!"

-------

How much upheaval could Dale absorb in thirty-some hours? Almost everything that had happened since Catherine approached him was without precedent in his experience. That meant it was without established rules and without prior agreement between him and his mother. They were ethical, moral people, and much of what was going on fell outside of their previous view of morality.

Dale's problem at the moment was his pent-up, suppressed arousal from his day of exposure. He wanted his mother to touch him, stroke him, jack him off in the worst way. He needed relief! In fact, he rocketed to a full, pulse-pounding erection without even touching himself after her plea. The urge to cover himself was almost unbearable, but he was looking at her face, seeing the love, the pride, the need. He was looking at her nipples, dark and distended at the end of her gracefully hanging breasts. He was looking at the hint of pubic hair peaking up from between her closed legs at the base of her pleasingly soft belly. He forced himself to lie quietly under her rapt gaze.

"Oh, Honey! Thank you!" she said with moist eyes. "It is so beautiful! So magnificent! So ... so powerful!"

"Sorry, Mom, but I really need to come. I'll be right back."

"No! Make it come for me! Right here! It's something I can really be the first to see."

"Mo-om! That's ... that's ... I don't think I can..."

"Sweetie, I can tell. You're almost coming without touching, you're so worked up. It would be so awesome if I could see it." When she leaned over and kissed him lightly, a tear dropped onto his cheek, one nipple brushed against his arm, and he was lost.

She was right. He was more than ready. It took only a half-dozen strokes before he was writhing and arching his back as jets of semen streaked all the way up to his pecs. When the last dribbles oozed onto his pubic hair, he collapsed back onto the bed and she kissed him firmly.

In a flash, she had fetched a rag and towel and was tenderly cleaning him up. He had tried to watch her flexing bottom as she scampered to the bathroom, but he could hardly focus. She scrupulously avoided touching his organ as she washed him, although her hand fairly twitched with the urge to fondle and caress it.

When he was cleaned up, she stretched out beside him and stroked his face and his hair, not saying anything. He was the one to break the silence. "Why don't I feel more guilty about doing that?" he gasped.

"Maybe we haven't had a chance to rethink what is right and wrong," she answered. "Or maybe what we thought was right and wrong wasn't correct. I don't feel guilty, either. I feel privileged, and I feel incredibly proud."

As his strength returned, they talked, much as they had always done. After several minutes, though, the talk took another radical departure. "Sweetie, one come probably isn't enough, is it?"

"Uh ... well..." The fact that he started to swell at just the question indicated that it was indeed not enough.

"Do it again for me. Please!"

"It ... it would take quite a while."

"Perfect. Get it hard while we talk."

"What about you? Can't I do something for you?"

"Oh, Baby, let's not even worry about that tonight. This weekend is about you and your body and how much I love you and how proud of you I am."

By then, any restraints had disappeared, swept away by her overwhelming love and pride. He did as she asked and they managed to talk for many minutes while he stroked just enough to keep it rigid. Finally, the urge overpowered him. He stopped talking and worked frantically to bring himself off.

When he got serious, she put her hand on his chest and stroked. When she stopped to tease a nipple, he went off. His second load was not much less than the first, but afterward, he was barely aware of her cleaning him. He somehow noticed that she first wiped a large glob from her hand. After putting on her sleep clothes and turning off the light, she pulled the covers over them and snuggled close.



-------

Chapter 3


Sunday morning, Caroline was there with Catherine when Muriel and Dale came down to breakfast. After greetings, they ate and chatted. When Dale needed to study, Caroline said "That's fine. I want to talk to Muriel for a while."

"This is not an official consultation, Muriel, and you won't be charged for it. Care to tell me what happened in bed last night?" Caroline started right in when the two women were alone.

Muriel hesitated at first, but assured that strict confidentiality applied, she gave Caroline a detailed account.

"Did you want to do more than that?" Carol asked.

"Desperately!"

"And you didn't because... ?"

"Well, it would be wrong!" Muriel exclaimed. "I feel guilty about what I did do.

"And how did you decide that it was wrong?"

"Are you trying to tell me that it was not wrong?" Muriel asked, incredulously.

"I will not try to make any judgments or lay down any rules for you. What I will try to do is help you to make decisions about right and wrong that you can live with. I know that this whole business with Dale nude has been traumatic for both of you. I'm sure that just seeing him naked broke some of your previous rules.

"Tell me, what was your reaction when you heard that he had been naked with Catherine, Carla, Jolene, and myself?"

"I was very, very jealous," Muriel admitted. "I wished I could have been the first to see him."

"Did you tell him that?" When Muriel nodded, Caroline continued "And what was his reaction?"

"He said he wished that, too."

"Do you think he was being sincere?"

"Oh, yes," Muriel answered quickly. "He would never lie to me about that. In fact, he said the same thing about when he was hard."

"He said that at breakfast yesterday, too," Caroline revealed. "So, you got to be the first to see him ejaculate, at least," Carol said. "Do you think he was happy about that?"

Muriel related Dale's comment about not feeling guilty. "Am I correct that Dale is completely inexperienced with women?" Caroline asked and Muriel nodded.

"So, do you want to be the first to touch him?" Muriel nodded hesitantly. "The first to make him ejaculate?" Another nod. "The first to have intercourse with him?"

"Oh, no! Not that!" Muriel answered quickly.

"Why not?"

"That should be just for husband and wife. Or at least possible husbands and wives."

"So, you don't see you and Dale living as man and wife," Carol probed.

"I want to find another husband, and he should find a girl for himself," Muriel said. "After last night, I think I am ready to date again."

Caroline would have probed further into Muriel's sexual feelings for Dale, but her answers had been so strong that she did not feel the need. "Do you want to give him a blowjob?" Carol asked.

That made Muriel pause for just a moment. "No. That's for marriage, too."

"OK," Carol said. "Now, let's assume that it is OK for you to masturbate him. What would be your reasons for doing it? What would you be feeling as you did it?"

"Oh, wow!" Muriel exclaimed. "I love him a lot. I know it would make him feel good, and I would like to give him that feeling. I know this whole nudity business is stressful for him, and I want to help any way I can."

"Except for a blowjob or intercourse, you mean?" Caroline probed.

"That would be too much. I think he would feel the same way," Muriel explained.

"What else would you feel as you stroked him and made him ejaculate?"

"There would be a sexual thrill, obviously. I couldn't help that," Muriel admitted.

"What else?"

Muriel could not come up with another response, so Caroline went on. "You brought a male child into the world. You did your part to propagate the species. As you stroked his erection, you would be celebrating the magnificent, virile man that you produced. When he ejaculated, it would be a joyful statement that you had fulfilled an important part of your female obligation and fulfilled it extremely well."

Muriel sat transfixed, her mouth hanging open, staring at Caroline. Finally, she stammered out "Ev ... every mo ... mother of a son should t ... talk to you."

"Did I capture your feelings?"

"Yes, but I didn't realize just how I felt until you said it," Muriel breathed out. "You ... you're saying it's OK for me to masturbate him?"

"Muriel, I won't say that. I will tell you that you have a clearly understood set of limits to what you would ever consider doing. I will also caution you that if you should take that step, that it must be in a context that is beneficial for and agreeable to both of you.

"Let me give you an example of what should never happen. If Dale expected you to relieve him every morning or on demand, for instance, that would be totally wrong. That is obligation, not celebration, and certainly not showing love, at least from his side. It smacks of dominance and bondage."

"I see what you mean, but I could never see Dale doing that."

"Of course not. Let me give you a different example. If whenever you got horny, you asked him to let you masturbate him, that would be bad. You would be making him a toy, dominating him."

Looking at Caroline carefully, Muriel asked "Are these things that you have run across in your practice?"

"More times than you would believe," Caroline affirmed. "There is one more point I want to make. If you and he feel that you should be the first to touch him, you need to know that Catherine plans..." She went on to tell Muriel what would be happening that afternoon, swearing her to secrecy.

-------

"I thought you'd want to talk to me next," Dale said as he joined Caroline on the patio. "How many other naked men have you done sessions with?"

With a hearty laugh, Caroline said "You're the first."

"I guess you want to talk about what Mom and I did last night, huh? Is she upset? She didn't seem like it."

"She's not upset about what you did, Dale, but she is uncertain about how much more you should do."

"Oh. And you want to see how I feel about doing more?"

Caroline started asking the same questions that she had posed to Muriel and she was very pleased to get very similar answers. "All right, let's suppose that your mother is masturbating you. What would you be feeling about..."

"Uh, Doc, can I get a towel?"

"No, Dale. You know by now that this whole weekend is conditioning. Catherine wants to get you over as much body-consciousness as possible before Monday. Since the biggest fear of male models is erections, that's part of what you need to get past."

"I know, but having to sit here and talk to you with it waving around! I mean, I know it's distracting for me. I must be for you, too."

"Oh, it's definitely distracting. Learn one thing well, Dale. It is rare that a woman will be offended by the sight of an erection, as long as it is in an appropriate context."

"Appropriate?"

"That mostly means non-threatening and not embarrassing. I am thoroughly enjoying looking at your erection - your cock. Now back to the question. How would you be feeling about your mother. Why do you think she would be masturbating you?"

Answering intelligently was no small feat for Dale due to the redirection of blood to his cock. He could not help squirming in his chair as Caroline's question and his own thoughts just increased his stiffness. "She, um, loves me a lot. I know that. She would do anything to help me. Also, she seems to be, um, fascinated by my ... cock."

Caroline went on to explain what she had told Muriel, all of which served to further stress his bloated shaft. When she was done, she said "You stay here. I'll send your mom out and you two can talk. The neighbors are away, so you can't be seen."

It took several minutes before Muriel arrived, but he hardly receded at all. The temptation to stroke himself to completion was almost irresistible, but he held off. Jerking off out in the open was not something he was ready for.

He might as well have been ready. When Muriel arrived, coming from behind him, she leaned over his chair and hugged him firmly. Then, she moved around in front of him, put a folded towel on the patio, pushed his legs apart, and knelt between them.

She was panting all the while and he was too aroused and too fascinated to raise any kind of objection. He was sitting back in the chair a ways so she could only reach his shaft easily. That was enough. She grasped him firmly near the base with one hand and began stimulating the flaming head with the other. When she started stroking up and down with the lower hand, it took only a few strokes before he erupted.

She held him straight up and kept up the stimulation until all of his load was on his crotch and thighs or on her hands. After his first two spurts, she started shaking and jerking. He could feel it on his cock, but the reason did not register through his orgasmic haze, and she controlled herself enough not to hurt him.

When his breathing had steadied a bit, she still seemed out of it. "Are you OK, Mom? You look ... flushed."

Her immediate reaction was embarrassment, but she was alert enough to realize how silly that was, in light of everything that had happened. "I came," was all she said, then forced herself to her feet to fetch the clean up rag and towel that she had left behind him.

They were silent as she cleaned him up. Then, she held out her hand and helped him to his feet. She guided him to a cushioned chaise lounge and laid him down so his ass was barely on the end. Retrieving her kneeling towel, she spread his legs and knelt down again. His penis and testicles were unsupported and unobstructed before her and she took full advantage.

"Oh, Mom!" Dale moaned as she cradled him in both hands.

"Caroline called this celebrating, Honey. To me, it's more like worshipping. Is it OK?"

"Way beyond OK!"

In an upstairs window, Catherine and Caroline were watching discreetly, unseen by mother and son. "Should we really be voyeuring like this?" Catherine asked.

"I don't know about you, but I'm pretty starved for any sexual stimulation. Besides, I can call it patient follow-up," Caroline answered with a giggle.

"It really is something between them, isn't it?" Catherine observed.

"Dealing with tragedy like they have, it often either binds the survivors very tightly or forces them apart."

"Have I triggered something bad - something destructive for them?"

"No, I'm pretty sure not," Caroline said firmly. "They have the same limits, and they're very strong. As you can see, the love between them is so strong that they would avoid hurting each other, no matter what it took."

"That's good. I've felt a little guilty about the way I've dragged Dale into this," Catherine lamented.

"OK, Madame Artiste," Caroline teased. "Tell me that in your purely non-sexual appreciation of the human body that you don't wish you were down there in Muriel's place."

"Of course I wish that. I'm as sex-starved as you are, Sis, and I have never seen a body like that."

"Are you going to keep him around here? Are you going to bed him?" Caroline asked seriously.

"Don't I wish!" Catherine answered. "Why would he want me to be his first? Or his tenth or twentieth, for that matter?"

"So you would if you could?"

"I really like the boy, Sis," Catherine insisted. "I wouldn't want to hurt him. Or Muriel, either."

"I'm sure Muriel's going to get him off again. Think he'll still get it up this afternoon?" Carol asked.

"It won't really spoil things if he doesn't, so I'm not worried," Catherine assured her sister. "I don't know about you, but there is nothing that can get me away from here until he comes again."

-------

"Who are they?" Dale asked a little fearfully as Muriel held his hand in the bedroom. Catherine had just told him that he would be doing a sitting for a select group of her students.

"There are only three," Catherine answered. "I chose the ones that are the most kind and considerate. There is one guy and two girls. I'll introduce you to them after the sitting. Oh, Lisa will be there, too. I hope that's all right."

He nodded absently.

"I don't have a separate entrance behind the screen, so you will have to walk in the door wearing your robe. I don't want the students to see you naked except when you pose, OK?"

"Fine by me."

"I'll come and get you. It will probably be ten or fifteen minutes."

"I want you in the studio, Mom."

"Wouldn't miss it."

Just under two days was not nearly enough preparation, even with all of the other things that had happened. The fact of the three strangers in the room left him almost unable to walk as he entered the studio. Catherine saw his shaky state and helped him up on the stand, then helped him shed the robe. With a sudden inspiration, she whispered "Look at your Mom. I'll fix the first pose so you can keep your eyes on her. Just look how proud she is - how much she loves you."

The first pose had him looking off over the students, right at Muriel. It worked. He was able to maintain for twenty minutes and the shaking stopped. He was positioned so that his crotch was not exposed to the students, so there was minimal threat of arousal.

Before dismissing the students for a break, Catherine helped him on with his robe and led him back behind the screen. Ignoring the possible reaction from the students, Muriel joined him and enfolded him in a hug.

For the second pose, Catherine had him face-on to the students, with everything on display. Knowing that he would get no more practice, she felt she had to do it. Fortunately, he could again focus on Muriel, and the sitting went better than the first.

Druing the second break, Catherine delivered the shocker. As he and Muriel were once again cuddling, she led Jolene behind the screen, clad in a robe. It took only a glance for Dale to understand what she had in mind.

"Catherine, I can't..."

"Why not? What's the worst that could happen?" Catherine asked gently.

"I could get ... get hard!"

"So?"

"But, I couldn't stand that!"

"If it happens," Catherine said, "the worst will be over and there will be nothing more to worry about."

"But she'll be naked, and I ... I..."

"You've hardly been with a naked woman and you don't know how you'll react. We know, Dale. I chose the three students because they won't ridicule or even talk about anything that happens. To tell the truth, I hope it happens so you can get past it."

Dale looked around almost frantically. Once again, his eyes settled on his mother's. There was that same love, pride, and encouragement. She wanted him to do it. The slump of his shoulders was his surrender, but everyone understood it.

"Wait!" he said suddenly. "Lisa! She shouldn't see this!"

Catherine let out a sigh. "I agree, but her dad does not. He's probably right. Given her talent, we shouldn't hold her back from anything relating to her art."

Catherine made absolutely sure it would happen. He was positioned facing almost full-on to the students, standing. Jolene was pressed against the side of him away from the students, also mostly facing them. Their back arms were around each other.

That was enough to get him swelling already, but Catherine was not done. She took Jolene's hand and placed it to cup his balls. Her head was against his shoulder but she was looking right at his erection. His head was tilted to lean against hers. It was touching and erotic, and Muriel had silent tears leaking down her cheeks as she watched from the back.

"See, you're still alive and still standing," Jolene said quietly. "I've been in this situation before. God, your balls feel nice! Be proud of what you've got. Tell yourself that the students are privileged to see it. They are, you know."

It was quite remarkable that Dale had never felt a bare female breast against him. All in all, he handled it quite well. He never lost the blush on his face, and his hardon never went down. Jolene made sure of that, stroking behind his scrotum with one finger if he showed any sign of receding. For most of the sitting, his cock was painfully swollen, bobbing with his pulse.

When that last sitting was over, he collapsed in a chair behind the screen. "Should I help you with that?" Jolene offered.

"He was able to look up at her and say "No. But thank you for offering."

To Catherine, he said "Did you have to make it that bad?"

She knelt by him and said "I am so proud of you. That was tough, you're right. I can guarantee that you will never have to do anything that erotic in class."

"Then, why?"

"Like I told you. I want everything to seem easier starting tomorrow. It's better for my class and better for you. It's over now. Come out and meet the students."

"I can't, I can't. Not after..."

She wasn't having any of that and tried to pull him to his feet. When Muriel joined her, he gave in and got to his feet. Fortunately, his erection had gone down.

All three of the students were very cordial and they all expressed their thanks for his willingness to model for them. They also complimented him on his body.

As the students were leaving, he was standing by himself for a moment. One of them, a dark haired, extremely thin girl with bright, piercing eyes, came back to him. She looked him right in the eye and he could feel compassion and admiration from her. "That took some kind of courage," she said.

"Courage? I was scared stiff," he retorted.

"But you did it. Who was that other woman in the room? She looks like she could be ... No! Is she really?"

"I couldn't get through it without her here."

"Having your mother see you made it easier?! Even when you got ... got ... aroused?! Unbelievable!!"

"We've been through a lot together," he tried to explain. "No one cares for me more than she does."

"But ... but..." She could not come up with anything more to say and he saw moisture in her eyes and a definite look of pain. "See you tomorrow" she finally said as she turned away.

-------

The art class where Dale would do his first sitting was right after lunch. He was unable to stomach the cafeteria's offering. Actually, he was pretty useless for the entire morning.

The night before, the intensity between Dale and Muriel had risen to the point where they both felt the need to pull back a little. She took a flight early in the morning, after a very emotional goodbye.

As terrifying as the weekend had been for Dale at times, Catherine's strategy paid off. Even though there were eleven students in the class, he was shaking less than he had the afternoon before with only four students.

It would not be accurate to say that his first posing was anticlimactic, but it did not validate his worst fears at all. Instead of eating lunch, he had gone to his dorm room. Knowing that his roommate would be gone, he relieved himself, twice, as a precaution against the chance of an erection. Either the precaution worked, or there was never a real threat.

Twice he looked toward the skinny dark-haired girl - Faith, he remembered her name was. When he caught her eye, she fairly beamed out encouragement and sympathy.

Catherine put him in poses that were less 'blatant' than on Sunday, and that was helpful. When class was over, she surprised him when she said. "Meet me here at five for a ride back to my house. Bring your books."

"But I thought..."

"I want you even more 'bulletproof'. Some more exposure will be good for you," she said with a smile.

"How long?"

"Maybe until you graduate," she quipped.

-------

Faith Charles always made every effort to tell her mother as little as possible about what went on at school. That was not easy, given that her mother, Mercedes Thurston Charles, was of the founding family of the college and the effective ruling family of the town. As the sole heir to the Thurston fortune, that made Mercedes the de facto 'queen' of the town.

"That special session you went to at Claremont's house yesterday," Mercedes probed, "did it have anything to do with the new male model who posed today?"

Faith did not have to say anything, unable to keep the answer from her face. She also could not hide her reaction to just the thought of Dale's awesome body.

Faith was unquestionably a troubled, neurotic girl. Anorexia, or something similar, had kept her skin and bones since puberty. With almost no appeal to possible dates, her sexual experience was almost nil. Seeing Dale's erection was without question the highlight of her pitiful sexual life.

Faith was an unending concern to her mother. Mercedes had the best forty-seven-year-old body that an unending supply of money could buy, based on a very attractive, sexy natural body. With Faith's father being equally attractive, Mercedes believed that Faith could be a real beauty, a credit to the Thurston line. That she could not get the girl to put on any weight was the one big flaw in Mercedes' otherwise perfect life.

As far as Faith was concerned, Mercedes was anything but a perfect mother. She was extremely controlling, staunchly class-conscious, and a slut. Still married to Faith's father, Mercedes had gone through most of the desirable males in town, and Faith knew about it. In recent years, Mercedes had kept her cunt occupied with the prime studs from the school's male student population.

There were many advantages to using students to meet her sexual needs. They were eager and had staying power. They usually lacked technique, but more often than not, she preferred simple power fucking. There were also a few that could be trained in the finer points. Another advantage was that the students eventually went away, eliminating any unrealistic expectations.

A huge advantage was that she had total control of them. Because of the stranglehold she had on admissions, scholarships, and even grades, she got what she wanted. She could select the boys she wanted and coerce them into servicing her. To her credit, they were seldom sorry for the experience, either sexually or financially. Less to her credit, she could easily get an uncooperative partner out of school.

Faith's father, Maxwell (Max) Charles, had long ago accepted the sexual situation dictated by his wife. He was successful enough on his own not to need the Thurston money, but the influence and connections were valuable to him. Surprisingly, he and Mercedes got along quite well, and when she wanted a truly skillful sex partner, she always sought him out.

Max was not always receptive to his wife's advances, especially in recent years. After years of his wife's dalliances, he had acquired two very nice, long-term mistresses and in most respects, Mercedes did not measure up to them.

Faith was the middle of three children with older and younger brothers. They seemed unaffected by the strange dynamics of their family, just happy with the wealth that fate had made their lot. They were much like their father, and were actually pretty good guys.

Faith was far from unaffected by her family, mainly by her mother. In fact, her neurosis was primarily fueled by the unrealistic expectations and massive disapproval from Mercedes.

Just starting her sophomore year, Faith was nineteen, nearly twenty. She was majoring in accounting, but only after major battles with Mercedes. She had some artistic talent, and her presence in Catherine's class was a concession to Mercedes' desire for her to pursue something more 'ladylike'.

Mercedes had spent a fortune on analysis and treatment for Faith. Nothing worked, mainly because the 'professionals' either pulled their punches on the main reason for Faith's problems or she just disregarded any honest conclusion that she was the cause of her daughter's neuroses.

A big part of Mercedes' frustration over Faith was the girl's ineligibility for romance. Even the lure of the family fortune did not seem to be enough to attract guys to her. She had a lovely face and a kind, sweet spirit. As was true of most of their line, she had near-genius intelligence. There just weren't many college guys who could handle no tits, no ass, and almost all bones visible.

Faith was at something of a crossroads in her life. Up until that time, she had not sought independence, always feeling needy because of her condition and having no confidence that she could make it on her own. After a year of college, though, she was seeing her situation in a different light. It was harder and harder to stomach her mother's sex life, and she was beginning to understand how all of her problems came back to Mercedes' treatment of her. She still had no idea what she could do about it, and that just made things worse.

Unlike many very wealthy families, no guaranteed trusts were laid out a generation or more ahead. Max and Mercedes' children would be extremely well provided for, unless they fell out of their parents' favor. It was entirely possible for any of them to be completely cut off. Faith did not have to be very old before she clearly understood that threat.

-------

Dale had an open hour after his sitting, so he arrived at his next class early. Still in somewhat of a daze, he settled into a seat, only to be jarred alert by the skinny dark-haired girl sitting down beside him. He remembered that her name was Faith, but that was of not much interest to him right then. Knowing how the girl had seen him, especially the day before at Catherine's, he could not think of anything he could possibly say to her.

Faith, however, very much wanted to talk to Dale. She showed great sensitivity by starting the conversation with "Are you a transfer student? I haven't seen you on campus before."

"No. I'm a freshman," he was able to say.

"Then, why are you in a junior level accounting course?"

Before he knew it, he was telling Faith about the co-op courses he had taken and the others that he had found scholarships for.

"So, you'll graduate after only a couple of years, then?"

"No. I'm going for a double major in economics and accounting."

"Wow! How did you end up modeling for Catherine, then?"

Here, he would rather have ended the conversation, but there was just something guileless and non-threatening about the girl, so he told her "Need. My scholarship doesn't provide any extra, and we don't have much money."

Faith already knew that, but she could not let on. Caroline had never been one of her numerous therapists, but Faith had met Caroline through Catherine and Caroline had taken her on as an 'informal' project. Actually, she tried to act more as a friend and advisor than a therapist. Faith was one of very few people who had Caroline's wireless number.

Caroline had insisted that Faith promise to never reveal their relationship, and Faith had been eager to comply. The times that they met face-to-face had to be carefully arranged and staged.

Caroline had wondered whether she should reveal anything about Dale to the girl, but ended up answering all of Faith's questions. One of the things that Caroline dreaded was the all-too-real prospect of Faith becoming non-functional and having to be institutionalized. If some kind of a connection with a really nice guy could help to forestall the time when Mercedes drove her daughter to complete collapse, she would risk violating Dale's confidence. She was quite sure that Dale would endorse her decision.

Of course, it was hard for Caroline to imagine a more improbable match-up than Faith and Dale, so she went into it assuming that a simple friendship would be the best possible result. After all, Dale was gorgeous beyond belief, while Faith, though potentially very pretty, was a walking skeleton. Faith was a probable heir to a huge fortune, while Dale had to pose nude to survive and stay in school. Dale had the kind of drive and determination that only those who had to struggle for survival seemed to acquire. Faith was unable to marshall the will to object to her mother's mistreatment of her. The threat of losing her pampered lifestyle was something she could not bring herself to put at risk. She had an overly dependent personality. Whether that was because of her condition or had led to her condition was a question that had helped to keep several therapists in business.

There were, however, some areas where the two were quite similar. Both were highly intelligent. Both were sensitive, naturally caring people. Both were totally inexperienced with dating and romance.

Faith was absolutely smitten with Dale, but she had no illusions that there was any possibility of a romantic relationship. She knew the her sex appeal was near zero. It was another factor that just made her situation all the more distressing to her. The abusive control mania by her mother started the vicious cycle and triggered her eating disorder. The loss of her appealing feminine body features triggered depression which exacerbated her disorder. She was left with only her hair, her face, her smile, and her truly exceptional eyes as tools to attract a man.

Faith's expectations toward Dale were realistic. She expected only unrequited love. Sadly, that was still the most romantic thing that had ever happened to her.

After a few more questions from Faith, it was time for the class to start, so they could not talk any more. When it was over, she smiled at him and said "I have a long walk to my next class. See you on Wednesday."

-------

Although he was grateful for the job, Dale still felt a little competitive toward Catherine because of how she had maneuvered him. It was all good-natured, but he needed to 'score some points' against her somehow. Thinking that Jolene owed him, he set it up with her.

Having made sure that no one else was around, he waited for Jolene to leave Catherine's office, which she had entered on a fake pretext for him. Then, he stepped into the office, wearing only his shoes. "Ready when you are," he announced.

The timing was perfect, for her back was to him as she put something into a file cabinet. "I'm just finishing up, Dale. There, now we can ... OH!"

It had taken a lot more nerve than he had expected to drop his pants in such a public place, but her reaction was worth it. When she broke into laughter, he grabbed the clothes he had pushed through the door with his foot and put them on.

In the car, she told him "I'm serious about you needing more exposure, Dale. I'm afraid that if you just go in the way you are now, your grades will suffer because of the worry."

"Based on this morning, I couldn't argue with you," he admitted. "How do other models manage?"

"Remember, the others respond on their own."

"So the solution for me is to turn me into a nudist, huh?"

After a good chuckle, she said "Can I ask you a favor?"

"Should I be nervous?" he quipped.

"No. Well ... there's a local artist's group that I help out. Would you sit for them at my house? They can come up with the same $25 per sitting."

"I don't know how I can refuse you," he said seriously. "Tell you what. I'll do it for free until I've made up what you paid to bring Mom here."

"No, that's too much. I'll take two free, then we pay. Deal?"

Dale never had a chance to tell his roommate that he was basically moving out for a while, although he did catch him later that week. Word had gotten around about Jolene coming to his room to get his books, so the assumption was that he was shacking up with her. He decided that he did not need to correct that impression.

Over dinner that night, which Dale really demolished because of no lunch, she warned him "Word will get around pretty fast after today. This is a small school, you know. Not all of the reactions will be polite or positive. Are you ready for same nasty shots?"

"I've never been too concerned about people's opinions of me," he answered.

"Except when they see your hardon," she couldn't resist jibing. "Expect some pretty brazen come-ons from some of the girls."

"Never had to deal with much of that," he admitted.

"Will you be all right with it?"

"I appreciate the warning. You know, everyone thinks I'm living with Jolene. Maybe that will keep them away."

"Not a chance. Are you sure you, uh, want to keep them away?"

"If they're just out for sex, I'm not interested," he said firmly.

"Some you reject might accuse you of being gay," she warned.

He could only shrug at that, but it become more serious when she added "Then you'll have guys coming on to you."

"Are you suggesting that I'd better go out with some of them? As you know, I really don't have the money to date. Time either."

"I know, you're trying for the double major, economics and accounting, in four years. Look, this is really premature, but I already feel very comfortable with you here. Move in for a month. Be the man of the house for me and you won't have any outside expenses. That should let you go on a few dates to keep your reputation up."

"Is Jolene, uh, involved?"

"No. Are you interested in her?"

"Romantically? Not really. But we could have fun and it would keep up the pretense."

"You'd have to work that out with her. I don't know how she would feel. By the way, could you pose with her again?"

He seemed to find a lot of uses for the groan. "For your local group?"

"Yes, and for Lisa."

"Is it really good for her to be exposed to that? Especially if I get hard?"

"She is going to be dropping in here a lot, and oh, by the way, the one month deal means naked all the time."

"Lisa's really that good, huh? So good that her parents will expose her to adult things?"

"If you ever have a chance to teach, Dale, you may understand what it means to have a truly exceptional student. To those of us who have bumped against our limitations, it is a chance to vicariously extend our own talents. When you find a true prodigy, as I believe Lisa is, you make a lot of compromises and accommodations."

"It still makes me uncomfortable."

"Well, she's a lucky girl. How many twelve-year-olds get to enjoy a body like yours - completely?"

"Yeah, well, I would feel much better if when I'm naked, I'm posing for her. If we're just visiting, I want pants on."

"But you even swam with her on Saturday," Catherine pointed out.

"Chalk that up to the weird weekend."

"OK. I can go along with that," she relented.

-------

It took until Wednesday before the Lisa issue arose. Catherine and Dale had just arrived at the house and he had barely undressed when Lisa walked in, announcing herself with a little squeak upon seeing Dale in all his glory.

Catherine was quick. She walked up to the girl, making sure she was between her and Dale. Over her shoulder, she told Dale "Don't run away, Dale. Just wait a minute."

Making sure Lisa was settled down, she took her by the hand, then turned and took Dale's hand. She led them to the couch and had them sit on either side of her. "Lisa, I'm having Dale live here for a few weeks. While he's here, he is going to be naked. I don't want his posing to damage his grades, so he needs to get a lot more comfortable with it.

"He has a problem being naked around you when he's not actually posing. Part of the problem is that it's illegal."

"It is?" Lisa asked, eyes wide in surprise.

"Technically, yes it is, although I doubt anyone would ever make an issue of it. Dale also worries about what your parents would think if they knew you were hanging around him when he was naked."

"I guess ... well, this whole posing stuff has things kind of, um, tense at home," Lisa said softly.

"Well, Dale thinks that he should be dressed when you're here, unless he's posing for you," Catherine explained.

Dale made a mistake. He looked over at Lisa when Catherine said that, and his vulnerability to female emotions was once again his downfall. He did not say anything, but the look of disappointment on the girl's face ruined his resolve.

"I want to talk to your mom and dad about this," Catherine told Lisa, "so could you just do your schoolwork at home, now, until I can talk to them?"

Lisa agreed and left, but anyone could read her disappointment. "Girls don't fight fair," Dale crumbled when the door closed behind the girl.

"We 'girls' fight with the weapons we have," Catherine said with a grin. "It's not our fault that nice guys like you have no defenses against them." She punctuated her taunt with a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek.

-------

Dale and Marilyn had an interesting conversation when Marilyn came over to see Catherine upon her very disappointed daughter's return home. First of all, despite what had happened the previous weekend, Marilyn was stunned when she encountered Dale naked as she entered Catherine's house.

All Marilyn could do at first was blush and stammer, so Dale somehow managed to take the lead. "Catherine doesn't think I'm ready yet. She wants me to live here for a month - like this."

"Th ... then why did Lisa come home all upset?" Marilyn asked.

Heaving a big sigh, Dale answered "Marilyn, I know she's a talented artist and everything, but she's still an underaged girl. It just seems wrong."

"But at the pool... !"

"I know," Dale countered. "That was probably wrong, too, but it was - I don't know - kind of structured."

Marilyn was thoughtful for a moment, then she stepped up to Dale, pulled his face down to hers, and gave him a quick but firm kiss. "You're really worried about how it will affect Lisa, aren't you?" He could only nod. "I'll sort this out. I'll keep Lisa home until I do," she assured him.

-------

Dale's first sitting for Catherine's local group was Thursday night. He had an idea that she moved it ahead just to keep up the pressure on him.

That sitting presented an unexpected challenge. The group consisted of five women and one man. Even with Dale's rather limited experience in such matters, the man was blatantly gay. It bothered Dale so much to bare himself to the man that he almost forgot about the five women. Of course, there were the now-usual gasps at the first sight of his body, but he hardly heard them.

Catherine was on top of everything. "Don't look at him," she whispered in his ear. "He's a good guy and he won't make a move of any kind or even any comments. He's also quite a good artist. Just pretend your mom is in the back."

As another obvious part of her program, Catherine made him socialize with the group afterwards, wearing just his robe. He had to admit that it did build his confidence. They were a diverse bunch in age, appearance, and economic status. All were bright and seemed genuinely interested in him. He could not help being pulled into the conversations.

-------

Friday afternoon, Dale and Catherine had barely gotten home from campus and Dale had just undressed when Caroline came in, holding Lisa's hand. Not wanting to upset Lisa, Dale still could not prevent a flash of anger from showing on his face.

Astute as she was, Caroline could not miss his reaction. "Yes, Dale, I'm afraid we are manipulating you a bit. But please believe me, we're not doing it to hurt you."

Again, Dale made the mistake of looking in Lisa's eyes. Without thinking, he shook his head, as if to clear it, then held out his arms. In what seemed like milliseconds, Lisa's arms were wrapped around his neck and her legs around his waist. It took a couple of frantic hugs before it struck Dale just what his situation was. He eased Lisa down as gently as he could, but kept ahold of her hand.

While Catherine beamed with moist eyes, Caroline came up on the other side of Dale, put an arm around him, and said "It's working, isn't it, Dale. You actually forgot you were naked when you held out your arms for Lisa, didn't you?"

She could sense Dale working up his response, and she wanted to cut that off. "Dale, please, let's just forget about legality. Let's just think about Lisa; what she can accomplish, and what she needs to get there. Can you do that?"

What could he say with Lisa right there? Caroline had him defenseless. His natural competitiveness made him want to fight back, but who was there to fight against? Catherine? Where would he be without her? Caroline? Could he really believe that she would do anything to harm him? She must have spent plenty on his mother's last-minute plane ticket. He certainly owed her for that. Lisa? She must be what an adoring little sister would be like. All of the women by now recognized the slight relaxation of his tight shoulder muscles as his sign of acquiescence, and all three women let out their held breath.

Caroline, taking complete charge, got them all seated, with Lisa pressing as close as she could to Dale. "Dale, because of Lisa's talent, we need to have a different set of rules. Just think how difficult it is for you to get comfortable being naked around other people. Well, Lisa has the same problem in reverse.

"Now, I'm not saying that she will ever be able to look over her easel at a naked, fully exposed man and not have some sexual feelings. Despite the way artists protest," and she made a face at Catherine, "those feelings are always there. All we can hope for is to get Lisa to the place where the feelings do not detract from her art. Hopefully, the feelings can even enhance her art."

"So, I'm the chosen one to get her comfortable, huh?" Dale said, trying not to let any sarcasm seep into his tone.

"You are certainly perfect for the job," Caroline said. As she spoke, Dale looked at her and saw an almost imperceptible shake of her head. He was not sure what it meant, but it obviously meant something. He was quite sure that there would be an explanation later. Right then, it was obvious that the sisters wanted him to be Lisa's learning tool. He had already figured out that he really could not deny any of them.

"Are you OK with this, Lisa?" he suddenly asked, looking straight in the girl's face. She returned his gaze, gave a little shudder, and nodded.

Before anything else could happen, Caroline stood up and said "I have another stop that I have to make. Lisa will be here for a while." With that, she was out the door.

-------

Less than an hour later, Barry arrived home to see Caroline and his naked wife, Marilyn, waiting for him in the kitchen. "Barry, please undress and join us," Caroline said very firmly.

"U ... undress?"

"Yes. Please. This is very important."

That was certainly not what Barry had expected upon returning home. Actually, he had not been at all sure what to expect. The previous week had been very tense. The weekend before, with exposing himself to his daughter for the first time, had been more of a psychological blow than he would have expected. Part of him felt good that he was able to do something to help his beloved Lisa. Part of him was wracked with guilt, his upbringing screaming at him that his exposure was wrong. Part of him was angry, feeling that he had been forced into something humiliating.

His first instinct was to refuse angrily and give Caroline a big piece of his mind. In preparing to deliver his blast, though, he looked at Marilyn and saw the moist-eyed plea on her face.

Seeing that her initial request was not going to do the job, Caroline reacted quickly. "Barry, if you two had been blessed with a child with a physical handicap, I know that you would have made whatever adjustments or accommodations were necessary to make that child's life the best it could be. That's the kind of people you are.

"Thankfully, dealing with a disability is not the challenge that has been given you. Instead, you have a daughter with a unique and exceptional talent. If her talent had been skating or gymnastics or swimming, you would have spent all hours taking her to rinks, gyms, or pools, and waiting for her. You would have supported and encouraged her when she was weary or hurt or discouraged. As long you knew that she was doing something that she wanted to do, you would have done whatever it took to help her succeed, wouldn't you?"

Barry just let out his breath and said "I'll be right back."

Both women let out a sigh when he returned, naked. Marilyn jumped up and gave him a tearful hug. "Um, Honey, that's, uh..." Her tears turned to a giggle, she gave him a quick kiss, and sat back down.

"So instead of schlepping her all over the place to practices and meets, our job is to get her so used to naked bodies that she can take them in stride, right?"

"Yes, but it's more than just that right now. She is aware of the tension that this has caused, and that is not good for her, artistically or personally. I'm afraid that Catherine's idea of 'tiptoeing' into this nudity business with Lisa is not going to cut it."

"So, I guess you have a more aggressive approach planned out, huh?" Barry asked Caroline.

She nodded. "I want you to remain naked all weekend, for starters."

"Marilyn, too?" he asked in surprise.

"No," Caroline answered. "That will just be for supper tonight, which will be out by the pool, with just the three of you. Because it has been so warm, I see that the pool is still open. Playing in the water will be a good way to get over the nerves."

"Do you expect her to be naked, too?" Barry asked. "I'm not sure how I would handle that."

"For this weekend, that will be up to her," Caroline answered.

"That means that you have more planned, I guess," he observed.

"Yes. To keep this from being an obstacle for Lisa, nudity, anyone else's, or her own, has to be natural and non-threatening. I've found a naturist club that you could all visit next weekend. It's a classy place, and it would be a good way to 'break the ice' for her."

"A naturist club? You mean like a nudist camp?" Barry asked.

"Yes. They have indoor and outdoor pools, good food, and very strict behavior rules. Most of the clientele are families with children," she explained.

After several moments deep in thought, Barry said firmly "Nope! No nudist camp," startling both women. "If we're going to do this, we'll do it right. I'll bet because it's still low season, we could get good last minute rates to some nice tropical resort with a clothing optional beach. I can take some days off, we'll pull Lisa out of school, and we'll make it a real event. Would that meet with your approval?"

"Wow! I was afraid you would be against this whole idea!" Caroline exclaimed.

"Personally, I am - very much against it," he answered. "But after Dale's crack last week about the 'sanctity of my dick' and your little talk a few minutes ago, I can see that this is something that we have to do or we will fail as parents. Will you, uh, tell Lisa that she will have to get naked, too?"

"Why? If nudity needs to get to be no big deal, you have to be able to talk about it," Caroline answered. "And that means you, Barry, not just Marilyn."

"Are all shrinks so hard-nosed?" Barry grumped.

Caroline had seen how Marilyn was squirming in her chair after Barry's announcement of a tropical trip. Both as a thank you and to better prepare Barry for a naked evening with Lisa, a good sexual bout would be very good for the couple right then. She guessed that the tension of the past week had probably not been conducive to much intimacy.

"Call Catherine when you're ready for Lisa to come home for supper," Caroline said as she stood to leave. "Oh, she won't know that you'll be naked."

-------

"A tropical beach?! A nude beach?!" Marilyn squealed as soon as Caroline was out the door. This time, she did not back off as she virtually attacked him where he was standing. "You are about to get SOOOOO lucky!"

With that, she jumped up and wrapped her legs around his waist, practically strangling him the way her arms were clamped around his neck. "I'm ready! I want cock!" she hissed in his ear. "Put it in me!"

It had been a very long time since, in youthful exuberance, they had coupled standing up. Given several days of deprivation and her unfailing ability to arouse him, though, he remembered enough so that he was soon embedded in her. He happened to be standing right near one of the high stools by their breakfast bar, and he turned to perch her on the stool so he would not have to support her entire weight.

He determined to find out what had put her into such a near frenzy, because she was writhing and bouncing so vigorously that he feared coming unplugged. He thought about trying to get her off first, but he sensed that she was not concerned about it at the moment, so he let her movements and her vocalizations take him to a very welcome ejaculation.

"Carry me out to the pool!" she cooed, just when the exertion of his orgasm had left him wondering if he could even stand, much less carry her. For whatever reason, the thought of Dale flashed through his mind. He wondered if Marilyn was somehow seeking to assure herself that her man was as much man as the young hunk that she had been ogling last weekend. If that was the case, Barry would carry her to the pool if it killed him.

It did not kill him, but by the time he managed to get the patio door open and carry her into the pool, he could not disguise his weariness. He hoped that she would attribute it to the force of his climax.

Once in the pool, she kept herself fastened to him and her movements hardly diminished. He had a very, very aroused wife on his hands. Using his last dregs of strength, he got her on the side of the pool and attacked her pussy with his mouth. He did not have a watch on, and his sense of time, like all of his other senses, was not at its best right them. Still, he was reasonably sure that he had never gotten her off as quickly in all of their years together.

Their pool had a little sitting ledge in the shallow end that allowed them to lean back and keep all but their heads under water. He managed to get them both seated there. It was not the wisest question, but he could not help himself. "Does parading around naked on the beach in front of other men turn you on that much?"

Her head snapped toward him, her mouth flew open, tears flooded her eyes, and he knew he had made a big mistake. "Wh ... why would you think that?" she stammered. Somehow, through the tears, she was able to see in his eyes how sorry he was for the question. Also, Caroline had talked long and hard about how difficult it would all be for him. Caroline had also drilled her on how the woman had to take charge in family sexual matters. Marilyn was able to stifle her natural reaction.

In a little-girlish move, she covered her face with her hands. After several deep breath to compose herself, she looked at him between her fingers, and giggled. "I guess ... I guess ... yeah. Having some men that I'll never see again look at me and maybe get excited would turn me on. Sorry! I can't help it. Honey, that's really not what got me going, though."

"Oh?" He tried not to let his level of relief show. "What was it, then?"

Before she answered, she swung around so her legs were straddling his and took his package in both hands. "Just the idea of a spontaneous tropical vacation would blow any woman away, you know" she said. Gently fondling him, she went on. "And realizing what you were willing to do for our girl - for our family! I really wasn't thinking about anything else. Honest!"

"I believe you. I shouldn't have said that. It's just that - damn! So many things are all of a sudden upside down and backwards!"

"I know! I know!" she cooed. "Will it really bother you to have other men see me naked?"

"Yeah, it will," he admitted. "I guess that's just something I'll have to adjust to. Will it bother you when other women look at me?"

She blinked at him in surprise, then broke into giggles again. "Please don't think I'm awful, Honey, but I'll love it!"

"Huh?"

"They can look, but that's all, and they'll be jealous. That will make me feel good."

He really was too weary right then to ponder that particular female mystery, so he just grinned, shook his head, and enjoyed her unproductive but oh, so welcome stimulation of his penis.

She let herself fall forward so her head rested on his shoulder, but she never stopped her fondling. "I think we need to get you to come at least once more before we call Lisa for supper," she told him.

"Oh? Why is that?"

"Well, what if she decides to skinny dip with us tonight. What will happen the first time you see those delicious little titties of hers? Did you know that they're so firm that they hardly jiggle? And her nipples actually point up a little! I mean, I even get turned on when I see them.

"She's got hair, but not very much. You know what she inherited from me? She's got a nice-sized clittie that can't ever hide away. You can always see it through the little bit of hair. Honey, when you see her like that, what's going to happen to you?"

There was that giggle again that had always seemed to go simultaneously right to his heart and his dick. That had happened ever since the first time he heard it. "That's what I thought would happen!" she enthused as he started to swell in her hands. "Maybe she shouldn't see that the first time."

"The f ... first time? How about never?" he objected, suddenly losing most of the stiffness that she had induced.

"Oh, Barry! That's not realistic. If we're going to be kind of a nudist family, I'm..."

"We're NOT becoming a nudist family!"

"I know, but while we're at the beach, we will be. In that time, you're sure to get a least partly hard."

"I suppose you will make sure of it, won't you?"

"I won't have to, I'll bet. Just imagine some sexy European babe walking toward you with some bare 38DDs swinging. Think you can stay soft with that. Or what if Lisa runs ahead of us on the beach and you have to watch those gorgeous legs and that tight little ass flexing as she runs. Did you know that she has quite a gap between her thighs. I wonder if you can ever see her pussy lips from behind when she runs?"

That exchange reversed his softening trend, and before long, he was pounding her into a chaise lounge, to her enthusiastic approval.

-------

By the time they finally called Lisa for supper, he had come three times, with a time out while she put together a light meal. Her original thought had been for him to grill some burgers, but after their second round, she did not think he was up to it. The third come she did with her mouth. She was certain that Lisa would join them naked, and she did not want any more pressure on him.

She also did not want to shock Lisa any more than necessary, so she walked part way toward Catherine's house to meet the girl. Lisa was thinking. "Is Daddy... ?"

"Yup. He's naked, too." Lisa stopped in her tracks.

"Do I have to?"

"Honey, you don't have to do anything. This is all to help you get more comfortable. I'll tell you, though: Daddy's taking us to a tropical resort with a nude beach in a week or so. I think you should go naked there."

"He's what? Really? A nude beach? On the ocean? Wow? Why?"

Marilyn decided to tell Lisa all about Caroline's counsel, and they walked back hand in hand as she talked. Lisa dropped her clothes right inside the patio door, and Barry was thankful for his level of depletion.



-------

Chapter 4


Saturday morning, things started rather slowly at Catherine's house and Dale had spent a couple of hours studying before Caroline arrived. Her presence did not disturb him any more, and that realization came as a bit of a revelation. When he greeted her, Caroline saw the realization on his face.

Openly staring at his body and lingering at his crotch, Caroline smiled and said "It's working, isn't it, Dale?"

Even though he realized it, it was not that easy to just admit it. "Well, I don't think it will ever be..." he started to say.

Caroline wasn't having any of that. In what was for her an astonishingly blatant move, she stepped up to him, threw her arms around his neck, and pressed her body hard against him.

"Dale, Honey, this is not a battle!. You aren't losing anything. Catherine is as caring a person as you will ever meet. You are making her very happy showing this gorgeous body of yours. It isn't damaging you one bit either, is it?"

"Well, no, but..."

"And look what it's doing for your mother," Caroline went on, not easing her hug at all. "Imagine the relief it is to her, knowing that you'll be able to stick it out here.

"Dale, you have been given a gift. I'm not trying to turn you into a narcissist or an exhibitionist. I just hope you can understand that every bit of you is beautiful. Letting people see it all is not sinful - it's actually an act of worship.

"You would have no guilty thoughts about using your mind to earn money, would you? You have been given a mind that few people are blessed with. Well, you have been given just as rare a body. Don't feel guilty about using it in a way that harms no one else."

"I see what you saying, but I don't think I'll apply at Chippendale's," he joked.

Caroline was so wrapped up in what she was trying to get across to Dale that she forgot that she was pressed against an inexperienced teenager. He sensed his impending reaction, though. Putting his hands on her hips, he gently but firmly pulled his lower body away from her.

"Ooops! Guess I got carried away," Caroline said with a chuckle. "Let me help Catherine with some brunch.

It was another unseasonably warm fall morning and brunch was set up outside again. When Dale saw six places, he knew that Marilyn, Barry, and Lisa would be joining them again, and he was not pleased.

Catherine saw his reaction and quickly said "Dale, just give it a few minutes and you'll understand. Please."

She was right. Before long, a naked Barry came walking from their house, with Marilyn holding one hand and a beaming Lisa pressed against his other arm. Both women were clothed.

Talk about conversational challenges! Dale had absolutely no idea what to say. Catherine and Caroline must have been clued in to what was going to happen, because they hardly reacted at all.

"By all rights I should hate you!" Barry said to Dale when they reached the table.

"It wasn't my idea! Blame Catherine!" Dale protested, actually having to stifle a laugh.

"We had to talk Lisa out of coming over here naked, too," Barry told him.

"Thank you for that!" Dale said honestly. He happened to look at Lisa and saw the stricken look on her face. It took a moment, but he caught on to the problem.

As smoothly as he could, he said "I have enough trouble keeping from getting hard with everyone looking at me. One look at Lisa's bare body and I wouldn't have a chance. The look on the girl's face changed instantly and completely.

For whatever reason, Dale was feeling very frisky. "Barry, you don't have any problem staying soft with all of these women staring at you. Maybe there's hope for me as I get older."

"Oh, age and experience aren't the only reasons. Marilyn has made me come so many times last night and this morning that I probably couldn't get it up if I tried," Barry retorted.

"BARRY!" Marilyn shrieked. "That's supposed to be private!"

"This used to be private, too," he shot back, restraining a laugh. He cupped his sac and lifted a little to make sure everyone knew what he was talking about."

"Hey, it's not like I can't hear what's going on sometimes," Lisa interjected.

"LISA!" Marilyn shouted.

"Children, children!" Caroline jumped in. "Lisa - Marilyn - Barry! I am so proud of all of you for how you are attacking this problem and working out a solution. I know it is stressful for all of you, but let's keep it a loving, exciting time, OK? Lisa, come talk to me for a few minutes. Breakfast will keep for a little while.

-------

Catherine had been right to worry about the effect of the modeling on Dale's studies. Rather, it was the effect of worrying about the modeling. As he set off for Monday classes, things were better than the week before - much better. Still, thinking about posing made it almost impossible to concentrate on his morning classes.

Despite her other problems, Faith was not timid. Totally infatuated with Dale, she was also concerned for him. She had quickly sensed how difficult the posing was for him. From what he had said about his lack of money, Faith assumed that Dale would eat lunch on the meal plan, so she waited for him in the cafeteria.

The one thing that Faith did not anticipate was how Dale would view her kindly attention. To him, it would be better if the students who stared at his dick could remain anonymous.

Faith had sat beside him Wednesday and Friday in their shared accounting class, and he had been able to talk with her. Right then, though, in the hour before his posing, he was again struggling with trying to get some food down. Thinking about having to strip had his stomach in knots. How could he carry on a conversation with Faith when she would be seeing him naked in the next hour?

Because his mother was the only woman with whom Dale had ever had a close relationship with before meeting Catherine, he was ill-prepared for the battle of the sexes. His total helplessness in the face of Lisa's emotions was ample evidence of his vulnerability. First Muriel, then Catherine and Caroline, were all women who genuinely cared for him and wanted the best for him. That was what he had been conditioned to expect from women.

Faith certainly had no malicious intent toward Dale - far from it. She was a woman with strong instinctive seductive skills, despite her emaciated body. There had been few things in her life that she had determined that she would really strive for, and having some kind of a relationship with Dale was one of them.

When she sat down across from Dale and greeted him, it was obvious to her that he did not want her there. Given her intelligence and her sensitivity, she understood why he felt that way, but there was no way she was going to leave.

Almost shaking at her own boldness, Faith reached across the table and put her hand on his arm. "Dale, you did fine last week. You'll be fine today. I cannot imagine how you or Jolene or any of the models can do that. But I know that you're a strong person who can do whatever you have to do."

He looked up at her, but a nod of acknowledgment was all he could manage. Exerting every ounce of self-control that she possessed, Faith kept talking. "I guess the fact that I am going to be painting you in a little while makes it difficult for you to talk to me. I can understand that. But Dale, please believe me. I'm on your side. I want you to feel OK about what you're doing. I don't want you to have to suffer through it.

"My God, Dale! If you could just understand how it affects all of us girls when we look at you. You wouldn't be nervous. You'd be proud!"

"That ... that's what Jolene said," he blurted out, not meaning to.

Faith chided herself for the pang of jealousy she felt at the mention of Jolene's name. What was she thinking? She was not even trying to compete with someone like Jolene. That would be ridiculous!

"Jolene must know what she's talking about. She's been at it a long time," Faith told him. She could not think of anything else to say right after that, so there was a period of silence.

"Dale, when you're up there and feeling stressed, I'd like you remember that I'm rooting for you. There's no way that I would think anything bad about you."

"I ... I ... thanks" was all he could get out. He had looked in her face before a few times, but for the first time, those incredible eyes really locked onto his. It was almost like a physical jolt, like some kind of an open connection between them. He may have been inexperienced, but he could recognize the intense love that she felt for him.

Dale jerked a little and his face flushed. Faith saw it and knew the reason. She had definitely not planned to give herself away like that. It could mean that she would never see him again. What could she do? All she could think of was to pretend that nothing had happened.

When Dale had finished eating the little bit that he could stomach, Faith asked him "Could I walk to the studio with you?" It had never occurred to him to ask why she had not eaten anything. It would be a while before he discovered that she barely consumed one realistic meal a day.

He could not think of a polite way to tell her that her being with him would just make him more nervous. She could tell how he felt, but she was not ready to give up and just went with him as if he had agreed.

All during that Monday's sitting, Dale found himself pondering what had happened at lunch. Unbidden, his eyes kept returning to Faith's position. He wondered if she got anything done that day, because she always seemed to be looking at his face.

After the sitting, he could say that it was no worse than the first week, but it not been any easier, either. That was not good. At that rate, it was going to really wear him down.

When they sat together in the accounting class later, Dale hardly said anything, but Faith did a good job of acting normal.

-------

He had barely stripped after arriving home that afternoon when Lisa came bouncing in. Still not at all comfortable with his exposure to her, but allowing it on Caroline's urging, he could not help grinning at Lisa's excitement.

"As soon as Daddy gets home, we're all going to a tanning parlor, Mom says. She doesn't want us to be all pasty when we get to the beach."

"Do you know yet when you're leaving?"

"Whenever the travel agent calls with a deal. Isn't that cool!"

Dale found himself wishing that he had the adaptability of a young teen. In her excitement, he had not even seen Lisa look at his crotch. It was as if she had forgotten that he was naked. Would he ever get to that point?

Lisa stayed for about half an hour and Dale managed to talk with her. When she left, he studied until supper.

-------

[Faith] Mid-October

While Dale was coping with Lisa, a very disturbed Faith tried repeatedly until she managed to get Caroline on the phone. "Caroline, I've got a big problem. It's ... it's about Dale."

"You're madly in love with him, right?" Caroline asked

"How... ?"

"It wasn't just a wild guess, Honey. Does he know?"

"Well, that's the problem," Faith said, almost in tears. "I wanted to be cool about it. I didn't want him to know because it's, you know, it's so silly. But today at lunch..."

"Wait a minute, Faith! Why do you say it's silly?"

"Well, look at him! And look at me! He could never be interested in me. But the real problem is, I was trying make his posing easier, and I'm afraid I just made it worse."

"Are you still on campus, Faith?"

"Yes."

"I'll call you back in a few minutes. Stay where you are."

Caroline was always reluctant to meet Faith in person unless it was very secret. She made quick arrangements for a small conference room at the psyche department at school and called Faith back with instructions.

Although she would have liked to make it longer, an hour was all Caroline dared to take. During that time, she got Faith to unload her feelings about Dale.

"It has only been a week or so, and you feel that strongly about him?" Caroline asked.

"I know I'm naive and vulnerable. Maybe it's just a crush, but I've never felt anything like it before. I can hardly sleep because it hurts so much to know that I have no chance with him."

"Why are you so sure that you have no chance?"

"Well, look at me! No guy wants anything to do with a body like this."

"Unless he's a guy who sees a lot more than just your body," Caroline countered.

"Well, it takes a pretty screwed up mind to starve a body into this," Faith said glumly. How many intelligent people like Faith had Caroline run into. They knew exactly what their problems were, but just could not break out of the cycle.

"So, wouldn't you be better off just making sure you never had contact with him again? Wouldn't that reduce the pain?"

"But he's having a tough time! I think I can help him!" Faith had tear streaks down her cheek at that point.

"Faith, how many close friends do you have that you can honestly and openly share your problems with?"

"Oh, there's ... you already knew there were none, didn't you?"

"Would you like Dale to be that kind of a friend?" Caroline was thinking about an improbable relationship that could be so beneficial to both young people. If Faith had a true love interest, Caroline would bet anything that the anorexia would disappear. If Dale had a girl who loved him for more than just his body..."

"Oh, no!" Faith answered. "If he found out how screwed up I am, he'd run away screaming!"

"Honey, you may be madly in love with him, but I don't think you realize what kind of man he really is."

The conversation went on for the rest of the hour while a crazy plan percolated in Caroline's mind.

-------

[Dale] Mid October

"I'll bet there's something you'd like to talk to me about," Caroline said to Dale. She had just walked into Catherine's for a supper that she had called to delay while she met with Faith.

"Do you have to have ESP to be a shrink?" Dale quipped.

"You know, I don't know if I should be encouraged or offended," Caroline said, holding her chin in her hand with a thoughtful look. "When you saw me, your penis didn't even twitch. I'll bet Lisa got more reaction than that when she came over earlier."

When Dale stood frozen and speechless, Caroline hurried to him and wrapped him in a hug. "As you can see, Dale, my specialty is the subtle, delicate approach."

He couldn't help himself, and soon, they were holding each other up as they laughed. "Well, maybe the delicate, subtle approach is overrated," she finally said. "I think you needed a good belly laugh."

"What I need is to put some pants on," he countered.

"Nope! You need to earn money posing without it hurting your studies. You're not there yet."

"You got that right. You really think this nudist bit is the way to get there?"

"Yes, Dale. I do. Even if I didn't, I would lie and say that I do. I just love looking at your dick!" Caroline was old enough to be his grandmother, but that did not hold him back at all. Catherine hurried into the room when she heard Caroline screeching as she writhed on the floor, trying to escape his tickle attack.

After he helped her up, she snuggled against him as they walked to the table. "See! You couldn't have handled that last Monday."

"I guess not," he admitted. "Say, I wonder what Catherine's cooking tastes like with clothes on?"

The tone around the table was loose and congenial. Afterwards, Caroline was almost reluctant to turn serious. "You must know by now that Faith is madly in love with you, right?" she asked Dale. Catherine watched the exchange silently.

"In love? Well, from the way she looked at me, I thought she probably had a crush on me, but..."

"Faith is a woman. Crushes are for teeny-boppers. She is pretty torn up because she is sure she doesn't have a chance with you."

"But I haven't misled her or anything," Dale protested. "We've only talked a few times. Would it be better if I just stayed away from her?"

"Is that what you'd rather do?" Caroline probed.

"Not really. She seems like a really sweet person. But if it makes her expect something that I don't feel..."

"Look, Dale. Faith is not an official patient of mine, but I still feel that I should protect her privacy. I think you can tell from her appearance that she has more than her share of problems. One of those problems is no good, close friends. Can you just be a friend to her?"

"But if she's expecting more than that..."

"Not expecting," Caroline corrected. "I'm sure she wants more, but she is not expecting it. Just your friendship would be a tremendous boost for her."

"I can do that. It's, uh, hard to get past the fact that she'll be seeing me naked in art class, you know."

"We see you naked all the time, and you don't have any trouble talking to us," Catherine interjected.

"Yeah, but knowing that she wants, uh, you know..."

"Both Catherine and I would like nothing better than to jump into bed with you. Haven't you figured that out, yet?" Caroline asked.

"Huh?"

"So, see! You can be friends with women who have the hots for you, even if they're never going to get their fondest wish. Oh. Include your mother in that group, too."

"God!" He was glad for the opaque table because there was definitely activity down below after that exchange.

-------

Dale had to do some talking to himself before the Wednesday class, but he made a real effort to engage with Faith in their minutes before class. Her smiles made it seem well worth the effort.

Before Friday's class, he purposely delayed his arrival. He had always found a seat first, and she had joined him. It struck him that he needed to let her know that he wanted to sit by her. When he entered the lecture room, he could see her looking around rather anxiously. When she was sure that he was going to join her, her smile was almost blinding. There was less time for conversation, but that did not detract from the impact of his gesture.

-------

[Dale] Late October

Once again, Dale was up before Catherine on Saturday morning. Once again, Caroline walked in, but much earlier. As he sat at the little desk in the expansion room, she leaned over from behind him, wrapped her arms around his neck, kissed him on the cheek, and asked "Dale, do you really trust me?"

"That's a scary question, you know."

"Do you trust me enough to do something, even if I warn that it will be as difficult as anything we have asked of you?"

"That's a strange way to get me to do something."

"All I can tell you is that I am certain that it will prove to be a very, very good thing," she assured him.

"You know, you have me at a disadvantage," he said. "After what you and Catherine have done for me, it's impossible to refuse."

"Good. First, go and get yourself off - twice."

"Huh?"

"I would love to come and do it for you, but we'd better not go there."

"You're serious, aren't you? I mean about getting off twice?" He asked. When she nodded, he said "That scares me."

"Please. When this is over, I just know you will think it was a wonderful experience," she said with a plea in her voice.

He really could not deny her, plus, he had to admit to more than a little curiosity. Obviously, it was going to be something that really embarrassed him, but somehow, that was not the threat that it once would have been.

When he returned from his room about fifteen minutes later, he could not help blushing, but she gave him a quick hug and a kiss right on the mouth. Then, she led him to the front door and opened it.

He had had no idea what to expect, but seeing Faith standing there almost wiped him out. The only thing that kept him from fleeing in anger was seeing that Faith was as least as embarrassed as he was.

Caroline already had a firm hold on Dale's hand, and she grabbed Faith's and pulled her into the house. Leading them to a couch, she sat down between them.

"OK. We survived that. Thank you. Here's why I'm doing something this crazy. Dale, by Monday's sitting, it won't bother you at all to have Faith see you. You will have a friend and supporter in class, besides Catherine. I'm betting that you will even be able to eat lunch before sitting. That's kind of your graduation test.

"Faith, your part isn't any easier than Dale hanging his dick in front of you all day. You are going to tell him everything. I mean things that you have only told therapists before. When you're done, you will have a friend and supporter your age like you've never had before.

"One thing. It's a gorgeous day out there, but for reasons that Faith will tell you, you'll have to stay in the house. Let's start with a good breakfast, shall we?"

Caroline stayed around for about another hour, doing her best to get the young folks in the right mood for her crazy plan. When they were first alone, Faith could not look Dale in the face.

"It's OK, Faith. I trust Caroline. I've been really angry with her several times, but she always turns out to be right."

"I just don't understand how you can just ... I mean you must be so embarrassed. I'm embarrassed for you!"

"Thank you. I'm glad you understand a little bit about how I feel," Dale said gently. "I really don't know anything about your family, but I get the feeling that money isn't really a problem. To understand why I'm doing this, you have to know what it feels like to be literally down to your last dollar."

"I'm afraid you're right. I've never had that problem. Let me tell you about my family..."

It was the perfect start for Faith. By the third sentence of her description of her family, Dale could hear the negative tone, and he started asking questions about her feelings.

"Remember, Faith. I'm showing you everything. Your part of the deal is you have to tell me everything," he cautioned her on a couple of occasions.

When Faith had talked for over an hour, she slumped back in exhaustion and just about broke Dale's heart when she asked "What's it like to have a mother you can talk to - a mother who would actually give up something for you?"

When he couldn't answer at first, it triggered the first real contact between them. She instantly took on the comforting role and hugged him. "How about your dad?" he was finally able ask. "You haven't said anything bad about him. Your brothers, either."

"They don't seem to be affected much by her," Faith answered. "Except that they never try to buck her. Dad has never done anything bad to me, and I think he really loves me. He just never takes my side against Mother."

As it approached time for lunch, Dale broached the issue of her weight. "You seemed to eat a good breakfast, Faith. Does your body just not process food, or what?"

"I, uh, usually don't eat that much in two days. I just can't keep it down," she answered. "It's not bulimia, like I've read about. I just can't eat. Lot's of times, if I eat much at all, I just can't keep it down."

"Well, let's see if you can eat a decent lunch," he encouraged. "Then, I don't think Caroline would be too upset if you took me to the gym and we worked out together."

"But I've never done that!"

"It's never too late to start."

Faith was very quiet for a few minutes. "Um, the reason we have to stay in the house," she finally said, "is because Mother always seems to have someoe watching me."

"So she won't be happy if she sees you with me, right? She'll assume I'm after your money."

"Oh, but I don't think that, Dale. I mean, we're not even really going together, or..."

"Are you willing to take a chance on her reaction? I know a lot about working out. You can tell her I'm just helping you get started."

Faith was quiet again. Standing up to Mercedes was something she very rarely did. She may have had a bit of a submissive streak, but it was mostly from a lifetime of rigid control by Mercedes. For the first time since she could remember, though, she had a real reason to do something that she was sure her mother would not like. After a very short time, pleasing Dale and being with him provided an incentive rivaling the avoidance of her mother's ire.

-------

"Well?" Caroline demanded good-naturedly when Faith had left after eating a surprisingly hearty dinner. Catherine was right behind her sister, just as anxious to hear the answer.

"Can I graduate to wearing pants, now?" Dale prompted, relishing the chance to divert the conversation from what the women wanted to hear.

"Not yet," Caroline shot back. "Men are so much more honest and expressive when their dicks are showing. We want to hear about Faith."

"Well, you know her better than I do," he said with a shrug.

"Oh, no! Not after today," Caroline insisted. "Did the day help you at all?"

"Caroline, that's hard to say. All this nudity - sometimes it feels like I'm off in some other world. I guess the best thing I can say is that several times today, I actually forgot that I was naked for a while."

"Not when you went to the gym, I hope," Catherine joked, and the women broke up into laughter.

"I heard the phrase 'poor little rich girl' somewhere," Dale said when their laughter subsided. "I always that it was sort of a joke. Not any more."

"Can you be a friend to Faith? I think it will be good for both of you."

"I would say we are already friends, Caroline. She is a genuinely nice person, especially for a rich girl."

"Good. There's no doubt you are good for her. I think she ate half a month's worth of her usual intake today. Can you keep her exercising?"

"I, uh, think she'll do about whatever I ask. That part's a little disturbing," Dale admitted.

"I think she has plenty of will. It has just never been let out."

"Are we done? Can I put on some pants, now?"

"OK. Darn it!"

-------

Dale never slept another night at the dorm. Although the nude stay ended, Catherine convinced him to move in with her permanently. At first, he was a bit concerned that it would separate him from the mainstream of campus life. His posing, though, already made him feel like somewhat of an outsider, so that did not influence his decision at all.

He insisted on doing all of the 'manly' chores around the house. That was a relief to Barry, who had always helped Catherine when she needed it. Because he and Muriel had cooperated in the kitchen, Dale was able to 'earn his keep' by helping her there, too. Catherine many times wondered why there had been no men so easy to live with back when she was interested in marriage.

As usual, Caroline's idea worked, and from the Saturday with Faith, posing never interfered with Dale's studies at all. By the holidays, he was treating it pretty much as just a job.

In the weeks before Christmas vacation, Faith and Dale became constant companions on campus. Besides the shared class, they regularly ate lunch together, studied at the library, and worked out. Almost magically, Faith acquired an appetite, and when Dale headed home to spend Christmas with Muriel, Faith had put on fifteen badly needed pounds. There had not been enough money for Dale to go home for Thanksgiving, but with Catherine's extended family, he was well cared for then.

Twice, Dale asked Faith to go out on 'real' dates. Both times, she tearfully refused. She explained that she just could not handle her mother's expected reaction.

Mercedes watched the change in her daughter's appearance with mixed feelings. For one thing, she was delighted that Faith was beginning to look at least marginally 'marriageable'. On the other hand, Faith's improvement coincided with her relationship with Dale. Mercedes chose to believe that the real reason was just Faith growing out of her problems.

Dale just had to be another penniless gold-digger. There could be no other reason that he would spend so much time with Faith. Mercedes could only see her daughter's physical attributes. She could not even see the personality characteristics that were steadily drawing Dale closer to Faith.

-------

[Dale] Late December

For Dale, the holidays were mainly devoted to his mother. One of the retail stores where he had worked before gave him several days of work, and as always, every dollar was needed. When they weren't working, though, they were almost always together. One exception was three dates that Muriel had with Clark Renfrew, the wrestling coach and math teacher who had helped Dale so much with the college courses. Dale did not begrudge that time in the least, overjoyed that his mother was finally finding something besides grief, loneliness, and grinding hard work in her life.

The very first night he was home, Muriel stopped Dale as he started to make up the fold-out bed, as he had done hundreds of times before. "Honey, sleep with me. Please. Nothing bad is going to happen. If we end up snuggling or touching, that's a good thing. I have missed you so much! After the time at Catherine's, I think we know we are in control of our emotions. You deserve to be comfortable."

On the third night home, as they were talking in bed, Muriel rolled over to press herself against him. "You're missing Faith, aren't you?"

"More than I thought I would."

"Are you falling in love with her?"

"I don't know. It's never happened before. There are a lot of problems, you know. The differences between us are huge."

"Especially her bitch of a mother," Muriel added.

Dale laughed a little. "I should assume that there's nothing you don't know, shouldn't I?"

"I've enjoyed talking to both of the women so much," Muriel told him.

"How about you and Clark?" Dale asked in a rather transparent attempt to change the subject.

"It's hard when you've lost someone that you loved so much," Muriel said. "First, you have to get past the feeling of being unfaithful. Then, there's the worry that you aren't being fair to the new person. Then, you've got to accept that the new relationship could be very different, but that's OK."

"You remember a lot of your psyche courses, don't you, Mom?"

"Well, that, and reading is about the only free recreation," she answered. "Back to you and Faith. Are you ready to become an actual couple?"

"That's hard to say. She has a real problem standing up to her mother. I've asked her out on a couple of dates, but she's afraid."

"Well, don't be too hard on her for that," Muriel counseled. "Just keep being good to her, and at some point she will decide. I guess I'm assuming you want to be a couple. Apparently, there's no question from her side."

"I really like her, Mom. I worry, though, that what I like most is the person I think she can be. That's not really fair to her. And I have to admit that it bothers me when I seem to lose out against her mother."

"Dale, you've only known her for a couple of months. She has been under her mother's heel for what - twenty years? Catherine and Caroline think she is worth it, and you should trust them. Don't give up on her."

"Since I know nothing about romance and such, I think I will listen to you three women. I wasn't going to give up on her, anyway. Whether we ever became a couple - I just don't know. I can't wait to see her again, though."

"Good! I'm sure not anxious for you to go back, but if she's the one for you, you'd better feel that way about her."

-------

[Faith] Late December

The holidays were far different for Faith. Mercedes had four dates lined up for her daughter with 'suitors' that she considered acceptable. It was the first time that she had felt at all like 'inflicting' Faith on any young man because of her emaciated appearance. Actually, two of the dates barely qualified as young, being seven and tens years her senior.

As much as she loved Dale, Faith was still not at a place where she could refuse her mother's arrangements. She actually grieved as she was escorted out the first time. That date was bad because the guy was a self-important bore.

The second date was so bad that it triggered Faith's first major rebellion. It was with one of the older men, and it ended in a screaming match and a frantic call to her father. She would not go along with the date's expectations that the night should naturally end in bed.

Rescuing his daughter from a date gone wrong was a totally foreign experience for Max Charles. In fact, he really was not aware of her dating history at all. He also was not prepared for the unprecedented determination that Faith showed as soon as she got in the car.

"Daddy, I'm not going out with any more of Mother's assholes. I love Dale, and I'll just wait until he decides he loves me. He's ten times the man! Will ... will you help me? I don't know if ... if I can face her alone."

The outburst hit Max hard. It was the first time his little girl had asked for help against his wife. He felt ashamed that he had never before offered, and he felt ashamed that he barely knew who Dale was. He had spent most of his marriage avoiding the minefield. Like many men, it was not because he was afraid to face Mercedes, as unpleasant as that was. It was mainly because he viewed marriage and home as a refuge, a sanctuary from the stress and turmoil of the business world. If he went against his wife, there would certainly be no sanctuary. She seemed perfectly willing to live without any peace and quiet, but he was not.

"I'll tell her," Max said before he had time to think about it. "Tell me about Dale on the way home."

It was the kind of encounter that often led to the holiday domestic turmoil that police officers dread. Max was not a timid man, and for once, he saw a good reason to go head to head with his wife. What could she do, anyway? Cut him off? Sex between them had always been torrid, but both had looked elsewhere most of the time lately. He was not dependent on her money, either, so if sex and money were not threats, what was there to fear?

Well, Mercedes' rage was definitely fearful, but Max stood his ground. "She's twenty. She's old enough to pick who she goes out with," he insisted as evenly as he could after her first screaming tirade.

"No, she's not," Mercedes shouted back. "She has no sense of what's good for her. Just look! She's been hanging around with that ... that male model, for God's sake."

"That male model is a scholarship student with a double major. He scored in the top ten of all the SAT scores ever admitted to Thurston. He models because he happens to be poor and there are no jobs in this town."

"So Faith's his way to get over being poor. Are you too stupid to see another damned gold-digger?"

"You only associate with assholes, so you don't know a straight-up guy when you see one," Max shot back.

"Listen here! She'll date who I tell her to, and she'll marry who I decide. You just stay the fuck out of my business," she screamed.

"She happens to be my daughter, too!"

"Well, damn! When did you notice that?"

"When I finally realized how screwed up her life is because I let you have your way with her!"

On and on it went, but Max, to his belated credit, was adamant that the remaining two scheduled dates would be canceled.

The next morning, not for the first time, the main housekeeper bemoaned the fact that fragments of high-priced china and crystal were not worth amounts proportional to the whole pieces. At the same time, Max was wondering if developing a conscience regarding the treatment of Faith might be what finally broke up the farce of his marriage.

Faith went on no more dates, but the drumbeat of vitriol from her mother never abated through the whole school break. Faith could not wait until she could spend her days on campus - with Dale.

Twice during the break, Max took Faith out to dinner, just to give her some relief from Mercedes. "Don't you have any friends you can hang out with?" Max asked.

"Dad, I'm the whore's daughter. Everyone's afraid it will rub off on them."

"Oh, so you know."

"Duh-uh. What I don't know is why you're still married to her," she said rather sharply.

Shaking his head sadly, Max said "I kept telling myself it was better for you kids if I hung in there. I never did anything to make a difference, though, did I?"

"The boys seem to be fine," Faith lamented.

"She babies them. Weird, huh?" he observed.

"Caroline talked about that."

"Caroline?"

"Oh, no! Dad, you can't ever mention her name. Mom would run her out of business. She's a psychiatrist - Professor Claremont's sister. I'm not her patient, but she's helped me a lot."

"I would never put anyone in danger from your mother, especially if she's helping you," he assured her. "So, was it love at first sight with Dale. I hear he's really built."

"Almost. He really is gorgeous - too gorgeous for me, I..."

"None of that talk. Please, Faith. You're looking better than you have in years."

"Thanks. Anyway, I was like all the girls, drooling as soon as I saw him. I'll tell you when I fell in love with him, though." She went on to describe the practice sitting at Catherine's house, Muriel's presence in the room, and how she saw Muriel and Dale look at each other.

"When I found out that it was his mother, and their love was so strong that it overcame the embarrassment - well, I wanted that with a man. That's when I fell in love with him."

Max was silent and did not look at her for quite a while before she realized what the problem was. She put her hand on his and said "Dad, don't beat yourself up about that. You had enough to worry about just surviving with the bitch."

Taking a deep breath and giving her a weak smile, Max asked "Do you know how he feels about you?"

"Well, I can't imagine how a hunk like him could fall in love with this bag of bones. But he's a better friend than I could ever imagine. I can still dream."

"I'd like to promise that I'll be there for you more than before. The problem is, I'm going to be gone most of the time until late spring. I was looking forward to being away from her until I realized that I was leaving you pretty defenseless. All I can offer is to talk to you often. Maybe whenever I'm home I can try to keep her in check."

"Can you imagine the parade of men and students while you're gone?" Faith asked sadly. "I'll make it. I'll be leaning on Dale a lot."

-------

[Dale] Early January

Dale was barely back to campus when Max asked him out to dinner, just the two of them. They spent almost two hours at the table talking, mostly with Max asking questions of Dale. Toward the end, Max asked "How do you feel about Faith? Be honest. I'm already sure you're not after her for her money."

"From what I know," Dale said, "her mother would cut her off if she ended up marrying me. She would have to decide to give it all up and start from nothing with me. So, her money is not really a factor."

"That's not true, Dale. She might not get any of the huge pile of Thurston money, but I'm by no means poor."

"Well, you asked how I feel about her, and we shouldn't even be mentioning money. I guess one of the things that has kept my feelings for her in check is that she isn't willing, or maybe not able, to stand up to her mother to be with me. I've decided, though, that it's not because she doesn't love me. It's a whole lifetime to get over. I suppose cutting off her inheritance has been the big bogeyman her whole life."

"Well put. But how do YOU feel?"

"Over the holiday, being away from her, I realized I'm falling in love with her. I, uh, guess that should be past tense."

"I'm glad," Max said. "Dale, this is hard to say. Faith still isn't ready to fight Mercedes. Psychologically, she's fragile. Caroline told me that."

"Oh. You know about her, then?"

"Faith let the name slip, and I followed up. Quite a lady. Don't worry. I would never give her away. Anyway, talk this over with Caroline, but I'm going to ask you to sort of keep things below the radar for the rest of the school year. I'm going to be gone almost all the time for several months. I would like to be here to protect her when they really go to war. I've got a lot of neglect to make up for."

Max had to fly out the next morning.

-------

Max had asked Faith if he could see Dale before she did when he arrived back at campus. As painful as it was for her to wait any longer, Faith was glad for the understanding and support from her dad, and agreed. When he got home from the dinner with Dale, Max came to Faith's room to talk.

"You've got a great guy, there, Faith. I really like him."

"I don't HAVE, him, Daddy!"

"I'm not so sure," he said with a grin.

"WHAT? WHAT DID HE SAY?"

"You'll see him at school in the morning. Talk to him about it. I'll be gone when you get up in the morning. I love you, Honey, and I feel terrible that I haven't protected you better."

-------

Faith, not normally an early riser, was knocking softly on Catherine's door when Dale was barely up. He opened the door to see her standing there. She was shaking and the fear, longing, and hope in her expression was enough to break his heart.

He held his arms open, and milliseconds later, they were wrapped in their first hug. He could tell that she was crying, but he just held her and stroked her back gently through her coat.

When she pulled back to look up at him, he knew what she was about to say and he put his finger over her lips. "I want to say it first. Faith, I love you!"

She had not really been crying before that, not in comparison, anyway. She was not even able to return his affirmation, but they both knew how she felt.

Triggered by her meeting with Max, Caroline cleared her calendar enough to catch Faith and Dale in the cafeteria at noon. "This is a strange place for a meeting, but we do need to talk.

"I know that you two are now officially in love, but you, Faith, are still very fragile. I think you two should keep things as low key as possible until Max is done with his constant travel. Faith, you look so good. You're making so much progress. Keep that up, but try not to give your mother too much ammunition. Remember, she is a dangerous, vengeful person. At some point, you two will have to confront her. I just don't think this is the right time."

"Max and I had the same discussion last night," Dale responded. "Faith, your dad really does love you. He hates to be gone right now, but the next few months are the finish of years of work."

"How ... how much do we have to cool it?" she asked sadly.

Caroline answered. "If you could appear to be just like before the holidays, I think that would be best."

Faith was openly crying after that. "It isn't f ... Oh, Dale! How can I complain about things not being fair. We'll pretend to be just best friends until Daddy gets back. I can do that. Now come on, let's get to the studio. It's time to take your pants off for me." Her forced humor was great reassurance to Caroline and Dale that the girl would be OK. Considering where she had been, taking it slowly might be best for the couple, anyway.

-------

It took only scant minutes for the abuse from Mercedes to start. As soon as she saw Faith's face that Monday evening, Mercedes lit into her. "You just had to go and fuck him, didn't you. Why couldn't you save it for someone worthwhile instead of that penniless bloodsucker?"

"Not that it's any of your business, but I'm still a virgin. Some people can be happy from something besides fucking," Faith snapped back in a dangerous show of belligerence.

"You watch your mouth with me, you little slut!" Mercedes shrieked. So far, she had never hit Faith, but Faith knew all of the signs of escalating rage and she did not want to take any chances. She turned and walked to her room. Mercedes screeched for her to come back, but did not pursue.

That was a wake-up call. It could not quench the joy of their newly professed love, but it did bring home how cautious they needed to be. When she found herself shaking as she stepped into the shower, Faith realized that Caroline was right; she was not strong enough to withstand her mother's abuse. It would wear her down.

-------

January, February, and March turned out to be fairly peaceful. Although the young lovers wanted desperately to be free to spend more time with each other, intimate time, every blow up by Mercedes emphasized the need for restraint.

Faith gained some more weight and quite a bit more strength. She was eating almost normally and exercising faithfully. Working out was one of the precious times when she could be with Dale.

Faith's dramatically improved body was probably one reason that her mother was not as abusive as she might have been.

Even the past summer, she had always worn full length slacks and long sleeved blouses. The summer garments were always of high quality and usually of lightweight fabric. Without fail, they had been loose fitting, to disguise her painfully thin limbs.

With winter fashions, it was natural to keep most of the body covered. In February, however, Faith started wearing skirts once a week. They came below the knee, but even her calves had been a source of shame before.

As March neared, she purchased and wore a sweater that while not really snug-fitting, did follow the shape of her torso, rather than hanging loosely on her. Despite Dale's enthusiastic response, though, she only bought one like it. With some muscle mass on her back and shoulders, she looked too thin, but not emaciated.

When they first started working out together, Faith had worn sweats, and she stuck with them until the new semester. The first time she showed up in leotards, she was actually in tears because she was still ashamed. Dale had worked hard to reassure her, and Caroline had done her part, too.

By early March, Faith's weight gain was up to 25 pounds and she finally agreed to join Dale in the pool. Even appearing in her expensive, cleverly-designed one piece was traumatic for her, but she wanted so badly to please Dale. Besides that, she could tell that his appreciation of her body was genuine. That was an entirely new experience for her, and she wanted more and more of it.

Besides the huge frustration of their self-imposed restrictions on being together, the new semester was a good one for Dale. Both he and Faith were adamant that they would do nothing to draw Mercedes' ire toward Catherine or Caroline. Thus, Faith never again came to Catherine's house. That left Dale plenty of study time, and he filled the hours with it.

There was also plenty of time to spend with Catherine, Caroline, Lisa and her parents, and Caroline's daughters. For the first time, Dale got the feeling of having an extended family, and he enjoyed it.

In every activity, there was always sorrow because Faith could not be enjoying it with him. Everything that happened between Faith and Mercedes, though, validated their caution. It was essential that Faith's connection with Caroline not become known, and that Mercedes assume that Catherine was just Faith's art teacher.

Before the holidays, Faith had signed up for another semester of the figure study art class. By the time Mercedes decided that it was best for Faith not to have that contact with Dale, Faith was able, with Max's help, to stick with her plan. Of course, it was an awkward situation for Mercedes because she had been the one to push Faith into art classes in the first place.

Dale and Catherine would often cuddle as they watched TV or a movie, but it was just affectionate cuddling. On several occasions, they would both be on the phone to Muriel while Dale had his arm around Catherine.

If they happened to be shopping together, Dale would often walk with his arm around Catherine or would hold her hand. She tried not to let him know how much that affected her. In her own conversations with Muriel, she learned that mother and son had always behaved that way together. Catherine's discipline and self-restraint were often pushed to the very limit.

The detente between Faith and her mother was very strange. By agreement, Faith tried not to set Mercedes off, but that was not completely possible. One of the biggest problems turned out to be Faith's improved appearance. An attractive daughter was a social asset that Mercedes had always felt unfairly deprived of. Now, when for the first time Faith looked good enough to fill that role, Mercedes had lost much of her control over the girl.

Like many domineering people, Mercedes had the ability to switch instantly from the most scathing attack to the most heartfelt entreaty. The unbelievable contrast never seemed to occur to her. There were several social events that Mercedes very much wanted Faith to attend with her, and she turned on her full entreaty mode. With encouragement from Dale, Caroline, and Catherine, Faith went along.

Her presence at the events was actually good for her. Dale's assurances about her attractiveness thrilled her, but the affirmation of other people was important, too. In conversation, she and Dale referred to her participation with her mother as part of a 'holding action'.

Just because they were so limited in where they could be together, Faith and Dale were not without some opportunities for intimate moments. Library study carrels have a deserved reputation as make-out spots. At Thurston's library, they were quite private. The pool was surprisingly lightly used. Faith and Dale discovered the least used times of the day and occasionally found themselves the only swimmers. The campus was built in a heavily treed area with some rolling hills. That made for a number of quite private retreat places. Although they tried not to use it much, there was always Faith's car.

Once again, it was perhaps fortunate that opportunities for intimate touching were limited and brief. As much as she wanted Dale's expressions of affection, and as much as she wanted normal sexual stimulation, Faith had a mountain of shame and fear to overcome. Ever since puberty, she had been a virtual scarecrow, unable and unwilling to even look at herself in the mirror most of the time. She only knew how to swim because of the many childhood hours spent in the pool. Her last previous swimsuit had been purchased when she was ten or eleven.

One of the things Caroline hammered on with Faith in their frequent phone conversations was to talk to Dale about literally everything. "I firmly believe that you two are going to spend your lives together, no matter how gloomy things look right now," Caroline had said.

"You can't do all of the things a dating couple normally does, but you can talk. So, talk, talk, and talk some more. If there is something you are afraid of or ashamed of, talk to Dale about it. Imagine how much less trouble you will have when you get married if so many potential trouble spots have already been worked through. In most respects, getting used to sex is the easy part.

"I'll bet you can't wait to get your hands on his cock. I know my hands still itch when I remember what it looks like."

"Caroline!" Faith had said in shock. Then, she could not help it and broke into giggles.

"See! Tell it like it is," Caroline counseled. "You lie in bed and imagine what it would feel like to have him caress your breasts and tease the nipples. The problem is, you still think they're too skinny and you don't want him to be disappointed."

"How ... how?" Faith stammered.

"Honey, every woman ever born has gone through the conflict between the desire for intimate contact and the fear of a negative reaction."

"But, I'm so..."

"You used to be!" Caroline interrupted quickly. "You're not the same girl you used cringe at in your mirror, Honey. You've got to remember that. You're not voluptuous, and you may never be. But you've got breasts that push out the front of your clothes. You've got ass cheeks that wiggle when you walk and feel just right in a man's hands, you've..."

"Caroline! You're embarrassing me!"

"Well, get over it. We're talking about the man who is someday going to help you to the toilet when you're too big with child to get out of bed without help. He's going to be with you when your children are born. If there is ever a time when you will feel unappealing, that's it. And you know what? Dale won't care one bit at those times, and he doesn't care right now."

"Ohhhh! What you're saying sounds like what I want, but I don't know if I can do it!" Faith wailed.

"I know it's much harder for you, Faith. You've spent a lot of your life trying to isolate yourself from people, especially your mother. Now, I'm telling you to do just the opposite with Dale. I know you love your father, but Dale is the first person you've been really close to.

"For right now, you can't do all of the physical things you would like to. Use the time to get closer emotionally. Don't hold anything back from him."

"I ... I really do want that. I'll try."

Caroline had a definite motive in encouraging Faith to become as close to Dale as possible. Faith was not truly functional by herself. Caroline wanted her to become dependent on Dale because she knew Dale could handle it. It would be something that Faith could grow out of, but not in her current situation.

Caroline coached Dale, too, being very frank with him about Faith's needs, her fears, and the reasons for them. She was very thankful that she had not had Faith as a patient or she could never have worked with both of them as she was.

So, the couple spent every possible moment together, almost always on campus. In the rare times of complete privacy, they kissed and they touched. Little by little, Faith's fears and shame changed to joy and anticipation as their touching progressed. Dale's own inexperience made the times more meaningful to both of them as they learned together.



-------

Chapter 5

[Missy] March

Missy should have felt frightened, or miserable, or something. Instead, she felt mostly numb. Truthfully, she felt a little bit of satisfaction, too. Melanie Farnsworth, her mother, actually looked like she had tears in her eyes! Of course, those could not be tears of sorrow for her daughter. They would be tears of frustration that her efforts to make something of the girl had taken a major setback.

Missy's father, James Farnsworth, just looked grim. James Farnsworth looked grim most of the time, so that was no headline-maker. But this was Missy's fourth arrest for shoplifting, and there was plenty of cause to be grim. There would be no negotiating out of this one.

-------

Missy had tried so hard for her whole life to generate some other expression on James' terminally grim face. At about age ten, she had given up trying to produce one of love, or even just tenderness. Even a child could tell that that was an impossibility.

When puberty had hit, Missy foolishly thought she might spark at least a look of recognition or interest in her father by showing herself. She made sure that he got a blow-by-blow view of the growth of her breasts. She wore only panties as often as she could and made sure that he could count the new hairs one by one as they appeared over her privates. He could have counted them if he had just looked, that is. Instead, he pointedly turned away any time he thought she was being indecent.

Missy's little displays had not gone unnoticed, though. Melanie went ballistic every time Missy appeared without 'appropriate' attire. The lectures were loud and heated, and the various punishments were harsh.

The worst punishment of all happened when Missy's older brother Richard was home. He was eight years older than Missy and mostly away at college as she stumbled through puberty. The age difference was too great for the siblings to have been close friends, but Richard (Ricky to her, but only in private) had always been nice to his little sister.

As the eldest and the only son, Richard felt the enormous pressure of being a scion of an old money family. He also absorbed or withstood the pressure and emerged strong, independent, and resilient for it. For him it had been a proving ground, and he had the strength to prove himself very well.

When Richard came for a visit, Missy tried to spend every possible minute with him, and he tried to accommodate her as much as his social schedule would permit. Having failed to produce any complimentary reaction from her father, Missy had given Richard plenty of chances to check out her sexual progress. And he had reacted! He had complimented her! It felt so wonderful that Missy became almost giddy with the pleasure.

Unfortunately, that giddiness made Missy a little careless. Melanie caught her daughter 'accidentally' dropping the shower towel wrapped around her as she encountered her brother in the upstairs hallway one Sunday morning. Richard tried to intervene and soften the punishment, but Melanie went berserk, spanking the naked twelve-year-old again and again on her bottom, ordering Richard to watch as his sister writhed and danced with the pain.

Richard felt bad, even though he had done nothing to cause the problem. Late that night, he came into Missy's room and woke her. "Missy, I'm sorry you got in trouble for showing me your body. I really enjoy looking at you. You're growing up so nicely."

"Really? How come Daddy doesn't think so? He won't even look," she wailed.

"I don't know, Sis. He's pretty, um, uptight about most things. Look, I think you should stop trying to get his attention. It will only make Mother more angry. I hate to see you punished."

"I guess. It's dumb to have to wear so many clothes in my own house."

"That's not the only problem you will be having, Missy. I'm sorry I can't be around to help. Promise me that you will let me know how things are going, won't you?" She tearfully agreed.

"One other thing, Sis. I know you want men to appreciate you, but please, please, don't go showing yourself to any boys or any other men. That's dangerous. Do you understand?" Again, a tearful agreement.

-------

Melanie and James viewed the task of child-rearing somewhat as a blacksmith approached his work. The child was to be formed into the proper type of adult by whatever means necessary. If it took a lot of heat and pounding, well, so be it. With Richard, the pounding came mostly from his father. As so often happens, Melanie treated her male child with something near to reverence. Oh, she corrected him, but there was never the relentless pressure that she later poured on her daughter.

Missy, named Melissa and called that exclusively by her parents, was by no means a weak-minded or submissive child. But she had a major need for reinforcement, encouragement, and tenderness. Melanie felt no reverence at all toward her daughter. She knew how a girl should behave, and she was going to make certain that Missy complied.

Mostly, Missy just went along, suffering her disappointments and longings in silence. But a person under pressure, especially a young person at a critical juncture in their life, will always find some way to express rebellion or independence.

Missy used her body for serious, though subconscious, rebellion. It was apparent quite early that that she would inherit her general configuration from James. She quickly shot up to 5'10", long before she had any significant padding so soften her shape. The first rebellious thing she did was to adopt a slouch. Part of the reason was embarrassment that she was so much taller than her compatriots. The rebellion came as Melanie more and more rode her about her posture and her gait.

The second part of Missy's body rebellion was her weight. She was not naturally prone to fat, but she discovered at thirteen that she could put on weight by eating voraciously. When she had overcome her initial skeletal appearance after her growth spurt, she just kept on eating because it was a source of comfort. When Melanie began a drumbeat of criticism about Missy's weight, it just drove the girl to eat more and more.

Of course, a lot of what Missy could find to eat was not of high nutritional quality, and she was at the prime age for acne outbreaks. The result was predictable. By the time she reached sixteen, Missy was pretty unattractive. Her excess weight gathered in all of the predictable places. She did not even have the common fat woman's consolation of massive mammaries. The genetics from her father's side carried a medium-sized breast template. Being almost fifty pounds overweight was not a pleasant way for Missy to celebrate sweet sixteen.

At thirteen, Missy had found another form of rebellion, shoplifting. It made no sense, given the generous allowance available to her, but in fact, most shoplifting is not driven by need. For many young kleptos, it was just a thrill. For Missy, it was a way of horrifying her parents. And horrified they indeed were. Three times, she had been caught. By the third time, it had taken major maneuvering by James to keep her from being prosecuted.

Both Richard and Missy had been set up with generous trust funds by their grandmother. That was another club that her parents, Melanie in particular, used on her with great regularity. They threatened to invalidate the trust if she did not straighten up and meet their expectations.

That was the world Missy lived in: always threats, but never encouragement; always expectations, but never consideration; always shame, with nothing to be proud of.

-------

"How could you do this to us?" Melanie shouted. "Don't you realize the embarrassment this will cause the family? Why on earth would you steal some slutty underwear, anyway. You couldn't possibly wear it the way you have let yourself go. I just don't understand it!!"

'You got that right', Missy thought to herself bitterly. She could not remember a time when Melanie had ever understood her. Or even made a reasonable attempt to understand. Impossible as it seemed, James looked even more grim than ever, looking stolidly at his miscreant daughter.

That was the moment when Missy felt the biggest sense of relief of her whole life. After all of the psychological blows that had rained on her, she had finally managed to deliver one that really hurt her tormentors.

Missy was very intelligent. In fact, academics was the only place where she met her parents' expectations. She did not do that to please them, but out of an instinctive sense that it would be important to her when she someday was free of them. She knew that she was in for probable imprisonment somewhere. She had folk-level knowledge of the deprivations that jail and reform school implied, but she could hardly dwell on that. She would be where they could not get at her. That was worth almost anything.

Since her third arrest, Missy had been seeing a therapist, named Roberta, by order of juvenile court. Roberta had made a good deal of progress getting at the causes of Missy's behavior. She had found a rather appealing young woman diguised by the fat, the slouch, the acne, and the surly attitude. Unfortunately, she had had only three months to work with Missy, and had not gotten to the point of bringing in her parents.

Roberta was very distressed at the news of the latest arrest. She hated to miss her chance to bring about some real change in the girl, and went to work trying to find some way to keep her patient out of jail.

Missy had one surprising reaction to her arrest and probable incarceration: she stopped eating. Rather, she stopped eating to excess. She had never liked being so grossly overweight, but the need to rebel by overeating was driven by something she could not control. That something was the need to deliver a severe blow of revenge to her parents. That blow had been delivered and the subconscious need to overeat was lifted.

As the legal wheels ground into motion, Missy continued with her normal life. It was just before spring break, and she even returned to school for the last few days. She developed a serenity that infuriated Melanie because it seemed to make the girl impervious to anything her mother said or did.

Missy's arraignment was scheduled for three days after Easter, and James was scrambling furiously to find a way to keep her name from any court docket. He was having no luck, and anger and frustration were augmenting his usual grim visage.

Roberta came up with a possible solution. A couple of journals had carried case reports of patients who had received tremendous help after spending time at Transformations. She did some quick research, and despite her basic aversion to the idea of forced nudity, she called Dr. Julia Waxman and explained Missy's situation.

Julia had not viewed the Tee as a place of punishment, although she had accepted the Halls in lieu of a trial for them. Roberta explained that Missy did not need punishment. What she needed was separation from her parents and a chance to develop what Roberta believed was a very nice personality. Having Missy sentenced to Transformations in lieu of a trial would appeal to the Farnsworths because it protected their name. Because of the nudity requirement and the strict achievement goals that would be set up, it had the appearance of punishment, as well.

It certainly sounded like punishment to Missy when Roberta first broached the idea. Since her earlier streak of exhibitionism had been squelched, she had become extremely body shy. It was so bad that she avoided looking at herself in the mirror when she got in and out of the shower. To have to be naked for a long time, and with men around! That was too terrible to even consider. She declared firmly that she would rather go to jail.

Roberta had to haul out the big guns at that point. They had only a day or two to file any kind of a petition for a delay to consider alternate punishment. Calling the Farnsworths, she asked for an urgent meeting. When told that they were both too busy, she told them it was about a possibility of keeping Missy out of jail. They were in her office in forty-five minutes.

"There is a place called Transformations that has an incredible success record of turning women's lives around. The residents go in with aggressive goals set up which they must meet or they will be discharged. The goals include weight loss, physical conditioning, academic achievement, and any others that fit the particular patient." Roberta knew that Melanie would be hooked by the weight loss requirement.

"What if they don't meet the goals?" James asked.

"In Missy's case, it would mean she would stand trial."

"This place does not sound like a place of punishment. Why would the court accept it instead of trial?" James again asked.

"It was not designed as a place of punishment. It is run by a distinguished psychiatrist, and all residents are treated as patients. The one factor that might make it qualify as punishment is this: the residents cannot leave once admitted, and they are naked the entire time they are there. Furthermore, a number of the staff that work with the women are male."

Melanie exploded. "That's the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard! You can't be serious! That can't be legal!"

"Oh, everything has been tested legally and there has never been any problem," Roberta assured her. "Missy's reaction was as strong as yours. She said she would rather go to jail.

"Please, Mr. and Mrs. Farnsworth. More than just the crime she committed, Missy has some psychological issues that need to be addressed. Transformations has an incredible success record with such problems. Jail for a teenaged girl is a truly awful prospect. In many cases, the girls are completely lost to their families when they come out. To say nothing of the publicity of a trial or the blemish on her record."

"But if she won't go... ?" Melanie wondered.

"I am asking for permission to fly there with her tonight. If she sees it and talks to some residents, perhaps she will change her mind. Even if she does not, I believe you could make the decision and not give her the choice."

"Then why bother with the trip?" James asked.

"Her chance of success is greater if she is willing to go in."

"OK. When do we have to be ready?" Melanie asked.

"You don't. Only Missy and I will be going." That triggered quite an argument, but Roberta held strong, and by early evening, Missy and Roberta were on a plane for the ninety minute flight.

-------

Missy knew she was in another world when she stepped through the door of the large but unimposing structure. She was unable to move as she was greeted by an attractive forty-something woman wearing nothing but a smile.

"Hello, I'm Norma, and I work here. I have the privilege of greeting new residents and helping them get comfortable. I know you aren't a resident yet, but I would be with you like this if you check in. There would probably be some girls more your age with you for the first day, also. We know how hard it will be to go naked for the first time. We've all done it."

Missy spoke hardly a word as she and Roberta were given a tour. It was shocking to see all of the naked woman. They were all going about unconcerned with their nudity. Missy just knew that she could never be that relaxed. In fact, she could never, ever do this.

She was introduced to several male employees, a couple of them her age. It made her almost faint to think that those same men and boys might see her awful body without any clothes on.

After the tour, Roberta took Missy into an office where she met Dr. Waxman. "Missy," Roberta started out, "we are going to be frank with you. We are trying to pull one over on your parents." That certainly got Missy's attention.

"We do not think you need to be punished. We think you need more than anything to be isolated from your mother and father for an extended period. I know you are frightened to death of having to be naked, but wouldn't it be worth it to be your own person for a few months?"

"We'd like you to join us all for lunch," Julia added. "Talk to some of the women and the guys. I personally picked all of my employees, and I believe they are the nicest, most respectful people you will find anywhere. You have no need to be afraid of them."

"But ... naked... !"

"There is a very sound reason for that," Julia stated. Then, she went into an explanation of the immersion therapy and re-birthing concepts. After that, she made some specific references to Missy's situation. The girl's intelligence could not help being swayed by the strength of the beautiful doctor's arguments. Still, there was the problem of nudity.

Missy did manage to make conversation with some of the people at lunch, even with two of the younger guys. She fought not to fall instantly in love with both of them. No boy had ever treated her like that. Oh well, if she ever did undress for them, they would run away in fright.

On the plane on the way home, Missy was listening to her iPod. "What are you listening to, now?" Roberta asked.

"Oh, I like country music - my parents hate it. I'm listening to Lindsey Hall. I can hardly keep from crying every time I hear her sing."

"She's that good, huh?"

"Yeah. I've read her story. Her folks were almost as bad as mine. "It's like she's singing right to me. You know, I read somewhere that she volunteered at a place something like Transformations." The conversation ended there, but Roberta made an urgent mental note to follow up on Lindsey Hall.

"Missy, when we get back, I want you to pretend to be scared to death to go there. I already told your father to file the petition."

"I don't have to pretend. How could you just do that?" Missy demanded. "I thought we were just checking it out!"

"I'm sorry, Missy. I feel like I have tricked you. But I'm asking you to trust me to know what will be best for you. You DO NOT want to go to reform school. You cannot believe how bad it would be."

"Worse than living naked in front of men?"

"Much worse. With none of the positive things you saw there."

"I can't say I'm not upset with you, and I'm scared to death, but I'll go along. Just promise me that they can't get at me if I get in there."

"You have my word."

-------

[Jessica] Mid April

Julia was both pleased and concerned that Jessica Conroy had asked for an appointment. Matt Conroy had offered to pay for treatment for his ex, but at the time, there had seemed little chance that Jessica would take up the offer.

-------

[Jessica] Flashback

Jessica Longley Conroy was on the ragged edge of sanity. She was not aware of this, but she was certainly aware that her world was not the way she wanted it.

Five months after her marriage to Matt, one part of Jessica feared it was approaching an end. Another part of her worked very hard at maintaining the pretense of a happy newlywed couple.

For most of the five months, Matt had been sleeping in a separate bedroom, and there had been no sex.

The little contact card had hit Jessica like a high-voltage electric shock. Matt, her husband, was rooming at the convention with Leslie, the admin assistant at the company! Leslie wasn't even that pretty! Jessica knew Leslie could not compare with her in the looks department. She knew that very few women could. For a moment she wondered why Matt would do such a thing, but the answer was obvious: it was sex, again. It seemed like everything came down to sex.

Her next reaction was panic. The thought of losing Matt almost paralyzed her. Her mother had told her again and again that Matt cheating on her was the best thing that could happen because she would get the divorce that they had planned for all of those years. But despite what Marie said, Jessica did not want a divorce: she wanted Matt.

Oh, there had been some terrible times, some confusing times, but in a strange way, their current marital situation was comfortable for her. She missed sleeping beside Matt terribly, but at least the threat of sex was removed. Now, if he had another woman, everything could be upset. She would lose her nice, safe relationship.

Jessica's reaction to the discovery of Matt's 'infidelity' was totally irrational. But at that point, she was definitely not rational. Matt had been her safe refuge that protected her from the irresistible sexual pull of Rod Turner. Now, to her mind, that refuge was lost and there was no more protection from Rod.

If Jessica had been rational, she would have done whatever was necessary to protect herself from Rod's hold on her. Not being rational, she did just the opposite - she called Rod.

By the time Rod had left, Jessica was already horrified and sickened at what she had done, and done willingly. Also, for the first time, she realized that she should have been doing those things all along with the husband she genuinely loved, and enjoying them.

After her trip to the office, she knew the terrible mistake that she had made in assuming that Matt was rooming with Leslie, the receptionist. That just deepened her panic.

During the interminable three-day wait for his return from the convention, her determination to be the kind of wife he wanted grew. That was how she greeted him at the door, but to her dismay, he did not respond in kind. Later, the reason was clear as he laid before her the damning proof of her infidelity and dictated the conditions of her divorce.

The next day, Jessica waited in the house in the forlorn hope that Matt would at least return and talk to her. When the divorce papers and the check were delivered in the afternoon, she realized that it was a lost cause. She packed as much as she could get into her car and left for her mother's.

Actually, she would have preferred to go almost anywhere other than Marie's, but she did not even have the ability to plan a different course. Part of her knew that Marie would be shocked and outraged, but a bigger part was so dependent from all of the years of conditioning that she had no choice.

Some part of her was alert enough to realize that Marie might well try to destroy the divorce documents. She thought of going to the lawyer's office to sign them immediately, but that was beyond her at the moment. Marie was still at work when Jessica got to Marie's house. She found a place to hide the papers and the check in the garage. That was the limit of her capacity for independent action and when Marie got home, her daughter was a quivering, incoherent mass curled up in her old bed.

Marie's reaction was predictable. Once she had extracted the details from the barely coherent Jessica, she tore off for Matt's house. He had returned there after work, thinking that he had had enough time to compose himself for a conversation with Jessica.

It was a great relief to Matt that Jessica had left, but that relief was short-lived when Marie showed up. That encounter was actually cathartic, bringing the first bit of closure to the situation.

It took Jessica another day before she could even think of leaving the house, but on the second day after, she made it to Matt's lawyer's office and signed the papers. The attorney and his admin assistant could see the distress that Jessica was feeling and could not help being sympathetic. They had a job to do for their client, though.

"Before she left, Jessica said to the lawyer "I need some help. I've got this money, and I want to sell the car and some jewelry to get some more cash. I know nothing about handling money or any of those things. I ... I don't want to depend on my mother. Can you help?"

The lawyer made a quick call to Matt, asking Jessica to wait outside his office. Matt authorized the lawyer to bill him for time spent assisting Jessica. The lawyer actually gave the task to his assistant, who was more than willing to help the distraught beauty.

Mel got into the fray. A week after the fateful night, Mel waited in the parking lot of Marie's work and accosted her as she got out of her car.

"Listen up, you monster!" Mel spat out. "You have managed to screw up the life of a lovely girl, and by all rights I should shoot you where you stand. You also broke my brother's heart, and for that I should cut off your tits and tear up your face.

"All I'm going to do is warn you that you have just one job with Jessica until she wises up enough to get the hell away from you. For once, you be a mother to her, or else. You comfort her, support her, and help her get her life restarted. We know what is going on with her. If you even think of trying any more of your brainwashing, we will come down hard on you.

"You know how much money Matt has. You'd better believe that if he wanted to, he could have you eating out of dumpsters and turning tricks to stay alive. If you keep screwing up your daughter, that's exactly what he will do."

Without another word, Mel stalked away before the shocked Marie could even think of a retort. Matt knew nothing of Mel's threats, but Marie would assume that Matt had put her up to it.

Jessica had no contact with Matt until the meeting in the coffee shop three weeks after the divorce. When he left that meeting, Jessica was certain that she had seen tears in his eyes at her remark about men not really loving. So many upsetting, disturbing things had happened that she decided to go and see Dr. Julia Waxman. As was becoming more and more her pattern, she did not consult with Marie about it.

-------

[Jessica] Mid April

Back in the present, Jessica was wary, even combative when she sat down for her first session with Julia. "I suppose Matt has told you all about what a screwed up bitch I am," she said immediately.

Julia knew that she had to be careful, but she felt it was necessary to try and counteract any anger at Matt. "He only spoke of you with love, concern, and sadness. I believe Matt offered to pay for these session because he was concerned about how you were coping," Julia said gently.

From sessions with Matt and from listening to Jessica's conversations with Marie, Julia knew that Jessica's avoidance reflex was very strong. Now, she was faced with a tough tactical problem. She had to find a way to keep Jessica coming back, but she had to make each session seem worthwhile. There was even a problem of preventing Jessica from dashing out of the office if she was pushed too hard. It was her way of dealing with a situation that presented her with unresolvable contradictions.

Contradictions were the key with Jessica. She was a beautiful young woman with normal urges, possibly even stronger than normal. Yet, she had been conditioned to reject those urges, even be appalled at feeling them. She had begun to genuinely love Matt, yet her conditioned view of men was that they were little more than apes - emotionless and without the capacity to love.

As Julia had hoped, Jessica reacted to the word 'love'. "Matt kept telling me that he loved me. Why would he say that when men don't truly love?"

"I'm not going to try to answer that right now, Jessica. If I give you a reading list, will you do some research before our next session?" Jessica agreed, but without any enthusiasm.

"Now, let's talk about how you are getting along. Where are you living? Have you looked for a job? Are you having trouble sleeping? Is depression a problem?" Julia rattled off a series of questions, as much to keep Jessica off balance as anything. Then, she went back to treat them one by one.

At the end of the hour, Julia handed Jessica a book that talked about the male psyche in an analytical yet understandable way. She also gave her a list of three other books with similar subjects. Julia had anticipated before the session that a major obstacle would be Jessica's opinion of men, as shaped by Marie. She also knew that she could not ever attack Marie directly. She would have to let Jessica 'discover' what Marie had done.

-------

[Dale] Late April

On several occasions, Caroline and Catherine had emphasized to Dale that he should never allow himself to be alone with Mercedes Charles. So far, that had not been an issue, since, for the entire school year, he had not met, or even seen, Faith's mother. The women's concern was that Mercedes might concoct some sort of charge against Dale.

On the second Monday in April, while Dale was posing, a woman walked into the studio, staring hard at him, specifically at his exposed crotch, from her first step in the door.

The studio was certainly not a securely guarded room, but Catherine did a good job of keeping out people with no business there. Dale first looked toward Catherine and saw a look of mixed anger and dismay on her face. Next, he looked at Faith, and her sudden pallor told him exactly who had come to check him out.

Dale's self-confidence had grown tremendously throughout the year, and his posing played no small part in that. Fueled by that constant anger he felt toward Mercedes for what she had done to his beloved Faith, he leveled a gaze at Mercedes that should certainly have bubbled the heavy coat of makeup on her face.

A slight flicker of alarm from Mercedes was all the satisfaction Dale got, but from what he had heard, even that was a notable victory. He had no problem ignoring the smirk that followed and he did not change his stare even a little bit. He knew he was probably ruining the pose, but this little struggle was more important.

Mercedes stood and stared for another five minutes, then left.

When the session ended, both Faith and Catherine rushed to see him behind the screen. "Stay in a crowd, whatever you do," Catherine said frantically. "I think she is going to try something." Faith just looked on with wide, teary eyes.

The hour following the sitting, Faith had a class and Dale always went to the library to study until she could join him. His habit was to find the most secluded available carrel, and she knew to look for him there. Heeding Catherine's warning, he sat at a table in full view of the main station.

The precaution was justified because Mercedes showed up ten minutes after his arrival. She sat right next to him and put her hand halfway up his thigh. Given his feelings toward her, she could not have aroused him even by grabbing his crotch.

"Dale, it is too bad that it took so long for us to meet. Since Faith seems to have such an interest in you, I really think we should take some time to get better acquainted. Come on out to the house with me and we can get to know each other much, much better."

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Charles, but I won't join you. To be truthful, I don't want to know you any better. It is hypocritical for either of us to even pretend to be nice to the other."

"Are you refusing me?" Mercedes demanded, her face flushing slightly. "That is something you should consider quite carefully."

"Oh, I have considered it for many months. Your rude intrusion at the studio did nothing to change my mind," Dale said evenly.

He almost pumped his fist with glee when he saw her look around quickly, then drop her shoulders slightly in resignation. She pulled her hand away from his leg, stood up, and said "I believe you will regret refusing my offer of a truce." With that, she turned and walked out of the library.

As soon as she was out of sight, Dale found a private carrel, as usual. It took him until Faith arrived to relax and prepare himself to act as if nothing had happened. There was no way he was going to tell anyone about the encounter.

-------

It was the following Wednesday afternoon when Dale noticed that Catherine seemed disturbed as they rode home together. He started several times to ask her what was the matter, but he decided that she would tell him if it was something he should know.

As soon as they got in the house, Catherine literally dropped the things she was carrying, fell into Dale's arms, and began sobbing her heart out. When she could finally get some control of her voice, she said the words that would turn his life upside down.

"Mercedes Charles got your scholarship canceled!"

The only reason that Dale did not join her in tears was that he was too stunned for any reaction. For minutes, he just stood and held her.

Dale knew exactly why he had been canceled, but he could not tell Catherine. She would try to do something about it, and if she went against Mercedes, she would lose her job. He could not let that happen. In fact, they could not even let on that he had found out.

"What am I going to tell Mom?" he finally asked, as if in a trance. "And Faith?"

Catherine could not hold back more tears. She had a pretty good idea of what had happened. Everyone on the faculty knew about Mercedes Charles and her heavy-handed tactics. If even one fourth of the rumors were true...

Her heart ached for the young man she had come to love, but the tears were also tears of anger and helplessness. She, Catherine, was tenured, but she had no illusions that she would be protected from Mercedes' wrath if she made any noises about what had been done to Dale.

When Dale flopped down onto the couch after several minutes, Catherine sat beside him. "I know what happened, Dale. Well, I can guess, at least. You turned her down, didn't you? Monday, right? This shit has got to stop."

After saying that, she got up and made a call. Through the fog of his shock and dismay, Dale at first thought she was calling Caroline. When Catherine said "Could I speak to Dr. Bracken, please?" he shot from the couch and sprang toward her. As she said "This is..." he ripped the phone from her hand and disconnected.

When she spun and looked at him in shock, he said "It will do no good for you to lose your job, as well."

"But I can't just sit here and let you get run out of school for nothing but ... but being honorable. That is what happened, isn't it?" He nodded.

"Do you honestly think there is anything you can do to change it?" he asked as gently as he could.

That started the tears again. "It's just so unfair," she sobbed into his shoulder as he hugged her. "What ... what will you do?"

"My tuition is paid. I guess I will just finish out the semester," he answered. "After that?" He finished with a helpless shrug.

"I don't care if she does get me fired!" Catherine shouted, stepping out of his arms. "She can't get by with this!"

He moved to pull her back into his embrace. "Catherine, don't say that. You do care. Your sister and your nieces are here. You have a job you love and students who like and respect you. Except for her meddling, this is a good place to work, isn't it?"

"But that's bad enough to ruin everything," she wailed.

"Catherine. Listen to me. If she forces you out, do you think any other school will hire you?"

She gave a shudder and found another reservoir of tears.

-------

[Lindsey] Late April

Linsey Hall and Sonja Schermer had been good friends before the the 'trial' of Sonja's brother Frank. Mark and Lindsey's work at reuniting Sonja with her older sister Sarah had brought them even closer. Sarah, once she got past her initial displeasure over Mark and Lindsey's sexual relationship, found it impossible not to like Lindsey.

Sarah became a regular at any singing appearance of her sister's. She had not become a member of the Doggerel troop, but Jenny was considering putting her on the payroll as an aide because of her flair for the myriad details of pulling off a concert smoothly.

Lindsey and the two sisters had a strong bond because of the injustices done to them in their homes. Each had reacted differently: Lindsey and Sonja had fled, while Sarah had stuck it out through high school. The other big difference was that the Halls, Lindsey's parents, had come through their 'sentence' in Transformations dramatically changed. Lindsey's relationship with them, particularly with her mother, Mary, had changed as well.

But the mid-teen years, when the girls had been most emotionally vulnerable and when the mistreatment by their parents had been the worst, could never be replayed. When together, the three began discussing how many other girls might be in the same straits. One day, Rich Krentz happened to be with the three when the subject came up. He made a very strong case that it was not just girls who suffered intolerable home situations.

One day when Lindsey was volunteering in the women's section, Julia stopped by late in the day and stayed for dinner with the women, something she tried to do at least once a week. Since her 'regular' practice would not seem to slow down, she had to spend time at the Tee whenever she could.

"Julia, could you take a few minutes to listen to a crazy idea?" Lindsey asked.

"Compared to some of the crazy stuff I've already heard today, I'll bet your idea will be the sanest thing I've heard," Julia joked as she hugged Lindsey and led her off toward a secluded seating area. She sensed that it was a discussion that did not need the formality of her office.

"After talking a lot to Sonja and Sarah, and some to Rich, here's my crazy idea. Could there be something like the Tee where kids in intolerable home situations could come to live?"

"You mean like a group home?" Julia asked.

"Yeah, I guess," Lindsey answered hesitantly. "But that has a connotation of bad kids. Looking at the four of us, we were all good kids. We didn't need a group home for discipline or punishment. We needed a place where we could live like normal teens."

"So you're not suggesting nudity, like the Tee?"

"No. I'm talking about kids that need help, but don't need to be transformed. That would defeat the idea of a more normal environment," Lindsey answered.

"The biggest problem I see is parental control. If you had needed your parents' permission to move to this place, you would never have gotten it, would you?"

"No, of course not. But if I knew of such a place, I think I would have fled."

"Ah. What age would this be aimed at?"

"Puberty through graduation would be ideal," was Lindsey's response.

"How would the kids be supported?"

"That's the big question, of course. Look. My last two songs have made more money than Mark and I can ever use. I know I couldn't support very many, but I would sure like to set up some scholarships if there was such a place."

Julia had always thought that Lindsey was somehow just too good to be true, and once again Julia had to fight back some tears. "Such a place would be awfully expensive to operate. It would need a large staff."

"No, I don't think so," Lindsey corrected. "I don't mean to sound snobbish, but it would not be for the rebels and the burnouts. I'm thinking about good kids who are willing to take responsibility. I'll bet most of the work could be done by the kids themselves. The adults should be there for companionship and advice."

"That an interesting perspective," Julia mused. "The original problem is huge, though. How could they ever get out from their parents' control. The legal issues are daunting."

"Yeah, I suppose it is just a dream," Lindsey said rather sadly.

"But it's a commendable dream. Let me run it by some people and see if anyone has a brainstorm, Ok?"

-------

[Jessica] Late April

When the second session began, Julia asked Jessica if she had read any of the book. "Yes, I've finished about a third of it. The author certainly has a radical view of men."

"Radical? In what way?"

"Well, it's just not how men really are," Jessica insisted. "The parts about sexual drive and competitiveness seem right. But when she starts to talk about feelings and emotions - that just doesn't fit with reality."

Julia had thought long and hard about her next move, but she had decided to take the risk. "OK. Let's use your Daddy as an example and compare him to what the author says." The use of 'Daddy' was deliberate.

Jessica was stunned. "Wh ... why him? That was so long ago!"

"He was obviously an example of men at their worst, so..."

"No! No! He wasn't like that! He was ... he was..."

"But he abused you," Julia said.

"He never did! He ... he ... lov ... lov..." She was about to say 'loved', but she could not get it out. Men did not love. That was a given.

"Someone accused him of abusing you. The court believed the accuser, and that's why he was never allowed to see you again," Julia explained.

"I tried to tell them he didn't, but they wouldn't believe me," Jessica said, her agitation apparent. "Why would someone say that? Who said it? All these years I've wondered."

"Any lawyer can find out for you. It's part of your treatment, so Matt will pay the lawyer's fees. You could ask your mother. She probably remembers who it was."

Jessica was very bright. The question of the abuse charges had always been on her mind, but Marie's skillful conditioning had kept it suppressed. Jessica knew instinctively that it would not be a good idea to ask her mother that question. There had always been the suspicion that Marie had made the accusation.

"Since you were happy to be rid of him, I suppose you've never had any desire to see him again," Julia said, holding her breath for the reaction.

"I wasn't ... he's not allowed to see me," Jessica answered, almost in a panic.

"Oh, that expired when you reached twenty-one," Julia said. "Actually, it probably expired when you were eighteen."

"Really?"

"Would you like to find him? Maybe get some revenge for what he did to you?" Now, Julia was really pushing.

"Revenge? Oh, I wouldn't ... do you really think you could find him?"

"There are experts who can find anyone," Julia said.

-------

[Cliff] Early May

"Why didn't you contact Jessica when she turned eighteen?" Julia asked Cliff Longley as he sat in her office. At Matt's instructions, Cliff had been located before Jessica's first session with Julia. His first meeting with Julia was right after Jessica's second session.

Cliff really was not hiding. He had stayed in the metro area and had started over. He and his brother now owned a fairly successful financial services firm, specializing in business casualty insurance, but handling numerous other products.

"What do you think that would have done to her," Cliff asked rather defensively. "I had a pretty good idea by then about the extent to which the bitch had messed with her mind. Outwardly, she was a fairly normal, happy teen. I wanted to see her in the worst way, but I had to decide if that was the best for her."

"How did you know what Marie had done?"

"Well, for one thing, I knew Marie. Then, just watching what events and dates Jessica was allowed to go on and checking on her behavior on those dates, I..."

"Wait a minute! How could you know that much detail about her?" Julia asked.

"I could probably have been accused of stalking her," Cliff admitted. "I wanted to know everything I could about her without her knowing I was keeping track."

"Why?"

"Doc, I loved that little girl like you wouldn't believe. My marriage was a disaster, but it was worth it for Jessica. Then ... well, you know the sad story."

"Loving her that much, I'm surprised you could resist contacting her."

"You don't pull your punches, do you Doc? There were two things that held me back. The one, I already mentioned, about causing her some real trauma. The biggest reason, though, is that I was afraid. I was afraid that the bitch had made her hate me. I couldn't have handled that."

"Why didn't you stop Rod Turner from going into her house that night," Julia demanded. She knew it was an unreasonable question, but she was prodding.

"I've built a new business and done pretty well. I can't afford 7/24 surveillance, though. Chances are, an operative would not have known who he was, anyway."

Julia and Cliff sparred for the rest of the hour before Julia stood to dismiss him. "Will you trust me to decide when the two of you should meet?" she asked.

The tough-minded Cliff dissolved in a flash. Tears began running down his cheeks. He was unable to generate any words and just nodded before hurrying out.

-------

Asking Cliff to trust her on the timing was the easy part for Julia. Deciding when the time was right would be very, very difficult. It could not possibly happen until Jessica discovered and acknowledged what Marie had done to Cliff.

This would be a case of well-timed nudges. Julia was quite certain that nothing she could say, nor even the writings of experts, would on its own change Jessica's thinking. It is the nature of effective indoctrination to build logical and emotional defenses for the ideas instilled. Marie had no formal training, and had in fact made some serious errors. Still, her instincts were amazingly accurate and Jessica could hardly have been brainwashed more thoroughly by experts.

Julia's best hope was to work the contradictions. Cliff was a perfect choice because Jessica's memories of him were amplified by the elapsed time and her impressionable age at their last contact. Julia was quite sure that Jessica could never fit her learned image of a male with the memories of her father.

Matt posed another series of contradictions, but Julia had to stay away from the subject of him for a while. He represented too much recent pain for Jessica. That would distract from the curiosity and the uncertainty that Julia was trying to cultivate.

Fortunately, Julia was able to offer a great deal of practical advice to Jessica for dealing with the situation she was in. Jessica seemed to have a desire to at least reduce the codependence on her mother. Her short married life must have given her enough of a taste of independence that she did not want to go back.

It had happened before and Julia was careful not to let it go too far. She had become somewhat of a substitute mother for Jessica - perhaps alternate mother was a better description.



-------

Chapter 6


[Dale] Early May

Dale had always run for conditioning, but in the last miserable week, since finding out about the cancellation of his scholarship, he had stretched out the distance because it was the closest thing to a drug that he would ever indulge in. He needed it now more than at any time since the plane crash.

It was a week and a half until finals, and then, his world would undergo another wrenching change. Even though he had known since the first few weeks that he really did not belong at Thurston, it would be very hard to leave. His little circle of friends was made up of some exceptional people.

Catherine was a combination of grandmother and substitute mother. Caroline was a brilliant, insightful, caring healer who seemed to have taken a genuine interest in him. Lisa was the little sister he never had, and Barry was his only good male friend in the town.

And Faith. He had to force himself not to think about her. It was impossible to run well while crying. The only thing he could compare it to was the feeling of the loss and helplessness he had experienced when his dad died. He was in love with Faith, there was no doubt about it. It seemed that the forces tearing them apart were overwhelming.

He had thought of taking some sort of menial job in town, just to be near her. There were two things wrong with that idea. First of all, Mercedes Charles would certainly use her influence to see that he lost any job that he happened to land. Beyond that, Faith would never stand for him giving up on his education. Her awe of his capabilities and her belief in what he could accomplish were almost religious.

When he had told Faith, rivaling the news of his father's death as the most agonizing moment in his life, she had suggested that her father might give him a job. That could have kept him in town, but did not solve his education problem. Besides that, Max had told Dale that he was seriously considering moving his business.

Just walking away from Faith was unthinkable, but in the near future, there were no realistic alternatives. Lately, the only time they had been able to see each other was at school. Faith caught endless grief from her mother, who seemed to know everything that Faith did, but she endured it willingly for the precious minutes they could share.

Despite being in public, they had cried together in the cafeteria when he told her that he had to leave. They had pledged to each other that somehow, sometime they would be together.

He did not mention that her mother was behind it. In fact, he could not tell her that he knew about the cancellation. It hurt to have to lie to her about why he would not be back, but the number of people that could be hurt was just too large.

No matter how hard he tried, he could not help playing the events over and over in his mind as he ran. Still, it was not as bad as when he tried to study, or tried to sleep, or any one of a dozen necessary activities that the anguish and the anger intruded upon.

As he entered the house after his run, he could hear Catherine in the master bedroom, so he went right for the shower. When he had finished and dressed lightly, he drifted toward the kitchen in the semi-daze that had been his demeanor since learning about the cancellation.

This time, he was jerked to full, acute awareness as he entered the kitchen and saw Catherine standing at the counter, completely naked. He just stood there motionless, staring at her bare backside. He knew quite well what her body looked like. They had worked out together many times and at Marilyn and Barry's pool, she had worn a very revealing suit. Still, the sight of her without even the minimal coverings of her bikini was a jolt.

Having either sensed or heard his presence, she turned around in a series of awkward motions, making it clear that she was struggling to make the final disclosure.

Dale remembered very well how Catherine had looked only into his eyes as he stepped naked from the powder room that first night they had met. With his own effort of will, he returned the courtesy, focusing his questioning look only on her face.

"Y ... you can look at all of me," Dale. "You're going to be seeing a lot of this body before you l ... leave. There's a really good reason."

When he still just stared silently at her face, she said "This is necessary preparation for your new job back home. You start right after your last fnal. Sit down and I'll tell you about it while you eat."

Dale was not sure about the eating part, but she had his curiosity at an all-time high. He sat and watched her as she made up a plate for him, no longer limiting his gaze to her face. Catherine would never be characterized as more than nice looking, but her body did show the evidence of her disciplined workout regimen and intelligent diet. She carried very little extra weight and she gave the impression of energy and strength. He had noticed those things before, but seeing her now, the impressions were reinforced.

"What are you talking about - a job, I mean?" he asked when he could be patient no longer.

"Read these," she said and handed him a brochure along with a multi-page email that Caroline had received from Dr. Julia Waxman, the director of Transformations.

"My sister had heard about this place. It has only been going a few months, but it appears to be very successful When we discovered the plot and we knew we were going to lose you, she..."

"Catherine, you will never lose me," Dale blurted out. "I may have to leave, but after everything you've done for me and as close as we've become, we are best friends for life."

That was too much for Catherine. Together they had drawn the boundaries of their relationship and stuck to them. There had been lots of hugging and cuddling, but no sex and no direct sexual stimulation. What she did next pushed those boundaries.

Breaking into spontaneous tears, she threw herself onto his lap and hugged him hard, crying into his shoulder. Realizing how much she needed it, he ignored her bare skin and hugged back, even stroking his hand up and down her back in a comforting way.

"You can read the email, but Transformations has a wonderful success record already," she said, her face still buried in his shoulder. "The women who go there are naked all the time. Many of the attendants are male. The Director has agreed that you will be an ideal attendant.

"One of their requirements is that you be comfortable with nudity before you start. Your posing qualifies for your own nudity. I'm giving you practice with a naked woman.

"It sounds like a wonderful place to work. What really caught my attention was that you get really attractive tuition to Addison as an employee."

Dale had an endless list of questions, and Catherine tried to answer a few of them. Finally, giving him a quick kiss, she got up off of his lap and told him "Caroline will be here for dinner tomorrow, and she can give you a lot more details. She has actually visited the place."

"She has? When?"

"Just a few days ago. She came back just raving about it. She was so excited I'm afraid she might move away to work there." As she spoke, Catherine saw the moisture in Dale's eyes. "What's wrong, Honey?"

"She went there just to check out a job for me?" he asked.

"Well, that started it, but a lot of it was professional curiosity, too. Oh, and she had a delightful visit with your mom. She'll tell you about that tonight."

"So, you're just going to stay like that all the time I'm here?" Dale asked when he had regained some of his composure."

"Uh, huh. When Caroline talks to you tomorrow, you will understand better."

-------

Dale did not have any late classes that next day, so he had ridden his bike. He and Lisa were studying together in their usual fashion when Catherine and Caroline arrived together. Dale could not understand why Catherine looked so puzzled, but after a moment he figured it out and almost choked as he tried to suppress his laughter.

The sisters did one of those non-verbal conversations and headed off to the master bedroom together. Dale was very surprised when both came out naked, Caroline looking very flushed and nervous. Needless to say, Lisa was beyond surprised. It was Caroline who sat down to explain things to the girl.

"When Dale goes back home, there's a great job waiting for him. He'll be working in a place where women come and stay for a few months as treatment for physical and psychological problems. The women are naked the whole time they are at this place. Dale is going to be an attendant there, and he needs to get comfortable being around naked women.

"So, we are helping Dale get ready for his new job. Catherine will be naked at home until Dale leaves. I will be, too, whenever I am here."

Lisa began crying softly, a common reaction since she heard that Dale would be leaving. Knowing that her feelings for him went beyond just a girlish crush, Dale was unsure about what, if anything, he should do to try to comfort her. Giving Caroline a helpless look, he saw her nod, so he pulled Lisa up onto his lap and hugged her for a while.

There was no more conversation about Transformations until Lisa had left and they sat down to dinner. Seeing him looking at her, Caroline said "It's a lot harder to be clinical and detached about nudity when it's my boobs hanging out. I have a whole new appreciation for what Catherine put you through last fall. And I don't even have the 'big problem' to worry about." She ended with a giggle.

Though a few years older than Catherine, Caroline had also taken care of her body, and the two sisters looked very similar. "Dale, I've got a lot of things to tell you about Transformations."

"Catherine said she was afraid you might move and go to work there," he said.

"It's tempting. Dr. Waxman is unbelievable. She needs help and it would be a privilege to work with her. There is no definite offer yet, though."

"That would leave a lot of people without help in this crazy town," Dale quipped.

Perhaps forgetting her state of undress - or perhaps not - Caroline gave Dale a quick hug and told him how much she appreciated the comment. "Now, if we can arrange for Catherine and Lisa and her family, and ... and ... shit!" That was as far as Dale got with his attempt at humor.

The sisters knew that it was Faith he was thinking about and they ached for him. The relationship between Dale and Faith was such a poignant story that everyone who knew them was touched by it - except for Mercedes, of course. If two young people ever deserved to be together, it was them, but like the tragic lovers of drama and song, the fates seemed aligned against them.

"Dale," Caroline said gently, "Catherine has promised not to do anything that will get her fired. Will you please tell us exactly what happened?" Considering what Caroline was doing for him, how could he refuse, and he recounted everything.

"If I could get you a teaching job there, would you consider moving?" Caroline asked her sister?"

"You'd really leave Carla and the baby, and Claire?" Catherine wondered.

"You have to see Transformations and what they've accomplished to understand. I can't really understand why they'd want me, but they sounded serious. It would be the opportunity of a lifetime. Carla has already told me that she will disown me and I will never see the baby anyway if I refuse an offer from them. She understands how special the place is."

"You shouldn't ask me right now, Sis," Catherine said. "I'm so upset with the way Mercedes controls and subverts things that I'm ready to take a high school job some days. When I cool off, though..."

They had all but forgotten Dale as they talked. "What got you so excited?" he asked.

"Well, I actually got to go in and talk to a number of the women. They all had to give their permission, and if they wanted to, they could stay in their rooms while I was there. None did, and that made me feel accepted.

"The whole idea is that they are isolated from all of the other influences in their lives for a while. They can totally focus on getting better. I saw before and after pictures of some who were nearly ready to leave, and it was unbelievable. Some of them described what they were like when they entered, and they did not even seem like the same people.

"The other thing was the dynamics between the women. In some ways, it seemed like they did more to heal each other than Dr. Waxman could ever do, and she agreed with that. It seemed like being naked gave them all an openness and a sensitivity to the others that was hard to imagine.

"Dale, it will be like you have twenty mothers or grandmothers there," Caroline started to say.

"You mean it will be as good as it has been here?" he asked seriously. That got him the predictable hugs.

"You would think the women would resent having to be naked with men around, but it's just the opposite," Caroline enthused. "The young guys are just as nice as they can be, and I think the women all fall in love with them. As far as any concerns about modesty - forget it! Dr. Waxman said that one of their challenges is to work with the guys on how to gently maintain a professional detachment with the women."

"You're kidding!" both Dale and Catherine said, almost together.

"I'm serious. They did a tremendous amount of research before they opened the place, and they seem to have gotten it right. The concepts they talk about are 'immersion therapy' and 're-birthing'. I guess the key concept is that healing is more likely when all of the normal pressures and influences are removed."

"But I'm no psychologist," Dale objected. "As far as women, I'm even more mystified than most men."

That earned him a playful slap from Caroline. "But you've got the most important attribute," she told him. "You are naturally considerate of other people and concerned about them."

"What kind of things does an attendant do?"

"Well, naturally, there is some cleanup work, but mostly, it's helping the women. You would supervise their workouts, assist them with the different learning activities, and..."

"Learning activities?"

"Yes, there are computers all over the place. The residents are encouraged to take courses, or to just investigate something that will be helpful to their transformation.

"Oh, something interesting for you. The CFO has an office right in the women's section. He runs his own accounting business and it seems to be growing. One of the other attendants works for him while finishing his accounting degree."

"That has to be the strangest working environment ever," Dale commented.

"You don't know the half of it. His son is an attendant there, and his wife works there, too. She meets all of the new residents and tries to help them through the first tough days. She spends most of her time naked so she is more like the residents. Oh, the son, Mark, is engaged to Lindsey Hall, the country singing star."

"I would say," Dale said, "just from your level of enthusiasm that if they offer you, you're gone."

"It shows, huh?" Caroline laughed.

"And they're ready to hire me sight unseen?"

"Well, they have my unbiased professional recommendation," she answered with another laugh, "and they've talked to your mother extensively."

"They have?"

"Oh, yes. They're very strong on not letting jobs there harm family relationships in any way. This is, uh, nothing firm, but I will tell you that they are considering your mother for a job, also."

"I thought the attendants were all male."

"Not all of them, and there is a men's side, also. But that's not what they are talking about. Lindsey Hall is talking about a new facility, kind of a group home, for good kids trapped in lousy family situations. They're thinking about Muriel as a live-in house mother. They like employing whole families. It has worked well for them so far."

"Wow!" was all Dale could think to say.

"Um, Catherine said they had a special deal with Addison."

"That's right, and Gerald Magnuson, the Chairman of the..."

"THE Gerald Magnuson?" Dale asked in amazement.

"Yes. His Magnuson Foundation provided the funding for the startup of Transformations."

"Then I can see why you're so excited. That man does everything right," Dale told them.

"So you follow the movers and shakers pretty closely?" Caroline asked.

"Yeah. Funny, isn't it? I know a lot about money and the people who have it, but I can't ... I can't..." Then he broke down. Regardless of their nudity, the sisters surrounded and hugged him until he regained his composure.

"There's one attendant task that I didn't tell you about," Caroline said to break the somber mood. "Let's have you practice for that right now. It's massage."

"Massage? But the women are naked! Do they make them get massages like that?" Dale asked in disbelief.

"Make them? Not hardly!" Caroline declared. "All of the women love it, and a few told me it was the high point of the day for them."

"But that's so ... so intimate," he protested.

"It sure is," Catherine broke in. "What are we waiting for."

"But I know nothing about it."

"Even more reason for not wasting any time."

-------

[Cliff] Early May

Either because of Mel's threat, from guilt over the anguish she had caused, or from a surprise resurgence of true motherly concern, Marie had been very supportive of Jessica in the weeks since the divorce. While good for Jessica in the short run, it made Julia's job more difficult. There was no chance of real normalcy without a complete break from Marie.

All Julia could do was feed any doubt or any inclination toward independence. Now, she had the ultimate wedge in hand - Cliff, but that wedge had to be used very carefully. The ideal situation would be for Jessica to break away from Marie before meeting Cliff.

Even though she had been quite aggressive with him at their first meeting, Julia was impressed with Cliff and she wanted to be very up-front with him. Calling him in three weeks later for another short meeting, she told him her objective. "I don't know if I can pull it off, but I believe it will be much better for both Jessica and you if she breaks away from Marie before she meets you. Are you willing to wait that out?"

"After fourteen years, am I willing to wait a few weeks or months longer? Of course I am. And I agree with your analysis. I do not want to get into a mother or dad choice situation."

"Still afraid you might lose?"

"I don't know how, but you seem to know Marie very well," he retorted. "What do you think?"

Julia wanted to have Cliff listen to some of the taped conversations. Unfortunately, Jessica was on those tapes and she was Julia's client. Julia could not even ask for a confidentiality waiver without revealing that she had contact with Cliff. It was too early for that.

"You're right. It isn't really a matter of rational choice, Cliff. That's why I wanted to get your input. I believe we are in agreement on most of what is best for Jessica."

"Do you think there is any chance for reconciliation between Jessica and Matt?" Cliff asked abruptly.

"I wish I could hold out some hope there, but I can't. There are some factors that make it very unlikely. I am bordering on breaking a confidence, but I will tell you that I am not sure that is what Jessica really wants."

"What? I can't understand that," Cliff objected. "Why is she so broken up, then?"

"You must know that I can't say any more about a patient."

"Do you think I should contact Matt?"

"For what purpose? To plead for Jessica?" Julia demanded.

"That would be my impulse, but if you don't think I should, I won't. At least, I would like to find out all I can about what went wrong."

"Cliff, you have to decide what information is going to make things easier for you and what is just going to make it worse. You also need to think about Matt and what he is going through. My guess is that any contact from you would only make things worse for him."

"In what way?" Cliff wondered.

Julia had to think about how to respond to that. Matt had given her permission to tell Jessica anything about him. Should she extend that to Cliff? "Matt believes his best hope for healing is to try to forget all about Jessica. Your meeting him would not help that at all."

"And if the last thing I want is for him to forget my daughter?"

"Obviously, I have no power to prevent you from seeing him."

"Except that you are the key person in my daughter's hope for a good future," he corrected her.

Releasing an uncharacteristic sigh, Julia admitted "I don't honestly know if it would be better for them to reconcile or to just go their separate ways. Given that, having you act as the wild card might not be all bad. It could not make it any worse for Jessica, but it could for Matt."

"I assume he is also your patient."

Without answering his question, Julia asked "Will you tell me how the meeting goes?"

-------

[Cliff & Matt] Mid May

"Are you here to plead for Jessica?" Matt asked sharply when he and Cliff were seated in a booth at the bar. Cliff had called him at the office and asked if they could meet.

"Of course, I would love to see the two of you reconciled," Cliff admitted, "but I will say no more about it. I want to learn as much about Jessica as I can."

"Why?"

"I have been shadowing her closely all of these years. I know everything there is to know publicly and a lot of what the public cannot find out. I need to know more."

"Why don't you just ask her?" Matt asked. "Surely any legal restrictions have expired by now." Cliff went through the same explanation that he had given Julia earlier.

"I assume you know all about the divorce and how it came about, then," Matt commented.

"Not everything, of course," Cliff answered. "Given the business you are in, the house must have had sophisticated surveillance equipment. The fact that Jessica actually cheated on you is what is hard to believe."

"You have no idea," Matt said glumly.

"Does that mean that sex was missing from your marriage?" Cliff probed.

"Let's just say that Marie made a complete mess of her," was as far as Matt would elaborate.

"If you know that Marie screwed her up so badly, why is there no chance for reconciliation?"

"Tell you what, Cliff, I'll authorize Julia to tell you about what my marriage to Jessica was like. Also, I have a history with Rod Turner. There's one thing that Julia can't tell you because of patient confidentiality, but I will. Jessica did not marry me for the right reasons. I was a safe choice because she thought I would not threaten her with sex. She knew that's what Rod wanted, and it frightened her. Cliff, I was a substitute for her long-lost daddy."

"Dr. Waxman won't tell me about the marriage because Jessica is her patient, too," Cliff pointed out.

"Right. I forgot that little fact.'

"Do you still love her?"

"I imagine a lot of divorced men still love their wives," Matt answered. "That doesn't mean they could live with them again."

"But you only divorced her to protect your company, didn't you?"

"Not after she fucked Rod."

"Doesn't the fact that she's under psychiatric care show that she wasn't acting rationally at the time?"

"Cliff! You said you wouldn't."

Taking a deep breath to control himself, Cliff said "Sorry. You're right. Someday, when you have children, you'll realize how badly a parent wants the right things for their children."

"I don't think that will ever happen for me," Matt said with a shake of his head. "I'm done with any binding relationship with a woman."

"Just because of a divorce?"

"If she ever gets to the point where she can, Cliff, have Jessica tell you about our marriage."

"I think I can extrapolate from my own, Matt. It was all Marie's doing, after all."

-------

[Dale] Mid May

Several nights later was the local art group. All of those in the group expressed their sadness that Dale would be leaving them and their appreciation for his having posed. He refused to take any payment for posing that night. He had seen most of the group to the door and was just waiting for the last two when he got yet another surprise. Catherine and two women from the group came from the bedroom naked.

"I scheduled the group early tonight so we could enjoy a late dinner together. I also promised Jane and Theresa a massage," Catherine informed him.

Seeing how nervous both of the women were, Dale tried to think of something to help them relax. Almost instinctively, he walked toward them with his hands in front of himself flexing them in what he hoped was a menacing way. "You two sure are brave, subjecting yourselves to these untrained hands. Who's the first victim?"

Theresa was a mid-thirties single mother, chubby but voluptuous, flirtatious, and upbeat. She grabbed one of Dale's arms and hugged herself to it, making sure her breast was pressed against his arm. "Sorry I don't have anything impressive to show off like you do," she said, grinning up at him.

"Oh but you do, you do," Dale retorted, staring pointedly at her breasts, guessing that was exactly what she was fishing for.

Jane was probably sixty. Regal and elegant were the descriptions that came to Dale's mind about Jane. Wanting to say something to her, he said "I hope this doesn't cause any problems with your husband."

That may not have been the best thing to say, but she did not respond angrily. "Just the fact that you did not order me to cover up is more approval than I have had in a long time."

Jane must have seen the helpless expression Dale threw at Caroline because she went on "He was too busy piling up money to enjoy me when I looked good. Now, he's lost interest."

Using his free arm, Dale pulled Jane into hug, telling her "What do you mean, WHEN you looked good. You will always be a beautiful, classy woman. It makes me ashamed that so many men are such fools."

"Well, I guess just as many women are bimbos or bitches," Jane retorted in an effort to disguise the emotion she felt at his compliment.

Part way through dinner, Dale realized that the three women were interacting as they would in any normal situation. Their nudity was either forgotten or no longer considered of any importance. "Catherine, if I had any doubts about what Caroline said about Transformations, I think the three of you have just dispelled them."

"Why do you say that, Dale?"

"It seems like the three of you have forgotten that you're naked and even forgotten that there is a male present, a male who has not just been staring at faces."

"You're right. Thank you for noticing that," Catherine said with a smile. "All the more reason why we should get right to practicing." He knew that she meant practicing massage.

Caroline had been present the first two nights. Massaging both sisters had emphasized to Dale how similar their bodies were. It was not quite like touching the same person again, but close. He could not help getting a bit aroused at the prospect of touching two new and very different women.

With her typical thoughtfulness and thoroughness, Caroline had rented a massage table and stocked up on oils, including a warmer. The table was set up in a former porch of the older house that had been upgraded to a room and had a gas fireplace.

Even with only two nights of practice, Dale was much more confident starting to work on Theresa's back and shoulders. She certainly felt different from the sisters, with a very noticeable soft layer all over her body.

Catherine had led him to some sore muscles that she had and he had been able to feel tightness and swelling under his fingers. He found some spots on Theresa's back and shoulders and did his best to loosen them up. After spending some time on one knot in her lower back, she let out a long moan, then said "Dale?"

"Hmmm?"

"Will you marry me?"

Just from her tone, he knew that she was just expressing her pleasure at his ministrations, but he had respond somehow. "Must be a pretty long line wanting to do that," he said.

"Hah!" she snorted. "Don't I wish. The pickins in this little town are pretty slim." After a short pause, she added "And I'm not. Even if there was a line, you'd jump it."

After several more hums and low moans, Theresa said "Don't stop at my waist. Do my bottom, too."

"But that's ... that's..."

"It's very personal," she said, anticipating his objection. "It has been too long since a man has been personal with me, and I want you to be. Another thing, Dale, don't try to act like you don't notice the fat rolls."

"But I don't want to..."

Again she interrupted him. "I can't speak for all fat women, but I'll bet I can for most of them. Being polite and trying not to notice or accentuate the fat won't make her feel any better. Right below my waist, on top of my hips - grab a couple of handfuls. There's plenty there."

"But..."

"Please, Dale. Just do it. There. Now, squeeze it a little. Good. Move the loose stuff all around. Act like you're playing with the fat. Mmmmm. You'll find more all up my sides. Do the same with it."

The next few minutes were filled with little moans and hums from Theresa as a puzzled and embarrassed Dale did as she had asked.

"Dale, you don't have much experience with girls, do you?"

"Almost none," he admitted, thinking there was no point in acting macho.

"Notice the odor?"

"Uh, yeah."

"That's female arousal."

"But I haven't ... I didn't mean to..."

"School's open, Dale, but massage my bottom while I explain. Ohhhh! God, does that feel good!"

"Did you ever have a cat, Dale?"

"When I was little we had one for a while."

"What did that cat always want?"

Dale thought for a moment and remembered the cat rubbing against his leg or jumping onto his lap. "She always wanted to be petted."

"Right. 'Feline' and 'Female'. Know why they sound kind of alike? Because they both live to be petted."

"But I thought..."

Theresa interrupted again. She did that a lot. "Girls are brought up to 'dole out' petting privileges to boys. Part of it is that they're afraid if the boy starts, the girl will lose control. They're right. If you wanted to have sex with me right now, I'm already too far gone to refuse you. Well, I might never refuse you anyway, after looking at your gorgeous body all those times.

"Anyway, touching and caressing are arousing to a woman, whether she tries to deny it or not. When you hold Faith's hand caress it with your thumb or fingers. When you have your arm around her, keep your hand moving on her shoulder or her arm. When you hug, move your hand over her back. Run your fingers through her hair."

"Well, I haven't had a lot of chances, but I do some of that stuff just because I like the feeling, too."

"Perfect! Faith can tell just from the touch that you like it, and it excites her even more."

"But when you asked me to squeeze your..."

"My fat! My fat! I wish it wasn't there, but it is. When you just go ahead and rub and squeeze it, even play with it, I get really excited."

"Why?"

"You probably should ask Caroline, but I think it's because your hands tell me that it's part of me, you like touching me, and the bad parts don't turn you off. That's just a horny, fat broad's analysis, though. God, Dale, if you keep doing that to my bottom, I may rape you!"

"Maybe I should..."

"Hey, I would never do that. I just talk big when I get worked up. I know you love Faith, and I hope you two can find a way to be together. I'm not trying to take anything away from her. You have to know, though, that a woman likes her man to be more experienced."

"Well, I'm a long way from that. How about if I do your legs, now?"

"Sure. Let me just..." With that, she rolled over onto her back, making Dale gasp. "Start with my feet." Her noises of approval made him feel like an expert. If she was just acting to make him feel good, it was working.

As he started up her calf, she lifted her leg and rested her foot on his shoulder, saying "There. You can get both hands all around it better, now." She waited a few minutes, watching him try to keep his eyes from drifting toward her crotch before she said "Go ahead and look. I don't mind, really. I want you to.

"All of us women are so grateful to you for letting us see your body all of those times. If looking at me can help you learn something, or maybe just help you get off, I'm happy to help."

He was too embarrassed to reply, but as he worked, he took her at her word and examined her pussy carefully. The hair on her labia had been trimmed very short, so he could see everything quite clearly. "That's where the smell is coming from." Her statement jolted him, he was concentrating so hard. "When you do my thigh, don't be afraid to get close to my pussy."

By this time, Dale had a raging erection for which he saw no immediate hope of relief. He sensed that Theresa meant what she said, so he worked all the way down her thigh, just brushing her lips once with the side of his hand. On the second leg, he thought to test her a little and let the edge of his hand rest against her pussy for a few seconds. It came away moist.

"N ... now do the rest of my front," she told him rather unsteadily. "I want the full body massage."

Well past questioning her at that point, Dale spread oil over her hips and her belly, then started rubbing. "Play with the fat," Theresa begged.

He had bypassed her breasts and was finishing her shoulders when she took both of his hands and put them on her breasts. "Dale, Honey, this is not being unfaithful. I know you love her, but I need ... I need touching. Please! Touch them. Feel them! Squeeze them! Pinch the nipples! Please!"

For the next ten minutes, Dale did just that. He noticed that her breathing had become erratic and he could tell that the odor was more pronounced. When she pulled his face down for a kiss, he was not surprised. When she took one of his hands and moved it to her crotch, he was alarmed but not surprised.

"I need to come so badly, Dale. Do it for me! Please!"

He was beyond resisting for any reason. This was beyond where he and Faith had gone, so arousal and curiosity took over and he followed her instructions eagerly. "Run your middle finger between the lips. Yeah. Feel the bump near the top of my slit? A little higher. That's it. Now, rub your finger in circles around it. It will take several minutes. When I come, you'll know, but don't stop rubbing. If you can't keep your finger on my clit, just use your hand and rub the whole area, hard."

For a few more minutes she coached him, then she settled back to enjoy the sensations. A minute or two later, she was gasping when she told him "Suck my nipple and bite it gently."

Theresa was a babbler. Once he started on her nipple, the words never stopped. Some of them were unintelligible. Some were dirty. All were intense. The words only stopped when the convulsions began and they disintegrated into a prolonged moan, followed by little gasping grunts.

She had been right. He had no trouble telling when she came and he made an on-the-spot vow that making a woman come would become a lifetime pursuit for him. The feeling of satisfaction was hard to describe.

Her orgasm did not leave her limp. Instead, she became teary and affectionate. Reaching out to pull him down to her, she began babbling again. "So good, so good, so good. You did me so good, Baby,..." On and on she went, meanwhile pulling his face between her breasts and stroking his head almost frantically.

When both had regained some composure, Dale said "I'm sure I won't be able to do that at Transformations."

"Every woman you massage will want you to. Some will ask you to. Your problem will be how to say 'no'," Theresa told him. "Guess I'd better let Jane have her massage now."

Jane, whom Dale had always thought was a bit stuffy, walked into the room, sniffed dramatically, and got onto the table on her back. "Let's forget the massage shit. Just do me like you did Theresa."

"She seemed to like the massage. It got her more ... excited."

"Fine. Give me a nice massage - after you make me come," Jane insisted.

By this time, Dale was feeling rather guilty - guilty about Faith, and surprisingly, guilty about Catherine, too. He knew that she would have liked much more intimacy with him, but had restrained herself. How would she feel when she learned that her friends had not restrained themselves and he had given in. He could not refuse Jane, though, after he had given in to Theresa.

When Jane had come, she was so limp that he had to help her roll over. For several minutes, he just worked on her back, saying nothing. "What had you so worked up when you came in here?" he finally asked her.

"Just being naked started it," Jane answered. "Then, when you gave me that nice compliment ... well, I've been, uh, on edge ever since."

"Feel a little better now? I'm not really very good at that."

"Results, Dale. That's all that matters," Jane assured him.

-------

On Saturday, a regular parade of naked female friends started. Carla showed up early. Dale had already learned not to be surprised when almost her first comment was about her body. She was correct that she had not yet tightened up from giving birth. She had the baby with her, and right away, she started nursing. Dale watched, transfixed. He could not remember seeing anything quite so moving.

Jolene was giggly when she arrived and stripped, as if she had been waiting for a chance to do that.

Marilyn's arrival was completely unexpected. He tried to tell her that he did not expect it of her.

"I'm sure you didn't expect any of the women to undress for you. We're all sorry to see you leave and we all love you. If this helps you qualify for that job, we're glad to help."

"But Barry..."

"Of course he's not thrilled," Marilyn admitted, "but he understands and he didn't try to stop me. After our trip to the nude beach, there's really not much he can say."

Jane and Theresa were there for a good portion of the weekend, also, and as a result, Dale was surrounded by no less than three naked women for most of Saturday and Sunday. They all understood that he needed to study, but while he was doing it, those present did not seem to flee home. Instead, they seemed eager to stay and visit, all of them staying naked. The sound of chattering, giggling, laughing women did not disturb Dale's studying at all. To the contrary, just knowing how much the group of women cared for him gave him an extra incentive to study hard.

In fact, the boost that the women gave him was badly needed. It had been very difficult to keep up his study discipline once he knew that he was not coming back. He was aware that finishing with top grades was his only chance at winning another scholarship somewhere else. Still, the feelings of anger and helplessness kept impinging on his concentration.

Early Sunday evening produced the most poignant episode. Dale caught a fleeting glimpse of Marilyn coming into the house through the back door, as she usually did. That certainly did not upset him, for she had a very nice body. All of the other women had left, leaving Dale and Catherine alone.

What Dale did not realize was that Lisa was with Marilyn. Several minutes later when both mother and daughter walked naked into the kitchen where Dale and Catherine were chatting, Dale was left speechless, motionless, and staring at his young friend.

"I'm a woman, too!" Lisa said, almost belligerently. "Well, almost. I want to help you, too. If you have to leave me, I want ... I want..." She ran out of bravado and little girl impulses took over. She charged at Dale and flung her arms around him.

Dale knew the word nonplussed, and he had experienced the sensation a number of times, usually because of something a female had done. Never had it described him more accurately than at that moment. When he looked up to see both Catherine and Marilyn looking at him expectantly, with almost a demand in their eyes, he was sure he could never succeed in a job where he had to work with women.

Forcing himself not to look at the women, he looked down at Lisa and knew that he had to do something quickly or she would feel rejected. On his lap was where Lisa had spent a lot of time. It was definitely different now that she had nothing on, but he thought he had better act as normally as possible.

He picked her up and carried her to a chair where he could hold her in his lap. "You sure are a woman, Lisa. A beautiful, sexy woman."

"Why do you have to leave?" Lisa sobbed. "Why can't you stay here with us?"

Dale looked at Catherine who gave him no meaningful signal, except that she looked a little frightened. A look at Marilyn showed no disapproval for the way he was cuddling her naked daughter. It seemed that the decision was up to him.

"Lisa, if you're willing to show me your lovely body, you deserve to know why I have to leave." One more look at Catherine showed that she was still frightened, but he went on.

"If I tell you, though, you have to make the most serious promise of your life that you will never tell anyone. Can you make that promise?"

"Dale, I know about serious promises. I know what could happen if anyone found out that Daddy poses for me."

"That's right, you do know," Dale agreed. "I need to tell you how serious this one is, though. If anyone found out, Catherine could lose her job."

Lisa sat up straight on his lap and looked over at Catherine. Despite the seriousness of their conversation, Dale could not help noticing the lovely profile she presented as she looked away. Her small but promising young breasts stood out boldly yet innocently, making his hand itch with the desire to caress them. Tearing his eyes from Lisa, Dale saw Catherine's expression relax.

"Lisa, I have to leave because my scholarship is going to be canceled, and I won't be able to afford to go to school here."

"Why would they cancel it? You get all 'A's. I know you do."

"Someone with a lot of power at the college is upset with me," Dale said.

"How do you know it's going to be canceled?"

"A friend of Catherine's found out and told her. They weren't going to tell me until it was too late to enroll at another school."

"Who would do that to you? Who could?"

"I don't think we should tell you that. It would be too hard to keep that secret. It doesn't matter anyway, Lisa. There's nothing I can do about it now."

"What about Faith. You guys are in love, aren't you?" Lisa asked, a note of jealousy in her voice.

"Yes, we are, and that makes it even harder to leave. I don't know what we're going to do. We have to find a way to get together someday," Dale said softly.

"If I ever find out who did this!" Lisa spat out.

"Lisa, remember what I said about Catherine?" Dale asked sternly. "If you find out, you have to just let it go. If you try to do or say anything, it will only hurt people you care about."

"But it's not fair!"

"I've told you what happened to me and my mother. You already know that life isn't always fair. Sometimes, there are things that we just can't change."

Lisa sat quietly on his lap for a while, her head down and occasional sniffles showing how upset she was. Suddenly, she sat bolt upright. "I know who it is!" she shouted. "It has to be Faith's mother! It has to be! She's such a bitch!"

"Lisa!" Marilyn scolded, but without much energy.

With a little shiver, Lisa said "I'll never tell. Honest. I heard the ladies talking and there are stories at school about stuff she's done. Why is she angry at you, Dale? Is it because of Faith?"

This was a place where a lie, actually a partial truth, was the right response. "Yeah. She doesn't think I'm good enough for her daughter."

"So that's why Faith didn't come over here after a while, huh. Faith is really nice, even if I hate her." Lisa mumbled the last phrase, but everyone caught it.

"Lisa!" Marilyn admonished once again. "Why do you hate her?"

"Because she's the one Dale's going to marry, not me," Lisa said belligerently.



-------

Chapter 7


[Julia] Late May

"What we're talking about, here," Gerald Magnuson said in his most forceful manner, "are kids who would not fall under the legal definition of abuse, but whose home situations are intolerable." He was addressing a group that included Julia, two other local psychiatrists, the director of County Children's Services, a lawyer for the county, and two counselors from regional school districts.

One of the counselors spoke up immediately. "Mr. Magnuson has identified a very real problem. Sometimes, these are the most heartbreaking, frustrating students we deal with. There is not enough to have the kids put into foster care," she said with a nod to the director, "but we can see their lives and their futures being ruined by their parents' actions or inactions."

"Ruined how?" Gerald asked, liking the way the discussion was going.

"It is hard to overestimate the damage being an outcast or an outsider can have on a teen. The very strong can weather anything and come out seemingly triumphant. But I did some post-graduate work on this very subject. It focused on puritanical religious families with children in public schools, and of course, not all problem students come from that background. What I found was that in later life, the incidence of relationship problems and clashes with authority from these children was three to five times that of their peer group."

"Just how would this group environment address the problems just mentioned?" One of the psychiatrists asked.

"After a lot of discussion and research, we believe that the key is control. The common denominator with most of the victims, if I may call them that, is that they are over-controlled by their parents to a ridiculous degree. In typical cases, even the most trivial parts of a teenager's life, areas that should be left to their discretion from years earlier, are dictated in detail by the parents.

"Therefore, our center would be built as heavily as possible on resident operation and control. We believe that the resident children would be willing, eager, even desperate to control as much of their own environment as they could. The complete contrast from their home environment would be the best defense against the long-term psychological crippling that was just mentioned. Of course, control of their dress, the music they listen to, who they make friends with - that control would be given to them immediately."

The county attorney asked "But won't that lead to anarchy? Aren't you afraid that grades and behavior will just fall apart?"

The third psychiatrist jumped on that question immediately. "There are two answers to that. First of all, we could not just recommend any teen who thought their parents were too strict. It would take some careful screening. The other answer is that teens want responsibility - they are hungry for it. They would be so happy for the new freedoms that they would consider them too precious to abuse."

Discussions in that vein went on for most of the next hour, interrupted by a light lunch. By agreement, the tough question had been left until the end. It was Gerald who asked it. "If we had this place, is there any legal way that teenagers could live there without their parents' consent?"

In a bit of a surprise, it was the county attorney that responded first. "Let's look at it from a different angle. Let's suppose a teen boy gets to this place, and you accept him. The parents find out, don't like it, and want him back. Now, there does not happen to be anything in state or county law that specifies that a dependent child must be housed at the parents' domicile.

"Suppose the child is not truant, has no untreated medical problem, and no police record. The parents would have no legal basis for demanding his return home. In an interesting twist, if the parents did not provide at least minimal support while he stayed here, then the county could step in officially. Sixteen is the age at which some things change. Of course, at eighteen, the parents no longer have any say."

"Thank you so much," Julia said with obvious glee. "You seem to have done a lot of research on this."

"This is more than just a job to me," the attorney explained. "Our idiot neighbors have a fifteen-year-old son who is the nicest kid. They treat him like a three-year-old, and I doubt if he has had a compliment in the last five years, despite almost straight 'A's'. We have been his refuge. I would personally move him in the first day your center opened."

Gerald asked "Are you saying we could just set up the place, let kids show up, keep the parents from physically taking them out, and forget the law?"

"I'm sure you will want to get some more opinions, but that's the way I read it," the attorney replied.

"I'm not sure how comfortable I am with that scenario," the director said. "I makes what we do seem rather irrelevant."

"Not at all," Julia objected. "You deal with the cases where there is a legal basis for removing a child from home. We would deal with those that fail that test. For example, I would prefer to see the parents able to visit their child at the center, just as they might at another home. The control on such visits would have to be very, very tight, but I believe it would be important. After all, the objective should be to change behavior so that the family can function properly for all of its members. That takes communication."

It was Gerald's turn again. "Even though it looks like we could operate without legal problems, there are still a lot of hurdles. Funding, of course, is a big one. I have no doubt that we could find contributions to build the initial facility and support a number of residents. The problem is that we really could not expect any revenue stream."

"That's right," Julia asserted. "I believe many of our residents would arrive with just the clothes on their backs. If we do this, I would want the kids to have access to all of the things they would in a normal home: fashionable clothes, computers and Internet, video games, cars for those old enough to drive, musical instruments - you get the idea. Except for the clothes, I assume most of those things would belong to the center, but each new resident would still need a startup stake.

"It would be important for them to attend the same schools, at least if they wanted to. That might leave some of them vulnerable to physical 'capture' by their parents. I have just named a few of the issues we would have to deal with."

The director asked "Are you thinking of separate boys and girls facilities?"

"Absolutely not!" Julia answered quickly. "I believe one of the things that parents over-control is dating and contact with the opposite sex. The center should not aggravate that problem. My concept is to treat them as if they were brothers and sisters."

"You mean co-ed wings, shared bathrooms, and everything?"

"I certainly would prefer that rooms be intermixed," Julia said. "We would have to think about the bathroom issue."

"Aren't you afraid of orgies, pregnancies, and all of that?" the director asked.

"Remember, we are looking for good kids," Julia explained. "Hand-picked in a way. Good kids given realistic sex education are not going to have pregnancy and STD problems."

"Would you restrict sexual activity in any way?"

"My initial concept is to try to influence and motivate rather than restrict. I see operations and discipline in the hands of the residents as much as possible."

"I really think you are expecting too much of these teens," the director opined.

"I know at least three perfect examples of what we would be looking for," Julia said. "I assume you know Lindsey Hall's story, don't you? Well, this idea is hers and she wants to fund several scholarships from her album revenue. I am quite familiar with another young woman and a young man who would have been perfect candidates. A third girl went on the streets to escape. I believe we could have prevented that. She did not want to be a bad girl, but she had to get away for very justifiable reasons."

"How do you expect to find these, uh, angels?"

"The key word is find. We would set up a referral network and do a good deal of research before we ever contacted the prospective resident."

"Well, it does sound too good to be true," the director continued. "I have to be honest, though. I am jealous. I wish I could provide that level of care to our subjects. I am not blind to what the foster system is like."

"Does that mean that you would not begin or support legal action against us if we proceed?"

"No, I would not fight it. I would ask for the chance to keep close contact with the operation, if that would be acceptable."

Julia had to pause a moment before she answered "You are a true public servant and not just a bureaucrat. You and others who think like you would have an open door and a warm welcome."

There was more detailed discussion before the meeting disbanded after another twenty minutes.

-------

[Dale] Late May

Dale could see the deterioration in Faith since he told her he had to leave. It tore at him, adding still more heartache to the agony of having to leave. There was nothing he could do to cheer her up and he was certain that her eating problems had returned with a vengeance. Just after finals, sitting in the cafeteria, he told her "Faith, I love you. You know that, don't you?"

"Yes, I know that. But why do you have to leave me?"

Here was the really tough problem for Dale. It was cruel to leave without a really good reason. On the other hand, how could he tell her what her mother had done. If it got back to Mercedes, Catherine would be in trouble. He loved Faith romantically, but he loved Catherine, too, as the dearest friend he ever had, outside of his mother and Faith.

"Faith, we have been over this. I have to ask you to trust me that I would not leave if I had any choice. There is something serious that I need to tell you. You need to leave here, too. I know you have a luxurious life with everything you need or want. I believe it is slowly killing you, though. I am terribly worried about what will happen to you after I leave."

"But you're not worried enough to stay," she said with just a touch of anger.

"Honey, don't you believe that I would stay with you if there was any way?"

"I ... I believe you, but I don't understand," she answered. "I guess it's not so great for us here, though. Now, we can only see each other at school, and Mother knows about every minute we're together."

"Someday, we will be together all we want. That's my goal, Faith. I wish I could tell you how it will happen, and I wish it was right now."

Faith realized that her subservience to her mother was a barrier between them, although she was loathe to admit it. Her mother did not want her to be with Dale, and she had the power to prevent it. As painful as the admission was, he was right to leave. Even more painful was the knowledge that it was her fault for not standing up to her mother.

Being with Dale was the first time she had honestly evaluated her life in terms of what she gained and what she had to give up. She was not yet ready to leave her privileged existence, but now there was a price for living as she did, a very, very painful price.

"Faith, remember one thing. If you ever want to leave here, you can come to me. I cannot give you the things you are used to. Perhaps someday I can, but not now. I promise you, though, that you will have all of the love I can give you and you will be able to be your own person."

Crying in the cafeteria was not something either of them wanted to do, so they changed the subject of their conversation.

-------

[Julia] Late May

Just after Memorial Day, Barbara Ventri asked for a meeting with Julia, and Julia set it up for lunch. "You look happy, Barabara," Julia said in greeting. "Things must be going well between you and Derek."

"It's amazing how you can redial to twenty-some years ago and recapture something that you've not quite reached since then," Barbara observed.

"Does that mean I'm going to be losing you at the Tee," Julia asked, not unkindly.

"Well, that's one of the things I wanted to talk about," Barbara admitted. "I'm not giving notice or anything, but you need to start thinking about when it would work for me to leave."

Julia just shook her head. "That's so typical of you, Barbara. Wouldn't you like to spend time this summer with Derek and the girls?"

"Oh, we'll have our time. Just remember, Julia, without you and the Tee, I would never have Derek back."

"Do you really think your body matters that much to him?"

"It sure does to me. I would not have wanted him to see me ... before."

"I appreciate you giving me some time to find another manager for the men's side, Barbara."

"That brings up the second issue," Barbara said. "I don't know how to sugar coat it, but in my opinion, we should abandon the men's program."

"Oh?" Julia was doing her best to under-react.

Assuming that was her cue to explain her reasons, Barbara went ahead. "I wasn't in on the original planning for the Tee, so I don't know what you anticipated would be the most effective aspects. Besides your expert counseling and treatment and the immersion, I believe the group dynamics have been a huge factor in our success."

"I couldn't argue with that," Julie said. "We have all been thrilled by it. Let me guess. You don't think the same dynamic exists on the men's side."

Barbara made a big show of looking upset. "You mean I sweat bullets about mentioning this and you already knew?"

"We knew that the men's results were not blowing us away like things on the women's side were. You, though, are on the floor all the time and you see a lot more. What do you think is the heart of the problem?"

"A couple of things. I hate to use analogies from the animal world to talk about people, but it's what I see. Women are herd animals and men are solitary bulls. The women are eager to form relationships and share. The men are more concerned about pecking order."

"There haven't been any ugly incidents, though," Julia pointed out.

"No, there haven't. But I get the feeling that the benefit the men are getting has nothing to do with the nudity, the isolation, or the other key aspects of immersion therapy."

"They could find themselves just as well signing on as a freighter hand or working a ski lift for a winter, you mean?" Julia probed.

"Lady, you are damn frustrating sometimes!" Barbara's smile belied her words.

"I need to confess, Barbara, that you just beat me to setting up this lunch. Truthfully, I was concerned about how to broach the subject to you."

"You shouldn't have been, Julia. You know I would rather strip and be with the women. In fact, that's the second point I wanted to make. Once the women get to the point where they know there is no choice, they like being naked."

"Mary Hall," Julia commented.

"Exactly. Being naked with males around gives us an absolutely unique sensation. When a man massages us or does something else a little personal, it makes us feel special."

"And the men don't feel that way?"

"First of all," Barbara explained, "I don't think they ever get to enjoy being naked. I suppose there is the occasional exhibitionist, but he's the exception. When the women do something personal for them, it's too much like 'that's just the natural order of things'."

"I think women feel the same way about the order of things, but it makes us feel good because we have 'enforced' that order with our sex appeal," Julia said. "Your analysis is just what I would expect. Now, we face the problem of what to do about it. Do we give up on immersion therapy for men? Do we have them dress and change some other things?"

"Personally," Barbara said, "I don't think any of that matters as long as you depend on the group approach. That's women's way, not men's."

Julia mused "Don't know how we missed something that obvious in the planning. So, what do we do with the section? And without men's and women's, what use is the center 'all-nude' section?"

"Isn't there a backlog of women waiting?"

"Yes, there are a few. My concern, though, is that our wonderful dynamics are rather size dependent. If we have two or more sections, how do we assign women to a section? How much interaction is there between sections?"

"Another idea," Barbara said, "is to open a section for women who just want to correct their physical situation, women who wouldn't qualify now based on psychological issues, but could use the help."

"You mean have a 'psyche ward', like now, plus a 'nudie fat farm?'" Julia joked.

"I see what you mean," Barbara admitted.

"There's another idea for the old men's section," Julia said.

"So, you've already decided to stop the men's program?"

"After talking with you, yes," Julia said. "You hit me over the head with the obvious. Even I learn that way."

"Ha, ha!" Barbara retorted. "What other use?"

"You won't believe what our Lindsey has come up with this time," Julia said. "She..."

-------

[Missy] Late May

The various negotiations had taken over a month longer. During that time, Missy lost the most recent fifteen pounds of the puffy weight she had 'purposely' put on. It was not hard to control her eating, since she became so frightened at the thought of undressing that sometimes she could hardly eat anything.

In the middle of the third week in May, Missy was flying with a female social worker who had been assigned to deliver her to the Tee. The court had allowed Missy to finish the school year, which she did with her usual top grades. Melanie had raised the predictable fuss about not being able to accompany her daughter, but Roberta and Julia had maneuvered well to keep the Farnsworths away from their daughter for as long as possible.

Roberta and Julia had both recommended a stay of four months. The jail sentence would have been six months, though, and the juvenile judge handling the agreement insisted on that term.

Julia met Missy and her attendant at the door, signed a number of forms, and bid the attendant goodbye. As soon as the woman had left, a door opened and three naked women entered. The first was Norma, whom Missy had already met. Behind her was a spectacularly-built woman even taller than Missy. "Hello, Missy. I'm Barbara Ventri, Norma's sister-in-law. I've been through just what you're facing. In fact, I was the very first one. I'll show you my 'before' pictures a little later. Now I work here, on the men's side."

As Norma was saying hello and Barbara was introducing herself, another woman was mostly hidden behind them. As Barbara stopped talking, the third woman stepped out. "Hello, Missy, I'm Lindsey Hall."

"Not ... not ... not the Lindsey Hall that sings?" At Lindsey's grinning nod, Missy's terror took a vacation. "Ohmygod! Ohmygod! Ohmygod! I can't believe it! But why... ?"

"I volunteer here as much as I can. I heard about you, and I wanted to help make your first day as easy as possible."

"But you're naked ... the men... !"

"Missy, the guys working here are the nicest in the world. One of them is my fiance Mark. He's Norma's son."

Snapping her head toward Norma, Missy kept on babbling in disbelief. "You mean you and your son ... naked together! Isn't that ... isn't that?"

"Missy, it took some getting used to, but I believe it has brought us closer than we ever thought possible."

Introductory chatter went on for a few minutes before Missy visibly stiffened again. "I ... I guess it has to happen, doesn't it?" Lindsey was the key. Missy seemed to draw tremendous strength from her as she quickly stripped down.

"Missy, the guys all stay away until you are more ready," Norma explained. "Don't worry about them now, OK?" That did make it easier, although Missy hated to have women see her disgusting body, too.

-------

Norma and Lindsey stayed right with Missy the rest of the first day. Barbara stayed for an hour, but had to get back to her duties on the men's side. Missy's awe at being with a star that she idolized put her in a state of mind where she hardly knew what was happening to her, and that was a good thing. Lindsey's presence also impressed on Missy from the first that the world she had stepped into was totally different from what she knew. She was well aware that Lindsey was doing it just for her. No one, except sometimes her brother Richard, had ever given up anything just for Missy.

Missy's check-in day turned out to be not much worse than most of the other residents'. It was late afternoon before she was ready for any of the men. Then, having heard that Norma's husband worked there, she asked to meet him first. Norma and Lindsey held onto both of Missy's arms as they led her toward Paul's little office, and she sagged to her knees on the floor at the first sight of him.

Using instincts that had grown steadily stronger, Lindsey left Missy's side and wrapped her arm around Paul. Ignoring Missy's distress, Lindsey pulled Paul forward and said "Missy, this is the nicest man you will ever meet. He was a father to me when I didn't feel like I had a real father."

Paul got right down on his knees in front of Missy. "Hello, Missy. I'm really glad to meet you. I know that you've had a rough time. I want you to know that all of us guys here want to help you in any way we can. Please don't worry about us seeing your body. And don't worry about how you look, because that's all going to change so fast you will hardly believe it.

"Missy, you're going to find that people here really care about you. I know you haven't had much of that in your life. I hope you can just forget about being naked and just let us pamper you. Think you can do that?"

"F ... forget? H ... how? I don't think ... Ohhh!" Missy knew she was babbling, but there was nothing she could do about it. It took several minutes before she could even stand up, and she was still not able to put sentences together.

Being an avid Lindsey fan, Missy had read all about her engagement. There had been a number of articles about Mark, as well, and Missy had memorized them. When she was finally able to exchange a few words with Paul, she stammered out "C ... c ... can I m ... meet Mark?"

"Sure, I'll take you to him," Lindsey said quickly.

"N ... no. Can he c ... come here?" Lindsey went hurrying off to fetch her lover. "This feels like f ... family," Missy said as they waited, then, almost breaking Norma and Paul's hearts with her sad tone, she added "I guess."

When Mark arrived with Lindsey hanging on his arm, Missy was able to face him and shake his hand. She was even able to talk freely. "This is crazy! I mean, this awful body is bare, but this is the best thing that's ever happened to me. I've listened to you a thousand times, Lindsey, and I've read about you, Mark. And here you are, trying to make things easier for me." That was as far as she got before disintegrating in tears.

Lindsey put an arm around Missy and waited for the tears to stop. "As soon as you're out of here, I want you backstage for one of my concerts, OK?" Lindsey told the distraught girl.

When Missy calmed down, she seemed to almost forget her nudity as she talked with Lindsey and the Ventris. They all stayed in Paul's office for a half hour, before Missy gave out a sigh and said "I want to meet the other guys, now."

The men did not strip for any pool or hot tub activity that night out of deference to Missy.

-------

Early the following morning, Julia stopped in and called all of the staff present into her office for a quick meeting. "I know I don't really have to talk to you about how to treat our residents, but I just want to emphasize what a special case we have in Missy. I think she literally has not been shown any real kindness and love in her life, except by her brother, who has been away from home for a long time. The case worker who got her in here thinks there is a really great young lady hidden in that unattractive body. Let's do our best to bring her out, and simple kindness is the key."

Missy's initial measurement session with Mark was predictably traumatic, and Lindsey was allowed to stay with Missy the whole time. Missy still ended up crying, but she did not beg to skip any of the pictures or to have Mark go away. She seemed to worship Mark almost as much as she did Lindsey, and when he showed the computer projections of her 'finished' body, she almost swooned.

Because of some concern about Missy becoming too fixated on Mark, Paul did her workout orientation, something he very seldom did. She was totally unfamiliar with any type of exercise, and just having to lay on the benches in such an exposed fashion was even more traumatic for her than for most new residents. Her orientation took almost three hours, and even at the minimal starting weights, she was exhausted.

Norma had commented to Julia the first day that Missy seemed to instantly bond with Paul. Julia speculated that he was the first adult male that she could look to for any real help or support. She really did not have a good concept of what a father should be. She was in a situation of incredible stress, and Paul represented what she thought a supportive father should be.

When Paul asked Missy, after her orientation in the pool, "Ready for your massage, now?" she was totally shocked.

"Massage? You mean? ... I've never had..."

"It will help keep you from getting sore. You aren't used to exercise, you know."

"But ... but I'm bare, and..."

"Missy, you will be bare for the next six months. The women all think that the massages are one of the best things about the Tee."

"The Tee?"

"Oh. That's the name we usually call Transformations. Come on, Missy, don't worry about being naked. You trust me, don't you?" She could not respond, but she let him help her onto the table. He took his time working her shoulders and back.

"Missy, we never massage anywhere you don't want us to. But you know, your legs and your bottom have muscles that will get sore, too. Do you want me to massage anywhere else?" When she did no reply, he asked "How about if I start on your lower legs while you decide?"

As shy and as nervous as Missy was, she had never felt anything as good as what Paul had done to her back. She could not remember her father ever touching her in a soothing or affectionate way, and Paul's hands were sending unfamiliar but wonderful sensations through her. She managed to squeak out an "OK", and Paul went right to work on her legs.

With a little time to think and more of those wonderful feelings, Missy could only agree when Paul asked if she wanted her thighs done. As he worked to the top of her thighs, she tightened up and squeezed her legs together. Paul took a chance and rested his hand on her bottom as he spoke to her.

"Missy, Honey. Before very long, every one of us guys are going to see every little bit of your body. There's nothing to be embarrassed about. We're used to it, and we all respect you gals. I can do a much better job if I can get at the inside of your thighs. Do you want me to do your bottom, too? Just relax and let me do a good job."

She did not open her legs much more, but he did not make an issue of it. Without asking again, he went ahead and worked her buttocks. She tightened up for a while, but he just kept massaging until she relaxed. When he was finished, she was almost too limp to walk.

That evening, Lindsey was still buddying Missy when Mark stripped to join them in the hot tub. Fortunately, Missy was already sitting down when Mark entered the tub, otherwise she might have injured herself falling. He obviously was her very first naked male.

It took a few minutes before Missy could even look at Mark, and even longer before she could talk to him, despite the fact that they were sitting in the water. When she seemed to have gained some control, she had to do it all over again when Paul walked into the tub naked.

-------

The next morning, Lindsey was there to meet Missy at breakfast, naked again. "I have to leave for a concert date at about noon today, Missy. This is Trish," she said, introducing the equally naked redhead. "She'll stay right with you today.

"Now, I have some good news and and bad news for you," Lindsey continued. "Terry Torvold is going to do your workout and your massage today because Paul has to go to a client site. You haven't met Terry yet, so hold onto your panties - uh, so to speak. He is an unbelievable hunk. That's the good news. The bad news for you is that he's taken - by Trish."

It wasn't fair, and Julia had talked about it briefly in staff. For a sheltered sixteen-year-old like Missy to be exposed to all of the young staff guys was bordering on cruel. Julia admonished them all to make sure that Missy was told about the guys' existing relationships immediately. There would still be unrequited crushes, but at least no false hopes.

At the same meeting, Julia had told them "I have more bad news for any of you unattached females. We are hiring another male attendant. His name is Dale Rubens. He just completed his freshman year at Thurston College. His scholarship there was canceled by the mother of the girl he is in love with. Dale is built about like Terry." She paused for the predictable good-natured oohs, aahs and mildly ribald remarks from the women.

"So, our poor Missy will be tortured by the presence of two hunks, neither of whom she can have. Just remember that Dale is tortured, too. Having to leave his girl is tearing him up. Her name is Faith, which I'm sure you will quickly learn from Dale. Her mother is about like Missy's parents. Faith suffers from something like anorexia. During the school year when she and Dale spent time together, she gained twenty-five pounds. Dale told me that he could already see her deteriorating when he left.

"The reason I tell you all of this is because I know how you all rally around when one of you is hurting. I hope you will treat Dale as one of you right from the start. Oh, Dale's mother, Muriel, will soon start as the house mother at Lindsey's place."

Julia thought it advisable to tell Missy Dale's story before he even arrived. She spent fifteen minutes doing that, hoping that the romantic nature of the tale would make Missy think sympathetically about Dale's plight, rather than wanting him for herself.

-------

Despite Lindsey's warning about Terry, Missy was almost immobilized and certainly incapable of speech upon meeting him. Somehow, she sleepwalked through her workout, but the massage was the worst part. She could feel herself lubricating and at one point, she could even smell herself. She thought she would die of embarrassment.

One of the older residents must have been watching Missy, and the girl received another lesson in how they all cared for each other. As soon as Missy finished drying after her shower and Terry had left her, that woman and two others came giggling up.

"Did you get all wet when he massaged you?" The first woman asked conspiratorially.

"He's ... he's taken," Missy objected.

"Your pussy doesn't know that. Doesn't care," the woman said with a giggle.

Another woman piped up "The first time he did me, I wanted to crawl through a hole in the table. I was so bad, I could SMELL myself!"

"He must think I'm ... I'm..."

"Hey! Don't go there," another woman said. "Terry is just like all the guys. He really wants to help you. He knows what he does to us gals, but he is faithful to Trish. So, eat your heart out."

Missy looked around at all three of the others. Then, she covered her face, blushed, and broke into giggles. She was immediately surrounded and led away by the three. Each of them seemed to be trying to take the mother's role with the girl.

They were heading toward the eating area so Missy could get something to drink, and part way there, she broke down and started crying. The women just continued on with her, having seen similar reactions from other newcomers. When they sat down, Missy hesitantly asked "Do ... do mothers talk to daughters about stuff like that?" By that time, they were seated at a big table, and several other women joined them. All of them heard Missy's question.

One of the women responded "That was one of my big mistakes. From my mother, I learned that sex stuff was secret and sacred and never to be talked about openly." My daughter had to learn the hard way - the really hard way." She could not restrain the tears after that.

Another woman added "I tried to talk to her, but she had heard it all from her friends and wouldn't listen to me. Nowadays, I hardly get to see her."

A third woman told Missy "See, everyone here has hurts. If you ever have any questions, any of us will be glad to answer them. It ... it would be therapeutic for us to be able to act like mothers - successful mothers.

"I don't know if they do it on purpose, but I think all the guys who work here are sexy. I guess for us women, a man being nice to us makes him extra sexy. Terry's body ... God! You see men like that in the movies, but to have one touching you." She actually shivered after she said that.

"I was so ashamed the first time one of the guys massaged me," another woman said. "My body looked just awful. But you know what? These guys' hands can talk. They say that they value you as a person and the condition of your body doesn't matter. Pretty soon, I didn't care if they could count my pussy hairs, or see my clitty peeking out, or check out my hemorhoids. It just didn't matter. There's always a connection with these guys, and pretty soon, you can't live without it."

"I think I know what part of it is," someone else said. "I think they always see you like that computer projection of what you will look like 'after'. They have seen so many woman succeed that they just know you will."

"It's more than that, though," still another voice opined. "I think Dr. Julia drills into them that they are all like psychologists. It's their job to help us heal."

"But it can't be just a job to them, the way they do it," yet another voice chimed in.

"I ... I've never talked about stuff like this with anyone," Missy admitted.

"Well, that's gonna change in a hurry," another voice assured her, triggering good-natured laughter from the eight women now gathered around the table. "Hey, does anyone know if there is an age requirement to get a vibrator?"

"Vibrator?" Missy asked, puzzled. That was like throwing chum to a school of sharks. Suddenly, eight heads pulled closer together, and stage whispers and giggles filled the eating area for another fifteen minutes.

Afterward, Missy wondered if anything at the Tee was going to be the way she remembered her world. Thinking about it for a bit, she hoped not.

-------

[Dale] Early June

For Dale, it should have been an easy transition coming from Catherine's house, where there had always been one or more naked women around for the last two weeks. Still, walking into the Tee for the first took all of the composure he could muster.

The women had decided on a line-up to greet him just as he came in the door. From the universal grins, he figured out that they had carefully staged the way their breasts all lined up so nicely.

Julia walked down the line with him, and at the end, he commented "They don't seem at all stressed by being naked."

"Don't let them know we've found out their secret," she replied with a chuckle, "but they love being naked."

"I sort of figured that out back at Catherine's."

Something else he had observed at Catherine's was reinforced on his first day. Being naked in no way diminished the women's urge to hug and touch. Of course, Dale was not aware of how much his and Faith's poignant love story had primed the residents for his arrival. At least he was not aware until several of the women showed tears when they first greeted him and clung to him almost frantically.

For his first few days, Dale was almost constantly massaging a woman. Since he found it impossible to say 'no', he worked until he could hardly straighten his fingers. He was constantly reminded of Caroline's comment about him acquiring twenty mothers or grandmothers. Every single woman their, including staff, became completely immersed in his love story. Faith became almost a mythical personality to them.

-------

[Missy] Early June

It took several days, but Missy discovered to her delight that the guys were good for much more than massages. Every one of them sat and listened to her story, and told her theirs. She was amazed that hardly anyone had a 'normal' life. They all treated her like an intelligent adult, and it soon became addictive. She quickly got a little reputation for triggering discussions after news programs on TV.

She felt proud of herself after her first talk with Dale. Of course he excited her, but it took only seconds for her to realize the depth of his love for Faith. She was jealous, but more jealous of that kind of relationship, rather than jealous of the troubled girl she had never met.

"I think you and Faith have a lot in common, although her dad seems like an OK guy. I get the feeling he just doesn't try to fight her mother, so the bitch runs all over Faith," Dale told Missy as they talked.

"I've wondered many times if the money is worth it. Maybe I should just let them revoke my trust fund and try to make it on my own," she told him wistfully.

"Faith doesn't have a trust," Dale explained. "She hasn't come to the place where she is willing to walk away from her lifestyle. In some ways, she's not very strong."

"Having a problem ... an illness like that must take a lot out of her. Maybe she doesn't feel strong enough to fight back. When do you think you'll get to see her again?"

Dale just shook his head sadly. "I've only been here a little while, but I sure wish there was some way to get Faith here. I know she would get better."

-------

[Missy] Mid June

Usually, residents were encouraged to keep frequent contact with family and friends 'outside'. The theory was that having to talk with others about what was happening to them at the Tee would be a valuable link with reality.

The isolation of the Tee was an essential part of the treatment, and for some residents it was all that they needed. Many, though, needed to be reminded why they were residents. Contact with their normal environment helped to accomplish that. Others faced massive rebuilding of relationships as part of their transformation.

Because Missy's therapist believed that conflict with her parents was at the heart of her problem, it had been agreed that she would not talk to her parents for at least several weeks.

Melanie and James Farnsworth were not at all happy with the no-contact decision. Control of their daughter had been the main thrust of their family life and losing it was a major disruption. When they had negotiated the placement of Missy at the Tee, they had done it because it seemed to be the most 'civilized' of the possible incarceration options. It also promised 'correction' of two of their daughter's significant flaws: her shyness and her excess weight. All along, though, they somehow assumed that they could retain control even while she was inside.

When Missy's therapist, Roberta, had refused to give them a contact number, they had thrown a major fit. They tried to get a court order to allow contact, but the judge would not hear of it. They fired Roberta, but the judge ordered her re-instated. They called Julia's office so many times that her long-time assistant occasionally lost her normal self-control.

A week after her arrival, when Missy had finally stopped flinching every time a male employee came near, Julia had a chat with her. "We need to talk about when and how you will have contact with your parents," Julia opened.

"How about never, no way?" Missy retorted petulantly. Her response was so different from her normal timid behavior at the Tee that it emphasized how hurt the girl had been by her parents' dominance.

Julia reviewed everything that had transpired as Melanie and James tried to get to her. "Eventually, there will have to be contact," Julia warned. "But we have some control over when and how."

"I suppose I can call them, but can I wait a while yet?"

"I have an idea, Missy. Think about this for a while. How about if we let them visit you here in a month or two?"

"Will I be able to dress?"

"No. You know the policy."

"But ... but why would you ask me to do that? Naked with my folks! No way!"

"Well, here's what I didn't tell you. We can set it up so they can only see you if they are naked, too."

"But I would still have to be! I don't want them to see me. There must be some other way."

"Now, it may be hard for you to believe right now," Julia said, "but after a few weeks here you will be so comfortable naked that you will hardly notice it. They will not have that advantage, and you will have the upper hand."

"Comfortable? I can't imagine ever being comfortable like this!"

"Oh, excuse me a moment, Missy," Julia said. Seeing Eric passing nearby she waved him over to the lounge area where they were talking. Waiting until he came right up to them and said hello to Missy, Julia asked him if he knew whether Ryan was in the building.

After Eric had walked away, Julia asked Missy "Well, you didn't get frightened when Eric came over, did you?"

"Of course not. He's a nice guy, and he's seen me a lot already."

"So, you're more comfortable than you were on your first day?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"Then just imagine how much better you will feel in a month. We'll talk about this again. I'm sure I can stall things off for at least a month."

"One other thing," Julia added. "You were fairly close to your brother, weren't you?"

"Yeah. I talked to him a couple of times while we waited for approval to get me here. He was really sweet."

"Is he the only friend or family member that you have a good relationship with?"

"Just about, yeah."

"Then I think he should come and visit you soon," Julia said.

"Oh, no! I don't want him to see me like this!"

"You mean naked?"

"Yeah, but fat and..."

"So having him see you naked wouldn't be that bad if you weren't fat?"

Missy stared at Julia and blushed.

"Let me guess, Missy. Sometime in the past you showed yourself to him, didn't you?"

"Yeah, and got the shit beat out of me," she answered bitterly.

"By your brother?" Julia asked, her disbelief obvious.

"Of course not! Ricky would never hurt me. Mother caught me and spanked me raw while she made him watch."

"If he saw you right now, what would he do? Would he make fun of you? Would he scold you for how you let yourself look?"

"Ricky? Oh, no. He would never do that!"

"Would he encourage you?" Missy nodded. "OK. Ricky is the only person that really means anything to you. You need all of the encouragement you can get. See where I'm going with this?"

"Ohhhhhh. You really think I should?" This time Julia nodded. "Will you call him for me? I don't think I can."

-------

"This is Richard."

"Ricky, this is Dr. Julia Waxman calling."

"Ricky? No one but Missy calls me that. Oh, you must be at that place where they sent her. How is she doing?"

"As you can imagine, it has not been easy for her. She is adapting, though."

"Good. Things have been really rough for her. I feel bad that I haven't been around to be any help. I'm not sure I could have done much, though. Say, is she really naked all the time?"

"Seven twenty-four."

"And are there really male staff there?"

"Yes, there are. Richard, I don't want to take time to explain it on the phone, but can I email you a paper that explains our philosophy?"

"Certainly. I would love to read it. I hope you can do a miracle for Missy."

"That leads into the reason I called you. You can help."

"How?"

"By coming to visit her. Soon."

"Well, sure, if you think it will help. Oh, will she be able to dress for a visit?"

"No."

"But ... but isn't that taking things a little too far?"

"After you read the paper, I think you will see the reason."

"Would I be able to finish the paper in an hour?" Richard asked.

"Easily. Do you want me to send it and call back in an hour?"

"That would be perfect."

After the greetings on the second call, Richard said "This is absolutely fascinating. It's shocking and radical, but it sounds very rational the way you lay it out."

"Thank you, Richard. Does that mean you will come out?"

"Yeah. Just how does the visit work?"

"Male visits with women are always done in our center section, which is all nude."

"You mean I would have to... ?"

"Not unless you wanted to. When the occasion justifies it, we reserve the section for just the one resident and the visitors. Now, I have already told Missy that if your parents manage to force a visit, I will insist that they be naked, too?"

"Why them and not me?"

"Basically, they are the offenders, and it is just a little bit of punishment."

"Boy, that's something I'd like to see. Uhhhh, maybe not."

"If you decide to meet her clothed, I will ask you not to ever tell anyone that you were given that privilege, OK?"

"Agreed. Today's Thursday. I can leave after class tomorrow and see her in the morning. Will that work?"

"I will set it up. Thank you, Richard. I can see that Missy's faith in you is justified."

-------

Missy's wait inside the door of the empty center section seemed interminable. She was both frightened and excited. Julia had told her just to remember what she felt that day when she dropped her towel in front of him. She remembered, all right, but she did not like what she had to show him now. Back then she had been skinny and cute.

When she saw him step through the door, every emotion but sheer joy disappeared. She crashed into him so hard that he almost fell over. He hugged her, but she could tell that he was trying not let his hands touch her skin.

"Ricky, Ricky. You can touch me. It's just me. After ten days, I'm already not so worried about my body. In fact, let's get this over with." She stood back from him, held our her arms, and turned a slow circle. When she faced him again, she said "I'm sorry, Ricky. I should never look like this."

"Well, you're making it better, aren't you?"

"Yup. It seems like I'm sore all the time from working out. Let me show you around. This is just like the women's section where I stay."

"Wow!" Richard said after the little tour. "This place is really impressive. I had no idea!"

"And the people are even more impressive."

"Well, Dr. Waxman certainly seemed to be when I talked to her," Richard said.

"Wait until you see her. She's an absolute knockout!" Missy enthused.

"You will be, too, when you hit all of your goals," he assured her.

"Awww, Ricky, you're so sweet." Missy accompanied that with a quick kiss. "But never on my best day. That's OK, though. I'll just look the best I can with this awkward body. Damn it. With all of his other crap, why did Father have to give me so many of his genes?"

"Well, I've got more of Mother's and I don't feel too blessed, either," Richard shot back. They fell together in a laughing hug at that.

Missy showed him the exercises she did and worked out for quite a while as they talked. "Hey, how about you doing my massage?" She asked when they were done. He knew nothing about massage, but she was so excited that he could not say no. She kept chattering merrily as he ineptly worked her shoulders and her back.

"Do my butt, too," she told him when he seemed to be finished. "I haven't let any of the other guys yet, but I want you to."

"So the guys massage you a lot?" he asked, somewhat surprised.

"Mmm, hmmm. It helps keep the soreness down so we can exercise more."

"That sounds like a pretty fun job for the guys," he remarked.

"Except that some of the women look even worse than me. They're really nice guys, Ricky, just like you. They would never try anything, and they only rub where we ask them to."

After the massage, Missy went to the shower. "I'm going to do some laps, Ricky. Why don't you join me?"

"No suit."

"Silly! This is the nude section."

"You've, uh, seen some of the guys naked, have you?"

"Every day. It's part of the policy, I guess." Richard stood lost in thought for many seconds, then quickly shed his clothes and joined her in the shower. "Ohhhhh, Ricky. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

Fending off her attempted full-body hug, he told her "You are being so brave to do this. How can I refuse for a few laps?"

They swam laps for a while, then they just frolicked in the pool. Looking up at the clock, Missy told him "It's getting close to noon. The other people will be coming in here, then. We'd better leave."

"I guess I'm willing to stay, Missy. It would give us more time together."

Her eyes teared up, but she said "I ... I'm just not ready for that yet, Ricky. I wish we could be together longer, too, but ... I just can't. Maybe next time you visit. In fact, I promise, OK? We'll spend the whole day here."

Everyone commented on the glow about Missy when she returned to the women's side. Julia did not even have to ask how the visit went. She had gotten Richard's cell number and called to thank him for what he had done for his sister.



-------

Chapter 8


[Floyd] June

As Julia went about the mechanics of shutting down the men's section, the one man she thought most about was Floyd. There was no doubt that the Tee had given the Hall family a chance at a time when they were absolutely doomed. Of course, the circumstances were unique. Never again would a husband and wife have an entire section to themselves as Mary and Floyd had been able to do.

In future years, Julia was sure that she would look upon Mary as one of the Tee's crowning successes. Floyd, however, while definitely changed, could not be classified as transformed in the same way as his wife.

After they officially left the Tee, Mary and Floyd came back to work out together, and Floyd's physical progress accelerated. Their sex life reflected their improved health, vigor, and appearance. Still, there seemed to be a ceiling on Floyd's psychological recover. He was constrained in his dealings with women. Even in his work environment, where he was skillful and successful at what he did, he could not challenge his female boss. She was a good manager and in no way domineering toward Floyd. Yet, even when he had a legitimate point to make, he could only do so obliquely.

Mary no longer tried to deny or suppress her love of sex. She was continually thankful that she had stuck with her vows and worked to build a sex life with her husband. There was no question in her mind, though, that there was still a barrier between her and Floyd. Up to that point in their marriage, the lack of ability to express passion and lust toward her had been masked by the very 'proper' way they conducted themselves in bed. Now that Mary openly wanted and needed more, his inability to give it to her grieved her. Sex was tender and loving but that was as far as it went.

"I heard all of those other women talk about being taken, and it made me ... made me..."

"Wet, right?" Julia finished for her. Mary had insisted on paying for some regular sessions with Julia.

"Yes. Is it wrong of me to want that? It sounds like other men enjoy it as much as the women do," Mary asked plaintively.

"Nothing that brings increased satisfaction to both partners is wrong," Julia assured her patient. "Well, I guess I would have to set some limits, but generally, if it feels good ... It sounds like what you long for is to have him take charge and be the sexual aggressor."

"Yes! Yes! It doesn't have to be all the time, but it would be such a thrill. When he is loving and gentle, I turn to mush and the orgasms are wonderful. It's just that ... I think he needs..."

"Your man seems less of a man because he still feels dominated by women," Julia finished again.

"If I ever see his mother again!"

"That won't solve anything, and you know it," Julia chided. "Mary, I think the key may be to make him realize what you need and how badly you need it. He seems eager to provide anything that you need."

"Well ... yes, that's true. But how do I let him know without seeming to order him to do things?"

"That's the conundrum, isn't it?"

-------

Imagine Julia's surprise when Floyd called her and asked for an appointment. She set him up, but the first thing she asked when he came into the office was "Are you sure you want to talk to me? Wouldn't it be better for you to work with a man, given your past problems?"

"I thought of that," Floyd said, "but I've got to get over this whole problem with women. You know my history and I would just as soon not tell anyone else."

"All right. I appreciate your confidence in me," Julia said. "It sounds like you have new determination to get some victory. Why?"

"Yesterday, I tried to be firm with Brett," Floyd answered grimly. "He said he didn't have to listen to a 'pussy whipped old man'. I know we may be too late to salvage that boy, but I can't let it be for his lack of respect for me. I AM 'pussy whipped', in the worst way. With all of the good changes that are happening, I don't want to live my life getting hard every time a woman tells me to do something."

They talked a few more minutes about the incident with Brett, then Julia said "I hope this suggestion, coming from a woman, doesn't lose its effectiveness, but I think there are some steps you should take immediately."

"After everything you have done for us, Julia, I believe I can take your advice without feeling 'ordered' or dominated."

"OK. Would Brett be home when you get there if you go home instead of back to work?" Floyd had gone into work very early that morning so he could take the appointment with Julia before her normal start time. There were a number of his daily tasks that could be done early, so that gave him some very nice flexibility.

"No. He spends as little time at home as possible, now."

"I assume Mary will be there, right?" at his nod, she told him "please don't take these next instructions as orders from a woman in authority. Please accept them as the opinion of a professional about something you can do to improve your personal life and your marriage. Can you do that?"

-------

When Floyd arrived home about nine, Brett was indeed gone. He always managed to stay for some breakfast, which Mary dutifully and lovingly prepared. As soon as that was finished, most days the boy disappeared.

Mary was still in her nightgown, which suited Floyd just fine. He found her still putting things away in the kitchen. Her robe, which she wore when Brett was around, lay across a kitchen chair. Since her time at the Tee, Mary had found herself wearing the least clothes appropriate to the occasion.

While Mary stifled her surprise at seeing him with a kiss, he used all of his self-control to keep his hands from shaking. This was truly out of character for him. Even more out of character was the way he had sat in the car in the driveway, stroking himself to make sure he got good and hard. He had not wanted to open the garage door and alert her to his presence prematurely.

She got over her surprise quickly and wrapped her arms around his neck. He bent his knees enough to pull her nightgown up above her breasts. She had completely dispensed with panties as nightwear, so she stood exposed, grinning at him over the light, bunched cloth.

He could not let her take control. That was the point of the whole encounter, for her benefit as well as for his. Julia had been very clear about that. Quickly, he took her by the shoulders and turned her around, guiding her toward a kitchen chair. With one hand, he pulled it out and turned it, and in his first words said "Put your hands on the seat."

At that point, Mary was more than a little confused. However, the tone of his command was such that she just obeyed. Before she was even bent over all the way, his hand was between her legs, smearing a generous glob of lubricant on her labia as he used one foot to move her legs wider apart.

Several different instincts told Mary that she should be objecting or resisting in some way. This was just not the way a man handled his wife. But a stronger instinct, anticipating what might be to come, made the lubricant totally unnecessary within a couple of seconds and caused her back to arch, presenting the best possible target to the hoped-for intruder.

"Honey, I'm not clean!" something made her protest. It was the kind of plea that would bring Floyd to a halt, always. That was just the way he was wired. Perhaps something in Mary's mind was using it as a test to see if it was the same old Floyd who was trying to manhandle her.

He did pause for just a moment, but his uncertainty was masked by his fumbling as he struggled to get his suit pants down. When his trousers fell, he yanked in frustration at his boxers and the resulting ripping sound did not bother him at all.

The only deviation from his total control was when she reached back with one hand to guide him in, but before he was even securely seated, he thrust forward almost angrily. With some great luck, he was lined up well enough and sank in quite a ways with just the one stroke.

Mary was not moist enough for that kind of penetration yet, but the modest pain from the friction only acted as a stimulant. He had been working very hard to keep control of what he was doing up until that point, but then he just gave in to the feelings. Not worrying about her discomfort for the first time ever, he began pistoning full force.

Two frantic strokes after he had bottomed out, she began a continuous squeal. In about four more strokes, she locked every muscle in her body, then began convulsing violently. In less than thirty seconds, her vaginal spasms wrung the semen out of him and before either spouse knew what was really happening, it was over.

Floyd wanted to bask in the feelings, but he remembered how Julia had drilled him. Forcing himself to stand, still-hard cock drooling down onto his puddled suit pants and torn underwear hanging somewhere around his knees, he began awkwardly trying to push her nightie over her head and arms. "Floyd, just wait!" she protested.

Having no idea where the thought arose, he slapped her exposed ass cheek hard enough to make a distinct sound, then he stood her up and pulled the nightgown straight up over her head. That left her standing confused but aroused in her kitchen, wearing nothing but slippers, and with cum running down her inner thigh and a husband behind her that was acting far different than she had ever seen him. She loved it!

She turned around to look at him and opened her mouth to say something, but he cut her off. "Go start the shower!" he snapped. Her head dropped slightly so she had to look up at him from under her eyebrows. It was a female signal of arousal and submission as old as time. Turning away from him, she actually dashed toward the master suite with a girlish squeal.

Floyd barely made it to work after lunch and he did not pretend to accomplish much the rest of the day. In his exhaustion, he felt a mix of exuberance and concern. For most of the morning, he had assumed a persona that was foreign to him, and this concerned him. At the same time, Mary had responded with unbelievable intensity to everything he did. He thought with shame of how he had spanked her again when she had wanted to curl up in a ball and sleep for a while. The shame, though, was tinged with just a suspicion that she might have been acting, trying to provoke him.

-------

Over the next few weeks, acting on two more sessions with Julia, Floyd pushed into even stranger sexual territory for the couple. He just could not bring himself to go to a store that sold adult toys, so Julia procured several items for him. The night he tied Mary by all four limbs to the bed on her back and blindfolded her, she was not entirely sure that she approved. What she did approve of, though, was the strength and determination he exhibited while positioning, restraining, and blindfolding her.

When he spent an hour teasing every sensitive part of her that he could find, she did not worry about approval or disapproval. She ended up using a few words for the very first time in her life, begging him to let her climax. Before releasing her from the restraints, he gave her her wish, again and again and again. When her arms and legs were finally free, a dildo was still all the way into her, but she lacked the strength to even pull it out by herself.

Another day, he came home unannounced at noon. He took a bit of a chance that Brett might be home for some odd reason, but the boy was gone and Mary was alone. Floyd left his clothes in the garage. When Mary saw him coming at her naked, she was not really surprised when he began pulling her clothes off. She did manage to convince him not to rip anything.

He did manage to surprise Mary when he put his arm around her and led her to the patio door. Their pool and patio area was completely private, and they had skinny-dipped a number of times, but always at night. She had not quite worked up the nerve to sunbathe nude. She knew that was ridiculous, having spent all of that time nude at the Tee, but she was just uncomfortable.

Skinny-dipping or getting an all-over tan was not what Floyd had in mind, however. When he bent her forward over a chaise lounge, she knew what was coming. She was nervous, even frightened, but with his forceful, dominating demeanor, her emotions all morphed into arousal.

The only thing wrong with the fabulous pounding he gave her was that she just could not let loose and vocalize her true feelings. Even through the near-unconsciousness of one massive orgasm, some social restraints remained.

A dip in the pool was a real relief in the noon-day sun. She was feeling so wonderful that she could not keep her hands off of him. It was still a source of amazement to her that the corpulent blob he had been just eight months ago could look and feel better than the young man she had married.

Ever since his workouts had gotten serious, she had developed the habit of caressing and squeezing every part of his body, exploring the muscle development. In the pool that noon, she started doing it again, but with a whole different feeling to it. Before, her exploration had been with pride, but also with an air of possessiveness. Just then, for the first time, he sensed a bit of awe, of worship, even. Nothing gets a man ready for more sex than that kind of a response from his partner.

After their single foray into bondage, Floyd decided that was not the way he wanted to exercise his growing confidence in his more dominant sexual role. While interesting, limiting Mary's ability to respond and to stimulate him limited his own pleasure, as well.

What seemed to please both of them the most was when he used his newfound strength. Stripping her despite her pro forma mild protests was very stimulating to her, and uncovering her reshaped body was something he never tired of. A few garments got damaged along the way, but they wasted no time worrying about that.

Guiding her firmly into the position he wanted her against mild resistance was another little thing that got her going. Of course, just cutting loose and stroking into her for all he was worth had proven to send her to new heights. On occasion, bruising or tenderness for both of them curtailed sex for a time, but they both seemed to consider it a small price to pay.

Especially because of the sessions with Julia, Mary knew how critical her role was in Floyd's 'recovery'. First and foremost, it was imperative that for a time, she avoid all of the old habits of bossing him around. That was not as difficult as it might sound.

The troubles with Lindsey and the time at the Tee had forever changed Mary's view of herself vis a vis the rest of the world. The 'center of the universe' opinion of themselves held by so many with a corner on the truth was no longer Mary's mindset. Her own fallibility had been dramatically driven home to her. She honestly no longer felt that she had the right to dominate her husband.

Thus, Mary's purposeful campaign to boost Floyd's ego was something that she genuinely enjoyed. His ever-improving physique amplified the little connections and signals that must always be there between two people for a union to survive.

A year before, if Mary saw signs of an erection on Floyd outside their bed, she viewed it with scorn and disgust. The scorn was because she knew it was in response to her dominance and it certainly did not make her respect him. The disgust was because such a display was supposed to be disgusting. With the body he had then, it definitely was.

When Mary began to see Floyd getting hard from seeing her body, rather than because she was bossing him, it was a revelation. It was a welcome affirmation of her sex appeal, but it meant even more than that. It was a sign to her that maybe his problem could be defeated. Maybe the barrier that still stood between them could be removed.

Acting seductively was something Mary was having to learn in her maturity. More accurately, she was not having to learn the moves, the gestures, or the attitudes - those were instinctive. What she had to learn was to let herself give off the instinctive signals and feel no guilt.

Upon returning home from the Tee, when she started really noticing his response to her body, she was like a kid with a new toy. It was a very good thing that Brett avoided being home at all costs. It was also very fortunate that he never returned unexpectedly to catch them in some of their more playful activities.

After the months of nudity, Mary would have been quite happy dispensing with clothes at home. That was not practical for obvious reasons, but she was also learning that sometimes, some clothing was more seductive than none.

Somehow, by accident on one occasion, she came out of the bathroom wearing just a bra and shoes. Floyd was in the bedroom in just his boxers at the time. He saw her and began to inflate. She remembered the sensation at the Tee of running on the treadmill in just a sports bra and shoes. The sight reflected in the mirror had seemed even more exposed than when she was naked. He obviously thought so, too.

Thereafter, she stretched plausibility to find occasions to be bare-bottomed, but not completely nude. She also chose some T-shirts that barely covered her crotch when standing still. If she bent or stretched, she flashed him.

She was justifiably proud of her ass. From the lumpy, sagging blob of the year before, she had worked it into her most outstanding asset. Her natural round cheeks and flared hips were restored. The underlying muscles she had built up, the wonderful skin tone from all of the good nutrition, and the all-over tan that she maintained had Floyd ready for insertion every time it was exposed to him.

Not that Mary was not proud of the rest of her body. As they shrank from their previous weighty sagging, her breasts had remained full and the skin was also smooth and lustrous. There was just no way, though, for a full-breasted, once-obese, fortyish woman to sport mammaries that stood out like a teenager's. Her ass, however, could compare to a woman of any age.

Julia encouraged Floyd not to repeat any of their sessions, but to keep trying new things. "It's not that there is anything wrong with any of the things you are doing. I just want you to keep the real objective in mind. We did not set out to introduce you to new sexual practices. The idea is to enable you to deal with a woman - any woman - as an equal, and even as a superior, when that is appropriate. If you find some sexual activities that the two of you agree on, that's fine. But let's keep the first thing first for right now."

From the time he had discovered that his secret was still a secret, Floyd had gone into high gear on his physical program. One could almost say he became fanatical. The weight loss was steady, if not as fast as he would have liked. What surprised and pleased him most was how quickly he gained strength and added muscle mass. He continued to use the supplements that Yvonne provided for residents, and he attributed much of his improvement to the nutrition.

By the time he began the sexual dominance experiments, Floyd's arms, shoulders, chest, back and legs were showing very obvious improvement in muscle definition and size. He was still working on the remnants of his once-massive belly, but the underlying abs could tighten to admirable hardness.

After the third 'experimental' session, one evening after dinner when Brett had left, Mary brought some shopping bags into the family room. "The company picnic is coming up," she said. "This year, we're going."

It had been several years since either of them had wanted to expose their bodies in hot-weather attire, so they had not attended. "I bought some shirts for you to choose from," she said. He could see her jerk a little as if just remembering something before she said "I really hope you choose one of these. You will look so sexy in any of them."

In that moment, he realized that he had changed in Mary's eyes because of their experimentation. In the past, she would have made it clear that these were his choices, if in fact she had even given him a choice.

There were three different shirts, all of which showed off his new musculature to the best advantage. "I've still got this problem," he complained, slapping himself in the stomach.

"Well, you've got time to lose another inch or two," she assured him. Then, in a very un-Mary-like coquettish move, she snuggled up to him and said "Flex your muscles." He did. She stroked his bicep and assured him "When they see those muscles, they'll never notice the last few pounds on the tummy."

Then in further evidence of the massive change in the last seven months, she stripped to her panties and donned the outfit she had chosen for herself. The shorts were mid-length and fit snugly but not obscenely. They were tailored to emphasize the flair of her hips and the roundness of her buttocks. The top was a combination blouse and halter that showed a lot of cleavage and several inches of her admirably trim midriff. "Margo helped me pick this out. I told her I wanted all of your coworkers to wonder who your new woman was."

-------

Julia convinced them to come in together for the next session. "You've made great progress, Floyd, and I can tell that both of you are happy about it. I do need to point out, though, that there are still two major stumbling blocks to your complete 'recovery', if I can call it that."

"My mother and my sister," Floyd said glumly.

"Just by the way you say it, I can see that their impact is still with you. This is a situation where you need to decide on a course of action yourself, if there is to be any action. I think you need to do something. They are like a cloud over you."

"My mother is in her early sixties, now. Isn't it too late to try to do anything?"

"Let me say this carefully, Floyd. If things stay as they are for another twenty years or more until she dies, your problem with her will not die with her." Julia could see Mary almost bursting with an idea, but she held up her hand. "Mary, please. I don't think either of us should make any suggestions. Floyd, those two women represent your biggest psychological and emotional problem. For any victory to feel final and to completely release you, it should be your own plan.

"This sounds strange coming from a psychiatrist. Start with your darkest, most violent imaginings or fantasies about what you would like to do to them. Work backward from there to what could actually be done without putting you in prison or leaving you with an unmanageable burden of guilt."

"You, uh, wouldn't believe how bad some of those fantasies are," Floyd murmured.

"Floyd, you would not believe the things I have heard and seen. Let's talk about it in a week or ten days, OK?"

-------

[Jessica] Late June

Several weeks after their first meeting, in another session, Julia said "Jessica, together, Matt and I have listened to recordings of all of the conversations between you and your mother going back many months." That stopped Jessica cold. "I will tell you," Julia continued, "that Matt only expressed love for you, heartache at what happened to your marriage, and sorrow for what you must have been going through."

Seeing Jessica unable to think of anything to say, Julia added "You need to know that Matt has given me permission to tell you anything and everything from my sessions with him if I think it will be helpful to you. I will not tell him anything that transpires between you and I. That is part of my professional code of ethics."

"Why would he want you to tell me?"

"For the same reason his is paying for these sessions. He wants you to have the best possible chance at a happy life."

"Then why couldn't he forgive me? It was a mistake, after all," Jessica said.

"There are a number of reasons and it will take some time to discuss them all," Julia explained. "The one reason that he could not ignore was that it allowed him to preserve the money that he had worked so hard for for himself and for his family."

"What did the divorce have to do with that?" Jessica asked.

"Matt refused to require a pre-nuptial agreement from you. He loved you deeply and believed that you two would be together for the rest of your lives. That is what marriage meant to him. He thought it would be insulting to you to ask you to sign a pre-nup. When it became apparent that you intended to divorce him to get a lot of his money, he..."

"I wouldn't have done that!" Jessica protested.

"That was the plan that you and your mother discussed repeatedly," Julia countered. "Matt had to assume that his company was in danger. When your infidelity presented the perfect opportunity to escape the threat of a ruinous divorce, he had to take it."

"Do you mean he might have forgiven me if there had been a pre- ... whatever?"

"That's pure speculation at this point. There is a good chance he would have been too wounded to forgive you, anyway."

"Wounded! Wounded? He went out of town all the time. Surely he must have cheated!" Jessica insisted.

"He never did," Julia assured her. "Didn't he ask you to accompany him almost every time?"

"Until ... until near the end, yes," Jessica admitted. "How can you be so sure he didn't?"

"I pride myself on being as good as any lie detector machine. Besides, I've known Matt for a long time. He is the faithful one-woman type." Julia knew that her last statement could hit Jessica quite hard. She had decided beforehand that her only hope of helping Jessica was to get her to realize that she was confused and disturbed. If she could then lead her to the conclusion that it was her mother's fault, some significant help was possible.

With tears leaking down her cheeks, Jessica said "I had a chance to be that woman, didn't I?"

"That's not what you really wanted, though," Julia said, upping the intensity.

"WHAT? Of course that's what I wanted!" Jessica almost shouted.

"No, what you wanted was Rod and the excitement and the sex. You chose Matt because you didn't feel the urges with him that you did with Rod. You believed those urges were wrong, so you 'fled' to Matt."

Jessica just gaped at Julia, so Julia continued. "It was shattering for you to discover that Matt wanted the same sex things that Rod wanted. You had thought that he was 'safe', that you wouldn't have to endure sex with him."

"How ... how can you say those things?" Jessica objected.

"Remember, I've heard the conversations with your mother," Julia reminded her.

"But I never said anything about Rod to Mom."

"No, but you did admit that sex felt good."

"I ... I ... that was just, I mean, I was trying to..." Jessica ground to a halt. Julia realized that she was perilously close to pushing Jessica into the flight behavior that had ended so many confrontations with Matt. It was time to change directions.

"Why did you agree to come and see me in the first place, Jessica?" As soon as she asked it, Julia could see that that line of questioning was pushing Jessica, also.

"I guess ... I just needed ... I felt alone," Jessica managed to get out.

"Well, I'm glad you did decide to talk to me," Julia said warmly. The warmth had to be doled out carefully to avoid building dependence, but this was a critical situation. Jessica had to be pulled back from the brink of flight by any means possible. If she left the office, there was no telling what her future would be like.

They talked about ordinary details of living for several minutes until Julia felt that her patient was off of the 'edge of her chair', so to speak. Matt was not paying for small talk, though. "You aren't alone, though, Jessica. Your mother must be providing a lot of help and support, isn't she?"

Julia had mentioned conversations between Marie and Jessica many times and she had bordered on the accusatory, but had stayed safely away from outright negative comments about Marie.

"Oh, Mom's helped a lot,", Jessica agreed.

"What does she think about you talking to me?" This was brinksmanship, again.

"I ... haven't told her."

"Oh? Why is that?"

"I ... I just didn't think it would be best."

"Jessica, one of the things I often do when working with people is talk with those close to them. Would you rather I not schedule an appointment with your mother?"

"Oh! No! Please don't!"

"All right. I'm glad I asked," Julia said, putting on a good act. "I'm rather surprised, though. As close as you two are, I would have thought you would like as much help from her as you could get. Don't worry, though. I won't give away that you're seeing me.

"On another subject, Jessica: Here is a lawyer that can find out about the accusations against your father. Also, I understand that you are working with someone who helps you with finances, is that correct?"

"Yes. Yes, I am."

"Do you like that person? Do you trust them?"

"Oh, yes. She's very nice. She's been very helpful."

"Is she an attorney?"

"No. She just works for attorneys."

"If you trust her, let her attorney handle it for you. That way you will be sure that no one is trying to deceive you."

"Who would do that?"

"I don't think any professional would do that. It's just that you need to be be confident that what you hear is the truth."

"You sound like you think I won't believe it."

Progress had stalled the last appointment or two. On one hand, Julia had to be cautions not to pressure Jessica too much and cause her to flee. On the other hand, Jessica was perceptive enough to realize when nothing beneficial was happening. Basically, every patient Julia took on was overload, given her schedule at Transformations. As much as she wanted to help the woman, she could not afford to string along patients who were just marking time.

"Jessica, who are the people who might have made the abuse accusation?"

That stopped the young woman cold. She knew that realistically, there really only could have been one person. There literally was no one else close enough to observe anything, except for Cliff's family. They would never have brought such a charge.

Julia knew that the critical question at that point was whether Jessica would even pursue the answer. Assuming that she knew that it must be Marie, did she have the courage to have that verified?

"I'll go right to their office." That statement almost brought a very undignified celebration from Julia.

-------

How does a person break from a lifetime of conditioning? What things cause them to step back and see the things that they believe the way other people see them?

Marie's brainwashing of Jessica had held up remarkably well for many years. There were factors that weakened it, though. For one thing, some of the ideas that Marie instilled were so extreme that they were bound to look faulty in the light of reality.

Jessica was an intelligent person, an educated person. Yes, she was quite submissive, but not enough to completely stop her from thinking. The flight reflex when faced with conflicts between reality and what she believed was evidence that she did indeed recognize the inconsistencies when she encountered them. She fled rather than evaluating and resolving because of Marie's incredibly strong hold on her.

Since Jessica's marriage, factors had conspired to weaken Marie's hold. Another significant person entered her world, the first since her father left. While her short marriage to Matt was traumatic, she saw things in Matt that reminded her of her father.

The first of Marie's principles to fall under suspicion with Jessica was the belief that men were unfeeling brutes, incapable of higher emotions such as love. Matt brought back memories and feelings about her father. All of those memories were positive: warmth, comfort, safety - love?

Then there was the ultimate goal of marriage, as planned by Marie. Instead of a lucrative divorce, Jessica found herself wanting to stay with Matt. At the end, she WANTED to be a real wife, but it was too late.

The lawyer's admin assistant who had helped her so much was another significant person. Most of all, though, Julia was hugely significant. Julia may have seen Jessica as childlike in many ways, but she treated her as the intelligent woman that she was. And Julia found the wedges and used them masterfully.

Going to see the lawyer to find out about her parents' divorce case was probably the most independent action Jessica had ever taken. In was hugely significant because in her heart, Jessica already knew what the answer would be. It was an unbelievable act of defiance, given her prior history.

It is impossible to fathom how a woman could end up brainwashed like Jessica had been, but it was a fact. It is also impossible to understand the emotional impact on her of her infidelity and the resulting divorce.

The key to the impact was failure. Nothing in Marie's indoctrination had prepared Jessica for the eventuality of failure of any kind. Since she herself had all of the toughness to make anything happen, no matter the setbacks, Marie proceeded as if Jessica had that same strength. It was an erroneous assumption.

Actually, Marie was having to deal with failure, as well. She could see her conditioning of her daughter unraveling. The girl was an emotional and psychological mess. Marie had the instincts to realize that hammering on the old themes would not be productive right then. All she had to fall back on was mothering.

Adherence to her ingrained principles had left Jessica with only heartbreak and confusion. The continued drumbeat of those ideas from her mother had stopped. The renewed image of her father and the introduction of Julia into her life had forced the use of her intelligence to examine what she had always believed, really for the first time.

As she had said she would, Jessica went right from Julia's to the lawyer's office, where she requested the information on the case. The lawyer said that he would get complete transcripts, including all testimony.

Having finished the paper work, Jessica stopped to talk to the admin, Mercy, who was someone she had come to trust. Mercy had helped her rent a storage facility and get her things moved out of Matt's house after the divorce. "If ... if I wanted to move out of Mother's, who should I call to help me?"

"If it's in the evening, Ronny and I will help," Mercy offered.

"No, I ... I think I may have to do it while she is at work."

"You already know what happened, don't you?" Mercy prodded. She was about to ask why Jessica didn't just move out right away, but she understood Jessica's fragility. "Should I help you find an apartment?"

"No. If I move out, I don't want her to be able to find me, at least for a while."

"I have an idea that might be perfect. Let me do some checking. Call me in a few hours," Mercy said.

At dinner that night, Jessica discovered that she had crossed a line. She had dropped her resistance to believing what Marie had done. She had to fake not feeling well to get through the evening. She just could not engage in normal conversation with her mother.

Sometime in the pre-dawn hours, after almost no sleep, Jessica made the decision: she would move out that day. The anger and hatred were starting to build in her, and she just could not act normally around her mother any longer.

The fake illness meant Marie left for work in the morning without Jessica having to interact much with her. As she waited for Mercy to be in the office, Jessica packed as quickly as she could.

Jessica was blessed with the capacity to have people want to help her, and it was not just her beauty, either. There was an innocence, a sweetness, a naivete, and a vulnerability that drew people to her.

Mercy not only had a room arranged with an older widowed friend, within an hour of Jessica's call, Mercy and her husband Ronny arrived with their mini-van. It took several trips, but Jessica was nervously waiting in her new, temporary home for the expected call on her cell phone from Marie. There was no farewell note, but it did not take Marie long to make the discovery.

Marie almost did not bother to call. She knew instinctively that she had lost Jessica for good. Only the lingering habit of complete control made her try to reach her daughter.

"Where are you?"

"I have a nice place to stay."

"For how long?"

"I think you know. Forever."

"Can we talk about it?"

"What good would that do?"

"Jessica, you know I've only had your best interests at heart," Marie said, a note of pleading invading her voice.

"No, I don't know that at all. How was it in my best interest to lie and deprive me of a father who was so good to me? How was it in my best interest to screw me up so badly that I couldn't make marriage to a wonderful man work?

"No, Marie, I don't know where all of the hatred came from, but what you did was never for me. I'm sure of that, now." It was the first time Jessica had ever called her mother 'Marie', and she had not even thought about it beforehand. It hit Marie like a gut punch.

"It's best if you just forget me," Jessica went on. "I will be getting help to try to forget you. Don't call again."

Jessica just sat and stared into space for the longest time after the call. The main pillar of her life had disappeared. She did not have the strength to function independently of her mother, and she knew it. At the same time, she could not stop the anger and hatred that were rising in her.



-------

Chapter 9


[Jessica] Early July

In an unrecognized form of self-punishment, Jessica resisted the urge to call Julia after she moved out. In fact, she resisted for almost a week, until the day the case documents arrived at the lawyer's office.

During that week, Jessica hardly left her room. Her landlady was a kindly woman with strong mothering instincts. Like almost everyone, she felt the urge to help Jessica, and after a few days, she had the whole story. Jessica found it surprisingly therapeutic to let it out. Julia had had to drag most of it from her, but after that one telling, it was surprisingly easy.

Depressed, enraged, and remorseful by turns, Jessica was not a danger to herself, but neither was she very good company for herself. Three people dominated her mind.

Marie, of course, now triggered nothing but anger. In her psychology courses, she had read about the close relationship between love and hate. Now, she was living it. She could not find any sympathy at all for her mother. Her education told her that there must have been something very, very bad in Marie's background to make her into what she was. That understanding just did not stem the growth of the anger and hatred at all.

Marie had held her so in thrall that even when the resources were at hand, Jessica had not searched for her father. The realization of that made her physically ill at one point. Cliff was obviously one of the three people, in some ways the most important. It was thoughts and memories of him that had finally broken Marie's hold.

Her image of her father was indistinct and highly idealized. There was also some sadness and anger with the image. Why had he not tried to contact her, even when she was old enough?

The third person was, of course, Matt. Her mental images of Matt were conflicted, to say the least. A strong, lingering image, the one that had led her to marriage, was as a substitute for the father she had lost. But then there was Matt expecting sex, validating the worst of what Marie had taught her about men.

As if that was not confused enough, the image of him crying in the other room after sex one night and the rag filled with his spend next to the couch where he had slept instead of with her on their wedding night would never leave her mind.

There were so many other images of Matt from their short few months together. It bothered and confused her that she could not clearly associate an emotion with those images. With Marie, there was anger and hatred. With her father, there was love, longing, and regret. But with Matt, there was such a jumble that she could not isolate any of them.

After a few days, the image of herself began to haunt her, as well. It was an image that she did not like at all. It had nothing to do with her physical beauty, which had been a given for her entire life. It had to do more with dependence, gullibility, and ignorance.

Her wise host let Jessica talk about all of those things, prodding gently to keep the thoughts and the words flowing. One evening when Jessica seemed talked out, the host asked "Have you decided what kind of person you want Jessica to be?"

That question produced another sleepless night. So submissive and controlled had she been that she had never considered that question before. There had been no need to, for Marie was in control of what Jessica would become.

Unable to clearly think about what she wanted to be, Jessica began to instead think about all of the things that she did NOT want to be any longer.

-------

"You knew, didn't you?" Jessica demanded when she had barely sat down in Julia's office at Transformations two evenings later. Julia had to exert a lot of self-control. The woman she saw before her did not look like Jessica. Oh, physically, the same beautiful package was there, but that was where the similarity ended.

The Jessica that Julia had come to know wore expressions that were a contrasting mix of innocence and wariness, certitude and confusion, passion and reserve. Contrasts, conflicts, and irreconcilable opposites ruled her personality.

The Jessica that challenged Julia then looked old, more than anything. There were no more conflicts in her expression. There was just loss, betrayal, and anger.

"When did you find out?" Julia asked gently.

"Yesterday morning."

"When you called so frantic to talk to me?"

"Yes."

"I'm sorry. I did not get home until very late last night," Julia exlained.

"Thank you for taking the time now. You really are a good friend." Just that statement from the woman would have been a shock at any other time. "Why didn't you tell me before?"

"I think you know, Jessica."

After a long pause and a heavy sigh, Jessica said "I would have walked out or defended her." After another long pause, she asked "Dr. Waxman - Julia - is everything she ever told me all wrong?"

Even in Jessica's apparently radically changed mood, Julia did not want to attack Marie head on. She was well aware of how powerful such brainwashing could be. "What things are you not sure about?" was her safest response.

"If Daddy wasn't like she said, was she wrong about all men?"

"Do you think she was wrong about Matt?" Julia asked gently. She knew that Matt was the only important man other than Cliff. The only answer was several minutes of non-stop sobbing.

"While she was at work the day after our last session," Jessica said haltingly after the crying subsided somewhat, "I packed up and Mercy and Ronny help me move to a room Mercy found for me. I didn't tell her where I was going. I ... had to be away from her. I needed somewhere that she couldn't find me."

It was right on the tip of Julia's tongue, but she bit it back. The idea of Jessica at Transformations was just too much of a stretch.

Not too much of a stretch for Jessica, apparently. "Could I stay here for a while?"

"Do you know what this place is?"

"I've heard."

"Then how could you even consider it when you couldn't even let your husband see your body? There are men on the staff here, you know," Julia pointed out.

"I looked at your website, Dr. Waxman. It talks about 'rebirthing'. Did anyone ever need it more than I do?"

"I'm not sure you could deal with it, Jessica."

Another very uncharacteristic expression took over Jessica's face. She stood up and undressed quickly, throwing her clothes carelessly on the chairs. "That door goes out where the women are, doesn't it?" she demanded.

"Yes, it does," Julia admitted.

"Then take me out there, now! Before I lose my nerve!"

"This is not the way to..."

"Julia, please!" Jessica pled in unfeigned desperation. "The nice woman I'm staying with asked me what kind of a person I want to be. I have to have a new life. I can't do it in little steps. Just ... just hold my hand and take me out there."

"Let me call some women who can be with..."

"No! Please! It has to be right now!"

Timing was everything. Julia espoused that principle wholeheartedly. She sensed that the window for Jessica might be as small as seconds. Practically dashing to the door, she unlocked and opened it. Reaching out, she took Jessica's hand and pulled her to the door and through it.

Julia's normally disciplined, orderly mind was a jumble right then. This was as drastic a spontaneous move as she had ever made. She was amazed at the incredible turnaround in the young beauty. Brainwashing victims just did not throw off their indoctrination that easily. She was amused at the thought of all of the reactions to the naked Miss Universe caliber body in the midst of so many women struggling with bodies that they had let go to seed.

Even more amusing was the thought of the effect of Jessica on the male employees. Was this unwarranted job stress for the guys? That thought made her look around to see if any of the men were in sight. Being early evening, there were some. Mark was the first one she noticed, and she blessed his perceptiveness. He understood her head motion and quickly found his dad and Andy, who were doing some late work in the accounting office. Julia was relieved to see the office door close behind the three.

It was without a doubt the strangest arrival of any Transformations resident yet. Despite their looks of amazement, it warmed Julia's heart to see the other residents gather around rather quickly for introductions. There was no disguising the awe and a little jealousy on some faces, but no one was anything but gracious.

When a good percentage of the residents had gathered, Julia made a short announcement. "This is Jessica Longley Conroy. It was as difficult for her to bare herself here as for anyone who has ever entered this place. You will find her to be a warm, sensitive person. She is trying to recover from some ideas that have been drummed into her since her early years. Please, don't be critical when you talk to her. She wants to learn and to change. I will let her tell you her story."

Introductions and a spontaneous tour by some of the residents took twenty or thirty minutes. When Jessica returned to Julia, she said "You told me there were men here."

"They are staying out of sight to give you a chance to adjust. It is what we normally do."

"If I don't do this tonight, I may not have the courage in the morning," Jessica said urgently.

Nodding, Julia led her toward the office. When the men came out, Julia had to support Jessica, but she got through it and was able to exchange a few words with each of the three.

"Norma's on her way," Paul said to Julia. "I assumed you would need her. You look like you need to get home."

"I'll wait until she gets here, then you're right - I've had it. I think Andi should stay close to Jessica for a while. They're the closest women in age."

-------

It was Andy who introduced Jessica and Andi. Andi threw one nervous look in her husband's direction, then turned all of her attention to Jessica. It took only minutes for the unique Jessica appeal to put Andi firmly in Jessica's rooting section. She stripped, and she and Norma stayed right with Jessica for the rest of the evening.

It turned out to be a lot more than just the usual definition of evening. Jessica seemed to think that anything that she did not do right then, she might never have another chance to do. She appeared to be afraid that Marie's control would somehow reach out and claim her again.

It was well past midnight before Jessica realized that Norma and Andi were fading badly and that there were no other women out and about to exchange stories with. She had listened avidly to everyone she could find, starting with Andi. The story of Andi's enslavement and rescue and the ensuing romance had her eyes and nose red, and they stayed that way for the rest of the night.

Missy, with the strength of youth, was more than happy to stay up to be the last to exchange stories with the new resident. It was a good way for Jessica to end the day, as well, hearing from another girl whose home life left much to be desired.

"My problems were nothing compared to Lindsey's, though," Missy said when they were about to part.

"Lindsey?"

"Yeah, Lindsey Hall, the country singer."

"You mean she stayed here?" Jessica asked in amazement.

"No, she volunteers here whenever she can," Missy explained.

"Lindsey is my future daughter-in-law," Norma pointed out. "Paul and Mark, the two men you met earlier, are my husband and son."

That just about blew poor Jessica away. "But, Norma, aren't you afraid they might see you ... like that?"

"Oh, they see me this way all the time. They're naked sometimes, too." Between them, Andi and Norma described the nudity and how it fit into the Transformations approach. When they described the time at the nude resort, Jessica started crying.

When asked why, she stammered "On our h ... honeymoon, there was a nude beach..." that was all she could manage to say.

"I'll get you copies of the articles about Lindsey," Norma said, "and you can read what happened to her. Both her parents have been here, though, and they have done a remarkable turnaround."

-------

Jessica hardly slept at all. There were just too many concepts that clashed with all that she had been taught. Yet, she could already feel the warmth and the care from the people she had met. It was still dark when she got up and headed to the kitchen.

Gretchen was on that morning, humming to herself as she started breakfast preparations. Jessica had not met Gretchen last night, and she instinctively shrank back. "Hi, you must be Jessica. Andy called and told me about you last night. I'm Gretchen Berg, the food service manager."

"Andy?"

"Yes, one of the men you met last night. He's my son. He's married to Andi, who was with you last night."

"Is ... is everyone here related to everyone else?" Jessica asked.

"Sometimes it seems that way, but there's a reason. Julia and the people who started this are very wise. Something like being around nudity all the time could cause problems between family members if some experienced it and some did not."

Jessica and Gretchen chatted for nearly an hour before anyone else showed up. Jessica even helped with a few tasks. They seemed to connect quite strongly. When Andi and Andy came in together and got in a warm group hug with Gretchen, Jessica teared up. She was beginning to realize that tears would be a major component of her life for a while.

Everyone needs some comic relief, and for once, Julia had a chance for some light-hearted fun. Getting there early the next morning, she missed no opportunity to tease the guys about having such a beauty naked in their midst. Mark, who was becoming more and more adept at glib repartee responded to her tease with "Well, I'd say she was the best sight since you showed us what a real woman looks like down at that nude resort."

"Is that any way to talk to your boss, Young Man?" she tried for a comeback.

"Since no one else in the world has a boss as spectacular looking as you, I guess the rules haven't been written yet," was his rebuttal.

"I'd better warn Lindsey about you," was all she could think of for any kind of an exit line.

She had turned away, but spun back and wrapped him in a tight hug. "How'd did I get so lucky to find all of you guys?" she asked, struggling a bit to keep her voice steady.

He had an emotion-easer, though. "Hey, Boss. When a resident's 'after' picture can't possibly look any better than her 'before', is there any point in the picture session?"

Reluctantly breaking the hug, she told him "She needs to be put through the whole drill, just like everyone else. I think the shock of that initial day is essential for getting people receptive."

As had happened several times before, it was only the presence of Norma, casually naked in front of her son, Mark, that distracted Jessica enough to get her through the initial photo session. Mark's jokes about all of her pictures being the same and perfect at every stage helped, too.

Julia was back for dinner and asked Jessica to eat with her in the office. "I'm sorry I have to squeeze you in like this," she apologized.

"How do you do it?" Jessica asked, "Your incredible schedule, I mean."

"I'm not sure," Julia admitted, "and thank you for your concern. Jessica, I could not believe last night. You were like a different person. How did that happen?"

"Julia, I'm not a stupid person, and..."

"Oh, I hope I never implied that you were."

"No, you didn't, but I know you had to deal with me carefully," Jessica said. "It was Daddy. Finding out that she did it just ... I don't know ... made a lot of things clear.

"I admit I still don't know what's right and what's wrong. But I do know this: Daddy was a wonderful person. He never did a single bad thing to me. If she lied about Daddy..."

"I knew that would have a big impact on you," Julia said, "but frankly, you are a classic case of brainwashing. I had no hope that you could change so quickly."

"I may not have changed, yet," Jessica cautioned. "I'm not just here to run away. I need to learn what the truth is."

"But just the fact you could undress and come in here like you did is unbelievable."

"Julia, she stole the two most important men in my life from me - men that just weren't what I was taught that men were like. I am more angry than I have ever been. I want to lash out at the people who let this happen! I want to..."

"I hope you can try to learn and heal and not just focus on revenge," Julia advised.

"I think to me, it's part of healing. You said there were people who could find Daddy. I need to talk to them."

Julia sat in thought for a moment, then plunged in. "Jessica, I need to ask you not to get angry with me until you have heard me out. Will you do that?"

"Why? What would I get angry about?"

"I have met with your father. Now, let me explain why you and he have not met."

"You ... you've met with him? He's here? When can I see him?" Julia breathed a sigh of relief that there was no anger.

"Your father and I decided together that it would be best if you two did not meet until you broke away from your mother on your own. Can you see the logic in that?"

"Did he think I would choose her over him?"

"No, he did not want you to have to make that choice."

"But I already made it," she objected.

"No, it was not a choice between them. It was just a choice of whether to continue under your mother's control or to try to become your own person," Julia explained.

Jessica was very thoughtful for quite a while. "I guess I need to learn how bad I was - how bad she was. Will you get those recordings for me?"

"Certainly. I'll have them here tomorrow."

"When can I see Daddy?"

"Jessica, it is wonderful that you are here. I think we can help you a lot here. It is our policy that residents do not dress or leave the premises until they leave permanently."

"Could Daddy come here?"

Julia had to make a quick decision. She certainly could compromise and let Jessica dress for the meetings with her father. There was plenty of precedent and she could use her discretion. On the other hand, it would be interesting to see what her reaction was if...

"He could, Jessica, and you could use the spare office to meet in. But remember that I said you need to stay naked for your entire stay."

"I don't care! I just want to see him. And right away!" Well, that answered that question.

"I think it would be better if you wore a robe, now that I think about it, Jessica. I'll see when I can set it up."

Julia had no doubt that she could have called Cliff and he would have been there within the hour. She was not sure that was for the best, though. She knew that once they met, Jessica's attention would be heavily on him. If she did not get into the flow of life at the Tee first, it could be disruptive.

"Honey," Julia said, using the affectionate name for the first time, "I'm going to ask you again not to be angry with me. I think it would be best if you were here several days before you see your father. You need to get comfortable with the routine and the people before we introduce a distraction."

"Oh. I thought ... after what you've done for me, I can't argue. Tell me what I have to do to show you I'm ready." Attitude was definitely not going to be a hindrance to Jessica's recovery.

-------

Lindsey made it in the next day. In her insomnia, Jessica had read all of the articles. When Lindsey stripped to spend some time with her, Jessica could hardly speak for a few minutes. In the late morning, Mary came in and joined them, naked as well. That was almost impossible for Jessica to process.

As Lindsey was getting ready to leave for a practice session, Julia stopped by for lunch. Whenever she did not stack up an emergency appointment at lunch hour, she tried to leave her office and eat at the Tee. "Lindsey, if you ever, ever feel guilty for not contributing more, just remember the look on Jessica's face as you talked to her. And Missy, and more in the future, I'm sure. You can give something no one else here can."

In the afternoon, there was another unpredictable tear-producing episode for Jessica. As she did for all new residents, Shannon Torvold came and stripped to tell her story. As Shannon was being introduced, Jessica took one look at her crotch and burst into tears. Shannon had had all of her pubic hair permanently removed years earlier.

Although a little perplexed, Shannon had become very smooth with the residents and she quickly asked "What sad memories did I bring up, Jessica?"

"On ... honeymoon ... nude beach ... woman with..." Jessica managed to get out between sobs, pointing at Shannon's bare pussy.

That gave Shannon a perfect chance to work some of her magic. Before long, she had Jessica oooohing and aaaahing over her before and after pictures and the story of what her life had turned into.

When Shannon was finished, though, Jessica had another unexpected siege of tears. "I had your 'after'! I had a fairy tale life, and I ... I..."

"It wasn't your fault, Honey," Shannon told her over and over.

"But it still hurts just as badly!" Julia had to come out for dinner again and try to get Jessica back on track.

-------

[Missy] Early July

After five weeks of following her program faithfully, Missy looked a lot different than the day she checked in. She had already lost about fifteen more pounds and was showing some muscle definition. The most noticeable difference was in her posture. The slouch that she had checked in with had actually gotten worse at first, as if she could hide herself by not standing erect. Now, she stretched to her full height and held her shoulders straight.

Although Missy's problems were different from most of the residents', Julia watched the girl closely and considered her an excellent example of what immersion therapy could do. However, the original root cause for Missy being there still existed in the persons of her mother and father. From what Julia could tell, nothing had changed in their actions or attitudes.

"Well, Missy, how are you feeling about how you look?"

Missy had expected to talk about meeting with her parents, and Julia's question caught her a little off-guard. "Oh, I look better than I thought I could!" she enthused.

"I have to tell you, Missy, you are a woman who looks very good naked. Very sexy."

If she was off-guard before, Missy was completely off-balance after that comment. Julia had called her a woman! She had said she looked sexy! She had been pleased with what was happening to her body, but to hear the Director talk about her that way was heady stuff for a body-shy sixteen-year-old.

"Th ... thank you. I've never had anyone call me sexy before. Wait until I lose the last twenty," she beamed. "I guess you want to know about talking to my parents, huh?"

"You're right. There is pressure from the court. I can probably hold off for two more weeks, but that's all. Have you thought about what you want to do?"

"You said I could just call them on the phone, didn't you?"

"Yes, you can do that. Tell me, if you talk to them on the phone a few times while you are here, how will that affect your relationship with them when you leave?"

"Uh, probably not very much," Missy admitted.

"And would you be OK with that?"

Missy let out a long sigh. "It will be the same thing all over when I get home, won't it? Probably worse because I disgraced them. Why would it be any different if I met them here?"

"Missy, from talking to the other residents you probably know something about family and friend visits. In cases where the resident has wronged the visitor in some way, we often make the resident meet the visitor while the resident is naked and the visitor is clothed."

"Yeah, a few of the women have done that. It was rough!"

"Well, in your case, you are the wronged party, so I am reluctant to let them see you if they are clothed."

"From what you said, wouldn't it be even better if they were naked and I was dressed?" Missy asked.

"Nice try!" Julia said with a chuckle. "I don't see any way we could justify that. But if we tell them that visits are only allowed in the center section and that that section is totally nude, we at least have a basis for our demand. For them, I would assume that it would be a highly unusual experience."

"You got that right. But it would be tough for me, too."

"Why? Why would it be tough for you?"

"They've never seen me naked! And I really don't want them to."

"So, being dressed has been a way of hiding from them, huh?" Julia asked.

"I ... I never thought of that. But families don't normally see each other naked, do they?"

"It's hard to say what's normal, but you're probably right. Missy, lots of other people have seen you naked since you got here, and you're handling that fine, aren't you?"

"Well, now I am."

"Tell me. If you were sitting here with them now, all naked, who would be the most uncomfortable?"

"Oh, they might be. I don't know. It would be close."

"Then let's think of what we could do to give you the advantage," Julia said.

"Why is that so important?" Missy asked.

"When you leave here, you will probably have to go home. At home they have always controlled every little part of your life. You have never had the confidence to stand up to them, have you?"

Missy shook her head, and Julia continued. "I want to give you a chance to have the upper hand. I think if you once experience that, it could give you enough confidence to survive better at home."

"If you can see your parents uncomfortable and uncertain when you feel confident, it will make them seem less frightening and overpowering."

"I ... I've never had that feeling with them."

"I know you haven't. So, do you agree that meeting them with all of you naked is the best option."

"I guess you're right. How am I going to get the advantage, though?"

"Here, look at these" Julia said, handing Missy several pictures. "These are from your first measurement session. Stand in front of the mirror and tell me what is different about you than in the pictures."

"Oh, God! I'd forgotten just how bad I looked," Missy moaned. "Look at that belly! And those fat rolls. The only possible good thing is that my boobs are a little bigger. But with that gut, you can hardly notice it."

"OK, that's the obvious stuff," Julia said. "Now tell me about your face - your expression." That produced a strangled groan from the girl. "And what about your posture?"

"You ... you could really tell I was ashamed of myself, couldn't you?" Missy observed.

"So, why is your posture so much better, now?" Julia asked.

"Well, Barbara has given me some real shit - ooops, sorry! - about my 'tall-girl slouch'. I didn't want any more slaps on my bare ass, so I straightened up." The two laughed together over that explanation.

"I think you know that what she did is not standard procedure around here," Julia explained, "but she really cares about you, and she has been through a lot of the same problems."

"Yeah, but she has those awesome boobs that I will never have," the girl complained.

"Yes, but your belly is smaller now and you are sticking them out proudly. Aren't you much happier with them? How do you think it would affect your father if you met him just like you are now, standing straight and relaxed with your sexy tits pointing right at him?"

"I ... I don't know."

"I'm pretty sure he would be way off balance," Julia assured the girl."

"I've never seen him any way but completely in control," Missy commented.

"And that's what we need to change," Julia said firmly. "Fathers are usually uncomfortable with their daughters' sexuality. That's one thing we can use."

"Missy, you need to spend most of your time in the center section until their visit."

"But isn't everyone naked there?" When Julia nodded, Missy asked "How will that help me?"

"Have you ever seen your father's penis?"

"Never."

"If you met him right now and saw it, would you be relaxed and able to deal with him?"

"No, probably not."

"Well, in the center section, you will get a chance to see quite a few penises and be around them for a while. The last of the men will be leaving soon because we're shutting down the men's side. Even though seeing your father's will still be a bit of a shock, you should be able to handle it a lot better. Now, has your father ever seen you naked?"

"Not for a lot of years."

"Is he used to seeing naked women, other than your mother?"

"I don't know what he does when he's out of town, but I'm not even sure he sees Mother naked that often."

"Now, do you see how you can have an advantage?"

"I see. But it will still be tough showing myself in the center section."

"Probably. But you have two weeks to get used to it. Are you willing?" At Missy's nod, Julia told her "Good! I will schedule a visit in two weeks to get the lawyers off of my back."

-------

It was Sunday morning when Missy worked herself up to her first visit to the center section. As she headed for the door that led down the hall to the all-nude section, she felt almost as nervous as when she first checked in. Then, she realized: she had not been just nervous that day, she had been absolutely terrified.

Just as she got to the door, she met Norma, as naked as Missy was. "Thought I'd try once more to make it easier for you," Norma explained.

"I don't see how it can ever be easy," Missy replied, "but thank you. That's very thoughtful." Missy thought she saw a twinkle in Norma's eye as they walked hand in hand down the short hall.

As they walked through the second door, the one that opened into the center section, Missy stopped dead, and could not prevent her eyes from tearing up. There, playing in the pool, or lounging around and talking were all of the staff that she had already spent naked time with. They were doing everything they could to ease her into her new exposure, and it got right to her heart.

In the five weeks of her supposed punishment sentence at the Tee, she had enjoyed more respect and simple kindness than in her entire lifetime at home. They were not going to let her fail, and she vowed she would live up to their faith in her.

The last few residents from the men's section began coming in. Obviously having been coached, each one came immediately over to meet Missy and shared stories in the standard Tee ritual. Each one made a point to compliment her frequently. Even though she was certain it had all been choreographed, Missy was still touched and grateful.

Floyd and Mary Hall visited with Missy several times as a couple. Missy had talked with Mary before and knew what had happened between them and Lindsey. Missy fantasized about some way to get her parents admitted.

A week before her parents were to arrive, Julia took Missy off to the side of the women's section for a chat. "I have some news that should make your time with your folks even easier."

"Doesn't easier mean it had to be easy at some point," Missy asked sourly. "I am really getting cold feet about this."

"I thought so. We've had lawyers doing some hard digging about your trust fund. It is supposed to be confidential, but we were able to get access. Here's what they found out..."

-------

[Jessica] Early July

The next few days, there were no more major upsets for Jessica. The very next morning, she was up when Gretchen arrived again. "Don't you ever sleep?" Gretchen teased.

"I feel like I spent my whole life not being awake," Jessica complained.

"So, you haven't always been an early bird, huh?"

"No way. Um, what mornings are you here early?"

Thinking quickly of the 'Clients first' credo of the Tee, Gretchen said "Every morning. Tell you what. If for some reason I can't be, I'll let you know at dinner, OK?"

Gretchen settled the scheduling rearrangement later, with Julia's approval. It seemed that Jessica was bonding with Gretchen better than with anyone else, and that had to be nurtured. Not that it was a chore for Gretchen. She genuinely liked the beautiful young woman. Not physically, but in some other ways, Jessica reminded her of her own daughter Beth.

For Jessica, Gretchen became that substitute mother that Julia could not allow herself to be. At the very early morning time, Jessica seemed eager to tell just what was on her mind. Little by little, the other residents began delaying their approach to the dining area as long as was practical. Julia found time between clients for a debriefing call with Gretchen after every early chat with Jessica.

Jessica could not get enough of the stories. She kept going back to hear them over and over. The second time through, she asked questions about the husbands or boyfriends. After that, she began to timidly probe about sex.

That was the point where Julia began chatting with all of the other residents, asking them to crank up the sexual content of their talks with Jessica. Most of the others were eager to help in that way. Soon, Jessica's sexual timidity was being bowled over by some of the spontaneous X-rated talk of her fellow residents.

-------

[Jessica & Cliff] Mid July

Their first meeting was a test for Cliff. When he stepped into the Tee's spare office, Jessica, clad only in a robe, came flying into his arms. His first test was the structural strength of his ribcage, given the manic nature of her embrace.

The second test was the normal male reaction to having a perfect female body pressed as tightly as possible. Fortunately, the shame of the thought of disillusioning her with any detectable swelling kept him under control.

She cried, of course. Julia had warned him that Jessica lived on the verge of tears most of the time lately, so he was not surprised. Still, the tears hurt because he knew so well the root cause.

When she had a little control, she pulled back, looked him in the face, and said "I tried to tell them it wasn't true, Daddy. They wouldn't listen!"

"I know, Honey. I know."

Julia had planned the reunion well. She knew that just letting them get together to talk would lead to many bouts of tears and more emotional intensity than either of them could handle. Thus, the office had been rearranged a little and a table for two set up. Gretchen had been waiting outside the door for them to break the initial hug, and she opened it and brought in dinner.

"Daddy, this is Gretchen, She lets me jabber at her early every morning. Her son and daughter-in-law work here and she has a daughter about my age that I haven't met yet."

"It's nice to meet you at last, Mr. Longley." With a grin she said "I was pretty much expecting a red 'S' an your front and a cape, but I can see that she wasn't far off."

"Gretchen!" Jessica protested, and broke into an embarrassed giggle.

Cliff had been prepared for Jessica's tears, but that giggle broke him up, and he was the one who cried. Jessica hugged him and sat him down at the table. When he recovered, Jessica was on her knees beside him and Gretchen had a hand on his shoulder.

With an embarrassed look at Gretchen, he said "Not much of a Superman, huh?"

"Oh, I don't know," she replied. "I'd say a super loving dad."

"It's just that ... I was robbed of that sound for all of those years."

"I promise I'll stop crying and start giggling for you, Daddy!"

It was a little harder for Gretchen to set the table when Jessica perched herself on Cliff's lap, but she did not say a word.

The meal was a perfect idea. At Julia's suggestion, Gretchen popped back in every ten minutes to see if they needed anything. That was mainly to delay the time when the more emotional subjects were addressed. Julia herself would be checking not too long after they finished dinner.

It was not that she did not want to leave father and daughter alone to talk. She just wanted to give them a little more structured 'orientation' time together before any long periods of deep discussion and remembrance.

She strongly considered letting Jessica out on 'furlough' to spend some serious time with her father. That probably would happen after two or three more visits. In fact, Julia was debating how long Jessica should stay at the Tee. There were still lots of questions that she was dealing with, but in comparison to several other residents, she was not as needy.

It was not that all of Marie's conditioning had been erased or countered, but Jessica seemed to have a good grasp of the prevailing ideas and beliefs on the subjects where Marie had tried to distort her beliefs. She was very near the point where regular counseling would be perfectly adequate to continue her improvement.

Until it was clear that Jessica could live with Cliff, though, Julia could not see letting her go. She was just not ready for completely independent living. From Julia's very first contact with Cliff, he had been more than willing - eager, even - to have Jessica at his home. Once again, timing was everything.

Julia considered Jessica a bit of a disruption at the Tee. Everyone loved her and got along well with her. She was just at one extreme of the type of problems residents came to find help for. Her perfect body was not the incentive that Shannon or Barbara Ventri or Missy or even Mary Hall provided because there was no 'before' that the others could identify with.

Since Jessica talked to everyone, over and over, they all knew what she was trying to pull herself out of. They were all rooting for her and no one wished for her to leave. Julia had to decide when Jessica would progress faster in the real world than inside.



-------

Chapter 10


[Missy] Mid July

The Farnsworths arrived at the main entrance of the Tee on Saturday morning. After considerable discussion, Andy and Andi had been chosen to be their greeters and escorts. They were clad in standard staff shorts and shirt.

"Mr. and Mrs. Farnsworth," Andi said as Andy opened the door. "Welcome to Transformations. I'm sure Missy will be happy to see you." That, of course, was a blatant lie, and both parents' expressions showed that they realized the falsehood. Nevertheless, it had been purposely scripted.

The Farnsworths were known to be abrupt and demanding. To deny them the chance for any kind of outburst, Andy moved toward the wall of regular gym lockers that was reserved for visitor use. "You can put your clothes in any of these lockers. The keys have straps for your wrists after you have disrobed."

"Disrobed!" Melanie shrieked. "What do you mean 'disrobed'?"

"You will be meeting Missy in our center section. That section is designated as totally nude." Andi explained.

"Now wait a minute!" Melanie shouted. "You can't expect us to get naked! That's ... that's ... James!!"

"You don't mean to tell me that inmates must be nude for visits with family, do you?" James asked, ignoring his wife's outrage.

"Inmates?" Andy said, putting his hands on his hips. "We do not have inmates here at Transformations. We have residents. Except in a few cases like Missy's, residents are here of their own free will and can leave whenever they choose."

"Melissa! Our daughter's name is Melissa!" Melanie insisted.

"She has asked to be called Missy here and we are happy to do that," Andi replied. "Anyway, you may undress in those restrooms if you would be more comfortable."

"Undress! We are not undressing under any circumstances! This is insulting and absolutely preposterous!" Melanie's voice had lost none of it's volume or intensity.

"We need to speak to the Director and clear up this nonsense," James declared.

"Dr. Waxman is with a patient in a hospital consultation right now, so she is not available," Andy told the irate father.

"Now listen here, young man," James said, his anger becoming obvious, "we flew all the way here to see our daughter. The court has ordered that we have access to her. You cannot impose some ridiculous conditions on us!"

"Mr. Farnsworth, we are merely your greeters. We do not make the rules here."

"Which hospital is Dr. Waxman at, then?"

"It's St. Anthony, I believe. But I doubt if you will get past the hospital staff to see her. If you did, she would tell you the same thing," Andi pointed out. The young couple was really getting into their 'ping-pong' handling of the irritating older couple.

"I assure you we will see her, and she will allow us to see Melissa in a normal setting," James declared.

"Obviously, you know nothing about Dr. Waxman or Mr. Gerald Magnuson, the main backer of Transformations." Andy was pleased to see James react to Gerald's name. "Dr. Waxman has Mr. Magnuson's complete confidence. There has never been an occasion when he has overridden one of her rules or decisions. They discuss everything thoroughly and agree beforehand." Andy decided to let that information sink in for a while.

Andi picked up the dialogue next. "The center section has been reserved for your exclusive use until noon. After that, the residents and visitors who normally use it will be back in. Reserving it is no small matter, and I don't know how long it would be until you could get its use again."

"Well, our lawyers will see that we get to see our daughter without these incredible demands," James declared. "There will be penalties for denying us access as ordered and agreed to."

"That is your right, of course. You have not been denied access. You are free to go in there where Missy is waiting. You just have to abide by our rules. Well, if we are done here, we have other work to do." Andy pointedly went to the door and held it open.

As the scowling Farnsworths were walking out, Andy fired the big gun that had been scripted. "I think you should know that Missy does not want to see or talk to you at all. Since she is the resident, Transformations will do everything possible to abide by her wishes. You are only here because the court has ordered that you be given access.

"I see that you know of Mr. Magnuson. You can imagine that he has a battery of lawyers at least equal to yours. It was decided not to fight this visit. If you leave, any further request will be contested vigorously. I think you know how long that could string things out. Missy would probably get her wish."

"Why would you want to keep us from seeing our daughter," Melanie asked, her tone almost pleading.

"Dr. Waxman is responsible for meeting the treatment objectives of the residents, and she takes that very, very seriously. She has apparently decided that it would be best for Missy to be isolated from you."

"How can you say that?" Melanie demanded.

"Mrs. Farnsworth, I am just relating what I have been told. I am not qualified or authorized to say any more. Good day, and I am sorry your trip was wasted." For dramatic effect, he closed the door quickly.

"God that was fun," Andi enthused as the lovers hugged and laughed. She started to pull Andy back toward the women's side, but he held back.

"I have a feeling," he told her. "Let's wait here for another ten minutes, at least. Can you think of any way to kill the time? Oh, let me call and let Missy know." He quickly used the phone on the wall.

Andy proved prophetic, although it was twenty minutes before they heard the insistent ring of the bell. The discussion between the husband and wife must have been borderline violent because the anger was evident on both faces as they stormed in.

They both stood there for a moment, then Melanie demanded "Well, aren't you going to leave and at least give us a little privacy?"

"No Ma'am, that's against policy," Andy told her.

"What are you - some kind of voyeur or pervert?" Melanie screamed.

"Mrs. Farnsworth, please!" Andi interjected. "We are around naked people all the time and we are naked ourselves a lot. Are you going to see Missy or not? She has gone back to the women's side, so we have to let her know?"

"Women's side?" Melanie asked, suddenly brightening. "How about if I visit her there, without James. Would I have to undress to do that?"

"Now wait a minute," James said quickly. "I'm shelling out a ridiculous amount of money to have her here instead of at some reform school. I didn't fly here just so you could see her while I cool my heels."

That launched a battle royale. Melanie accused James of wanting to ogle his naked daughter, and that did not sit well with him at all. After they had been jawing at each other for a few minutes, Andi cut loose a piercing whistle at Andy's request.

"Folks," Andy said in the ensuing silence, "When you arrived, you had a good ninety minutes of private time in there. It's now down to barely an hour."

Melanie may have been a strong, controlling woman, but James was evidently at least her equal. With a glare at his wife, he started taking off his shirt. While she was still frozen in shock, he got down to his shorts. "I'm going in there. Are you coming?" he demanded.

Now that it was a battle of wills, embarrassment and humiliation became secondary. Melanie strode into the nearby women's restroom while James looked uncertainly at Andi, then shed his last garment. It took two tries to pick up the clothes he had dropped on the floor, and Andi barely stifled a giggle. As James stuffed his things in a locker, Andy went to the phone to let Missy know that they would be in.

With a smirking eye signal from Andi, Andy positioned himself by the women's room door. When Melanie came out, he held out his hand to take her clothes, causing her to squeak and turn red. Realizing that he had gotten the upper hand on her, she handed him the clothes. That was all the resolve she had at the moment, though, and she held her purse in front of her crotch and one arm over her breasts.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Farnsworth, but you will have to leave the purse in the locker," Andy told her.

"But I might need something from it!"

"I assure you, anything you might need is in there. Missy can show you." She wanted to protest more, but Andy just held out his hand. With a noticeable sag of her shoulders, she handed over the purse and accepted the key bracelet from Andy.

-------

It had been an emotional roller coaster for Missy all morning. Not that the preceding days had been easy, but when she got the call that her parents had left in anger, and then heard that they had returned and would be coming in, she could hardly keep it all together.

She had worked extremely hard to get ready for the visit. The women on the staff and some of the older male residents had helped her with some role playing. Norma had been at her side almost constantly, coaching her on how to react. The goal had been to allow her to be relaxed, composed, and in charge of the visit, no matter what her parents said or did.

Some of the practice barbs thrown her way had been downright nasty, but as the days went by, she began to feel bullet-proof. Of course, she realized that it would be much harder when it was no longer practice, but she had never in her life enjoyed so much confidence.

Very early on the day of the visit, Missy had been awakened and taken into the little salon on the women's side. There a beautician did her hair and her face.

Footwear of any kind was not generally permitted except for on the treadmills and for medical reasons. Julia had made a special exception for Missy as soon as she knew that the visit was on. Missy had been walking around in what were essentially heeled flip flops for almost two weeks. Her fellow residents were constantly on her to walk proudly and swing her hips seductively. The heels gave a nice look to her legs and her ass.

All in all, Missy had an army behind her as she prepared for the visit, and her fellow residents were enjoying it thoroughly. On Friday, the day before the visit, Shannon Torvold had made one of her regular visits to welcome a new resident, and had spent some time encouraging Missy.

As the beautician was finishing Missy's hair, Missy asked, "Could you, uh, shave me bare ... down there?" She had seen Shannon's bare crotch and thought of the impact the sight would have on her parents. The beautician complied, and when she finished, she told Missy "Go get some breakfast, use the toilet, and come back here before you go to see them."

"Why?"

"I'm going to put some body make-up all over you. It covers a little and it almost looks like you're oiled. With that nice all-over tan you've gotten, you will be stunning."

Stunning! That was a concept Missy could hardly grasp, but it sounded wonderful. There was still extra weight, but she could almost ignore it. Little by little Julia's concept of completely flustering her parents had gotten through to her. All of the rehearsals and all of the encouragement had made her believe that she could do it.

Missy's bare crotch was definitely the hit of the breakfast table. Other than Shannon, none of the resident's had been bold enough to try that look. The compliments and the further encouragement had served to get her even more ready for the coming battle. The fact that Missy had tanned nicely before the pussy shave meant that the stark white skin of her labia really stood out.

Needless to say, Andy's call that her parents had left took a toll on her determination. But almost all of the other women, plus several staff had stayed with her, and when the second call came, they did a good job of pumping her up again.

The capper was when Norma walked up with two baggies containing ice cubes and pressed them to the gasping girl's nipples. "Let's get these sticking out and see if we can give your father a hardon." That brought laughter and applause from the whole group and sent her off as ready as she would ever be.

-------

Missy decided to try to take control as soon as her parents entered the section, so she positioned herself, standing hipshot with her arms casually at her sides, about fifteen feet from the entrance. As the door opened, she hardly saw her mother and father because Andy was behind them, shaking his hand in the universal 'too hot' signal and miming a wolf whistle. Andi was signaling thumbs up with both hands.

When both Melanie and James had managed to get through the door, Missy turned her attention to them. At first, their faces clearly showed anger. Then, she saw both of them sweep over her body with their eyes and stop at her crotch. And stay there.

While they were transfixed at their daughter's brazen display, she checked them out. Of course, James' penis was her first stop, and she thanked all of the kind men who had helped her get comfortable with male genitals. The fact that it was her father's and forbidden to her had an undeniable impact, but it in no way damaged her composure. James was rangy and rawboned, and his organ would probably be longer than average in a normal state. She had learned that nervousness could cause shrinkage, and that appeared to be James' problem at the moment. She noticed that his scrotum was quite loose and hung down a ways.

James was not at all overweight, but he had no muscle tone and his posture was poor. His joints were prominent, and his belly, while not large, looked slack over his crotch. His chest hair was dark, as was the hair on his head and crotch, but fairly sparse and not uniformly spread. Missy decided that her father, even for a fifty-year-old, was not a very appealing specimen.

Melanie had assumed the 'closed-in' posture that women sometimes use as if they could hide their exposed parts without using their hands. Melanie's disdain for exercise showed in the general slackness of every part of her. Her breasts were fairly large, but sagged rather more than Missy would have guessed. She mused that her mother's expensive clothes were essential to make that body presentable. She was just perusing Melanie's rampant pubic patch when she sensed that her mother was about to say something. She was not ready for any control attempt from either of them.

"Hello, Mother. Hello, Father. This is where I live. Let me show you around." Having said that, Missy turned and started walking away. She walked deliberately, taking small steps, and putting the maximum sway into her hips. Norma had helped her by video-taping her from behind as she walked. Missy had practiced hard to perfect the sexiest walk possible.

On her third step, she was sure she heard an intake of breath from James. She stopped, turned about a third of the way around, looked over her shoulder and asked "Are you coming?"

Melanie and James eventually started moving, and Missy began a non-stop monologue as she led the way in a circle around the area. A few times, Melanie tried to say something, but Missy ignored it and kept talking. After a complete circle that took about fifteen minutes, Missy led them to three pool lounge chairs that had been arranged with two facing one. She said "Have a seat," then sat with her legs spread on either side of the footrest. The back was fairly straight, but her labia were pulled slightly open. She had debated a long time on this pose before she had even been shaved. But after the beauty treatment this morning, she did not care what they saw.

"MELISSA!" Melanie shrieked, still standing, "THAT'S OBSCENE!"

"What obscene?" Missy responded. "Mother, this is a nude area. There are pricks and pussies around here all the time. What's the big deal?" It was bravado beyond what she really felt, but it was her first little taste of dominance, and it thrilled her.

"But ... but you're bare ... and ... couldn't you and least close your legs? ... your father... !!" Her mother, stammering. Now THAT was victory!

"Are you going to stand the whole time?"

Melanie looked helplessly at the chaise lounge, then at how Missy was spread out on hers. Then she looked at James, who was just as confused. Finally, Melanie turned the chair and sat sideways on the footrest portion, legs together and hands in her lap. James did the same. "Couldn't we sit somewhere more comfortable?" Melanie asked.

Missy thought about playing it tough, but decided that she had made her point. "Sure, let's go over there," she said, pointing to a seating group with a sofa two side chairs. She watched her father closely and detected a flash of regret as she stood. She also noticed that his penis looked a bit longer than it had before.

"I'm afraid we don't have much time," Melanie complained when they were seated on the towels that Missy insisted they use.

"What happened? Were you late getting here?" Missy asked. Her tone was innocent, but her smirk let them knew that she knew exactly what had happened. Neither parent chose to pick up the challenge. "Do you have an early flight?" Missy asked.

"No, not until tomorrow afternoon," James answered in his first words since entering. Missy was on a side chair and her parents were on the sofa. They were not sitting close together.

"You know you can stay as long as you want, don't you?" Missy teased.

"But the other people will come in." Melanie lamented. Missy just gave her a dramatic shrug.

"I guess this meeting is your idea. I know it's not mine. Was there something you wanted to say? Or to ask?"

Missy had quite clearly held the upper hand until then. She was reluctant to give them a chance to take it, but she knew she had to give them time to talk.

"Why are you exposing yourself so?" Melanie asked.

"Mother, I'm naked. Of course I'm exposed. So are you."

Melanie reflexively brought her arms in front of herself. "But you're so ... so blatant."

"Oh, you mean the pussy shave? That was a last minute thing. In here there's not much point in hiding anything."

"Don't be crude. Is that what you learn here?"

"What? Pussy? I've known that term for a long time. Actually, people here are very careful how they talk. Bodies and body parts are respected here. So, you came to talk about my body, huh? Well, that's fine because I'm proud of how it's improving." She stood and turned sideways to them, sucking in her stomach and holding both hands over it. "See how much smaller my tummy is? See how it makes my boobs stand out so much better?" She moved her hands up and bounced her breasts gently a couple of times. James had his legs crossed so she could not tell if she was causing him any arousal.

"And look at this!" she bubbled, turning her ass toward them and slapping it lightly. "I've still got some fat dimples there, but it's so much better than before. Oh, wait a minute."

Missy stepped out of her pumps and trotted across the room to where she had laid a folder of pictures. As she trotted back, she made sure to get the maximum bounce from her breasts.

"We're not allowed to wear anything on our feet here, but Dr. Waxman made a special exception. She said these emphasized how sexy my body is getting. Don't you think she was right?" She slipped back into the shoes before she handed the folder to her father. "These are my check-in pictures, and the ones behind are computer projections of how I will look when I reach my goal?"

James held the folder limply, and neither parent moved. Missy was amazed at how she had totally steamrolled them and was reluctant to give that up. She had an idea. She hated to touch either of her parents, but she reached out and grabbed her father's wrist, trying to tug him to his feet. "Come on, I want to show you what I can do."

James gave a grunt and tried to resist, but she grabbed with both hands and leaned back hard. Perhaps bowled over by her sheer exuberance, he came to his feet but turned so that she could not see his crotch. That told her exactly what she had wanted to know when she pulled him up, so she turned and walked toward the exercise area. She wanted to get him aroused for the embarrassment value but she had no desire to see the result.

As she walked away, she barely heard her mother hiss "For God's sake, James! She's your daughter!"

"Well, just look at her!" was his whispered response.

"Come on, I want to show you how strong I've gotten," Missy called from the chest press machine. She had chosen it because she had to lie on her back in the most lewd position. It took a few minutes before they walked over, and James made sure to stand behind his wife.

"Melissa, we didn't come here to..." Melanie started, only to have Missy cut her off.

"Didn't you come here to see how I was doing? Well, I'm showing you." For whatever reason, Melanie folded. "Father, how much can you lift? Want to try it?" James did not reply, but did turn very red.

Missy quickly did two more machines, then moved to the treadmill. She rummaged in the basket of sports bras until she found one in her size. "See how they think of everything? They have all sizes here so we won't damage our boobs when we jog. Usually, I have my shoes with me. I'll just use these generic ones for now. I'll only run a couple of minutes to show you how smooth my stride has gotten." Missy knew how shocking the sight of a woman in shoes and top but no bottoms could be. It was one of those cases where she looked more exposed than when she was naked.

In the two minutes Missy jogged, she checked the clock and worked out a plan. Unfortunately, she had to kill some more time. She hated to ruin her beautiful hairdo, but there didn't seem to be any choice. Displaying her body as she had been seemed to have them mesmerized, allowing her to control the whole encounter. She wanted to deliver the gut punch to them when they had no time to react because the section would be opened to everyone. She had arranged it so that almost everyone from both sides would pour in at the stroke of noon.

"You know, I hardly ever swam, but I'm really pretty good at it. Want to join me?" She knew the answer to that, so she just dove in and started the best freestyle stroke she could manage. When she got out after three laps, she made a show of rubbing herself sensually under the shower and drying off as she talked.

As she led the way back to the seating area, she noticed her mother looking rather nervously at the clock. Missy picked up the folder of pictures and sat down. As Melanie sat and looked about to speak, Missy steamrolled her again. "Now for the really big news."

"Dr. Waxman got some lawyers to check on my trust from Grandma. It's irrevocable. Nothing you or anyone can do can stop me from getting the money."

"But there are conditions," Melanie objected.

"Yup. All been checked out. A loan against the trust money has been arranged.' When my six months are up, I can live independently and not move back with you."

"WHAAT?" both parents exclaimed in unison. "Why would you do that?" James asked.

"Well, you wouldn't have to risk any more embarrassment from what I do. And I wouldn't have a shoplifting problem any more because the causes would be removed."

"What do you mean about the causes?" Melanie asked, showing some panic.

"Haven't you talked to Roberta?" Missy asked, knowing very well that they had not, except to demand a visit. "Well, I released her to tell you everything."

At that very moment there was a sound of doors opening and relaxed chatter as a dozen or so people poured through the doors from the two sections. Melanie actually made a little squeak of surprise and dismay, and James muttered "Oh, no!" They both jumped to their feet and started toward the main door.

"Why don't you just have lunch and stay a while?" Missy called after them. They did not even respond in their hurry to get out the door. The seating area was about as far from the outside door as was possible and they had to pass both of the doors from which people were entering. Missy was sure she saw a blush spreading over both of their backsides.

-------

Julia had been hugged by residents before, but she doubted any had been more heart-felt than the way she was engulfed by Missy. The girl had rushed back to the women's side as soon as her parents were out the door, her hair still wet from her brief swim. Her shoes and her pictures had been left behind.

Julia had been waiting in her on-site office, and unbeknownst to anyone, the whole encounter had been recorded. There were no less than nine cameras cleverly camouflaged around the center section and several more audio pickups. The original intent had been for security, since the risk of sexual attack or harassment could never be totally dimissed.

Only one small monitor was hidden in Julia's desk, but that was enough to follow what had gone on. Taking Missy into her office and closing the door, Julia told her "Missy, you must never tell anyone, but I watched you the whole time."

"I didn't know you could do that."

"No one is supposed to know. I hope I can trust you."

"Oh, I would never do anything to hurt you or the Tee. After what you've done for me..."

"Well, I have to say that you certainly impressed me today. Did you surprise yourself?"

"I sure did. I couldn't believe I shut them up the whole time. Why do you think they really wanted to visit?"

"I found myself wondering the same thing," Julia admitted. "They didn't try very hard to ask anything, did they?"

"I think my father was too worried about his penis growing to think of anything to ask."

"Did that please you?"

"Yeah. It was a sign that I had the upper hand," Missy bragged.

"You certainly did. Missy, I think the whole visit idea was just to demonstrate that they had some control. They couldn't stand being on the outside."

"That makes sense. Say, how did Andy and Andi ever get them to come in? I was kinda bummed after his first call." Julia replayed the scene in the front entrance area. "Missy, I was amazed at how you used your body. You've never acted sexy like that before, have you?"

"Oh, no. I've never felt sexy before. You and my friends have convinced me. When my mother saw my bare pussy, I thought she might have a heart attack. And I'm sure that's what shut my father up."

"It wasn't just that, I assure you," Julia pointed out. "His eyes hardly left your body, even when your crotch wasn't visible."

"I did a lot of thinking and worrying," Missy explained. "The visit was like a battle, and I had to figure out what weapons I had. I thought maybe the trust was one, and thank you for finding out the truth about that. I never thought this body could be one, but again, thank you for convincing me."

"I wasn't just me, was it?" Julia asked.

"No, it wasn't. You know, I kind of thought of the men's side as a bunch of losers, but there are some really nice guys there. And all of that role playing they did with me! My father really didn't have a chance. In a way, it's too bad you're shutting the men's side down."

"That wasn't an easy decision," Julia said. "We were doing some good there, but we weren't getting the spectacular results we are on this side. You're a perfect example."

"You know, Dr. Waxman, I can never look as beautiful as Barbara. After seeing my father naked, I know what my genetic limitations are. But now I believe what everyone has been saying about looking the best that my body can. I can feel good about that when I get there."

"That's wonderful, Missy. It's why I'm in this business." There was a companionable silence for a couple of minutes.

"Can we really make this work? I mean me living independently?"

"There are some obstacles, but I believe that we can pull it off. Are you sure you want to do it?"

"Of course! Why would I want to go back to that?"

"What if it wasn't like before? What if they changed?"

"Dr. Waxman, let's be realistic. I don't even have any fond memories I would like to go back to, except for Ricky. They have never been any other way."

"The problem is your age. Unless you have someone to live with, there could be legal problems. I don't suppose your parents would agree, would they?"

"Hah!" Missy snorted, "of course not. They wouldn't give away their Mercedes, would they? Even with the embarrassment I caused, I'm still their possession."

"I noticed it was always 'Mother' or 'Father', never 'Mom' or 'Dad'," Julia observed.

"To me, 'Mom' and 'Dad' are terms of affection. Parents earn those names and mine haven't. 'Father' and 'Mother' just acknowledge biological contributions."

"Hmmmm. Very astute," Julia said. "You do have a way with words, you know."

"I love words. I've always wanted to write, but that's not a worthwhile activity for a girl with my bloodlines," Missy said with all of the sarcasm she could muster."

"What if we try to get you free and fail, Missy? Will it destroy you?"

"Right now it probably would, but I have four more months to get ready. I can see how my confidence could build. When I leave, it will only be fifteen months until I am eighteen. The court would have nothing to say about that, would they?"

"You're right. What do you think you could do to make home survivable?"

Missy giggled a moment, then with a big grin said "First of all, I would go around just like this, all of the time. Now that I know how it puts them off balance, I would use it."

"What about the servants?"

"They are all my friends, Max and Leta especially. I have gone to them crying more times than I can count. It would be hard at first, but they would help me. The others..." Missy finished the thought with a dramatic shrug.

For the first time, Julia had the feeling that her unique patient was going to be all right. She wished for the girl that she could find a place to live where there was love and respect, but even without it, Missy would not be destroyed.

"Missy, here's something for you to think about. When we shut down the men's section, we're going to open Lindsey's Place. Let me explain." Julia told Missy the current thinking about the group home. By the time she finished, Missy was almost bouncing in her chair.

"Oh, could I get in there? That would be so perfect! Maybe the loan against my trust would cover it. Could I go to a regular public school? Dr. Waxman, please, please see if you can work that out!"

-------

Melanie swore as the key on her wrist failed to open her locker. James was having no more luck with his. She had just started a rant about the management purposely trying to humiliate them when James tried his key in her locker and it worked. With access to their clothing, both dressed almost in a panic.

During the angry march to the rental car and the drive back to their hotel, not a word was said. As soon as they got into their room, James picked up the phone and called their lawyer. He had started to say that he wanted to file suit against Transformations when Melanie broke his connection.

"We had better do some planning first," she warned.

"Planning? I'm going to shut that place down! They can't get by with treating us like that!" he fumed.

"It couldn't have been that bad. You never took your eyes off of her, especially her privates," Melanie accused. "Do you know that we never asked her a single question?"

"Could you believe what she said about living independently? Could she really do that?" James asked.

"Well, the trust is pretty solid. We knew we couldn't go on fooling her forever about that," Melanie answered. "I have a feeling they have access to some pretty high-powered lawyers. We need to think before we start a legal battle. Remember how carefully you checked them out beforehand?" That put James into a thoughtful mode.

"Damn! I wish we could could have at least asked her some questions," James fumed. "It seems like this is a wasted trip."

"She said we could come back," Melanie pointed out.

"With all of those naked people around? You'd do that?" James demanded.

"It just seems like we have lost control of her," Melanie complained. "I hate to just walk away and give her up."

"So you're really thinking about going back? I don't want any part of that," he stated.

"Then I'm going," Melanie declared.

"You're really going to strip again with all of those men around?"

"No, I'm going to visit her on the women's side as long as you don't want to go."

"That's not fair," James said, sounding almost petulant. Melanie just shrugged and picked up the phone. When the lawyer answered again, Melanie explained what had happened and ordered him to get her back in to see her daughter.

-------

"Missy, Julia's on the phone and needs to talk to you," Andi told Missy a couple of hours after her parents had left.

"Missy," Julia said when the girl picked up the phone, "Your mother wants to come back and see you on the women's side. Will you do it?"

"I sure don't want to. Can't you just tell them it's both of them over there or nothing?"

"Yes, certainly I could. I don't want to push you into anything, but I think it might be wise to give a little here. I have a feeling they may be considering a lawsuit, and this would weaken their case considerably."

"Shit!"

"I can understand your feelings, Honey," Julia said using the unaccustomed affectionate term. "You got yourself all cranked up for the big showdown, you won, and you thought that was it. But they are your parents and you will never be completely free of them. I think you can handle her, don't you?"

"You're pretty much asking me to see her, aren't you?"

"Yes, I am. And it's not just for legal reasons, either. I think it would help your confidence a lot. Everyone there will help you, you know."

"OK, bring her on!"

-------

"Welcome back, Mrs. Farnsworth," Andy said as he opened the door for her. His polite greeting was met with a stony glare. "Guests are required to wear a standard uniform much like mine. In the cupboard in the women's room there are stacks of shorts and shirts in all sizes. When you have changed you can put your clothes in a locker again. I will wait here and show you in."

Melanie was aghast that she would have to wear the ridiculously brief and common outfit and was about to show her indignation. However, she remembered what had happened that morning and had the strong impression that her complaints and demands would be fruitless.

The same young man had seen her naked that morning and she searched his face for some sign of a smirk or of gloating. All she saw was politeness and a little mirth. Could he be laughing at her?

When Melanie had finished changing, touched up her face and hair, and stowed her clothes and purse, Andy punched the code into the door and held it open for her.

"Wh ... where are you going?" Melanie demanded as Andy stepped in behind her.

"I work here, Mrs. Farnsworth. You knew there was male staff when you sent Missy here, didn't you?" Of course she knew - how could she forget. The humiliation for their terribly shy daughter was supposed to be a big part of the punishment. She and James had laughed over how terrible it would be for the girl. What had gone wrong?

Melanie tried to keep her gaze from wandering all over as Andy led her to the exercise area where Missy was currently working out. It was almost impossible not to stare. There must have been twenty naked women of all ages and sizes. Several smiled and waved at Andy as if their nudity meant nothing at all. How could they? Melanie had no way of knowing about the hurried choreographing that had gone on since Missy agreed to see her mother again.

Andy and Melanie waited while Missy finished the set she was doing. "Hello again, Mother. Thanks, Andy." As she said this, Missy put her hands on Andy's shoulders and kissed him on the cheek. "I'm going over to the showers, Mother, come on along. Oh, Andy, see if you can find someone for a massage, would you?"

Missy sauntered off toward the nearby shower, exaggerating the sway of her hips. After a few steps, she twisted around enough to throw Andy a little wave and a sexy smile with an extra wiggle of her ass. Melanie saw all of this, just as she was supposed to.

Standing just outside of splash range as Missy showered, Melanie looked disturbed and asked "Melissa, are you and that young man ... is there something going on between you two?"

"Andy?" Missy asked, then laughed gaily. "I should be so lucky! He's a super nice guy. No, Andy and Andi are so in love it makes me cry just to see them together. Besides, these guys are all so professional. They would never let anything happen with a resident."

As she was drying off, Missy looked up and a big smile took over her face. "Terry! I didn't know you were here today! Are you going to massage me? Oh, Goody! Mother, this is Terry Torvold. Terry, my mother."

Terry said "Hello, Mrs. Farnsworth," but she heard him as if he was speaking from a distance. She just managed to keep her jaw closed at the sight of the incredibly built young man facing her. A nod was all she could manage in acknowledgment.

Melanie somehow found herself seated in a chair next to an elaborate table where her daughter had enthusiastically stretched out naked on her stomach before the young Greek God. When Terry's hands began moving over Missy's back, Melanie felt a shiver run through her.

"Was there something you wanted to talk about, Mother, or did you just want to see more of the Tee?"

"I ... I wanted to talk, but in private."

"Private? Mother, not much is private around here. I mean, Terry can even see my asshole when he massages my bottom. How private is that?" That shot had occurred to Missy on the spur of the moment, and she was delighted at the sharp gasp from her mother.

"Your ... your bottom? Melissa, he shouldn't touch..."

"Mother, he will only touch me where I want him to. If he wasn't so in love with Trish, I'd ask him to touch me even more places," she added with a giggle.

"Missy! You're giving your mother the wrong idea."

"Sorry, Terry. You're right. What did you want to ask, Mother. There really are no secrets here. Everyone knows everything."

"E ... everything?" Until today, Melanie Farnsworth could not recall ever stammering. Now, it seemed to be a habit.

"Pretty much."

"You didn't mean it about living somewhere else, did you?"

"I certainly did. Especially after I found out that you lied to me about my trust. Hmmmmmm!" Missy made the little moan as Terry squeezed her ass cheeks. Melanie was completely frozen as she watched.

Terry and Missy had rehearsed this act briefly before Melanie arrived. Missy had been so successful at keeping her parents totally off balance this morning that she wanted to keep it up.

Terry stepped back and quickly stripped off his shirt. "I think the heat is set a little too high today," he complained. Melanie's already overloaded senses were strained even farther when she saw the bared muscles rippling all over Terry's torso.

"We didn't think you needed all of the details until you got older," Melanie was finally able to say."

"Details? You didn't hold back details. You lied about the key points," Missy accused, still keeping her tone of voice neutral. "Why did you do that?"

"You would have been told when you were old enough," Melanie insisted.

Missy decided it was time to increase the pressure so she turned over onto her back. Melanie gave a little squeak of surprise and blurted out "Melissa! How can you?"

"Mother, how many times to I have to tell you? We're all naked here. Terry knows about every little part of every woman here, don't you Terry? He's like a doctor."

"Hey, Missy, are you trying to steal my man?" a mock angry Trish demanded as she came up beside the table and stood with her hands on her hips. More choreography. "You show him that bare pussy and you've already got him half undressed. What am I going to do with him?" Trish moved behind Terry, reached both arms around him, and tweaked his nipples. "Maybe I'd better put rings through these so I can keep you under control, huh, Stud?" With that, all three teens laughed.

"Mrs. Farnsworth, I'm Trish. And I know Missy isn't trying to steal Terry from me. Doesn't she look good, though? I can't wait to see her when she hits her goal. Don't you say a word, Stud!" Trish delivered a slap to Terry's bottom as she said it.

The teens' behavior would ordinarily have brought some discipline for being inappropriate. Julia, however, had decided that a barrage of suggestive talk and behavior was the best weapon that Missy had, and made an exception. She even made a few suggestions on how to crank things up.

Missy got off of the table and said "Mother, I could talk Terry into giving you a massage. You won't believe how could it feels."

"Oh, no. I couldn't..."

"You can keep your clothes on and stay on your stomach. He won't go below your waist, I promise."

"No, Melissa, that wouldn't be..." Once again, Missy had suppressed her aversion to physical contact with her parents and had pulled Melanie to her feet. The woman was just not in enough control of her faculties to resist, and within moments, she was lying on the table and Terry was kneading her neck and shoulders.

Melanie had regular massages at the spa she frequented, so this was nothing new for her. The problem was the mostly naked hunk who was touching her and the generally titillating atmosphere that had developed. She really was tense from the day's happenings, and the hunk knew exactly what he was doing.

"Mrs. Farnsworth, if I could raise your shirt and massage your skin, it would feel even better." Terry could tell that the woman had relaxed deeply as he worked. When she did not respond, he lifted her shirt and continued his ministrations. At the spa, Melanie was used to receiving her massage with just a towel over her bottom, so this was not a major jolt. Except that it was pretty much out in the open with a lot of people around. But those hands!

After the massage, it was as if Missy had her mother on a leash. She led her around to meet the other residents who had been willing to be seen. Whenever a female visitor was to come in, all of the residents were asked first, and they could choose to stay in their rooms or go to the center section if they did not want to be seen by an outsider.

After meeting many people and watching without comprehension as Missy sat at a computer and showed her academic progress, Melanie was taken to the dining area for a surprisingly tasty meal. Every time she thought she would try to talk to her daughter, something else would throw her off balance. The most disconcerting thing of all was how everyone else in the place treated Missy. The smiles, the occasional hugs, the little jokes - all of them showed that her daughter was well-liked here, and that she liked the other people.

That just could not be, in Melanie's eyes. Melissa was shy, sullen, and reclusive. She had been all of her life. No one could change that quickly. The problem was the evidence before her eyes.

Part way through the meal, a stunning, voluptuous redhead about Melanie's age had quietly taken a seat at another table. After the meal, the redhead had come up to Melanie. "Mrs. Farnsworth, I'm Julia Waxman, the director of Transformations. Could I tear you away from your daughter long enough for a little chat?"

'She certainly could', thought Melanie. 'I've been wanting a shot at that bitch!'

As she sat in Julia's on-site office, Melanie had to work hard to generate the anger that she needed to handle her opponent. That was how she thought of Julia, now that she was feeling more her normal self. The problem was that even in similar attire to Melanie's the bitch was just ... imposing.

"Dr. Waxman, my husband and I were humiliated and infuriated by having to disrobe just to see our daughter this morning. And in front of that young couple! We will be filing a suit over your unconscionable treatment of us. We were here with the protection of the court, and you abused us."

Julia had to decide whether to try and mollify the woman or be combative. With Melanie Farnsworth in her normal state, it was an easy decision. "Go for it, Mrs. Farnsworth. I think you will find our legal resources to be first class. Your attorneys will find that we have a strong body of previous opinion supporting our policies and our actions."

The thrown gauntlet did not deter Melanie in the least. This was now a familiar contest for her. "We will also be filing an 'alienation of affection' suit for your efforts at persuading Melissa to leave home."

"You can certainly do that, Mrs. Farnsworth. Missy has authorized her therapist to divulge everything in court. It will come out that there was no affection to be alienated. All of your abusive actions will also be disclosed. Your filing suit will save Missy having to petition for emancipation."

"Abuse? Emancipation? What are you talking about?" As had been happening all day, Melanie again found herself completely off balance.

"I take it you have not talked to Missy's therapist," Julia observed.

"She is no longer Melissa's therapist. We dismissed her," Melanie informed Julia.

"Nevertheless, she was the therapist of record and her findings will be the relevant testimony when this goes to court. Mrs. Farnsworth, I am saddened that your only thought seems to be revenge. You seem unconcerned about anything to do with your daughter, except that she seems to be slipping from your control. I feel badly that Missy will have to suffer through some nasty legal battles. You should know that she will be on opposite sides from you in all of them."

"But she is our daughter! We sent her here! We are doing this for her!"

"I wish I could believe that, Mrs. Farnsworth. In Missy's view, nothing you have ever done has been just for her."

"I'm taking Melissa out of here, right now!" Melanie said, jumping to her feet.

"It would take a court order to remove her, I'm afraid."

"Then we will get a court order. I will not tolerate any more of the brain-washing you have done to her!'

"So you would rather have her finish her sentence in reform school?" Julia asked. Unable to respond to that, Melanie stormed out of the office and left the section, not even bothering to say goodbye to her daughter.

-------

[Missy] Late July

"Ricky, can you come see me again? Please!" Missy begged within minutes after her mother had stormed out.

"I'd love to, Sis. But I can't this weekend. Can you hold out until the next one?"

"I guess I'll have to," Missy pouted. "But I'm ready to spend the whole day naked. Are you?" He could hear the giggle in her voice. 'Eight more days', Missy said to herself. 'Wonder if I can drop five more pounds? I'm gonna get a fresh shave for him, too!'

-------

The next week seemed to be nothing but round after round of lawyers' visits for the Farnsworths. They had four different actions written up against Transformations and Dr. Waxman. They had tried to push the first one through quickly, the court order to remove Missy from the Tee. That ran afoul of the juvenile case worker who had actually taken the time to check on Missy's progress, and was very impressed. Without her backing, the removal order would go nowhere. James now had to shift to attacking the caseworker, costing more time and money.

The thought of losing her daughter permanently had Melanie in a state of constant fury. It was not sadness; not regret; just anger. She had still harbored some hope of 'finishing' Melissa - preparing her for her coming out party and finding a suitable husband for her. Seeing how much better the girl looked had revived her hopes of accomplishing the socially required goals. But now, the ungrateful wench was threatening to move out permanently. Every lawyer they had talked to so far had opined that Melissa could indeed leave them if a few criteria were met, the biggest being financial. No shyster had yet given them any hope of blocking the trust.

Within hours of the denial of access suit and the alienation of affection suit, they received notice of counter suits. One was from Transformations for frivolous and malicious litigation. The other was from Missy for consistent and extended emotional abuse. The prospect of any of them being resolved before Missy's six months were up was practically nil. It was a legal standoff.

The topper came when Melanie placed her regular weekly call to her son, asking him if he could come home in two weeks. Richard debated whether to reveal the truth and decided he had wimped out on his sister too often before.

"I can't, Mother. I'm going to visit Missy."

"What? You can't go in there! She's naked! It isn't right!"

"I've already been there once. What's the big deal?"

"How did you get permission? It took us weeks to get in," Melanie complained.

"What permission? Missy asked me to come." That just about knocked the legs from under Melanie. She had heard several times that her daughter did not want to see them, but had refused to believe it. Her son had given her proof that it was true. She had to change the subject.

"So, you saw her in that naked section?" At his 'yes', she asked "and you were naked with her?"

"Of course." He saw no reason to break Dr. Waxman's trust and reveal that it had not been required of him.

"Were all of those other people around?"

This was a little trickier, and he hoped he was not compromising anything. "No, we got a little reserved time in the very early morning (a lie). Missy wasn't comfortable being naked with the whole group yet."

Melanie now had two very serious problems. Her son had now aligned himself with their daughter, which meant he was against his mother and father, in Melanie's thinking. The second problem was more basic. As soon as Richard had said that he was naked with Melissa, she was beset by visions of her naked son. Since she had not seen him as an adult in less than a swimsuit, the image of his genitals was frustratingly imprecise.

The call ended rather abruptly after that, and Melanie headed straight for the liquor cabinet.

-------

Andi met Richard at the door and once the introductiona were over, she kissed him on the cheek. When he gave her a questioning look, she said "You're all Missy's got, except for us. Thank you for being here for her."

"Well it sounds like she has made some wonderful friends here, too," he replied.

"Since we're pretty much on normal rules today, Ricky, I'll have to ask you undress before you go in. You can us the men's room there. You'll find a robe if you want to wear it while you stow your clothes."

"I guess that would be pretty chicken, wouldn't it," he cracked. "I can just undress here, I guess. Then we can talk."

"Oh, I'd like to talk a lot more later when I come in there with you."

"You won't be coming in now?"

"It's, uh ... we're under normal rules, but everyone agreed to give you two about twenty minutes alone first."

"See what I mean about great friends," Richard said, obviously moved. "I see your ring. Your husband doesn't mind you working here?"

With a giggle, Andi replied "Ask him when he comes in with me."

"Oh."

"So just anyone can come in and visit as long as they strip?"

"Oh, no! All of the residents who use this section have to approve. You passed unanimously. Not too many do."

"Well thank you. Guess I'm ready."

-------

"Holy shit, Sis!"

"Heh, heh! You should have seen Mother's and Father's reactions!"

"You met them like that! You are something else, little sister. Is that, uh, the style here? I mean the, uh, shaved crotch?"

"I have the only bare pussy among the residents. I did it on the spur of the moment the day of their visit. I think it helped me keep control. Enough of this!" With that, she rushed to him and smothered him in a hug.

"Uh, Missy. Uh, this is too much for ... I mean I'm having trouble..."

"That's why I wanted a few minutes alone. I had to see if I could get a reaction. Why don't you take care of it over in that men's room. Some of the other women, especially the staff, may give you some trouble, too."

With an embarrassed groan, Richard did as she had suggested, and was back in about five minutes, blushing brightly. "Should have, uh, thought of that before I came over. Not sure it would have made any difference once I saw you, though."

"If you don't stop that, I'll lay another hug on you," she warned with a giggle.

Missy had been allowed to use the heels again to greet her brother. She stood back from him and turned slowly around. "Look a little different than last time?" She asked.

"I'll say!"

"I'm a ways from that six-pack, still," she said as she squeezed handfuls of the still-loose flesh on her stomach, "but I will get there."

"In that case, I'd better not visit again until you can dress. Too many un-brotherly thoughts." That earned him a decidedly un-sisterly hug and kiss. He was barely under control again when the doors opened and a long round of introductions started.

The day was idyllic. Brother and sister talked, swam, frolicked, and napped on the lounge chairs. He watched while she worked out and he tried the massage again. With Missy sitting and holding his hand, he listened to the stories of at least a dozen residents and staff.

After supper, Julia came into the section in standard garb. "Boss's privilege," she told Richard as she introduced herself and indicated her clothes. "Would you and Missy join me in the up-front office, please? You can grab a robe in the entry men's room."

"I'm here for Missy. I'll be OK as long as you don't mind." He was really enjoying the little rewards from her.

"That attitude is why I am going to break a whole lot of rules and maybe some laws and show you two something."

In the office, she popped a DVD into a large-screened computer. "I had Mark put this together from the different cameras. You'll see two different views of the same thing in a few places where it's, uh, interesting."

For the next hour, they watched Missy's visit with their parents. "Damn!" Richard said when the naked parents had just entered the section. "I want to look a lot better than that when I'm pushing fifty. I can't believe Mother. She must spend hours a day making that look..." and he wave his hand at her unappealing image on the screen, " ... look like she usually does."

"Too bad she doesn't spend some of that time working out," Missy opined. "Him, too. The rest of him looks as limp as his dick."

The rest of the viewing was peppered with a variety of comments, questions, and discussion. At the end, Julia said "I assume I don't have to re-emphasize discretion here. This DVD will now be destroyed."

"No problem. You've just destroyed any teenaged fantasies I might have had about my mother. Of course, my problem now is my sexy sister." Forgetting all about Julia, Missy really attacked him after that comment.

"You see, Missy. We have not been lying to you," Julia said.



-------

Chapter 11


Walter had been taking care of the Charles' pool for as long as Faith could remember. Although Mercedes frowned on it, Faith had always enjoyed chatting with him while he worked. Walter was a story-teller, and he was able to hold her spellbound, even now that she was in college. For his part, he welcomed her attention, always amazed that a bitch like Mercedes could give birth to such a genuinely sweet person as Faith.

Mercedes literally did not notice the presence of Walter or the numerous other maintenance people who serviced the estate regularly. She only noticed Walter when Faith was chatting with him.

By late July, Faith's condition had deteriorated to the point where she stayed in her bed many days. Mercedes was having brunch on the patio not far from the pool with her closest friend and confidante.

"I don't know what I'm going to do with her, Milly. I always thought it was just in her head and I could talk her out of it. She can't be doing this just to get back at me, can she?"

"Get back at you for what?" Milly asked.

"Oh, I thought I told you. I arranged for his scholarship to be canceled. He's dirt poor, so he would have to leave."

"No, you never told me that. So, Faith knows that you arranged for it to be canceled?" Walter could just barely hear the conversation, but he immediately began doing the least he could to still look busy while straining to hear what the women were saying.

"The cancellation was never even announced. The kid just decided to leave. The cancellation letter should go out this week."

"But that would leave him without a school in September," Milly pointed out.

"Mmm, Hmm."

"And you were going to do that to him just to keep him away from Faith?"

"Well, that, and he turned me down," Mercedes admitted.

"He's that gorgeous artist's model and he turned you down? No wonder you were pissed!"

"I was irritated when he just up and left, but at least he's away from Faith."

"But now Faith is seriously ill, isn't she?"

"Max and I have been fighting about it for a week now. I want to have her committed, but he's fighting me. I'm afraid she's headed for a complete breakdown."

Walter purposely did some very noisy tasks at that point, hoping the women would assume that he had been shielded from them by the noise all along. He was very troubled by what he had heard. He had not met Dale, but there was no question that Faith was head over heels in love with him.

When he had opened the pool in the spring, Faith had come out and chatted with him in a swimsuit, looking almost like a normal, attractive girl. Now, she was back to literally skin and bones, and it saddened him just to see her. Beyond sadness, though, he felt burning anger at a mother who could do such things to her daughter. He had to do something about it.

The Charles' contract was important to Walter's business, but he was ready to walk away from it because of Mercedes' treatment of Faith. He knew, though, that he would soon be totally out of business because Mercedes would blacklist him. Somehow, though, he had to do something. Seeing that sweet girl sent to a funny farm was more than he could tolerate. When it was all because of her bitch of a mother's manipulations, it became even more unthinkable.

One of Walter's pool clients was Caroline. When he heard talk of Faith being committed, it made him think of the psychiatrist. Hurrying to finish the Charles' pool, he drove to a supermarket a half mile away and parked in the lot. There, he used whatever scraps of paper he could find in his truck to write down what he had heard. He had been replaying it in his mind over and over to make sure he got it right.

When he finished writing, he called 411 from his truck and got the number for Caroline's office. He managed to wangle the address from the admin assistant and he drove straight there.

Caroline's admin was very good, and as usual for such a position, protecting the boss's time was one of her main tasks. When Walter arrived, Caroline was still with a patient and the admin told him he would have to wait, but that there was another patient scheduled immediately.

"Maybe this is better," Walter said. "You don't know me, do you?" At the negative head shake, he went on "This concerns Faith Charles and her boyfriend Dale. It's serious. I heard this myself and I wrote it all down as soon as I could. I'm sure it's very accurate. Would you please retype this and give it to the doctor? Give it to her right away. I'm sure she will want to know. Don't tell her who gave it to you. I think that's better for all of us." With that, he was out the door.

That had to be the strangest encounter the admin could remember, but she had to believe the man. He looked genuinely troubled. As quickly as she could, the admin transcribed the man's scribblings into her word processor and printed them out. She also transcribed the complete conversation with the man to the best of her recollection.

Caroline always stepped into the admin's area for a moment between patients. Keeping in the spirit of Walter's concern for secrecy, she told Caroline "This was given to me on scraps of paper by a stranger who wanted to be anonymous. The stranger claims to have heard this just before coming here. They thought you would want to see it right away."

"Man or woman?" Caroline asked. The admin just shook her head and grinned. After spending barely a minute scanning the printout, Caroline said "Go in there and tell my next patient I was just summoned to an emergency. Call the rest of this afternoon's list and reschedule them."

With that, Caroline went immediately to her phone and began dialing Transformations before she even sat down. It was Paul who answered. "Hello, Paul. Do you remember me, Caroline? I'm the psychiatrist who visited a few months ago."

When Paul said he remembered and greeted her, she launched right into the tale of Faith and her problems. "This may sound silly, considering how rich her parents are, but is there any scholarship money of any kind available. Faith will have to totally cut off relations with her mother to have any hope of recovery. That means that she herself is penniless."

"Caroline, did you know about our employee scholarship program? Each employee is entitled to have one other person admitted for free. From talking to Dale, I am certain he would give that to Faith without a second thought."

"Oh, that's wonderful! I need to talk to Julia Waxman to make sure there is room for Faith."

"I know Julia very well, Caroline. There is no way she would turn down someone like Faith. There is space, and I can take care of it. When can she be here?"

"Well, I haven't gotten that far, yet. I don't think she knows anything about Transformations. Unfortunately, there is no time to convince her, either. Her mother could send her away at any moment."

"So, she doesn't know about the nudity or anything?" Paul asked.

"No. Nothing."

"Tell you what," Paul said, thinking on his feet. I will arrange for Gerald's plane to pick her up. You just tell me which airport and when she can be there. I will have Dale and a couple of women on the plane to greet her and explain everything."

"You can do that? That quickly?"

"Absolutely."

"Well, I have to arrange some steps to protect myself and other people at this end. There is only one airport here. How long do you think it will take to get the plane here?"

"Best case, three hours," Paul answered. "Call me every hour on my cell, and we will make whatever changes we have to as we go along."

Next came the difficult call. Caroline had given both Dale and Faith Trac phones with several thousand minutes on them. Both had them at hand constantly, and Faith was as secretive about hers as she could be.

"Faith, this is Caroline. Don't say anything. If you can't talk right now, just say how many minutes until you can, then hang up." There was silence, so Caroline asked "Are you alone and can you listen for a while?"

"Yes."

"Good. There's no easy way to say this, Faith. I think you are going to have to just run away from home. Right now." When Faith gasped, Caroline hurried on. "Someone heard a conversation this morning between your mother and a friend. Your mother wants to have you committed. Your father is against it, but she thinks she can go around him. I have arranged for you to go the place where Dale is working. Will you go? Right now?"

"Where Dale is? But I have to pack? I have to make some arrangements."

"No, Faith. If you trust me, I want you to call a cab and have him drop you in front of the Student Union."

"Can't I take my car?"

"No. You will not be coming back for a long time. Have this phone with you, but leave your other one behind. Someone will pick you up at the Union and take you to the airport. Dale will be on the plane that picks you up."

"Oh, I don't know. I don't feel very good, and..."

"Faith, I believe that if you don't go now, you will have no control over what happens to you. Dale loves you. He will not let anything bad happen to you."

When Faith was still silent, Caroline played the big card. "The person overheard something else from your mother. She had made them cancel Dale's scholarship."

"And he didn't tell me?"

"He was not supposed to know. If your mother found out that he knew, Catherine would probably lose her job. Now, you have to leave before you even talk to your mother. If you give away what you know, other people will be hurt."

"Shouldn't I bring anything?"

"Just your purse, cab fare, and that phone. Don't forget that phone. Oh, if you have your laptop, it would look right going to campus. Um, I guess if you have cards for accounts where you are the only signer, you should bring them."

Faith was frightened, very frightened. She did not feel good, and the increased stress made things even worse. Could she really just leave everything she knew behind and walk away. She looked around her lovely bedroom suite, noticing in a new way the decor and the appointments. As she looked, though, she thought of Dale. Did any of this stuff really matter if she couldn't have Dale?

Maybe she was not in any condition to make such a decision, but she let her heart decide for her. Somehow, if she was with Dale, everything would be all right. She would feel good again. She could gain weight again and look like a normal girl. It did not take long before leaving was the only way that she could see a future for herself.

Fortunately, Mercedes was gone for the afternoon. Faith called a cab and waited on pins and needles until it arrived. She had to restrain herself from running out the door.

-------

Paul came hurrying out of his office, looking for Dale. "Get ready for a plane ride," Paul said. "You're going to pick up Faith. I'm going to get Michelle to go along and Norma, too. I think Lindsey is here today, and I'll bet she'll go."

"Is she coming here? To the Tee?"

"That's the plan. I'm putting her on your employee comp scholarship. She doesn't know about the nudity, though."

Paul had made no effort to be secretive, and it probably would have done no good, anyway. In that closed environment, news traveled instantaneously, and because everyone knew about Faith, this was big, big news.

Missy heard very quickly and went looking for Mark. "Get your video camera," she told him. Few people could resist Missy's newfound enthusiasm, so he complied. Missy led him to a spot where the whole of the section was in the background, then told him to start shooting. She reeled off a plea to Faith, urging her to come.

Almost everyone else had gathered round, and one other woman insisted on sending a message, while a few others wanted to conduct a video tour of the place.

"What are we going to do with this?" Mark asked. "This can't go out of the building."

"Get it on VCR, Mark," Paul said. "I'm sending it with your mom on the plane. I'll take responsibility. We have a very ill, frightened girl who doesn't know what she's getting into. Missy, your idea is brilliant!"

Mark did just that, editing and rearranging things a little in the process. The tape was ready to go when the group headed for the airport.

-------

Everything went off with military precision. At Caroline's instructions, Faith went into the Union where she would have to kill some time. She did not feel like eating - she never did any more. Caroline was adamant, though, and Faith reluctantly bought a hamburger and some orange juice. Caroline had to talk her through eating what she had bought, but she did feel a little stronger and more alert afterwards.

Again at Caroline's instruction, Faith found one of the isolated areas of the Union and set up her laptop as if she was studying. There was no way for Faith to know that Caroline had arrived at the Union, but stayed out of sight.

It had been a risk having Faith wait that long in a public place, but Caroline was concerned that Mercedes could have the girl sent away at any moment. It turned out that Faith only had to wait twenty minutes more after finishing her food before Caroline told her to go to the street and what car to look for.

Caroline had arranged for a female operative from a reputable security firm to pick up Faith. The woman was disguised and drove a nondescript sedan. After a discussion with Paul, Caroline had agreed to have Faith driven to a small airport in a different city. They had timed it out and Faith had to wait in the car only about fifteen minutes before Magnuson's jet arrived.

The reunion with Dale on the plane was emotional. Faith was so weak and so disoriented that Dale broke up as they hugged. "I'm so sorry, Honey. I should never have left. I didn't think this would happen to you, I..."

"You couldn't stay. I know what Mother did," she said weakly. The strain was catching up with her and she sagged into a seat as the plane began to taxi. Lindsey and Norma were on the plane, but Faith had not noticed them, such was her mental state. They decided to just wait until she was more alert.

Michelle had come along, as well, and she wore her nurse's uniform. When she gave Faith some pills, the girl did not object. She had more trouble with a special shake that Yvonne had hurriedly put together for her, but she managed to drink it down.

Faith was in a near-sleep condition all through the takeoff. It was a good twenty minutes before she became alert enough to notice Norma and Lindsey. When Dale did the introductions, Faith said "Oh, your name is the same as the country singer, isn't it."

"Honey, Lindsey IS the country singer," Dale explained.

"Really!" That seemed to energize Faith quite a bit. "But why..."

"I volunteer at Transformations, the place you're going to be staying. Norma and I will be right with you for the first few days until you get comfortable."

"Comfortable? Why? Is it like an asylum or something?" That was Dale's signal. They had arranged beforehand for him to visit the cockpit while the women told Faith about the nudity.

"N ... n ... naked? But you said Dale worked there. Is there a men's place, too?" Faith asked when told that she would be naked for her entire stay.

"There is no men's side. Dale, my fiance Mark, and several other guys work on the women's side," Lindsey said gently.

Faith's eyes and her mouth were all opened wide and her gaze darted from one woman to another as she looked for some indication that they were joking.

"Faith, I will tell you that the people at Transformations are the nicest, most caring that you will find anywhere. Only super-nice guys like Dale are hired. Dale has been working with about twenty naked women for almost two months, now. You know what? It's a good thing he loves you so much. Every one of those women would marry him in a heartbeat if they could. You have yourself a real prize there, girl."

Faith must have heard, but her mind was on the big problem. "But he'll ... he'll see me. I can't let him see me like this! I don't want anyone to see me naked like this!"

Now it was Norma's turn. "This is what we have worked out, Faith. You need to get completely away from your mother. It would be best if she doesn't even know where you are. At Transformations, your presence can be completely secret. We're even arranging for Dale and his mother to stay right there. We're sure that your mother will send out detectives to try to find you, and they will look for Dale, first.

"Dale will stay at Transformations and not even leave until your twenty-first birthday in November. That will give you time to gain your weight back and build up your strength. When you are twenty-one, you can tell your mother to leave you alone and even get a court order if you need to.

"Actually, you could do that right now. You're pretty weak, though, and battling your mother would be hard on you. When you are no longer a minor, there will be nothing that your mother can do.

"Did you know that they are talking about hiring Caroline to work at Transformations as the second psychiatrist? Do you like her?"

"Oh, yes. She's really nice."

"That should tell you what kind of people you will be working with. I want to show you something very special. This is a video tape that we shot just before we left for the airport. Transformations, or 'the Tee' as we call it, is extremely careful about the privacy of the residents. The women you will see on the tape told us they wanted you to see this to convince you that it will be a great place for you. Our Director does not know that this tape exists, and we will erase it once you see it."

Norma put the tape in the on-board VCR. As soon as she hit 'play', Faith gasped "That's you two! But you're ... you're!"

"We're naked, yes. We will be that way with you for the first day or two. By that time, you will be much more comfortable."

"Two days? I could never get comfortable like that in two years!" Faith exclaimed.

"Shhh! Listen," Lindsey urged her.

A naked, overweight fortyish woman came on the screen. "Hello Faith. I really hope you come to live here. This place is awesome. If you're half as wonderful as Dale says you are, I'm sure we'll all be great friends. Oh, and if you don't show up, I'm taking Dale home with me when I leave here." That was punctuated with a giggle. "Don't you miss his great massages? I don't know how I'll ever live without them.

"Seriously, all the guys are great. Is it hard having them see my bare ass and my boobs and my belly and my pussy? Well, the first day, I thought I would die, but you know what? It feels good having someone look at this fat body and not make a face or say something nasty. They all care about me as a person and it shows. Of course you know that if Dale is your boyfriend. They're all a lot like him."

A tall girl younger than Faith came on next, and Faith gasped. "She doesn't have any hair on her ... down there. Everything shows. Norma had quickly stopped the tape. "There's a good reason for that, but we'll let her tell you about it," Lindsey said. "No one else has done that. Watch what she says."

"I got sent here as punishment for shoplifting. I think you and I have a lot to talk about, Faith. I stole as a way to get back at my rich, demanding, controlling parents. Guess what? It's no punishment at all, here. It's more like paradise. I've always been an ugly duckling, but the guys here, they sit down and talk to me like a real, intelligent person. I haven't felt good about myself for years until I got here. The best thing is my parents can't even get at me. Faith, please, please come. I won't tell you it's easy being naked at first. It's tough. But I'll stay close to you and I'll bet Lindsey will, too. Just think about that, a real live star helping you get through the first days!"

Three other women took turns giving a quick guided tour of the facility, and all of them begged her to come and live there. When the tape ended, Norma said "Dale will take some time off if it will be easier at first if he doesn't see you."

"But the other guys?"

"Sorry. They will stay away for the first few hours, but that's part of the way things work at the Tee. They did a lot of research before they opened, and every woman who has been through there loved all the guys before she left. Let's not talk about it for a while. Let's get Dale back so he can hold you."

Neither Faith nor Dale knew what to say when they were together again, so they just cuddled quietly. It was actually the most affectionate contact they had ever had, given how little time they were allowed together.

"What ... what if I can't do it, Dale? What if I can't be naked like that?"

"Then Mom and I will get a bigger apartment and you can stay with us. It won't be anything like you're used to, but there'll be plenty of love. Your mother will probably find you, and there will be quite a fight. I won't let her take you back, though, no matter what.

"The problem is that your mother will probably try to get a court order to have you committed. If you are at Transformations, you will already be under psychiatric care. Even if she finds you, it would be almost impossible to get an order to send you somewhere else.

"Beside that, it won't take you long to start gaining weight and strength and there won't be any medical reason to have you committed."

"You really believe in that place, don't you?" she asked.

"I haven't been there quite two months, but I have already seen changes that don't seem possible. Missy, the girl you saw on the tape: just wait until you see her before pictures. She does not look like the same girl at all. She came about the time I did."

"I look so awful!" she moaned. "You will be disgusted if you see my body."

"I could never be disgusted with you, Honey," he declared. "I fell in love with more than just your body. Besides, you looked damned sexy before ... before I had to leave. You'll look like that again before long."

"Would you really just stay there so Mother couldn't find us? Your mom, too?"

"Don't take this the wrong way, Faith, but that's the kind of thing mothers who really love their children do. I would do it for her, too."

Her only response to that was some quiet sniffling and a hug that showed surprising strength for her emaciated condition.

"Will you do it, Faith? Will you move in to Transformations. Will you let them help you? Will you let ME help you? I can't give you a mother like mine, but I'll bet you will have ten new mothers as soon as you arrive."

"And Mother really wouldn't know where I am?"

"Even if she found out, Transformations uses Gerald Magnuson's lawyers. They're the best anywhere. They wouldn't let her even contact you."

"You really won't care how I look, will you." Faith said after another long quiet spell. It was a statement rather than a question.

"I care how your eyes look when they look into mine," he said. Their chances to kiss had been few, but the one she laid on him then made up for a lot of missed opportunities.

"When I leave there, can I really live with you?"

"I'd like it to be as man and wife, but I don't have much to offer you," Dale said. He was not trying score points with her, he was just telling her his honest feelings. To her, though, there was nothing he could have said that had more impact.

She knew that Dale and his mother were poor, and she had to admit to herself that she really had no idea what it was like to be poor. On the other hand, she knew what it was like to have everything she wanted. Every THING she wanted, and that was the problem. All of her things had not brought her any happiness.

The only times that she could honestly say that she felt happy had been with Dale. Was that worth more than her things? Could she still be happy with Dale without all of her things?

But Dale was brilliant. He would not always be poor, would he? He would be a success, she just knew it. And she would help him. Nothing would make her more proud. That would be better than all of the things her mother had given her.

"Is ... is that a proposal?" she whispered, afraid that he didn't really mean it.

"I don't have a ring or anything, but yes, it is. I knew a long time ago that I wanted to be with you forever."

"Even when I'm just a bag of bones," she asked, still afraid to believe what he had told her.

"Even whatever," he said and kissed her.

"The answer is yes, and don't you go doing anything silly like trying to buy a ring. We'll know, and that's what counts," she told him, trying to act stern.

For several minutes, they just cuddled, enjoying the closeness that had been denied them for so long. "What's through that door?" she asked after a while.

"There's a bathroom and a small sleeping room," he told her.

"I'm going back there. Come on back and talk to me in five minutes or so," she said.

"But why... ?" Her finger over his lips silenced him.

"I'll go and see if anything's wrong," Lindsey told Norma and Michelle when she saw Faith walking back to the bathroom area.

"Are you alright?" Lindsey asked when she found Faith sitting on the small bed taking her shoes off.

"If I have to be naked, I want Dale to be the first one to see me. I'm scared to death that he will scream and run away, but I have to do it."

"Are you testing him?" Lindsey asked.

"Oh, no. I know he wouldn't reject me. It's just..."

"Sometime, I'll tell you how hard it was for me to get naked," Lindsey said.

"Oh, I've read all about you - everything I could find."

"So you like country music?"

"Uh, huh. It's hard for me to listen to it at home, but I do whenever I can," Faith said

"Well, there are a lot of things only my best friends know. I'll tell you when we have some time," Lindsey said.

"We're going to get married. We just talked about it," Faith bubbled. "He can't afford a ring yet, but that's OK."

"Good for you. I know how it feels. There's nothing like knowing who you want to be with for ever. If Dale's coming in here, I'd better leave."

"Tell him to wait a few more minutes."

Despite her confidence in Dale, Faith could not help shaking as she heard the door open. When he stopped and stared in astonishment, she stammered "I c ... couldn't let anyone s ... see me before y ... you did, especially th ... the other g ... guys. S ... sorry I d ... don't look good for you. I will. I p ... promise."

He couldn't think of anything to say, so he just walked up and hugged her. "You don't have to do anything for me, Faith. Do it for you. That's the best way. You will love the Tee, I promise, and everyone there will love you, too. They can't help it."

He sat on the bed and pulled her onto his lap. They talked for quite a while before she pulled back from him a little and spread her arms. "This is as honest as I can be. Now you tell me what you did to make my mother so angry?"

"Well, I think she wanted me away from you, but that's not all. She wanted me to have sex with her, and I refused."

"I ... I thought that must be it. Maybe it would have been easier if you had just gone along."

He could not believe she had said that, and he was a little angry. "Faith, how can you say that?"

"Well, it could have saved your scholarship. You earned that, and she stole it from you."

"I guess we've never talked about it, but I'm still a virgin. I want my first time to be with someone I love. I really want it to be with the woman I will be with the rest of my life."

"Oh, God! I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I just thought that, you know, you're such a hunk. I thought you could have any girl you wanted, and..."

"And you wanted me anyway?"

"I just thought that they were really lucky girls and I could hardly believe you were interested in me. I feel so foolish," she said with downcast eyes.

"Honey, I can't be angry with you. You've been through so much. I still feel like I made you get sick again by abandoning you."

"Can ... can we just forget all of that stuff and start over?" she pled with him. "I may never see my mother again. I know I will never get any of her money. I'll just watch while you get rich and famous, and we'll just love each other and be happy while you're doing it."

The emotional level was such that they both might have lost their virginity right there. Probably fortunately, Lindsey rapped on the door to tell them they were preparing to land. Faith quickly pulled on her clothes and they walked out to their seats together. Faith stopped to give Lindsey, Norma, and Michelle quick hugs.

-------

Faith spent most of her first evening at the Tee in tears. They were not tears of fear or embarrassment, but her reaction to the wonderful reception she received from everyone. Contrary to the normal practice, she insisted that Dale be with her when she first entered the women's section.

As with every woman who moved in, it was tough meeting the other men. She insisted on doing it right away, though. Dale was amazed at her. She was already like a different person, and she had just arrived.

-------

About the time Faith was sitting down to her first dinner at the Tee, Mercedes was becoming very concerned. She had no idea where Faith had gone, so she could not even start looking for her. Knowing that the girl was depressive and physically rundown just increased her worry.

When quizzed, one of the servants remembered Faith leaving in a cab. After calls and threats to the two local cab companies, Mercedes learned that Faith had been dropped off at the Student Union, but that was a far as the trail went.

Any number of people saw Faith at the Union, and some may even have recognized her. Even with the relatively sparse summer crowd, though, it would be impossible to track down anyone who could identify her. Even then, what could they say that would help to find her.

The hardest trail to cover up was the flight. Using an airport over a hundred miles away was the first important step. Flight plans had to be filed, landing fees paid, etc. It was a risk, but Faith's name never made it to the passenger manifest, and a meaningless package was taken from the plane and sent by cab to a local bank to give the flight a purpose other than the pickup.

For such a rush job, it was a remarkably cold trail. Of course, Mercedes would assume that Faith was with Dale, and that would identify the city. That's where hiding Dale and Muriel became important.

"Ran away? What do you mean she ran away?" Max Charles demanded when Mercedes told him at dinner. It was one of the relatively rare times they dined together. "She can hardly get out of bed! How could she run away?"

Mercedes told him everything that she had been able to find out. "Maybe she just wanted to see Dale. The way she feels about him, the summer is a long time to be separated." As he said that, Max saw her expression. From long experience, he knew that she had pulled another of her dirty tricks.

"What the hell did you do now?" he bellowed. That started a furious fight, with her telling him he had no right to talk to her that way. He countered by declaring that Faith was his daughter, too. Her retort was about how little concern he ever showed for her. This was not new ground for the couple.

In the midst of the shouting, he had a flash of insight. "Dale's not coming back, is he? Did you get him expelled, or what?"

"Well, someone has to protect her from gold-diggers. You don't seem to give a shit if some penniless asshole comes sniffing after her money," she yelled.

"And you can't imagine that anyone would care about your daughter for any reason but her money."

"Get real!" she spat out. "He looks like a Greek God and he's interested in a girl who looks like a skeleton? How naive can you get?"

"You may be the one who's around her all the time, but you don't really know your daughter, do you?" he accused. "She's the sweetest person I know, and it's criminal how you've messed her up."

"I've messed her up? What the hell do you mean by that?"

"First of all, she's had to try to live with your reputation, then..."

"What do you mean my reputation?" she screeched.

"Everyone in town and on campus knows how you pick up students to play with for a while. Can't you imagine that's a little hard for someone like Faith to live with?"

Max did not expect Mercedes to go all contrite at that point, and she certainly did not. The household servants tried very hard to stay out of sight for the next half hour.

When things wound down a little, Max asked "So did you get him expelled?"

"Got his scholarship canceled, but there's no way Faith could have known that."

"How stupid!" Max snarled. "At least a dozen different people in the finance office would have to see that change. What if one of them happened to have a conscience and told Dale? Did you even think about that?"

"Then why did she wait until now to leave, Smart-ass."

"My guess is that Dale never told her why he was leaving. He thought he was protecting her. No wonder she fell apart like she did."

"You make him sound like some kind of damn boy scout," she sneered.

"If you had taken time to find out about him, that's exactly what he is," Max declared. Watching her face, he saw another giveaway. "My God, Woman. You tried to fuck him and he turned you down! That's what happened, isn't it?

"Damn you, Mercedes! You terrorize the poor girl into all of these neuroses. You parade a bunch of spoiled rich assholes in front of her, trying to arrange the 'right' marriage. Then, the kind of man she deserves falls in love with her and you drive him away. What kind of mother are you, anyway?"

"Look who's talking, Mr. Absentee Father himself! Don't talk to me about how to parent my daughter!"

"Well, neglect is a lot better than the way you've messed her up. I'll tell you what, though. From now on I'll try to make up for the mess you've made of her and the way I failed to protect her. And I'm warning you, just stay out of it, you hear!"

What Max did not say was that he had decided that enough was enough. It was time to end the circus that they had been calling a marriage.

-------

Julia came to dinner to meet Faith and they sat and talked afterwards. "Faith, I want you to send your mother and father an email right away. They need to know that you are safe. You can shut down the account right away if you wish, but I think it would be wise to leave at least some communication channel open."

"After I found out what mother did, I don't know if I ever want to speak to her again."

"I understand that, and in some ways, I think that would be best. Whatever you think of her, though, it would be cruel to let her think that you were kidnapped or dead. Caroline believes that she will make strong efforts to find you and try to bring you back."

"I think she will, yes," Faith agreed.

"Have you heard that we plan to sequester you, Dale, and Muriel here until your birthday?"

Faith could not help crying again at that revelation. "That's over four months! How can they do that? Won't Dale be going to school? What about his mother's job?"

"Muriel will be starting as a house mother at 'Lindsey's Place'. We have had quite an argument with Dale about school, but he is adamant. To him, nothing is as important as getting you well. He is afraid that until you can legally force her to leave you alone, you are in danger of falling back into depression and eating problems.

"Faith, Caroline thinks Dale is right, and I can't disagree. I hate to see him miss school, but he has already started several courses at the University of Phoenix online. They will all transfer to Addison for the spring semester."

"I'll probably never get a chance to finish my degree," Faith said sorrowfully.

"Why do you say that?"

"Money. I'm sure Mother will cut me off. Dale and his mom don't have much, and I don't know if I can find a good enough job without the degree."

"Tell me, Faith. Is there any chance your dad would pay for you to finish school?"

"Daddy? I guess that's possible. I should have called him, though, to let him know I was leaving."

"No, you should not have called him. It had to be kept completely secret. I'm sure he will agree. He's a reason for keeping the email account live, isn't he?"

"I suppose."

"Oh, and you have brothers. Are you angry with them, too?"

"No. I hadn't even thought about them."

"The question is, if your mother keeps sending messages, maybe angry, demanding ones, will you be able to handle it without regressing?"

"It will probably bring up a lot of old hurts, but I'm safe here, right? She can't make me do anything anymore, can she?"

"No, she can't Faith. But you see, the mind is a complicated thing. Even though you may be convinced logically that you are finally separated from her, the old responses are so ingrained that she can still get to you. Does that make sense?"

With a sigh, Faith admitted "I'm afraid it does."

"You met Missy, right?"

"Yes. She was on that ... she was one of the women that met me at the door." Julia knew there was a story of some kind behind what Faith almost said, but she decided to let it go for the moment.

"I think the two of you have a lot to share. Your problems are different, but both of your lives have been deeply affected. Tell you what: starting right away tomorrow, I want you to start a letter to your mother. Make it just as scathing and accusatory as you can, but stick to the truth.

"Every day, I would like to talk to you for a few minutes and we will go over your letter again. Eventually, maybe two or three weeks from now, I want you to send it.

"If you get any emails from her or anyone else in your family, I want to review those with you and discuss how you should reply. Does that make sense?"

Faith and Julia talked for quite a while longer and Julia helped her prepare the first email to her mother. It read 'I am safe and happy. I left of my own free will, and I will never be back. Do not try to find me. If you send people after me, it will only make it easier to get an Order of Protection on my birthday.'

Faith had been ready to start unloading more of her feelings right then, but Julia convinced her that a few weeks at the Tee would change her feelings a lot. Her revenge letter would be more effective if the tone reflected reasoned determination rather than hot anger.

"I don't want you to look at any responses that might come back from her until at least tomorrow night," Julia said. "You need to concentrate on getting a good start on your program here, and that's all you have energy for. Now, send a message to your dad. You don't want him to worry."

Faith sent "I escaped, Daddy. Mother was going to commit me. I am safe, I'm with Dale and in a wonderful place. I'm sorry I couldn't let you know. It happened quickly and it had to be a secret. I'll get in touch soon."

"That's perfect," Julia said, even though realizing that she was committed for yet another late night. She sat thoughtfully for a moment, then asked Faith "I understand that you and Dale are committed to each other. Is that right?"

"Yes, it is. We decided that on the plane today."

"Have you two made love yet?"

"No. Both of us are virgins. We never really had a chance back at ... back at where I lived before," Faith already could not think of it as home.

"I could arrange for you two to spend the night together," Julia said.

"Ohhh! Part of me wants that so badly! But I guess I'm a romantic. I feel awful about the way I look and I am so tired."

"You wouldn't have to do anything but sleep together. I just thought that might be good for you after such a traumatic day. I will tell him he has permission to stay in your room tonight. Then, it's up to you."

Tears were never far below the surface for Faith that day, and they escaped once again. "I can see why everyone says this is such a wonderful place."

-------

[Faith] Late July

Faith's curt email hit the Charles household like a bomb. Predictably, Mercedes went into a rage, railing on and on about how ungrateful her daughter was and making dire threats about Faith never seeing a penny of the family fortune.

Max's reaction was different. First of all, he felt guilt and sadness that Faith had been forced into such a move. He knew that he had never done much to protect her. He felt satisfaction that Faith had been able to wound Mercedes, for his wife's reaction was definitely that of a wounded predator.

More than anything, though, he felt protective of Faith in a way that he never had before. Mercedes would do her best to continue screwing up the girl's life, he was sure of that. His wealth did not compare to his soon-to-be-ex-wife's but anything he gave to Faith would hardly make a dent in his own substantial fortune. By his own skill and drive, he had multiplied a large inheritance several times over.

Deciding on a divorce was not a trivial decision. It basically meant that he would have to leave town. Mercedes' influence in the town was such that few would dare to deal with him after the split. Fortunately, most of his revenue now came from out of town. Perhaps he would move to where Faith was.

Going to his study, he sent an email to Faith's account. It read 'I can't tell you how bad I feel that you have been driven away from home. I just found out what your mother did, and you were right to leave.

'I regret that I was not enough of a father to you to protect you from her. I am glad that you are with Dale. He is the kind of man that you deserve.

'Regrettably, I cannot undo my failures in the past. I can promise that I will try to be the kind of father I should have been all along. She does not know it yet, but I will be filing for divorce immediately. I had hoped to put it off until all of you kids had graduated high school, but I cannot ignore this latest mess.

'As you know, I have plenty of money of my own, and it is well protected from her grasp. Please don't hesitate to ask for anything. I suppose you will have to finish school somewhere else, and I will happily cover that for you. I will see that all of your personal things are packed up and stored for you. It will be done when your mother is out so it won't start a huge fight. Even tonight, I will drive your car to somewhere that Mercedes cannot get at it.

'I would be honored if you would let me know where you are and what you are doing. I promise to keep it secret, and it might help me keep your mother away from you.

'After the divorce, I will have to move the company headquarters. I assume you are with Dale, and that would be a great city to set up the new offices. You know I was impressed with Dale the few times I saw him. I think it would be great to have him working with me some day.

'Despite all of the mistakes I have made as a father, I do love you. I hope you will give me a chance to prove that in the future.'

-------

Unaware of what Max had written, Faith continued to meet people and to be overwhelmed by everything she saw. It amazed her that she sometimes went for minutes without thinking about her nakedness. Usually, though, something would happen that would cause her to remember. She wondered how long it would be before she stopped feeling panicked.

The high point of the evening, and at the time the high point of her life, came late in the evening. She was almost falling asleep with weariness, but she agreed when Dale asked her to go in the hot tub with him. When he took off his clothes before getting in, she thought her heart would burst.

She had seen him naked numerous time, but it was always in a posed setting, with other people around. For some reason, there was no one else near the hot tub, and she could touch him as well as seeing him.

He took her hand as they stepped into the tub, and he explained "Pool, tub, and showers are totally nude for everyone. The guys are supposed to join the women naked for a while on every shift." Faith was unable to say anything.

"Are you glad you decided to come here?" he asked.

"I can't believe it!" she enthused. "It's wonderful."

"It looks like you're already getting used to being naked," he observed.

"Here, it doesn't seem frightening, just ... natural. Tell me Dale. What would have happened if I had refused to come." He looked troubled and she noticed. "Come on. Tell me."

"I was convinced this was exactly what you needed. I would have dragged you here if I had to, even if it meant I lost you."

"I'm glad," she assured him. "You were right. I needed to be here. Right now, I can't imagine ever leaving. I am so excited about gaining weight, getting some boobs and an ass that you can hold." As she giggled, Dale wondered who it was that had taken the place of the shy, depressed girl he had rescued just hours earlier.

"Do you want me to sleep with you tonight?" he asked.

That caused her to pause in thought. "The answer is yes, I want you to sleep with me tonight. But what I really want is for you to sleep with me every night. Will you be angry if I say let's wait until then? If I do it once, it will make every night without you so hard."

"I won't be angry. I was already worried about how I could be in bed with you and not make love. We don't have any protection. Faith, Honey, this place and this time is for you, to get you better. Whatever you decide is what's best."

"Is there a rule against kissing in here?" she asked shakily.

"I think it's, um, suspended for tonight."

-------

The next day, Dale had a constant stream of people telling him much they loved Faith, how sweet she was, and how lucky he was to have her. Some told him they thought he had been exaggerating all along, but now they believed him.

For her part, Faith was like a kid at Christmas. The only part of the day that she did not greet with enthusiasm was the initial measurement and picture session. Dale was allowed to be with her during that, but as with almost every woman who went through it, it was pretty traumatic.

The one part of the session that was positive for her, though, was the computer projection of her progress. Not only did she want the before picture and the final projection for her wall, she asked for three intermediate steps. On these, she confidently wrote a date when she would look like that.

The session over, she dragged Dale to her room to help her put up the pictures. Because nearly every resident had asked for them, a supply of empty frames was kept on hand.

During the previous winter, Faith had started working out with Dale, so it was not all new to her. In her present condition, though, she had almost no muscle tone. After an exhausting first session, Dale was allowed to do her massage. That would not always be the case, but Julia had become very good at assessing when a deviation from normal rules was the best move.

Julia was there for dinner again. Afterward, she gathered Faith and Dale and told Faith it was time to check her email. After a great day, Faith hated to think what a nasty response from her mother might do to her. Julia was right, though. She should not put it off.

It became a choice between good news first or bad news first, as there were messages from both of her parents. Actually, she was a bit uncertain how her dad would react, even though there had never been any friction between them.

"I think you should read your father's first," Julia said. "If his is positive, it will make it much easier to deal with what you expect from your mother." Both Julia and Dale backed away to give Faith some privacy as she opened Max's message.

"Come here! Both of you! Look what Daddy wrote! I can't believe it!" she babbled, literally bouncing on the chair in excitement. Then, she hugged Dale and cried softly with happiness as they read the message.

"That's wonderful, Faith," Julia said. "You have more love and support than you suspected."

"I guess it was always there," Faith responded. "I think he just didn't ever want to go against Mother. I can forgive him that. I'm ready for anything Mother can say, now."

She thought she was ready, but as she read through the stream of vitriol that Mercedes had sent, she had to pull Dale's arms around her and she could not hold back the tears.

Julia had seen a lot of bad parenting in her years of practice, but to see this heaped on a daughter whose only offense was a condition triggered by the mother herself left her shaking her head.

A certain degree of aloofness from the residents was essential to being a good director and psychiatrist. With Faith, however, detachment did not work very well. People were just drawn to her. Julia reached out almost unconsciously and stroked Faith's hair. "I am so glad you are away from her," Julia breathed out.

"Can I call Dad?" Faith asked.

"Absolutely. I would like to talk to him a few minutes myself," Julia answered. "Let me describe Transformations to him. Would that be all right?"

It was Dale that raised a caution. "Can't investigators get phone records and trace people through them?"

"Oh, my! Thank you for thinking of that, Dale," Julia said.

"It's OK!," Faith interrupted. "I've still got the Trak phone. I'll use that."

The call was emotional, apparently from both ends. For a while, father and daughter just expressed their love for each other, apologized for a lack of closeness in the past, and made promises about the future. When Max asked where Faith was, she handed the phone to Julia.

"Mr. Charles. This is Dr. Julia Waxman. I'm happy to speak to you. I was moved by your message to Faith. I hope you don't mind that she insisted on showing it to us."

"Us?"

"Yes. Dale is here with us. Mr. Charles, I am a psychiatrist and the director of Transformations. We are delighted that Faith is here. Everyone has fallen in love with her."

"Transformations? Isn't that the place that Gerald Magnuson started?"

"That's right. You keep up on your business news, don't you," Julia answered.

"I try to. Isn't that the place where everyone is, uh..."

"All of our residents are naked for their entire stay here. It's an essential part of our carefully-developed program."

"You said that Dale was there with Faith. Surely she isn't..."

"Most of our attendants for the women are male," Julia said patiently. "Dale started working her as soon as he got back to town. Here, let Faith tell you how she feels about it. I will tell you that for her second day, her attitude is unbelievable."

"Daddy? Don't worry about me having to be naked. I look just terrible. I'm as skinny as I have ever been, but you know what? Nobody cares, especially Dale. There are a bunch of women here that I wish had been my mother. And the guys - well, nobody's like Dale, but the others are close.

"Daddy, we promised to marry each other. We don't know when, and there's no money for a ring right now, but we are as engaged as we can be.

"Oh, you'll never guess who was on the plane that brought me here. Besides Dale, I mean. You know that country singer I like, Lindsey Hall? She came to be with me. And when I checked in, she was naked with me. That's the kind of people that are here. I hope sometime you can see this place."

"I can tell how excited you are, Honey. Let me talk to Dr. Waxman again."

"I've never heard her that enthusiastic about anything," Max said when Julia was on the phone again. "Look, I know your place is pretty expensive. How is she paying for it?"

When Julia explained the employee scholarship program, Max said. "It's wonderful that you are able to do that, but send me the bill. Save Dale's scholarship for someone who needs it worse. In fact, I will pay double and you can use it for another scholarship."

"That's very generous of you, Mr. Charles. We won't be able to handle it as a bill, though, because it might be traced. Make it a donation to the Magnuson Foundation, and we'll watch for it. Your gift will mean a lot to someone. "

"I hope so. Could I speak with Dale for a minute, please."

"Dale, I can't thank you enough for sticking with my girl. I don't know where she would be without you. I feel terrible about what Mercedes did to you. I hope you believe I had nothing to do with it. I may not have been a good father to Faith, but I do have some standards. I look forward to seeing you when I come to town to check out office sites."

When the phone call ended, Faith said "Now, I want to start that message to my mother. I'm in the mood to really give it to her."

-------

The morning after Faith arrived, Paul was very busy. He and Julia were afraid that Mercedes would act quickly and have detectives looking for Faith. At that point, they did not know what Max's attitude would be, so they decided it was time to 'sequester' Muriel and Dale.

By means of a substantial bonus, everything from the Rubens' apartment was moved out by shortly after noon. Bank accounts were closed, utilities canceled, and every traceable connection they could think of was erased.

The modifications to make the old men's section into Lindsey's Place were in the final stages of completion, and a room was set up for each of them. Also on her mind was making sure that Muriel was not too lonely.

Muriel had been filling in by helping Gretchen in the kitchen, and she enjoyed that. The problem was that she had just started to date Clark Renfrew after Dale came home. Now, she would not be able to leave the grounds, at least for a while.

Not that she complained. She reacted to Faith in the same way that everyone else did, and she was perfectly willing to make the sacrifice. Julia called mother and son into her office after dinner that night. "We hope this isolation does not last very long. We have our legal staff busy determining just what, if any, problems she could cause.

"We don't think there is any way she could get Faith out of here. But even with the remarkable attitude Faith has shown so far, we do not want any pressure put on her. Remember, she is fragile. Right now, she is experiencing some euphoria. We hope that feeling can be permanent, but experience says that there are some down times ahead.

"Any kind of battle with her mother at the wrong time could set her back. I have had limited time to talk with Faith, but I have acquired her records from some other therapists that have worked with her. It seems clear that her mother is the root cause of her problems. It has been going on a long time, though, and we have to be sure that she leaves here as whole as is possible.

"We have our own agency watching for signs of a search. They are very good, and if someone is sniffing around, we will know it. Muriel, we don't think they can tie Mr. Renfrew to you. Nevertheless, it would be best if you limited your contact to phone calls for at least two weeks. I'm sorry I have to ask you to do that."

"There's no need to apologize," Muriel said quickly. "Considering all that you are doing to protect Faith, my part is minor. I am so grateful for the new job you've given me and for all the help you've given Dale! For the first time, I feel a part of something truly worthwhile, and I love it."

It took only two days for the Tee's agency to report that there were three operatives checking out all of the usual leads, trying to locate Faith. Predictably, they started with Dale and Muriel. Fortunately, it was as if mother and son had dropped off of the earth.

-------

[Faith] Early August

Max waited a week after Faith's escape before announcing to Mercedes that he was seeking a divorce. Already irate at the detectives' inability to find any clues to Faith's whereabouts, she exploded into an epic rage. The next morning, the papers were delivered to Mercedes while Max was on a plane, heading to look for a new site for his headquarters. He hoped to be able to visit Faith and Dale, but no arrangements had been made.

"Mr. Charles, there are a couple of problems with you seeing Faith right now. If the detectives are any good, they will be watching you, hoping that you will lead them to her."

"How stupid can I be," Max blurted out. "I never thought of that."

"The biggest reason, though, has to do with our policy. We want our residents to stay nude 100% of the time, even during a visit with relatives."

"That's ... that's pretty severe."

"Let me send you some PDFs that discuss our policies and procedures in more depth than you can find on the website. I want you to understand that there is a good reason for everything we do.

"Now, I will admit that Faith does not fit what we had in mind with that visit policy. We may make an exception, but not yet. I know this seems harsh, what with the renewed closeness of your relationship with her, and I'm sorry about that. I have to ask you not to visit for four to six weeks. Can you understand that?"

"I understand. It does seem like you may be punishing her for something that is not her fault, but I certainly can't criticize how you run the place."

"You are correct. For most residents, having to expose themselves to relatives has a component of punishment or penance to it. The true intent is really to build more openness and honesty, though. Many residents have allowed themselves to get into the condition that required them to be admitted here."

"I can see how the policy makes sense then," Max told her. "How about if I just talk to her on the phone for a while until things settle down."

"Thank you for understanding, Mr. Charles. Could I suggest that you purchase a throw-away phone and not use your regular one. If your wife's detectives are good, any calls here could lead them to us. Good luck on your real estate search. Perhaps it is farther from the center of town than you would like, but I know there is space in the new building at the junction with our road."

-------

Missy and Faith bonded instantly and strongly. Not only were they the only younger women in residence at the time, but their situations were quite similar, and both had been starved for close female friendship. The three year age difference did not seem to matter at all.

Missy found out about the message that Faith was preparing for her mother and asked if she could help. When Faith agreed, it was a chance for them to do something meaningful together.

Faith never tired of hearing about Missy's successful first encounter with her parents.

Julia was amazingly on top of things for the limited time she could spend on site.

-------

[Missy] Early August

"Yes, Mr. Farnsworth, what did you call about?" Julia had been extremely reluctant to talk to either of the Farnsworths personally. She and two lawyers had rehearsed every probable line of conversation and agreed upon the responses before they advised her to go ahead.

"We want to see Melissa again."

That was one of the most-expected approaches, and Julia gave the appropriate answer. "Her lawyers have advised her that since you and she are opponents in a litigation and possible criminal action, that would not be wise."

"Criminal action? What do you mean?"

"If the abuse is proven, criminal charges could be filed." That was one the Farnsworth's lawyers had not warned them about. It made James' blood run cold. He was an old hand at playing on the litigation field, but no Farnsworth had ever faced a criminal charge. He did not think it at all likely, but he needed a legal opinion.

"I ... I will have to contact my attorneys and get back to you," James said.

"No, Mr. Farnsworth. On advice of counsel, this is the only personal contact I will have with you or your wife until we meet in court."

"But that abuse charge is pure nonsense!" he blustered.

"No, but the alienation charge certainly is," Julia countered.

"Ah! So we are bargaining now," James stated.

"I prefer to say that we are trying to get back to sanity," Julia answered.

"Suppose the suits were dropped?" James probed.

"Missy has agreed to see you under our normal rules," Julia stated.

"Meaning?"

"You can meet in the center section, but it will not be reserved for your exclusive use. All residents will be informed of your visit, and most may choose to stay away. However, any residents and staff who choose to be there will be allowed."

"That is not a very appealing offer," James complained.

"I guess you can't see me shrug, can you," Julia said with undisguised sarcasm.

"Will you at least hold while I consult my wife?" James asked.

"I will hold." Covering the mouthpiece, Julia said to Missy, who was listening in, "Sorry. I didn't think they would go that far."

"It's OK," Missy answered. "I can handle them. Besides, Ricky promised to come out. That should really upset them."

"Are you even considering going back?" Julia asked.

"Yes, but under conditions they would never, ever agree to," Missy said.

"And those are... ?"

"I think I would like to keep them secret for now," Missy said apologetically.

"Dr. Waxman," James said as he came back on the line, "we accept if you will..."

"No, Mr. Farnsworth. You will accept, period. Or you will not accept. Which is it?"

With an audible release of breath, James said "We accept. Our suits will be withdrawn in the morning."

"As will ours," Julia answered. There were no further words as both parties hung up.

-------

There was a lot of jockeying for the 'privilege' of greeting the Farnsworths on their return to the Tee. Julia's surprising decision was to let the Halls do it, and do it naked. Ordinarily, the impact of having to disrobe in the presence of a clothed person, or at least come out of the restroom to a waiting clothed person, was considered an important little psychological edge. This time, it was decided that hitting the Farnsworths immediately with the fact that they were going to be with a number of other naked people would be the best edge for Missy's benefit. Also, being greeted by a naked couple their own age but so much more fit would be another psychological blow.

When Floyd opened the door without any attempt to hide his nudity, the correctness of the assumption was proven. Melanie could barely force herself to enter. Once inside, she almost scurried to the restroom. James did not see Mary until he was inside. Then, he too stopped short and stared before heading to the men's room.

Floyd keyed the combination and stepped back to let Melanie and James enter. The next part of the intimidation plan worked just as well as Melanie screeched out "Richard!" as soon as she saw her two offspring standing naked in front of her with arms around each other. Missy was wearing the heels again, so she was nearly as tall as her brother.

-------

Was she willing to just walk away and give up her daughter? No! Melissa was hers, and Melanie would not let Melissa go just because Melanie had been embarrassed. Gradually feeling her composure return now that she was again focused on the real issue, Melanie slowly dropped her hands to her sides and moved her gaze up to Richard's face.

"Why are you here, Richard?"

"Hello yourself, Mother." His little smirk infuriated her, but she dared not let on. "My little sister needs my support. I've abandoned her too often in the past when I should have been there for her. I won't this time."

Missy visibly tightened the arm that was around her brother's waist and dropped her head to his shoulder. It was a very touching pose, but it made Melanie wince. Suddenly, Richard was taking Melissa's side. But why?

"It's nice that you could come," Melanie said, knowing that Richard did not believe it any more than she did. "Melissa, can we find somewhere to talk?"

Missy straightened up, waved her arm toward the seating group, turned, and started her hip-swinging, cheek-bouncing saunter again. Richard wanted in the worst way to follow her so he could watch the action, but he knew that his best place was beside her.

James followed his daughter, trying his hardest not to stare at her hypnotically swaying bottom. He mostly failed. The onlookers fought valiantly to keep from either applauding Missy's runway strut or snickering at James' fixation.

Eventually they were all seated. This time, Missy and Richard grabbed the sofa, leaving the parents to the side chairs. Unlike the previous encounter, Missy had decided to do nothing overt to distract her parents or keep them off balance. She believed that just the situation would be disconcerting enough. Neither would she say anything to start the discussion. If they sat there silently all morning, that would be OK. She was with Richard, after all.

"Melissa, we came here to make sure you weren't thinking of leaving home," Melanie finally said.

"Then it's a wasted trip," Missy said evenly. "As of right now, my plan is to not return to your house when I am discharged from here." She had decided beforehand that she would not refer to her former home as 'home'. Melanie did not miss the importance of the wording.

"But it's your home!" Melanie protested with more emotion than she wanted to show.

"No, as of now, this place is more home than I ever enjoyed at your house. Now that I know I have money, I will find a place where I can feel at home when I leave here."

"Why do you say that your home is not home anymore?" Melanie asked, pleading once more creeping into her voice.

"Have you talked to Roberta?"

"No, we don't want to deal with her any more."

"Then why the hell did you bother to come here?" Missy demanded, not trying to disguise the anger. "I went through all of that for months with Roberta. I'll be damned if I going to do it again today. If you really want to know, you go and talk to her. Otherwise, fuck it!

"Personally, I don't think you give a shit what I think or feel about anything. You only want me at home so you can make me into the fuckin' deb I'm supposed to be. Well, I'm not playing!"

"Melissa, your language!" James protested in his first sign of life since he entered.

"James, your treatment of your daughter!" Missy shot back.

That comeback brought a heavy silence over the badly fractured family. No one looked at anyone else for well over a minute. "Richard, can't you talk to your sister?" Melanie finally said.

"All I could tell her is that if she needs a place to live, she can live with me," Richard answered, bringing instant tears to Missy's eyes. Melanie's mouth worked wordlessly for a moment, then snapped shut. A study of her face would have qualified as a montage of emotions. Confusion furnished the background, with splotches of anger, betrayal, and pain scattered about.

Melanie honestly could not understand what had happened to her family. She was unable to understand that she had done things to drive her daughter away. Even more, she could not understand how her son could have turned against her. Melanie knew that her goals for her daughter were right and proper. How could she be faulted for doing what was necessary to make sure Melissa reached those goals?

As confused as she was, Melanie was astute enough to know when there was no hope. Somewhat shakily she stood up. "James, we may as well leave," she said, and walked off, assuming that he would follow. James stood and looked at Missy as if to say something. Instead, his face achieved a previously unsuspected level of grimness before he turned and followed his wife.

"Did you mean that?" Missy asked after she and Ricky had watched their parents walk out the door.

"Every word of it," Ricky assured her. Waving his hand toward the door, he said "They were never really parents to you. I'll do the best I can to make up for it as long as you need it."

Missy had been a rock through the many weeks of the struggle with her parents. Now, it looked like it was over. On top of that, her beloved brother had made a commitment that went straight to her heart. She lost it and broke into great, wracking sobs. Ricky pulled her into his arms and tried to console her.

When she got control of the crying, she told Ricky about Lindsey's place and her desire to stay there. "That's great, sis! Just in case there are any legal problems, though, I meant what I said."



-------

Chapter 12


[Floyd] Mid Aug

Unbeknownst to Floyd, Julia had a sudden idea and made a quick call to the Plonske agency. Four days later, she called Floyd at work. "I hate to tell you this, Floyd, but the trend continues." Her cryptic comment puzzled Floyd until she asked "Sally has boys eleven and thirteen, right?" Floyd was too frozen with the shocking realization to even reply. "They are getting a divorce and Bryce has the boys.

"Both of you - breakfast tomorrow," Julia said, not worrying about it sounding like an order.

Long into the night, Mary and Floyd argued, cried, and planned. At breakfast, they told Julia their final plan.

"The reason we are not in my office is so that I can listen as just a friend. This is not a fee session. I will not give you my professional comments on what you have planned, but I will help you as you have asked.

Brett was going to a two-week football camp the middle two weeks of August. It was the perfect time. That night, Floyd dialed his parents' home. When his mother, Ellen, answered, Floyd was brutally short. "You are coming out here alone for a week. Do not even argue or Father will hear everything. A ticket will be waiting for you at the airport."

"It will kill him if..."

"Don't even start to argue," Floyd said to cut her off. "This is not open for discussion."

After hanging up from his mother, he took a few breaths and dialed his sister. "Sally, I know that it is happening again." He heard her gasp. "I will tell your husband if you do not do exactly what I say."

"We are getting divorced," was her lifeless response.

"Then I will tell the police." That started Sally crying.

"You are coming out here for a week. The tickets will be at the airport and I will give you more details when it is time." He did not wait for her to say anything before hanging up.

-------

The company picnic occurred before Floyd's mother was due to arrive. Even with the stress of the impending visit looming over them, they enjoyed themselves immensely. Some who did not see Floyd on any regular basis did not recognize him. Since it had been years since Mary had attended any company event, he generally had to introduce her for the first time.

Mary's full, mature figure could not rival some of the young sylphs that grace all businesses. All in all, though, her excellent conditioning, her healthy glow, and the pride that she was finally allowing herself to feel in her body brought her more attention than most of the more familiar young ones. Timidity had no chance against the months of total nudity she had been through.

For the first time in his memory, Floyd noticed the smiles and looks from female coworkers and wives. Mary missed no opportunity to tease him when some woman was checking him out. His boss spent quite a bit of time with them. She was the one person who knew of their stay at the Tee, and she seemed delighted with the changes.

The picnic was one more piece in the rebuilding of Floyd's ego.

-------

Floyd had at first thought to have his mother and his sister there together, but Julia had talked him out of it. Since he would have to go to work, it would not have been fair to leave Mary with the two women. In addition, the bad blood between mother and daughter would have been an extra burden.

At Julia's suggestion, Mary was going to play a very obedient, borderline subservient role to Floyd for the two women's stays. He did not like that idea, and when he told her at home that he only wanted to think of her as his partner, it ignited a very intense session. In the afterglow, she could not resist teasing him. "Don't worry, Stud. Everyone knows who the real boss is." The confidence to tease him on that subject was a real sign of his progress.

Thus it was that together they met Ellen at the airport. From her expression, it was clear that she expected the worst from her stay. Little did she know.

Arriving at the house, she objected to her luggage being left in the car, but Floyd shrugged it off with a comment about taking care of it later. He did not waste a minute once they were all inside the house.

"Mother, this week is strictly for my healing. I can tell that your are worried about what is going to happen, and well you should be. For this week, you are going to be my absolute slave. Any disobedience or objection will be punished. If you persist, I will fly back with you and tell Father the entire story. Is that understood?"

"But that was all so long ago," Ellen whined. "I am truly sorry! What good will humiliating me do for you?"

"It will do a world of good. As you well remember, every time you told me to do something, I got aroused. I have lived - suffered - with that problem ever since. I am just beginning to get victory over it. This week and next week with Sally will put it to rest. Humiliating you will do me a tremendous amount of good and I will do it with relish. Now, strip!"

"Floyd, NO! You can't make me do that again! It's wrong! It's sinful! It's..."

'WHACK!' cut off her wails. Floyd had smacked his palm with a leather paddle. "The next blow will be to your bare ass, Mother! Your only choice is how you lose your clothes. I will not bother to struggle with you." He pulled out his phone and held it toward her. "There are two muscular young men waiting down the street ready to remove your clothes. Your choice."

Ellen started wailing in earnest, then she fell on her knees and began praying dramatically. Floyd let it go on for fifteen or twenty seconds before another WHACK! stopped her. "Did you fall on your knees in prayer before every time you abused me?" he snarled. "I suggest that the only way you should involve God in this in to seek forgiveness."

"Through her tears, Ellen said "I have sought forgiveness every day of my life."

"You may yet have my forgiveness," Floyd said, "but not until I have purged the demon that you brought into my body."

That concept, being referred to as an agent of the Devil, was too much for Ellen, and she fainted. With a nod to Mary, Floyd got right down on the floor and began removing Ellen's dress. Even though it was August, she wore a slip, stockings, and a girdle with garter clips. "Scissors!" Floyd snapped. Without even thinking about objecting to the order, Mary hurriedly brought him a heavy-duty one.

Ellen was lying on her side, so Floyd started right on her hip, laboring to slice through the unwieldy material of the girdle. Thinking quickly, Mary knelt in front of the woman and when she started to stir, Mary restrained her. "Hold still or you'll get cut!" Mary said sternly.

When the offending garments started to fall away, the couple looked at each other, made simultaneous faces, and said "Shower!" at the same time. It was humorous, but there was no mirth in their expressions or their words.

With just stockings and the tatters of her girdle and panties on her, Floyd hauled his mother to her feet. She was overweight, but not by a lot and she was was not tall, so getting her to her feet was not a strain for him. Once she was standing, he realized how he had been touching her and pulled away. "This way," he ordered. When Ellen did not move, Mary put a hand on her bare back and pushed with increasing force until Ellen began to follow Floyd, whimpering pathetically all the way.

In the master bathroom, Mary hung back and let Floyd start the shower. He told Ellen to sit on the closed toilet lid and remove what remained of her clothes. Once seated, she seemed unable to stand and expose herself again, so he once again pulled her to her feet and guided her into the open shower stall.

When Floyd felt that Ellen had had enough time to wash completely, he stepped into the shower and turned it off. Keeping his voice firm but not threatening, he told his mother "See the shaving gear and scissors there? Twenty minutes from now, you will come out into the bedroom with every bit of body hair below your neck shaved off clean and smooth. If you don't come out on time, I will come in and finish the job. Do you understand?"

Ellen started to nod, then a look of horror swept her face as the meaning of what he had said registered. "N ... n ... no! You can't... !" She had not noticed the paddle at Floyd's side, but when he brought it up into plain view, she recoiled and gasped. "But I've never ... I don't ... ohhhhhhhh!"

"What you miss, I'll have to get," he said flatly, then walked out.

As they sat in the chairs in the master bedroom, listening to Ellen's sobs over the sound of the water, Mary could see concern and some shame encroaching on his face. "Floyd!" she said firmly. "This is not the time for pity. Stay strong. For me. For both of us. We planned this out, now stick with it."

"You're right, Honey. It's just..."

"If it was just a natural son's feelings for his mother, I could understand you softening. But I'm afraid it's the old submission trying to take you over. Let's not live with that any more."

At almost exactly twenty minutes, Ellen came out of the bathroom area. Both hands were clasped in front of her crotch and she was crying and blushing at the same time.

"Mother, you need to realize and accept what this week is about. The main purpose is to free me of the sexual control you have had over me for all of these years."

"But I would never do..."

"It doesn't matter," he cut her off. "It happens with any woman. We are making progress, but I need this. Now, I have no desire to abuse you. There will be humiliation, but only because I need it to free myself of your hold. You are going to be a slave and you are going to act like it. If you decide right now to cooperate, there will be no pain and you will get through the week with the least trouble.

"As a slave, there are two positions you are to remain in when not doing some task or not given permission for some other position. Step over here closer, please." She did, hesitantly, hands still covering her crotch.

When she was close enough, he ordered her "Now, down on your knees." Her hesitation and resistance probably could not be cured in a week's time, but making her a good slave was not the intent of having her there. When she was finally on her knees, he told her "Put you hands on your knees."

"But ... but..."

"Mother, your bare pussy lips are going to be on display for everyone to see for the whole week. Do it!" Again the slow compliance. "Now, move your knees wider apart." She cried loudly and he had to slap the paddle to get her to spread the first centimeter. It took a couple of minutes before he was satisfied.

"Now, I know that your knees may be uncomfortable like that, so there is another position. Please stand up. Good. Clasp your hands behind your back." Ellen froze. She just could not do it. After staring at her for more than long enough, Floyd handed the paddle to Mary, who nodded, stood, and wound up to smack Ellen right on her ass. It was not planned that way, but reflex made Ellen move her hands behind her to protect her bottom and it accomplished the ordered exposure.

"Keep your hands back there!" Floyd snapped. "Now, move your feet wider apart. Wider! Still wider! Good. One other thing: whether you are kneeling or standing like that, you will always face me. Understood?"

"You must be hungry, Ellen," Mary said. "It's lunch time. I will direct you in preparing it. It will take a little to learn my kitchen."

After a lunch that Ellen barely nibbled at, the shocks continued for her. "Your pallor looks unhealthy, Mother. One thing you WILL get from the week here is a decent tan. Let's go out side. Here is some sun-block." No amount of assurance that the patio and pool were completely private seemed to make a difference. It took the threat of the paddle once more.

Mary and Floyd swam for the fairly short periods that Ellen could stand for her first exposure. They had begun to enjoy skinny-dipping, but they donned suits with Ellen present.

When they were back in the house, they kept piling on the shocks. "There will be five for dinner," Mary said. "We need to start the roast now and you might as well do the potatoes ahead of time. We're having mashed."

"F ... f ... five?" They could see Ellen sway as the implications hit her. When she threw Mary a desperately pleading look, Mary just shook her head. Both women knew what the question was. Mary did not raise any objection when Ellen staggered to a chair and sat. "Wh ... who?"

"Oh, just Lindsey and her fiance," Mary answered, forcing a light, off-hand tone. She had really worried about how she would handle the stressful week, especially since she would be alone with Ellen when Floyd went to work. She was finding it easier than she had thought to see Ellen as the original cause of so much bad that had happened to her family.

Mary suspected that the absolutely miserable, defeated expression that Ellen wore as she got to her feet was more real than just dramatization. "How can you help him do this to another woman?" Ellen asked after a few minutes of puttering.

Mary lost it. "Don't give me that! I am fighting to rebuild my marriage and to try to save the last scraps of my family. I will do anything it takes to anyone I have to. We have made every parenting mistake possible and it is mostly my fault." She went on to recount what they had done to Lindsey and how they had spoiled Brett. She went into great detail for several minutes, and did not even try to restrain the tears.

"Many times, Floyd knew I was doing things wrong, but he did not try to stop me. You know why? Because you had emasculated him! So, don't even try to get sympathy out of me!"

From the first few seconds of Mary's tirade, Ellen had sat slack-jawed, barely breathing, too shocked to cry or to react in any way. When Mary ran down, she turned away from Ellen and puttered with cooking utensils for a while.

"Don't worry about Lindsey and Mark seeing you. Mark works with naked women every day, and Lindsey is there often."

"WHAT?" Ellen asked incredulously.

"Let me tell you the miracle of why Lindsey will even talk to us," Mary said gently. She proceeded to blow Ellen away with the whole story of the Tee and the changes they had gone through.

Ellen was no shrinking violet. Even sitting there as exposed as she was, her strong judgmental side came through. "How could you go to that place and profess to be a believer. How could you do this to me?"

"Ellen, do not - I repeat DO NOT - spout your distorted version of Christianity in this house. It almost ruined my family until I discovered that a lot of what my parents beat me about the head with all my life had little if anything to do with what the Bible teaches. You did the same thing to Floyd at the same time you sexually abused him.

"Yes, some of the things we have been through and have done are very hard to reconcile with our faith. Right now, we are having to start over and discover what is real about our faith and what is just added on by small-minded, power-hungry people. So, if you want to debate true Christianity, be prepared for a very large shock!"

Once again, Mary had to compose herself after a tirade. She again puttered for a while, then turned to Ellen and said "This is your job for the week. Get busy." Ellen actually jumped to her feet. Anything to escape more of Mary's wrath.

Ellen had worked for a half-hour our so under Mary's direction when Mary said "Ellen, Lindsey is a wonderful young woman. If you will just forget your nakedness and have some good grandmother time with her tonight, we will avoid embarrassing you in any way. If you turn judgmental, though, you will be treated like a slave."

Since Mark had worked with almost every newly-naked resident at the Tee, he was able to calm Ellen much more quickly than anyone would have expected. Whether because of Mark's skill or because some of what Mary had said had sunk in, Ellen had the longest conversation ever with her granddaughter.

-------

Sunday, the next day, Mary and Floyd went to church, but Ellen was not left alone. In an unprecedented move, Julia arrived as they were leaving, and conducted a long session with Ellen. What was even more unprecedented was that she stripped and took Ellen out to the patio. They sat in the shade and talked. Julia's idea was that the more unnatural the situation for Ellen, the more open she might be. For the sake of the Halls, Julia wanted very much to make a start toward some real change in Floyd's mother.

Floyd had used all of the off days he could spare during the troubled times, so he had to report to work on Monday. He was able, though, to go in very, very early and come home for three or four hours from mid-morning until after lunch.

Ellen spent her time doing all of the menial household tasks, whether they needed doing or not. At least twice a day, she sunned. Every evening, a different couple from the Tee came for dinner. She was not told that they worked at the Tee, but their casual reaction to her naked body made the situations barely tolerable.

As the week went on, Floyd did not insist on Ellen assuming the positions when company was present. She discovered on her own that being a constantly busy servant was more to her liking. Knowing Mary and Floyd's objective, all of the guests did their best to engage Ellen in conversation, even though there was often little of common interest.

When the young couples, Andi and Andy and Trish and Terry were the guests, Ellen had the most trouble. They were so skillful, however, that the dinners went without traumatic incident.

Julia made time every day to stop and talk to Ellen. She had no illusions of bringing about major change, but she could gauge whether the week was meeting Floyd's objectives. It was a strain on her crowded schedule and the next week would be no different, but it was Lindsey's family. Lindsey was the closest thing to a daughter that Julia ever had, or wanted to have.

-------

Friday night was Ellen's last of the visit. Mary and Floyd had rather warmly debated the final test that Floyd wanted to try, and it had not been mentioned to Julia. He had agreed to try it only if he was sure.

Ellen was surprised when after a rather loud, rather long session of lovemaking that she could hear from her room, Mary came to her room and said simply "Come with me."

The master bedroom was brightly lit. Mary instructed Ellen to wait, and returned a moment later with a wet washrag and a towel. Ellen almost collapsed when Mary pulled back the covers to expose Floyd's naked, messy crotch. Hiding her own near panic, Mary leaned over and spread Floyd's legs wide apart. "Clean him up," Mary said nervously, handing Ellen the washrag.

Ellen was shaking so she could hardly hold the rag and Mary had to tell her twice more what to do, the last time very sternly. Shaking so badly she could hardly hold the rag, Ellen began with Floyd's thighs. She could not look at his face, but his eyes seemed fastened on her.

When Mary could tell that Ellen was stalling and avoiding his genitals, she said "Ellen. Clean his penis. Lift it up and get it good and wet." When Ellen hurried through the task, Mary made her do it better. "Now his testicles. Get way under them," Mary ordered. When Ellen had done a passable job on them, Mary said "His pubic hair is still messy." Ellen knew what she was supposed to do.

This had been Floyd's idea, but as his mother was cleaning him up, he wondered what he had been thinking. He did not know what would happen if he started to swell. Would he be thrown back into the old responses, or had he made enough progress to survive it and retain the gains he had made? During the entire week, there had never been a time when he had felt the old arousal at anything Ellen had said or done. On the contrary, her generally pathetic demeanor and lack of sexual attractiveness had left him wondering why it had ever been a problem.

Mary was stringing things out, though. Why was she taking such a chance? Keeping his eyes locked on his mother was his best move. She did not look at all domineering or imposing. She looked - pathetic. There was nothing the least bit arousing about the whole situation. He was going to make it!

"Ellen, you didn't do the loose skin behind the head well enough. That's where a dangerous fungal infection could take hold, you know."

Ellen gasped and froze. Exactly that had happened to an infant son of Ellen's friend, back when Floyd was a baby. That fear had eventually led to the perversion. Mary, except for one tirade, had been remarkably civil to and considerate of Ellen all week long. Now, she had just delivered the most exquisite dagger thrust to the heart that she could ever have come up with.

Ellen just dropped the rag, turned and started slowly out of the room. Mary had another horribly cruel blow to deliver, but it was not intentional. It came out of her pure joy at the success of the risky experiment, and the signal that her husband was finally restored to full manhood.

While Ellen was still stumbling from the room, Mary burst into tears of joy, dove on top of Floyd, and began saying over and over "It worked! It worked! You stayed soft! You stayed soft! She can't hurt you any more!"

Ellen was by training and by self-discipline not an introspective person. She knew what she believed to be true and wasted little mental energy re-evaluating those truths. Truths were to be used as standards for making judgments.

As she rode the plane home, uncomfortable seeds of doubt were eroding some of her long-treasured truths. As she had prepared to leave, Mary had laid out for her a lightweight summer dress, bra, panties, and sandals. That was less than Ellen usually wore to bed, but Mary had told her the only option was to fly naked.

All week, Ellen had been bothered by the all-over tan she was getting, concerned about what her husband would think if he discovered it. On the plane, she found herself saddened by the thought that he was unlikely ever to notice. It had almost seemed like Mary and Floyd had been showing off their sexual escapades. After the first couple of times, Ellen could not work up any indignation, only a feeling of loss.

For twenty-five years, Ellen had been haunted by what she had had to acknowledge was sexual abuse of her son. Until the forced visit, however, she really had no idea of the true impact on Floyd, or the 'ripples' that affected so many others. Increased awareness of the impact of her sin battled relief that Floyd seemed to be gaining victory over it.

What would haunt Ellen for the rest of her days, though, was Mary's exuberant, spontaneous cry 'She can't hurt you any more!' How does a mother live with that?

-------

[Jessica] Mid August

It was the middle of August and Jessica had been at the Tee for about six weeks. There was no question that it had brought about great changes in her. For one thing, just her acceptance of the nudity was an almost unbelievable turnaround.

Not all of the resident women had had the best experiences with men, but none of them held the terribly warped views that Marie had hammered into her daughter.

As seemed to happen to all residents, Jessica could never get enough talking to the others. Once she knew of her mother's big lie about her father, she was able to make the decision that everything that Marie had taught her was wrong. She eagerly sought to find the truth through the opinions and experiences of the others. Often, her questions or comments were naive or even laughable, but the others quickly understood that they were honest expressions from a very confused young woman.

For several reasons, Julia was eager for the time that Jessica was ready to leave. The most trivial, but still very real reason was the somewhat disruptive effect of her beauty contestant's body. Most of the women were facing major challenges in reshaping their bodies, and even after reaching their goals, none would compare with Jessica. Yvonne came the closest, and she was staff and not on site all of the time. Michelle was also a beauty, but still not in Jessica's league. The fact that Jessica seemed unable to consider flaunting or even acknowledging her beauty made it hard for the others to hold it against her.

It bothered Julia that Jessica would not have been someone she would have seriously considered from a list of applicants. She felt that traditional therapy was a better alternative. She had to admit that immersion therapy had been beneficial for Jessica. Still, it was the real world and its prevailing ideas that posed the biggest challenge for Jessica.

Cliff was a huge factor in Julia's desire to get Jessica out into the real world. It had taken only a few visits to see what a huge presence Cliff had been in Jessica's psyche since her childhood. Living with her father would be fantasy fulfillment and, in Julia's opinion, the best way to 'normalize' Jessica's thinking.

At Julia's earliest suggestions, Cliff was quite reluctant. It took her a while to get him to understand what his problem was. Having his daughter with him again had been his driving motivation since the divorce. He was actually afraid to think that it could finally happen. After a few discussions, Cliff began to get his home ready in anticipation of Jessica moving in.

It was interesting that most residents had mixed feelings when they checked out of the Tee. Certainly, they were all very pleased with the transformations that had occurred. The problem was that they were leaving the very controlled environment of safety, acceptance, and a level of pampering.

The staff had heard variations of 'why can't the real world be like it is here?' more times than they could count from departing residents. Even though the longest stays were just a few months, isolation from many of the pressures of their lives would be sorely missed.

Jessica had no such mixed feelings. The joy of her reunification was the only thing on her mind. She acted most of all like a kid on Christmas morning as she said her goodbyes.

-------

[Floyd] Mid August

The flights had been scheduled so Mary and Floyd had only a short wait at the airport between Ellen's departure and Sally's arrival. Floyd had been bothered all morning by the lack of anticipation for the upcoming revenge on his sister that he should have felt. After all of the years, this should be his closure, but somehow, it seemed redundant, unnecessary.

When Sally came out of the concourse, Floyd's unease increased. She showed a momentary surprise at the appearance of her brother and sister-in-law, so very different from when she last saw them, but otherwise her eyes were lifeless.

There was no point in punishing this woman, and there was no need to gain victory over her. Mary saw the same thing, the utter defeat, humiliation, and hopelessness in Sally's face. Instinctively, Floyd moved to pick up Sally's small bag from the baggage carousel, but Mary held him back and let Sally fetch it.

"This isn't right," Floyd said softly to Mary.

"No, it isn't," she agreed.

"The Tee?" Floyd asked. Mary was about to ask a question, but Sally returned and Mary just nodded.

"Not much luggage," Mary commented.

"Didn't think I'd need much," Sally answered, with a resigned look at Floyd. He wondered if she had talked to their mother somehow.

There was only some inane conversation on the way to the house. When they arrived, Floyd told Mary "Fix Sally something to eat. I have to make a couple of calls."

It took a few tries, but Floyd managed to get ahold of Bryce, Sally's husband. After identifying himself, he dove right in. "Bryce, are you two divorcing because the marriage no longer works, or is it because of the boys?"

"What do you mean by that?" Bryce asked, sounding shaken.

"I guess you have never heard the story, and now is not the time for the full telling," Floyd said. "Here's the short version. Our mother, out of fear of a fungus, started manipulating my genitals when I was very young. It basically turned into abuse. She dragged Sally into it when Sally was quite young, under the guise of ensuring my hygiene. I was unable to break free of them until high school."

"My God!" Bryce said, his shock and surprise evident. "I had no idea!"

"Well, it has caused some terrible problems in my life, and it sounds like Sally has suffered, too," Floyd said.

"Because of the way we screwed up raising our kids, Mary and I both ended up at a place called Transformations."

"I've heard of it," Bryce said without any enthusiasm.

"What you have heard may not be all good," Floyd pointed out. "I'm here to tell you that it is the most wonderful, life-changing place you will ever find. We both look and feel totally different, and we actually have a relationship with Lindsey now.

"The reason I asked about your marriage is this: if you still love her and want the marriage to continue, I can give you a changed wife. I am going to check her in to Transformations for at least three months. I will foot the bill, unless you want to help."

There was a long pause at the other end before Bryce said "I hear about guys going berserk and divorcing their wives over one small indiscretion. I guess I did the same thing. What she did with the boys probably wouldn't land her in jail, but it's wrong. Can this place really make a difference?"

"Absolutely."

"I really don't want a divorce, but I didn't want her to know that. The cost won't hurt me, and if she loses her job, it's no big deal, either. When will she check in there?"

"Hopefully, as soon as I make one more phone call."

"Do it." Bryce said. "Maybe this will actually seem like a family afterwards. Call me later about the payments. And thanks, Floyd."

The next call was to Julia. "Is there any way to squeeze in one more resident?" Floyd asked. "A paying resident?"

"Your sister?" Julia asked.

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised," he grumped. "Can you take her?"

He could hear Julia's sigh. "Is there a bed for her? Yes. We keep saying that it's better for the residents if we stick to our limit, but someone like Sally always comes up. I suppose you want to bring her right over?"

"Can someone handle it?"

"I'll call Norma and see what else I can do. Is it OK to let Lindsey know?"

"Sure. One hour OK?" Floyd asked.

-------

Sally had almost lost the capacity to be shocked, she was so beaten down. Still, when Mary announced that she was coming in with her and that Lindsey would be there, too, Sally could not disguise the emotion. Just before Mary and Sally went in the outer door, Floyd said to Sally "You didn't hear this from me. Bryce does not want the divorce. He is paying for this."

He did not want any kind of emotional scene or thank you right then, so he guided her through the door. Julia was inside and called to him "Wait for me!"

When Julia came out about twenty minutes later, she told Floyd "Mary is so proud of you she is practically floating. Lindsey can't stop crying. Congratulations, Floyd. You're a new man, now."

With the naked support of Mary and Lindsey and her generally passive attitude, Sally's entry was among the easiest anyone had seen. That was not all good, though, because she would have to become much more engaged with her life before she could see any benefit.

There was one fallout of putting Sally in the Tee that Floyd did not consider until on the way home. In the telling of stories that inevitably went on between the women, how much would Sally say about the sexual abuse? Would his own story come out? It surprised and pleased him when that prospect did not produce the terror he would have expected.

-------

Every sizable department of every company has a Gladys. In Floyd's division of the bank, Gladys was the admin person responsible for the daily reconciliations of client account activity. As one of the account managers, Floyd prepared and submitted computerized activity journals from all of his accounts to Gladys, who incorporated them into the division's master reconciliation.

About a year earlier, new software was brought online to track account journaling and feed the reconciliation. Gladys, however, had stuck with the old reconciliation system, which did not accept the new system's journaling format without running through a conversion process.

In typical Floyd fashion, when Gladys told him that he had to convert the data before sending it to her, he just did it. The fact that Gladys was a very strong-willed, sharp-tongued, imposing woman guaranteed that he would not resist. Her spotless record of accuracy and timeliness meant that she always had backing beyond her rank in any controversy.

Mary had stayed at the Tee since entering with Sally on Saturday, so Floyd was at his office very early the following Monday. In laying out his day's work on his calendar wizard in his usual fashion, he was about to type in the running of the conversion program as one of his last steps when he stopped.

The reconciliation program that Gladys clung to would be unable to handle some new SEC reporting requirements at the end of the year. He was doing a task just for her benefit every day just because she had told him to. For the first time ever, the situation rankled him.

Not really thinking about any particular significance to his actions, he stopped at Gladys' office when he saw that she was in. "You have a copy of the backward conversion program for the journal, don't you, Gladys?" When she nodded, he smiled and said "Good. From now on, I will be sending you my journal in the current format. You can convert it."

Floyd did not know that he was the last of four managers to shift that task to Gladys. In fact the other three had never agreed to do it themselves. It should have been no big deal to Gladys, but for the rest of that morning, that was the only thing of significance happening anywhere in the world, to hear her tell it.

Gladys was under the same boss as Floyd, and by noon, the bemused boss had had enough. Floyd had just gone about his work in his usual fashion, not involved in Gladys' hoped-for controversy at all. When he arrived in the Boss's office to face Gladys' furious glare, he asked "Did I have something out of balance?"

The boss held it together without breaking into laughter and managed to say in a business-like tone "Gladys tells me that you are planning to interfere with her work flow."

"Not at all. She is the one insisting on a non-standard system, so accommodating that should be her job, not mine."

"Why did you just decide that now?" the boss asked.

"Oh, I was just reading about the new reporting regs and realized that Gladys will have to shift to the current system soon, anyway. I just couldn't see any reason to keep doing that irritating little job every day. It is more in her line of work, anyway."

In any kind of meeting or discussion, Floyd always had well-thought-out answers and reasons, so his response was no surprise in that respect. Before, though, he would never have thought of personalizing his action toward any woman.

Gladys blustered until she saw that she was approaching dangerous ground, then the meeting ended. It was a career turning point for Floyd, even though he hardly thought about the incident after that, except when Gladys glared at him.

-------

[Connie] Late August

Connie slid slowly into the driver's seat, favoring her painful hip. Her brother one year younger, sitting in the passenger seat, obviously noticed her discomfort, but just scowled. Another brother, three years younger was oblivious in the back seat.

Barely sixteen, Connie could not rejoice at getting her driver's license instantly upon reaching sixteen. It was already apparent that it was just another facet of the virtual slavery she lived in. Both younger brothers had baseball practices, so naturally, Connie had to drive them. Forget the fact that she had a long-scheduled birthday party for a friend. Forget that her older brother had absolutely nothing to prevent him from driving. Her protest had gotten her nothing but a hard swat on her butt from her father.

Her whole family seemed to go out of their way to make sure that Connie never had a chance to do anything that pleased her. Her mother was as bad as the rest. Even as a little girl, she could not get into the Cinderella story because she saw too much of herself. She had given up believing in the happy ending - at least until she was old enough to leave home.

Shaking her head to keep from thinking about her plight, she drove to the two different fields. At the second stop, she was surprised when the neighbor woman from three doors down, a teacher at the high school, slid into the passenger seat.

"Connie, drive where I tell you. I'm going to drop you off, pick up the boys when they're finished, take them home, and leave the car."

"Drop me off where?"

"You know who Lindsey Hall is, right?"

"Who doesn't?"

"Well, Lindsey has started a home for good kids in terrible home situations. You have been selected to be the first resident of Lindsey's Place."

"Ha! They'll never let me stay. Who would do all the housework?"

"Connie, they'd better learn to do it. They don't have any say, if you want to live there. It has all been worked out legally."

"But I don't have any of my stuff," Connie objected.

"There's a budget for a whole new wardrobe for you plus anything else you need. They even have a car for you to use. How much of your 'stuff' is really worth having, anyway?"

"The first resident, huh?" Connie mused.

"In fact, construction is still going on. I've met the people, and they're all great. Muriel is the housemother, and you'll love her."

"How did they choose me?"

"I saw that things were getting worse for you. I called the school counsellor, and..."

"In the summer - during vacation time?"

"She cares, Connie, just like I do. She knew about Lindsey's Place and got the ball rolling."

"Wow! It sounds too good to be true. How many girls will live there?"

"Not just girls. Boys, too. Eventually as many as twenty."

"Think I might get a chance to meet Lindsey Hall?"

"She is waiting for you right now."

They chatted for a few more minutes until they turned onto the Transformations site. "What is this place?" Connie asked. "It looks huge!"

"Lindsey's Place is connected to Transformations."

"Oh, that's right. I read that Lindsey volunteered there, and her boyfriend, Mark, works there. Oh! Will I have to be, uh, oh... ?"

"No, Connie, you won't have to be naked. It's connected, but separate.

"Here we are, Connie. After I drop off your brothers, I'm leaving immediately on a two-week vacation. That's why we had to set it up for tonight. It will take your parents a while to find out where you are, and you will have people protecting you against them. I've got a number and I'll call to see how you like it. Good luck!"

Lindsey was indeed waiting for Connie, making it hard for Connie to concentrate. She was too stunned to even say goodbye to her neighbor, who understood completely. It took a while for what she was seeing and who she was meeting to finally start to sink in for Connie.

The first indication of how radically her life had changed was near midnight when a female Plonske agent, named Teri, tossed her some car keys and said "Let's hit the Super Target and get you enough stuff to get through the night."

As Connie drove, Teri explained "I'm afraid you're going to see a lot of me the next few weeks. I don't want you to feel like a prisoner, or anything, but they're not sure just what your parents might try to do to get you back. Since you're the first one to move in, you're going to end up testing lots of things."

"And they really can't take me back? They can't get a court order or anything?" Connie asked in mixed worry and disbelief.

"Warren Magnuson is one of the most powerful men in the country. He's behind Transformations and Lindsey's Place. You can imagine how many lawyers he has and how good they are. Did you know that the Director of Children's Services for the county is on the board of Lindsey's? And a judge? No, Connie, your parents can't do a thing about it.

"Here's a funny twist. Legally, your parents can be billed for part of your support," Teri said.

"So, are you permanently assigned to guard the place?" Connie asked.

"For a while, yes. I'm volunteering some time, too. My life would be a lot different if there had been a place like this for me," Teri answered. "When school starts and there are more kids, other agents will be used from time to time."

-------

The last of the male residents had left the former men's section of the Tee just after the Farnsworths' abortive final visit. The process of converting the section into Lindsey's Place would take a while, but there would be livable space as it went on. Because of Muriel and Dale being hidden away from Mercedes Charles' investigators, they moved into the new space. Muriel was more than happy to start her new duties.

For the next week, Connie had a ball. She was a naturally energetic, extroverted person, despite her family's best efforts at making her meek and subservient. Because of her scullery maid status at home, she might have been excused for avoiding housework at all costs. Instead, she was fanatical about cleaning up after each construction task.

All of the Transformations employees took the time to come and meet her, and she got a unanimous thumbs up. As a gesture that she probably would not be able to repeat, Lindsey took Connie on a concert trip the next weekend. It presented a lot of firsts for Connie, who had had no chance for travel with her family.

As would become standard practice, Muriel insisted that Connie email her parents the first night, using a throw-away address. The message simply said that she had left of her own accord and would not be returning. It warned that even if they located her, they had no legal way to make her return.

In her usual thoughtful way, Julia arranged for Dale to work mostly days for Connie's first week or so. Given the girl's miserable experience with her three brothers, Julia wanted to do everything she could to show Connie that there were guys that she could enjoy living with, guys who respected her and treated her right. The management team knew that the first boy would be arriving very soon, and they did not want Connie to be afraid of him or mistrustful of him.

Dale understood his effect on girls, so he made sure that Muriel explained about Faith right away. In her near imprisonment, Connie had absolutely no chance to date. Her mother seemed paranoid about Connie even associating with boys.

Understandably, Connie was hugely curious about Transformations and what went on there. The management team had started with the idea that Lindsey's kids would be separated from the Tee and not aware of the Tee's policies and operation. Connie quickly showed how ridiculous that plan was. After some hurried discussion among the staff, Muriel and Dale and others who dropped in decided to 'tell it like it is'.

As she and Dale chatted with the girl on one of Connie's first evenings, Muriel almost had to laugh at how Connie kept bringing the topic back to the Tee and the nudity. Without consulting Dale, Muriel took a chance.

"Hey, there's nothing on TV. We can talk just a well in the pool or the hot tub. Come on," she told the young people. Muriel nodded at Dale and guessing her intent, he grinned.

"Yeah, let's," Connie agreed. "I'll get my suit on."

"Forget the suit," Muriel said. "Let's do like they do at the Tee - no suits allowed in the water." While Connie stood stunned, watching Dale remove the Tee uniform he still had on, Muriel added "When more kids move in, we won't be able to do this, so let's enjoy it while we can."

Keeping her brothers from getting looks at her naked body had been a major problem for Connie at home, since there had been no respect for her privacy. At first, she was frozen in fear at the thought of baring herself. Muriel picked up on that right away.

"You can wear your suit if you'd rather, Connie. I hope you don't mind if we don't." Of course, there was no way that Connie would 'chicken out', so the three were soon swimming and just relaxing in the pool. They moved to the hot tub for a while, sat on the pool chairs for a while, and just shared their stories. It almost blew Connie away when they just walked casually to the kitchen for a snack, keeping the conversation going.

Later, Muriel came into Connie's room to talk. "Are you OK with being naked like that?"

"God! Dale is ... he's..."

Laughing, Muriel said "I done good, didn't I. I assume you haven't seen many naked men in your life, right." Connie answered with a derisive snort. "They're trying to figure out how to 'liberate' the second resident and get him here. His name is Ted. When he gets here, we'll have to stick to the rules. Consider yourself lucky to have this chance."

"You got that right," Connie agreed. "Can we ... I mean... ?"

"Sure. Until Ted moves in. Some of the other staff might even join us."

Two nights later, when both Lindsey and Mark joined them skinny dipping, Connie could hardly think straight. Only her naturally strong, resilient personality kept her functional.

Before anyone could say anything, Connie told Lindsey "Don't worry, I would never say a word about this to anyone. I mean, who would believe me, anyway? I don't know what I could ever do, but if there is ever anything, anything at all ... I owe you so much!"

"Connie, just remember, I've been where you are and I understand the gratitude you're feeling. That's why this place exists. You're the first 'family member' here, and we couldn't have chosen better if we tried. Right now, you're the 'big sister' to everyone else who moves in. Just do everything you can to make sure this is a happy family, and we are more than even."

"I can do that. When does my first little brother get here?"



-------

Chapter 13

[Caz] Late August

It was through his close surveillance of the Reverend William Matthews that Caz became aware of Transformations. When Matthews began his harangues from the pulpit against Transformations, Caz was notified by his 'inside' contact and immediately sought to find out more. If Matthews was so vehemently against the organization, it might be something that Caz should support. Or perhaps, it could somehow aid Caz in his long-sought revenge - 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend'.

Because of the low profile that Caz had always kept, Frank Waxman knew nothing about him and was inclined to refuse the request for an appointment with Calloway. However, he first asked for a report on Carter Calloway and when he discovered the true nature of Caz's holdings, he decided that a meeting might be beneficial.

As had become his custom, Caz initiated the discussion. "Mr. Waxman, for reasons I am legally constrained from revealing, I have a great deal of interest in the Reverend Matthews. If he is so vehemently against Transformations, your operation must be something very beneficial. What can you tell me about it?"

Sensing that just referring Caz to the website and giving him the standard literature might be a bad move, Frank spent considerable time explaining the concept and reviewing the history to date.

Caz found the discussion fascinating, although he could not immediately see how it had any bearing on his plans. As happened at least daily, he could not prevent his mind from wandering to that awful day nearly seventeen years earlier.

-------

[Caz] Flashback: Seventeen years earlier

It was August and eighteen-year-old Carter Calloway was preparing to depart for the state university where he had won a full academic scholarship. It was hard to think about leaving all of the fall farm work to his dad, but there was no negotiating that point with his parents. Their farm did quite well, and his dad assured him that he could afford to hire two men to do Carter's usual jobs.

All of his joyous plans ended with a knock at the door. Carter was the closest and he opened it. There stood the county sheriff with two other men that Carter did not recognize. "Carter Calloway," the sheriff intoned, "I have a warrant for your arrest for the rape of Rachel Matthews."

"Wh ... who?" was all Carter could think to stammer as his mother gasped and his father roared "What the hell!?"

"Rachel Matthews," the sheriff repeated.

"I barely know her," Carter protested, "and she's only ... only fifteen!"

"Fourteen," the sheriff corrected. "The fact that you impregnated her makes it statutory rape."

"He hasn't raped anyone!" Carter's mother shrieked, "He hardly even dates!"

"We have Miss Matthews' sworn statement that you are the only boy she has been intimate with," the sheriff countered.

"I have never even been alone with her!" Carter protested. "This is ridiculous! How can she swear to something that never happened?"

"We also have sworn statements from two adults who chaperoned the Memorial Day party at the church where the rape occurred," one of the other men, who turned out to be the county DA, added.

"Party! Hah!" Carter shouted. "I left that harangue after an hour, before they even served food."

"Not according to the sworn statements we have on file. You took the girl into one of the Sunday School rooms."

"How many 'good Christians' has the 'good Reverend' convinced to commit perjury for him?" Carter's father asked scornfully.

Their county was as close to a theocracy as existed anywhere in the country at that time. An overwhelming percentage of the voters in the sparsely populated farming county were members of Matthews' rabidly fundamentalist church. The Calloways, nominal Catholics but actually unchurched, were among the few 'non-believing' families in their school district. The Memorial Day party was one of the few times Carter had been in the church and it was mainly because it was to honor the high school graduates.

"Reverend Matthews has magnanimously offered you an alternative to prison, Young Man," the third man said. He turned out to be a lawyer for Matthews. "If you sign this agreement to provide child support until the unborn child is eighteen, the Reverend will drop the rape charges and your name will never become public."

"So this is simple extortion and you officers of the court are accomplices," Carter's dad said. The DA managed to flush in some embarrassment. The sheriff just looked grim and the lawyer was totally expressionless.

"I won't sign," Carter insisted. Then he dramatically held out his hands to be cuffed. "If I sign that, it's admitting to something I did not do. Even in the Reverend's county, the truth must count for something."

"The only truth that matters is the evidence that I have in hand," the sheriff declared, making no move to cuff Carter. "Our little jail is full. I will have to take you to Junction City to the big jail there. They handle our overflow. I need to warn you that prisoners in lockup do not take kindly to child molesters."

"I suppose you have someone already lined up to rape him, don't you?" Carter's dad snarled angrily. As Mrs. Calloway shrieked, the sheriff looked past them at the blank wall.

"I think I see what's happening," Carter said with amazing calm. "Reverend Matthews raped and impregnated his own daughter. He needs someone to blame it on, so he chose me. Since we are not in his church, we're fair game and won't cost him any members or any offering money. You two," he pointed at the sheriff and the DA, "are elected officials and he will cost you your jobs if you don't go along. Supposedly, you're both Christians and members of his church. How do you square that?"

"You can't make accusations like that!" the sheriff shouted.

"Why not?" Carter spat back. "He's making accusations and making people perjure themselves. You all know it."

"Are you going to sign, or not?" the sheriff demanded, eager to change the subject.

"Not a chance!" Carter said firmly.

A long silence after Carter's declaration was broken by the lawyer. "There is a third alternative. You could marry the girl. Her parents will sign permission."

Carter's mother was a complete mess by that time, sobbing in a chair. Carter just stared at the lawyer without saying a thing. His dad was considering getting the shotgun out of the closet and driving the men off. The situation was surreal.

"I will not admit to something I did not do," Carter hissed. "I have never been with her or any other girl. Sooner or later it will be proven that I am not the father."

"And you're willing to go to prison?" the DA demanded.

"Unlike you good Christians, the truth and my reputation mean something," Carter declared grimly, once again holding out his hands for the cuffs, despite his mother's screams.

Rather than handcuffs, the sheriff said to the lawyer "Go. Leave those papers." Showing some expression for the first time, the lawyer turned to leave. As he went out the door, the DA turned to join him. At that point, the sheriff drew his gun. "I'm not doing this alone. You stay."

"Now, we've offered you folks a way out of this but you're too stubborn to take it. I will have to shoot the rapist for resisting arrest." With one more scream, Carter's mother fainted at those words.

This was a desperate gamble by the sheriff. He had five kids and a pile of debt. If he lost this job, they were in big trouble. If he crossed the Reverend, there would be no other work for him anywhere near by. He actually felt for the kid and there was no way he would actually shoot him. It was a simple matter of his family versus someone else's family. God would have to forgive that, wouldn't He? His challenge was to make these people believe that he would shoot the kid.

Carter's dad was as angry as he had ever been, but his protective instincts kept his temper in check. He could see that they were in a hopeless situation. He could not let Carter be taken to jail. There was no doubt what would happen to him there.

Picking up the papers, Carter's dad gasped and said "That's more money than we make off of this farm! It doesn't cost that much to support a child!"

"Not my problem," the sheriff declared. "What's it going to be? Do I shoot him, or does he sign?"

In the space of about ten minutes, Carter's life changed irrevocably. Despite the angry reaction from the sheriff and the DA, using an indelible pen, below his signature on the extortion agreement he wrote 'Be sure your sin will find you out'.

-------

The following morning, Carter's family was still in deep shock when the lawyer appeared at the door. This time, his dad opened it, shotgun in hand. In his anger, he almost used it on the lawyer.

"Wait! Wait! Please!" the lawyer pled. "I resigned from being the Reverend's attorney. Let me talk to you, please!"

After a lot of blustering and more pleading, the lawyer was seated and talking to all of them. "I don't have much time. I sent my family away last night, and I am leaving immediately. I honestly believed the charges when I came here last night."

"That's ridiculous!" Carter's dad exclaimed. "No intelligent person could swallow something like that!"

"As soon as Carter said that the Reverend raped his own daughter, I just knew it was true. It explained a number of other things."

"So you're here for forgiveness? Or what?" Carter's dad demanded.

"I realize that is too much to expect. Believe it or not, I am an honest and ethical attorney. I am very limited in what I can do to help you, since I was the Reverend's attorney. I want to offer any help I can give without violating my code of ethics."

At that point Carter spoke. His voice sounded like something entirely different from the loving son and top student that just hours before had been so enthusiastic about his future. "Someday," Carter said in a way that chilled everyone, "I will bring down the Reverend. I will have my revenge. It has become the main purpose of my life. Right now, you are included in that revenge. If you truly want to help rather than suffer the consequences, you must prove it right now, and to hell with your ethics. You ignored them last night. Ignore them now, or leave and I will make you sorry later!"

Mouth agape at the intensity of the boy's words, the lawyer just nodded. "I want the names of everyone who knows what was done: the two bogus witnesses; anyone in the sheriff's or DA's office who knew; the judge; any church officers or members who knew. Dad, get him a paper and pen."

When the list was complete, Carter's dad asked the lawyer, with tears in his eyes "Where are you headed?" When the lawyer told him a city two states away, Carter's dad said "Good. Take Carter with you and help him get situated. I don't think he should stay in this state."

-------

College was out of the question. It was months before the first payment was due, but Carter's parents had already put the farm up for sale. Carter was desperately hoping to somehow earn enough to keep them on the farm, but that seemed impossible. He later learned that there was no way his folks could continue to live near the Reverend after what he had done, anyway.

With just a high school diploma, the best Carter could find in his new city was a grocery store job. He only got that because he had earned several thousand dollars toward college working in the one sizable market back home during the times when there was no farm work.

His declaration of revenge that morning had been no idle, emotional response. With every passing day, he turned more and more into a monomaniacal monster, at least inwardly. His youth was gone, for all practical purposes. He added a second job, but the amount he was able to contribute toward the payments was distressingly small.

His second job was at night at a hotel. It was there that he encountered a meeting held by a network marketing, or mulit-level marketing (MLM) company. Many times, he had heard such businesses derided as scams, but he listened to the people who told of the incomes they had accumulated. Intrigued, he did some research. He discovered that about 5% of people who made an honest, long-term effort at MLM made a living from it, and 1-2% became wealthy. A smaller percentage became extremely wealthy.

After hanging around the next few scheduled meetings, he decided that this might be his best chance at accumulating wealth rapidly, wealth that could make his extortion payments bearable or even insignificant. The meetings were mostly motivational, proclaiming that anyone who really wanted it and was willing to pay the price could make it big. There certainly was no one more motivated than he was. Some more research uncovered what he thought was a better company to join, and shortly, he was a fixture at a different set of meetings.

Carter's driving desire for revenge was refocused, at least temporarily, on breaking all previous records for accumulating wealth through network marketing. He faced one enormous problem, though. He had no 'hot' or 'warm' market to help him get started. In his new city, he had no close friends and very few people with whom he even had a business connection.

What he did have was that enormous motivation. Another thing that had changed dramatically was the way that he dealt with people. Always engaging but rather unassuming, Carter was now able to approach anyone and use all of his persuasive charm unashamedly. Almost overnight, he had become hardened. When dealing with people, all he thought about was that he needed that person's agreement and compliance to achieve his goal - to get his revenge.

He had done some very intensive study of MLM in a short time. He grasped the concept quickly and he saw the potential. The odds against success did not daunt him. He was confident that he would be one of the small percentage that succeeded. Why was he so sure? Because he HAD to succeed. This had become his vehicle.

A common theme in the meetings was that there was no selling required - just inform people about the product and the opportunity and they will decide. Somehow, that did not ring true to Carter, and he spent the first several months of his MLM career studying sales techniques and sales theory for all he was worth. The other thing he did was to talk to every successful person in his company that he could reach and learn whatever he could from them. Particularly because he was dealing only with a 'cold' market, Carter took to heart the admonition to 'Say less and say it more often'.

He had not turned into some kind of insensitive jerk, though, mercilessly using people. One of the least-understood principles of MLM was that a person only succeeded by bringing other people into the business and helping them to succeed.

He had been gone from home only a few months when he had approached his parents about signing up with his chosen company. They were still reeling from what had been done to him and they did not react well to his suggestion, having the common negative perception of MLM. When Carter explained that he wanted them to sign up first and he would join under them, they were confused and even more reluctant. He had not yet signed up himself, and, of course, he had not made his first dime.

In their anguish over what had happened to him, though, they could not refuse him. The fee was modest, and they went along to humor him. All the while, they bemoaned that the terrible thing done to him and caused him to chase after fantasies, as they saw it.

Carter had made a personal vow that his parents would never have to pay a cent of the twenty-five hundred a month extortion payments. He was living in the least expensive place he could find, traveling by bus or by foot, and subsisting on whatever expired food was made available to the employees of the market. Every dollar was joining what he had saved.

More than just shielding them from the payments, though, he wanted them to benefit from his anticipated success. They were victims, also, emotionally and physically. They were trying to sell the farm and would be facing a whole different life, one that he was determined would be a good life. Reverend Matthews was NOT going to steal everything from all of their futures.

Every successful person can point to at least one period in their life when they worked themselves to the limit. The next several months were that period for Carter. He went to his jobs, ate a little, slept very little, and talked to people. Every person that he could get to listen heard about the products and the opportunity. He became hardened to rejection and learned to leave people with a warm smile and a 'thank you' for at least listening. One of his largest expenditures was business cards, and another was his phone bill. He used three-way calls heavily. They were the backbone of the business for those who had 'made it'. He was determined to follow the paths of the successful ones as closely as possible.

The first people to join under him took a frustratingly long time. When it came time to make the support payments, he very nearly starved in his determination to make them completely on his own. His parents kept insisting that they would help him, but he was adamant that none of their money would be used. They were wise enough to sense how critical this was to him, and just hoped that he could somehow pull through. The typical motherly care packages were more welcome and more badly needed than he would ever let her know.

Literally days before his bank account was to yield up its last dollar, he found his first two 'stars' almost simultaneously. His bonuses from their entry fees kept him afloat for an extra week or two, and both of them jumped into the business with huge enthusiasm and admirable skill. These were not the first people he had sponsored, but there was always that percentage to fight against. In most respects, he was fortunate to find the two relatively quickly.

Although he did not stop prospecting for new people, for the first time, he was able to work with someone below him who was serious. The real money in the business came from overrides on the activity of those below him, and in about two months, his account had stabilized and was beginning to grow steadily. Every time a support payment was due for the next four to six months, there seemed to be just enough in the bank to cover it.

From then on, it was all upward. Over the next two years, Carter rose steadily through the fairly standard MLM levels of 'bronze', 'silver', 'gold', and 'platinum'...

Because of FTC rules, participants in MLM must always do some minimum level of business before they can benefit from the efforts of those below them. His parents, having been almost forced by Carter to join and sponsor him, did nothing with the business at first. He took it upon himself to do in their name the minimum necessary to maintain their position above him. When the farm finally sold, though, he was able to convince them to do what was needed to 'piggy-back' on his success, and they soon began enjoying unexpected income of their own.

Within a year and a half of that fateful night, Carter was already recognized as a star in his company. He was traveling the country promoting the company and relating his own success story at rally after rally. Without naming names, he told what his motivation was. He stated that he had been blackmailed into making monthly payments for the next twenty years. He used twenty years to prevent suspicion of child support, an he never mentioned rape, pregnancy, or child support.

MLM rallies are rather notorious for their dependence on 'celebrities'. With his youth, his engaging personality, his story of the blackmail, his determination not to impact his parents, and his close call with destitution, he usually had the audience in the palm of his hand.

At a national rally, the company's VP of Sales, when introducing Carter, said 'Please welcome the company's newest and youngest ever Gold Director, Carter 'CAZ' Calloway'. Carter had no idea the man was going to say that, and he was not particularly happy about it. However, the name stuck. It was perfect for the kind of star status that he was achieving. It would help the business, that would speed his revenge, so 'Caz' it was from then on.

-------

Although Carter adhered to the letter of the agreement he had signed, the extortion never moved from the front of his mind. Even when his income grew to multiples of what he could ever have expected at his age even with a college degree, his obsession with revenge only strengthened.

As soon as he was making enough to comfortably cover the extortion payments, his next expenditure was for legal counsel. His parents had moved to town by that point and he lived with them to save money. They were not making nearly as much as he was by then, so together they rented a modest house.

By rather blindly following recommendations, Carter ended up with the name of Marty Granville. He did not retain her immediately, but again through referrals, he found out who a few of her clients were. After their unanimous recommendations, he engaged her.

It took several hours of visits to bring Marty up to date on his situation. Even that early in her career, Marty was again amazed at how fortunate she was to keep encountering good people who were in difficult situations, often not of their own making.

"I've done a little research," Marty told him a few weeks after their first meeting. "The consensus is that it would be futile to attempt any action in your former home county. Reverend Matthews has extremely strong control over everything that happens there.

"That is only one of your problems. Even if you could prove that William Matthews, Jr. is not your son, there is no way to prove that you did not rape Rachel Matthews. There are enough witnesses to put you in serious legal trouble. Without parental approval, you cannot even obtain a legal blood sample to test the paternity of the child."

"And I could never get a legal sample of the Reverend's blood, either," Carter mused. "Did you find out who is listed as the father on the birth certificate?"

"You are listed as the father of of William Cyrus Matthews. I suspect they would never have gotten even their own judge to sign the warrant and authorize the support agreement if they had not listed you."

"I sense that you are about to tell me there is nothing I can do," Carter said in resignation.

"I don't want to seem to dabble in psychology, but wouldn't you be happier if you could just got past this. It looks like you are on your way to being very comfortable. You can still get the education you were robbed of."

"Ms. Granville, that is something I just can't do, and I don't see any way that my feelings on the subject will ever change. Tell me: what if we think long term? Are there some steps I could take now that would prove valuable some time in the future?"

"I suppose. But what could change in the future?" Marty asked.

"Well, for one thing, some of the 'witnesses' might acquire a conscience and change their stories. When the boy reaches sixteen, he can authorize his own DNA sample. At that point, I can at least prove that I am not the father."

"Fifteen years! You're already thinking how you can get revenge in fifteen years? Remember, the rape charge still stands if the agreement is violated. You would be taking a terrible risk."

"You have to understand, Ms. Granville. I was brought up to value the truth and the law and live by both of them. What was done to me, to us, says that neither of the key values in my life mean anything. I can't accept that. I can't tolerate it. I can't let anyone do that to me.

"I can see that before long, the money will not be an issue. The truth will still mean as much to me. Now that I've said that, is there anything that should be done?"

"Depositions and polygraphs," Marty said. "All three of you should be deposed and take the tests. I suggest multiple polygraphs. The results should be deposited in several places, including the DA's office in your former county. If possible, an officer of that county should be present for the depositions."

"I suppose that means we have to go back there," Carter said. "Can those depositions be done without violating the signed agreement?"

Marty had to think about that. "If you will authorize the expense, I will go and talk to the judge that signed the agreement. Even if he does not allow you to be deposed there, it will be a 'shot across the bow' of sorts."

"My talking to you does not violate the agreement, does it?"

"No. Legal counsel is by law excluded from any type of gag order."

Thus it was that over a period of several weeks, all of the depositions and polygraphs were taken and the results archived with several legal agencies.

Marty's visit with Reverend Matthews' judge would always rank among the most interesting experiences of her career. Realizing the potential risk of such an encounter, she took some extreme steps. First, she obtained a ruling from a federal district judge that her involvement as counsel for the Calloways did indeed exempt her from the terms of the agreement. For the actual trip, she engaged two security agents with valid carry permits in that state to accompany her.

After much intense discussion, Marty was convinced to recount to the judge the events at the house exactly. That included Carter's accusation that the Reverend had impregnated his own daughter. The expressed intent of her visit was to obtain the judge's permission to have the Calloways deposed before one or more officers of the judge's court and to have those depositions filed in court records. That move would eliminate any statute of limitations considerations on the extortion, or on the incest and statutory rape by the Reverend, for that matter.

Having little hope that permission for the depositions would be granted, Marty's real objective was to plant seeds of doubt and dissension among the perpetrators. It was somewhat of a surprise to her that the meeting request was granted. She submitted a request letter ahead of time, mentioning only the desire to have the Calloways deposed before officers of that court.

Once admitted to the judge's chambers, she gave him copies of the depositions that had already been taken, along with letters from the three polygraph services attesting to the veracity of the key claims in the depositions.

She actually felt great glee watching the judge read the precis of Caz's deposition, the first thing he saw. His initial response was predictable. "Mr. Calloway has broken the provisions of the agreement. I will issue a warrant for his arrest and begin the extradition process."

"No, Your Honor, those provisions have not been broken. Here is a notarized opinion from a U. S. District Court judge upholding the exemption of legal counsel from such gag orders."

Next, the judge chose one of the paths that Marty had anticipated. He carefully protected himself. "I issued a warrant based on credible and sufficient evidence of a crime. I also authorized what I consider to be a magnanimous offer by the father of the victim to allow the perpetrator to avoid trial and imprisonment."

"Then, because there is overwhelming indication that you were presented with false evidence in what is essentially a simple extortion, it would be to your benefit to have all pertinent facts on official record in your court, would it not?"

"I do not see that you have any evidence with the weight of that supporting the rape charge," he intoned.

"You do not consider three testimonies, supported my multiple polygraphs, detailing the tactics used to force Mr. Calloway to sign to be important evidence?"

"Ms. Granville, you know as well as I do that those polygraphs carry no legal force."

"Ah, but in a civil suit for recovery of the extorted funds, plus interest and treble damages, they will carry a great deal of weight. Along with the failed paternity test results, once obtained, they will be another key item to present to the jury."

"If a civil suit is brought, the agreement will be violated and the rape charge will be re-instated."

"Of course, but with proof that Mr. Calloway is not the father, will the witnesses stay with their perjury?"

"Do you honestly believe Mr. Calloway would take that risk?" the judge demanded.

"Your Honor, unlike a number of other people involved in this travesty of justice, Mr. Calloway has a fanatical devotion to the truth. I am convinced that even if it takes many years, he will obtain the necessary evidence to prove that he is not the father. At that point, I believe he will take the risk of a trial."

"But he cannot obtain legally admissible evidence without the permission of of the mother of the child."

"Until the child is sixteen, that is," Marty corrected.

"He would wait that long?" the judge asked in shock.

"Absolutely. Now, back to the reason for my visit. Will you assign an officer of your court to take the depositions?"

"No, I cannot do that. You have wasted your time, Ms. Granville."

"Oh, I doubt that very much, Your Honor. My client has instructed me to tell you this. Let the conspirators, and that includes you, know that anyone who comes clean in the next month will gain amnesty."

"Amnesty! That's pretty big talk for what, a twenty-year old kid."

"Don't be fooled, your honor. Carter is on his way to becoming a very rich young man. There is only one thing he intends to spend his wealth on."

"That sounds very much like a threat!"

"No sir, Your Honor. It is a courtesy from one officer of the court to another, making you aware that everything you value could be lost by maintaining this travesty of justice."

-------

The judge did pass on the offer of amnesty, but there were no takers. Neither the DA nor the sheriff took any threat seriously, probably because the judge presented it in a joking fashion. No one else even heard about Marty's visit. Reverend Matthews refused to discuss anything about the case, leaving it all to his lawyers.

"I can't get involved in something like that!" Marty insisted when Carter scheduled an appointment to talk about ways of taking out his revenge.

"OK, let's make this just an intellectual discussion. Marty, you and my parents are the only people I trust. You know that I will find out what I need to know somewhere. With you, it will be safe."

Marty's first and strongest inclination was to have nothing to do with Carter's revenge attempts. She knew that he would likely end up doing something illegal. She did not want to take that risk herself, but it also saddened her to see her client step across a line that he had always revered.

"Let me just ask you this," Carter said in a conciliatory tone. "What kinds of things can cause a lawyer, or a judge, to be disbarred?"

Sucking in her breath at the meaning of Carter's question, Marty thought carefully before answering. "There are a number of irregularities that can cost a license to practice. Probably at the top of the list is accepting a bribe."

"Thank you, Marty. I know you did not want to answer that and I understand why. Let me assure you that it is my hope to find a way to destroy those men without having to violate a law. How about if I let you know when and if I have to cross that line and you can withdraw? With that understanding, will you help me to get the information I need?"

"I don't see how you can pull that off," Marty said. "I will stick with you. I think you really need my protection, now."

"I will be forever grateful. First of all, will you arrange for complete dossiers on everyone one on the list I got from that lawyer? There's nothing illegal about that, is there?"

"No, that does not violate any laws."

"Good. Then, I need someone to monitor the court docket in that county. I want to know all cases that the DA works on before that judge. That is all public record, is it not?"

"Not exactly, but it can be obtained legally. Are you hoping to catch them in some kind of violation and blow the whistle? That might never happen."

"What if I could, without breaking a law, create the appearance of a violation and blow the whistle?" he asked.

"How will you do that?" she asked back.

"Money. Suppose they were each given a substantial, anonymous gift at a time that looked very suspicious because of a decision they had worked out together?"

"You're talking quite a bit of money to make that a disbarment offense."

"You must realize by now, Marty, that all of the money I hope to make has no other significant purpose to me."

"You have to realize that in that sleepy little county, not much controversial happens in court," she warned.

"So it takes a while for just the right opportunity. I still have, what, fourteen years before the grand finale," he responded.

"If you fake bribery, someone innocent on the other side could be accused of the bribe. You wouldn't want that, would you? I could not be associated with it, I know."

"Good point. Some time, the perfect case will come up."

"Carter, I don't have to tell you that I am very uncomfortable about this whole business. Your idea of suspiciously timed anonymous gifts is brilliant, though, and I doubt that any charges could be brought, even if your role was discovered. Unless it could be shown that you had a stake in the actual decision.

"I am genuinely outraged at what was done to you, and any legally realized revenge you can achieve would thrill me. Still..."

"Please, Marty, don't push yourself beyond what you believe is right. I will understand if you have to withdraw. First, though, how do I set up a bank account from which a deposit cannot be traced?"

It took nine months, but miraculously, the perfect case appeared. A wealthy entrepreneur with a very shady record was suing for foreclosure on three area farms. Although there was, of course, no proof, he appeared to have used sabotage to cause the farmers enough losses to put them in default. Given that bit of intelligence, Carter decided that he could include the sheriff in the 'bribery' scandal, as well. The implication would be that the sheriff ignored or covered up evidence of vandalism and destruction of property.

There was one unfortunate wrinkle. One of the farmers' wives had given false testimony against Carter regarding his actions at the party. He had to console himself that he was taking care of the highest priority targets first.

Putting away every possible dollar, Carter had set up a Carribean account - actually two of them. The second was completely anonymous and not connected to him in any way. He had paid a service to manually withdraw cash from his main account, hand-carry it to the other bank, and deposit it in the completely blind account. That was where the 'bribe' money would come from.

There was one step that Carter did not let Marty know about. There was no way he should have known the three men's account numbers, but of course, any competent investigator could get that. He paid for that separately.

The day the foreclosure decision was handed down, Carter made electronic deposits into the three accounts. From Marty, he had learned who the proper investigative authorities were, and they received telephone messages tipping them off. The calls came from people on the street using pay phones. Carter, in disguise, paid them to call the numbers and read a script.

As Carter had hoped, the three men were in indefensible positions. Four men, actually, but the inclusion of the rapacious developer did not bother Carter at all. Before long, all three had lost their jobs and the two lawyers were disbarred.

Carter had one other brainstorm. He sent an agent to pay off the mortgages, crop loans, and equipment loans of two of the affected farmers, skipping the one whose wife had testified against him. The foreclosures had been invalidated upon discovery of the 'bribery' scandal. That move made him feel that he had gotten some revenge on the perjurer.

-------

As it was his first experience of revenge, Carter was not prepared for the lack of euphoria that he felt afterwards. He blamed it on the fact that the major villain was still to be dealt with.

His satisfaction was further dampened when a very distraught former neighbor woman showed up at the house one evening. He still lived rather modestly with his parents, a move that had allowed him to accumulate enough cash to pull off his revenge.

"I know you were behind those men losing their jobs, Carter, and I know why. I'm here to beg you to help us out like you did the other farmers," the woman said.

"But you lied! You helped to screw up my life!" Carter said angrily. "You knew I left that party early, didn't you?"

"Yes, I knew that," she admitted. "But I believed Reverend Matthews. He assured me that you had done it, even if it wasn't that night. He said we needed the evidence to make sure you were punished for what you did."

"And you believed I could do something like that?" Carter demanded.

"I ... I didn't think so. But you weren't a believer, and the Reverend said you could ... you could..." The woman ran out of words at that point.

"I was a child of the Devil, and I could do any evil thing, right? And you bought that?"

"You know about our little girl," the woman sobbed. "The church people took turns helping with her when we had to work. We couldn't get by without that help."

"He threatened that no one would help any more?"

"Not ... not ... I knew that's what he meant."

"I still don't know why you expect me to help you now?" Carter said grimly.

"Don't help me. I know I don't deserve it. I'll go away and live with my sister. My husband and little girl didn't do anything wrong. We're almost broke. If we can't afford medical care, she'll ... she'll just die. Do it for her."

Carter felt like a deflated balloon. He was still sitting there in a daze when his mother pulled him up and led him to the other room. "You have to realize, Honey, that when a mother is protecting her child, there is only one standard of right or wrong. This woman did a terrible thing, but I think she was doing it for her child. We've known her for a long time. She's always lived what Matthews preaches. Can you help her?"

There really was no choice once the little girl was brought into it, as far as Carter was concerned. His revenge never envisioned collateral damage. Even the developer sucked into the bribery mess was far from innocent. Carter was very tempted to tell the woman the real story, but he held off. She still needed the support of her fellow church members.

After the woman left, his mother was not done. "Carter, Honey. What about the sheriff's family? His wife is a sweety and there are five kids."

"You're telling me that I'm punishing people who don't deserve it, right?"

Two days later, a female agent hired by Marty knocked on the former sheriff's door when he was out. A child answered and the agent asked to speak to their mother. "I have a message for you and something to give you," the agent said.

"A message? From whom?"

"I honestly do not know, Ma'am. I was just hired to come here, talk to you, and make a delivery."

"What's the message?" the wife asked wearily.

"Your husband is not guilty of the bribery charge that cost him his job. However, he IS guilty of a very serious offense a few years ago that destroyed someone's life."

"So ... so losing his job is someone's revenge?"

"Ma'am, I do not know. I memorized the message I was to give. That's all I have. There is more. The person your husband tried to destroy has no desire to see you and your children suffer. Here is a checkbook. Deposits will be made every month under two conditions."

"Con ... conditions?"

"Yes. Your husband must never know about the checkbook. Also, do not let him know that you know of his innocence in the bribery. Will you agree to those conditions?"

"Anything! We're down to our last few dollars!"

Thus, Carter took on an unexpected support burden that was to last for almost a year until the former sheriff found an industrial security job in a larger city.

About three months after sending the message and the checkbook, Carter got a phone call from the sheriff's wife. "I can't thank you for ruining my husband's career," she said. "I can express my shame for what he did to you. I can also thank you for thinking of my children when things were desperate.

"My husband told me what he did to you, and it just doesn't seem like the man I know and married. I guess he saw it as our family or yours. Now, he has lost, anyway. You realize that I can never admit what I know to anyone else, don't you?"

"Of course, I understand that. It would result in criminal charges."

"Someday, I believe the truth will come out."

"You're right," Carter admitted. "It has become my main purpose in life."

"Will you try to see my husband put in jail, then?"

"Ma'am, I have had a couple of disturbing lessons on the impact of my revenge on innocent people. I believe that from now on, I will only focus on Reverend Matthews."

"Would you answer one question, Mr. Calloway?" the woman asked. "Did Reverend Matthews himself do it?"

"Ma'am, if your husband told you about the agreement, you know the risk I would take answering that question. I'm sorry. I can't comment."

Carter had told the truth about focusing only on Matthews from then on. If anything, seeing how many other lives had been disrupted by the conspiracy had made him even more determined to bring down the Reverend.



-------

Chapter 14



His parents and Marty were not the only people who cared about Caz. He had become one of those very successful people whose success almost no one begrudged. His long-burning hatred had been unable to kill the basic respect and care for people that had been a trademark of young Carter Calloway.

Within his MLM company, there were literally hundreds of people who thought he walked on water. From the many under him who had earned enough extra to stave off bankruptcy, to those who had substantially augmented their income, to the few who had become multi-millionaires, all gave him credit. He had a reputation for never turning down a three-way call request, and was now the most sought-after voice for conference calls and rallies. Even the majority who came into the business with high hopes but went nowhere did not seem to blame him. An expert would have said he had the makings of a politician.

He and his parents lived well below the standard that their incomes could have supported. It probably all went back to the fateful night, but they did not seem to want anything to do with ostentation or hype. That characteristic did much to endear him to those under him, as well.

There were some women who cared what happened to Caz. There had been no strong love interest, but there had been several dating companions and three relationships that lasted for a number of months. He seemed to have a nose for gold-diggers and they never got a nod. In a couple of cases where they snuck through his defenses, his mother sounded the alarm quickly and loudly and he listened.

With his money and popularity, his bed need never have been empty. Still, over the first ten years since the fateful night, he had only four sexual partners and the nights sleeping alone far outnumbered those when he shared a bed. In the earlier years, there was no time, money, or energy for dating. In the middle years, the necessary connection just did not happen, perhaps still due to his driving need for revenge. In the later years, after his hatred for Rachel died, his growing fascination with her seemed to diminish the appeal of other women.

It was after the Reverend moved to town and after he discovered Rachel's true status that Caz decided that it was time to get his college degree. He was extremely busy with the usual round of rallies for the MLM business, plus he took a very active role in managing his own investments. Taking the time for traditional college classes did not seem to make sense to him. Instead, he enrolled online at the University of Phoenix. He set up his long range schedule so that he would complete his MBA degree on William, Jr.'s sixteenth birthday.

That birthday was significant to Caz because he had chosen it as the start of his full-scale revenge attack. On that date, the boy, who demanded to be called Cy outside of his grandfather's presence, could voluntarily give a legal sample for DNA testing.

With legal proof in hand that he was not Cy's father, Caz would risk the bogus rape charge. With the kind of legal talent that he could afford, he was confident that any attempt to try him would only result in the final proof of the Reverend's incestuous rape. His desire for revenge was so strong that even the humiliation of possible arrest and trial did not deter him.

-------

[Caz] Present day, Late August

Pulling his concentration back from his oft-repeated reverie to his conversation with Frank Waxman about Transformations, Caz attempted to cover his own lapse of attention by redirecting the conversation. "Didn't I read that Lindsey Hall, that country star, was associated with you in some way?"

"That's right," Frank agreed and briefly recounted Lindsey's history with the Tee. "In fact, she has helped us launch a new venture called Lindsey's Place. It is a group home for good kids living in intolerable family situations, just like she once was."

Caz managed to mask his unavoidable excitement at that revelation. The barrage of questions over the next several minutes, however, let Frank know that Caz's interest was far beyond just intellectual.

After determining that Lindsey's Place was a perfect vehicle to assist in his revenge program, Caz said "I am legally prevented from revealing my exact reasons for this request. Would you enroll William Matthews, Jr. in Lindsey's Place if I paid his fees?"

-------

"I almost didn't bring up this request because I am afraid it would look too much like some kind of vendatta?" Frank Waxman objected as he, his wife Julia, Paul Ventri, and Gerald Magnuson met a few hours after Frank's conversation with Caz Calloway.

"Probably," Gerald answered, "but I don't know that that is a bad thing. He was one of the most strident, you know. It's a paying resident, one of too few we have encountered."

"But we don't want the image of striking back, of being punitive, do we?" Frank insisted.

"Honey," Julia responded, "I think you have very valid concerns. They're not the overriding issues, though. We've got a brilliant young man who's life could very well be warped by the straight jacket he lives in."

"I don't mean to seem insensitive, Hon," Frank said. "I'm just afraid that it will look like we are targeting Matthews because of his stand against us."

"Let me repeat," Gerald said. "I, for one, don't mind being seen as fighting back, of being punitive. We are on solid ground here, legally and morally. There is value in looking like a dangerous target for would-be enemies."

"Apparently, it will be difficult to even find a way to make an offer to the boy," Frank said. "Calloway asked that we leave that problem to him."

"Why do you think Calloway is so interested in the boy?" Paul asked.

"My guess is that he is the biological father," Julia answered.

"If that's true, why doesn't he just get the boy out of there?" Frank asked. That met with shrugs from all of the others. "All right, I'm willing to let Calloway make the offer."

-------

[Ted] Early September

Back in May, at the meeting with county officials and others when the Lindsey's concept was discussed, the lawyer for the county had said that he wanted his neighbors' boy to be the first resident. Connie had beaten the boy, but the lawyer was still working to get the boy out of his tough situation.

Ted's situation was not like Connie's. Where she was treated like a slave rather than a daughter, Ted was pampered but mindlessly restricted. Where Connie owned almost nothing worth taking with her, Ted lacked for little materially.

Ted's parents, particularly his mother, watched him and monitored him the way most parents would a four-year-old. All of the attempts at gaining more freedom were met with wailing, crying recitations of the fearful things that could happen to him. That would always be followed by screaming accusations of ingratitude and lack of appreciation of all they had done for him.

Obviously, Ted was an only child. Just as obviously, his mother was not completely whole mentally. His moving out would quite likely trigger a serious psychological crisis for her. The staff and the board had discussed that problem extensively. The consensus was that Ted's life was being seriously warped by the problems and that he should not be made to suffer for his mother's neuroses.

The physical challenge of getting Ted away from the house took some thought and investigation. The Internet was the key. It was Ted's avenue of independence. He had to restrict the time he spent online to avoid too much scrutiny. His parents had heard all of the scare stories about the Net, but they were not technically knowledgeable enough to implement key trackers or other such restrictive measures.

For his own protection, to preserve his right to go online, Ted had his computer set up in an open, well-traveled part of the house. That way, his parents could feel that they knew what he was doing. It was Mark who came up with a way to pop up very small directed messages on Ted's home page. The process took several days after the first contact.

The next challenge was convincing Ted that he should leave. The first step was finding out from Ted when was the safest time to communicate. Then, the process of convincing started. Ted was just fifteen, so the legal ground was less solid, but all of the investigation and discussions indicated that he was an ideal candidate.

Even a few months earlier, Ted could not have been enticed away. His 'prison' was, after all, rather a comfortable one. The swing factor was a girl his age moving in two houses away. That triggered the belated eruption of his sexual urges. When his parents tried to put out that fire in their usual smothering fashion, his feelings toward them deteriorated rapidly. The restrictions that had always been there suddenly were not at all offset by the comforts, as they had been 'pre-awareness'.

The Net exchanges with Ted changed fairly quickly from 'if' to 'how', 'when', and particularly 'what can I bring?' The testosterone invasion seemed to have unleashed some unsuspected inventiveness, also. By the time the pickup was made at 2am one morning, Ted had three suitcases and a couple of boxes hidden in some shrubs beside the garage.

Muriel, Dale, Connie, and Lindsey were all up and waiting for Ted's arrival. Lindsey had determined that unless a resident had to arrive when she was away, she would always greet them. Julia had convinced her that her star status would do a lot to ease the shock of the upheaval for new arrivals. Connie had proven that theory.

Connie had very mixed feelings about Ted's arrival. She knew that she could not be the only resident for long, and after hearing about Ted, she felt genuine sympathy for him.

The selfish part of her hated to give up the skinny-dipping with Muriel and Dale and the others, which had become a nightly occurrence. It had been an unbelievable learning experience for a girl who had been so isolated. She knew, though, that the practice could not continue.

She had gotten along wonderfully with Dale, but she had to admit that having a huge crush on the hunk made getting along very easy. Because of her totally negative experience with her father and brothers, she was worried about having another male living there. Her intelligence told her that she should not apply her bad experience to Ted, and Dale reinforced that. Still, it was intellect versus emotions, and that was never an easy battle.

-------

It took Connie barely a day to discover that Ted was a gentle, courteous, considerate person. He was completely non-aggressive, to the point of seeming to have no will of his own. Although she was only a year older than him, she quickly positioned him in her mind as a younger brother, one who needed her 'mothering'.

Connie's deprivations had toughened her. Ted's life-long smothering had taken much away from him. Connie saw that instinctively and felt it was her role to help him develop a 'self'.

Ted did show one evidence of determination upon his arrival. He insisted that he let his parents know exactly where he was and how they could visit him. "My parents aren't mean or abusive or anything like that. They're just way, way too much parent. They have too much love, or misguided love. I don't want to hurt them. I just want out from under them."

At a management meeting just a few days after Ted's arrival, Julia shook her head dramatically and told the group "I don't know why it is surprising me. I should have seen it coming. Much of the success of the Tee is due to the interaction between the women. That did not seem to work so well for the men, but right from the start, I can see that Connie has become Ted's shrink. Maybe it will work for the kids."

"Couldn't that just be because Connie's pretty special?" asked Muriel, who had been included as management.

"Oh, she is that, I'm sure, Muriel, but you spent time at the Tee, and I know you talk to Dale about the women. There are always a few 'special' ones who do more for the others than I could ever do." The staff chuckled at that. Self-deprecation was not common for Julia, and they all knew how ridiculous that assertion was.

"I think," Julia went on, "that we should expect some pretty exciting things to happen at Lindsey's. Right now, the issue is Ted's mother. I think this is a case where she will never be able to see that they did anything wrong in raising him. Unlike Connie's parents, whom I consider just plain mean, Ted's mother is just woefully misguided. From all indications, she must be at least neurotic.

"Rather than just keeping his parents away, as we have done with Connie's, we need to interact with them. I think our intent should be to get Ted back home at some point. For that reason, we need to take him to his same school, even if it is in the next district."

"Will you take his mother on as a patient?"

"I think before things are resolved, she will have to be a resident," Julia answered. "The problem is to get her in here. She certainly would not come in by herself, and there is no way her husband could force her in."

"Too bad the men's section is gone. It's sounds like the husband needs some serious remaking," someone observed.

Shortly after Ted's arrival, all of the construction work was finished, and more kids started to show up. Plonske agents and lawyers made a lot of money as the rules were hammered out and irate parents were convinced that their children would no longer be living with them.

-------

[Faith] Early September

Julia's decision to try to isolate Faith from any chance of being discovered by her mother was proven to be the correct one. She had been there barely a month when Max told her that Mercedes had filed for a court order to force him to reveal her whereabouts.

Despite the progress that she was making, that news set Faith back quite a bit. Julia had been pondering how to get Faith together with her father, and the little crisis forced her to decide. She told the management group "Having to entertain family members while naked is really only appropriate for residents who are in some sense at fault, or offenders. That is certainly not the case with Faith. I would like to let her meet her father in the spare office, wearing a robe."

The meeting was very emotional, and the improvement in Faith was immediate. Julia met with Max afterward.

"Hopefully, if Mercedes does get the court order, it will take a while longer. Our legals are confident that they have almost completed a 'wall' that will prevent your wife from removing Faith from here."

"I wish you didn't have to refer to her as my wife," Max said glumly, "but that's going to take a long time. What legal steps can I take that might help to protect Faith?"

"That was my next point," Julia said. "We have a draft petition that we would like you to file. It asks the court to invalidate Mercedes' parental rights because of long-term psychological abuse."

"Did they just make that up?"

"Probably. The point is, anything that stalls the legal wheels is in Faith's favor. Her twenty-first is only a few months away."

"The bitch must know that. She's just doing all of this for revenge, isn't she?" Max asked.

"That would be my guess," Julia answered. "If you happen to get a court order to reveal her whereabouts, talk to us first, but I think you will be able to comply without putting her in danger."

"Thank you," he replied. "And thank you for the meeting - and the chance to see her regularly. I can see some improvement, physically. Emotionally, she's like a different girl."

"I think love gets more credit for that than the Tee," Julia said with a chuckle. "I'm happy for it, though."

-------

[Caz] Early September

The next step in Caz's plan could have been extracted from a spy novel. His plant within Matthews' ministry had numerous occasions to encounter Cy, the grandson. The next Sunday at church, the plant slipped a pre-paid phone into the breast pocket of Cy's suit coat while shaking the boy's hand. "Just press '2' and it will dial the right number," the plant instructed in almost a whisper. "Do it when you are completely alone. This is extremely important."

Ordinarily, contact with prospective residents of Lindsey's Place would be done primarily through school counsellors. Since Cy went to the church's school, that avenue of contact did not exist.

More than a little curious and fed up with his lot in life enough to be eager for anything that smacked of rebellion, Cy waited until late at night before dialing. He was under his covers with the light out, since his grandfather had been known to prowl the hall for a chance to catch Cy in any forbidden activity.

"Who is calling, please?" the male voice that answered Cy's call asked.

"This ... this is Cy Matthews - William Matthews, Jr."

"Good. Thank you for calling. First of all, happy sixteenth birthday. I would respectfully ask that you not try to find out who I am. I promise that I will identify myself and give you reasons for that request as soon as possible. Can we proceed with that understanding?"

After Cy's confused agreement, Caz dove right in. "Have you heard of Lindsey Hall?"

"Of course I have." Cy was painfully aware of Lindsey Hall, since he still had a bruise from the last time he was caught listening to a station that played her music. He did not let the man on the phone know about the bruise, though.

"Lindsey has helped set up a very nice place where good kids caught in intolerable home situations can go to live."

"So you think my home situation is intolerable?" When the man did not respond, Cy went on "Doesn't matter," he said bitterly. "He would never let me go."

"Actually, Cy, he would have no say in it. He is not your legal guardian, and even if he was, he could not legally stop you."

"I don't think my monthly child support check would cover something like that."

"What happens to those checks, now?" Caz asked out of curiosity.

"I don't know. I suppose he takes them."

"Your mother doesn't get to keep them?"

With a snort he answered "Apparently, you have not researched my home situation very thoroughly. My mother, despite being over thirty, might as well be three years old for all of the freedom she has."

"I see," Caz said. He actually had a very good idea of how things were in the household. "The legal staff available to Lindsey's Place could very easily get control of that money on your behalf." He thought it wise to deflect any possible connection with himself as the payer of those checks.

"Really? Where do they get that kind of power?"

"Have you heard of Transformations?"

Again, Cy laughed bitterly. "My grandfather spent many weeks blasting them from the pulpit. Is Lindsey's Place part of Transformations?"

"It is built on the same property and it is backed by the same powerful people. The same powerful people who got your grandfather to stop attacking Transformations."

The Reverend William Matthews was a contemporary of Frank Schermer. Although they had some doctrinal differences between them, they had always lined up firmly with each other on moral issues. Matthews' ministry was of similar size and influence as Schermer's had been before he was exposed by his daughters and deposed from active management.

Unlike Schermer, Matthews was by all accounts a paragon of virtue himself. The views he espoused and preached were extremely fundamental and separatist. What was not widely known was what an absolute tyrant he was in his own household.

His flock viewed Matthews as a shining example of love and forgiveness because he had welcomed his unwed daughter, Rachel, and her out-of-wedlock son, William into his home, where they still lived. The fact that Rachel, William, and even his wife, Naomi, were kept in hopeless, helpless subjugation to him was known to only a very few insiders. They were all, in effect, prisoners.

Caz knew all about the situation in which Cy lived from his years of audio eavesdropping. Since this was Cy's sixteenth birthday, it was the right time to offer Cy the chance.

After a lengthy description of the objectives and policies of Lindsey's Place, Cy said "It sounds too good to be true, but I could never move there. I couldn't leave Mom and Grandma behind. Things are just as rough for them."

Caz had anticipated this reaction. "Cy, consider this scenario. Someone sat down with your mother and grandmother and offered them a chance to stay for a while at a place where your grandfather could not get at them. It was a place where they could spend some months building their confidence and their ability to live away from him. What do you think their reaction would be?"

"I don't know. I suppose they would want to go."

"Let me tell you what their reaction would be. They would refuse because they could not leave you behind. Can you tell me that I'm wrong?" Caz demanded.

He thought for a moment, then said. "You're not wrong. You're suggesting that if I remove their concern for me, they have a chance to help themselves?"

"That's what I think, yes."

"I assume what you would offer them would be Transformations," Cy stated, not as a question.

"I cannot personally offer that. If you would agree to leave, I would do everything possible to see that they were given that chance."

"I can't see either of them agreeing to go to a place where they would have to be ... uh ... naked. It just doesn't seem possible."

"Your mother has too many personal problems to be offered any kind of working position," Caz pointed out.

"You've got that right," Cy said bitterly. "She's my Mom. I know she loves me, and I love her. Most of the time, though, she might as well be my little sister. And Grandma - she's just sad and bitter so much of the time."

"Will you move to Lindsey's Place and break the cycle?"

"No. Here's what I will do. If you get someone in authority to offer, um, asylum to all three of us, I will talk to Mom and Grandma. If I tell them that I will only escape if they do, too, I think they will go for it."

"So, things are that bad at your house?"

"If he wasn't on the road as much as he is ... Yes, things are that bad."

-------

"That would make it appear even more like a personal attack against the Reverend," Frank insisted as the same group met after Caz's conversation with Cy. "Paul, can we even afford two more freebies?"

"Not out of operating revenue," Paul answered. "We do have two rooms open, although that would put us above our ideal number of residents. We would have to seek a subsidy from the Foundation."

"Not necessary," Gerald said. "I will pay their fees from my personal money."

"I would be grateful if you would permit me to pay," Caz said.

"I'm sorry, but there is nothing more I can say. I will be happy to deposit enough to cover the boy's costs until he is eighteen and enough to support the women for what - six months? I don't want you to worry about my not following through with the money."

"I don't think anyone was concerned about that, Mr. Calloway," Gerald assured him. "I think our concern is that your sponsorship might be part of something that could reflect badly on our operation."

Caz thought for a while about that comment. "Mr. Magnuson, that is the kind of caution I can respect. I will give the funds as a donation to your foundation with a handshake understanding that they are designated for those specific people."

"Thank you," Gerald said, extending his hand.

After they shook, Caz said. "Without an up-front promise, I will seriously consider a substantial contribution to Lindsey's Place if things work out as I hope. Considering your concerns about your reputation, I will make sure that any possible, um, entanglements have been resolved by then."

"So, do we proceed with an offer to the three of them?" Frank asked.

-------

It took until the next Sunday before Caz's plant could get Cy a second phone and instructions about when to call. "The offer for asylum, as you put it, has been authorized for all three of you," Caz told Cy. "It's up to you to sell it to the women. I will be very interested to see how you accomplish that."

"Is this all because Grandfather came down so hard on Transformations?" Cy asked in response. Considering the boy's obvious intelligence, Caz decided on full disclosure and related the debate that had gone on between the Transformations people.

"I wasn't being critical, you know," Cy said after Paul had finished, "but thank you for telling me all of that. I think you are people that I can respect. I wish someone could talk to Mom and Grandma, but that's almost impossible. I'll have to convince them myself. I may have to lie and cheat to do it, but I'm willing."

Caz told the boy "Call me again with a time when you will talk to the women. I will make sure that the Transformations people are available to help you convince them."

"Mr. Calloway," Cy addressed Caz, catching him completely off guard, "I would like to know why you are doing this after all of these years. You have apparently made all of the payments but have not done anything else that would be expected of a father."

"Why did you address me as Mr. Calloway?" Caz asked.

"Once, I saw a copy of my birth certificate. I am assuming that is you. If you got my mother pregnant, why didn't you marry her? Was it really rape, as Grandfather always talks about in his sermons?"

"Cy, I am unable to respond in any way to anything you have said. I am truly sorry. Will you still be able to escape under these circumstances?"

"At this point, I would make a pact with the devil to get out of here!" Cy answered vehemently.

-------

The next time the Reverend was out of town, Cy had Rachel and Naomi come to his room. "Mom, Grandma, I'm going to trust you not to tell Grandfather, but I'm leaving. I've had all I can take, and I'm going to run away from here."

"Wh ... where will you go?" Rachel managed to stammer through her shock. This had been one of her recurring nightmares. She herself could live with what she had. There really was no 'self' left to object to anything that was done to her. Her son, though - he was intelligent and strong. He could cope and come out strong, couldn't he? But, no. He was going to flee. He would be gone from her forever.

Cy gave a dramatic shrug and sent up a quick prayer for forgiveness. "I guess I'll just learn to live on the street. I should be able to find some kind of a job."

"But ... but ... you could be hurt or killed!"

"I'm sorry, Mom, but I've reached the point where that might be better than this." He sent up another plea for forgiveness.

For many minutes they went back and forth with Rachel pleading with her son not to take the risk, and Naomi joining in.

"There is one alternative, but I hate to even mention it," Cy said after a while.

"What? What is it? It has to be better than you just running away!" Rachel shrieked through tears that had been falling for many minutes.

"Well, it was only offered if all three of us accepted," he lied, throwing up still another prayer for forgiveness. He went on to describe Lindsey's Place and the offer that he could live there.

"It sounds wonderful. Just go!" Rachel said.

"There were conditions. They will only accept me if the two of you enter Transformations."

That produced the predictable storm of objections and protests. That ran on for a while until Naomi asked "Why would they make that condition?"

"They believe that if I leave, things will be too hard on both of you. He will take out his rage on you. I agree with them."

There was more animated discussion about that until he looked at Naomi and said "Grandma, tell me how he would react if I left and he couldn't get me back. Who would he take it out on?"

Naomi blanched and shuddered. That was all the answer any of them needed. "Now, you're going to hear the truth about Transformations." He had been given two cell phones, he dialed one, then waited for the other to vibrate in his hands. He handed one to each of the women who were now connected to Dr. Julia Waxman.

For the next two hours, through buckets of tears and question after question, Rachel and Naomi heard Julia explain Transformations and what life there would be like. William, Sr. was at one of his interminable meetings, so they did not fear his interference. Naomi was mostly silent, looking beaten and disbelieving. Rachel was far from silent, throwing out objection after objection.

"It sounds like going from one prison to another," Rachel blurted out at one point.

"In your prison, how many people care about how you feel, physically and emotionally? How many care about your prospects for the rest of your life? How many wait on you day and night? How many do everything they can to help you learn and grow?" Julia then told them how much was being donated for their tuition.

"Before you ask, yes, there is an element of 'getting even' for what he said about Transformations from the pulpit," Julia admitted, "but I am a healer. I believe the two of you have many, many hurts. I'm offering you a chance to be healed."

"But naked! With men around - and boys!" Naomi objected.

"Really exceptional boys - boys just like Cy," Julia said. That made both women gasp, but it had the desired impact. "I want to introduce you to Mary Hall. She had the same feelings about nudity and most other things as you two do."

Mary spoke from her heart, and even though Cy did not hear what was going on, he could see the expressions change on both women. He almost leaped for joy when Naomi took the initiative and asked "If we did this, how would we go about it? I don't see how we could pack our things and leave without William catching us."

"Mrs. Matthews, there is a limousine waiting three blocks away from you. If you are willing to accept our offer, all three of you just walk out of the house right now. There is nothing that you will need while you are here."

That, of course, shocked both of them and caused Cy to think that things had taken a turn for the worse.

"Mrs. Matthews," Julia said in a serious tone, "this is your chance to make up for a lot of bad things that have happened to your daughter and your grandson. Take Rachel by one arm and lead her out of the house. I'm sure that Cy will take the other arm. Don't look back. If you don't do this right now, I fear that the chance will be lost."

Mary had suggested that Julia refer to Lot's wife from the Old Testament when she had told Naomi not to look back, but Julia decided to stay away from any religious connotations or implications of any kind.

Julia often wondered afterwards if she and Mary had been incredibly persuasive, or if they had just tapped a huge reservoir of guilt, fear, and yearning in the long-suffering grandmother. It did not really matter, because within five minutes, Naomi and Cy led Rachel out of the house to the limousine. The women carried only their purses and Cy had just his book bag.

It may seem unbelievable that the women could make such a move, almost on the spur of the moment. However, even though Julia had not made any Biblical reference, Biblical examples were ingrained in their thinking. Jesus' call to drop everything and follow Him had been expounded in many, many sermons in their lifetimes. Perhaps they viewed their flight that way, even though they were fleeing to something they considered sinful.

More probably, Rachel was doing it for her son, and Naomi for her daughter and grandson. Both women harbored a terrible, dark secret that had always held the power to cause them to react in inexplicable ways. Perhaps the guilt and shame accompanying that secret made them feel that being sentenced to be naked was something they deserved - a sort of penance imposed upon them.



-------

Chapter 15



[Rachel & Naomi] Early September

The late evening was not at all the usual time for new residents to enter the Tee. Norma was waiting, naked, to meet Rachel and Naomi, as she usually did for new entrants. She had also recruited Mary Hall to join her. It had been decided that the two newcomers would just be taken to their rooms, leaving all of the introductions and the tour until the next day. With a little shuffling of room assignments, mother and daughter were able to be housed next to each other.

The interesting and surprising thing was how easily both Naomi and Rachel were able to strip and enter the women's section. Discussing it with the staff later, Julia surmised that it was because of the subjugation they had lived under for so long. They had learned to do what they were ordered to do, suppressing any emotional reaction. There was brief speculation as to whether the Reverend had included humiliation and exhibitionism as part of his domination of his wife and daughter. Julia cautioned them against that leap of logic, though.

Both of the Matthews women were attractive. The Reverend himself was a tall, striking, well-built man with very manly features. With his force of personality, he had been able to woo and win Naomi, undoubtedly the loveliest among the daughters of believers in his little circle.

In her early fifties, Naomi was still slender. Her problem was that she appeared too slim and the cares of her beleaguered life had given her a slump and a slackness that was not flattering. The lines on her face were not laugh lines.

Rachel had received the best genes from both parents. Her problem was just as Cy had described her to Caz on the phone. She could very well have been Cy's little sister most of the time, rather than his mother. The cares of her beleaguered life did not seem to have affected her much.

Julia would later deduce that events around her pregnancy had caused Rachel to almost check out emotionally. Her own father had forced sex upon her numerous times. She carried a child when she should still have been enjoying childish things. She was forced to lie against someone she considered to be a nice boy, although she barely knew him.

Those emotional shocks plus the veritable straight-jacket of her home life had developed in Rachel a detachment that protected her from most of what went on around her. The two exceptions in her life were her baby and her mother. Actually, she had hated her mother for quite a while after the rapes - hated her for not stopping the rapes. It took almost until Cy was born for her to realize that there was nothing that Naomi could have done to stop it. Realizing that they were co-sufferers brought mother and daughter very close by the birth.

As she got older, Rachel was aware enough to appreciate the hell it must have been for Naomi to see her husband neglect her to bed her barely pubescent daughter. That realization strengthened their bond even further.

For her part, Naomi never resented her daughter for 'stealing' her husband's attentions. Rachel had had any little flirtatious trait beaten out of her so often as a little girl that there was no way she could have done anything to try to intentionally attract the Reverend's interest. Quite to the contrary, Naomi knew that Rachel feared and detested her father.

Seemingly oblivious to the pleasing sight her naked body presented, Rachel walked zombie-like toward their rooms until they walked past the hot tub area. Because of the very real concern over extreme trauma to the women, not only were all of the men absent, but the other female residents had been asked to stay in their rooms. It was not a great sacrifice, considering the late hour.

When Rachel saw the hot tubs, she stopped in her tracks, showing the first signs of awareness since she had started to undress. "Could ... could I?" she asked timidly, waving her hand toward the tub.

Thrilled at any sign of recognition, Norma led Rachel right into the tub, with Mary and Naomi following. That took care of the plan, and the rest of the late evening took some strange turns.

"Do you no longer consider yourself a believer, Mary?" Naomi asked after they had soaked for a few minutes.

"Oh, I have not given up or renounced my faith at all," Mary answered quickly. "You have to remember that I was forced here as an alternative to standing trial."

Naomi responded "I have to admit that I am only here to prevent William, Jr. from running away and taking his chances on the streets. I honestly believe he would have done that."

"Have you no confidence that you will be helped here?" Mary asked.

"This place is filled with un ... it is a totally secular place," Naomi said, thinking out loud. "I certainly don't expect to find any spiritual strengthening here."

"I want to say this carefully," Mary said, "as I have already overstepped my bounds once. One of the hardest things for me to accept here at the Tee was the way that so many people who do not profess to be believers demonstrated so much of what we think of as the love of Christ. It was particularly hard when we did not always see that love, or any love, from fellow Christians."

That comment caused Naomi to be quiet for a while, joining Rachel who really had not said anything since sitting down in the tub. Watching the younger woman, Norma thought that she seemed like a robot, just following along with everything that happened.

"Rachel, if you're concerned about your son, let me assure that he's in good hands. Did you know that Lindsey, the girl the place is named after, is Mary's daughter and my future daughter-in-law?"

"Oh. H ... how was it named after her?" Rachel managed to ask.

"It was her idea to start it and she is giving a great deal of money toward it," Norma explained.

"So you folks are wealthy?" Rachel asked Mary.

"No, not at all," Mary corrected, "but Lindsey is. She is a country music singer and she has had some very successful songs."

"And Mary wrote the lyrics for one of those successful songs," Norma added.

"I told you on the phone what we did to drive Lindsey away, didn't I?" Mary asked. "Well, while I was doing that, Norma," and Mary gestured at Norma, "showed my daughter what a mother-daughter relationship should be like."

"So, your son is engaged to Lindsey?" Naomi asked Norma.

"Yes, you'll meet him in the morning," Norma said, knowing the impact that statement would usually have on a newcomer.

"Oh, my!" Naomi said, flushing brightly, looking around somewhat frantically, and instinctively raising her arm to cover her breasts.

"Don't worry," Mary said. "Mark is the nicest young man you will ever meet. And Norma will be right with you for a few days."

"You ... your son ... you mean... ?" Naomi stammered.

For a while, the discussion concerned family nudity. Before long, though, Norma and Mary managed to move the subject toward more general topics about teenaged children. It was clear that even that subject was painful to Rachel, especially, so Norma kept introducing other subjects that a group of women should have been able to enter in to.

As it became more and more clear how limited and restricted the mother and daughter had been in their lives, Mary was filled with sympathy for them and some anger at what her own life had been like. But thinking about how she lived right then, she was confident that the environment of the Tee and the interaction with the other women would bring the same kind of change to the lives of Naomi and Rachel that she herself had benefited from.

The conversation continued long after the group of women had to leave the hot tub. Seeing the newcomers' thirst for simple conversation, Norma had a warm feeling that the Tee was about to 'fix' two more very troubled women.

-------

[Cy] Early September

Cy's shock at entering Lindsey's Place for the first time was almost as great as that of his mother and grandmother upon entering Transformations. The place was unrestrictedly coed. Given that it was approaching midnight and that there were almost no rules concerning attire, his initial entry was a real eye-opener.

One of the three girls who greeted him was much more shy than the others and wore a bright crimson blush and a light robe. She hung back behind the others. The other two wore grins and sleep shirts, leaving Cy to wonder if that was all they wore. One boy that greeted him had on boxers and a T-shirt.

The ultra-strict home environment and his grandfather's constant harangues to 'be holy' had not driven Cy to rebellion as might well be expected. Instead, he had developed exceptional self-control for a sixteen-year-old boy. Ever since he could remember, he had realized that his mother was very needy and his natural instinct was to protect her. He knew that her mothering left much to be desired, but there was never any doubt about her love for him. In a house where displays of emotion other than the Reverend's 'righteous anger' were treated as sin, Rachel was very affectionate to her son.

Predictably, Cy's exposure to sex in any form was almost completely eliminated. Some of the things that the Reverend railed against to his grandson and from the pulpit, Cy had to try to find out about to even understand the sin that was being talked about. Given the strictness of his school environment and his inability to access such common things as the public library or the Internet, his research attempts were difficult at best.

Fortunately, the other boys in his school had more normal home environments than his - virtually every teenaged boy in the world did. Although often embarrassed, Cy asked enough questions to learn some of the basics.

As he walked into Lindsey's Place for the first time, Cy was only thinking that right then, his mother was naked. No amount of harangue could prevent a teenaged boy from wondering about his mother's body and fantasizing about seeing her naked. That Rachel was so attractive just made it more difficult.

It seems that all teenaged girls have attractive legs. After the trip in the limo, thinking about his mother naked, just the innocent view of the two girls clad in their sleep shirts caused Cy's penis to inflate. Muriel, the housemother, saw his predicament instantly and moved herself between Cy and the other kids to give him a hug. By the time she had pulled back to introduce herself, his embarrassment had overwhelmed his arousal and Muriel proceeded to introduce the other kids.

When Muriel came to Leah, the girl in the robe, she and Cy gasped simultaneously and shouted each other's names. They were classmates at the church school! Leah was barely able to explain their reaction to the others, but finally, the introductions were completed.

"I think you will find everything you need in your room," Muriel told Cy. Then, she joked "It won't take long to put away all of your belongings, will it. Tomorrow is Saturday, so I imagine a shopping trip is in order. There are plenty of suits around if you want to take a swim or soak in the hot tub for a while. I'm going to bed. The other kids can help you with anything else you need tonight."

Muriel hugged Cy again and walked away. He stood in total confusion, looking at his watch to see that it was midnight. One of the girls, Connie, told him "There really aren't any rules here, Cy. I can see by your expression that just like the rest of us, you've had enough rules to last ten lifetimes."

"I could use a soak," the other boy, Ted, spoke up. "Come on, Cy, let's find you a suit."

Cy's next challenge came when the girls joined them in the hot tub. Leah's two piece suit was quite conservative, but still showed lots of her furiously blushing skin and some very nice curves that Cy never suspected from seeing her at school and church. Connie and Libby had opted for bikinis. He was glad that he was already under water when they appeared.

The next three hours would be indelibly etched into Cy's memory. They all went from the hot tub to the pool, back to the hot tub, to the kitchen for a snack, then to the casual chairs in a nice sitting area. Before they gave up from sheer exhaustion, he had heard a summary of the other kids' stories.

When Connie laid down with her head in Ted's lap and he affectionately stroked her hair, they could all read Cy's look. "We're not a couple or anything," Connie said. "At home, I could never do anything like this with my brothers. I like Ted and I feel comfortable with him. Now, I can show it."

Just before they broke up, Cy could not help asking "Don't they really mind if we stay up like this?"

"The way I heard it explained is this," Ted answered. "The philosophy here is that we manage everything ourselves. That will only change if we show that we can't do it well. This is the first time we have stayed up this long, but it's the first time a new person has arrived in the middle of the night. I don't know about the others, but I would never do this on a school night."

-------

The shocks from the first night were nothing compared to the next day. Libby knocked loudly on Cy's door at about nine. "Come on, Sleepyhead! The mall opens at ten and you need some breakfast."

When Cy arrived in the kitchen area, Leah was cooking eggs. Ted explained "Breakfast is the one meal we do for ourselves, plus any snacks. For lunch and dinner, we get the same food as the people in Transformations. Of course, a lot of lunches are at school. The sandwiches they make for us here are far better than anything at the school cafeteria."

At mention of school, Cy froze. If he went back to the church school, would his grandfather try to force him to come back? "Don't worry, Cy," Ted said, as if reading Cy's mind. "You'll get all enrolled on Monday. It's an OK school."

The surprises just kept piling up when Libby grabbed some car keys from a ring in the kitchen and they all piled into a minivan. "You have a car here?" Cy asked incredulously.

"Oh, no. It belongs to the house. They want us to have as normal a living experience as possible, so they will have a car for every four or five of us. Like everything else, it's up to us to decide who gets to use it, and when." Libby laughed, and added "I guess they figure if they stick with used minivans, there won't be much risk of racing or anything like that."

"Libby!" Leah admonished. "You know it's because they can hold lots of us." That brought a laugh from all of them.

"Do you have your license, Cy?" Connie asked. He just snorted in answer. "Don't worry," she told him. "They've got an approved school all lined up. I was the only one with a license when I came here."

"So you've all been here for a month or two?" Cy asked.

"I was the first," Connie answered. "It was pretty strange being here alone for two weeks with construction still going on and everything. Still, it was better than home. When Ted arrived, it got a lot better. I can't wait until this place is full."

"I don't have much money with me," Cy lamented. "I'll have to buy just a few things for school. I don't think my mom and grandma have much with them, either."

Connie waved a credit card at him. "We're under orders to see you fully outfitted. We'll be your style consultants, won't we, Girls?" That made all three girls giggle.

Shopping, shopping, and more shopping, then lunch in the food court. It was all a little disorienting to Cy, but he loved it. When the others led him to the theater after lunch, he was about to object. It was Leah, showing unexpected boldness, who took his hand and said "I felt the same way the first time. Just enjoy it. It won't send you to hell."

By the time the group returned to Lindsey's, as the kids had dubbed it, Cy was suffering from almost non-stop culture shock. Around the table, he asked "Did all of you have trouble with your parents trying to get you back?"

The other four recounted what had happened to them. "Don't worry," Libby said. "The lawyers have it all figured out. I had a PI accompany me to and from school for several days until some kind of restraining order was issued against my parents."

"My situation is weird," Cy told them. "You know Mom is right next door at Transformations. My grandfather will have gotten home by now and he will go crazy with all three of us gone."

"Who is your legal guardian?"

"Mom is."

"If your grandfather is not your guardian, there's nothing he can do," Libby opined.

"Libby's our 'jail-house lawyer'," Ted said with a chuckle.

"He may not have any legal right," Cy said, "but that won't stop him from making all sorts of trouble."

"Where is your father?" Connie asked. At seeing Cy's sad and confused expression, she quickly said "Sorry. Guess that's none of my business."

"No. No. If ... if you're willing to listen, I'd like to tell you all about it." This part of his story had not come up the night before.

Cy insisted that they all go to a seating area before he started his tale. Then, he told them everything he knew, up to his conversation with Caz.

"You sound like you don't believe the rape story," Ted observed. When Cy nodded, Ted went on "They'll get you a lawyer, here. Maybe you can get a paternity test to find out. I can't imagine how hard it would be not knowing something like that."

Since he had heard the rape story so many times, Cy had accepted it. When he inadvertently saw 'Carter Calloway' on his birth certificate, Caz became an object of hatred. In the last few years, however, he had experienced an uneasy feeling about the whole situation.

Of course, the Reverend had often referred to the rape publicly, glorifying himself by the magnanimous way he had handled everything. Perhaps because his negative feelings toward his grandfather were so strong, Cy was loathe to believe anything the man said. Add to that the strangeness of his home situation and by the time they fled the Reverend's house, Cy was no longer sure what to believe and who to hate.

During the conversation with Caz when Caz had claimed that he could not answer Cy's questions, Cy became certain that everything he had been told was false. Suddenly, finding out the truth about his origin became a mission.

"How could I pay for a lawyer?"

"You don't have to. It's part of the service."

"Where is all this money coming from?"

"From Lindsey. I'm sure she'll tell you her story and explain why she is doing this. The interesting thing is that her mother and dad come with her when she tells it. Her home life was as bad as most of ours, but now, her parents have turned completely around. It's because of Transformations." Libby had explained all of that.

"I ... I thought Transformations was just a place where Mom and Grandma could be safe for a while. Maybe it will really be a help to them," Cy mused. "Who do I talk to about a lawyer?"

"Muriel will handle it," he was assured.

"Um, Cy," Leah asked timidly, "do you want to go to church tomorrow?"

"Oh, I couldn't go back there," Cy answered quickly.

"No, not your grandfather's church. Now, I go to the one where Lindsey and her parents and Frank Schermer's daughters go. It's like all of the good things about our other church without the ... the..."

"Without my grandfather's screwed up views, you mean?" Cy said bitterly. "You said Frank Schermer's daughters? Are they involved here?" That led to a very animated telling of the whole Schermer saga. At the end, Cy asked "What if my grandfather tried to take me back? Is it safe for me to go anywhere, now that he's home?"

"Tell Muriel and she'll have an escort. She'll even drive us."

"Then, I'd love to go. I wish Mom and Grandma could go, too, but that won't happen."

-------

[Rachel & Naomi] Early September

Saturday was no less of a shock to Naomi and Rachel than it was to Cy, just different. Their exposure to the other women came first. It was very hard on Naomi, but Rachel seemed to be still in her 'zone' and took it all without much reaction. Next came the exam by Ryan. As usual, his lab coat and professional demeanor seemed to take much of the shock and embarrassment away.

The initial picture session with Mark was, as usual, the first major traumatic exposure. As had happened a few times before, Naomi, in particular, was so consumed by the thought of Norma so nonchalantly naked with her son that her own exposure shock was somewhat muted.

Meeting the rest of the male staff, initial workout sessions, massages - all of the standard Tee activities took their toll, and by dinner time, even Rachel was looking glassy-eyed.

Early in the afternoon, Mary Hall had sought out Julia and asked to speak to her. "I know they're supposed to stay naked for the time they are here," Mary said, referring to Naomi and Rachel, "but I have a concern.

"Their faith and going to church have always been the center of their lives. Naomi, in particular, has a sense that by coming here she has, um, turned away from her faith. I think if I could take them to church with me and make sure the boy came along, it would have a very positive effect on them."

Julia sat pensively for a few minutes, then responded "Mary, that is an excellent analysis, and I appreciate your mentioning it. I had already been thinking about how we might allow some interaction between the women and Cy. In their situation, it doesn't seem appropriate right now to force them to meet with him naked."

"My guess is that after they're here a while, naked with the other guys, they will want to do that with Cy," Mary observed. "What about church?"

"I don't think I can make a permanent exception, but for tomorrow and maybe the next few Sundays, I think your suggestion is right on. There's another angle that is important," Julia pointed out. "By going out in public, it should give them much more confidence that they really are out from under Matthews' thumb. Encourage them to identify themselves when asked. Do not tell them that we will have a couple of Carl Plonske's people shadowing them."

"I've got to do some quick clothes shopping, then," Mary said, not even mentioning reimbursement. As Mary walked away, Julia experienced one of those treasured moments when she could clearly see the positive results of the radical program she had undertaken.

Mary chose to inform Naomi and Rachel in a fairly dramatic way. Leaving the dinner table a little early, she laid out the clothes she had gotten for them on each of their beds, along with a Bible. When the after-dinner conversation broke up, she took them back to their rooms, showed them the clothes, and explained what had been arranged. When she mentioned Cy, Rachel's zone was broken into for almost the first time, and she collapsed in grateful tears.

Lindsey and the Schermer sisters were on tour that weekend, so it was just Mary, Floyd, Naomi, Rachel, Cy, and Leah in the group that went off for church.

Cy had waited outside the entrance to the Tee and engulfed his mother in a huge hug when she came out. Still hugging Rachel, he wrapped an arm around Naomi as well. Then, he introduced Leah.

"You're Norman's daughter, aren't you?" Naomi gasped. It turned out that Leah's father was an elder in the church. Somehow, the girl's presence made a real impact on mother and daughter, emphasizing the change in life that they had chosen.

Seeing the glow on the women's faces when they returned to the Tee was enough to convince Julia that she had made the right decision and that Mary's instincts had been right on. Even having to undress again, something that was often difficult, did not dull the glow.

Julia had stipulated that the group return immediately after the service was completed. She had a lot of thinking to do about the entire arrangement, and for that first time, she wanted to minimize any chance of confrontation with Reverend Matthews.

-------

Confrontation with Reverend Matthews was definitely something to be considered. For some reason, no one had called him while he was away to inform him that his family had disappeared. When he arrived home late Saturday afternoon was the first time he became aware of the fact. The people who worked as household staff came closer to quitting right then than at any other time because of the rage he flew into.

Finding the note that Naomi had been persuaded to leave Friday night did not help much. It simply said "William. We have left of our own accord and will not be returning. We are safe. Do not call the police. Naomi."

"Find them and get them back here!" the Reverend stormed at his lawyer as soon as he found the note.

The next morning, as he took the pulpit, the Reverend began "My friends, I come to you this morning with a heavy, heavy heart. Yesterday, I returned full of the joy of the Lord from a truly uplifting visit to one of our inner city works. That joy was shattered by the discovery that my wife, my daughter, and my grandson were not at home and had not been there since late the night before.

"The only information I have is a note that said they had left of their own accord and would not be returning." He paused there as if too overcome by emotion to continue. When he had 'recovered', he cranked up the emotion even more as he said "After all I have done for my daughter to help to ease the trauma of her tragic pregnancy..." Another pause. "Brethren, I just don't understand it. The Lord does, though. I ask your prayers for strength in the face of this obvious attack on God's servant by the Evil One."

Matthews had always been an expert at playing the sympathy, victim, and even martyrdom cards. The wails and howls from the congregation told him that he had once again motivated his flock to greater devotion - and greater giving. He hoped that he could have the same effect on his broadcast audience.

To his credit, he was genuinely concerned, this time. In his mind, he had been an exemplary husband, father, and grandfather. He could not imagine why his family would want to leave his home. The rape of his daughter had long ago been pushed into a secluded corner of his mind where it should matter no more to anyone else than it did to him.

It was mid-afternoon when word reached the Reverend that his family had signed the guest register at another church, leaving address and phone number columns blank. Within an hour, one of his elders was sitting with a secretary of the other church, pouring over the attendance registers for any helpful clue. It was seeing Mary Hall's name next to Naomi's on the register that provided the clue.

The Halls were quite well known in fundamentalist circles, at least by name. Because they, and particularly Lindsey, were central figures in the downfall of Frank Schermer, the elder recognized the name.

It was fortunate that Mary and Floyd had been briefed on the true legal status of the Matthews family. Late Sunday afternoon, a lawyer and two of Matthews' elders appeared at the Hall residence. Only Floyd was home, but following instructions, he calmly asked them if they wanted to wait while his lawyer joined them, or if they preferred to come back at another time. The lawyer was actually one of Gerald's who had been alerted to possible demands regarding the Matthews family.

The three men decided to stay and the two elders began probing about the Frank Schermer situation and Floyd's involvement. Floyd had made great progress since the the situation with his mother and sister had been substantially resolved. Now, though, he was faced with a situation where he might have to reveal his residence at the Tee. As a sign of his growing self-confidence, he made the decision to come clean. A lot of his motivation was his new-found protective attitude toward the Tee, something common to almost all former residents.

"You have to realize," Floyd told his visitors, "that while that whole 'trial' of Reverend Schermer was going on, I was a resident at Transformations, so I did not know everything that was happening."

"You ... you ... Transformations?" one of the shocked elders stammered. "If you are a believer, how could you?"

"It was a choice between spending time there or standing trial for kidnapping. Surely you remember the story."

"Well, I thought it was all just made up," the elder said.

"No, it was all too real," Floyd said firmly. "I paid a healthy extra sum to have Schermer take our daughter to the retreat forcibly. His people overdid it, and it ended up as a kidnapping case."

Floyd was very honestly recounting how they had bungled the raising of Lindsey when Gerald's lawyer arrived. The lawyer walked into the room and either because he knew the man or had some way of sensing another lawyer, he addressed Matthews' counsel.

"Who is the legal guardian of William Cyrus Matthews?"

Matthews' lawyer clearly did not want to respond, but he said "Rachel Matthews."

"Then, why are the three of you here?"

"Reverend Matthews very much wants his family back," the other lawyer answered.

"Whether they choose to rejoin him is strictly up to Mrs. Matthews, Miss Matthews, and William Matthews, Jr., is it not?"

"Miss Rachel Matthews is not competent to make that kind of decision about her son," Matthews' lawyer insisted.

Gerald's lawyer just held out his hand. When the other lawyer looked puzzled, Gerald's lawyer said "I assume you have a copy of the court order declaring her incompetent to be the guardian."

"Out of love and compassion for his daughter, Reverend Matthews never sought legal confirmation of her situation."

"Ah! Well, when you have such a court order, we might have something to talk about. However, in this state, a sixteen-year-old cannot be forced to live with his parents if there is a demonstrable reason why that child's welfare might be better served elsewhere."

"That certainly would not be a factor at Reverend Matthews' house."

"It would be quite easy to prove extensive, long-term psychological abuse and sufficient physical abuse to have the child removed."

That triggered a storm of loud protests and accusations while Gerald's lawyer just stood impassively. He let the furor go on for a while, then dramatically held up his hand until silence resulted. "It appears we are done here. I would caution you that should any of the three family members be forcibly returned to Reverend Matthews' home, kidnapping charges will be filed immediately. I do not think Reverend Matthews' wants his family situation and history to be discussed in open court."

That comment prompted more angry denials and accusations. Gerald's lawyer motioned to Floyd, who got up and held the front door open, clearly indicating that the visitors should leave.

Although Floyd had admitted his own time at the Tee, nothing had been said as to the whereabouts of Naomi, Rachel, or Cy.

-------

While the confrontation at Floyd's house was going on, Julia was meeting with the core management group of the Tee, Paul, Barbara, Ryan, and Frank. "This will be the toughest test yet of the legality of Lindsey's Place," Frank told the group.

"Honey, I'm not sure I agree," Julia countered. "My take on this whole situation is this: Reverend William Matthews is the father of William Matthews, Jr. - Cy. To cover up, the Reverend or his people trumped up witnesses to say that Carter Calloway raped Rachel. Caz was given the opportunity to avoid prosecution by signing a child support agreement."

"Wow! That sounds like a bad TV drama!" Ryan commented.

"Stranger than fiction, right?" Julia retorted. "If my take is correct, the Reverend will not want an open legal confrontation."

"If the Revered is rational," Frank cautioned.

"Good point," Julia agreed. "How could someone who would do those things be completely rational?"

"If it all comes out in court, all three of our new residents will be hurt, won't they?" Ryan commented.

"Exactly. Now another issue," Julia told them. "Even though the Matthews women are here primarily as an escape, they could both benefit from the full immersion therapy, particularly Rachel. On the other hand, if she is not allowed to see Cy, it could really hamper her progress."

"So, go with the usual visitation rules," Barbara said.

"I fear that would also have negative consequences, at least at first. Frankly, I'm amazed that they have handled the nudity so well. But to be nude with her son - I don't think Rachel could handle that. Also, their trip to church with Mary this morning was overwhelmingly positive. I think it is a connection that keeps them from thinking that they are abandoning their faith by being here. That feeling would not help them to heal."

"Are you suggesting some significant exceptions for the two of them?" Paul asked.

"Yes, I am," Julia admitted. "First of all, I want to let Cy visit them in the spare office every few days. The women will come to the office nude, but I will have robes there that they can put on before Cy arrives. That will keep the other women from getting too suspicious."

"I suspect there are other women that would like to go to church, also," Barbara observed.

"I'm sure there are. This is where boss's discretion comes into play. I plan to let them go to church for three more Sundays. I will discuss the entire situation and my decisions with them. After one month, I will allow them to continue seeing Cy in the office, but only nude. Comments?"

"I'm glad you get to explain it to the other residents," Ryan said with a chuckle.

-------

[Cy] Early September

Monday morning, Julia received a call from Marty Granville, whom she knew. "Julia, I have a strange request. If any of the Matthews request legal help, would you please point them to me?"

"Since you are Carter Calloway's long-term lawyer, won't that create a conflict of interest?" Julia asked.

"Why would you ask that?"

"I know you can neither confirm or deny this, but I assume that Cy is Reverend Matthews' son and that Calloway has been extorted into taking the blame and paying child support."

"Let me just say that if any of the Matthews' should engage me, I will do whatever it takes to eliminate any appearance of conflict," Marty said.

"Wow! Calloway must have something serious in mind to give you up," Julia observed. "I will happily recommend you."

-------

Monday was yet another new experience for Cy. Five of the kids at Lindsey's were sophomores, and he had at least one of his new 'siblings' in four of his classes. They were a big help getting him acclimated.

Even with the newness, Cy found it hard to concentrate at the school. More and more the question of who was his father was dominating his mind. After dinner that night, he spoke to Muriel. "Is there any way I could get some help from a lawyer? There is something I need to find out." He was soon set up to meet with Marty Tuesday evening. She was coming out to Lindsey's.

Also after dinner Monday, Julia called Naomi and Rachel to her office for a meeting. "I want to compliment the two of you," Julia began. "You have handled your arrival here and the nudity with remarkable grace. I know how much it must go against what you believe, but you have not criticized anyone. Thank you. You are quickly winning the respect of a lot of people."

"We want to thank you for allowing us to go to church. I assume that is an exception to your rules," Naomi responded.

"Yes, it is very much an exception," Julia agreed. "Thank Mary for the idea. She really cares what happens to you.

"Now, for the hard part. Our entire philosophy of immersion therapy and rebirthing is based on an extended period of separation from a person's normal existence. Constant nudity is an important part of that separation. Understanding that you are here at your own discretion and that you can leave at any time, I strongly believe that both of you can benefit significantly from following our program strictly. I hope you will decide to stay and experience those benefits."

"We ... we realize that we have much to, um, recover from, Dr. Waxman," Naomi said. "But, I'm sure you realize that the nudity requirement is extreme to us."

"Yes, of course I realize that. Having been through Mary's stay here, I have a much better understanding of what you may be feeling. Using my prerogative as director, I have decided to let you attend church for three more Sundays. That will create some tension with the other residents, but I believe it is the right move for you. We do not pretend to substitute for your faith, nor do we want you feel that we are forcing you away from that faith."

"You would not succeed if you tried," Naomi said.

"After the fourth Sunday, you will have to decide if you can stay here without leaving for a period of time. That is not all that you will have to decide. Rachel, I know how much you need to see Cy. I will allow you, both of you, actually, to meet with Cy in our spare office two or three times each week."

Seeing Naomi about to ask a question and guessing what the question was, Julia held up her hand in a 'stop' gesture and went on. "I will have robes here that you can put on before Cy arrives." Both women visibly relaxed and Rachel teared up and sniffled.

"I will only allow you to have the robes until that fourth Sunday. Then, you will have to decide to be naked while you visit with Cy, go without seeing him, or leave here."

"Oh, we could never let him see us naked!" Naomi protested.

Holding up her hand again, Julia urged them "Please! Don't make a decision right now. Wait until you have to decide. Think about how you already let the young men on our staff see you, and you seem to be suffering no bad effects.

"You can talk to Cy on the phone any time you want. I will let you decide when you want him to come over for a visit."

-------

"I believe that Carter Calloway, the man listed as my biological father on my birth certificate, has been making child support payments my whole life," Cy told Marty as they met for the first time in an office-like room at Lindsey's.

"I can't tell you exactly why," Cy went on, "but I do not believe that he actually is my father. Is there a way that I can get a test to determine if he is or not?"

"Such tests are readily available," Marty answered, "and the costs have come down dramatically. "The only problem might be getting Mr. Calloway to give you the sample."

"Why would he not, if it could prove that he did not have to send the money?"

"Perhaps he will be very willing to have the test done, Cy. I was just pointing that his permission is the only possible roadblock to your finding out."

"I understand that legal expenses are being covered. I hate to ask for anything extra, but this is very important to me," Cy said. "Can you see if you can get the tests done?"

"Certainly. If I can get the sample from Mr. Calloway, I'll have the medical people from Transformations take your sample," Marty replied.

-------

By Wednesday, Reverend Matthews' people had discovered where Cy was now going to school. Actually, they had found out from Norman, Leah's father, one of Matthews' elders at the church. The Reverend had suffered through Norman's futile attempts to retrieve his daughter, never once imagining that it could happen to him.

Even knowing that Norman had failed, the Reverend was not daunted. Cy was walking casually from the van toward the school, chatting with his new friends when two men stepped in front of him. Leah shrieked, having been through the same experience herself. Connie, never at a loss for words and without Leah's aversion to cursing spat out "Stupid assholes! Won't they ever learn?"

"William, we're here to take you back to your school and your home," one of the men said.

"This is my school and I have just come from my home," Cy said calmly, almost as if he had expected this. "Now, step aside, please. If you try to stop me from getting to class, it will go badly for you."

Cy stepped forward slowly, giving the men a chance to retreat, but they did not. They both reached to take one of his arms almost simultaneously. Within about four seconds, each man had a his hands cuffed behind his back. The two Plonske guards provided by the Tee had become almost used to this scenario and shared a chuckle at the bafflement of the two would-be abductors.

Seeing one of the guards pull out a radio to report, Cy said "Wait! Don't call the police."

One guard was very perceptive, sensing that Cy just wanted to be left alone and was not interested in punishment for the men. "Son, they attempted to kidnap you. You can't just let that go. If we don't have them booked, they'll just try it again."

Just as perceptive, Cy asked "What will be the charge be if they try it again?"

"If they or anyone else tries it again after being warned, they may be held without bail, and Reverend Matthews will certainly be charged."

"Kidnapping?" One of the men protested. "He ran away from home! He's a minor! He can't just go off by himself!"

"His mother is fully aware of his situation and approves of his new residence. That is all you need to know. Reverend Matthews has no legal standing in the matter. One more attempt and he will be arrested, as well," the guard told the two men forcefully.

"Sir, just let them go and deliver the message. I doubt they will be foolish enough to try again," Cy said.

"But what about Reverend Matthews? He's not exactly rational," the guard asked provocatively. The two men looked like they wanted to protest but were too concerned about what was happening to them.

"I don't think my grandfather wants anything to go to court," Cy said. "If it does, people will find out what life was really like at our house. That would not help donations at all." That blasphemy made the two men gasp and glower at Cy, but they said nothing.

"Alright," the guard said, feigning great reluctance. "I'd just as soon run these two thugs in. I'll bet they've already got rap sheets, wouldn't you say?" That was really rubbing it in, as Cy was quite sure the two were just faithful staff members drafted to help the Reverend.

Unable to resist, Cy decided to plant a seed of dissension. "Tell my grandfather that the three of us have had enough of his constant verbal abuse and none of us want to be his punching bags any more. We are gone for good." He doubted if the message would actually reach the Reverend, but word of his accusation would get around.

-------

Wednesday night was a perfect night for Cy to meet with his mother and grandmother. Rachel initiated the call, but Cy was more than happy to agree. Despite how calmly he had handled it, the abduction attempt that morning had affected him quite a bit.

Rachel had a moment of concern about hugging her son wearing nothing but the robe, but that was soon overwhelmed by the joy of the closeness and tenderness that she had never received from any other male but him.

The escape had affected the way Cy thought about his mother. Certainly there had always been the curiosity about her, but his comments about her being like a little sister had been true. Their previous displays of affection had necessarily been constrained by the fear of discovery by the Reverend. Thinking about his mother naked all day at the Tee had changed her image in his mind. Now, assuming that the robe was all she wore, it was much harder to think of her as just a loved and affectionate sibling.

For Rachel, there was still the same starvation for male affection. If anything, her need was heightened by her separation from Cy. There was also a release of inhibitions with the assurance that her father would never again interrupt and chastise or beat her for her 'lewd' behavior. More than ever before, she clung to Cy, pressing herself against him almost frantically.

Slightly embarrassed by his mother's clinging, Cy moved to the couch in the office. Wondering how he could sit them down without pushing her away, he gave up and sat with her on his lap. Rachel was very much in favor of that new level of intimacy. Both Cy and Naomi just waited while Rachel sobbed quietly for a few minutes, never easing her frantic hold on him. Uneasy at first, Cy gradually relaxed and wrapped his arms around her, stroking her back and her hair gently.

All of Naomi's experience told her that she should be offended by her daughter's brazen display. The problem was that all she could think about was what she would give for some of that same closeness. She just stood and watched for a few sad minutes, then made her decision.

Naomi, even more than her daughter or grandson, realized the enormity of the the change they had all gone through. She was just as starved for affection and physical contact as her daughter was. She loved the fine young man Cy had become almost as much as Rachel did.

Trembling at her own brazenness but at the same time exulting in the freedom she felt, Naomi sat down beside Cy. She raised Rachel's legs over her own lap as she wormed her way closer to the boy. In a final move of unprecedented boldness, she took Cy's arm and brought it around herself, then rested her head on her grandsons' shoulder.

Julia should have felt ashamed, but she rationalized that it was for the good of her 'patients' as she watched the tender tableau on the monitor in her office. What she actually felt was a moistness in her eyes that was very unprofessional. Because of her long experience and the exceptional empathic sense that made her such an effective healer, she read a lot into the scene in the adjacent office.

She could see three people bonded together for protection against a harsh and unforgiving existence. She could see starvation for physical expressions of affection. She could see a young man fully the equal of her employees at the Tee in terms of maturity, strength of character and respect and love for women.

Julia could also see the potential for incredible heartbreak among the three. She was absolutely convinced that her theory on Cy's parentage was correct. Could even the inspiring bond of love that she saw in that room survive the revelation of the truth after so many years of covering up?

Well, she was in the business of fixing people. When the truth came out, as it certainly would, her work would be cut out for her. The biggest thing in her favor was the love that she was eavesdropping on. Because she was in the fortunate position of knowing what each of the players in the drama was doing, Julia would have to take great pains to minimize the damage.



-------

Chapter 16


To perhaps alleviate some of the confusion of many, many names, here is a list of some that are mentioned, but were introduced in previous episodes of the Transformations series.

Dr. Julia Waxman, Psychiatrist, Director of Transformation

Frank Waxman, Julia's husband, General Manager of Transformations, former fashion exec, General Manager of Magnuson Foundation.

Gerald Magnuson, wealthy philanthropist, primary backer of Transformations.

Paul Ventri, CFO of Transformations and president of his own accounting firm.

Norma Ventri, wife of Paul.

Mark Ventri, son of Norma and Paul, on Tee staff, photo/video/Net specialist, engaged to Lindsey Hall.

Ryan Herwaldt, R.N., Medical Director of Transformations, president of startup medical equipment firm.

Carol Herwaldt, wife of Ryan, assistant to Food Service Manager.

Michelle, R.N. part-time support nurse.

Gretchen Berg, Food Service Manager.

Andy Berg, staff, also employee of Paul's firm.

Andi Berg, wife of Andy, staff member.

Trish, staff member, girlfriend of Terry Torvold.

Terry Torvold, star HS footballer, son of Shannon Torvold, original employee, now only on emergency call.

Shannon Torvold, original 'patient' of immersion therapy concept, before Transformations.

Yvonne Torres, nutritionist, supports Transformations.

Lindsey Hall, country singer in Jenny Ballard's troupe, engaged to Mark Ventri

Mary & Floyd Hall, Lindsey's parents, once sentenced to the Tee for sponsor attempted kidnapping of Lindsey to Rev. Schermer's retreat.

Sonja & Sarah Schermer, daughter of Rev. Frank Schermer, help bring him down after his attacks on Transformations. Members of Jenny Ballards troupe.

Jenny Ballard, long-time star country singer.

Hank Ballard, songwriter, 'adopted' Jenny when she was disowned by parents.

Margo Ballard, lyricist with husband Hank.

-------

[Janice] Mid September

The Ralston's, Ted's parents, were a real problem at Lindsey's by Ted's second week in residence. To try to keep it as home-like as possible, there was a very open visitor policy. The assumption had been that because of bad blood between parent and child, parental visits would not be frequent. Janice Ralston, though, quite literally wanted to move in so she could properly take care of her baby, once she was convinced that he was not coming home.

What was worse was the way she treated everyone else there. Another girl had moved in, in addition to Connie, and one more boy. Janice was just plain hateful to the girls and tried to order all of the others around as if catering to Ted was the whole reason that Lindsey's was there.

Julia finally asked the Ralstons to meet with her. "In this meeting, I am the Director of Lindsey's Place, not a psychiatrist. Since you are not my patients, confidentiality requirements do not apply. I am going to start by asking you a shrink's question, though. Mrs. Ralston, what is a parent's primary task, regarding their offspring?"

"Wh ... why are you asking me that?" Janice complained.

Deciding that answering the question led too much toward a session atmosphere, she decide on a soliloquy. "A parent's primary responsibility is to turn out a successful, happy, well-adjusted adult. That means, as the child moves into adulthood, the main job of the parents becomes 'de-parenting'. That involves doing fewer and fewer of the parental things that were done when the offspring was still a child."

"But Ted is still a child!" Janice objected.

"Not true. He is part child and part adult. He can father children, now. Your job is to help the adult part of him increase properly as the child part inevitably shrinks. Ted believes that you are doing everything you can to keep him in child status - young child status, at that. Comparison with his contemporaries enforces that belief in him. The mildest term he uses is 'smothering'. The stronger terms include 'straitjacket' and 'prison'."

"Oh, no! He can't think that way about me!" Janice shrieked. "It's not right! That's not what I was doing!" She broke down in sobs.

"Mrs. Ralston, every relationship has two sides. Ted believes that is exactly what you were doing to him. That's what drove him to leave. Now, I am only going to tell you what I have discovered about Ted's feelings and the reasons he left. I will also tell you that caring, knowledgeable people who know your family agree completely."

There was another pause for more agonized wails from Janice. "For obvious reasons, I am not going to try to tell you how to fix this situation. I do think that you should seek a counsellor who can help you.

"What I must do, for the sake of Ted, who is now under my care, is impose some strict limits on how much time you can spend visiting Ted here. It is also for the sake of the other people at Lindsey's. When you are there, you treat the other residents very badly, especially the girls."

"But ... but he shouldn't be living there with girls! It's not right! They could ... they could..."

"One of them could take him away from you, couldn't they?" Julia finished. "Mrs. Ralston. That is exactly what will happen someday. You should be helping Ted toward that day. You should be helping him learn how to interact well with girls. Don't you want him to have a long, happy married life? Don't you want him to give you grandchildren?

"The way you act toward the girls, you are trying to teach Ted that they are evil and that he should have nothing to do with them. Are you trying to turn him into a homosexual?" That last blow was something Julia would never have said to a patient, but Janice had stirred up a lot of ill will. Having her as a major irritant was not a good way for Lindsey's to start.

Rather than showing any repentance at all, Janice let loose with a tirade at Julia and at the whole idea of Lindsey's. Watching the woman, Julia could see that she was teetering on the edge of rationality, and she made an on-the-spot decision.

"Mrs. Ralston! Mrs. Ralston!" Julia almost shouted, finally getting Janice to calm down. "I am offering you two choices. First, you can walk out of here right now, and I will see that you are not allowed into Lindsey's to see your son."

"You can't do that! It's not right!" Janice wailed, then once again, she went into a rage.

"Mrs. Ralston, the other choice is that you immediately undress, walk through that door, and check in to Transformations as a resident. That way, you can earn the right to see Ted again."

While Janice was in the midst of still another rage, Julia managed to ask Ray "Mr. Ralston, do I have your permission to sedate your wife and take her in there? I fear that commitment to a psyche ward may be the result if we don't do this."

Ray sat almost frozen, unable to believe what was happening to his family, and terrified at the screaming woman who looked like his wife. Finally, he gave a weak nod.

"Mr. Ralston, can you afford the cost of at least three months here for your wife?" Again there was the nod.

Within a couple of minutes, Ryan was in the office. He and Ray held Janice still while Julia gave her an injection that quieted her down in a few minutes. Julia made Ray undress her, and when Ryan led her into the women's section, she was passive.

-------

[Ray] Mid September

With Janice gone, Julia and Ray just looked at each other for a minute, then Ray said "Dr. Waxman, I guess a lot of this is my fault. I have never liked the way Janice has dealt with Ted, but I ... well, Ted gets his personality from me. I'm very non-confrontational.

"I feel guilty that I am making Janice suffer for my own shortcomings, but right now, the issue is Ted." Ray went on. "I can afford the tuition, and I want to pay for Ted, also. How long do you think she should stay here?" Ray asked.

"Of course, I have not done a psychological workup on her, but my first guess is the three months I mentioned. I will tell you that I believe Ted should stay a few months after that. If Janice cannot adapt to him living away, then we would not have achieved the desired change."

Julia had decided that, if she was being thrown into the task of repairing the Ralston family, Ray needed work, too. "Ray, my sense is that there is an imbalance in the authority and control in your family. Is that a fair analysis."

Ray hung his head and nodded. "Whenever Janice leaves here, the changes in her and the experiences she has had may widen the gulf between the two of you. That is something we worry a lot about here.

"I am going to test your level of commitment toward reuniting and repairing your family. There is a bathroom just down the hall. I want you to go there and undress, and return here naked. Some other women will be here with me when you return and we will discuss the program I have worked out for you."

Seeing the absolute panic on Ray's face, Julia told him "Remember, Ray, to us, nudity is nothing remarkable. That probably will not help you a lot, but keep it in mind. As I said, this is partly a test of your seriousness. When Janice comes home, nudity will be normal and natural to her. If it is not for you, well, I think you can see how it could increase your problems. Now, are you serious enough to do this? There is a shower in the bathroom. Take your time and reduce the chance of an erection if you need to."

A main objective of her 'program' for Ray, that she was thinking up on the fly, would be to try to develop some more 'backbone' for him where his wife was concerned. If the parents' relationship was not more balanced when Janice returned, it would still not be a good place for Ted to live.

When Ray just sat there without saying anything, Julia gently told him "Ray, what Janice is about to go through will be pretty traumatic for her. As you said yourself, you bear quite a bit of the blame for Ted's flight. Do you want healing badly enough to share part of what Janice will have to do?"

He knew that his manhood was being challenged. Except when it came to Janice, he was not a timid or submissive individual. His career success proved that. Now, because he had never found the will to interact with his wife as an equal, he was going to have to endure some serious embarrassment. Well, he deserved it! At that point, anger overcame his fear, and he walked toward the bathroom.

In the shower, his precautionary masturbation was an all too familiar activity since Ted had left. Rather than Ted, Ray had become the target of most of his wife's anguish and anger, and sex between them was out of the question. His own emotional level was elevated over Ted's departure, just like Janice's. For him, it increased his need, rather than squelching it as seemed to have happened to her.

He brought himself off before soaping down, but when he came to washing his crotch, he found himself still far too stiff to want to face a group of women. He could not remember the last time he had done himself twice, but if there was ever a time..."

The ten yard walk from the bathroom to Julia's office seemed to take forever. He was just chiding himself for his bashfulness when Muriel came through a door that he had not noticed. That fact that he knew her from numerous visits to Lindsey's made the shock even greater. Her hand placed gently on his shoulder was meant for reassurance, but it missed its intent.

In Julia's office, Gretchen was waiting with Julia. She was the only other staff woman that Julia could get to join them on short notice. Her presence was appropriate, though.

"Ray, if you intend to make Janice a resident here, I want you to start your own personal remake, and I want you to start it immediately. I assume because of your professional position that you could arrange your daily schedule for a period of time so that you could spend about two hours here every midday. Is that correct?"

He tried to think about the question, rather than his exposure, and decided that he could indeed make those arrangements. "There could be some days where that won't work," he was able to say.

"Just let Muriel know ahead of time, and we'll try to make other arrangements. Weekends we will have to play by ear. I assume you are seldom anywhere that Janice is not aware of."

"Is it that obvious?" he asked shamefacedly.

"Yes, Ray, I'm afraid it is, but you will be working on that. When you arrive each day, you will undress immediately and spend your whole time here naked. Gretchen will make sure that you have a good lunch, and Muriel will be responsible for your workout program and other things that you will need to do. Tomorrow about 11:15?"

He nodded. Julia had him sign a few necessary forms, then told him that he could get dressed and leave.

Once again, the center section would find a unique use.

-------

[Janice] Mid September

It was the first time that a resident had been brought into the Tee on an emergency basis, against their will. Julia was confident that her judgement of an imminent breakdown would hold up against any action. It was one of the times that she was thankful that everything that happened was secretly recorded. There had never been a need to use any of the recordings, and she hoped that there never would be. Still, their presence was comforting.

As he took Janice into the women's section, Julia had told Ryan to take her to the bed in the little in-house clinic. There had never been any drills or procedures for this type of situation, but the great sensitivity of all of the staff and residents was once again demonstrated.

Ryan just made a sweeping arm motion to the first woman who looked their way, then pointed toward the route he would take to the clinic. In hindsight, it might have been better to take Janice through the outside hallway, but hindsight is hindsight. Within moments, there was no one in sight between Ryan and the inside clinic entrance.

It was mid-evening, and Ryan was not sure if Julia wanted Janice out for the night. He would have to wait for her direction on that, as well as another injection, if needed. He knew that Janice would be quite passive for nearly the next two hours.

She was able to walk with his support, and she did look around. She did not seem at all curious about her surroundings, though, and she did not seem to realize that she was naked and leaning against a man other than her husband.

Julia's decision was to let Janice come fully awake and aware and deal with the shock and anger late that evening when it was be the least disruptive to the other residents. That also allowed Julia to get Norma and another staffer to be her naked 'buddies' right away.

It was after midnight when the predictable shock and anger from the awakened Janice had subsided, simply because of her physical exhaustion. Julia had waited until that time to even attempt to talk to her newest patient.

"Janice, listen to me very carefully. My objective, and the objective of everyone here at Transformations, is to get your family back together, with Ted living at home again, just as soon as possible. Do you believe that?"

"Then why did you take him away from me?"

"No, Janice, we did not take him away from you. We gave him a chance to leave and he took it. You drove him away, Janice."

"No! No! That's not right. I was just being the best mother I could!"

"Janice, Ted told you that he left because of you, didn't he?" When Janice refused to answer, Julia pressed. "Didn't he? Didn't he?" Janice finally had to nod.

"Now, Janice, you can survive here at Transformations, not changing your mind about anything, until we give up and throw you out. Right now, that is what you are thinking, isn't it?" A hard glare was the answer.

"I can guarantee you that if you do that, Ted will never again live at home with you." That brought a shriek from Janice.

"You are an intelligent woman, Janice. If you open your mind to the people here; if you honestly compare your relationship with Ted to other mothers and sons, you will see why he left you. You will see the changes in attitude and actions that you will have to make to bring him home."

"All of us here at Transformations want you to succeed, Janice. We don't want you to have to be here any longer than necessary. I need to tell you this, though, as a licensed psychiatrist. If you decide to leave here tonight, which is your right, I believe that you will end up in a psyche ward of a hospital within a week. If you go off again like you did in the office, Ray will have to call 911."

Mention of the psyche ward drove all of the belligerence from Janice's gaze. She looked sober and glum, and suddenly, very, very weary. Norma, with her wonderful instincts, laid Janice back on the clinic cot, covered her up, and shooed the others from the room.

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[Ray] Mid September

Ray thought that he had gotten by the worst part when he had to walk into Julia's office naked. That opinion changed quickly when he arrived at the Tee the next day. Muriel let him in the main door, then told him to undress and leave his things in a locker.

Norma, whom he had not met the night before, was there to greet them, clothed for once. As she led him right to the exercise area, Muriel explained "This section is normally all nude, but we are making an exception for right now. Let's get you started on a workout sequence. When was the last time you did any weight work regularly?"

A little later, Muriel told him "For the treadmill, just use these generic shoes for today. You can bring you own tomorrow. You'd better use this." With that, she handed him a jock strap.

When Ray headed to his car to return to work, he felt warmth and tightness in places that had not been stressed for some time.

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[Matthews Family] Mid September

For the next week and a half, life went along normally, if anything about the new lives of the Matthews family could be considered normal. Naomi chose working herself to exhaustion as the best way to cope with the many emotions warring in her mind.

A positive emotion was the immense relief at being out from under the control of her husband, whom she had come to view as a monster. A negative emotion was the persistent feeling that every time another person, particularly the boys and the men, looked at her naked body, she was committing a sin. An accompanying emotion, both positive and negative, was the feeling that she was spending time in that little sinful, naked hell as retribution for her silence in what was done to her daughter and to Carter Calloway.

A positive emotion was the assurance that her precious grandson, Cy, was free to realize what she considered his enormous potential. A negative emotion was the fear that the terrible secret that she and her daughter carried might someday become known and destroy what happiness the three of them had.

The psychological defense mechanism that had allowed Rachel to survive the multiple traumas of her fifteenth year insulated her from the emotional battles that troubled her mother. It was not that she was always happy, but she could use her detachment to keep out the pain of too much pondering, too much feeling.

Like the three-year-old that Cy had likened her to, Rachel followed her mother through the day exactly. Even though much younger, she ended up in the same exhausted state as Naomi.

Every three days or so there was another meeting with Cy, and that was really the focus of Rachel's existence. All of the people at the Tee, staff and residents, were very kind to her, instinctively sensing the kind of world that she lived in.

Rachel was very intelligent, and she was able to converse with people in a very normal fashion. The difference only showed in situations that in some way could stress her. Then, her special, protected world kept the intruding emotions out. That was how she handled the nudity. Essentially, she just acted as if she was not naked. Nothing was wrong, so nothing could cause her stress, fear, or guilt.

A consequence of Rachel's detachment about her nudity was that every male in the place fell in love with her. She was very attractive, and the natural serene way that she went about her life just made her irresistible. The other women were not offended by her obvious appeal to the men. They knew that they were not in any kind of competition, and they sensed the deep, underlying tragedy that must have caused Rachel's state of mind. Sympathy easily trumped jealousy.

For Cy, almost every day was a new experience. His days were full. He did not have to study nearly as much as at the church school, but he had been immediately enrolled in driving school. With the visits with his mother and grandmother, his evenings filled up.

No matter how full his time was, though, he sought out every possible minute to just talk with his new siblings. All of the kids had suffered from isolation to some extent, so Cy had no problem finding someone to hang out with. He and Leah shared the same faith and had the most commonality of experience, but he did not limit himself to her at all.

He found the other boys, and sometimes the girls, more than willing to enter into little competitions on all of the various equipment available to them. Connie also loved to compete. Feeling a little guilty about it, Cy found himself attracted to Connie's openness, her volatility, and even her penchant for profanity. He recognized that even if she had some of the same problems, she looked at life from a different angle than he did. It fascinated him.

Besides Rachel and Naomi, there was another constant in Cy's life. Having revealed his thoughts about his parentage, he was impatient for answers. About every two days, he called Marty to find out if anything was happening.

-------

Although she would have liked to do so sooner, Julia finally sat down with Cy in her office at the Tee on Thursday evening. In a move that did not surprise her from what she had heard and observed, Cy made the opening comments. "Dr. Waxman, I really appreciate the chance to see Mom and Grandma, and I know that going to church means a lot to them. I am guessing that you have bent the rules for them."

"Yes, I have," Julia agreed, then asked a question. "Is going to church not important to you?"

"Oh, yes. But no one has to break any rules for me to get there."

"If the women were not allowed to leave here, would you still go?"

"Yes, I would."

"If Leah wasn't going, either, would you still go?"

"As long as I could find someone to drive me."

"Cy, I know that you asked for some legal advice. Are you getting the help you wanted?"

"I like Ms. Granville - Marty. I think she is trying to do what I asked for, but I have not heard whether she has had any success. It's only been a few days."

"Cy, anything you tell me is just as confidential as what you tell your lawyer. Could I ask what you needed Marty's help with?"

Cy looked at her in silence for several moments, then gave a slight nod and began telling Julia about what he had learned and what his suspicions were.

"Cy, let's talk about your reaction to the answers you might get back. First of all, what will you feel, what will you do if Marty cannot get a sample from Mr. Calloway?"

Without a pause, Cy answered. "Somehow, some way, I will get a sample. Even if it is not a legal one, it will give me the answer I need."

"OK, I will pretend I did not hear about your determination to break the law," Julia said with a small smile. "Now, what if test results show that Mr. Calloway is your biological father?"

"Dr., I don't want to sound arrogant, but I don't see any way that could be true. All of the little clues I have tell me that he is not."

"I see. So the tests are just a formality in your mind?"

"For as anxious as I am for the results, I guess I sounded too confident," Cy said with a grin.

"Fair enough. What if the results come back as you expect. Then what?"

"Then I have to find out who the real rapist was," Cy said flatly.

"How will you find that out?"

"Mom knows," he said. "I can't believe Grandma doesn't know."

"If it isn't Mr. Calloway, who do you think it could be?"

"I don't think I should speculate," Cy insisted.

"I can see why you would say that," Julia responded. "I cannot believe, though, that with your intelligence and your perceptive ability you would not have formed an opinion. If you have, would it help you to share it with me. Remember, it goes no further."

Cy stared at her for almost a minute. Then, he sighed and said "I'm afraid it's my grandfather." Julia could see moisture form in his eyes after he said it.

"If that turned out to be true, how would you feel about your mother and grandmother keeping that secret all these years?" she asked. To her, that was the crucial question that would determine the fate of the family.

"I don't know if it's true yet," Cy declared.

"Not to be combative, but it is my guess that you are 99% sure," Julia said gently.

"I guess my feelings about Mom and Grandma would be crucial, wouldn't they?" Julia just nodded.

"You're right. For the last few nights, I've thought about it a lot. I can't imagine what it must have been like for Mom. She was younger than I am now. Her own father! I know what a beast he can be. The way she's withdrawn is one of the things that convinced me. From what I can tell, my grandfather would never have let her be anywhere that she could even have been raped by anyone else.

"To answer your question, I couldn't be angry at Mom. And Grandma? Imagine having to be the perfect pastor's wife, knowing that your husband did something like that? I'm hoping I can make them just admit it. With escaping from the house and everything, maybe they could really start to live for once."

"You wouldn't stop loving either of them?"

"Of course not."

"Cy, will you let me know when you get the test results? They are my patients, you know. I would like to be involved in how the truth is finally revealed."

-------

[Ray] Mid September

In a very real way, his daily sessions at the Tee became an essential sanity break for Ray. As the women told him over and over, it did not take many days before he hardly noticed that his penis was out for them to look at.

As he worked out, Muriel and Norma, who had both been with him every day the first week, talked with him about his situation. He soon discovered that they had a genuine interest in seeing his family put back together.

On his seventh day, Ray again had reason to regret his casual attitude toward the threat of arousal. That day, both women worked out with him, still clothed. When it came time for the pool, though, both of them casually doffed their skimpy uniforms and joined him. The fact that they let him get into the pool before they stripped was intentional, and he was very grateful.

-------

Three days later, when Muriel let Ray in the main door, she told him "I think you might want to masturbate before you come in today."

Not long before, that statement would have caused Ray terminal embarrassment. Then, however, he just gave her a quizzical look and took care of business.

The reason for her suggestion was apparent as soon as they entered the room. Instead of Norma, waiting for him was a naked, beaming Missy. The only thing that kept him from springing an erection despite having just gotten off was Missy moving beside him so he was not looking right at her.

"I wanted to meet you, Mr. Ralston. By at least December first I will be moving to Lindsey's, so I'll get to know Ted. I'm sure I'll be seeing you when you come to visit him. I heard that this is all part of a plan to get Ted back home, though, so maybe Ted and I never will be housemates." In typical fashion for the 'new' Missy, her sheer ebullience soon had Ray at ease enough so that arousal was not much of a threat.

-------

Two days after Missy first joined Ray for his midday session, Muriel had different news for him when he arrived. "Ray, we know that things between you and Janice are not good, and that she won't even talk to you on the phone. When you come here, I've always been with you, and things between us are relaxed and quite, uh, intimate. I like you, and I hope we can be long-term friends, but it would be bad if you started to form any emotional attachment to me."

In a bold statement that showed how much progress he was making, Ray answered "Muriel, that could very easily happen. Whenever I get to meet Clark, I can honestly tell him what a phenomenal woman he has. I am not one to be unfaithful, no matter what, but I see how it might be difficult, seeing you all the time. I appreciate the sacrifice you have made for me."

"Missy has asked for the privilege of meeting you every day, and there is another development. Julia has opened up your session for any two other women who want to to join you each day. Don't go getting a big head, but there is a waiting list. Julia is very worried that something about it might leak to Janice.

"Of course, all of the women who will join you are residents, so they are always naked. It will be a while before you see a clothed woman here again."

"You'd better warn Missy that 'undressing' will take a while each time, then," he said with a chuckle. Then, he held out his arms for a hug. "Better do the goodbye bit while we both have clothes on," he quipped.

Muriel decided not to tell him about the next escalation, due in three more days.

-------

Ray certainly suspected that something important was afoot when Julia met him at the entrance three days later. "Ray, one of the somewhat controversial things we do at the Tee is let the male attendants give the women a massage every day. Without exception, the women all come to appreciate that as one of the highlights of their day."

"Naked?"

"Yes, the women stay naked, and I guess that is what makes it controversial. There is no towel over the bottom, as in a spa. Janice will get a massage every day after she works oit. Once again, trying to prevent that gulf from forming between you, I want you to learn to do massage.

"When Janice gets home, she will be used to it. If you can do it for her, and do it well, it can be a valuable means of healing the rift that has formed between you.

"Although we certainly do not do it at the Tee, a massage can very easily be made very sensual and erotic - a wonderful form of foreplay. From the first day that you and Janice are back together, you need to establish yourself as the sexual leader. Massage can be the perfect way to do that.

"Now, I cannot reasonably expect you to stand there naked and massage these naked women without threat of arousal. Therefore, you will wear a jock strap and uniform shorts during that time. You have three women in there who are more than willing to suffer through your learning efforts."

Besides Missy, there were six resident women who rotated for Ray's sessions. As might be expected, he had become good friends with all of them. It really blew him away that all six of them were willing - actually eager - to have his hands on their naked bodies.

The first woman could obviously sense his nervousness, and she told him "I don't know if Julia told you, Ray, but we all look forward to our massages. For a lot of us, having this really great guy give us that kind of attention is a thrill.

"Don't feel guilty about being unfaithful by touching us. Since your wife is at the Tee, she has guys massaging her daily. She loves it, too."

It was probably a favor to Ray that Missy took her turn last. The only problem was that he was supposed to join them all in the pool when he finished with Missy, but he was definitely not ready to take off his pants immediately.

-------

[Cy] Late September

Marty did some hurried but serious research when Cy asked her to request a sample from Caz for DNA testing. It would have been easier for her if she had never served as Caz's counsel and had not known about the agreement he had signed. Still, she decided that she was just fulfilling a request from her client and was not required to apply any pre-judgement based on prior knowledge.

It had taken Caz's new counsel longer to determine whether complying with Cy's request would violate the non-disclosure clauses of the extortion agreement. When the legal opinions came back mixed, it was Caz who made the decision to give the sample and let Cy take things where Caz hoped they would go. Once the boy knew for certain that Caz was not his father, Caz reasoned, he would somehow find out from his mother who the real rapist was.

Thus it was that by the end of that week, Marty was able to tell Cy that she had Caz's sample in hand. Cy got the call Friday evening and was almost frantic to find someone to take his own sample.

On Sunday, both Rachel and Naomi noticed Cy's distraction and asked him about it. He, or course, disavowed anything troubling him. Tuesday evening in the office, he did a better job of masking his preoccupation. They still sensed something troubling him but did not ask about it.

With the rush that Marty had put on and the improved diagnostic capabilities of the previous few years, Marty had the DNA results Thursday morning. Cy had instructed her to tell Julia directly, so Julia scheduled a meeting that evening with Naomi and Rachel.

Marty was waiting at Lindsey's when Cy got home from school. "You're right so far," was all she had to say. The other kids asked what was going on and Cy looked at Marty questioningly. "Sorry, Guys," Marty said to the others. "There are legal reasons why Cy shouldn't tell you right now."

-------

"Perhaps you have noticed that Cy has been distracted lately," Julia started the meeting with Naomi and Rachel. "The reason is that he has been trying to find out about his parentage." Both women seemed near to a faint at those words. As calmly as possible, Julia told them all about what Cy knew, what he suspected and why, and the tests that had been taken.

"He strongly suspects," Julia said, then corrected herself, "No, he is almost certain that his grandfather is his father." This time, Naomi did pass out briefly. Rachel sought refuge in her detached place and seemed remarkably unaffected. Julia thought to herself that she was looking at one of the bigger challenges of her career making a whole, functioning person out of what Rachel had become.

"Now, you are probably worried about how he will feel about you when he learns that it is true." She just waited for them to absorb her assertion that it WAS true. "Your Cy is a remarkably compassionate young man who loves both of you very much. He also has a remarkably mature understanding of what your lives have been like since it happened. I can assure you right now that he does not hate you. He loves you just as much as he always has."

Both women wept quietly for a while at that news. "Can ... can we see him tonight?" Rachel pled.

"Not tonight, but soon," Julia said. "Here's what I am going to do. I am going to set up what I hope will be a healing time for the three of you early Saturday morning.

"You have no doubt heard about our center section - the all-nude section as of right now. It is almost identical to this one. On occasion I reserve that for especially important meetings between residents and family members. It will be reserved for you from seven until ten Saturday morning. I want the three of you to have breakfast together and talk. I want you to show him what you do here and talk. I want the three of you to swim and enjoy the hot tub together and talk. I want you to cry together and talk.

"When you come out of the center section, I want to be sure that your loving family is still together and as close as ever. Do you understand why I am doing this?" Both women nodded.

"Now, there is one thing I require that will be very hard for you two. You will have to stay naked."

There were the predictable gasps from both of them. Only Naomi said anything, though. "I guess we deserve that for keeping it secret."

"No! This is not a punishment. It is symbolic. For all of his life, a crucial fact has been hidden from him. Your nakedness will symbolize to him and to you that there is no longer anything hidden - no more dark secrets."

Naomi just hung her head while Rachel sat with the vacant half-smile that indicated her having retreated. "Will you do it?" Julia asked gently.

"Will Cy be ... will he be naked, too?"

"No. He will wear what our male attendants wear," Julia answered.

"Of course we'll do it," Naomi said, then shuddered visibly. "We owe him at least that much. You're sure he won't be angry with us?"

"I'm certain of it."

While Julia was meeting with the women, Cy was leaving a message for Marty. "Please let Mr. Calloway's lawyer know the results. Also tell him that I should soon know from my mother and grandmother who my real father is."

When she finished her meeting with the women, Julia came over to Lindsey's to talk to Cy. When they were in a private place, Julia told him "I have reserved the center section of Transformations for you, your mother, and your grandmother from seven until ten Saturday morning. I assume you can be there."

"Sure. What will we be doing?"

"Healing, I hope. They will show you what they do and you will see what it's like where they live. Breakfast will be served and there will be time for lots of talking and crying together. You said you would love them just as much. It will be your assignment to make sure they believe that when you leave."

"And we'll be there alone?"

"That's right. I have done this before, so I am not making any exceptions this time. Cy, there is one thing you must be prepared for. I have required them to remain naked."

"Wow! Is that kind of a punishment?"

"Absolutely not. They do not need punishing." Julia repeated the reasons she had given the women. "Oh, you will wear the shorts and shirt that our attendants wear. I will meet you right here at 6:45 Saturday morning."

"You're going there with me?"

"Not inside. There is always some risk in a situation like this. I need to be on the grounds as a precaution, and I will be happy to escort you and let you into the section."

-------

Cy was understandably nervous when she met him Saturday morning, Julia thought. He did not say much as he walked toward the regular main entrance.

Once inside, Julia showed Cy the boxes of shirts and shorts. "Pick your sizes and you can change in the men's room there."

"Uh, Dr. Waxman, I'm not going to wear anything."

"But you don't have to..." Julia said in surprise.

"If I'm dressed and they're not, it will seem like they are the offenders and I'm the victim. We're all victims. You talked about the symbolism of them not hiding anything from me. Well, I want to show that I accept them completely. Does that make sense?"

Julia had to give the boy a quick hug to prevent him from seeing her tears. She gave it away anyhow with one of those little jerks that happen when one is fighting the urge to cry. "I'll get one of the guys to let you in," she was able to say.

"You don't have to. It will be a lot harder with Mom than with a doctor," he said with a forced chuckle. "Besides, I need your support."

"You've got all the support I can give you," Julia assured him. "Uh, not to embarrass you, but I expect that erections are going to be a real problem for you. Do you want to take a few minutes to relieve the pressure."

"I hope I accomplished that before you arrived. I sure gave it a workout."

"Given the strictness of your environment, I'm glad that you at least discovered masturbation. Cy, some time in the three hours you will undoubtedly get hard again. Just remember that they will not be offended, disgusted, or repulsed by it. In this situation, no woman would react badly. Besides, they love you and they are so proud of you that they can hardly express it."

"Uh, thanks for the advice."

Julia thought Cy's composure when he emerged naked was remarkable. He had done a good job of relieving the pressure and he at least started the whole encounter soft.

When Julia opened the door for Cy, both of them had a major surprise. Just inside, standing between Naomi and Rachel, holding their hands, was Mary Hall, as naked as her new friends.

"I hope you don't mind, Julia," Mary said. "I'll only stay through breakfast. I think I understand their feelings better than anyone else. If I can do any little thing to help them, it will repay just a little of what you've done for me here."

Naomi and Rachel were silent - practically catatonic. Mary seemed to notice Cy for the first time and exclaimed "Cy! I thought you were going to wear a uniform!"

"That wouldn't be right," Cy responded. "We're all equal victims in this. We're going to be equal winners over it, too." Clearly uncertain how to act while naked, Cy nevertheless gave his mother and grandmother a short kiss on the lips while avoiding any body contact. Then, he kissed Mary on the cheek. "You're a wonderful friend, Mary. Thank you."

Julia closed the door and left and Cy and the women moved to the eating area where Gretchen had breakfast ready. She did a good job of not reacting when she saw Cy naked. Mary had to do the introductions because Naomi had assumed almost the same zombie state as her daughter.

Cy, Mary, and Gretchen kept some level of conversation going as they ate - or picked at the food, as Naomi and Rachel did. Several times, Cy got thoughtful, pondering how he could sit there naked with four women, three of them naked, and just talk normally. He did it because he had to reduce the stress on his mother and grandmother. This had to be one of the hardest days in their recent lives. He never even thought about it being one of his hardest days, also.

When the meal was definitely ended, Mary said goodbye, gave them each a kiss, and left. Naomi and Rachel had still hardly said a word. When they were all alone, Cy turned to the two of them and said "It's true, isn't it." It was not posed as a question.

Naomi found her voice first. "Cy, Honey, we're so sorry. We didn't know how to tell you. We didn't know whether it was better to tell you or not. If you knew, how would you react to William? Things at home were bad enough."

"Mom, Grandma: I love you. Nothing that happened can change that." He took a step toward them and held out his arms. The strength of their emotions and the need to express their love temporarily buried their concern about naked contact. Both women practically leaped at him, and he quickly had a blubbering woman under each arm. Four other arms did their best to squeeze the life from him while four eyes sent rivulets of tears down over his shoulders and chest.

All three seemed to realize the extreme intimacy of their embrace at the same time and the women pulled back. Cy grabbed each of their hands, though, and told them "Show me more about this place. It's just like where I live, actually. I'd like to see what you do all day."

The rest of the morning, they did what Julia had hoped they would - they talked and talked. Rachel, for the most part, left her detached place and talked about reality.

The first hardon crisis for Cy came when Rachel was showing how she worked out on one of the machines. Both women scrupulously refused to look at it and after that particular exposure ended, he was able to recede.

When the women had finished showing him their exercises, Rachel stood for a moment, glancing at Cy from hooded eyes. Then she walked to a massage table and climbed on.

In a completely aware and lucid state, Rachel began talking as she turned her head toward where Cy had come to stand beside her. "Honey, so much about this place is so wrong. I should never expose my body to anyone else. I should never let any man touch my nakedness. But I don't have a choice, and God forgive me, it feels so good. Every time one of those nice guys gives me a massage, I wish it was you."

She seemed to run out of words at that point, but Cy got the message. He knew nothing about massage, but Naomi took over and guided him. Long before he even put his hands on his mother's naked back, he got completely hard. At the time, his crotch was right in front of his mother's face, and he instinctively turned to hide his arousal from her.

Putting an arm around him, his grandmother told him "You can't help that, Cy. Just let your mom look at it. It will please her to see it, believe me. You are a beautiful man and we're both so proud of you."

"All this ... this nudity and ... everything I've been taught..." he stammered.

"I know, Honey," Naomi said. "It's hard on all of us. We have to believe that we are here for a reason. Mary has talked to us over and over because she had the same feelings. I don't have an answer for you. Give your mom a massage. She wants it so badly. Just let your manhood show. We will enjoy looking at it and ask for forgiveness later."

Cy should have been overwhelmed by embarrassment at both his condition and by the frank way his grandmother talked about it. At that moment, though, he was saddened by the thought of the hell that this loving, intelligent woman had lived in for so many years.

Despite Cy's clumsiness, Rachel received a massage that would never be equaled, just because it was her son and it was a new kind of intimacy between them. As massages go, it was chaste, but still a huge step for the family.

When he helped Rachel off of the table, Cy had to get quite stern with Naomi to make her take her turn. Amid her unavoidable murmurs of pleasure, she talked to Cy. "They tell me that I need muscle tone. They actually want me to gain weight. It's all supposed to make me more smooth and firm. I don't know why I should worry about how I look at my age."

He felt a flash of anger. Not knowing what to say, he gave her a slap on her bottom that was well short of painful but definitely not just an affectionate tap. "Stop talking like your life is over," he said sternly. "You are a beautiful, loving woman. Just because he doesn't know what he has been ignoring, you make yourself look the best you can. Will you do that for me?" She sniffled at his words, but nodded her head.

"Are you going to divorce him, Grandma?"

"That would ruin his ministry," she objected.

"If I was Caz Calloway," Cy said, "I would force him out of ministry altogether. I think it is an insult to God that he continues, after what he did."

"Please, try not to let yourself hate, Honey," Naomi said.

"But you wouldn't go back to him, would you? You can't keep pretending for the rest of your life. It's not fair to you!"

"I've always thought divorce was wrong."

"Isn't adultery the one scriptural basis for divorce?" Naomi did not respond and Cy decided to drop the subject and just finish the massage.

While in the hot tub after the massages, Cy asked them both "Will you give legal depositions if Mr. Calloway needs them? Will you testify in court if it comes to that?"

"After what we did to that poor man, we'll do anything we can to help," Naomi declared. Rachel nodded in agreement.

"You know, if this gets public, we're all going to be in the news. It won't be pretty," Cy warned.

"At least it will be worse for him," Naomi said, almost in a snarl.

At ten minutes before ten, Mary came back into the section along with Julia. Naomi walked right up to Julia and told her "Thank you so much. You were right about our Cy. We're all fine. It's ... it's a relief to end the secret, actually."



-------

Chapter 17


[Cy & Leah] Late September

Friday had been an impossible day at school for Cy. His mind could not get away from thoughts about the next morning. Over and over he had decided what he was going to do, and over and over he had changed his mind.

As it turned out, Saturday afternoon was just as bad. As it drew near to dinner time, he realized that what he needed was someone to talk to, someone to tell the incredible things that had been happening to him. Dr. Waxman would certainly take the time if he asked, but she did not share his faith and her perspective was just that much different. He immediately thought of Leah. He had promised Marty to keep everything secret, but that was eating him up right then.

He thought about asking Leah to go out to eat with him, but there were two problems with that. First of all, since it would be his first date and probably hers, as well, nerves might get in the way of the serious talking he needed to do. Second, he did not want to give Leah the impression that he had a romantic interest in her. Truthfully, he was attracted to the girl, but this was not a time to initiate anything. The way she blushed when just looking at him, he guessed that she felt more than a little attraction to him. That made the date a poor idea.

He waited until after dinner before catching Leah away from the others. "Leah, I need someone to talk to. Can you keep some serious secrets?" The look of adoration that she gave back almost made him change his mind, but having committed that far, he would have hurt her by backing off. She could not speak, only nod. "Would you come to my room? We need privacy." Another blushing nod.

The individual rooms at the Tee were quite small, but there was room for a love seat along with the bed and dresser. Cy led Leah to the couch and sat beside her.

"Before I say anything, Leah, I need your honest opinion of my grandfather. Don't worry about offending me. I will tell you that my opinion of him is very low."

"I don't know what to say," Leah started out. "He's ... he's my pastor and I always thought of him ... No! That's not true. Cy, I'm sorry, but I almost hate him! You heard my story. Well, my parents will do anything for him, but have no time at all for their children."

Really working up a head of steam, Leah went on. "They treated us more like animals. Just make sure we're all caged up so we can't do anything sinful, and then don't worry about us. I can see why my brother lied to get into the army early. There! I've said it! Why did you need to know."

"My grandfather is my father. He raped his own daughter."

The color left Leah's face and she wobbled a bit where she sat. For many seconds it seemed like it was all she could do to breathe sufficiently. Little by little her color returned, then it intensified until her face was even redder than the many times when she blushed. Suddenly, meek little beaten-down Leah was on her feet, fists clenched, eyes flashing, clearly very, very angry. It was certainly not what Cy would have expected of her.

"It was all lies?" she almost screamed, making Cy glad that he had closed the door behind them. "Every time he talked about it in church? Every time he spoke to a youth rally and got all choked up and teary-eyed? It was all a lie? He raped his own daughter?"

Leah was almost vibrating with rage. At first just stunned at the unexpected display by the girl, he began to see that the anger was just a way of releasing the anguish she felt. He got up and pulled her into his arms. For a moment, she was as stiff as a board in his embrace. When she relaxed, it was more like she disintegrated. The anger changed instantly to deep, wracking sobs.

Crying females were becoming a frequent part of Cy's life recently. With Leah, he was very puzzled about how to react. He liked the girl very much and he appreciated her willingness to listen. Now, though, she was obviously very, very troubled, and he felt bad about that. While trying to help him, she had taken a psychological blow that she could not handle.

As these thoughts were racing through his mind, the situation got more serious. Leah went limp in his arms. He was just able to keep her from falling to the floor and he muscled her onto his bed. Seeing her shiver a little, he pulled the coverlet over her and tried to decide what to do.

Muriel, the housemother, was his first thought. He was reluctant to leave Leah alone, so he just stood in his doorway and called to Libby, who was watching TV in the common area. He asked Libby to get Muriel to his room and said it was urgent.

To her credit, Muriel did not give him an accusatory look when she saw Leah's condition. "I just told her what I had found out about my situation. She got real angry at first, then she collapsed," he explained.

Before he even finished his explanation, Muriel had pushed a speed dial button on her cell phone. Shortly, she was explaining the situation to someone. Cy assumed it was Dr. Waxman, and that was verified when Muriel handed him the phone.

"What set her off, Cy?" Julia asked.

"I told about - everything," he said, not wanting to get Muriel into the loop. "She got really angry and was shouting for a while. I hugged her, and she just ... fainted."

"How long has she been out?"

"Almost five minutes, now."

"OK, I'll get Ryan over there right away just to watch her until I get there. It will be about twenty minutes. Cy, you didn't do anything wrong and I doubt there is any serious problem with Leah."

By the time everything got sorted out, almost three hours had gone by. Julia spent a long time in Cy's room alone with Leah, just talking to the girl. Of course, the situation could not be hidden from the other kids and Cy and Julia worked up an explanation. The others, showing that they really were good kids, did not press, did not make any jokes, and showed genuine concern.

After Julia had taken Leah back to her own room to clean up and get ready for bed, she pulled Cy into his room to talk to him. With a sigh, she began "It seems like you are taking on the burden of being the, uh, main support for a number of women. I know that you need the support as much as they do, but...

"Cy, Leah has no support system at all right now. Sure, the people here are good to her, but she sees herself as different from the other kids and separated because of her beliefs. Well, right now, she is about ready to discard her beliefs, and I don't want see that happen in her current state.

"What I'm trying to say is that you are Leah's only anchor right now. Can you handle that?"

"Well, I really like her, and I feel responsible for telling her my news and causing this," he answered. "I'll do whatever I can."

"I need to warn you that she may fall hopelessly in love with you, if it hasn't already happened. I know you probably don't feel that way about her."

"I could tell she felt something pretty strong for me. I almost didn't tell her because of that," he admitted.

"This may be one of the strangest requests I've ever made as a doctor, but would you let her sleep with you tonight? It would be dangerous for her to be alone. Would you also make sure she gets to church with the group tomorrow. She needs to keep that connection with her faith. We can't let her react in shock and anger."

"Wow! I've never even kissed a girl besides Mom and Grandma. I..."

"I know all of that, Cy. For tonight, I'm afraid it's either your bed or a hospital bed. Hopefully, things will be a lot better by tomorrow."

"I'll do what I can to help," he said quietly.

"Just do what she needs," Julia instructed.

Julia brought Leah back to Cy's room, dressed in a very chaste nighty and a robe. Her face was again bright red, but at least this time it was a blush, not a flush of fury."

"Cy, I..." Leah started to say. In a tender, instinctive move, he put a finger over her lips and got behind her to help her off with her robe. She seemed almost like a small child as he held back the covers and she got in.

Julia said goodnight and the two of them were alone. It was still a little early, but he could see her exhaustion. He sat beside her on the bed and took her hand in his. Neither said a word and in a very few minutes, she was sleeping.

When he pulled his hand from her grasp to undress for bed, she roused a little and whimpered. After holding still for a couple more minutes, he was able to leave her and prepare for sleep.

It was strange knowing that a girl was sharing his bed, but she was dead to the world and they were not touching. His own emotional exhaustion overtook him and he joined her in sleep.

There was no way for him to tell what time it was when something woke him. It was still completely dark and he could tell that Leah had left his bed. He assumed she had just made a trip to the bathroom, but he noticed light coming through his open door, which he knew he had closed earlier.

Concerned because of her mental state, he got out of bed and headed for the door. Right at the end of the bed, his foot hit some cloth lying there. Looking closely, he could tell that it was Leah's nightgown. As he moved with even more concern, his foot felt a smaller cloth item right in the doorway. From the texture, he knew it was her panties. At that point, some unavoidable excitement joined his concern.

In the common area, looking ethereal but utterly fetching in the soft after-hours light, Leah sat naked on the edge of the hot tub, absent-mindedly moving her feet back and forth in the water. Although he did not think she looked up to see him approach, she began talking to him.

"I'm still alive. I'm not dead and in hell. I'm naked and you're looking at me. Nothing bad has happened. I guess that was another lie."

She looked up at him and cupped a hand under each of her breasts. From their time in school together, he had thought of her as without curves because of the way she dressed. Seeing her in her swimsuit the other night had destroyed that impression. Now, in the dim light, her breasts looked so appealing.

"These are ugly, disgusting, and only there to feed babies. They should be disguised so know one knows I have them and no one should ever see them. Was that a lie, too? Do you think they're ugly and disgusting, Cy?"

He knew he absolutely had to respond to her. They only problem was that his mouth did not want to work. "Th ... they're beautiful, Leah. Really b ... beautiful," he managed to stammer out.

"Did you see your mother's this morning? Were they naked when you visited them?" He had told the others that he was visiting his mother and grandmother, and they all knew the women were residents at Transformations. "I'll bet your mother's are very nice, aren't they. She is a pretty woman."

Leah's voice was soft and her speech was slow and deliberate, her tone flat and emotionless. It made Cy shiver a little to hear her. "Do they like being naked all the time, Cy? Do they like the men looking at them? Are there really boys there with the naked women?

"Do you think I could go to Transformations? I would like to be naked and have the boys look at me. I like my body. I don't think it's ugly or disgusting. I want people to look at me and tell me I'm not ugly."

It was time to say something again, and he had the same problem. "Leah, who told you your body was ugly and disgusting? I can't believe anyone would say that. You look beautiful!"

"I wish I could believe that," she said in the same flat voice. "You have to say that so the freaked-out girl doesn't get worse and do something crazy."

How could he convince her what he really thought of her body? It did not take long to think of the perfect way, but could he do it? He was used to thinking of others' needs first, and he hardly paused as he pulled off the tee shirt that he slept in. She was watching, no longer looking detached, as he lowered his shorts, having to pull the waistband way out to clear his rampant erection.

That marked the end of Leah's worrisome little monologue. He could almost see one of her brightest blushes, even in the dim light. She still had her hands cupped under her breasts and as she stared at his hardon, her fingers moved to pinch and pull on her nipples.

Not understanding where his boldness came from, he took the few steps necessary to sit beside her with his feet in the water. Perhaps some exhibitionism was as essential for him as it was for her because he did not attempt to hide the shaft angling upward from his crotch. They sat together in silence for two or three minutes, with her eyes locked on his crotch and her fingers working her nubs.

"Do you m ... masturbate?" she asked to break the silence. At his grunt of assent, she said "I learned about it from some girls at school. I don't know if it made things better or worse."

"You kinda frightened me, Leah?" he said, eager to change the subject.

"Is that why you're sticking up like that?" He had not wanted attention on his arousal, but the fact that she could tease was heartening.

"That's just the effect you have on me."

"The girls at school say guys get hard over almost anything." He could not tell if she was teasing or serious.

"So, you want to believe that you're ugly?" he retorted.

"Oh, Cy, I don't want to believe that at all," she said, and then he was again faced with tears. "What I want is for you to take me in your arms and kiss me. I want to put my hands around that and rub it. I want you to put it inside of me and make me feel the earth move like I've heard about. I want to say 'It's all a lie, so why should I be a good girl any more?' But I can't do that."

He had his hands on the tub edge with his arms straight. She used both of her arms to hug herself against his. They both just enjoyed the feeling of her softness against his arm for a while before she spoke again.

"Cy, if I promise not to think about wedding bells and all of that, can we be boyfriend and girlfriend for a while? I won't get all mushy and embarrass you, honest? I know you're not sure how you feel about me. If you think I'm a nut case, I can see why.

"Living here for a while, I've had a taste of being normal, and I like it. Isn't it normal for a sixteen-year-old girl to have a boyfriend? I don't know or trust any other boys."

"I'd like that, Leah. You know, things could get pretty crazy around me for a while."

"That's OK. I was so happy when you asked if you could talk to me tonight. No one has ever trusted me like that before. Then I went and freaked out on you. I'm so sorry, Cy!"

"Hey, it got me a chance to sleep with my new girlfriend. That makes it a good deal for me."

"Oh, you!" her playful swat at him further signaled the end of her 'attack'. At the same time, they both seemed to realize how inappropriate their current activity was and modesty returned in full force.

When he had pulled his shorts on, she had pulled on his shirt that he had offered her, and they were walking back to his room, she said "My body is screaming for me to curl up in your arms and sleep the rest of the night. The other kids are really nice, but I don't want to give them any wrong ideas. I'll be OK in my own room, now. Honest. Well, maybe a little lonely."

She had picked up her own clothes and was ready to leave when she turned to Cy and said "'Sixteen and never been kissed' is lousy. Can we take care of that?" They did.

-------

[Leah] Late September

Between Cy and Leah, Cy and Mary, and Cy and his mother and grandmother, there was plenty of reason for blushing and embarrassment. That Sunday morning, though, the whole 'regular' crew was off to church together.

Lindsey had only had time for a brief conversation with Cy earlier in the week. She and the Schermer sisters were chatting happily with Cy and Leah as they pulled into the church lot. The light mood ended when Leah gasped at the sight of her parents standing in the church entrance, obviously waiting for her.

Her immediate reaction was to retreat back to the van. Cy, however, took her hand and told her "You're the one in control, now, Leah. There's no need to run from them."

Mark, who faithfully attended church with Lindsey, his fiance, saw Leah's upset and quickly moved up on the other side of her. Rich Krenz was soon behind her, along with Floyd Hall.

They were still a ways away from the entrance and Sarah asked "Leah, what's wrong."

"M ... my parents," was all the girl could get out.

Sarah grabbed Sonja by the hand and the sisters marched ahead right up to Norman and his wife. Sensing the sisters' plan, Mark grabbed Leah's other hand to hurry them all along.

Sticking out her hand toward the scowling Norman, Sarah said brightly "Hello! I'm Sarah Schermer and this is my sister Sonja. Is this your first time to attend one of our services. If so, we would like to welcome you."

By that time, Leah's group had caught up and was almost abreast of the parents. Both of them clearly wanted get to their daughter but Sarah had positioned herself so skillfully and was doing such a good job of glad-handing that the parents would have had to be downright rude to catch Leah before she went inside. They could not do it.

"Let's get seated," Cy said. "We'll surround you so they can't sit close."

"Don't worry. They won't come in here," Leah said. "But they'll be waiting outside afterwards."

"But it won't surprise you - you can compose yourself," Mark told her.

After the service, Leah was indeed more composed. Just before they went out the door, she stopped and said "Let me and Cy face them. I'll be fine. Hold my hand, Cy?"

She seemed to want to lead, and Cy was happy to let her be a bit ahead, seeming to pull him along by his hand. He saw a side of Leah that he would never have expected. She stopped in front of her parents with almost a stomp of her feet and assumed a very aggressive posture while still holding his hand.

"We've been over all of this before," Leah said sharply. "Why are you harassing me?"

"Harassing?" her mother snapped angrily. "You're our daughter and you've run away from home. We have a right to bring you back where you belong."

"Wrong! You have no right. The lawyers have already worked that out. You had sixteen years to make your house a home for me. You chose to make it a prison instead. I have a new home, now - a much better one."

Changing tactics, Leah's mother adopted a sneer that should have been intimidating. "I see it did not take long for you to forsake all of the righteousness you have been taught and become a slut."

Cy was about to counter that, but Leah beat him to it. "Let's see," she said sarcastically, "where was that Bible verse that said holding hands was a sin. I forget."

Norman, the elder, was apparently not up to battling at that level. He was also stunned that his always-meek daughter would actually talk back to her mother. It was something he himself never had the balls to do.

"And you!" the mother continued, addressing Cy. "You have caused Reverend Matthews so much heartache. How could you leave such a wonderful Christian home to live with such sinners?"

Refusing to look at Norman, Cy said to the woman "Your husband knows the truth about my grandfather's 'wonderful Christian home'. Perhaps someday he will find the courage to tell you the truth."

With that, Cy took the lead and pulled Leah to the side and around her parents. As they walked away, they could hear the mother hissing out "What did he mean by that, Norman?"

It had been all Cy could do to keep from telling the truth. He knew that it would get harder and harder.

-------

[Marty] Early October

Marty was very much looking forward to the meeting, even though it was likely to be tumultuous. It had been painful to sever her long-term lawyer-client relationship with Caz Calloway, but she was even more certain now that it was the right step.

Representing Cy Matthews, and then Rachel and Naomi, had put her in a position to help Caz obtain closure without having to violate either her professional ethics or his extorted support agreement. Caz had believed, correctly, that Cy would become curious enough about his parentage to take steps to find out the truth.

Armed with the hopefully legal DNA results totally disproving Caz's paternity, legal depositions from Rachel and Naomi affirming the Reverend's rape of his daughter, and the DNA results from the illegally obtained sample from the Reverend, proving beyond a doubt that he was Cy's father, Marty entered the offices of Reverend Matthews' attorneys.

Not knowing how many people she would be meeting with, she had made four copies of everything. There were three men, and Marty could barely restrain herself from rubbing her hands in glee.

What she presented to the 'opposing' counsel was an agreement that she had carefully written up to mirror the original extortion agreement very closely, but without the few loopholes that she had found in that agreement. There was a summary of the agreement on the first page.

In exchange for her clients' (Cy's, Rachel's, and Naomi's) agreement not to press charges for statutory rape and physical and psychological abuse and to keep all of the pertinent events secret, her clients demanded several things.

First, they demanded payment to Carter Calloway of all of the money he had payed as child support plus interest plus treble damages. Caz had already decided for himself to put that money (just under three million) in trust to assure future support for Cy, Rachel, and Naomi, but that did not need to be stated.

The second demand was an immediate uncontested divorce for Naomi and alimony payments that were well above the general guidelines, just as Caz's extorted payments had been. The divorce was to stipulate absolutely no future contact initiated by Reverend Matthews.

The last demand was that Reverend Matthews immediately retire from the ministry and agree not to be involved in any Christian ministry for the rest of his life.

When she felt that the men were just finishing the summary letter describing the offer, Marty added "Of course, we cannot speak for Mr. Calloway. A separate agreement guaranteeing his secrecy would have to be obtained. There is also the matter of the Reverend's co-conspirators in the original extortion. You would have to obtain Mr. Calloway's agreement not to prosecute them, as well, and work out some guarantee of their silence on the matter."

The obvious leader of the trio gave a dramatic snort and disdainfully threw the offer summary onto the table. "Why have you wasted our time with this nonsense?" He demanded.

Marty did not answer him but looked hard at the oldest of the three men. He had a sober, stricken expression and she went with her instincts. "I assume that you replaced the attorney who resigned when he discovered the truth about the rape and the extortion," she said to the man.

"Don't say a word!" the leader snapped at the older man. Marty slid the packets of evidence to the men and two of them tore into the packets as quickly as they could while trying to appear sedate and disinterested.

"That is not a legal DNA sample from Reverend Matthews!" the leader almost shouted. "You cannot use that! You cannot even mention it without incurring a slander suit!"

Marty gave a dramatic shrug. "We would not have to use it. The boy obtained it for his own closure. The testimony of the wife and daughter will be more than enough. The only possible way for Reverend Matthews to fight the charges would be to get DNA evidence disproving his parentage. His refusal to give a sample will be seen as prima facia evidence of guilt by the public - and a jury. In fact, in a rape case, he can be forced to yield the sample.

"Oh, and imagine how eager the press would be to bribe some lab employee for copies of the results. Such things happen all of the time, you know."

"That's conspiracy!"

"You mean like that perpetrated upon young Mr. Calloway?"

"You have yet to prove that." Marty just smiled at that lame retort.

"But the girl testified that Calloway was the father!"

"And we would have ample testimony to document the kind of stress and near slavery under which the members of Reverend Matthews' family lived. What would a terrified fourteen-year-old girl do to make the rapes stop?

"That does not even mention the multiple polygraphs that the Calloway family passed with flying colors after they were deposed on the events of the night that Carter Calloway was forced to sign the agreement."

The men were finally silent. "In one week, if that agreement is not executed, my clients have instructed me to turn all of the acquired evidence over to attorneys for Mr. Calloway. At that point, a civil suit for recovery of the money will be filed, and rape, extortion, and conspiracy charges will be sought against Reverend Matthews. Do you have any questions?"

Marty waited barely ten seconds before standing and leaving the room.

-------

[Ted] Early October

In the next management meeting, Julia lamented "Our intent was to keep the nudity away from Lindsey's Place. We, uh, aren't doing too well at that, I guess."

"Julia, it IS a crucial part of our whole program. Maybe it was unrealistic to expect that we could completely shield the kids," Paul said.

"Just another of those obvious things that I missed," Julia lamented.

"Officially, there still can't be any nudity at Lindsey's," Frank said, "for legal reasons. We all know that nothing would have the authorities on us any faster."

Muriel spoke up. "Connie is the only one of the kids with much exposure, you know. We thought that it would help her realize that the world was not how she had lived. Besides, we needed Dale to show her that not all males were like her family. The other kids know nothing about that, and there is no reason for newcomers to get any exposure. I'm sure Connie won't tell."

"Connie & Ted seem pretty attached," Julia observed.

"For Connie, Ted is just a good brother, replacing her bad ones. I think he would like more. It's rather touching to watch," Muriel said. "They're together a lot. They're affectionate, but not really romantic."

"Well, that was one of the big objectives, to create beneficial 'sibling' relationships. Muriel, just keep an eye open for any sexual activity. We probably won't interfere, but I want to know about it."

-------

"Ted, in a couple of day, Julia is going to offer your mom the chance for you to visit her," Muriel said as she came into his room as soon as he got home from school.

His reaction was not enthusiastic. He had talked with her on the phone regularly, and every conversation had left him frustrated. It seemed like the same old themes kept getting rehashed. If there was any change, it was so gradual that he did not notice it.

"Ted, she'll be naked."

"What am I supposed to do?"

"Just talk to her, Ted. You're part of her therapy, now."

"I don't know if I can talk to her if she's ... she's naked. This is not fair, you know. I just want to get away from her, and now I have to help her."

"Ted, she will always be your mother. She has always tried to be good to you. Her problem is that she has terribly overdone it. Think how nice it would be to have a normal relationship with your mother for the rest of your life."

"As if."

"Ted, it CAN happen. You told her yourself that the Tee changes people. Be part of that change. Can you imagine how tough it is for her to be naked with you? The fact that she is doing it means a lot. Something is happening with her."

"She probably is just desperate to baby me again." With a resigned sigh, Ted got up and said "Dad would be upset if I didn't do what I could, but Muriel, I've never even seen ... I mean, I'll be so nervous I won't be able to think. She'll be able to do all her usual stuff, and I won't have a chance."

"Don't you think she'll be pretty nervous, having to be naked for the first time in front of her son?" Muriel asked.

"When she gets in her mothering mode, I doubt that she will even notice," he grumped.

"Well, I want you to come to dinner with me and Julia tonight. We want to talk about just that problem," Muriel told him. "I'll come and get you at about 6:15, OK?"

-------

Ted realized that they were headed toward the famous 'center section', which he knew from the grapevine was all nude. That did not make him comfortable.

Uncomfortable turned to catatonic when he and Muriel stepped through the door that she had opened. There stood Julia, spectacularly naked. He stood frozen for long moments, then turned to look at Muriel, who was equally naked.

"Ted, we know what a shock it will be to try to talk to your mother when you have never been with a naked woman before. We're doing this to try to give you just a little edge." Julia explained.

She went on. "I think it is important for you to try to establish a dominant role when you meet her."

"Dominant? Me? Over Mom? You've got to be kidding."

"No, I'm very serious. We'll talk about that over dinner, OK? Oh, meet Missy."

"Hi, Ted! I've been anxious to meet you," Missy said, holding out her hand for Ted's tentative shake.

"I was sentenced to this place, but it has been the best thing that ever happened to me. December first, I'll be moving to Lindsey's, so if you're still there, we'll be brother and sister."

"Missy has a story about meeting her parents here that should help your confidence," Julia said, as they took seats at the table. Ted was almost too overwhelmed when a naked Carol brought out their appetizers. He was not too overwhelmed to gasp at his first sight of her crotch, which she had kept shaved bare.

After they had eaten for a while, Julia said "First of all, Ted, being naked is not stressful or embarrassing for any of us. Missy lives that way, and the rest of us spend a lot of time naked as part of our jobs.

"However, it will be a very big deal for your mother. Sure, she has gotten more used to it after being here a couple weeks. But being seen by her son is a huge deal for a mother who I understand is normally quite modest."

"Yeah, she is," Ted was able to agree.

"More than just being naked, though, Ted, being naked when you are clothed will have huge psychological significance. For your whole life, she has viewed you as her baby. She has seen herself as in a superior position to you - dominant, an absolute authority."

"You got that right."

"In her mind, she is the clothed superior person and you are the naked child. In a sense, to her, nothing has changed since you were a naked baby getting your diapers changed by her. BUT, the situation will be reversed! Do you see the potentially powerful symbolism there?

"Now, this will only work if you can establish and maintain the right attitude. You have to act like you are the parent, the dominant one, and she is the child. Missy, tell Ted about the meetings with your parents."

Missy recounted with great animation the two times her parents had visited. When she finished, she said "I know things aren't the same with you, but at least you will be clothed. That should be a big advantage."

"Now," Julia said, "if your mom tries to cover herself with her hands when you first see her, which I'm almost certain she will, you have the battle half won. Let's talk about some possible turns the conversation could take and how you can keep the advantage."

Ted tried very hard to listen for the next hour as they explored different possible scenarios for the meeting with Janice. They moved to a seating area where the women were all enticingly exposed, so his task was made more difficult. He almost forgot that he had been hard since his first sight of Julia when he walked in the door. Julia and Muriel ignored his arousal, but Missy could not.

When he noticed Missy staring at his crotch, their eyes met and both blushed brightly. "I'm sorry, Ted. I'm not helping, am I. It's just that I'm, uh, not experienced, and, uh ... sorry!"

-------

Ted would later discover that what happened should have been no surprise, but when he and Muriel arrived the next evening to find Missy and five other, different, naked women, he was blown away. The first night, Muriel had not wanted to give away the surprise. For the second night, she made sure that he got plenty of relief beforehand and wore a jock and snug shorts.

Despite the fact that Janice had not made herself all that popular with the other residents, it seemed that they all sincerely wanted to see her 'straightened out', and were more than willing to show themselves to Ted. Missy's glowing description of what a nice guy he was did not hurt, either.

The third 'naked dinner' night was the night that Julia planned to offer Janice the chance for Ted to visit. Three more different women came that night, and Julia spent all the time she could spare reviewing the strategy for the meeting.

-------

It had taken Janice longer than most other residents to let go of the anger and depression at being forced into the Tee. After two weeks, though, she was getting to the place were she actually seemed to be listening to what the other residents were saying and trying to think about it.

A constant complaint and plea from Janice had been that she wanted to see Ted and it was wrong to keep her from him. Julia stonewalled her until she started to notice some changes. Then, on the scheduled evening, she told Janice "You know, don't you, that you will have to stay naked all of the time until you leave here?"

"I know that. Why?"

"Ted can come and visit you as soon as you want him to," Julia said casually.

"Today? Now? Oh, please, I..." Her jubilation was cut off with a groan as she realized the implications. "Oh, no! You can't make me do that!"

"We won't make you do anything, Janice. I just want you to know that he can visit you whenever you are ready."

"How can I be ready for that? That's just not right!"

Janice had come to enjoy the pool and the hot tub as much as any of the residents. The day after Janice entered, Julia had begun a campaign of having mother/son pairs naked in the pool or tub when Janice was there. Between Muriel and Dale, Norma and Mark, Gretchen and Andy, and even special visits from Shannon and Terry and Sandy and Eric, it had happened regularly.

"You know, Janice, it doesn't bother you at all any more to have the staff guys see you, does it?" Janice shook her head, guessing what was coming. "Well, Ted is the young man closest to you. It should not bother you that much for him to see you. Haven't you noticed all of the mothers and sons naked together?"

"Will ... will he be naked?" Janice asked with undisguised excitement.

"No, Janice, he won't. You've talked to enough other women about visits. You know how it works."

Julia saw the slump that indicated surrender, and she tried not to feel any glee at making the woman jump through some more hoops. Janice had been as difficult to deal with as any resident, ever. In some ways, she was worse than Mary Hall had been. "Janice, I think if you called him 'Teddy', he would turn right around and leave."

"What? Why would he do that? That's what I've always called him!"

"That's right, and the way you have always treated him drove him away from home. Teddy is a child's name. He associates that name with the way you have treated him. Ted wants to be a man."

"But he's not a man, yet!"

"Janice, physically, he definitely is a man, and he has grown up a lot emotionally, as well. Face it; he may not be a virgin any longer."

"WHAAAAT? You let him do that?" Janice shrieked.

"Janice! Janice! Calm down! We didn't LET him do anything. I have no real reason to believe that his is sexually active, but it could have happened."

"Why haven't you made sure he didn't? That's not right! I want Ray to get him out of that place, right now!"

Julia was thinking that maybe she had baited the woman a little too enthusiastically, but it was too late to turn back.

"Janice, we do not need to keep such close track of the kids at Lindsey's that we would be able to stop them from having sex. They are all good, responsible kids with good moral values.

"Let me tell you this: if Ted DID have sex, I know that it would be with a nice girl who was completely agreeable, probably even eager. I know that he would have been responsible and made sure there was no chance of pregnancy. I know that Ted would have given the girl as much pleasure as he knew how."

Janice just moaned and cried at those comments. "Janice, why did you assume it would be with a girl at Lindsey's?"

"Well, where else would ... Oh, no! You haven't let him go out on dates, have you?" Janice asked in horror.

"I don't actually know if he has dated. If so, it would have to be a double date with someone who drives, wouldn't it?

"Janice, your thinking about your son and how you should treat him has not changed, has it?" Janice just stared back at her. "Why do you think I am making you meet him naked?"

"Well, that's just policy here, I guess," Janice mumbled.

"That's partly true, yes. But part of it is punishment - penance, as well. You have wronged your son. Baring your body to him is a way of showing that you are fallible and you know it. It tells him that whatever you say to him is sincere, with no ulterior motives. We have found that it is very difficult for a person to lie or pretend when they are naked in front of clothed people."

"So, you aren't going to let me see him?" Janice asked sadly.

"Oh, yes. I promised, and I will stick to it. I just want you to be aware of what it should mean when you let him see your bare, hard nipples, your pubic hair, and maybe a glimpse of your labia or your clitoris peeking through." Julia had made that just as suggestive as she could, and was rewarded by a gasp from Janice.

"Should I have Ted come over right now?" Instead of jumping for joy, Janice nodded almost sadly.

-------

"Uh, Ted; before you go, you'd better jerk off - maybe a couple of times," Muriel told him when she delivered the message that his mother was waiting.

"Muriel! God!"

"Don't get all upset. Masturbation is natural and universal. You're sure to get aroused when you look at her."

"But she's my mom!"

"And? ... She is also one of the few naked women you have ever seen, and she has a nice body. You'll get a hardon no matter what. This way, you at least won't shoot off in your pants."

It took about thirty minutes longer before Julia let Ted into the spare office, then hurried to her own office to watch and listen.

When Julia saw both of them standing motionless and silent, with Janice using her hands to cover her breasts and crotch, she was optimistic that the outcome of the meeting would be positive.

Ted was greatly pleased to see that his mother was more upset and immobilized than he was, just as Julia had predicted. To a boy who had been under her suffocating control for his whole life, that was a shot of adrenaline that easily overcame the unprecedented sight of his naked mother He did not even get hard right away.

"You have gotten a very nice tan, Mom." Ted had almost said 'Mother', but instinctively kept it more affectionate. "I guess you have tanning booths just like the ones at Lindsey's, huh?"

She was speechless in front of him for the first time that he could remember. Doing a good job of a disgusted expression, he said.

"Mom, I've seen quite a few naked women."

"Women?" she was able to ask.

"Yes, Julia thinks I might make a good attendant some day." That was a made-up explanation that had been fabricated at the first naked dinner. "I've had dinner with several of your fellow residents the past three nights to see how I reacted."

"They weren't ... they weren't..." Those were the first words Janice had managed.

"Yes, they were naked."

Janice wobbled from the impact of those comments. She barely kept her balance enough to keep herself covered.

"So, Mom. I've seen several naked women. Men and boys see you naked all day. Why are you covering up so I can't see all of you?"

"But, I ... I ... You..."

When Ted first stepped into the room, Julia had quickly decided on a move to get Janice to stop covering up. She chose that moment to open the door and wheel in a little cart of drinks and snacks. She would have had someone else deliver it, but she wanted to deliver a withering stare at Janice's covering hands. There was no way that Janice could miss the meaning.

Julia was just able to whisper in Ted's ear "Good job. Stay in control" before she walked out. On the fly, she was developing a plan that she believed would correct the relationship between Ted and his mother.

Ted was more than happy to follow Julia's instructions. He carried the conversation, giving his mother lots of compliments on her body when she dropped her hands. Julia could hardly believe it when Ted asked Janice to turn around so he could see her ass, and she did it.

They talked about fairly innocuous things for quite a while before Janice showed signs of doing more than just responding. "Tedd ... Ted, are you still a virgin?"

That question told Julia a lot. Janice had listened about Ted's name, and she definitely did not want him to leave. Also, Ted's virginity had enormous significance to his mother. Julia surmised that Janice had been dreading and trying to forestall the time when Ted became sexually active. It must represent to her a point of no return for her 'baby', a point when the relationship must change forever.

For that to be one of the first questions Janice asked meant that it was huge in her mind. Julia had run across similar things in mothers of teen sons in other cases. She knew that the concern was not a matter of morality, but of retaining the cherished mother/child positioning.

"That's not a question you ask your son, Mother!" To Julia, the shift to the more formal name meant that the question had angered Ted. The time when she should end the session was close. She did not want Janice to regain control of the conversation.

Janice's initial reaction was shock that Ted would reply to her so strongly. That was followed by flash of anger that he should question whether something so absolutely crucial should be her concern. She ended up alarmed at the implication that he had already had sex.

Janice knew that she had managed to keep him from any chance of sex while he was under her care. If he had done it, it was since he left home. He was still living in that same environment while she was trapped right next door. She felt so helpless!

"Are some of the girls where you live kind of, uh, promiscuous?" Janice asked with an accusatory edge.

Ted managed an ironic laugh and Julia was relieved. "Mom, the girls there were almost as restricted as I was. I think most of them have never even been kissed."

Still a little angry about the questions and wanting to regain control, Ted grinned and said "I wouldn't mind getting to know them a LOT better, though."

When Janice groaned a little, Ted added "I probably wouldn't be good to get involved there where I live. They're kind of like sisters."

"That's wise, Honey. At your age, it's just not good to get into sex yet, and..."

Julia opening the door cut off what Janice was saying. Julia was afraid that Janice was going to revert to her normal attitude with Ted, and she could not allow that.

As she walked him back to the Lindsey's entrance, Julia told Ted that she had seen and heard everything. "That was a great meeting. You did very well. I know how we're going to completely change how things are between you and your mother. The secret is for you to come across as the adult, the dominant person."

"Dominant? I'm not like that!"

"I know. You're like your dad, but I will tell you that if you want to be able to live at home, you have to position yourself as at least equal to her in the family pecking order. I will be working with your dad on this, too."

"Tonight, I got a little angry. That's why I could be different. I don't know if I can do it again."

"We'll do some practicing of possible responses," Julia told him with a quick one-armed hug.

"Fine with me. Maybe I should wear an earpiece like in the spy movies." Lindsey's seemed able to change people, too. From discussions with Ray, Ted had been almost devoid of humor before.

"Ted, the part about wanting you for an attendant; I want that to be real, not just a cover story for your mother?"

Ted was literally speechless when Julia told him that he was really being considered for an attendant's job at the Tee. When she went on to describe the duties, it did not help to loosen him up at all.

"But I've n ... never ... I mean it would be..."

"I need to be honest with you, Ted. You would definitely make a fine attendant. You have the right attitude toward women, and you have a caring, serving personality. All of the women at the dinners gave you great reviews. The only concern at first was your shyness, but that is changing rapidly. The reason we checked you out, though, is because of your mother. I believe that once she starts vewing you as a man, your troubles with her will be over. Oh, she may always be overbearing and tend to interfere, but it was never out of meanness, and that is common to a lot of mothers. If you can gain her respect, that will change how she treats you and how you react to her."

"And you think being an attendant will do that?"

"Yes, I do. Your mother, right now, is quite a concern as a resident, and it all centers on her feelings about you. Now, Ted, to get that job requires some preparation that will not be easy for you. First of all, you have to get comfortable with your own nudity."

"I don't see how that could ever happen." When Julia told him what she had set up, he said "Now I know it could never happen! I could never do that."

"Ted, don't think of this as just doing something to help straighten out your mother. Meaning no disrespect, look at your dad. Until this current crisis, he was unwilling or unable to take a stand against your mother. In my practice, I have found that that personality trait comes as much from unfamiliarity with and discomfort with women as from a distaste for confrontation. Would you say that you have started out a lot like your dad?"

"Have you been talking to Connie?"

"No, but here's a question for you: why do you think Connie is not romantically interested in you?"

"She thinks I'm too wimpy," Ted admitted.

"Wouldn't you like to change her opinion of you, and the opinion of every other girl you meet in the future? Wouldn't you like to start off without your dad's problem?"

"Yeah, but what I have to do to get there!" He visibly shuddered.

"You think about it, Ted. I will tell you that this is a rare opportunity. We're here to change lives for the better, and you can make a big change in yours just by being willing to hang your dick out for some nice people." Julia had found that a little crudity was very effective in getting points across."

"I can only promise to think about it."

"One other thing, Ted. If you decide to do it, Barbara has offered to let Connie join you while you are naked. That might make it easier for you."

"Easier? You've got to be kidding!"

"Think about it, Ted. I would say that you are closer to her than to any other person, right now. You would be doing something very difficult, and who could possibly offer you more honest support. Most of the other guys did their naked time at home with their mothers and sisters. Those women loved them and wanted the best for them. That's what Connie is to you."

Seeing how totally confused the boy was right then, Julia gave him a hug and left.

-------

Julia called a management meeting for the next noon, and told the others "After being here for two weeks and after a visit from Ted, I'm starting to be concerned about Janice's impact on the dynamics of the resident group. Although her naturally gregarious nature helps her to interact well with the others, her view of her relationship with Ted is not changing. Despite the constant sharing of experiences, the abnormality of her situation just has not sunk in.

"I think the key is to make Janice view Ted in a whole new way - as a man, rather than as her little boy. Obviously, any chance of success depends on Ted being able to 'wear' that image, so to speak. From what I can discover, he should be able to.

"I think having Ted on staff would be the jolt that would finally get through to Janice. She needs to see him as a full-fledged man. If he could deal with all of the women confidently, considerately, and respectfully, like our other young men, it would have to change her thinking. Once she starts viewing him as a man, I believe the problem will be over.

"The big question is could he qualify as an employee?" Paul asked. From several looks, he just barely beat a couple of others. "And if he could, is it right to have him for only a short time."

"I certainly have no desire to compromise the care of our other residents," Julia assured them. I believe that Ted would be a qualified applicant under any circumstances. All of the women who had dinner with him those three nights were very positive about his attitude and the respect he showed them. I am asking your permission to go ahead with his orientation."

"He can't do his naked time at home, obviously," Frank pointed out.

"I anticipated a positive response on Ted, so I have Barbara Ventri's agreement to have him live at their home for two weeks. Penny is more than delighted, obviously." That produced some laughter. "Since Barbara is not working right now, she can drive him to school."

"Has he agreed?"

"He will. I don't intend to exactly play fair. Remember, none of our young guys agreed right away."

-------

Shortening her day, Julia met with Muriel and Connie late that afternoon. "Connie, are you in love with Ted?" Julia asked as soon as they were together.

"I've never been, so I don't really know," Connie answered. "Does he make me feel, you know, like Dale does? No, he doesn't. I feel really comfortable around him, and we've done some snuggling and stuff and I really liked it. That's the best answer I can give you."

"So, you like him well enough to be willing to help him?"

"Sure. What do you want me to do?"

"This won't be hard duty," Julia said with a grin. She then laid out her plans for Ted and what she wanted from Connie.

-------

That same evening, Ray stopped by and took Ted out for dinner. "Son, this whole nudity business is totally crazy. I can hardly even believe it. I can tell you this, though. Today, I wish I had had a chance at something like they are offering you. I would be a different man today, a better man.

"Don't misunderstand me, I love your mother with all my heart, and this current mess is tearing me up. Please do not ever say this to her, but I did not really choose her. I did not have the confidence to compare and evaluate between different girls. When it became clear that Janice wanted me, I went along.

"Looking back, we may each have chosen each other for less than the best reasons. We've made a good marriage and a good life, so don't take this as regrets. I'm just telling you that I want even better for you, and I believe this offer will help you get it. I believe Dr. Waxman, that it will change your mother, too, but I don't want you to do it if that is the only reason. Do it to better yourself and your future chances."

Ray did not tell his son about his own midday sessions at the Tee, and Ted did not mention the dinners with the naked women. Most of the women were involved in both, but they did not give it away to either.

-------

Ted was still lying in bed later, thinking about what his father had said, when Connie walked in, flipped on the light, and closed the door. Her hands were shaking, but she stuck to the plan,

She pulled back his covers, grabbed the waistband of his sleep shorts, and yanked for all she was worth. The shorts gave up, and he was exposed briefly before he could cover himself with his hands. He was about to express his outrage when he realized just what Connie was doing.

"OK, Ted, now the worst has happened. I've seen it. It's getting hard, and you can't even cover all of it. It's OK! I'm your sis, remember. You've got a chance in a million, and you need to take it. Now take your hands away and get your shirt off. Please!"

Having his manliness challenged was a new experience for Ted. His mother had certainly never done that, or at least he had never chosen to exercise it in the face of her overpowering dominance. The realization hit him that he very much cared how Connie thought of him. He did not want her to consider him a shy little boy.

He stood up and took off his shirt, blushing but determined. At that moment, Connie opened his door and Muriel slipped in quickly. Muriel took both of his hands in hers and talked to him gently.

"You're naked in front of two women that you live with every day. Your cock is as hard as it has ever been, and you're afraid you're going to die of embarrassment. But you know what? You won't die. Lightning won't strike you dead. I won't make fun of you, and neither will Connie.

"We really care for you, Ted. You're a great guy with a very nice body. We think it is a privilege to see you like this. How are you doing?"

"It's all kind of ... unreal. You guys aren't going to let me say 'no', are you?"

"We're willing to force you into it, Ted. We know that when you've succeeded, no one will be able to force you into anything."

"I'm ... I'm really not very strong, am I?"

-------

The very next day, Barbara picked up Connie and Ted after school and Ted went through the customary trauma that all the male attendants had to endure.

Connie went to his room with him while he undressed. She held his hand as he came into the family room to face Barbara and Penny, who had arrived from school. Leslie came over for dinner, and Ted feared that his cock would rupture from the pressure of the blood filling it.

Before they sat down to dinner, Connie took him by the hand and instructed him to relieve his obvious agony. Two eruptions only allowed him to stay limp until he was back in Penny's sight, but it was less painful than before.

After the first weekend, a series of dinners were quickly organized as had been done in the early days before Transformations opened. Ted's orientation was necessarily compressed because Julia wanted him on the floor as soon as possible for the impact on Janice.

Throughout his compressed but intense orientation, Connie more than fulfilled Julia's reason for including her. She was supportive, encouraging, complimentary, and always with him.

Penny performed a very important role for Ted, as well. Even though they were of similar age, she came across as worshipful, even awed by his naked presence. Her obvious crush was a totally new experience for him and a huge ego boost.



-------

Chapter 18


[Caz & Cy] Early October

"Counsel for Reverend Matthews called and they want to negotiate," Caz's lawyer told him over the phone the morning after Marty dropped her bombshell.

"I will give the Reverend the same opportunity to negotiate that he gave me," Caz said sharply. "Absolutely none."

"I was hoping you would say that." Caz could hear his lawyer grinning over the phone.

"I still have someone on the inside," Caz replied. "Is it all right to refer to absolute turmoil within a religious organization as 'all Hell breaking loose? Actually, things have been tumultuous ever since his family left. I would think that by this time, it might be a relief to all involved if the ministry shut down." The two men laughed together at that thought.

"I don't know if I will ever take religion seriously," Caz stated, "but there is one thing that I do believe."

"And that is... ?"

"Be sure your sin will find you out?"

"Did you really write that under your signature on the agreement."

"I sure did," Caz attested. "Only on their copy. I could never have envisioned just this scenario, but I always knew that this day would come in some form."

"Can they really come up with three million?" the lawyer asked.

"The ministry has a substantial cash flow and he is the sole owner," Caz answered. From what I can find out, they have about one mil in the bank as we speak. I suspect his own holdings are that or more."

"Any danger of him trying to Cayman it, or something?"

"Can you hear a shrug over the phone? In some ways, I would prefer a trial," Caz answered.

"But the boy - and the women..."

"I agree. It would certainly be better for them to handle it quietly. I can't imagine that Matthews would risk prison."

"I don't know," the lawyer cautioned. "His grasp on reality seems pretty tenuous right now. He might have some delusions that he could never be convicted because he answers to a higher authority, or something."

"It's time to meet the Matthews family, I think," Caz said.

-------

[Rachel & Caz] Early October

When Caz was shown into Julia's office, the women were already there, in robes, and Cy was holding up his mother. It did not help. As soon as Caz entered, Rachel collapsed. Cy struggled to get her seated on the couch. Caz darted over to help. When she was seated and awareness was returning, she saw Caz sitting right beside her. She made a gurgling sound and started to cry.

No one knew what to say, so there was silence. Julia, who was not sure the meeting was a good idea, had insisted on being present, and hurriedly poured a glass of water and handed it to Cy for Rachel.

After taking a couple of small sips of the water, Rachel managed to glance at Caz briefly before looking down. "He ... he ... he promised he would stop if I lied. I'm so s ... s ... sorry!" Then, the tears came in a flood.

"Rachel," Caz said softly, "some years ago I learned that you were as much a victim as I was."

"How ... how did you know?"

"I ... have my ways. I learned how you lived. I felt terrible for you, but I couldn't do anything or I would be charged with rape."

"You don't h ... hate m ... me?"

"I admit that I did for many years," Caz said, "but no more." Rachel kept looking up at him for a second or two, then looked down at her hands. "Did he stop?" Caz asked.

Naomi answered "It stopped as soon as he knew she was pregnant. He never did it to her again."

"It sounds like he wanted a male child," Caz observed. "Did he continue having sex with you, Naomi?"

"He never stopped. I guess he had his needs."

-------

[Caz] Early October

Caz's lawyer's assessment of Reverend Matthews' mental state was not far off the mark. It had started with the flight of his family and had worsened when his last attempt to get them back had failed.

Of course, his loss had made for excellent sermon fodder. The letters of sympathy, with checks enclosed, had poured in at an unprecedented rate. The obvious attack on him by the Evil One had improved his already exalted spiritual stature in the eyes of many, many of his followers.

Matthews' organization was different from that of Frank Schermer in significant ways. Schermer had some huge donors who had insisted on a credible board of directors before they would contribute. Matthews listed only himself, Naomi, and Rachel as directors. Schermer's ministry owned all of the assets and paid him a salary and expenses. Matthews was adamant about personal control of everything and his ministry was essentially a sole proprietorship.

When the lawyers met with Matthews to tell him of the demands, it was a strange meeting, indeed. He played the martyr to the hilt, decrying yet one more attempt by Satan to destroy the wonderful work that he, William, was doing. Even when the lawyers stated that he could be charged with statutory rape and do time, he in no way acknowledged that fathering Cy had been a crime or even a sin. After only fifteen minutes, he insisted that the demands be ignored and left the meeting.

Matthews' lawyers literally begged Caz's lawyer for a face to face meeting. Caz thought about it for a day and then told them he would meet only if Naomi, Rachel, and Cy would attend. That brought a storm of protest, but it was a desperate situation and it was agreed upon.

That left Caz with the task of persuading Cy and the women to attend. Before he approached them, he wanted Julia's opinion on whether they could handle it - Rachel, in particular. What he had not thought about was the issue of whether Julia would allow the women to leave the Tee for such a meeting.

"Mr. Calloway, I..."

"Caz, please."

"Caz, I can understand why you would like all of them at this meeting, but I am very concerned about such interruptions hampering Rachel's progress."

"Oh?"

"Please understand that I cannot be specific with you because of confidentiality, even though you are so kindly paying the bills. I suggest you talk to Cy about it and he can tell you some of his mother's symptoms. I believe that what she needs more than anything is the total immersion, the total insulation from other sources of stress and anxiety that we can offer here.

"I view the task of sending Rachel from here a whole, functional woman to be one of my biggest professional challenges. Now, that is more than I should have told you. I had promised the women one more Sunday that they could go to church, and I may even have to renege on that promise."

"I knew from my sources the kind of problems she had. Of course, I have no desire to impede her progress. What about Mrs. Matthews, then?"

"I would agree to her attending except for one thing. Rachel is extremely attached to and dependent on her mother. It is nearly an umbilical attachment. She has the same sort of dependence on Cy, and not having free access to him is already an issue. Just so you know, I am considering having Cy work here even without the usual training, just so he can be close for Rachel.

"The upshot is, Caz, that if Rachel knows that Naomi is dressing and going out for something important with Cy, it will have a real negative impact on her. I would like to avoid that."

"Believe me, Dr. Waxman, I..."

"Julia, please."

With a chuckle, Caz continued " ... I thought I would be helping them by letting them in on the 'negotiations'. I did not consider that Rachel might be better off not involved."

"Oh, I didn't question your motives, Caz. In fact, you are to be congratulated in the way you have treated women who had a part in the crime against you."

"Julia, my sources are very good. Money can buy excellence, you know. I could tell you things from that house that would make you cry or make you scream in anger."

"In my practice, I see many such situations. If you just talk to Cy's new brothers and sisters at Lindsey's Place, you will find out that what you heard from your 'sources' is not that unusual. In fact, a talk with Floyd and Mary Hall would be instructive for you."

"Would there be any harm in having Cy and his lawyer in the meeting? I am very impressed with him. I sometimes wish..." Caz cut himself off at that point.

"I think that would be all right," Julia answered. "I don't want to dump too much on him, but you're right, he seems very strong-minded. Caz, there is one other thing I would like to have you consider. Transformations weathered a storm of very public controversy not that long ago. What we do works best with a good deal of anonymity.

"In no way would I ask you to back off from what you need to do to shield us. I would very much appreciate it, though, if you would let us know about any major moves. This call is very much in that spirit, and I do thank you for it."

"I have to confess that the reason for the call was just to get permission for Cy and the women to be at the meeting, Julia. But I will definitely keep you apprised of new developments."

-------

[Marty, Caz & Cy] Mid October

Caz, Cy, Marty, Caz's lawyer, and two of Matthews' lawyers were meeting and things were at a stalemate. "There is nothing we can do to get him to agree," the Reverend's lead lawyer said. "I don't see how, in good conscience, we could encourage him to agree, anyway. It seems that you are determined to end his ministry. We could not help you do that to our client."

"Could you help him stay out of jail?" Caz demanded.

"First of all," the lead lawyer said, "it is not clear that he would ever be convicted."

"Don't insult us!" Caz snapped. "If it goes to trail, even in a civil suit, his ministry is over. The publicity will insure that. In a criminal suit, which I WILL pursue, a DNA test will be demanded, and then, the public will know.

"The fact is that as we sit here today, the Reverend's ministry is over." Caz waited while the two lawyers absorbed that. "I am offering a chance for that bastard to go quietly into the sunset. It's a chance he does not deserve, but I am thinking of his son, his wife, and his daughter. It would be better for them."

"You are a hard, vengeful man, Mr. Calloway," the lead lawyer intoned.

"Just how would you react if that had been done to you?" Caz snapped back.

"It has not been proven that the extortion actually occurred," the lawyer countered.

"Now, that is nothing but posturing," Caz said with harsh laugh. "You know very well how short the extortion trial will be."

"The fact is, Mr. Calloway, that we are unable to make our client believe that he is in danger of legal action. We have tried. It is our duty as his counsel. If we cannot convince you to relent on your overly harsh demands, you must do as you will."

Caz seemed about to explode at the 'overly harsh demands' comment. Seeing that, Cy spoke up for the first time. "Perhaps there is another way to get your money, Mr. Calloway."

"What is that, Cy?"

"Perhaps there are magazines that would pay a great deal for your story."

"But that would put you and the women in the public eye. I was trying to avoid that," Caz said.

"I appreciate your concern for us - I really do," Cy said. "But I can take it and Mom and Grandma are sheltered from it. News like that doesn't last long, anyway.

"I think both of us agree that my grandfather ... my father..." Cy stopped and took several deep breaths before he could continue. "He should not be a minister of the Gospel. As much as I despise him and the things he has done, I respect and love God's Church. He has harmed the Church by being a monstrous hypocrite. That has to stop. If you sell the story, he will be driven out for sure. I will contribute whatever you don't already know about our home life."

Everyone just looked at Cy for quite a while. What he had said shocked them, but the steely tone of his normally pleasant, polite voice left no doubt about his sincerity. He was not finished, though.

"I promise all of you: I will see that he is no longer a minister. If Mr. Calloway decides not to prosecute and not to sell the story, here is what will happen. I will instruct Marty to send evidence packets to all of the elders of the church, the top officials of the ministry,..." at that, he gave a derisive snort, " ... and officials of the denomination. For good measure, anyone else involved in the extortion will get a packet. That should stir up some confessions, don't you think.

"Now, if that doesn't put my grandfather out of a job, I'll just use the rumor mill. I will just start telling the truth to friends and anyone who will listen. Before long, reporters will come asking. When they find out that people in authority knew and did not remove him ... Wow!"

"You would destroy a whole church? A whole denomination for revenge?" the lead lawyer asked.

"If the church or the denomination cannot remove someone that bad once they know the truth, God's work is better off if they are destroyed," Cy said solemnly.

"Mr. Calloway," Cy asked, "Have you decided what you will do next? Are you going to sue?" Marty could hardly contain the pride she felt at the way her new young client had taken over the whole meeting. From the glint in Caz's eyes, she could tell that he was just as impressed and pleased.

"Actually," Caz answered, "I find your idea of informing the hierarchy quite fascinating."

"That won't get you your money, though," Cy pointed out.

"It would if you just changed who you were demanding it from," Caz explained. "Those in authority might have a more rational appreciation of the threat of publicity and the fallout. I suggest that you revise the demands a little and send the packets to the people you mentioned.

"There is one demand I would like included in what you send out to those in authority, Cy. I want to be included in the meeting where the Reverend is removed from office."

Cy looked at Caz in shock for a moment, and then grinned. "I will insist on being included myself. If we are not present, it goes public anyway. Fair enough?"

Suddenly standing and addressing Matthews' two lawyers, Caz said "Gentlemen, you have failed. Unless you return as representatives of the church or the ministry, our business with you is done. Good day."

After the two stunned men had left, Caz sat down and talked very calmly. "Cy, that was a brilliant move. Can I hire you the next time I have to negotiate? I really do want to keep publicity away from you and the women. I also would like to keep Transformations out of the spotlight, if possible.

"But what if they fire him in private?" Cy asked.

"Here is what I think will happen," Caz said, dodging the question. "I believe the Reverend will accede to your original demands. When he hears who you are planning to send the information to, I think it will finally get through to him that he is done. I think he would rather resign than have his image destroyed with those in authority."

"I'm not sure he acknowledges any authority over him," Cy mused.

"Hmmmm. Good point," Caz said. "In any event, I think your idea is a better next step then my filing suit. Let's see how it plays out. Hold off three or four days to see if the Reverend does panic.

"By the way, don't be concerned about my money. I have plenty of that. The only sad thing is that I had planned to put it all to charitable use. Let's all go to lunch - my treat."

-------

[Julia, Frank & Caz] Mid October

"He's amazing," Caz said to Julia and Frank as they sat at dinner in one of the area's nicer restaurants. "You would never guess it, just meeting him, but he just took over that meeting, and his ideas were brilliant."

"You have to understand what he has come out of," Julia said. "That old adage about 'what does not kill you makes you stronger' applies perfectly to Cy. He has become extremely protective of his mother and grandmother. Somewhere along the line, he discovered that he himself was 'bulletproof' - he could take anything. He used his strength to try to protect them. That did not change when they all escaped.

"Also, he did not learn to hate the church and his faith because of the Reverend. He had the discernment to see that Matthews was the, uh, the 'cancer.'"

"Well, he put me to shame in some ways. He has suffered for almost as long as I have," Caz said.

Julia looked at Caz for a long moment for asking "Ever wish he really was your son?"

"Are you going to send me a bill for a session, now?" Caz joked. "That was surely your shrink side asking, wasn't it? To answer your question, let's just say that Cy has helped to, um, highlight the kind of things I have missed in my life.

"You know, I was so determined that my parents would not have to pay. I swore that I would not let what Matthews did to me ruin my future. I've always thought I won because those payments are insignificant to me, now. I guess the bastard stole a lot of other important things from me, though.

"I can look with honest pride at the large number of people I have helped to make a lot of money and change their lives. But as you know, I have never married. I have never even had a relationship that lasted more than a year. Can I blame the bastard for that? Yeah, I sure can.

"I was so consumed with beating him and getting revenge that there wasn't room for much more emotion, I guess."

"And Cy and the women have broken through that?" Julia probed.

"Go ahead and send the bill, Doc," Caz quipped. "I only met Rachel face to face that once, and she certainly wasn't at her best. But I have watched her many, many times, and I believe I know everything about her. She just has a, what, a naivete, an innocence that seems childlike."

"It's interesting you should say that," Julia commented. "Cy has said that Rachel seems more like his little sister than his mother most of the time."

By that time, they were drinking their after-dinner coffee. Caz said "I will do everything I can to minimize exposure and publicity for Transformations, Julia. I am not really committed to getting a financial settlement. I had planned to put it in trust for Cy and the women, just so you know. I could still do that out of my own funds.

"The one thing I will not back down from is getting the bastard out of the ministry. Cy agrees with me on that point."

"Do you mean that you are thinking of supporting the three of them beyond paying their current expenses?" Frank asked. "I'm hope you realize how much we appreciate that support. It means we can offer free help to more people."

"I'm not sure why I feel this way," Caz once admitted. "For years, I hated the women for being co-conspirators. Once I got someone inside, though, it didn't take long to realize that they were no more guilty than I was. I guess I feel a bond because the bastard screwed up all of our lives."

"Well, I hope Cy's campaign with the hierarchy is successful," Frank said. "It would be the best resolution for all of us."

-------

[Janice & Julia] Mid-Late October

As soon as Ted decided, Julia let Missy be the one to spread the word that Ted would soon be starting as an attendant. She let everyone know how happy she was that yet another great young guy would be having his hands on her.

Julia staged things so that she was present and two of the attendants were right with Janice when Janice first heard that Ted was coming on staff. It was a wise precaution because Janice fainted dead away.

Julia never liked to see a patient take a serious blow like that. In this case, however, Janice had 'stalled' early in her stay, with very little progress. If something drastic did not happen, she would forever see her son's leaving home as an unwarranted betrayal. A martyr complex would be with her forever, and their family would be irreparably sundered.

When Janice regained awareness, she was not thinking about the future of her family. All she could think about was her 'baby' working with all of the naked women - touching them, seeing every part of them. Then, the thoughts got worse. He could be touching HER, seeing every part of HER. That could not be right! He was just a young boy! Naked women, seeing genitals, massaging naked bodies; it was wrong for any male to do, but her baby!

Julia helped Janice to her bed, then sat and talked to her gently. She explained how they were always looking for the right kind of young men to be attendants. She asked Janice how she felt about the current young men on the staff, and Janice admitted that they made her feel special.

"Don't you think the Ted is that kind of young man?" Julia challenged. Janice was obviously up against a serious internal conflict. Despite how proud she was of her son, she could not openly admit that he was a young man. That would put him at a different level, and she would not be able to treat him the same way. She could not have as much control over him. She would lose her significance as a mother.

"He's just ... he's just too young," was all Janice could answer.

"You've seen Terry Torvold, right?" Julia asked, watching for the little shiver or the flare of the nostrils or the quick flush that always seemed to follow a mention of Terry to one of the women. Janice did not disappoint. "Well, Terry started when he was a little younger than Ted is now."

"But Terry's, uh, he's ... I mean..."

"You mean Terry's more of a man than Ted?" Julia challenged. "Just because Ted doesn't have muscles like Terry means he's not really as much of a man? Is that what you're saying, Janice?" That was really pushing hard, but Julia felt it was necessary. Janice had to start thinking of her son in a different way.

Seeing the evidence of confusion and the internal struggle on Janice's face, Julia knew that it was time to back off. The challenge had been laid down. Now, she had to find ways to nudge Janice toward the needed change in perception.

-------

[Missy & Julia] Mid-Late October

"I'm the logical one to really give her the jolt she needs," Missy insisted to Julia. "Sure, it will shake her up seeing him working with the older women, but they're not a 'threat' to her. I am."

"I can't argue with that," Julia agreed. "But why do you want to do it. Is it all just to help with Janice's treatment, or... ?"

"Yeah." Missy said, then giggled. That giggle was a sound that Julia had learned to treasure. As much as anything, it represented the kind of life change that their work could bring about. When she arrived at the Tee, it had been a long time since Missy had felt like giggling about anything.

"Missy, you know that Ted is not completely whole, himself. He is still trying to build his self-confidence, and he is naturally a rather passive personality. Is that the right kind of guy for you?"

"Well, I'm not exactly thinking about marriage, yet," Missy reminded Julia.

"No, I guess you're not. Is this your first crush?"

Missy did not even flinch at the term. "Except for Ricky, yeah. Look, Julia, I don't want controlling, macho types. I've had a lifetime of control, and then some. I'd like a guy that I could, uh, partner with. I think Ted is that kind of guy. Besides, it's not like we're going to shack up, or anything. We can't even go on a date." She paused, giggled again, then said "We can skinny dip, though."

"What I'm worried about, Missy, is that Janice could freak out, seeing you and Ted together. You have to be careful. You can't hang all over him or look lovesick."

"That's fine. Also, Julia, I've already been trying to spend more time around Janice. I want her to feel more comfortable around me. I don't know if she'll ever like me if I go after her baby, but I can try."

"Try not to make it look like you're 'going after' him. Keep it as casual as you can. Be with him as much as possible, but don't let it be obvious that you're pursuing him."

"Julia, what about the girl at Lindsey's - Connie? Is she competition?"

"That's a good question. They really seem more like brother and sister, even after she was with him at Barbara's house."

"Damn, I'm jealous!"

"Missy, just keep in mind where you are today versus June. I know these last months of your sentence are hard, but they will go faster than you think."

"Oh, I don't ever want to complain. You know that this is the best thing that ever happened to me. There's just a lot of normal teenaged girl stuff that I need to catch up with."

"After being in here, I'm afraid that you will find other teenagers pretty immature. You can still enjoy a lot of things, though. Oh, we've started the emancipation paperwork for you. The lawyer will be here to meet with you next week."

-------

[Janice & Ted] Late October

Ted certainly did not have the kind of preparation for the job that the initial crew of Mark, Terry, Eric, and Andy had been through. Dale's prep had been much different, but still quite thorough. Being older helped Dale, too. Regardless of his level of readiness, for the sake of Janice's treatment and their future as a family, Ted had to start work as an attendant.

The series of dinners with a naked woman hosting had proved to be excellent orientation for Ted, as they had for the other male employees before him. A single naked person in a clothed group seemed to emphasize the exposure.

When Ted walked in for his first shift, it was very early in the morning, and there were only a few residents up and around. That allowed him to work into the strange sight gradually. For the first week, that early shift was his only assignment.

As Julia had planned, Janice was very much torn. She did not want to acknowledge by her presence that it was right for her baby to be there working with all of those naked women. On the other hand, she wanted very much to see him and talk to him, and having him so near was a terrible temptation.

After four days, Janice called Ted in the evening. "Ted, could you come and visit me? It has been so long?" There was no command in her voice, only a plea.

"Mom, I'm there every morning. We could talk while I work. I'll see you in the morning." All of the possibilities had been talked through with Julia, and Ted was ready for her.

Janice did not come out to see him the next morning, nor for the following three. Janice became a terror and an annoyance to the other residents with her constant whining about how terrible the situation was. Julia had anticipated a crisis of that sort, but she had not anticipated the resolution.

On the fifth morning, Missy and one of the adult residents, Joyce, who had spent a lot of time with Janice, came into Janice's room about twenty minutes before Ted was to show up. Joyce was quite strong, and she and Missy hauled Janice out of bed.

"Janice, we have all had it with you," Joyce said evenly. "You are going out there to talk with Ted while he works. This whole thing is all your fault, and we are not going to sugar-coat it any more.

"Now, you have twenty minutes to pee, comb your hair, and fix your face. If you want to just stay in bed, we will carry you out there looking just like you are and with a full bladder. Which will it be?"

Janice protested, cried, cajoled, and generally wasted time. Finally, Joyce said "This is your last chance to pee. It's too late for your hair and your face, now." With a nod, Missy joined her and they pulled her from the bed and led her to the toilet.

Apparently realizing that resistance was futile, or perhaps secretly pleased that she was being forced, Janice did not struggle against them. As she sat and peed, Joyce saw her brush and comb. When Janice stood, Joyce let Missy lead her from the bathroom and wrapped the brush and comb in a towel.

With obligatory but rather mild protests about having to go without primping, Janice was led out to meet Ted, who was just arriving.

In their meeting in the office, there had been no hugging, and Janice did not try to hug him that morning. She was barely able to talk to him, and kept stroking her uncombed hair. Standing behind Janice, Joyce held up the comb and brush, and with motions, got Ted to understand that he should brush his mother's hair.

Trying not to make his reactions obvious, Ted gave a small negative shake to his head. He was not at all interested in that level of intimate contact with his mother. He knew that she had not tried to hug him only because of her nakedness. He knew that she believed the nudity was all wrong and her 'sentence' to the Tee was unwarranted punishment. The lack of physical contact was absolutely fine with him.

Missy moved a little back, out of Janice's vision, and joined Joyce in trying to convince Ted. Ted was frankly in awe of the tall girl with the bubbly personality and the pussy barely showing its new growth of hair. He was rapidly learning to read expressions, and Missy really wanted him to do his mother's hair.

Rather than just give in, he thought for a few moments. Julia had emphasized over and over that he needed to establish himself as at least on equal footing with her. If he could achieve some dominance of some sort, that would be even better. It would destroy the perception of their relationship that allowed her to smother and over-control him as she had done.

With a slight straightening of his back, Ted reached out and took his mother's hand, then pulled her toward a nearby chair. He got behind her, held both upper arms in his hands, and made her sit down. She was too blown away by his assertiveness to offer even token resistance.

When she was seated, he told her "I guess you're not really an early morning person, are you, Mom? You were so sleepy you just forgot to comb your hair. I'll do it for you now." He had it right. There was no asking, just telling.

It was fortunate that Joyce was beside Ted, standing behind Janice. Ted had not the first clue about brushing hair. As he struggled to follow directions, he managed to keep up a monologue about everything that had happened to him. It was Missy that kept whispering in his ear to tell more and try to shock his mother.

Janice actually quivered a few times when Ted talked about his first days naked at Barbara's house. When Missy pressed her breasts into his arm and put her hand right on his penis, he could not ignore her whispered demand that he talk about his hardon.

"I thought I would die of embarrassment for a few days. I had a hardon almost all the time," he said as casually as he could manage.

Janice did not take it casually at all. She gasped and looked very unsteady in the chair for several seconds. "If it hadn't been for Connie, I don't think I would have made it," he went on.

"Connie?" Janice was able to squeak out.

"Yeah. You met her when you visited."

"She was ... she was with you while... ? Ohhhh!"

"Barbara has two daughters, too. Penny is about my age," he elaborated. Seeing the effect it was having on her, he described his entire orientation as he brushed. "Connie's a great friend - like a sister. We decided that it would be easier for me if she was there. Most guys start by going naked at home, where their mothers and sisters care and want them to succeed."

"At h ... home?"

"Yes. Then, after they've gone naked at home for a few weeks, their mothers went naked to get them used to women's bodies. You see why they're so strong here on the whole family being involved and supportive. I guess you're taking your turn, Mom, even if we're not at home."

When Joyce signaled that Janice's hair had been brushed enough, she left. Missy, by plan, stayed right with Ted while he went about some of the housekeeping tasks that he had been assigned.

As Julia had hoped, Janice was loathe to leave her son alone with Missy, so she stayed right with them. It would take some days, but with proper escalation, Janice would feel completely at ease exposing herself around Ted.

Julia kept Ted on just mornings for a week after Janice's first time getting up to be with him. The second morning, at Julia's direction, Ted went into his mother's room alone and got her up. He left briefly while she used the toilet, but sat and talked while she fixed herself up. Julia had assured him that getting any tasks done was strictly secondary to Janice's 'treatment'. By the fourth morning, Janice was up and waiting for Ted.

Next, Ted was moved to a shift right after school, extending through dinner. Sitting by Janice as she ate put some more pressure on her because of all of the other people around. He always ended up between Missy and Janice, since Julia considered the 'threat' of Missy important pressure to keep on Janice.

-------

[Missy & Ted] Late October

"Missy, were you set on growing back your pubic hair?" Julia asked after pulling Missy aside from the dinner table one evening.

"Well, being the only one shaved here, I thought I would. Shaving it off was just an impulsive way to put pressure on my parents, you know."

"As I've said before, it looked very sexy. You have a nicely formed pussy. I think it would put more pressure on Janice if your labia were visible to Ted. They're not completely hidden, yet, but the hair is growing quite fast."

"Could Ted shave it for me?"

"Missy!"

"Well, he needs to learn, doesn't he?"

"You would really let him do that?" Julia asked. "I guess I shouldn't be so amazed," she added with a chuckle. "It would actually be a very good experience for both of you. I assume that you would have to relieve him afterwards."

"After he relieved me, you mean."

"Oh! That's..." Julia started to object. How did this formerly shy teenager keep putting her off balance? "We have to make sure it's very secret," she finally said. "Will you promise not to go all the way?"

"That might be tough, but I promise," Missy agreed.

"I'm worried about the legal repercussions if any intimacy was discovered. As long as there is no intercourse, though, we should be all right." Knowing how terribly horny Missy was, and being so appreciative of Missy's willingness to help, the idea seemed a harmless way for her to release some tension.

"I think the only safe way is in the center section. I think it had better be very, very early in the morning, too," Julia cautioned.

"Think I could actually go to sleep, knowing what was coming?" Missy said.

"Guess we'd better make it tomorrow morning, then."

-------

Ted had not been given any warning. Julia decided one sleepless teen was all they could handle at once. Muriel came in and woke him up well before daybreak. "Ted, Honey, there's a little job for you to do in the center section."

"Center? That's ... that's ... he objected groggily.

"Being naked doesn't bother you anymore, remember?"

"But, what... ?"

"Just use the bathroom and hurry out here. Just put on your robe, OK?" Muriel instructed him.

When Muriel opened the door to the center section, she held out her hand for his robe. It had been a few weeks since his 'orientation', and it was surprisingly difficult for him to bare himself.

As soon as he stepped through the door, he hardened. Somehow, he was not shocked to see Missy there waiting for him, but he could not avoid his reaction. She stood and stared for long moments, then took his hand and led him to the showers. As much as she was dying to, she did not try to touch him, just tried to keep him from going completely catatonic.

From the showers, she led him to the hot tub. When they were seated, she explained why they were there. "Julia thinks that if I shave my pussy bare again and hang around you a lot, it will put more pressure on your mom. I want you to shave me."

"B ... b ... but I d ... don't know..."

"Ted, please. Neither of us have any sexual experience at all. I think you're a super nice guy, and you seem to be comfortable with me. Let's help each other learn, OK?"

He was still unable to say anything, so she helped him to his feet and somehow got him sitting on the edge of the tub. While he was still in a daze, she took his cock in her hands, then ran out of confidence.

"Ted, I've never touched one before. I want to help you so can can relax and shave me. I don't want to to anything wrong, though. Tell me what to do. Please, Ted!"

"Uh, Missy, you're doing ... unnnnnnhhhh!" The level of arousal was just too much for Ted. The first touch of his cock by a female was enough to put him over without any stroking or fondling.

It was a watershed experience for both of them. She was a little disappointed that it was over so quickly, but she stood motionless, holding him in trembling hands, ignoring the warm globs of semen on her hands and arms.

"I've been reading and talking to all the women," she said after a while. "I'll bet you can come again, can't you?"

"Y ... yeah, but ... but what about you?" had gasped.

"You can do me after you shave me. I'll show you what to do."

In typical fashion, Ted was not inclined to argue with Missy. Of course, with the feelings from her gentle, inquisitive hands, he would have been unlikely to object under any circumstances.

Even as strongly as he had ejaculated, he had not softened completely. With the edge taken off, though, there was time for her to explore, fondle, and stroke, and for him to instruct and suggest. It took several minutes for his second explosion, and it left him quite limp.

She did not have to lead him down into the tub. As he sat, she pressed close to him and very gently touched his limp penis and his balls. "That was so cool!" she enthused. "Thank you, Ted." They stayed that way for several minutes as he regained his strength.

When she led him to a chaise, she told him "I want you to touch me and make me come, too. I just think that you shaving me will get me really aroused, and that will make it easier. I know when the beautician shaved me, I got pretty worked up."

She had covered the cushion of the chaise with a towel, and sat herself right on the end, with her legs spread as wide as she could. Everything needed for the shave was already right there.

Although Missy kept things quite businesslike, her anatomy lesson for Ted got to both of them. He was extremely nervous as he used the razor, but he was also extremely careful. The fact that it took him a long time did not bother either of them. She had decided to let a patch of hair grow above her slit.

Ted was completely blown away by the way she exposed herself. When he commented on it, she answered "When you live naked for so long, your body loses its, um, mystique, I guess you could say."

"Not to me, it doesn't."

"That's sweet, Ted. You need to rub some lotion all over my pussy now. It's the same as after you shave. It will get irritated, otherwise."

When he put the lotion on, she grabbed his hand, making it clear that he was to keep it there. She slid back up the chaise so she could stretch out her legs, then introduced him to the proper treatment of her clitoris. There was much more she wanted to show him, but she had an urgent need for release, so she kept his attention on her main spot. She sincerely hoped that there would be chances for much, much more at other times.

"Do you need another one, too?" he asked as he stared at her in awe after she had climaxed.

"I'd love one, but it could take a while," she panted.

"I could do this all morning," he quipped. She had moved his finger from her clit when she came, but kept his hand rubbing the whole area. He was now softly kneading the lips, squeezing them together, then pulling on them. "I ... I've been reading some stuff on the Net."

With a move that thrilled Missy almost as much with its boldness as with the sensations it produced, he slid his middle finger downward between her lips until he found her opening. Then, he worked it into her hot, moist tightness, wriggling it back and forth to ease its entry. He stopped before it had entered all the way.

"Farther! All the way in!" she panted out.

"I don't want to break your, uh..."

"Gone a long time ago!" she breathed out as she tried to throw her crotch at his hand. "Feels so good!"

This interlude was Ted's first introduction to a woman's unrestrained physical expressions of passion. As had men through the ages, he found it intoxicating and energizing at the same time. He had the feeling that her entire body was controlled by his middle finger, and it was like imbibing pure, undiluted self-confidence.

Remembering what else had intrigued him on the Net, his new boldness enabled him to lower his head and suck on one of her nipples. When she moaned out her approval, he began teasing it with his tongue, to even more enthusiastic response.

"Two fingers! Two fingers!" she gasped out. Everything was new and surprising to him, but he figured out what she wanted and worked a second finger into her. To get close enough to suck on her nipple, he had come within her reach, and she suddenly realized that. Her hand reached and waved around rather frantically until it found its target and clamped firmly around his cock.

In a move that he had read about and that he executed amazingly well for a rank beginner, he got his thumb pressed against her clit, with two fingers still embedded in her. She had not known that so much stimulation at once was possible and her little moans, gasps, and whimpers became almost constant.

Unconsciously, her hand began flexing on his cock, and within another half minute, both of them had gone on autopilot, hurtling toward desperately-needed completion. She got there first, but the sight of her in ecstasy was again so thrilling that it drove him to eject a few more spurts onto her clutching hand.

He could not help it. He sank to the floor where he tried to catch his breath and gain enough strength to stand up again. It was a matter of minutes before Missy spoke first. "I guess you'd better get cleaned up and go to work. Your mom will be wondering where you are."

One advantage of living with a strong, opinionated, controlling woman like Janice was that Ted was much better than most teen boys at reading the intent behind what was said. He understood that the emotions were so intense right then that Missy was afraid to talk about what had happened. He felt the same way, and dragged himself to his feet and to the shower.

-------

[Janice & Missy] Late October

Janice had gotten rather used to Missy being around in the early mornings while they accompanied Ted at his tasks. Once she had been forced to do it, Janice gave in to her desire to be with her son. She was struggling mightily with the incredibly strange circumstances, and she was bewildered and troubled by the way the relationship was changing. Still, she genuinely and deeply loved her son. The smothering control that had driven him from home was not driven by meanness, but by love misdirected.

Janice saw Missy as a competitor for Ted's affection, but Missy's newly emerging personality was so overwhelming that Janice could not dislike the girl.

When Missy joined mother and son that early morning, though, one look at Missy's bald crotch pushed Janice's tolerance to the limit. As evidence of the changes that were slowly taking place, though, she limited her reaction to a muted gasp. She was unable to say much to Missy after that, but seeing that Ted did not seem to be affected by Missy's shocking new exposure, Janice held her peace.

When Ted's shortened shift ended and he left to go to school, Janice wasted no time getting Missy off into a private area where she confronted her. "How can you walk around like that? Why did you shave again?" Missy had explained why she did it the first time.

"Janice, I was not blessed with a womanly, naturally sexy body like yours."

"L ... like mine?"

"Who are you kidding. Most of the women here would instantly trade bodies with you," Missy said with a snort. "That's one of the reasons why not everyone is very warm toward you.

"With your body, a loving, good-looking husband with a good career, an intelligent, hunky, sweet son, they all wonder how you could screw things up so badly."

"They really ... they really think that?" Janice asked in genuine surprise.

"They sure do. Some of the women have asked you that right out, haven't they?" Janice had to nod.

"Well, my body is not as sexy as yours," Missy said, "but I've been told I have a sexy pussy. So, I want to show off my best feature," Missy explained. She was not exactly lying, but she would not have done it had she not wanted to help put pressure on Janice.

"So, everyone thinks I'm all wrong, huh?" Janice asked sadly.

"Janice, you know that by now. The only thing Ray and Ted did wrong was to let you get by with it, not stand up to you." This was a place where Missy should have deferred to Julia for answers, but she was so pumped up from her incredible time with Ted that she was full of confidence and certainty.

"Janice, aren't you seeing any reasons for Ted moving out? Don't you see anything that you did wrong?"

"I didn't mean to do anything wrong! I just wanted to be the best mother!" Janice said through tears.

"But, haven't you learned from the other women how other mothers treat their sons?"

"I ... I see lots of differences," Janice admitted. Then she blurted out "You're pretty close to Ted. Does he still love me? Does he really want to come home? Am I in here for nothing?"

"Oh, come on, Janice! How can you ask that? Can you imagine how tough it was for him to spend two weeks naked at Barbara's house? Would he have done that if he didn't want to put your family back together?"

"No, I guess he wouldn't. He seems so different since then," Janice admitted.

"He's showing how much of a man he is," Missy pointed out. "You know, the women here think that you don't want him to become a man. They think you wish that he was still a helpless little boy. That's why you treated him the way you did."

Janice knew that was the prevailing opinion of her among the other residents, and it infuriated her. Her certainty that she was right and everyone else was wrong had seriously eroded. Julia had given her several books to read and some websites to check. Because she sometimes found little else to fill her time, Janice had read, and what she read was having an effect.

The most recent jolt to her certainty had come when she questioned one of the other women about how she could let her teenaged son choose his own clothes to wear each day. The shocked reaction from the other residents had jolted her. Being considered odd or weird was something that she could not stand.

"Are you in love with Ted?" Janice blurted out, desperate to change the direction of the conversation.

"I don't really know," Missy answered quickly. "I have zero experience with boys. He is the first one I have gotten to know at all well, and I love that. I can't wait for him to give me a massage, I'll tell you that. I'll bet his hands feel wonderful. I'm going to have him do every inch of me."

Missy had purposely added the part about Ted massaging her just to get a rise out of Janice. Seeing that she had succeeded, she pressed the attack. "Are you going to have him massage you? Then you would know for sure how he feels about you. You could tell from his touch."

Janice just shook her head from side to side, as if trying to deny that she had heard Missy's remarks. That would be all backwards! She was supposed to be touching her son, ministering to him, not the other way around. She was the adult. He was just a child.

-------

[Caz & Cy] Late October

Despite the glaring examples of people like Frank Schermer, the ranks of evangelical and fundamentalist religious organizations are filled with people who hold to the highest ethical and moral standards and live by those standards themselves. Such a man was Hanner, the president of Matthews' denomination. A man who had felt called from a successful and lucrative career as a corporate executive to lead the church organization, he was on his way to the airport twenty minutes after receiving the packet from Marty. There had not even been time for any of the denomination's board members to call him in shock and dismay.

On the way to the airport, Hanner called Marty, the only contact he had been given. "Ms. Granville, I am the president of Reverend Matthews' denomination. I am on my way to your city to meet with Matthews and remove him from the ministry. Tell young Mr. Matthews and Mr. Calloway that I will meet them at the church in two hours. Can you reach them?"

"They will be waiting for you," Marty said. She knew that Caz had refused to leave town until the matter was settled and she had the number at Cy's school.

Matthews was the unquestioned 'star' of the denomination. That was the heart of the problem, Hanner mused during the flight. As too often happened, it had gotten to be all about Matthews. Every time that happened, the work of the Lord suffered a setback. This was hubris of monumental proportions. Truth be told, Hanner had felt uneasy about Matthew's ever since accepting the president's job three years earlier. There had been nothing he could point to, but his well-honed instincts could not be silenced.

"Are you sure you want to listen to this, Cy?" Marty asked as the two of them headed for the church, where Matthews had his office. "It could get very contentious."

"I'm sure. I wish Mom and Grandma could sit in on it somehow, but ... Oh! You're joining us."

"Oh? Why is that?"

"You've worked hard for many years on this. Also, there should be a woman present. Symbolic, I guess."

The receptionist in the church office area was about to object to the intrusion of four unscheduled people until she saw Cy. She was so stunned that she did not say a word as they walked past her.

After bursting into Matthews' office and asking the two other people who were there to leave, Hanner asked bluntly "Is it all true?" The other three were still standing, and Matthews saw Cy for the first time. The three had agreed to say nothing, thinking that would serve to unnerve Matthews ever more.

"William!" Matthews said, starting to come out from behind the desk as if he could just ignore Hanner.

"IS IT ALL TRUE?" The president stepped in front of Matthews' intended path toward Cy.

Matthews stood uncertainly, looking at Cy, Caz, and Marty. He appeared to recognize Caz, and it did Caz a world of good to see the flash of fear across the man's face when their eyes met. "Have them leave," Matthews snapped in a manner intended to be commanding - imperious. "This is a private matter."

"They insisted on being present when you are removed," the president said. "Otherwise it will all be public and you will be tried in court."

"Removed? REMOVED!? You can't remove me! My church - my broadcasts are the biggest things in our whole denomination."

"If word of your crimes becomes public, our denomination quite likely will not survive," the president said firmly.

"CRIMES!? I committed no crimes!"

"Did you or did you not impregnate your own fourteen-year-old daughter?" the president demanded.

"Carter Calloway did that!", Matthews declared, pointing at Caz and removing any doubt that he recognized Caz. "He admitted it! Rachel testified to it! There were witnesses!" He had chosen denial. That was good, because there was no way he could stay with it in the face of the evidence.

"William!" the president snapped, putting his hand on the Reverend's chest and pushing him back toward his chair. "There is irrefutable evidence that you impregnated your own daughter. Naomi will testify that you had sex with Rachel at least eight times that she knows of. Rachel will testify that you forced her."

"My wife can't testify against me!" William retorted, showing the first signs of panic.

"She cannot be forced to testify against you," the president corrected. "She is more than willing to testify. You broke your sacred marital vows to that lovely woman, William. You broke more of God's commandments than I can count."

"She would not dare stand against me!" William declared, much of the arrogance back.

"Whatever else happens, she is filing for divorce," the president said.

"Divorce! But that's ... that's not scriptural!"

"Neither is rape or incest," the president snapped back.

Ignoring the president's words, Matthews begin a passionate litany of all of the things he had done for his family. Then, just as he had in numerous sermons and broadcasts, he bemoaned the massive ingratitude they displayed when they left him, and how they were now betraying him.

"I demand to know where my wife and daughter are!" Matthews bellowed in a move that surprised Cy and Caz. "I demand a chance to talk with them!"

Right then, it was especially hard for Cy to remain quiet, as they had all agreed with Hanner to do. He could not stand the thought of his mother having to face his ... his father again. It would certainly set her back.

Hanner took care of that problem. "William, Naomi has stipulated that she never wants to see you or speak with you again."

"After all of those years! After all I've done for her!" William wailed dramatically.

"Done do her, you mean!" Cy blurted out. Hanner, to his credit, did not even turn to look at Cy in rebuke. William, however, gave his grandson/son a murderous glare.

"And you! You are the biggest betrayer of all! You were to take over the ministry some day, and now? Now you are Satan's tool against me!" That was the first sign of irrational paranoia.

"In three days, William," Hanner said forcefully, "you will start your new job as a professor at the seminary. You will be teaching students the techniques of effective pulpit speaking. There will be no farewell sermon here. The broadcast ministry is shut down as of now. All recordings of your past sermons will be destroyed."

"The ... the seminary? That's a thousand miles away!" Matthews said in disbelief.

"Exactly. I would rather send you to India or Mongolia, but you are not qualified for that. I will not cut you loose because we need to keep some control and hopefully effect your spiritual restoration.

"When the divorce papers are delivered, you will sign them immediately, without question, and without legal representation."

"You don't have the authority!" Matthews insisted.

"I have been charged with protecting the denomination. That gives me all of the authority I need. I will not allow a legal and media circus to destroy it all. That is what will surely happen if you do not do as I tell you. That, and you will end up in prison."

Hanner knew that it would not be that simple, and it was not. William was correct. The president's control and authority were actually not strong enough to enforce what he had said. Fortunately, his personality was strong enough, having been honed for decades on high-level corporate battlefields. After over a half hour of belligerence from Matthews and dire threats from Hanner, Matthews caved.

Except for Cy's single outburst, the three 'observers' were silent for the entire session. At the end of the meeting, the look on the receptionist's face left the long-term secrecy of the proceedings very much in doubt. Matthews had been very loud during some of his tirades.

Marty invited them all back to her office afterward. "Mr. Hanner," she said immediately, "my client is adamant that Reverend Matthews be permanently removed from ministry."

"I understand that, but I hope you can accept this compromise. He will be teaching at the seminary and we will make sure he has no contact with congregations. I will tell you that this is a temporary step and he will be terminated completely within a year or two. Can your live with that, son?"

"What about you, Mr. Calloway," Cy asked Caz. "Can you live with that?"

"I suspect there will be a number of such compromises required to keep you, your mother, and your grandmother from being caught up in the legal and media circus that Mr. Hanner mentioned earlier. Yes, I can accept it. Please understand, Mr. Hanner, that I will be watching Matthews carefully and I will not tolerate even so much as a home study group."

"Understood. Now, as far as the financial settlement you demanded," Hanner said. "Matthews has surprisingly large personal assets. That means that Naomi and Cy can be provided for in the divorce settlement. Although Rachel is an independent adult, legally, we may be able to work in something for her, as well."

"Mr. Hanner, I think it would be best to have all settlements in up-front cash, rather than long-term support commitments," Caz stated.

"I agree. If Matthews' assets are parceled out that way, there will be nothing left to reimburse you for the payments you made all of those years."

"Is not the account of the ministry completely in Matthews' name?" Caz asked.

"That is correct," Hanner agreed. "But I have a real ethical problem using that money to pay off a personal obligation of Matthews'. By all rights, that money should be returned to the donors."

"Let me ask you something," Caz said. "There are a number of quite worthwhile projects that the ministry is doing. Is there a chance someone else could pick up the reins from Matthews and continue those projects?"

"I see you have done a great deal of research," Hanner said. "Are you saying that you would forgo your possible claim to that money?"

"As you may know, I do not need it," Caz said. "My plan was to use whatever I retrieved for charitable purposes. I will give you a chance to sell me on whatever beneficial projects you could maintain. Be warned though, that I will not be receptive to anything that is strictly evangelistic. Not much in my life has made Christianity seem appealing to me."

"I see. Perhaps you are confusing Christianity with individual Christians who do not represent what they purport to believe," Hanner said gently.

"Touche."

"At any rate," Hanner went on, "I do appreciate your reasonable position on your financial claims. Quite frankly, sorting out exactly who has control of the ministry's healthy bank account may not be a trivial matter."

Hanner left for his return flight, and Caz took Cy and Marty out for dinner. As they ate, Mary asked "Are you suffering a little of the 'not with a bang but with a whimper' syndrome, Caz?"

"Funny you should ask that," Caz responded. "Are you implying that I am giving in too easily?"

Marty made a thoughtful face, then said "After all of the years and all of the determination, I guess I am surprised that you're not being more 'hard-nosed'."

"I certainly don't feel the same, uh, fire as when I went after the other conspirators," Caz admitted. "Well, actually, I did until I realized what my 'perfect' vengeance could do to other people who were also victims."

"Will you later regret perhaps giving in too easily?"

"Marty, after meeting Cy and his family and some of the kids at Lindsey's, I realize that I'm not the only person who was robbed of part of their life. I have a pretty good life now. If I can finally let go of the hate and maybe find..." Caz stopped and paused before continuing without completing that thought. "I don't want to carry hate like that to the grave.

"Cy, when I see what you and the women have lived through and still retained your faith, it shames me," Caz admitted. "I've done a lot of thinking since that first time I called you. I have been strong and survived this whole mess. The problem is, I haven't been strong enough to live above what happened to me like you have. It has consumed me for almost seventeen years."

"I think Mom pretty much checked out as her way of dealing with things," Cy said.

"Yes, I see that," Caz agreed. "She and I have the same problem. We just deal with it in different ways."



-------

Chapter 19


[Ted] Late October

"He can do it," Missy assured Julia. "Let me get him off first and I'm sure he can stay soft. 'Course, I'll probably have to do it twice, but hey, it's for a patient, right?" Missy ended in giggles.

Julia wanted to keep upping the pressure on Janice. The next logical step was to move Ted to an evening shift where he would strip to use the pool, hot tub, and showers with the women. His preparation had been limited, and she was concerned about him getting aroused. Not that it would be the first time, or any great disaster. She just thought it important that Janice see her son at ease in an adult situation. A hardon could spoil the impact.

"OK. One thing, though, Missy. I don't want you around for the first few nights. I'm afraid there is just too much between you and Janice. It has to be just about her, her son, and the adult women."

"Do you think Janice might just hole up in her room?" Missy asked.

"Not a chance. If she knows the Ted is going to be naked, she will need to be right there. She may try to seem invisible, but that won't last," Julia declared.

-------

It took some scheming to get Missy and Ted to a place where she could masturbate him without anyone noticing. Just the situation made her task easy, even with the second come.

For three evenings, Ted swam and used the hot tub with pre-selected women. Janice was always around, but she never got in the pool or tub, and she never spoke to Ted. On the third night, when climbing out of the pool, Ted walked over to her and just said "Aren't you going to swim, Mom?" The next night, she was in the pool when Ted arrived.

-------

[Cliff] Early November

"Are you really ready for this?" Cliff asked Jessica as they got out of the car in the restaurant's parking lot. They had talked for several days about going to the place where Marie had lunch at least half of the work days. It had been Jessica's idea. She was almost obsessed with proving that her mother no longer had any hold on her. Even better would be showing Marie that her felonious efforts to get keep Cliff away from his daughter, though inflicting much pain, had ultimately failed.

For all of the years that he was legally forbidden to be near Jessica, Cliff had risked arrest by shadowing her in disguise. After Marie took his business away, he found a job quickly. He lived in a minimal apartment and used all of his meager funds for three things. First, he put away every possible dollar toward eventually starting another business.

He tried to be at any event where Jessica might appear. He got help from a professional makeup artist and learned how to disguise the postures, gait, and mannerisms that could make even a disguised person seem familiar to a close friend or a spouse. At Jessica's prom, he was a waiter, for example.

Another part of his money was spent building a dossier on Anne Mellenkamp. She was the social worker whose fraudulent report caused the judge to enjoin Cliff from seeing his daughter and resulted in the more severe settlement that cost him his company. He had kept an exhaustive log of Mellenkamp's cases, with the help of a bribed clerical worker.

Cliff had used two different disguises to check out the times Marie came to the restaurant and where she typically sat. In shadowing Jessica, he had seen Marie many times, but even after all of the years, he had to fight back the rage whenever he saw her.

He had not been in favor of this 'taunting mission' as he saw it, but revenge was becoming increasingly important to Jessica. In a way, he hated to see it because it was so contrary to her normally sweet nature. In discussions with Julia, though, she had pointed out that change in her beliefs and assumptions was essential. If some personality change came along with it, that was inevitable and not necessarily bad. Jessica HAD to become more independent, self-confident, and self-reliant. Being able to take action against another person was a sign that was happening.

They arrived in time so that they would be seated long before Marie arrived, if she even came in that day. They chose a table, rather than a booth so they were more visible, and they made sure it was right in the path she would take to her normal section.

As it turned out, they had to repeat the whole thing the next day because Marie did not show on their first try. If there had been any inkling of what Marie's response would be, they would certainly have abandoned the whole idea.

Actually, they had talked at some length about what effect seeing them together would have on Marie. Jessica very much wanted her mother to be affected, and Cliff could not deny the same wish. They agreed that she would be angry. That was always her first response to anything against her wishes. They both hoped that they could trigger some serious feelings of loss and possibly even regret. They had both endured huge amounts of suffering at her hands and they wanted her to at least sample those same emotions.

Their table was a two-top, with the seating in line with the aisle. Only one of them could sit facing the entryway from which Marie would approach. Cliff insisted that he face the entrance, and his argument that seeing him would hit Marie the hardest won Jessica over. She agreed that Marie would recognize her instantly, even from behind. The impact they wanted was Marie seeing the two of them together.

They got the impact they wanted. Marie, with a companion right behind her, froze in her tracks. Cliff saw her immediately and stared right at her, his face an expressionless mask. Her face went deathly white and then began to flush a bright crimson. Jessica saw Cliff's stare, assumed its meaning and turned in her seat to stare at her mother, whom she had not seen for months.

To do the things she had done to her husband and daughter over the years, Marie could not have been completely healthy mentally. Yet, because she was so determined, forceful, and skillful in her manipulations, the extent of her psychosis never became obvious. Actually, she was so good that no one but her victims and those trying to help them would ever think she was anything but normal.

Jessica and Cliff's intentional taunt hit Marie far harder than they could have imagined. The last fourteen years had been for her a series of failures, and since Jessica left her, there had been no option for her but to admit that to herself.

Certainly, she had gotten her divorce from Cliff, gotten him totally out of Jessica's life, and stolen the company from him. At that point, she had felt very successful. The company, however, was not a cash asset. It had to be managed, and she had failed. In the end, she had gotten nothing from that part of the plan, and had had to make it on her own after all.

Because of her drive and intelligence, she did make it, and she had another whole phase of her plan to fall back on. Jessica could score a big settlement that was pure cash, and Marie could benefit from that.

Now, the plan for Jessica had failed. The only other opportunity open to Marie was to find another husband that she could rape. She had been finding that far more difficult than her ego had led her to expect.

The only part of all her machinations that she could look on with satisfaction was her humiliation and destruction of Cliff. Despite her opinion of men, she had to acknowledge the he had been genuinely fond of Jessica. His obvious pain at the complete separation from his daughter that she had forced upon him was a significant triumph, psychologically, if not financially.

Now, innocently walking into her usual lunch place, she saw that her single 'win' from all of her efforts was in fact a loss, as well. All of her work had accomplished less than nothing. It was too much for her.

Looking about frantically, Marie saw a steak knife on the table right beside her. With the reflexes and the strength of the crazed, she grabbed the knife and lunged toward Cliff in one motion.

Marie was totally focused on attacking Cliff. She had no thought of hurting Jessica, but Cliff could not know that. All he could see was the mad woman dashing toward them from about twelve feet away, knife raised for a strike, screaming at the top of her lungs. His only thought was for Jessica, and he jumped from his chair and sprang forward to protect his daughter.

Cliff was big and strong enough that he probably could have overcome Marie and disarmed her, even in her crazed state, if he had concentrated on that. He had only one drive, though, and that was to protect Jessica. After shadowing her for so many years, he finally had her back, and the possibility of any harm coming to her was unthinkable.

Of course, as Cliff moved to shield Jessica, Marie aimed at where he was, making it seem to him that she was indeed going for her daughter. When they came together, Cliff turned and threw himself over Jessica, exposing his back completely to Marie. Although he did not know it, that was what Marie wanted all the time - a chance to kill him. Hurting Jessica never entered her mind.

A steak knife is not a sturdy weapon and Marie had nothing but her rage going for her. Cliff had on a blazer that was quite sturdy. Nevertheless, Marie sank the knife into his back three different times before her hand slid down over the blade and the shock of the resulting cut jolted her out of her fit.

By the time a couple of male diners and the restaurant manager got to the melee, Marie was standing holding her badly bleeding hand, looking confused. Cliff was still bent over the screaming Jessica, the knife still sticking out of his back, having sunk in about an inch and a half. Blood was oozing onto the back of his blazer.

The alert cashier had called 911 immediately and a patrol car was the first respondent. The cashier and several diners assured the officer that Marie was the offender and the officer took control of her first.

Cliff was reacting to the shock and Jessica was incoherent from panic, but the officer had to first make sure that Marie did no more harm. At that point, she really was no threat, having gone almost catatonic. She squeezed her hand tightly and did not move and said nothing.

Many minutes later, as Cliff lay face down on a gurney on his way to the ambulance, Jessica was sobbing beside him. He was now fully aware and a plan had quickly formed. "Jessica, listen to me. Listen carefully. Do not say anything to the press or to any lawyers. Only answer questions from the police. Do you understand me? Can you do that?"

"But ... but people should know the truth," she protested.

"They will, Honey. They will, I promise. This is our chance to get revenge on the social worker. Please, let me handle it. OK?"

"OK, Daddy. I love you. Are you sure you're OK?"

"I'm not hurt badly. They won't let you ride in the ambulance. Take the car and I'll see you at the hospital. Call Julia and ask her if she can come to the hospital. Will you do that?"

-------

"Julia, thanks for coming down. I didn't want to get anyone else involved," Cliff said when Julia came into the ER area where they were attending to him. Since she was an M.D., she had access. "Look, I want to turn this into a revenge opportunity. You know how much Jessica wants that, and so do I. Cory Bellamy is one reporter that I think will do it right. Will you contact her, please?"

"But Cliff, she's pretty radical!"

"I know. I'm betting that she is also honest. Wouldn't she be the most credible if she agrees to do the research?"

"I see your point. But what if she blows it off or sabotages you?"

"How much worse off will we be than we are now?"

It took a couple of hours for all the examinations, stitches and shots. When Cliff was finally released, Cory Bellamy was waiting for him, looking more than a little skeptical. As soon as he was able to disentangle from Jessica, they approached the reporter.

"Miss Bellamy, you are a well-known crusader against abusive fathers and your work has caused many of them to be punished. I have studied your work carefully and I do not believe that you have ever manufactured evidence or ignored contrary evidence. My question for you is this: if I give you evidence of fathers being wrongly accused and convicted of abuse, with the collusion of a social worker, will you pursue it and report it?"

"You will have to tell me a little more, Mr. Longley," Cory answered.

"Fair enough. When Jessica was ten," he said nodding at Jessica, "my ex-wife sued for divorce. It was a disastrous marriage, but that is not germane her. Out of the blue, she threw in charges of abuse against me. They were totally without basis. There was no corroborating evidence of any kind. Jessica's testimony was never taken, nor was she ever interviewed by a psychologist, which the law at that time stipulated. The social worker presented a report to the judge, which she was obligated to act upon. I had to give up my business and I was enjoined from any contact with Jessica.

"Now, you have only our word on our case. Ever since then, I have tracked all of that social worker's cases. I have talked to many of the fathers and the children from whom they were separated. I have discovered more than a little evidence hinting at financial kickbacks from the mothers. If I hand over all of that evidence to you, will you do some honest research and reporting?"

"Are you implying that I would be anything but honest?"

"You have never done anything on the 'other side' of the abusive fathers issue. My guess is that there have been opportunities that you have chosen to ignore."

"That itself is a strong accusation against a reporter," Cory said with obvious anger.

"So there has never been a case where the father was wrongfully accused, in your opinion?"

"Society has to err on the side of the safety of the child."

"And your assumption is that the mother is always the safe parent?" Cliff demanded.

"My mother is a monster," Jessica interjected. "Leaving me with her without Daddy's protection has ruined my life."

Cory stood uncertainly for quite a while. It was Cliff who ended the silence. "I'm sorry to have taken your time. I was mistaken. You're not a reporter. You're a crusader. I'll find someone else."

Father and daughter were both glum at dinner that evening. The taunting mission had gone terribly awry. Cliff's attempt at salvaging a revenge opportunity from the attack had misfired. Marie was in custody, but somehow, that was not cause for rejoicing, either. Because of the pain-killers, Cliff retired early.

-------

Just as Cliff and Jessica were sitting down to dinner the next night, the doorbell rang. They were both irritated because it seemed like they had spent the whole day talking to one detective or another, and they thought it was over.

Jessica went to the door and moments later, Cory Bellamy stalked into the kitchen. "I am a reporter, dammit!" was her opening comment.

"Oh?" was all Cliff said, reflecting his distinct lack of joy at Bellamy's presence.

"Anne Mellenkamp is now the director. She has been one of my main sources over the years. How can you make such accusations against her?"

"I did not even mention her name, did I?"

"You pissed me off. I went digging this morning."

"Was anything I told you about our case untrue?"

"Not that I could find," Bellamy admitted.

"Well, you'd better keep digging, then. I must have lied to you somewhere along the line," Cliff spat out.

"You are really bitter," Bellamy observed.

"As the kids say, well duh-uh!" Cliff retorted. "In a system where a man is guilty until proven innocent and proving innocence is impossible, I was raped. There is no other way to say it. Why should that make me bitter? I'm not sure why you came here. Why don't you just leave?"

"If any of what you say is true, then Mellenkamp used me and made a fool of me," Bellamy said.

"Oh, so if dozens or hundreds of men have there lives ripped up and their children left fatherless based on lies, that's not worth your attention. But if your main source happens to use YOU for here own purposes, THAT's worth it. Does that about sum it up?"

Bellamy was very angry at that point. Nobody had talked to her that way in a long, long time. She was at the top of the journalistic heap locally, and this man was making her sound like she had prostituted herself.

At that point, Jessica jumped into the fray. "Why don't you just get out of here and write your usual story. Tell everyone how the courageous social worker saved me from a horrible life with my monster father; how in her anguish that the monster had gotten his hooks back into me, my mother attacked him. That's what sells, isn't it?"

Bellamy just stood there with her fists clenched, breathing deeply. That had, in fact been her inclination when she first heard the story. That was what it had to be, wasn't it? That was what the mother was now telling the police. Bellamy turned and left the house.

-------

Who would have guessed that Marie's crazed attempt to stab Cliff could pose a far greater threat to him than the relatively minor wounds she had inflicted on his back.

The next day, after Cliff had gone to the office, the doorbell rang again. This time, it was a different reporter. "Miss Longley, could I ask you a few questions?" Jessica ushered the man in, and he immediately asked "Why would you move back in with the father who once abused you?"

Jessica almost panicked, but she and Cliff had talked about this possibility. She quickly went to the phone and called him. "Daddy, one of them is here. You were right."

To the reporter, she said "My father will be here in about twenty minutes. Wait out in your car." Not liking that response, the man asked "Has he got you so brainwashed that you can't even answer questions by yourself?"

Jessica laughed out loud. "So, you just bought Marie's line, huh? Listen, if you will promise to listen with an open mind, we'll give you a story that will make your year. Otherwise, just leave and don't come back."

"I'll ... I'll be in the car," the man said rather uncertainly. Jessica immediately got on the phone to Julia again.

When Cliff arrived, the reporter came to the door again. "You'll have wait a little longer," Jessica told him. "My psychiatrist is coming over." Now really confused, the reporter went back to the car.

When all four were assembled and introduced, the reporter asked "Miss Longley, why is Dr. Waxman here?"

"To keep me from scratching your eyes out," Jessica answered. "There never, ever was any abuse. Daddy and I were victims of collusion between my mother and the case worker. It is a pattern that has been repeated many times against many fathers since then."

"Who was the case worker?"

"Ann Mellenkamp, who is now the director," Cliff answered. "If you are genuinely interested, I will give you a copy of a detailed file that I have kept over the years. Otherwise, we have nothing to say except what Jessica already told you. Oh, I will tell you that there were no previous accusations before the divorce hearing, there was no corroborating evidence, Jessica's testimony was not taken, and she was not interviewed by a psychologist as the law stipulated at the time."

"I don't think he's any more interested than Bellamy was," Jessica said.

"You told this to Bellamy?" the reporter asked. Whether intentional or not, Jessica had made a brilliant move. This reporter, Eamon Fernandez, would do anything for a chance to upstage the local star.

Eamon, whose interesting name was a compromise between an Irish mother and a Spanish father, would actually do anything for a chance to do some real reporting. Oh, he had done lots of reporting and done it very well. He was at the top of the local sportswriting heap. Because he had been a standout running back at Addison, that was where it was always assumed that he belonged. Much as he begged for a chance at hard news, his superiors were loathe to give up his work on sports. As he neared thirty, Eamon was becoming very concerned about being 'pigeon-holed'. His top journalism grades should get him some choices, shouldn't they?

Cliff could see that it was avarice that would motivate Fernandez to take a look. He had rejected Bellamy on the same basis, but at least Fernandez did not have the prior reputation. Then, the young man blew away Cliff's assumptions.

"Ms. Longley, Mr. Longley, I have to apologize for baiting you. I did not mean to offend. It was my clumsy way of testing whether I had read things right."

"Read things right?" Cliff queried. "Wait, you're a sports reporter, aren't you?"

"I would like to be much more than that," Eamon answered. "I think this might be my chance."

"Why would they let you cover this story?"

"I didn't ask them to let me. I can justify it a little because of your own college sports career, Mr. Longley, but I am really doing it on my own. If it gets me fired..." Eamon gave a dramatic shrug.

"Was there something that caught your interest about this case?" Julia asked.

"A good friend of mine at college had his dad taken away in a similar situation. It has stuck with me ever since. Plus, I hate people like Bellamy who use the media for their own crusade."

Julia had to leave as soon as she was sure that there was no psychological crisis for Jessica. After Julia left, the other three spent over two hours going over the copy of his files that Cliff gave Fernandez. By the time he left, Fernandez was not only convinced, he was excited.

-------

Fernandez was young, talented, energetic, and hungry. He had a job with a local TV station, but he was completely tied up with sports.

His first challenge was to make sure he got the chance to run with the story he had been given. To do that, he took a big risk of losing his job and being blacklisted. Marching directly into his editor's office, he told her "I've got a blockbuster in my pocket, and I want permission to do it myself."

That, of course, required a lot of explanation, and the editor was suitably impressed. "Let's see the file," was the editor's demand.

"Is it my story," Fernandez asked.

"I can't make that promise."

"Then, I will have to resign and run it as a stringer," Fernandez declared.

"You got that evidence as an employee!" the editor almost shouted. "It belongs to the station."

"Well, that fight will take place well after the story is dead, won't it? All you have to do is let me do the story. The station will get the glory."

The editor had already seen Bellamy's initial piece in the paper, and she was as eager as Fernandez to score a win. They went back and forth for a while longer before the editor said "All right. It's your story. But you're done here when it's over."

"When it's over, I'll have more offers than I know what to do with," Fernandez bragged.

Just like an exceptional athlete who is at their best in pressure situations, Fernandez saw his entire journalistic career on the line, and he responded brilliantly. Acutally, it was a poor start because of Bellamy. The second day after the stabbing, Bellamy had a big article in the paper. It discussed the penchant for abused women to stay with or return to the abuser. It quoted heavily from Marie, who was painted as a heroic mother trying to protect her daughter from an abusive father.

After much discussion, Cliff and Jessica agreed to answer all inquiries from anyone from the media. They spent hours rehearsing just what they would say in response to any question that they could think of. On the second and third days, they were deluged with calls and visits. They handled them all as politely as they could.

Also by agreement, they never mentioned the evidence against Mellenkamp. They did state that Marie had given false evidence that was supported by a corrupt social worker, resulting in the ruinous verdict. Interestingly, only two of the eight of nine reporters that called bothered to identify the social worker.

By the third day, Jessica and Cliff were becoming concerned. Cliff's business could be badly hurt by the publicity, and they had heard no more from Fernandez. The only good thing was that the story was about to die out.

Fernandez had, in fact, been very, very busy, and the story was really just starting. On the evening news on Fernandez' station, there was a teaser. 'Evidence uncovered of a pattern of false abuse charges against fathers in divorce cases. How many fathers have been wrongfully forbidden to see their children. Watch the news at ten for the full story.'

The teaser did not mention Marie, Jessica, or Cliff, which in retrospect turned out to be a wise move. In fact, the evening report had short interviews with five fathers and one or more of their children. Every case was the same as Cliff's. No prior accusations, no testimony from the children, no psychological evaluation of the children.

At the end of the report, it stated that all of the five cases, plus the recent case involving the stabbing of Cliff Longley and at least fifteen other similar ones over the years had been handled by Anne Mellenkamp, the current director. It also stated that most of the cases had been handled by the same judge and named her, as well. It left with a vague teaser about the possibility of financial kickbacks, and the promise of more the next night.

After the early evening news teaser, Bellamy would have had time to get something in the next morning's paper, but she did not think there was a serious enough threat. By the time the excellent piece ran at night, it was too late. It was not too late, however, for Bellamy's editor to call her in a rage.

"Did you have an inkling about this?" he demanded. Her brief hesitation was just a little too long, and the editor screamed "God damn it, Cory! Get to the office! Now!"

"What did you know?" the editor asked when he, Cory, and a lawyer were gathered in the editor's office.

She had done very well for the paper's news department, and she and the editor had always gotten along well. The problem was that he could read her like a book and she knew there was no point in lying. "They called me first," she admitted.

"And you turned down the story?" he asked incredulously.

"Anne Mellenkamp has been my best source over the years."

"And maybe she was feeding you lies all of that time!"

"I went back and told them I would do the story, but they wouldn't give me the files," she explained.

"Why wouldn't they?"

"I, uh, mentioned that I had come back because I was concerned that Anne had been deceiving me."

"Jesus Christ!" the editor exploded. "Why in the hell did you write what you did, then, if you had suspicions?"

"I, uh, figured it wouldn't go anywhere," she managed to say.

"Well, it sure as hell is going somewhere, and it's making us look like idiots!" he shouted.

"I still have access to Anne and they don't," she said hopefully.

"Oh, so we should take her side, huh?"

"Well..."

"Cory, the story is true, I can feel it." His gut reactions to controversial issues were what had earned him the job and kept him in it for twelve years. He was seldom wrong. "You go talk to Mellenkamp, but do it as a reporter, not as her PR person, got it?"

"I still can't believe she would do this," Cory objected.

"Damn it! You're supposed to be a reporter, not a crusader," he yelled. She cringed at hearing the same words that Cliff Longley had thrown at her. "For once, go find out the truth, not what you want to be true."

-------

Early the next morning, Cliff got a call from Fernandez asking if he and Jessica could go to the Plonske Agency for a polygraph. "I'm having all of the other people from last night's spot get tested," Eamon told Cliff. "The results will be on tonight's news along with a challenge to Mellenkamp, the judge, and the accusing mothers to have themselves tested."

"Uh, Mr. Fernandez," Cliff said, but she interrupted.

"Eamon, please!"

"OK, Eamon. I don't think the judge is in on this."

"I've wondered about that, but we have to include everyone involved. All she has to do is take a polygraph."

Cliff felt a twinge of remorse, believing the judge would have ruled in his favor if there had been any way she could have interpreted the law that way. He decided he needed some legal advice, so after the polygraph, which they both passed with excellent numbers, they went to his lawyer's office.

"It's sounds like the judge was following the law," the lawyer opined.

"But I think she believed me," Cliff said. "Was there nothing she could have done?"

"She could have ruled in your favor, knowing that it would be open to appeal based on the way the law was written. No judge wants their cases appealed."

"Would I have won on appeal?"

"Quite likely. There would have been more scrutiny of what the social worker did."

The early news tease at dinner time said 'More on the accused fathers scandal on the late news. Tonight, see the results of lie detector tests on the accused fathers and the supposedly abused children.'

The late news spot opened with 'All of the fathers and children interviewed last night, plus Cliff Longley and his daughter Jessica, have taken polygraphs. These were done at three different agencies in three different cities. Every single test showed that the people we interviewed were telling the truth.

'This station is offering to pay for tests for any of the accusing mothers, Ms. Mellenkamp, and the judge at an agency of their choice. Tomorrow night, we will let you know if any of those people have taken up the offer.'

The spot went on to say 'It has always been the doctrine that the law has to err on the side of protecting the children. Since social services is predominantly run by women, and heavily by women of a feminist leaning, the assumption in the bureaucracy has been that the father is the potential danger to the child.

'In a classic case of guilty until proven innocent, almost any charge of abuse appears to be believed and used as grounds for enjoining the father. Innocence is virtually impossible to prove, and historically, guilt does not have to be proven.

'It is only in recent years that some protections for the accused fathers have been introduced, but they are still in a nearly indefensible position.

'Child advocates will claim that the important thing is to protect the children. However, if a mother is capable of falsifying a serious charge like abuse or molestation, does not the child need to be protected from her?

'This is admittedly a very complex problem with no easy solution. It is a case where justice rests mostly in the hands of the social worker. That is not a good situation in and of itself, but if the social worker is corrupt, it is tragic, indeed. That appears to be what has happened to too many men at the hands of Anne Mellenkamp.

'Tomorrow night, hear the accusing mothers' side of these sad stories.'

Fernandez was one step ahead of Bellamy. Even before the Polygraph results were aired, he had interviewed three of the accusing mothers. On camera, they gave tearful recitations of why they had to get as much support as they could from the fathers and why they used any means they could to get it. It was for the children, after all.

"Do you think it benefitted your children to have them completely separated from their father?" was a question he asked each of the three. "Are you willing to take a polygraph?" caused two of the three to break into tears and one to end the interview abruptly. "How much did you have to pay Anne Mellenkamp?" brought priceless looks of astonishment and guilt to the faces of the remaining two.

Almost everyone who watched could feel pity for the mothers when the interviews were shown the next night. Also, almost everyone could see the guilt on their faces and hear it in their answers. Eamon did an excellent close to the spot. 'One of the admirable attributes of motherhood is a willingness to do whatever it takes for her children. These women appear to have been fighting for their children's welfare. It is the fault of the legal system that it puts so much power in the hands of social workers, many of whom have a strong agenda of their own.

'This news department has requested data going back twenty years on any divorce cases where accusations of abuse or molestation were leveled against the father. We are interested in seeing how many decisions against the father were followed up by criminal action, which should have been the next step.

'It is our fear that the number is very low. The legal threshold for stripping a man of his wealth and his children is far, far lower than for convicting him of those heinous crimes.'

The next night, Eamon told the TV audience 'As was to be expected, were we told that no data would be forthcoming from Social Services. We have privately obtained information on twenty-three cases handled by Ms. Mellenkamp in which the fathers were forbidden to see their children based on charges of abuse. There was not one case that was followed up with an arrest of the father. Not one.

'On another note - for several days, Marie Longley had been praised for her heroic attempt to protect her daughter, Jessica, from her abusive father, Cliff. We now know that Marie herself is the villain in this case. Cliff and Jessica had a wonderful father-daughter relationship, filled with much love and devoid of anything in the least improper before they were torn apart by Marie's perjury and Anne Mellenkamp's collusion.'

-------

Although in the minority, the men in the DA's office were emboldened by Eamon's reporting and took a firm stand on Marie's assault charges. The DA himself refused to allow any plea bargaining until Marie had undergone a complete psychological evaluation. He personally tracked the case to make sure that a real exam with a competent psychiatrist was done. When the psychiatrist called in Jessica, Marie's fate was pretty well determined.

The attack on Cliff would not have warranted jail time, with no premeditation and no previous record. The psychiatrist's report, though was scathing. Julia was called in to document the effect on Jessica, and the tapes were reviewed. Although nothing from the tapes could be mentioned officially, they gave the examining psychiatrist leads on areas to probe, and much of Marie's brainwashing and her distorted views on men and marriage were exposed.

Although Cliff was not in favor of it, he could not stop the new Jessica from filing a civil suit against her mother for psychological and emotional abuse. Julia did not like the idea, either, but she concluded that it was a necessary step in putting the past to rest and giving Jessica the clean start that she longed for.

Cory Bellamy salvaged her job and some of her reputation by going after the personal angle on Jessica. Matt exploded in a rage when Bellamy appeared at his door and refused to even talk to her. By digging wherever she could, Bellamy put together a surprisingly accurate picture of what the marriage had been like. She never discovered the cheating with Rod, and that left the reason that Jessica accepted the divorce somewhat up in the air. Matt's family said nothing about the marriage. Once she had a woman as a victim, Bellamy painted a very sympathetic picture of Jessica, and to her credit, of Cliff, as well.

Anne Mellenkamp did not survive with her job. She did get out with most of her pension and no criminal charges. There was not enough evidence of any kickbacks to file charges. The story spread across the state and some new legislation was introduced in the legislature.

-------

[Matt & Julia] Early Novemver

The visit from Cory Bellamy was the capper. The whole story started by the stabbing had been very hard on Matt, opening lots of old wounds. Wisely, still fuming from Bellamy's prying, he called Julia quickly and had three sessions while the story died out. It was in the final meeting that Julia asked "What's next for you, Matt, as far as romance?"

"Nothing. Nothing at all. I've sworn off romantic entanglements forever. I am now the world's most confirmed bachelor."

"Won't work, Matt."

"Why not."

"For one reason, you're just not the bachelor type. For another reason, with the example of your parents always around, it would tear you up," Julia assured him.

"But my parents are the exception, rather than the rule. Only a small number of marriages are like theirs."

"More than you think. More than you think," Julia said. "Look, I don't want to open old wounds more than they already are, but what about Jessica. She is not the same person that you had to divorce."

"And why should I take that chance?"

"Because I'm pretty sure that you still love her."

"I'm afraid what I feel for her is more sympathy than love," he stated.

"Hmmm. I'm not ready to buy that, but I'll let it go for now," she said. "What about Chelsea?"

"She's gone. Way in the past. I have no idea where she is."

"How would you compare your feelings for Chelsea with your feelings for Jessica?" Julia asked.

"That's a strange question," he said with some irritation. "They both threw me over for Rod."

"OK, let's look at that assertion," she said. "First of all, Chelsea made a foolish mistake. It was a mistake of a girl that was not prepared to handle her newfound sex appeal and the potential social standing it offered her."

"Hmmph!"

"I have it on reliable information that she regrets what she did virtually every moment of her life. She would give anything to be back with you."

"So you think I should look up Chelsea and try her again? You started out asking about Jessica," he objected.

"Chelsea's feelings about you are unequivocal. Jessica's are less clear," Julia explained.

"Look, why are we talking about this?" he asked rather angrily. "I've proved that I don't make good decisions about women. I may learn slowly, but I do learn."

"And there's a third woman, one who has never hurt you in any way," Julia said as if she had not heard his previous remark.

"Tracy, I suppose," he said. "I guess you've been doing some digging, huh?"

"Mel."

"That would be enough, I guess," he admitted. "I never felt anything romantic or sexual for Tracy," he declared.

"I think that was because you were so wounded from Chelsea," she told him.

"Again, why this discussion? I'm OK the way I am. Let's just leave things the way they are."

"For one thing, another of my patients is affected," Julia said.

"But she's the one who's not sure how she feels about me," he complained. "Besides, everything with her is too painful."

"Matt, you need a wife and a family. Those things are too important to you to try to walk away from them. This may be the last time we talk. I need to make sure you don't have unreasonable expectations about building a happy single life. I am telling you that it won't work for you."

"So why shouldn't I just start fresh - find someone completely new?"

"That would be fine. Just know that there are three women who already love you deeply. Two of them, you have loved deeply, as well."

"And both of them hurt me badly," he said softly.

"If you could get past that, either one of them would give you the kind of life-long love that you envy in your parents," she told him.

"Look, Julia, I've thought about this. I'll admit you're right about me needing a wife. In my less angry moments I've determined that if anything is ever going to happen again, I'll leave the choice up to my mother and my sisters. They know better what's good for me than I do."

"That's very wise, analytical thinking, Matt. Are you going to give them the go-ahead to pick one for you?"

"What's the hurry?"

"How old do you want to be when you go to your children's graduations?"

He was silent for quite a while. "I think you should take Jessica off of the list. If she is uncertain and I definitely am, that's a pretty bad start."

"OK. My only counter to that is that you look on that marriage as your biggest failure. Are you willing to let it stand that way for the rest of your life?"

"So you're pushing Jessica as your first choice, huh?"

"No. Just pointing out a very important decision factor. Look, we're not going to pick your next wife here. Just know that you will marry again, and that you have some women ready and waiting."

With that, they hugged briefly and Matt left.

-------

[Jessica & Julia] Early November

"I just don't get clear feelings when I think about Matt," Jessica told Julia. She was back in therapy, this time with Cliff paying.

"Alright. How would you react to an engagement announcement of Matt with some other woman?"

"Chelsea?" was Jessica's surprising response. There was no panicked reaction as Julia had expected. This certainly was a different Jessica.

"So, if you knew that all possibility of reuniting with Matt was gone, you could handle it?" Julia pressed.

"If I knew he was happy, yes, I could handle it," Jessica said firmly.

"Do you fantasize about having sex with Matt?"

That stopped Jessica for a while. She had told herself many times that what she had done with Rod, she should have done with Matt long before. That awful day, she was ready to do it with Matt and she believed that she would enjoy it. But did she fantasize about it?

"From your long pause, I assume that when you think about Matt, it's still the comfort and safety and not sex, is that right? He was your substitute for your daddy, right?"

With a few tears welling up, Jessica answered "You're right. That was terribly unfair to him, wasn't it?"

"We already know that it was not your fault. What would be most unfair to him would be to try and reunite if that was still all that you felt."

"I don't know why you are asking these questions," Jessica complained. "There is no way that Matt would want to reunite with me."

"I don't think you can assume that, Jessica, but if it's not right for you, it won't be right for him," Julia stated.

"Julia, I need to just enjoy being with Daddy for a while. I think I've learned a lot and changed a lot, but I'm not ready to think about getting married again right now. Do you think I have to for some reason?"

"Oh, no, not at all. In fact, I am pleased with your statement. I just want to make sure that if you lose any chance at Matt that it won't destroy you."

"You know," Jessica said, "if I have Daddy, I don't think anything can destroy me."

"But it's not the same as having a husband."

"I know, Julia, but it's what I need most right now. It may be a while before I'm ready for a husband. I sure wasn't the first time. And don't worry. I won't be doing anything with Daddy that I shouldn't. In fact, I'd like to get him together with Gretchen."

"Really?" Julia asked in genuine surprise. "Is something happening between them?"

"Only that I talk a lot about Gretchen and how wonderful I think she is all the time. They've only met a few times," Jessica explained.

"Well, I would definitely be happy if that happened, except if I lost my food service manager."

As far as Julia was concerned, Jessica was off of Matt's list of 'possibles', in both Jessica's and Matt's opinions. It saddened Julia because of her devotion to making marriages work. She had to admit, though that it was a union built on the wrong foundation, at least from Jessica's side.

-------

[Matt & Mel] Early November

Matt at first assumed that Julia had called Mel. What else could explain the timing. When he got home from his session, Mel was at the house, and the first words out of her mouth were "I've got Chelsea's phone number." Then she tossed him a phone.

Shaking his head, he put the phone down and asked "Is this conspiracy your idea or Julia's?"

"What conspiracy?"

"Very funny. I just got done with an hour of Julia talking about which woman I should choose."

"Yeah, I talked to her yesterday and told her all about Chelsea and Tracy," Mel admitted. "Did she include Jessica in your choices?"

Matt nodded and was silent for a while. "I think Jessica is off the list."

Mel let out her breath loudly. "I was afraid we would have a big argument about that."

"Does that mean you agree?" he asked.

"Uh, huh. She loved you but she didn't have any lust for you. Chelsea has both and the two of you have a long history."

"The last part of that history is really bad," he pointed out.

"Look, Hon, she was like a butterfly just coming out of a cocoon. She got into a situation with a real snake that she couldn't handle. She made a bad, bad mistake. She has been regretting it ever since."

"So, I should risk that happening again?"

"There is no chance of that. None whatsoever," Mel declared. "She knew at the hotel what a horrible mistake she had made. If you forgive her, you will have the most faithful, dedicated partner you could imagine."

"What do Mom and Geri think about this?"

Without answering, Mel dialed the phone and when it was answered, she handed it to Matt without saying a word. "Matt, Honey, Joyce said. It's the right thing for you."

"It is, Matt. We're sure of it," Geri echoed.

He had told himself that he would leave his love life to the women in his family, Matt reminded himself. He had not thought that it would be this soon, but maybe they knew best about that, too. He could not claim that his life had been pleasant since the divorce.

He sagged into a chair and just sat in thought for several minutes, with Mel respecting his deliberation. Then, he reached for the phone. Mel gave him the slip with the phone number at the same time.



-------

Chapter 20


[Julia & Ray] Early November

Julia was hopeful that Janice was approaching the turning point, so she kept one midday open to talk to Ray. That day, Ray should have realized that something of import was about to happen because Norma and Muriel were waiting for him once again. Missy was also there.

Including Missy had taken some thought on Julia's part. On the one hand, Missy was way too young for the upcoming discussion. On the other hand, she was very close to all of the Ralstons. She also had a sexual curiosity that was so endearing. Julia could not imagine a girl her age absorbing so much, both good and bad, with such an upbeat attitude and such an eagerness to always learn and experience more.

Julia remained clothed, the only one of the group. "Ray, I think we are very close to a reunion between you and Janice. I am quite sure that she is near to a turning point - actually somewhat of a breaking point, in her case."

"Has she been a disruption? I know how headstrong she can be," Ray said.

"Let's just say that she has stretched the goodwill of the other residents. They are good women, and they genuinely want her to get over her problem, particularly after they have spent some time with Ted, and some of them with you. I don't think many of the women like her very well, though."

"So why do you think she is about to change?" Ray asked.

"We are working her and Ted into situations where she cannot help but acknowledge that he is now a young man and no longer a child," Julia answered. She gave his a questioning look, silently asking if he wanted more detail.

"I guess it might be best if I don't ask for any more information," he said rather glumly.

"Ray, both you and Janice have experienced things that you once would have considered unthinkable. As part of what I am going to suggest as your new relationship, I think you should demand from her a retelling in great detail of her time at the Tee. You will need to reciprocate with an in depth account of your own sessions."

"That should be fun!"

"Damn it, Ray! Yes, it should be fun!" Julia spat out. "It should be fun because it will reinforce your new control of your marriage. When you two get back together, Janice will be feeling very, very fallible. I believe that you will actually have to build her up a bit. What is important, though, is to establish that the entire relationship is different. Assuming the attitude that she owes you that information will be an important step."

Ray looked at her quite uncertainly, but she went right on. "We need to choreograph your first meeting. You need to present a completely different appearance to her. Her first sight of you should emphasize the physical changes, which, by the way, are quite impressive. Congratulations."

He nodded in thanks, but still looked a little uncertain. "Here, Ray, let me show you what I mean," Julia said. She proceeded to pose him, causing him to blush heavily, especially when the women cheered and whistled. He sat down as quickly as he could.

"One other thing, Ray. When you and Janice get together again, it will be right here, and you will both be naked. You need to have a full erection at her first sight of you." He gasped, but she did not stop talking. "You should stand there and display it proudly."

In a flash, Missy was on her feet, at Ray's side, tugging at his arm. "Come on, Ray. You need to practice that part, too. Come on!" That generated a lot of good-natured laughter, except from Ray.

"Julia," Ray objected. "I don't know if I can do that. I've never, uh, flaunted myself in front of her, especially not, um, uh..."

"Hard, Ray. Hard," Julia said in exasperation. "That's the whole point, Ray. I believe that you have changed significantly, as has Janice. It is absolutely critical that she understand the scope of those changes as soon as she sees you. Your entire initial encounter MUST emphasize over and over that your marriage is fundamentally and irrevocably changed."

"What if she won't accept those changes?" he asked.

"Dammit, Ray! Don't even think that question! Don't let a doubt like that into your mind. Things HAVE changed. They will NEVER go back to the way they were. YOU changed them. She WILL adapt herself to the new marriage. She WILL be thrilled with the new you." Julia was breathing hard when she finished, and it was not all acting.

He sat and shook his head slowly before he spoke. "I want things to be different. I have been so wrong since we met. The problem is, I just don't know if I can do those things."

"You have to start thinking of yourself as the alpha male," Julia explained. "An alpha would stand there proudly, displaying his muscles and his hard cock. He would expect her to be properly impressed and respectful. He would expect her to become aroused and eager to service him sexually."

"Wow!"

"There's more, Ray," Julia warned. "Here's how I think the first meeting should go." She laid out a scenario, describing how the first encounter should proceed. When she mentioned one item, he gasped loudly.

"She's never had ... I've never even ... how could I ever?" he babbled.

"You can practice on me," Missy said seriously.

"Uh, Missy," Julia objected, "you know that there is at least the possibility that Ray could someday be your father-in-law. What would something like that do to your future relationship with him?"

Missy answered quickly. "Julia, it's no secret how I feel about Ted. I've grown to like Ray an awful lot, too. Even as prickly as she is, I can honestly say I like Janice, too. I think I may be falling in love with Ted. For his sake, I want to see his family 'fixed'. I would never think anything bad about Ray, and I doubt that he would of me. Tell me, who else could do it? So maybe we would have done some things that in-laws don't usually do. Who's hurt by that? Isn't this place like what they say about Vegas? You know, what happens here..."

There was complete silence for a couple of minutes as all five of them pondered. Julia spoke next, asking "Ray, can you do these things?"

He just shook his head slowly. "I don't know. When I see her, I'm afraid..."

Julia let out a huge sigh. "Ray, I am convinced that the scenario I have laid out is what is necessary to complete all of the work we have done to heal your family. I honestly believe that if Janice can establish even a little of the control that she is used to, we will have lost the battle. I am not used to failure.

"Now, Norma is one of my original and most trusted employees. I am putting her in charge. I do not have the time, and it would be better for my dealings with you if I was out of this. Norma, because you are married, I want you to just supervise. Muriel and Missy, you are to take turns playing Janice's part. Naturally, any sexual activity will be simulated only."

"But, Julia," Muriel started to object.

"Yes, Muriel, I know that you consider yourself committed to Clark. I will not ask you to do anything that would constitute unfaithfulness to him, but Ray desperately needs strengthening."

To Ray, Julia said "Please understand that I am not trying to in any way humiliate you or punish you. Quite honestly, it is sad that you do not have the confidence to do what is needed with your own wife. Perhaps a few weeks are not enough to change that, but I am certainly going to try.

"As you have seen, here at the Tee we are very discreet and respectful about genitals and about sex. For the next while, it this little group, that policy is suspended.

"Now, Ray, to practice properly, you are going to have to be hard in front of these women - a lot." Somehow, Ray had been expecting that, but hearing it hit him very hard. Surprisingly, his main reaction was not shock or anger, but sadness.

"It's pretty lame for a husband and father to be too modest to confront his wife like that, isn't it?" he lamented. "I suppose you mean right now, huh?"

"Yes, Ray. I'm afraid that's what I mean. If you cannot get yourself hard, Missy is the only one I want to help you, not Muriel or Norma. As soon as I leave, stand up and start the little drama we described, with Muriel acting as Janice the first time. You are to greet her when she comes through that door, just like you will greet your wife at your reunion."

Calling Missy to her, Julia moved toward the door so only Missy could hear her. "It would be far better if you never touched Ray's cock," Julia explained. "It does not strengthen the dominant attitude we are trying to build. If you need to, tell him about the things you have done with Ted. Be specific and go into detail. Talk about the meetings with your parents. If all else fails, masturbate in front of him."

"Wow! Can I describe some of the other women?"

"He's met a number of them, you know, so yes. Just don't attach any names."

As Julia walked out the door, she was very disturbed, but resolute. This was the most egregious violation of normal ethics in the Tee's short history. Yet, she saw no alternative. Ray simply had to be strengthened to the point where he could take an alpha role with Janice. Julia was certain that she could have Janice ready to accept and even welcome an alpha Ray. Using Missy was an even riskier move, but the girl was due a reward, and she would definitely consider it a reward.

When Julia had left, all three women looked at Ray who rather shakily stood. Muriel also stood and said "I'll be right behind the door. Norma, just rap when it's time for Janice to enter." She seemed almost as nervous as Ray.

Julia was waiting outside the door to talk to Muriel. "Are you going to be OK, really?"

"Oh, Julia, I can do this. How can I not? Ray's a great guy and I really like him. I understand what you need."

"Good. I knew I could depend on you. I need you to be pretty rough on him. Be crude, too. That will help to keep him hard. When you first walk through the door,...

Actually, no one was as nervous as Ray - no one could possibly be. His life as 'Janice's man' had been comfortable. It had allowed him to focus on his career and not bear any of the strains and tensions of truly heading a family.

Since Ted had left home, Ray had no illusions that the sudden disintegration of his family was anyone's fault but his own. His former comfort and complacency was now exacting a heavy price. Could he actually stand there and let these women - and especially the girl - see him with a hardon?"

Belying her lack of experience at flirting, Missy pressed up against Ray's arm. She linked her fingers with his and pulled the back of his hand against her crotch with its short new growth of hair. "It's gotten past the point where it itches," she said conversationally, "but it's scratchy to the touch, isn't it. You'll be taking care of that."

That was probably a more aggressive move than Julia had in mind, but Missy was so worked up that she was having to hold herself back. "You know, Ted's was the first hardon I saw, the first I ever touched. Julia arranged some chances for us to learn from each other.

"He's a lucky guy. He looks a lot like his dad, and that's a good thing. His penis looks like yours, too. It's just a little smaller, still. I'll bet when yours gets hard it will be an enlarged version of Ted's. I can't wait to see that.

"Ray, you should be proud to show your hardon. I can't understand why Janice wouldn't ask to see it all the time. If I was your wife, I think I wouldn't let you wear clothes around the house. I've heard the term penis envy, and I can sure understand it. Maybe I'm just an over-sexed teenager, but it's just so fascinating to me. Oh, yes! I was right! Like father, like son! OK, now get in the pose like Julia showed you."

When he was in position, Norma rapped on the door and Muriel walked through. She did a good job of acting frightened and unsure. When she turned to look at him, though, she let her shoulders sag and gave a dramatic sigh.

"I'm sorry, Ray, but we've got a lot of work to do. You did not make my pussy drool at all."

"But, I ... I mean how can I... ?"

"Look, Ray," Muriel said gently, walking up to him and putting a hand on his arm, "you have the body to excite any woman. You have the cock to excite any woman. What do you think is missing?"

"I'm just not ... I mean, I don't..."

"Attitude, Ray. Attitude."

"But I'm not an exhibitionist! I don't just show myself, especially, uh..."

"Dammit, Ray! Say the words!"

That set the tone for how the women 'trained' Ray.

-------

[Muriel & Connie] Early November

That very night, after an animated discussion with Julia, Muriel asked Connie to come to her room. In itself, the invitation was not unusual. Connie was right behind Faith as the much-loved daughter that Muriel never had. In deference to the other girls, they kept their shows of affection to their rooms, but Connie was increasingly returning Muriel's affection.

Julia was positively delighted with her decision to employ Muriel as housemother. With Dale living there also, and with their unashamed displays of their love for each other, there could not be a better way to show their residents what parent-child relationships could and should be like.

When Connie got to Muriel's room, she immediately plopped down on the love seat and snuggled under Muriel's waiting arm. Connie could not remember that feeling with her own mother, even from her earliest years, and she was becoming addicted.

They chatted for a few minutes, then, Muriel blew her away. "Have you ever had your pussy hair shaved completely off, Connie?"

"Huh?"

"Your pussy hair - have you ever had it shaved completely off?"

"No way," Connie said quickly. "It was my last little protection against my snooping brothers - and my dad."

"OK. Since your brothers and dad are no longer a threat, would you be willing to try it? There's no one around who will even see it," Muriel said.

"Muriel, something strange is going on here, so just spit it out."

"You're right. I hate to even mention it, but this has to totally confidential. Well, it has to do with your little brother."

"Ted?"

"Who else. First of all, you still don't have any romantic feelings for him, do you?"

"Muriel, I love him. I really do, but just not..."

"You don't have to explain. I was just making sure. Now, has Ted mentioned Missy to you?"

"Missy? No. I've never heard the name."

"Good. That means that our Teddy is doing what he promised," Muriel said. "Well, Honey, I have been authorized to tell you some stuff that we never thought any of Lindsey's kids would know.

"First of all, though, let me just lay it all out. Would you be willing to let Ted's dad, Ray, shave you pussy for practice?"

"HOLY SHIT!" was the only response Connie could come up with. She flushed from bright red to deathly pale a couple of times. She looked at Muriel, then looked away several times. Finally, "This must be a joke, right?"

Muriel then described the plan for the reunion. She recounted the kind of progress Ted's parents had made and why the reunion was considered so critical to their future. When she finished, Connie asked "Where does this Missy fit in?"

An abbreviated version of Missy's story took a few more minutes. "Julia has allowed Missy and Ted to do some sexual experimenting with each other. I would say that they are probably starting to fall in love. That's why I wondered if Ted was still just your little brother."

"I'm OK, there," Connie said firmly. "So, Missy will soon be my 'sister', huh? Can I assume that Ray is practicing on her, too?"

"You can. We tried to think of an older woman that Ray could practice on, but we couldn't come up with anyone. Both you and Missy have a strong interest in seeing Ted's family healed. I know for a fact that you are perpetually horny, and..."

"Muriel! Anyhow, letting him practice on me would only make matters worse."

"Yeah, but it would still be quite an experience. I tell you, if I did not feel that it would be cheating on Clark, I would have already let him practice on me."

"God, Muriel! Do you have any idea how my world has changed since I was brought here?"

"Do you miss your old world? Is all of this nudity and sex stuff too much for you?"

"Hell, no! I'll do it?"

"Wonderful. I thought you would. One thing: I'll have to be there, so I'll see everything you've got."

"You're the one person that I won't mind. Uh, I guess Ray will, too, huh?"

"What do you kids say? For sure?" They giggled together.

"Um, Muriel - Missy. Could we get together?"

"Sure. It would have to be in the center section - the nude section. You know, there's no one in there right now. Knowing Missy, she'll drop anything to meet one of her new sisters. Just so we don't give anything away, keep your clothes on and undress on the other side, OK?

Connie's eyes got wide for a moment, then she grinned from ear to ear.

Muriel was never one to leave well enough alone. After Connie had been with Missy for a while, Muriel called Julia at home. Less than fifteen minutes later, Connie was frightened out of her wits by the door opening and someone coming through. When she saw that it was Dale and a slender girl that she assumed was Faith, she was delighted.

It took another forty-five minutes, but the door opened again. This time, it was Norma, Mark, and Paul. Paul's presence startled Connie at first, but just the impact of Mark and both parents there with her nude was so emotional that she started to cry.

Much later, Connie came scurrying into Muriel's room and threw herself into Muriel's arms. "That was just incredible! I can't believe how nice Missy and Faith are. I should hate Faith because she got your Dale, but I just can't. And they're going to be my sisters! And Mark's parents!"

"Did it make you feel bad seeing how great Norma and Paul were?"

"I did have some of those feelings," Connie admitted, "but then I thought about what an incredible family I have now. And you know what? Someday when I get married, I know just what my family is going to be like."

"Honey," Muriel said, "I want you to be sure to tell Lindsey exactly those words. That's why she is doing this. She wants to break the cycle of dysfunctional families and give good kids a chance at real happiness."

Connie just sobbed out her excess emotions for a while as Muriel held her, then she got up to go to her own room.

"Um, Missy and I, well, we'd like to be together for the shaving. Would that work?" Connie asked as she stood by the door.

"I think that's a great idea. Oh, have you got enough batteries?" Muriel asked.

"I don't think there will ever be enough for tonight," Connie shot back.

"Then, just wait until after the first practice session," Muriel retorted. They separated amid giggles.

-------

[Julia & Frank, Ray] Early November

A seasoned health professional should not indulge in voyeurism, but Julia could not even excuse it as a prudent precaution. It was especially hard to justify when she had Frank in the office with her.

Frank did not question why Julia undressed, other than a slightly raised eyebrow to accompany his grin. "It takes two, you know," she said, looking pointedly at his crotch. "Hurry and get undressed."

She waited until he was naked before she popped up the section of her desk top that hid the monitor attached to the building's comprehensive security system. At first, they could only see Ray, naked and looking extremely nervous.

-------

What Julia and Frank could not see, although it was recorded, was the near pitched battle that Ray had waged with Norma upon learning that he would be practicing naked.

"Realism, Ray," Norma had chided. "You know what we're trying for."

"But ... but Connie! She's ... she'll see ... I'll be ... hard!"

"Congratulations, Ray, you said the word. We're making progress. I really am sorry that you have to go through all of this, but I think you know that Julia is right. There are a lot of problems over a lot of years that have to be corrected. Julia believes that there may be only one time when Janice is properly receptive to a new family order. You don't want to miss that chance, do you?"

"But this isn't right!"

"I know it's not right. It's not right that Ted felt he had to leave home. It's not right that Janice had a breakdown and had to be admitted to either the Tee or a psyche ward. None of that is right, but it all happened. It's not right for you to be waving your hardon in front of two young girls. Actually, it's probably illegal. It's not right for you to be shaving their little teenaged pussies.

"Ray, we've been through this. You know that you have to change the dynamics of your family. You have to sexually dominate as well as all of the other ways. Getting comfortable showing your hardon is something that you need to do to overwhelm Janice when you get together."

"Comfortable?" Ray had grumped with a shake of his head. He had said no more, though, and undressed and entered the section.

-------

Julia and Frank watched Ray fidget for only a few minutes before Missy from one direction and Muriel and Connie from the other direction entered simultaneously. Missy hurried toward where Connie and Muriel were shedding their clothes. When Connie was naked, Missy gave her a hug, then she and Muriel each took one of Connie's hands and led her toward where Ray was waiting. The support was needed because Connie looked like she could barely walk.

"Connie, why did you offer to do this?" Ray asked. That was something none of the women had expected from him.

"Mr. Ralston, I..."

"Please, Connie. Ray is more appropriate, considering," Ray corrected.

"Uh, yeah. Ray. I think you know that I love Ted. He's the good brother I never had. I understand that what you're practicing for is important for your family. As much as I love having Ted as my brother, I want him to have the happy home that I never had. Muriel says that I can really help this way."

"You were with him when he was, uh, preparing for his job, weren't you?"

"Yes, I was. That was tough on him, but I wouldn't let him pass it up," Connie said.

Ray shook his head sadly. "If I had ever had a girl as a friend like you, we might never have gotten into this mess. I'm afraid Janice and I aren't friends like we should be."

"Then, I hope I can help you get to know your wife a lot better," Connie said, unable to hide the quake in her voice.

Ray and the girls were all too nervous to bother with any preliminaries, so Missy went right to the chaise that would be used for the shaving. Ray hardened as soon as she pushed her bottom almost over the edge and spread her legs. He looked at Connie and appeared to have trouble breathing.

Connie showed her strength of character right then. "Ray, when I was with Ted at Barbara's house, he was hard almost the whole first week. I could look at a hardon forever. Ted is lucky. He looks a lot like you. I'll bet he's going to grow some great muscles like yours and I'll bet his cock will get bigger, too."

"Oh, God, I don't think I could stand it if he got any sexier," Missy said from her back." Ray took a couple of deep breaths and decided that he was not going to die from one more teen girl staring at his hardon.

In the office, Frank hardened about when Ray did, aided by Julia's hand. Leaning over her desk so they could both see the screen, Julia wiggled her ass at her husband, and that was all of the invitation he needed.

A number of other times, he had entered her and they had just stayed joined for a long time while they watched something else happening. They moved just enough to ensure his continued arousal as they watched the fascinating scenes in the center section.

Missy's shave took quite a while. She showed not a bit of embarrassment and she never stopped giving him instructions. Her previous experience with shaving was evident. Even so, she was definitely very aroused when Ray finally finished.

When the final razor strokes were done, Ray told Missy to put the lotion on herself. As she rubbed, she looked pleadingly at Muriel for permission to get herself off. Muriel bent over and whispered "Later. I promise."

Connie was a whole different story. She stumbled as she laid on the chaise in preparation, just because her legs could not hold her. Even on the monitor, the flush from her face down over her breasts was easy to see.

"She's almost ready to come!" Julia exclaimed. "I hadn't planned on that. This might not be good."

"What could be not good about having an orgasm?" Frank teased with an extra thrust.

"I didn't want it any more sexual than necessary."

"I think the kids' expression 'As if' is the best possible response to that," he chuckled.

The technique they used started with a scissors to trim back the hair as close as could be without a razor. Because of her recent shave by Ted, Missy had not needed that step. Connie withstood that attention with just some moans, a few jerks, and a strong aroma of arousal.

The next step was a hot, wet cloth to soften the hairs and swell the pores. Connie panted as Ray held the rag in place, but she did not lose it. Through the application of shaving cream and the razor strokes up above her slit, she seemed to be in control.

When Ray used his thumb to stretch one outer lip in preparation for shaving it, though, Connie shrieked and went into a big climax. As if they had rehearsed it, both Missy and Muriel were kneeling by her head on opposite sides as soon as she started to shake. They assured her that she should not be ashamed. In fact, Missy told her "You lucky bitch," with a giggle to show that she was teasing.

Seeing Connie go off affected Julia and Frank. She pushed back at him in a well-recognized signal that she wanted more action. He correctly read it as a plea for some good, hard fucking, and a few minutes later, after they had both come, she chided him "Now, you've got to move the desk back where it belongs, you brute!"

"I suppose you have to stay until this little scene is finished," he said, only partly faking his irritation.

"Yes, I do. But how about we just use one of the center rooms tonight. We can take a hot tub and have the place all to ourselves."

"That's the best idea I've heard all day," he agreed.

Julia and Frank's plans were delayed. As Ray, Muriel, and Connie left the center section, Missy stayed behind and waited by the door to Lindsey's. A few minutes later, Ted came through the door. As he stared at Missy's freshly shaved crotch, she almost tore his clothes off, then dragged him toward the hot tub.

"They won't foul it up too much for us to use, will they?" Frank quipped.

"Great filters," Julia answered. "Tell you what, Hon: I'm hungry. Let's go in and rustle up a snack."

"I could go for that," he answered, reaching for his shorts.

"Huh, uh," Julia objected. "You're staff, but the ladies haven't had a look at yours for quite a while, now. We go as we are."

Muriel had hurriedly made up a story for Missy to give to Ted about her fresh shave. He wished he had been the one to do it, but he bought the story and never found out what Ray had been going through.

-------

[Caz] Mid-November

'Not with a bang, but with a whimper' was a phrase that Caz had heard many times, and suddenly, he knew exactly what it meant. Within three weeks of Marty sending out the packets, the revenge that had been the driving force of his life had been realized.

It did not have the severity of punishment nor the finality that he had always envisioned, but he was all right with that. During the end game, he had found three people that he genuinely cared about, including a young man the he would like to have had as a son. He had found an extraordinary organization in Transformations, one that he could whole-heartedly support. Given his newfound desire to protect the Matthews family and the Tee, he was satisfied with the final settlement.

Caz's problem was that with his main motivation removed, he felt rather empty and more than a little disoriented. He had long ago reached the level in his MLM company where he no longer had to do anything to receive his huge checks. Given his personality, though, he continued to speak frequently and served on a board of key distributors that helped the company shape policy. After the settlement, he actually sought some additional appearances, just for something to fill his time.

Returning home from a major rally, Caz was barely in the door of his home when he turned around and headed for Lindsey's Place. He had not called ahead, but it was the evening of a school night, so he expected that Cy would be there. His only exposure to Transformations had been the short meeting with the Matthews family in Julia's office. He understood that the layout of Lindsey's place was the same, since it had once been the men's section, and he was interested to see how the kids lived.

Lindsey's presented an interesting dilemma for security. Unlike the Tee, it was supposed to be a free, open, home-like environment. Kids and their friends were to have easy access, just like in a normal house. However, there was a proven threat from irate parents or their agents. For the good of the kids, some level of entrance control had to be maintained.

In keeping with the philosophy of giving the residents maximum control, management gave the problem to the kids, once there were four residents. The solution was elegant. A little remodeling was done to put a very nice study area near the entrance. Whenever possible, one of the kids would be there and would act as a receptionist, if needed. If no one could be up front, the inside entrance door was locked and an intercom was used to gain admittance.

It was not ideal, but everyone understood the limitations. The kids all assured management that it did not make them feel like inmates at all. Most of them actually valued the extra protection, given their family histories.

When Caz arrived, two girls and Cy were studying up front. Upon seeing Caz, Cy jumped up and greeted him enthusiastically. One of the girls joined Cy, and she was soon introduced as his girlfriend Leah.

"Can you two take a break to give me a tour?" Caz asked. "Maybe we could go out for a snack afterward - unless you have too much studying."

"I'm OK on studying," Cy said. "How about you, Leah?" After her agreement, Cy said "I think we're learning just as much, but there's a lot less homework than at the church school."

Cy let Leah be the tour guide and she seemed to enjoy it. Caz did not consider himself an expert at reading women, but it seemed to him that she was head over heels for Cy. The two seemed very comfortable together.

After the tour, at a diner, Cy told Caz "I have a bit of a problem. I don't really fit the reason for being at Lindsey's any more. The bad home that I escaped doesn't even exist, now. On the other hand, with Mom at the Tee, there is no other home for me."

"From what I know of you, Cy, you must have a plan of some kind."

"Not really, but there are some possibilities. Julia wants me to come on staff at the Tee. Mom really misses me and Julia is afraid that not having me around is slowing Mom's progress."

"So work at the Tee and stay at Lindsey's," Caz suggested.

"Yeah, I could do that, but Julia pointed out another problem. Working there with all those naked women would be one other thing that would separate me from the guys at Lindsey's." Ted was in the same situation, but it was understood that he would not be there for very long.

"Wow! I guess that would, all right," Caz agreed.

"Besides that, I would really miss being with Leah all the time," Cy admitted. Leah moved even closer to him, if that was possible.

"I take it you two are in love?"

Cy and Leah looked at each other. Neither had mouthed the words, as yet. "I know I hate being away from her," Cy said. "We share a lot of things - faith, morals, and bad experiences."

"I'm absolutely the last person in the world to give romantic advice," Caz said with an unmistakable edge of bitterness. "I will tell you this: I never found what you two seem to have, and I regret it. DO NOT lose what you have together. It's too rare and precious."

"Maybe you can still find it," Leah said softly.

"I don't know about that. Guess I was never even ready to look, before. With Matthews taken care of, maybe..."

"There's something else happening," Leah said. "Lindsey spends a lot of time with us kids. After she left home, she made a deal with her parents to come back under a set of rules. It didn't work out for her because of that kidnapping mess. She tells us that we should try it, though. If we don't give it an honest try, we might always carry some guilt."

"Are you going to do it?" Caz asked.

Leah gave out a big sigh. "I guess with what happened to Reverend Matthews, they might be as ready as they'll ever be."

"Her father is one of the elders who got the packet," Cy explained.

"Lindsey said one of her mistakes was not having a written agreement witnessed by someone in authority. I'll sure do that before I go back. If I do it, we'll still be at the same school, at least. I'll never go back to that church school."

"I appreciate you two telling me all of these things. I wish there was something I could do to help, but I'm not even a good source of advice."

"Having trouble adjusting to no more bad guy?" Cy asked. "Ooops. That was out of line."

"No, that is exactly my problem."

"Look, you seem impressed with the Tee and with Lindsey's. Why don't you see if there is something you can do for them?" Cy suggested.

"I just might."

-------

[Leah] Mid November

Phyllis Hayes fairly stalked into Lindsey's, with Norman seeming reluctant at her side. Leah was not among those studying by the reception area at the moment, but Cy was.

"Mr. and Mrs. Hayes, welcome," Cy said, having to grit his teeth to do it. "Leah should be back in a minute, then she can show you around." Norman managed to thank Cy, but Phyllis just glared.

Leah and Cy had talked long and hard about whether she would escort her parents alone or if Cy would be with her. He was the one urging her to go it alone. She needed to act like she was in a position of strength and no longer their slave. He knew whereof he spoke, regretting that he had never been able to confront his grandfather from that position of strength.

She had agreed, finally, and did her best to look relaxed and confident as she greeted her parents. What the Hayeses saw on the little tour was casually orchestrated. While they were there, the other kids made sure that Leah's parents saw some kids playing pool, some playing a computer game, and at least one girl in a very brief bikini. Given the restricted lives all of them had come from, it was not that easy to loosen up and put on a show, but it had been done for some other visiting parents already.

In her own room, Leah had her parents sit on the love seat while she faced them on the bed. Trying not to give them any entry just yet, she prattled on about what her days were like, her classes in school, the great food, anything she could think of.

"Are you involved with Reverend Matthews' grandson?" Phyllis demanded, unable to wait any longer.

"Reverend Matthews' son, you mean?"

"You can't possibly believe that nonsense!" Phyllis shouted.

"I have met all of the people involved and I have seen all of the evidence. Reverend Matthews is a rapist and an extortionist. There is not a single doubt. Why do you think he left so quickly and quietly? Cy has told me everything."

"Cy?"

"That is the name he prefers. Only his father called him William."

"You didn't answer my question!"

"We are very fond of each other. I think we are falling in love, but we are being very careful not to rush things," Leah said. She and Cy had carefully rehearsed her answers to expected questions. Julia had even counseled her on the tone of her responses and her body language.

"I suppose you are going to tell me you have done nothing sinful! I find that impossible to believe, living like ... like ... THIS!"

"Perhaps you could not have done it. I must be stronger than you because that is exactly what I am telling you," Leah said very calmly. That provoked a tirade that lasted for minutes.

"When are you coming back home?" Phyllis asked in a sudden change of mood.

"This is my home, now. I don't see any reason to change that," Leah answered in that same soft but firm voice that seemed to enrage her mother. It had been decided that she would not even mention a possible deal until at least the third visit. If there was no third visit, the issue would be settled.

By the time they left, the 'thank you' to Cy was all that Norman had said.

-------

[Cy] Mid November

"I think it would help a lot if you two could spend some time with Cy, just giving him your perspective on this place and the job." Julia was talking to Mark and Eric, the two male employees closest to Cy's age. Terry Torvold had reluctantly had to drop back to emergency backup status after football started. "Dale and Andy are quite a bit older, and I think your advice will mean more to him."

Julia had been through a lot of debate, both with herself and with the management team, about what to do with Cy. Rachel had become everyone's sweetheart. That was just the effect she had on people. Everyone agreed that she had some serious problems and everyone agreed that separation from her son was hampering her progress. Everyone agreed that Cy could be an effective employee even without the usual training and conditioning. Seeing how well Ted was doing after his compressed orientation strengthened the argument for Cy. The exceptional strength of character he had showed during the end game with Reverend Matthews counted for a lot, also.

There, the general agreement ended. However, no one was about to be offended or antagonistic about whatever decision Julia made, so it was up to her. As she had told the group repeatedly, Cy was still a patient, no matter how mature and strong he seemed. He was in the first good home situation of his life, and he had found his first love. Julia felt they owed it to him not to disrupt those positive factors.

For all of the hard work, long hours, controversy, and legal battles that she had endured with Transformations, one thing always brought Julia a warm glow. She was surrounded by young love at its very finest. Lindsey and Mark, Trish and Terry, Andi and Andy, and more recently Faith and Dale. Leah and Cy were destined to follow that same path, she was sure of it.

One problem she saw was the same that had threatened Lindsey and Mark early on. If Cy worked at the Tee, he would have experiences that Leah could not share completely. She would have to find a way to correct that, probably by making Leah an employee at some point, as well. The girl was nowhere near ready yet, though.

It appeared that there was no chance that Leah would be moving back to her parents' home. Even Lindsey had not suggested that Leah compromise on what she needed in a 'deal'. Julia was determined to let Cy continue living at Lindsey's, regardless of the differences between himself and the others. Hating to have the boy lie, she nevertheless instructed him not to reveal what his actual job was. In particular, he was not to let on that he worked with the naked women. That would be too much of a wedge with the other boys. Ted worked under the same restriction.

-------

Cy thought he was ready, but no amount of advice from Mark and Eric could really prepare him. His first appearance was at 5:00 in the morning on a school day. The theory was that the fewest women would be up and around and he could be introduced and get acclimated more slowly. Of course, Rachel was up long before then, waiting impatiently. Naomi, as always, stayed right with her daughter.

Cy had been meeting with the women in the office, and lately, they had been naked, so he was rather used to their bare bodies. He was glad there was no one else present when Rachel almost tackled him in her joy, modesty and proprietary totally ignored.

The two women were with him as he met Carol, who had early kitchen duty that morning. He almost was not surprised to see Mary Hall come in, naked. She told him that she wanted to help him get used to the bodies as quickly as possible. Norma Ventri was a surprise, but as usual, her positive, upbeat personality and total comfort with her body helped him a lot.

By the time Cy left to go to school at seven, five other women, including Missy, had appeared. There was no doubt that it had been a shock, but he was already picking up some of the unique spirit and attitude of the place and its residents.

Missy made sure to get a few moments with Cy when no one else could hear them. "I know about you and Leah, and I wouldn't think of doing to hurt that. Make sure Leah understands that, and tell her I look forward to being her sister in a few weeks. I know someday I'm going to meet a great guy that isn't already taken. Got that, Brother?"

For three more mornings, the early two hours were Cy's only scheduled time. He filled them with the kind of housekeeping tasks that newcomers always get. Rachel was right at his side every minute he was there.

Julia next slotted Cy from nine until eleven at night. He did the same kind of tasks, but he was instructed to strip and use the pool or hot tub and the showers along with whatever women were present. Predictably, the first night it was Rachel, Naomi, Mary, and Norma, along with Mark and Eric. The next night, Lindsey joined them, and that almost blew him away.

As the group sat in the hot tub, Lindsey explained how she had come to accept that baring herself to people that she cared about and respected no longer bothered her. It had become very natural.

"Not sure I'll ever get to that point," Cy remarked.

Over the space of three weeks, Cy was at the Tee at all different times and had met all of the female residents and the staff. Julia's primary goal was to have Cy there for Rachel, regularly and frequently, not to give him a job. Her judgment that Cy could handle the job was correct, though.

It seemed that all of the women fell quickly in love with all of the younger guys, and Cy was no exception. He listened avidly to their stories and told as much of his own as he could, given the secrecy requirements. He learned massage quickly and well. Having never worked out before coming to Lindsey's, exercising together was a wonderful way to spend time with Rachel and Naomi.

Naomi never completely got over the fact of being naked with her own grandson. It did not affect the way she acted, but a kernel of guilt was always there. Rachel, however, seemed oblivious to anything except Cy's presence. Julia mentioned in amazement that she was not sure that Rachel would have realized that she was naked if asked.

The relatively few hours that Cy spent with the women proved to be very important to Rachel's treatment, just as Julia had hoped. Julia measured Rachel's progress in terms of the percentage of her time that she seemed firmly connected to reality. Even with her disregard for her nudity, Rachel's time with Cy definitely counted as 'connected' time, Anticipation of his arrival and the glow after his departure lengthened her aware time.

-------

[Leah & Cy] Late November

When Cy had been working at the Tee for a few weeks and was scheduled for the 5:00 am time again, he was awakened one morning at 3:30 by Leah kissing him softly. Laying her head briefly on his chest, she told him "With all those pretty girls you see naked all the time, I don't want you to forget what I look like. We're going skinny-dipping. Come on."

In the pool, Cy asked "Does it bother you a lot knowing I'm over there with the women?"

"A lot? Well, I have to admit that it bothers me."

"Julia is thinking about getting you to work over there some, just for that reason. She is really concerned about the job causing problems between family members or ... or..."

"You were going to say 'lovers', weren't you," she teased. "You know, if we do this often, we're liable to get caught," she warned, transparently changing the subject.

"Does that mean you want to do it often?" he teased.

She was dead serious when she wrapped her arms around him and laid her head against his chest. "Only all the time," she whispered.

The couple had been scrupulously avoiding the 'L' word since they met. Cy was sure that she was in love with him and he no longer had any doubts about his own feelings. It had to be said, he had to say it first, and that was the perfect time.

"Leah, I love you. I think I have since the first time I saw you blush."

Her arms, which had been around his chest, were quickly around his neck, pulling his face down to hers. "I love you, too, Cy. I guess you knew that, huh?" Then she kissed him with extreme feeling.

His time at the Tee had increased Cy's control over erections quite a bit, but this was too much. He had been holding his lower torso back from her to avoid touching her with his hardon. She did not like that idea at all. Dropping one hand down to his ass, she pulled their bodies together, his hardon standing up between them.

"Honey, I've been talking to Lindsey quite a bit. She knows how I was brought up and some of the things I was taught. I'm ready to promise you that my body will be only yours forever. If you're ready to say that to me, I think we should start to enjoy our bodies together. I'm not ready to, um, go all the way, but there are lots of other things that feel good. Are you ready to do that?"

What happened to his shy little girlfriend? It was Cy's first lesson in the female ownership of the domain of sex. "I think from now on it should be my job to keep you from getting hardons with the women over there. I don't want you doing it yourself any more."

As she said that, Leah had backed him up the few feet to the edge of the pool. Almost in a trance, he followed her instructions to sit up on the edge. With shaky hands, she grasped his cock and began fondling and stroking it. All she knew about technique was a few things she had blushingly asked Lindsey about. Cy was not aware of her technique or lack of it. The only sensation that registered at all for him was the love and the wonder that came right through her fingers.

The stimulation of the whole scene was unprecedented and he erupted almost before he could warn her. "It's still hard!" was all she could say as he sat panting after the sudden, violent blast.

"Lot of times," he gasped out, "have to do it twice."

She started stroking him again, a little too vigorously. He was very tender, but he did not have the heart to say anything about it. Mentally, he gritted his teeth until it started feeling better. After a few minutes, she began exploring his testicles, and he could not imagine how anything could feel better than that.

He had thought that first come was the best of his life, but when he came again after several minutes of her ministrations, his vision blurred for a few moments. He was too wiped out to even hug her.

When he had caught his breath, they still had said nothing until he told her "Show me how to do you. I don't have a clue."

"You don't have to," she said quickly.

"It's not a matter of 'have to'," he said. "Did you enjoy doing that for me?"

"Oh, wow!"

"Then don't deny me the same chance."

Not really wanting to argue, anyway, she pulled him down to stand in the pool. Turning her back to him, she brought one of his hands up to the opposite breast and the other down to her crotch. Taking his middle finger, she guided it down to where her clitoris was contemplating making an appearance. "Rub the little bump, gently at first. Play with my nipple." That was all she could say as he began following instructions.

Her arousal was at least as great as his had been. Although he was just as inept as she was, her clit was large enough that he did not lose it. Before long, she hissed '"Rub harder! Faster!" and came in the next breath. The feel of her body tensing, jerking, and trembling in his arms and the way she murmured "Cy! Cy! Cy! Cy!" over and over had him hooked for life.

"Cy, Dr. Waxman doesn't have to worry about getting me to work over there," Leah said several minutes later as they pressed together on the deck with one big towel wrapped around them. "I'm not jealous and it doesn't worry me that you see all those women's bodies. I know why she wants you over there. We'll be fine."

Rachel was the only woman in the place that early morning who did not notice the special glow emanating from Cy as he walked in.



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Chapter 21


[Janice & Ted] Late November

Julia gave it a few weeks before trying what she hoped would be the deciding move. It was a Saturday, and Janice usually exercised late morning, then got her massage. That morning, with her usual pro forma show of reluctance, Janice got on the table and Mark started working on her shoulders. For whatever reason, she always turned her face away from whoever was working her, so it was relatively easy for Ted to slide in and take Mark's place.

The first concern was that she would notice the switch right away. It was inevitable that she would notice the different touch, and as Julia pointed out, the unavoidable difference in smell. Ted had been practicing hard on some deep techniques designed to put her into a drowsy state. The whole plan rested on her not bolting from the table when she found out it was Ted.

On Julia's advice, Ted had worn a jock strap and Missy had done her thing to him beforehand. Even though his feelings toward his mother were still a bit negative, Julia believed that the intimate contact of the massage would change that. The other guys had remarked that Janice had a body that they found very pleasurable to stroke and knead, and Julia was depending on that to change Ted's feelings.

Triggering incest was certainly not the goal, but making Janice feel like she was in the hands of a man, Ted, was the intention. Every one of the other residents could see that her attitude was finally changing, but Julia had learned that Janice required significant 'nudges' to move her from step to step.

Ted had been practicing on the more than willing Missy. They had gone over possible moves in response to a number of different reactions from Janice. Of course, the finishes of his sessions with Missy, done in the center section, included things that would never happen with Janice. However, Julia believed that it was necessary to make Ted's massage of his mother as erotic and arousing as was reasonable. Her realizing that Ted could affect a woman - her - that way should destroy any last images of him as her little boy.

Julia was in the Tee that morning, and she moved close enough so she could do some coaching. She watched carefully until she could see Janice in a very relaxed state. She nodded to Ted and made a kissing expression.

Keeping his hands going, Ted placed three small kisses on his mother's shoulders, then one right below her ear. Holding his mouth close to her ear, he whispered. "The guys all told me that your body felt wonderful to stroke, Mom, so I had to try it." With that, he placed his cheek against hers, preventing her from raising her head.

"Don't be alarmed, Mom. I really appreciate this chance. Do you realize how much more sexy you have gotten with all of the workouts? I guess I was so upset and angry before that I never let myself notice how beautiful you are."

He did not say any more, just kept up the massage. When Julia sensed that any threat of her bolting from the table had passed, she signaled for Ted to work her feet and legs. This was significant because Janice had not allowed any of the other guys to work below her waist.

Julia was depending on one other thing that she believed she had detected. She was quite sure that Janice had a submissive streak that she had always worked very hard to hide.

Janice was almost too relaxed to realize that suddenly one foot was up in the air and Ted was doing wonderful things to it. Lying on her stomach with her knee bent, it gave him a better chance to work the foot, ankle, and calf. As he kneaded the calf muscles, working toward the knee, she reflexively squeezed her legs together to keep her labia hidden, but that was not a problem.

Ted let her legs down as he worked the backs of her thighs, and he could hear her breath quickening as he stroked upwards. He was approaching the critical part of the plan. Julia had assumed that Janice would become aroused. The key to success was to keep her in place, giving in to the feelings, rather than jumping from the table to escape them.

Watching carefully, Julia gave Ted another signal that he had been waiting for. He placed one hand possessively on his mother's ass cheek while squeezing and stroking firmly on the opposite thigh. Janice gasped, but Ted's words kept her in place. "You really have some tightness in your hamstrings, Mom. I'll get it out for you."

Janice's breathing became more erratic as he switched hands back and forth a few times. At still another signal, he placed a hand on each buttock and began kneading firmly. That produced the loudest gasp yet, but when the unmistakable odor of excitement arose, Ted grinned at Julia, and it appeared that the plan would succeed.

The most difficult part of the plan was knowing when to stop. There were several escalations that had been planned out, and Julia began signaling for them. He began moving his hands in long, firm strokes over her back and her bottom, squeezing and moving handfuls of flesh and openly 'playing' with her body. He moved his hands around her sides toward her front, and made several passes that touched the very beginnings of her breasts.

As Ted's hands progressed upward on one pass, Janice almost imperceptibly raised her upper torso. Julia saw that sign of acceptance and anticipation and pumped her fist in a sign of triumph. Janice was eagerly yielding to Ted's control. That would destroy any last feelings of babying or smothering the boy.

As much as Janice probably wanted it right then, Ted was not about to touch her breasts or any other erogenous area. Despite the obvious arousal and desire on her part, allowing her to walk away just having enjoyed her best massage ever would preserve her dignity and her sense of propriety.

There was one more escalation planned, however. He began moving in long, firm, possessive strokes from her knees, up her thighs, and over her ass cheeks. Then he would reverse direction. As he stroked, he carefully positioned his thumbs just over the slope of her flesh into her crack.

On his fourth pass upward, when his thumbs made their nearest approach to her labia, the best possible thing happened - she had a small orgasm. Ted saw it and looked at Julia in a bit of alarm. She shook her head vigorously and he understood. He was not to let on that he noticed. It was marvelous that it had happened, but it would be best if only she knew it. Her perception of her son had changed, and that was what was needed. She was a proud woman, though, and there was no reason to damage that pride, just redirect it. It was best to let her little climax be her secret.

Julia tossed Ted an extra large towel, which he laid over Janice. He kissed her cheek and told her "I love you, Mom. Thank you for the privilege of massaging your beautiful body. I hope it made you feel good. Why don't you just nap here for a while."

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[Janice & Julia] Late November

Pretending that she had just arrived, Julia walked up to Janice just as she was stirring after her nap on the massage table. "Janice, did you overdo your exercises this morning?"

Janice looked at Julia blankly, then blushed unmistakably. Hauling herself to a sitting position, she answered Julia "No. The massage ... just ... so relaxing."

"Oh? Who did it for you?"

"T ... Ted." One of the biggest signs of progress that Julia saw was that Janice no longer tried to hide anything when talking to Julia. Janice was naturally a very expressive person, a born communicator. In fact, Julia could see that without her one 'kink', she was a very likable woman. She hoped that Ray would appreciate the prize they would be sending back to him.

Julia jumped up to sit on the table beside Janice and swung her legs gently. "So, Ted put you to sleep, huh? I'll have to have him do me. He must be pretty good. Did you get that limp just from him doing your back?"

Janice looked over at Julia and blushed. "Your legs?" Julia asked to a blushing nod. "Your bottom?" Another nod. "Oh, that must have been a wonderful experience for your son to make you feel so good! What did his hands say, Janice?"

Janice was not puzzled at all. She knew exactly what Julia meant. "Love." she replied, then was silent for several seconds.

"Love, huh? You mean like when he hugged you around the neck as a little boy? You mean like when he pressed his hands on your breast when he nursed as a baby?"

Julia was taking a chance on being too heavy-handed in her probing, but Janice seemed to be completely forthcoming. She shook her head and said, "No. Not like that. It was, uh, like a lover. And he kissed. And he said it. Julia, I ... I..."

"Did something else happen, Janice?"

"You could never tell anyone, right?"

"Of course not. What happened?"

"I'm ashamed, but I have to tell someone," Janice almost whispered.

"What could you possibly be ashamed of?"

"I had a little ... a little orgasm!"

"And why would that make you ashamed, Janice? Are you afraid that getting an orgasm from your little boy rubbing your back would make you a pedophile?"

"Little boy? No, Julia. I'm ashamed because he turned into a man, just like you said. I didn't want it to happen, and I missed something good and important." That unleashed a flood of tears, and Julia put an arm around her and said nothing.

Sometimes it was best not to wait to get in the office to talk about momentous things. This seemed like one of those time. "Janice, we're ready to talk about you going home, now, but you're not quite ready yet. I want you to tell me what you think you still need to do."

"I ... I need to apologize to Ted. I was so wrong."

"And..."

"All the women here. I guess I've been pretty awful to them."

"I'm afraid you're right about that," Julia agreed, hugging Janice to soften the criticism. "Anyone else?"

"I, uh, was really bitchy to those girls over where Ted lives."

"Do you want a chance to apologize to them?"

"Yes, I'd like that."

"Janice, there is still one person."

"I know. Ray. I took it all out on him."

"Have you called him?"

"No, I ... I was afraid to."

"Afraid? Really? But you've never been afraid to say anything to Ray, have you?"

"I think I did kind of what I did to Ted."

"Yes, I think you did. And Ray was remiss in letting you do it to him. He knows that, now."

"Is he angry? Does he hate me?"

Without answering Janice's question, Julia stood up and held out her hand to Janice. "Let me walk you to your room." They walked without speaking for the short distance and the other residents gave them a wide berth.

In the room Julia asked "Janice, are you sure that you have changed your opinion about Teddy?" Julia had used the name intentionally.

"It's Ted," Janice corrected quickly. "He doesn't like Teddy. That's a child's name."

"But do you think he's a young man, now, when you didn't before?"

"Julia! He made me come! No little boy could do that."

"I know women who have little orgasms from babies sucking their nipples," Julia pointed out, playing the devil's advocate.

"He wasn't touching my nipples, he was just giving me a massage, and it felt so good it was just too much and..." Janice babbled.

"So, just like that, all of a sudden he became a man, huh?" Julia baited.

Janice stared back for quite a while before her shoulders sagged. "You're right, Julia. In my mind, I've know for a long time that he was grown up. I thought that since I was so much in control, I could just keep my little boy for as long as I wanted."

"Delusions of grandeur, huh?"

"I drove him away!" Janice wailed.

"Yes, but on the table, he told you he loved you, didn't he?"

"I ... I don't know how he can," Janice sobbed. "He must have been so miserable!"

"Janice, that's all in the past now. Transformations is all about starting over. You can do that."

"But, Ray!"

Julia answered "I want you to stay right here in your room until I come for you. Oh, why don't you fix up your hair and your face. It could be an hour before I get back to you."

It was about forty minutes later when Julia came to Janice's room and just said "Come with me." Janice did not even notice that they passed no one as they crossed the main area and headed toward the row of doors.

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[Janice & Ray] Late November

Janice was a little puzzled why Julia just took her to the door to the center section and let her in without even looking in herself. The moment she turned to look where she was going, Janice understood. Barely ten feet away stood her husband, Ray.

He looked amazing! Standing facing her with his feet slightly spread, he had his hands on his hips. Eventually, she would notice that his arms, shoulders, and chest looked bigger and more defined. She would notice the hint of ripples across his stomach. She would notice the nice, even, all-over tan.

It would take several seconds for her to notice any of those things, though, because all she could see when she first looked at him was his cock. It was rigid and quivering, standing above the horizontal.

When she could pull her eyes from his cock to see all of the other changes, his brazen display of his manhood still gave her the biggest shock and caused the biggest disturbance in her crotch. Ray had never, ever flaunted himself in that way. She would never have allowed it.

As Ray watched his wife come hesitantly through the door into the nude section, he recognized just how much all of the practice had helped him. It had been amazingly easy to get himself hard in anticipation of Janice's arrival. Or course, Missy had raved about how good Janice looked after her enforced exercise regimen, the healthy food, and the tanning beds. He had always responded to her body, and just the anticipation of seeing her naked was almost enough to do the job. Although not prudish, she had definitely been modest about her exposure.

Over and over the women had drilled into him 'You are the boss! You are the one in control! Make her yours in a new way!' Over the course of the two months of separation, his self-confidence around women had multiplied. The only test remaining was to apply it to his wife, to whom he had admittedly always been the weaker partner.

A huge factor in Ray's favor was that he very much wanted things to be different. He wanted his peaceful, comfortable family back, but only with himself in control. He had been ashamed as he had counseled Ted to take advantage of the chances offered to him. He had been horrified to see Janice melt down on the night that she was admitted.

He managed to keep the carefully coached arrogant look on his face as Janice gaped at his throbbing erection, then swept her eyes over the rest of his body. When her head dropped slightly to look at him from hooded eyes, he was chagrined to realize that he had never before seen that look of submission and desire from her, even in their early days. Only the constant coaching kept him to the plan.

When he held his arms wide in obvious invitation, she literally sprinted to him, tears flying and sobs interrupting her breath. As her arms reached for his neck, he did something else for the first time. Getting a firm hold on each ass cheek, he lifted her up enough so their mouths could meet in a torrid kiss. At first she was startled into immobility, but that lasted only a second or two. She quickly locked her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist...

At the first chance to break their lip lock, he put his mouth right by her ear and spoke softly. "I love you, my wife, and I am so glad to have you back."

She began kissing him erratically and babbling about how she had been so afraid that he would hate her, how she was so sorry for the terrible way that she had treated him and Ted, and how much she loved him.

Ray let her vocalizations run down, but then, she started squirming around, quite obviously trying to get him to enter her. "Janice, there is something I must do," he told her. He set her down on the floor and pulled her toward a chaise. He sat down and told her "Lay across my lap, please, Janice."

As had been predicted, she just looked at him in surprise and with a touch of anger, knowing exactly what he intended to do. When she did not move, he told her "Janice, I have to do this or things will never be right between us."

That was purposely over-dramatic, but it worked. She was so desperate for reconciliation that she was ready to accept almost anything from him. Lip quivering and fresh tears leaking, she gave in and laid across his lap, having to push his cock outward to keep it from poking her in the tummy.

Missy had insisted that he practice spanking on her, and she had suffered it three times. Norma had insisted that Ray don shorts for that practice, but it had not hindered the learning. The strength of his blows and the number of strokes had all been worked out, and he followed the plan exactly.

It worked perfectly. Just as he was delivering the last strokes, she broke into a loud wail.

Finishing the last stroke, he quickly lifted her over onto the chaise and pulled her up onto her hands and knees. While she was still confused and hurting, he put his hand between her legs and found that, as the women had assured him, she was lubricating quite heavily.

The next part was tricky. They had never had intercourse in the 'doggy' position, and there was no way for him to practice it. Nor could he expect any help from her - at least that was what they had all thought. In reality, as soon as he touched her pussy, she shot a hand back there, frantically grabbing for his cock to guide it in. All of the super embarrassing discussions with the women about how to get into her in that position had been for naught. However, the exquisite sensations after such a long dry spell left no thought for regret.

Even given their inexperience, he was fully inside her in a very short time. She started to squeal as soon as he passed her opening, and he had to remind himself how critical it was for him to be in control. When it started, she was doing the fucking.

Taking a firm hold on her hips, he declared dominance by simply'out-pounding' her. Both had been deprived for many weeks in a highly-charged environment. In addition, they both realized what had been lacking in their previous sexual life and had visions of what could be in the future. That their coupling was off the intensity scale should not have been a surprise.

Norma had counseled him to keep himself relieved so he could perform well when he and Janice finally got together. Since their reunion had been anticipated, he had jerked off not long before they met. It had not stopped him from getting and maintaining his erection, but he was in no danger of premature release.

Janice had chosen not to relieve her sexual tension, denying its presence for most of her stay at the Tee. When Ray overtrumped her own frantic motions, the accumulated tension would not be denied. As a harbinger of just how different at least the sexual part of their marriage would become, she came without any manual stimulation of her clitoris for the first time ever.

Ray was able to fight off his own finish when she clenched and rippled around him, and he just kept pounding. She was unsteady and he had to hold her up, but he maintained the rhythm for several more minutes until she reached a major climax. Sensing that she was done for a while, he let himself spend.

He was wiped, but she was barely conscious. This situation had been discussed, and he marshaled enough strength to lift her and carry her the twenty feet or so to the hot tub.

In the tub, he sat on the lowest level and held her in his lap, crosswise. As she regained awareness, she found herself being cuddled like a child and she was surprised at how much she liked it. First the spanking, then being fucked senseless in a very submissive position, and finally lying helpless in her husband's arms; it was all quite disorienting for such a resourceful, in-control wife and mother.

She barely had time to wonder at the new developments and the new feelings when Ray totally blew her away. "Janice, Darling, I'm going to shave off all of your pubic hair, now."

She did not have to fake her shock and her fear. Suddenly she was very, very alert. "Oh, Ray, no! Please don't make me do that! Why do you want to do that?"

"Janice, are you truly sorry for the way you treated Ted? Do you truly want to make a new start and have a much different, much better home life? Are you truly sorry for the way you acted with all of the people in there? Are you truly sorry for how you have always treated me?"

She had just told Julia how sorry she was for all of those things and how she wanted to apologize to everyone she had offended. She could not now deny those things to Ray. But what did that have to do with completely baring her most private place for everyone to see?

"Ray, I truly am sorry for all of those things. I have so much to apologize for. But ... but if you shave off all of my hair, I will be so exposed. Everyone will see everything!"

"Yes, they will, Darling. That will be symbolic. It will show that you are hiding nothing, holding nothing back. It will be a symbol of your sincerity and your commitment to a different life. Janice, My Love, I am requiring that you do this."

She sniffled softly at those words. He was requiring it? He had never required anything of her. She was always the one who required things. Had everything really changed that much? All she had to do was think of where they were and how she had gotten there. All she had to was glance at the hunk who was the husband that had overwhelmed her ever since she came through the door. Yes, things had definitely changed that much. Nothing would be the same, and she had to admit that was a good thing.

Her head bowed slightly and her shoulders slumped a little in a sign of submission. She was terrified of her bare pussy lips being on open display, but she had the strong feeling that she deserved that humiliation. Besides the admission of guilt, though, was an instinctive need to submit to the suddenly impressive creature that she was lucky enough to have married.

The growing feelings of acceptance and contentment were shattered by one realization, and she wailed at Ray "No, Ray! We can't! Ted ... Ted ... he can't see me like that! It's not right!"

"Janice, listen to me. I WILL shave you. When you go back, Ted is the first person who will see you. You will stand and let him look. Then, you will apologize to him. You will hug him and tell him how much you love him."

"Ohhhh! I don't know if I can. I'll die of shame!"

"You will not. You have a beautiful and sexy body. Your naked pussy lips will just make you all the sexier. Your son is now a man. He has shown you his manliness. You will show him your womanliness to celebrate his manhood." That was far more dramatic and poetic than Ray could ever say on his own, but Janice would never guess that the new Ray had not come up with that himself.

"When you have had time with your son, he will escort you to every other person that you need to apologize to. You will proudly take his arm for support. You will show everyone that you now acknowledge and respect the man that he his."

With her lip quivering and her eyes leaking, she just listened without saying anything. He wasted no time leading her from the tub to where the supplies for her shave were located. After doing each of the two girls twice, Ray was by no means an accomplished pussy shaver. He was able to do it smoothly enough, though, so that yet once more Janice was amazed and a little bewildered at what had happened to her world.

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[Janice] Late November

At dinnertime the next day, Janice had already been through an emotional ringer. Her apology and makeup with Ted had been better than she had expected. Of course, he had stared hard at her bare labia, but he had spoken respectfully, almost in awe, about her body. He had assured her that he loved her and that he would forget the past and give her a chance to be a new mother.

As they had talked, she had over and over sought his assurance that he would give her a chance. It wore on him a little, but he could tell that she was genuinely concerned. She could not seem to believe that he would forgive her.

Finally, he found the way to get through to her that everything was alright. "Mom, will you allow me to give you another massage?"

That had been after she got back from Ray, late in the afternoon. When it was time to let everyone see her bare pussy at dinner, Ted had been her rock. She had clung to him almost frantically. As could be expected, all of the residents and staff were respectful, and she was even able to eat.

The rest of the evening and all of the next day were spent one on one with every single person who lived or worked there. Ted was with her every minute, holding her hand. She found that she could not resist pressing her bare breast against his bare arm. When they sat, the urge to pull his hand right between her legs was almost irresistible. Only the reasoned knowledge of how wrong and how destructive that would be kept her from giving in.

The earlier massage had been the turning point when she realized that Ted was a man. The day of tearful apologies and goodbyes just strengthened his new stature in her mind. He was someone from whom she could freely gather strength and support. Only a man could fulfill that role. No child could.

-------

Late in the afternoon, Julia called Janice and Ted to her office, where Ray was waiting. When Julia told Janice what she would have to do that evening, Janice almost fainted, but her men surrounded her, and she had learned how to draw strength from them.

When Janice had recovered from the shock of her evening's challenge, Julia said "You are going home tonight, Janice." That brought a pause for a cascade of happy tears.

"Ted will be living with you again, Janice, but not just yet," Julia went on. "You and Ray have some serious work to do on your marriage. I have three excellent counsellors that I can recommend, and I would encourage you to see one of them, together."

"Can't you help us?" Janice pled with Julia.

"I'm sorry, but I just can't. I have acted as your 'ER Doctor', so to speaker. Hopefully, I have helped to save your family. Now, you need a specialist to build a better long-term marriage.

"You are welcome to come and see Ted any time and he can visit home as much as he wants. Things are not at all like before. Many former residents like to come back and join the current ones for workouts, or just to share stories with new people. We encourage that."

"How long before Ted can move home?" was Janice's inevitable question.

"Let your therapist help you decide that. I will tell you that it would be good for him to live for a while with two wonderful girls: Connie, who has become his loving older sister, and Missy, who is his first real love."

Julia could see Janice about to ask what her son would be doing with Missy, but was thrilled to see Janice will that thought from her mind. A barely perceptible pressure of her breast against Ted's arm signaled the mother's acknowledgment of her son's right to pursue sexual relationships whether she approved or not.

-------

When the discussion with Julia was finished, there was nothing left but to face Janice's ordeal. With her men holding both hands, she walked naked into the center section. There, waiting for her, were all of the girl residents that she had been such a bitch to originally. It was the last set of apologies that she would have to do.

Fortunately, the shock of seeing Janice naked with her clothed husband and son put the girls almost as off balance as Janice herself was. Before dinner was served, Janice delivered a heart-felt apology. She also gave the concocted explanation of why she was naked in front of her son.

After dinner, she spent the entire evening hearing the stories of the different girls, with Ray and Ted never leaving her side.

When it was time to go home at last, Ray had one last little symbol of the new order. He handed Janice a long, heavy bathrobe and a pair of warm short boots. He explained that that was all she needed to wear to get from the Tee to their bed, where he intended to seriously make up for lost time.

All Janice could say was "What are we waiting for?"

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[Missy] Early December

"You warned me before, but sometimes I have to be hit over the head to learn," Julia said. "I guess there really is no way to completely isolate Lindsey's from what we do at the Tee. Keeping Ted's and Cy's jobs a secret has been as much strain as letting the other kids know what they really do. I guess I should have seen it before: we try to build what we do on honesty and openness. Should that not apply to the kids, as well?

"Making Janice apologize nude to all of the Lindsey's girls was the right thing to do, but it required revealing more about the Tee. Tomorrow, Missy moves over. She is so excited that she can hardly stand it, and she will want to tell everyone her story.

"I am going over to meet with the kids and end the secrecy. We just can't keep it up. I will not just tell everything, especially about what Ted and Cy do here, but if anyone asks, that secret will end, too."

Julia was speaking to her staff at dinner on the first day of December. Missy's release order had come that day, and they practically had to tie her down to keep her from moving immediately. As a concession, she and Connie and Leah, the two girls that she already knew, along with Ted and Cy, would be going shopping that evening while Julia talked to the rest of the kids.

Missy had had little trouble keeping up with four months of school work and a little persuasion had allowed her to be a registered as an absent student. She seemed as anxious to attend her first day of public school as she was to move in with the other kids.

As it turned out, the whole Lindsey's crew was rather bleary-eyed at school the next day. Missy went directly from the shopping trip to her new room, well after Julia's talk to the other kids, and the party began.

One thing that Julia had talked to Missy about was her money - she had lots of it. It was Missy who decided that she wanted to blend in with the others as much as possible. She literally had no clothes that fit her, but she made sure that she bought things similar to what the others wore. She had decided not to get a car of her own, but to secretly add one more to the fleet.



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Chapter 22


[Erica] Early December

Genetics or environment? It is often very difficult to tell which is the primary cause. For a teenaged girl like Erica McCann, the cause did not matter. All she knew was that she was fat, she was a disgrace to her parents and her siblings, and she absolutely hated her life.

In the McCann family, style was everything. Both parents, her older sister, and her younger brother were examples of physical perfection, and that seemed to be the most important thing in their family life.

Erica had started out pudgy from birth, and had never been anything but. Puberty exacerbated the problem, and she became what she considered to be an outcast. The drumbeat of criticism and admonishment from her father, in particular, never eased up; not that the others did not do their share.

If Erica had an exceptional talent or skill, she had never had a chance to discover or develop it. Too much of her time was spent trying to be invisible, trying to avoid another lecture on how to improve her looks, trying to keep from breaking into tears every time one of her family threw her another disgusted look or scathing comment.

Part of the tragedy was that Erica was not really obese. Certainly, her thighs, buttocks, belly, upper arms, back, and breasts were larger than they should have been, and there was significant extra flesh all over her body. But from any angle, her general shape was still recognizable as female. Furthermore, she had the smallish, graceful hands, wrists, ankles, and feet that a number of heavy people are blessed with. She was just too far past her family's limit of acceptability.

Suicide is something that generally does not enter a young person's frame of reference until after puberty, and that was true of Erica. Having suffered through her sixteenth birthday, she had reached the point where she just had to decide how she could actually accomplish it.

For any troubled individual to be rescued, there first has to be at least one person who sees their distress and is willing to take some action. In Erica's case it was a cousin, a male cousin five years older than herself. In their overall narcissistic clan, Troy was an anomaly. A junior at Addison studying psychology, he seemed blessed with all of the people sensitivity that his relatives had been denied.

Over the years, Troy's family and Erica's had been together a lot. From a very young age, he had responded to her sad, beaten-down demeanor. He was the one person who had ever received any appreciable number of smiles from her, and if she was ever to cry for help, he was the only person she would ever have thought of.

At Thanksgiving, the families had been together again, and from everything Troy had learned in school and from what he knew from his own investigatingons, he reached the chilling conclusion that he was in real danger of losing his cousin Erica permanently.

Because Addison was local and because Gerald Magnuson was both a major donor to the university and the force behind Transformations, the Tee was a frequent topic of discussion in campus psychological circles. Of course, given the natural critical bent of academics, much of the discussion was less than supportive, but at least the name and some word of the results were known. The fact that the Tee had withstood the full onslaught of the Christian right won it a period of grudging approval in the heavily anti-religious campus community.

Troy immediately thought of Transformations when he became aware of Erica's critical state. In his anxiety and concern, he just went to the only name he knew - Gerald Magnuson. Gerald had chosen his support people wisely, and as soon as his admin assistant heard Troy mention concern about a suicide, she called Frank Waxman and arranged a meeting for Troy.

From then on, things happened in a hurry. It was decided that bringing Erica into Lindsey's would be the best move. Troy was almost panicked about suicide, and it took a long conversation with Julia to convince him that Lindsey's was a congenial, accepting environment that would remove much of the pressure on her.

Approval for acceptance was pushed through rapidly with the suicide threat cutting out a lot of discussion. Because of her successful efforts toward invisibility, Erica had never had contact with a school counsellor. When the counsellor summoned Erica, after Julia pushed all of the right buttons, the poor girl went into a minor panic. It took less than thirty minutes for the counsellor to agree that she was very much at risk. It took a lot longer than that for Julia to convince the counsellor not to activate the usual warning system and instead let her go to Lindsey's.

Getting Erica physically to Lindsey's was the next task. She was completely non-aggressive and for her to make any move toward leaving home was totally unimaginable. Troy was quite sure that he could persuade her, but Julia was not willing to risk that. In the worst case, Erica's trust in Troy might be damaged and that would just increase the suicide risk.

Julia decided it was time to haul out the heavy artillery. Erica received another summons to the counsellor's office, this time delivered by the assistant principal who escorted her back. Almost in tears when she was ushered into the office, she first saw Troy, which eased her mind a lot. Looking at the young woman with Troy, she very nearly fainted. Lindsey had donned one of her performing outfits, the one most seen on posters and album covers, and recognition was instantaneous and mind-blowing.

When Troy had helped Erica to a chair, Lindsey spoke. "Erica, I have set up a home for good kids stuck in intolerable home situations. Troy and I and some people who know about these things believe that you need to get out of your home before you suffer some serious problems. Right now, there are about a dozen really neat kids living at Lindsey's Place. There is nothing your parents can do about it if you decide to come. This has all been tested and proven legally. Will you come and join the other kids?"

"But ... but ... my stuff!"

"Erica, if you want to, you can just come in what you are wearing, and there is money to buy what you need. Otherwise, there is no one at your house right now, is there?"

"N ... no. Work ... and school."

"Well, there is a security person standing by to protect you if you want to go and get some clothes and things," Lindsey said.

"S ... security person?"

"Yes. Just in case your parents should return and try to keep you from leaving."

"Hummph. They'd probably help me pack."

"I suspect you are wrong about that, Erica," Lindsey said, "but I am truly sorry that you feel that way. Come to my place. You can just be yourself with good people who care about each other. Everyone there has some real hurts, and they all help each other."

"Who will pay?"

"You don't have to worry about that. It turns out that we can even bill your parents for part of your support. Erica, will you come? Please?"

Erica looked to Troy and saw that his eyes were moist. "Do you think I should, Troy?"

Lindsey answered instead. "Honey, at Thanksgiving, Troy came away terrified that you wanted to kill yourself." She paused as Erica gasped. "He is the reason I am here right now asking you to come with us."

"There are a few things at home that I would like to have," was Erica's only response.

On the way to her house, Erica was put on the phone with Julia. They agreed that Erica should leave with as little confrontation and upset as possible. She would leave a detailed note telling where she was, and even inviting her parents to visit.

-------

Julia had taken most of the afternoon off because she thought that it was important to establish her presence with Erica. She had also called the school and had Missy picked up. "Missy, can I give you an assignment?"

"Silly question. Name it."

"A new girl is coming in, named Erica. She has been beaten down to nothing because she is overweight and her family can't tolerate that. She is borderline suicidal. Because of your 'ugly duckling' phase, I think you can relate to her best."

"I've got all my pictures here - the nude ones," Missy said with a giggle. Quickly turning serious, she said "Suicide, huh? As bad as it got for me, I never thought of that. I'm not sure I can help her that way."

"Don't even try," Julia said quickly. "Just be her friend. Make sure that every day she feels she has something to live for. I'm sure the other kids will treat her well, too."

"Yeah. I guess when you've been shit on big time, you're sensitive about doing it to anyone else."

"Hmmm," Julia responded. "I don't think I've ever seen it phrased that way in a psyche book, but that certainly is a founding principle of this place." She held out her arms and they shared a giggling hug.

Since she was the only resident home from school when Erica arrived, Missy worked like a trooper along with Troy and Muriel to get everything from the mini-van into Erica's little room. Their introduction was brief and casual, but Missy kept up a constant stream of quips and humorous descriptions about the place.

When everything had at least been unloaded, Troy had to leave and Missy said. "We'll get some of the other girls to help you put it away later. We've got a couple of hours until any of the others get home. I could use a hot tub. How about you?"

"I don't even own a swimming suit," Erica said glumly.

"Who needs a suit? Let's just skinny dip."

"Oh, I could never..."

"Don't worry, we'll be by ourselves," Missy said confidently. Turning to Muriel, she said "Will you lock the door and give us a good warning if anyone shows up? Oh, and bring a couple of robes over to the hot tub. Are you going to join us?" Missy gave a little negative head shake that only Muriel could see.

It was a real gamble, but Missy had the instinctive sense that it was important for Erica to understand what a completely different world she had entered. For some reason, she also sensed that Erica longed for a chance to just let her body be seen. Keeping up a constant chatter, she took the new girl by the hand and towed her to the hot tub. When Erica stopped in apparent panic near the tub, Missy put her arm around her and spoke seriously.

"Erica, I don't know very much about you, but I hear that you have been in a bad place because of your weight and your family's attitude about it. Well, I'm telling you that you are now in a whole different world. You could decide never to wear a stitch around here and not a single person would make fun of you or criticize you.

"I'm begging you to do something really courageous right now. I want you to get naked with me. I want you to tell the world from your first day here that your body is what it is and you are not going to be ashamed of it any more. You're not going to hide it away because of someone else's opinion of it. If you will do that with me, I just know that your life is going to change so fast that you won't believe it.

"Will you do it? Will you leave the old, beaten down, frightened Erica right there in a pile of clothes and forget her? Please?"

Missy had definitely touched a cord in Erica's psyche. It was a little act of rebellion the like of which she had often fantasized, but would never, ever really do. Actually, her private fantasies had gone far, far beyond just skinny dipping in private with another girl, but fantasies were just that, not something that ever happened.

"Erica, if you think about it, this isn't even as hard as showering with the girls at school, is it? Here. Let me help you." That was the riskiest move yet by Missy, but her instincts did not fail her. She pulled the baggy sweater over Erica's head and was working on the clasps of her bra before Erica even reacted.

"M ... Missy! Wait!"

"No, I won't wait. I'm am betting that a part of you really wants to do this, and I'm going to make sure that part wins. Think of how it would piss off your mom and dad if you did this. Doesn't that make it worth it?"

Erica went ramrod stiff for a long moment, then almost frantically kicked off her shoes and pushed down her slacks and panties. Missy had not even been able to get the bra off. Erica did that while hurrying into the tub. She seemed frantic to get hidden under the water, so frantic that she barely tossed away her bra in time to keep it dry.

Missy stripped as fast as she could, then sat beside Erica and took her hand. "Let's see: your pulse is about nine-hundred-fifty, right?" she teased. "I hope you'll forgive me, but I took unfair advantage of you. I'm used to being naked. Oh, here's Muriel with the robes. Muriel, could I ask one more favor, please?" Missy described where her folder of pictures was hidden and asked Muriel to bring them.

While Muriel was fetching the pictures, Missy gave a very abbreviated version of how she got to the Tee and the essentials of what it was like. Erica may not have believed some of what she heard, but when Muriel returned naked, the story gained a lot of credibility. "Just leave them on the table, Muriel. I don't want to take a chance on getting them wet."

Muriel got in the tub and gave her own brief version of how she got to be housemother. She verified what Missy had said about nudity.

"We've probably been in this hot water long enough," Missy said. "Let's dry off and I'll show you some pictures that will make you barf."

When they got out and dried on the ubiquitous towels, Erica reached for the robe that Muriel had brought. "Huh, uh!" Missy said quickly. "Let's keep pissing off your parents for a while longer. We'll put the robes on when the other kids get home."

Erica tried to protest, but she did not try very hard. Missy's 'before' pictures had the expected impact. "But, I've tried and tried to lose weight. I just can't," Erica complained.

"Maybe you never will lose it. I don't know. It doesn't really matter," Missy said. "I want to be your friend, but I am also going to be on your ass all the time. I want you get so comfortable with your body that you don't care if the weight is gone or not."

"Comfortable? With this?"

"Yup. You've got to learn that it's what you think about it that counts, not what your parents or anyone else thinks. With good food and the nutrition they use here and starting to work out, you'll probably be surprised how much different you can look. But it still doesn't matter. I'm going to be pushing you to just relax and be casual about how you dress or undress. Be like everyone else around here. It's really cool."

Muriel watched in amazement as Missy talked Erica into the pool, then over to the kitchen for a snack, still naked. It was easy to tell that Erica was terrified, but Missy seemed to have a hypnotic hold on her.

As time for the others to get home approached, Missy led them back to the hot tub, which is where they were when Muriel signaled that others were coming. Neither girl knew that Julia was intercepting the others outside and giving them a pep talk on dealing with the new girl.

Missy only allowed Erica to put on the robe, which was not very long. "Can't I at least put on my underwear?" Erica complained.

"Do you really want to?" Missy challenged.

Erica flushed and stammered, and finally could only say "You're awful!"

"And so are you. And I got you to admit it. Nyeah nyeah nyeah nyeah nyeah nyeah!" Not willing to ease off, Missy reached out and pulled the top of Erica's robe open quite a bit farther. "Girlfriend, you may not like much about your body, but you have got BOOBS. If you let the guys see about a quarter acre of cleavage, just ... like ... that, they'll have no idea if your fat, skinny, short, or tall."

Erica actually shuddered at Missy's words and action. She had never purposely exposed any part of her body. That was totally backward to her. And the very idea that some boy might find part of her interesting or stimulating!

Julia stood back as all of the introductions were done. Muriel went over to her and they shared their wonder at what their ugly duckling had turned into. Even Julia had not seen the latent exhibitionist need that must have been obvious to Missy. As two carloads arrived from two different schools, Erica's fiery blush never receded, but neither did her smile. Standing there in only the fairly short robe must have been the erotic highlight of her life.

When the last resident had arrived and headed off to their room or the study area, Missy put her arm around Erica and teased. "I think there's an extra vibrator around. Do you need it right now?" Her ability to astonish the new girl did not seem to run out.

"Missy!"

"Well ... put your hand on your pussy and tell me it's dry."

"How can you say stuff like that?" Erica almost screeched.

"Come on, Erica! We're women. It's how we work. Why try to hide it? Have fun with it!"

When they got to Erica's room, Missy said "We have to think about if your parents show up tonight."

"Oh, no!"

"I know you're probably not ready for that. What would help you most? Having Troy here?"

"I don't want him to get in trouble for helping me leave," Erica insisted.

"Will you let me set up a little drama for if they come? Will you do what I tell you?"

"I ... I can't seem to say no to you."

"OK. You get dressed, and I expect to find you out there talking to some kids when I get done with a few phone calls.

-------

When Erica's parents arrived at Lindsey's about 7:15 that evening, everything had been set up. The Plonske agent had watched the house and had followed them when they left to see if they were headed toward the Tee. Once it was certain they were on the way, the delayed dinner was started.

Every one of the resident kids had been through their parents' outraged first visit and they were more than willing to help Erica get through hers. The fact that Missy's devious mind turned it into a pool party cookout just made it that much better.

Erica's body was the issue that had driven her from her home, so having her in a swimsuit was the perfect slap in the face for her parents. Missy and Connie had hauled her off to a shopping center and had browbeat her into acquiring a two-piece suit. It could not qualify as a bikini because of the heavy-duty top needed to handle her breasts. The bottoms exposed most of her belly, but the others had argued correctly that no suit could truly hide it. Erica had cried a little at those words, but Missy handled it well.

"Look, Sweetie, there's nothing you can do about your belly in the next three hours. It's just wrong that you should be driven from your home just because of it, though. Just hang it out there in front of your folks and pretend you don't even notice it. I guarantee you that no one else there will pay any attention to it."

Once the swimsuit battle had been resolved, they got her a matching cover-up and headed back to rehearse. Every one of the kids wanted to make suggestions about what she should say in certain situations. The hardest part was convincing her that she could really say those things. She was in tears several times from the encouraging things that both girls and boys said to her.

By the time all was ready, Lindsey and Mark and Julia and Frank were there and in swimwear. All of the residents, including Muriel and Faith and Dale were on hand, and both Gretchen and Carol were helping with the food. The burgers and dogs were actually grilled in the main kitchen and brought over, but that little safety measure detracted nothing from the general merriment. With everyone's help, a genuine, lively pool party was in full swing.

As the self-proclaimed lippyest bitch of the girls, Connie insisted on being up front to greet. She had her books out, giving the appearance of having drawn the short straw for reception duty. Erica had absolutely insisted that Missy stay right with her.

Erica's father stormed in first, demanding "Is this where Erica ran off to?"

"Erica? I imagine she's in the pool. We have a tradition of throwing a pool party for new residents." They did not need to know that the tradition had started that day. "I'll show you to her."

It had all been arranged so Erica would be in the pool, involved in a roughhouse game of keep-away when the parents arrived. Everything had been choreographed and rehearsed. It had not been easy for Erica do the scene, but Missy and the others were relentless.

Leading the parents to the edge of the pool, Connie shouted out "Erica, you have visitors."

Erica looked around and saw them, and her face fell. Then she got a mischievous look and grabbed the ring from the boy who had stopped to see what was happening. She moved as fast as she could toward the ladder, letting out a squeal as he yelled and came after her. As she got to the ladder, he grabbed at her, but just caught enough of her suit bottom to pull it down a little, exposing part of her crack.

She swatted his hand away and turned around to stick her tongue out at him. In the process, she bent over a little with her slightly exposed bottom pointed right at her parents. In the pool, she had squeezed her suit bottom into her crack as much as possible to expose even more.

She had been well prepared.

It would seem impossible that Erica could put on such an exhibition, and it had not been easy to talk her into it. Missy again had the key, though. "What better way to stick it to them then to moon them?" she had asked when they were rehearsing. "I wish you could give them your full, bare ass, but that might cause us some problems."

Meek little Erica had a very strong need for vengeance, and that at least had gotten her to listen. That had not been the end of Missy's drastic tactics, either. Whispering to Connie and Libby, she had called all of the boys over. She had taken Erica by the shoulders and turned her so her back was to the group of guys. When she nodded to Connie and Libby, they grabbed Erica's arms.

Missy got on her knees, grabbed the back of Erica's suit bottoms, and pulled them down enough to expose most of her ass. Leaving the suit where it was, Missy stood up and hugged Erica close, speaking in her ear. "Now, the guys have seen your bottom. None of them are making nasty comments, none of them are throwing up, and I think I see a couple of hardons. I'm sorry to do this, but you've got to realize that we all want you to win this skirmish tonight. Beat them this time and its all over. Isn't that right, Guys."

The boys had all come over and encouraged her, making her forget for a moment that she had been still showing off her ass.

All of the earlier practice had worked and she dramatically dropped the ring right on the boy's head and turned toward her parents. Another boy just 'happened' to be standing there holding a towel which he tossed to her. She held it in her hand instead of wrapping it around her and did the best stalk she could toward them.

Next came the part that was the hardest for her, and she had to recite memorized words. "Mom, Dad, I hope you came to see my new home." Her dad started to say something, but she raised her voice and talked right over him. "They've put on this nice welcome party for me, and nothing is going to spoil it. If you want, you can have some food. I'll introduce you to my new brothers and sisters. You can meet my housemother, the director, and even Lindsey Hall. I can show you my room, too. Is that why you came?"

"Erica, you can't just..." her dad started.

"DAD! What did I just say about not spoiling my party!"

"Now, listen here! You're my daughter and I can talk ... ugh!" The man felt a sudden sharp pain in his arm as Teri, the female Plonske agent squeezed in just the right spot on his elbow.

"Sir, I believe the young lady offered you a very nice invitation. Are you going to accept it, or do I have to escort you out?"

When he tried to wrench his arm away, the pain just got worse. "Sir, which will it be?" He threw her an angry look, but when he turned back, Dale was right in front of him, looking like a Wrestlemania star.

"We can talk, Dad. Just not on my party night," Erica said. He had had enough humiliation and he turned and stalked out. Her mother looked at her for a few seconds and almost said something before she, too, left.

Everyone in the place was motionless until they heard the outside door close. Erica turned to face the group and her face started to crumble. In a passable imitation of Tom Hanks, Mark called out "Hey, there's no crying at pool parties!" Even Erica could not help laughing at that, and the mood was salvaged.

Every single person congratulated her on her performance. Connie was the third one, and she quipped "So, I guess you like wearing your bottoms halfway off, huh?" Erica squealed and took a swat at Connie before pulling her bottoms up.

Much later, Missy came into Erica's room and sat on the bed. "Do you remember me saying something about a different world earlier today?"

"Was that just today?" Erica retorted. "Seems like a lot longer ago. I guess you were speaking from experience."

"Can you imagine what it was like for me?" Missy mused. "I was forced here, and you saw how I looked. I had to undress, and then meet all of those hunky guys. But you know what, it changed my life."

"I feel like mine has changed already. Missy, I can hardly remember the last time I had fun before tonight. I still can't believe you got me to do some of those things."

"I think you're a natural ham. Can't you start to feel that your mom and dad are losing the ability to hurt you?"

"It's sad to think of it that way, but yeah, I can feel that."

-------

[Erica] Early December

"What does your dad do for a living, Erica? I mean, is he a lawyer, and engineer, or what?" Julia asked at breakfast the next day. It was becoming more common for her to stop in early on work and school days. There was always something to be taken care of.

"He's a hotshot salesman," Erica answered with a definite snarl.

"Do you think it would help to email him all of our positions on parents rights vs. resident rights, along with the legal opinions. It has helped with a few of the other kids. It won't keep them from being angry with you, but at least they will understand that they can't make you come back."

"Anything that will get them off my back would be good. Let's send it to both Mom and Dad," Erica answered. "I bet they'll be back tonight," she added glumly.

"Hey, you're the boss, here. Don't look so down."

"I don't know if I'll ever be able to think that way."

"But you did so well last night. Honey, you were brilliant!"

"That was different. It was all planned out and everyone helped," Erica cautioned.

"Remember, the others have all been where you are. They are fanatical about ganging up against parents. You just figure out what help you need tonight and you'll get it."

The help for Erica turned out to be much more sophisticated than she expected. When her parents were ushered in, she was on a weight machine. She had on a sports bra and some of the uniform shorts that were readily available. There was an MP3 player on her waistband and ear buds in her ears. However, it was not really an MP3 player, but a receiver with Julia just out of sight with a transmitter. A sensitive microphone was under the bench to transmit to Julia.

In fact, there was more help then Erica even knew about. Julia had called Troy, and he was with her, as were Muriel, Missy, and Connie. They could all hear what was being said and could see the meeting.

When she saw her parents, Erica sat up on the bench and took the bud from one ear. The other was left in so Julia could help her. When they got close, she said "No!" very emphatically.

This time, it was her mother who spoke first "No, what?"

"No, I won't leave here and come back with you."

"But, Honey," her mother whined, "I can't understand why you thought you had to run away."

"Well, I was just going to kill myself, but someone convinced me this was better. They were right." Mentioning suicide had only been agreed upon after a lot of discussion. Julia believed it would be best for Erica if her parents just went away. Hopefully, the 'S' word would supply enough shock to accomplish that.

"KILL YOURSELF! My God! How can you say that? What would make you even think that?"

"Oh, let's see. How about having to be constantly reminded what a worthless embarrassment I was to your otherwise perfect family." That response had been scripted and memorized, so Erica did not have to wait for help from Julia.

"Maybe if you'd started doing that," and her dad waved at the machine, "years ago, you'd have looked like you belonged with us."

Julia had previously ranked Mercedes Charles at the top of her all-time awful parents list, even though she had never met the woman. Her list just got revised. She actual transmitted a low growling sound to Erica.

"Dad, why don't you just go away. From now on, your family pictures will be unblemished. I am NOT coming back, even if I end up skinny."

"But you need to give us a chance to make it up to you," her mother pled.

"We don't have to make anything up to her!" he snarled. "It's not our fault she was too lazy to make herself look presentable. We gave her every opportunity."

With no prompting from Julia, Erica turned toward her mother and made a very dramatic shrug with her hands out in a gesture of hopelessness. "You go live with him. I can't. Heaven help you if YOU gain an extra pound."

She really was a natural ham. She put the other ear bud back in, laid back on the bench and started pushing on the weight bar. Her dad had already turned and started walking away. Once again, her mother looked back rather longingly, but soon followed.

The parents had not noticed that there was no one else in sight but Erica. As soon as the door closed behind them, everyone else came pouring out, clapping and yelling out congratulations.

Missy, Ted, and Cy came right for her, something that had not been scripted. Missy grabbed the receiver from her waistband and the guys picked Erica up into a chair carry. Within two steps, she realized that they were headed toward the pool. She made the obligatory vocal objections, but did not struggle at all. Just the fact that she was actually being carried, even if it was by two guys, was enormous to her. When they reached the pool and the guys managed to heave her way out toward the middle, it was as thrilling as if she had flown.

When she climbed out amid laughing and more congratulations, she did not notice what everyone else did - neither the bra nor the shorts were designed for swimming. The bra was not the usual sports bra used in the complex and had been procured because it became quite transparent when wet. The wet shorts were like second skin.

With a lot of input from Missy and Muriel, Julia had decided that exposing herself, especially if it was accidental or unavoidable, would be therapeutic to Erica. The little butt crack display the night before had been a test of that theory, and had proven it out. The other residents had been alerted so no embarrassing remarks would be made.

Because of the suicide threat, Julia had cleared an unusual amount of time to work with Erica, and had made everything else interruptible on her behalf. Her current profile of the girl was that she was desperate for approval, or even just acceptance, of her body. She was also desperate for validation of her status as a woman, a sexual being, having forcibly denied any connection between herself and sex for years.

Based on Erica's exceptional performance the first night, Julia was convinced that a 'through the looking glass' approach would be the best. In other words, her current world should be as suddenly and dramatically different from her previous existence as was possible. There would be no gradual easing her into anything.

Erica was totally absorbed in the good feelings for quite a while, and Missy was standing right beside her when she happened to look down to see her large dark aueolae and nipples clearly visible. She gasped and instinctively brought her hands up to cover. Missy caught her hands, though, and spoke in her ear.

"Everyone's already seen them. Don't worry about it. Accept all the congratulations and change when you can leave gracefully. You're a hero, Girlfriend! You were brilliant!"

"But I'm almost naked!" Erica hissed.

"So?" Erica's visible shiver was not from the cold.

Just then, Ted was right in front of her and took her hands. "I hope we didn't frighten you with that little toss," he said. "You know, before we met you, Julia told us that the new girl was shy and kinda repressed. How did you get in here instead of that girl?"

In trying to decide whether to laugh or cry, Erica forgot about her exposure for a little while longer and just responded to her new siblings. When she finally went off to her room, Connie was right with her.

"Hey, Erica! Yesterday the butt crack and today the boobs. They didn't warn us that you were an exhibitionist."

Erica forgot her exposure again as she gave pretend chase. When she was finally in her room, she locked the door, tore her clothes off, began pinching a nipple almost painfully, and jammed her other hand into her crotch. She wondered if Connie's exhibitionist comment might not be true. Knowing that everyone could see her body so clearly gave her a huge thrill. That no one showed disgust nearly made her cry.

She did not know that Julia was right outside her door with Troy. "I think it's time," Julia whispered. "Remember how we talked it through." Troy nodded as Julia eased the door open. It had already been unlocked remotely.

"Troy!" What? ... How? ... Oh, no!" Erica cried, scrambling to try to cover herself as she lay on the bed.

Things had been scripted out generally, but Troy still had to decide how to react. He stopped her frantic scrambling around by putting his hands on her upper arms and holding her down. "Baby. Baby! You were awesome out there. Let me enjoy looking at your body. Let me watch you masturbate. Let me see you have an orgasm - maybe two or three. Let me celebrate with you."

"C ... c ... celebrate?"

"Yes, Baby. You're just letting yourself admit that you're a sexual being. You're just enjoying the thrill of eyes on your bare body. That's worth a celebration."

She looked at him with wide eyes filled with fright and uncertainty. As he stared back at her, her look changed to desire. He released his hold on her arms and began peeling back the coverlet that she had partially pulled over herself.

Julia had been right about Erica's mindset and the urges that were driving her. She just stared into his eyes, making no attempt to hide anything from him. Even when he spread her legs quite far apart, exposing her pussy to his view, she did not resist. The urge to reach out and touch the full, puffy lips was hard for him to fight off, but he did.

"Now, Baby, I'm sorry I interrupted you. Your nipples look so nice and hard! Your pussy lips look dark and ... and juicy. I want you to feel good again. Please. Touch yourself again. Pinch and rub and make it feel good. I want so much to watch. I've never seen anything like this before."

He kept on pleading with her, making the talk more suggestive. When he saw her hips squirm a little, he knew he had won, even if it took a few more minutes before she got into it.

He did not think it would be right for him to help her, but he was sitting right by one of her feet. He scooted toward her a little and took her foot into his lap. When he started stroking softly all over her foot and rolling and squeezing her toes, she got very serious about her own stroking.

Troy had enough experience with girls to know that her orgasm, while thrilling to see, was not big enough to leave her completely satisfied. While she was still coming down, he started talking to her, telling her to keep going, to make it happen again.

Worrying that he was getting too involved, but wanting to keep her going, he faced right toward her and brought the sole of her foot against his cock that was straining upward in his pants. That was like flipping a switch, and soon, she was practically pummeling her clit and stretching her nipple to a surprising length.

Almost ten minutes later, he was privileged to see the monster that he thought she needed. Her eyes rolled back in her head and little jerks and shivers went on while she was seemingly asleep. Seeing how profusely she had perspired, he pulled half of the coverlet over her. Moving farther up beside her, he just held her hand as she recovered.

He should have expected tears somewhere along the way. When she opened her eyes, she gasped out "Were you really ... did I make..."

"Yes, Baby, you made me very, very hard. What a sexy sight?" That started the deluge.

When she could catch her breath a little, she said "You haven't called me 'Baby' since I was little."

"I guess I think you're like a little girl, starting all over again. This is a whole new life for you, Baby. Isn't it going to be wonderful?" That conversational line had been rehearsed with Julia, as well.

It took about a half hour, but the cousins came out to spend the rest of the evening together with her new siblings, just studying and doing normal things.

-------

Julia did not even have to tell the other kids, but Erica's world changed dramatically at school, as well. Literally overnight, she belonged to a group. It was a diverse group, but fairly large. Nine of the residents went to the same school, the school that Lindsey, Mark, Terry, Trish, Janie, Caitlin, and Jordan attended. There were different grades and different lunch periods, but almost every hour she was with some new sibling or friend. Someone was always talking to her or walking with her. It was indeed 'through the looking glass' for a girl who had spent her life trying not to be noticed.



-------

Chapter 23


[Faith] Early December

"I appreciate your calling me first, Mr. Charles," Julia said after taking a call from Max.

"Max, please," he said quickly. "I didn't know how Faith would take the news. I don't think we should keep it from her, but I'm concerned."

"You're right to be concerned," Julia assured him. "She needs to know, so I will tell her, and I'll be sure that Dale is with her. Max, I can't tell you how much I appreciate your willingness to forgo the visits. I did not think it would have to go on this long, but the chance for Faith to stay completely isolated has been just what she needed. I think you will be amazed at the change in her appearance. Let me go and talk to Faith and Dale, and we'll get back to you. Oh, how long do you have to comply?"

"Three days," Max answered.

"The Order of Protection application is ready to go, and Gerald tells me that the skids are all greased," Julia said. "Why do you think she bothered so close to Faith's twenty-first?"

"Even after all the years of our marriage, I wouldn't pretend to understand that bitch," Max said angrily. "I guess power and control are everything to her."

Julia had to wait until she had completed her appointments, then got Faith and Dale together at the Tee. In reality, Faith was marking time. In the three plus months of her stay, she had made every one of the dates she had written on her intermediate pictures, and she was almost back to her weight from the previous April. She actually looked even better because of her rigorous exercise, the excellent nutrition - and love. The only reason that Julia was keeping her sequestered was to keep her away from her mother.

"Your mother somehow found a judge to issue her crazy order," Julia told the couple when they met. Faith's face blanched and she had to sit down quickly. "Now remember, Faith, the order only forces your dad to reveal your whereabouts. We believe we have an impenetrable legal 'wall' to keep her from doing anything to you."

"Will it really work?" Faith asked fearfully.

"First of all, by tomorrow noon, you will have an Order of Protection against your mother and any of her agents. Tomorrow morning, you have an appointment for a complete physical and psychological exam."

"Can't you do that?"

"If it ever comes to a court battle, it will be good to have independent corroboration. You will actually be seen by two sets of doctors and psychiatrists. It will take all day, and yes, Dale will be right with you," Julia said reassuringly. "There will also be two Plonske agents escorting you."

"Wow!" Dale exclaimed. "You aren't taking any chances, are you?"

"You haven't heard all of it, yet," Julia said with a chuckle. "Now, you two have to decide if you want to do this, but we believe the final insurance against any of her interference would be for you two to get married."

Shock did not adequately describe the couple's reaction. There was silence for many seconds, and it was Faith who spoke first. "And it would be the ultimate revenge, taking away her chance at throwing a big society wedding," she said almost gleefully.

"But you would miss your chance for a nice wedding, too," Dale pointed out. "Besides, I can't support you yet."

"Honey, have you ever seen two people happier than Andi and Andy?" Faith challenged. "I've been doing so much thinking since I was rescued. I honestly don't care about all of the stuff I used to have. We could live for quite a while if I just sold my car and we bought something good enough to get us around. Dad wants both of us to work in his business. We'd make it."

"I don't want to leave the Tee, though," Dale objected.

"No, and you shouldn't, because of the scholarships and the way they've helped you," Faith agreed. "Dale, Honey, if we could be married, I honestly wouldn't care about any of the other stuff. In a way, the big wedding would be part of my old life, and that was mostly bad."

"Julia, could we organize something here, with the people I really care about?" Faith asked.

"Your Dad has to give up your whereabouts in three days, so we would have to scurry," Julia said thoughtfully. "Why not? We'll make it work."

"Um..." Dale started to say, but he looked in Faith's eyes and decided that whatever it was either was not important or was unwise. After a pause, he pulled Faith into his arms and said "This is wonderful! I thought we would have to wait years!"

Julia had thought that the quick marriage idea would be a non-starter, but as she watched the couple hugging, she chastised herself for misjudging young love once again. Faith's statement about old life and new was also very telling. It was the best evidence yet of the dramatic change that the Tee had once again brought about in a needy woman's life.

"Daddy, we're going to finally get to see each other!" Faith bubbled, having grabbed her phone as soon as the matter was settled. "You get to give me away to Dale! We're getting married!"

When Max had recovered enough to understand and absorb what she was saying, Faith explained the whole situation. At the time, she was sitting on Dale's lap, with his arms around her. Since Julia was still right with them, no one thought anything of the violation of the normal fraternization rules.

At least one woman was close enough to hear Faith's exclamation about getting married. That was tantamount to putting the news on the little-used public address system within the complex. Within what seemed like milliseconds, every woman in the place was hurrying toward the couple.

How the news leaped from the Tee to Lindsey's was never determined. It was unfortunate that Muriel heard before Dale had the chance to tell her. However, when she came flying toward where Faith was still on the phone with Max, there was nothing but joy in her reaction.

-------

As so often happens in rush situations, making the decision is actually the easy part. It would be a near thing to take care of all of the legalities and make the wedding official by the time that Max had to give up Faith's location. Fortunately, there were a lot of resources and influence available to them, and it appeared that everything would work out. As a backup, the Magnuson Foundation's plane was scheduled to fly the couple to Las Vegas for a quick wedding. They would be in the air when Max gave up the information, meaning that they would be married before Mercedes could possibly get to them. All that Max had to surrender was her current residence address.

Faith felt like a character in a spy movie the next morning. She was heavily disguised and riding in the back seat of an SUV with heavily darkened windows as she went to her examinations. Both she and Dale were disappointed when told that he would not accompany her, but would catch up with her later.

As soon as Faith had left, Paul brought Dale one of the Trak phones, and Max was on the line. "Dale, I sincerely hope that you won't fight me on this. Without you, I don't know what would have happened to Faith. I know that you are going to be successful, and I don't believe it will take you very long. I have set up a credit at this jeweler," and he gave Dale a the name and location. "I want you to go and pick out a nice ring set. This is a long-term loan from a grateful father-in-law."

Dale's immediate impulse was to refuse. The problem was that he could hear the sincerity in Max's voice. Also, Dale knew that just that one piece of a normal wedding would go far toward making their hurried nuptials more memorable for Faith. "Thank you so much, Max. Can I take Mom along to help me?"

Max could not hold back his sigh of relief. He knew there was another crisis coming when Dale saw the price range of rings that the jeweler had been instructed to show them, but a little behind the scenes price 'adjusting' had already taken place.

Another darkened SUV with two Plonske agents was waiting to take Dale and Muriel to the jeweler's and then to catch up with Faith.

Shopping for the rings was quite emotional for Muriel. Not just because of joy for her son, but because it reminded her of the good days in the past when such nice things were common for their family.

Dale did indeed have serious qualms about the size and quality of the rings that were shown to him. Not being knowledgeable about diamonds, he was still very suspicious of the prices quoted. Muriel, being much more knowledgeable, knew that something was amiss, but decided to ally herself with Max on the issue.

Max had found out Faith's rings size and the jeweler insisted that Dale and Muriel wait the short time it took to have the selected set sized.

Just as they were pulling up to the private clinic where Faith had her current appointment, the male agent, who was in the passenger seat, let out an angry oath. "Oh, sorry, Ma'am," he quickly apologized, "but I think we have a tail."

"Oh, no!" Dale exclaimed. "How?"

The female agent speculated "They must have had a constant tail on Mr. Charles and somehow deduced that you would show up at the jewelry store."

"More likely bought the information from a store employee," the male agent said glumly.

"I can't believe they would go to those lengths!" Dale exclaimed.

"I think," Muriel answered, "Faith's mother is not used to losing. When you have unlimited money..."

"They probably know that Faith is here, then," Dale said.

"Not necessarily," the female agent countered. "We have to make it look like one or both of you are here for attention. There is no way they could know that Faith is here. Remember, they still have no connection between any of you and Transformations."

"We can't assume that," Dale objected.

-------

When they got into the clinic, where a full physical exam was being done on Faith, Dale made himself quite unpopular by insisting that he had to see that she was actually there and actually being examined. When he was finally shown to an examining room, the nurse cracked the door just a bit and Dale could see Faith talking to a doctor. He could also see that she was very nervous.

"You go in there and tell her that Dale and Muriel are here and that we will be with her the rest of the day," Dale said firmly. It was a tone of voice that he rarely used, and the nurse decided that there was no harm in complying.

The nurse came back to Dale and said "I'm afraid we'll have to wait to take her blood pressure. She got pretty excited at the news."

Dale called Paul because Julia was in session, and told him that they would have to abort the rest of Faith's schedule and come home.

"Dale, I'm not sure that is wise. The legals have set up this 'wall' that they think is impenetrable, and these multiple medical opinions are an important part of it."

"But they've tracked me, and they'll find Faith, too," Dale complained.

"There is no more risk of her being found if you go to the next appointment than if you come home," Paul pointed out. "Let me talk to Plonske, and we'll get you out of the that clinic and on to the next one undetected."

Dale did not like it, but he could not find a strong argument against it.

When Faith was given a blond wig, fake glasses, a leather coat, and crutches when it came time to leave the clinic, she did not think too much of it, given the 'cloak and dagger' atmosphere of the entire day. She was not even too surprised when a different vehicle, a minivan, pulled up to the door for her.

Dale and Muriel were already in the van, having left the clinic from the service entrance in a delivery truck to meet the van. The original two SUVs were standing by to block the tail if necessary. There had been some fear that more units might be called in by the pursuers. Apparently, though, there were either no more resources readily available or they did not suspect that Faith was present.

As they all drove to another clinic for another independent physical, Dale complained to Faith. "I wonder if this is all really necessary. I mean, two physicals and two psyche exams?"

"Honey, it's alright," Faith tried to soothe him. "If Julia thinks it's wise, I'm not going to argue. I know what mother is capable of. I'm glad you're here, but where did you go earlier?"

Dale hoped that she did not sense his hesitation. He covered it with a grin and the admonition "Hey, you shouldn't be too nosy. There's a big event coming up." That earned him a quick kiss and a cuddle.

Faith's mood, in particular, was much more upbeat when they arrived at the second clinic. Dale, however, felt a strange sensation in the hairs at the back of his neck. There was no obvious reason for it, but he was uneasy. By plan, one of the agents, a woman, would come into the clinic separately and pretend to be a patient waiting for care. The other agent, a man, would keep watch on the outside.

Dale waited patiently with Faith until she was called. Without alerting the assistant who escorted Faith away, he followed enough to see which room Faith was taken to. It was a large, busy place, so no one questioned his action.

When Faith was in her exam room, Dale came back and told the agent "Something doesn't feel right. I'm going to guard whichever room she is in."

The agent nodded, then pulled a whistle from her pocket and gave it to Dale. "It's old-fashioned, but effective. Keep me apprised of which room she is in so I can get there in a hurry, if needed."

Dale saw that the escorting assistant was returning and he hurried to catch her before she reached the main area. Standing right in her path, he told her "I'm am going to be right outside whatever room Faith is in. You will introduce me to anyone who is going in that room, even the doctor. If anyone else tries to get in, all hell will break loose."

"But ... but that's not..."

"That's not negotiable!" Dale snapped. "I will in no way interfere with your work. If everything goes perfectly, Faith will never know that I was nearby. If she is moved between rooms, you are to tell that woman the room number." He pointed to the agent.

"Is there some kind of a threat?" the very nervous assistant asked.

"She is in a situation where we need to be extra cautious. We are being married in two days and I will not allow anything to happen to upset her." News of the impending marriage brought about a big change in the assistant's attitude. She assured Dale that she would help him out.

The assistant was as good as her word. She even alerted Dale when Faith was brought out of the exam room for weighing and taking a blood sample. He had to scurry to keep Faith from seeing him, to avoid alarming her unnecessarily.

The doctor had just left Faith when a man dressed in what looked liked a repair service uniform approached Faith's room. Dale was between the man and the door in a flash, with a hand firmly on the man's chest.

"What's wrong with you?" the man demanded. "I need to fix an electrical problem in there."

The assistant just happened to come down the hall just then, and Dale threw her a questioning look. She shook her head hard, then hurried away. Dale hoped that she was going to get the agent. If at all possible, he did not want Faith to know that there was a problem, and blowing the whistle would give the threat away.

The man had made two moves to try to get around Dale when the unmistakable feel of a gun barrel pressed against his head froze him. The agent was very well trained. Two seconds later, she had one of the man's arms pushed sharply upwards behind his back and was leading him back toward the waiting room.

Dale stayed by the room for another twenty minutes until the assistant let him know that Faith would be coming out shortly. As Dale walked back to the waiting room with the assistant, he asked her "Do you like Jenny Ballard?"

"I love her, and Lindsey and the others, too," the woman bubbled.

"Give me your name and address, and I will see that you get tickets to her annual concert here in town? And backstage passes. I can't tell you how much I appreciate your help."

"The others told me what happened," the woman said. "That's scary. I'm glad I could help, and thank you for the tickets."

-------

When Dale got to the waiting room, the agent was on the phone. Getting off, she said "I'm ashamed to admit this. We did not give those people credit for being smart enough to do what we would have done. Someone apparently figured out that Faith would be visiting more than one clinic and they looked for another one similar to the first one. It's my guess that a couple of other clinics have their people hanging around."

"Wow!" Dale exclaimed. "I still can't believe it."

"We found out who your guy works for, and they are a top dollar outfit. In our experience, their ethics aren't quite as high as their prices, though. Faith's mother must be throwing them a pile of dough!

"We have two units standing by and we know where they are parked. Let's just say that they will be caught in an unexpected traffic snarl when all of you leave here for her last stop."

"You mean she's actually going to do that last psyche exam?" Dale asked incredulously.

"There's nothing to alert them about a psychiatrist's office. The lawyers really want all of this evidence in hand," Muriel answered. "I've been on the phone with Julia."

-------

When Faith, Muriel, and Dale arrived back on the Transformation grounds, Julia was there to greet them. She knew that Faith was unaware of the day's excitement and decided to let Dale tell her. "We're setting you two up in one of the apartments that is empty (there were several apartments and four complete houses on the grounds.) That is the address that Max will report at the last possible minute. Until the wedding, though, you will stay sequestered here. Does that sound all right?"

"It sounds wonderful!" Faith said, hugging Dale first and then Julia. "I thought maybe we would be at Lindsey's for a while."

"Actually, that's what I wanted to do. The management team thought it was better not to draw any more attention or traffic there than necessary," Julia replied. "If you still want to, I will be happy to see you at Lindsey's after your birthday, Faith."

"Do you really think that she will ever give up?" Faith asked.

"Maybe not, but we will be ready to rebuff her, whatever she tries," Julia answered.

"How can you spend all of that money on me?" Faith asked with a quaver in her voice.

"Faith, Honey," Julia answered, unable to resist the affectionate term, "it's important for us to establish the security and privacy of our residents. Also, you're here to heal. For that to happen, you have to be free from the cause of your past problems. If you need a third reason, Gerald would pay any amount just because it's the right thing to do." That got Julia another hug.

Several hours later, Faith and Dale were in the hot tub when Muriel came to join them. Mysteriously, everyone else had disappeared. Muriel moved to sit close to Faith on her other side, and by the time Dale had described all of the events of the day, Faith was very happy for the dual support. Dale had not wanted to reveal the rings, but the whole story made no sense without the jewelry store. When Faith finally regained her composure, Dale brought out the diamond from where is was hidden under a towel beside the tub, and more tears were generated.

"I guess nothing about our courtship has followed the usual rules, has it?" Dale said apologetically.

"Just so we end up happily after after, I couldn't care less," Faith assured him. "If I had been strong enough to stand up to her long ago, none of this would have happened."

"Yeah, but then, you might have been all married off before I found you," Dale shot back. "I choose to look on the good side." Faith assumed that with the wedding coming up, the usual Tee rules against physical contact in public could be ignored.

Unbelievably, Faith and Dale had not yet consummated their relationship. At first, Faith had felt so badly about her body that Dale sensed it would have detracted from their love-making. As the weeks passed and her appearance steadily improved, it just did not seem the right time for them to sleep together. Faith had said that when she slept with him, she wanted it to be permanent, and that was her sincere feeling. For both of them, a sense of respect for the Tee had restrained them.

As soon as the wedding was decided, Faith had taken the initiative to talk to Julia. "Honey," she told Dale as they were sitting in the hot tub just cuddling, "We have a room in the center section until we move to the apartment."

"You mean... ?"

"I sure do. Now that I know it can be every night, I don't want to waste even one more. I've had enough soaking, here. How about you?"

When they got out of the tub and showered quickly, Dale started to reach for fresh shorts and shirt. "Sweetie, you for sure aren't going to need those," Faith said playfully.

For Faith and Dale, their first time enjoying intercourse was not so much a beginning as a completion. Even though they had never been in an unrestricted environment together, they had experienced every physical sensation except for intercourse.

More than the physical, they had built, through severe restrictions, through separation, and through near tragedy, an emotional bond that two few married couples ever achieve.

Faith had been willing to give up literally everything to be with Dale. He had suppressed his ego and taken her when he had nothing to offer but future promise. He had given her a happiness that she had given up hope for. She had given him the kind of love and devotion that he had always viewed as the ideal because of what his parents had.

Before her first thrilling touch of it, she had stared at his organ many times in art class. When it finally pressed its way into her body, no pain or discomfort could register against the joy of longing fulfilled.

He had seen her emaciated body blossom and fill out because of his attentions. His heart had broken as the emaciation returned when he had to leave her. Once again, she was restored to a pleasing fullness and smoothness that felt like she belonged in his arms.

Uncertainty, clumsiness, prematurity ... none of those mattered, and in fact, were hardly noticed. All that really mattered was the completion and the promise of permanence.

-------

The happy couple was not even aware of all of the scrambling that went on behind the scenes in the next couple of days. The biggest official thing accomplished was acquiring a back-dated marriage license so that when it was signed after the wedding, everything was perfectly legal.

After the scare with the medical appointments, no one wanted to take any chances. It was easy to decide that Faith would not leave the grounds again until after the wedding. Julia and the lawyers expected that Mercedes would present a commitment order as soon as Faith could be found. By the wedding, the lawyers would have an order signed by a judge, certifying that Faith was completely healthy and competent. The order would be based on the four exams she had been through and records of her progress from Transformations.

Along with the certification order, a restraining order against Mercedes and her agents had been obtained earlier. That had been a legal masterpiece. With help from Caroline, records were obtained from the multiple therapists that had treated Faith over the years, establishing the effect of Mercedes' abusive control on Faith's mental and physical condition. Depositions had been obtained regarding the cancellation of Dale's scholarship. There were medical records of Faith's weight and health in the spring before learning that Dale would have to leave. Before escaping to the Tee, she had been seen by doctors, so the affect of her mother's actions on her health were well documented.

The reason for the insistence on the marriage was because, under state law, marriage severed all parental responsibility and control and transferred it to the spouse. It was assumed that Mercedes would have engaged an army of attorneys to make every attempt at regaining control of her daughter.

Julia had considered asking Faith if her mother should be invited to the wedding at the last possible hour. The thinking was that making that kind of statement to Mercedes about Faith's complete independence would be good for Faith. It would be in an environment where Mercedes could not cause any real trouble.

Julia went as far as discussing it with Caroline, but together, they decided that they did not want to gamble that Faith was strong enough to benefit from the statement rather than being disturbed by her mother's presence. They agreed that Mercedes herself was beyond any hope of having her attitude changed by the experience.

To a whole army of women, though, the legalities were insignificant in comparison to setting up a real wedding in the Tee's center section. First of all, there were several decisions to be made. Margo Ballard, the recognized fashion wizard, was enlisted to find Faith a dress and get it fitted. She managed that by doing the fitting herself, making three separate trips back and forth to the bridal shop.

For her part, Faith was adamant that hair styling and makeup be done by the residents, and she declared with unaccustomed forcefulness that if the residents could not dress and come to the wedding, she would be married in the women's section with only residents and staff present.

Letting the residents dress and attend was never an issue. The only argument was how they should be dressed. When the idea of them wearing the staff uniforms was mentioned, Margo shot it down vigorously. Somehow, she arranged for racks of blouses and skirts in assorted sizes to be delivered to the Tee the morning of the wedding, along with a generous assortment of underwear. Shoes were more of a problem, but the women had all been barefoot for their entire stay, so some dressy looking slippers with flexible fit were chosen.

Because Dale lived at Lindsey's, all of the kids there wanted to attend, and most did not have anything dressy with them. During that discussion, Faith insisted that she and Dale be the only ones wearing either a coat and tie for the men or nylons and heels for the women. The attendees were to be casual.

The wedding had to be on a Thursday to have them married before Max had to reveal Faith's whereabouts. It was carefully scheduled so that all of the Lindsey's kids could get there after school. That allowed for the maximum preparation time, as well. An evening wedding had been considered, but the lawyers opined that the license should be signed before Max delivered the address. Holding it the evening before was out of the question, given the amount of frantic preparation required.

Always socially aware, Julia called Caroline immediately when the decision was made. Several hours later, Caroline called back to say that she, Catherine, Marilyn, Lisa, and Barry would all be there.

Max had offered to send the newlyweds anywhere they wanted for a honeymoon. Faith declared that she was not ready to go anywhere, though, and Julia agreed. "Daddy, your offer is so kind. But until I know that mother has truly given up, I couldn't enjoy some exotic spot. Right here is where my new life has started. I'm so much stronger, but I need the security of this place for a while longer. Can you understand that?"

"I can understand it," Max answered. "It just makes me feel so guilty for what you have to recover from."

"Well, when I say 'I do', let's make that the time when all of the past is really the past and let's not let it drag us down any more," Faith said. "I can't wait to finally see you. You'll be proud of how I look, Daddy!"

-------

It is one of the wonders of the world was what a group of eager, talented woman can accomplish when the goal is a wedding. The pool and hot tub in the center section were covered, so even the usual smell and humidity were reduced. Some very nice chairs had been delivered and the kids from Lindsey's had set them up the evening before. The resident women had been allowed to don shorts and shirts the evening before and join the kids in the setup. In the process, a number of decorations were put up.

As far as the ceremony itself, a minister had been hired, Hank Ballard had assembled a combo for music, and Lindsey insisted that she would sing. Amazingly, Margo and Hank came up with a brand new wedding song in just one evening, and Lindsey would sing that, as well as one of her hits. It would resemble a typical church wedding as much as possible.

Gretchen and Carol had worked non-stop, as well. A full reception meal was being readied, and they were doing the cake. Gretchen had asked Faith for the privilege, and Faith was overjoyed at the idea.

A professional photographer had been engaged, and Catherine had arranged something else unique. Lisa had been instructed to bring along whatever supplies she wanted that could not be purchased locally, and Faith and Dale would pose for a portrait.

-------

Most grooms never in their lives encounter a woman as beautiful as their bride as she walks the aisle toward them. Dale could certainly be excused for believing that. Faith always had beautiful features and striking eyes. Without the gauntness that had diminished her beauty for so many years, she was indeed a gorgeous bride with a cover girl face.

Faith would always be slim - willowy. Having gained back her weight and added a lot of muscle tone, though, she no longer gave the impression of being too thin. With her natural grace enhanced by her new strength, all who saw her gliding through the crowd to meet Dale thought she could have been a professional bridal model. The only problem was that she could not adopt the blase, sophisticated facial expression that models usually wore. Her smile was absolutely unquenchable.

With professionals like the Ballards and Lindsey involved, there was not a single hint that the whole event had been put together in just three days. It was as smooth and polished as could be, and as emotional as any wedding most of the attendees had seen. Altogether, about eighty people were there.

Thanks to the careful planning, the minister was putting the last signature on the marriage documents just as Max's representative was delivering two items to Mercedes' lawyer. The first was a simple index card stating 'The current residence of Mrs. Faith Charles Rubens is... '. The second item was the restraining order forbidding Mercedes from approaching her daughter.

While the newlyweds and the wedding crowd were basking in the romantic atmosphere and celebrating, Mercedes Charles was making her household staff forget all of the epic rages of the past. The fact that Faith was married had been a gut punch by itself, but the restraining order had driven her to the very edge of rationality.

At first, the Tee's lawyers had thought to deliver the certification of Faith's physical and psychological health along with the address and restraining order. Later, they had decided to hold that as counter move if Mercedes should attempt to serve a commitment order despite the protection decree.

-------

Mark Ventri had become quite an accomplished videographer, and he had recorded the wedding using three separate cameras. The video track had been combined with a sound track from the mixing board that Hank had set up. After carefully going through the video and masking the faces of the residents, Mark presented a DVD to the couple a few days after the wedding.

Faith insisted that they watch it immediately. After the second time through, she called Julia. "Would it be inappropriate to send a DVD of the wedding to my mother?" Faith asked.

"What would be your purpose in sending it?" Julia asked quickly. "Would it be to hurt her or to open a bit of a connection?"

Faith had to think for a moment, but then just said "Yes."

"I understand," Julia said. "I just need to warn you that you may not be ready for any contact with her, yet. We cannot expect her to be conciliatory or even civil on your first meeting. I know you are much stronger, but do not underestimate the effect she can still have on you."

After another thoughtful pause, Faith said "OK. I'll just send her the DVD; no scathing note, no invitation, nothing else."

-------

[Muriel & Clark] Early December

As the reception was winding down, Dale pulled his mother to the side to give her yet another hug. "You're ready, aren't you, Mom?"

"Ready for what, Hon?"

"Ready to go to bed with Clark."

"Da-ale! What kind of question is that to ask your mother."

"The kind a grateful son asks his gorgeous mother who has found the right man but just needs to go for it."

Muriel wondered if blushing could be terminal, but Dale pushed on. "Look, Mom, after what happened at school about the posing, and after the time we've spent naked together here, what is there to be embarrassed about?"

"I guess you're right, Sweetie. I've had a lot to think about since Clark and I have been separated. He really is the right man, and watching you and Faith has made me long for the same thing."

"Well, that's good. When we're done here, there's a limo waiting for the two of you. You have a luxury suite for three nights, and Clark has Friday off."

"But I haven't packed! Neither has Clark!" Muriel objected.

"You'll just have to trust what Margo and Faith put together for you," Dale insisted. "Besides, why will you need clothes, anyway?"

"Dale!" After she let her blush subside, she gave Dale a hug and thanked him before heading off to find Clark.



-------

Chapter 24


[Muriel & Clark] Early December

Clark was elated when Muriel told him about their weekend. He had loved her deeply since he first met her. She had been married, then, and his sense of honor had prevented him from ever revealing his feelings. When she became widowed and penniless, he helped her and Dale out of natural human concern and kindness. At the same time, he had hoped that someday he might earn her attentions.

Although he had never married, Clark had been in an eight year relationship that he had always hoped would lead to marriage. When it ended in a needlessly cruel way, he swore off women, except for casual sex. His first introduction to Muriel changed that for good.

Clark had been determined to wait until Muriel was ready. Their long forced separation because of her and Dale being sequestered had been terribly hard on him, but it looked like it would all be worth it, now.

There were two items of concern in their relationship, from Clark's viewpoint. One was his earning potential as a teacher. The other was her position at Transformations. He knew that Transformations used nudity as a key part of their program. He had been at Lindsey's several times before Muriel had to be sequestered there, and he knew that nudity was not allowed. Still, he wondered if she had been required to be nude as part of her job preparation. He could not help wondering how many men saw her naked, and how frequently.

A related concern had been on Muriel's mind. As Dale had sensed, she was ready for sex with Clark. Actually, she had been ready for a long time, except for the lingering feelings of unfaithfulness to her dead husband. As a staff member of Transformations, she had heard and believed that one partner being comfortable with nudity while the other was not could create dangerous tension in a relationship. Her conundrum was what to do about it. She had talked it over with Julia, and now was the time to face the issue squarely.

As soon as they reached the suite, while Clark was stowing their meager luggage, she feigned a full bladder and undressed in the bathroom. She was watching his eyes intently when she walked out. After the initial shock, she was thrilled to see awe, desire, pride, and tenderness in his gaze.

Walking up to him, she tried to keep her voice steady for the little speech she had prepared. "Clark, Darling, I'm finally ready to start building a life together. I'm sorry it has taken so long, but your patience convinces me that this is what you want, too. Is that right?"

"God, Muriel! I always knew you were beautiful, but seeing you like this leaves me speechless. Yes, I want to spend the rest of my life with you. You know, though, that teaching is what I want to do. I think I will have a principal's job in another year or so, but I will never earn the big money you were once used to."

"Oh, I know that, Clark, and believe me, it does not concern me at all. The time I have spent at Lindsey's, working on the staff of Transformations, has given me a whole different perspective on wealth. Compared to relationships, it just doesn't matter."

"I have to tell you, Honey," Clark said, "that I'm uncomfortable not knowing very much about your involvement with Transformations. Oh, I know about Lindsey's, but I suspect there is more that you have not told me."

"You're right, Sweetheart. This weekend was a surprise, but I think we should make that concern a priority. I'm anxious for you to know everything about it. I promise you, though, that no matter what your reaction is to what I tell you, I want us to be together. Nothing is more important than that. Can we finally make love? That's the first, most important thing."

"I ... need to shower first," he stammered as she managed to get her hands down into his shorts and accelerate the swelling that had started.

"I'll help," she offered around a sizzling kiss.

Pride in one's body and discipline in caring for it do not equate to narcissism. The muscular athlete gone to seed is a cliche, but one that Clark had determined would never include him.

Perhaps Muriel was snobbish about the men that appealed to her. After her exceedingly well built husband and the exceptional sex life that they shared, she could certainly be forgiven for her ideal template. When her son Dale developed an arguably even better body, it just strengthened her preference.

Clark's body met all of her criteria. Oh, his face was rugged and manly rather than cover boy handsome, as her husband had been. Countless times, though, she had admired the sharp angle of his torso spreading upward from his tight buttocks and narrow waist to his wide, corded shoulders. When she looked at him in profile, the girth of his upper chest never failed to cause things to happen at her crotch. In a golf shirt, the size and chiseled look of his biceps and forearms were an aphrodisiac to her.

As erotic as she found his body, though, Muriel was not so shallow as to let that overcome her judgement. Clark had proved over and over that he had the love, care, and respect that would make him a great husband.

After her trip a year earlier to help Dale get prepared for his modeling job, Muriel and Clark had become much more familiar with each other's bodies. Still, Muriel had not been able to take the final step and go to bed with him. Nor had she been naked with him before.

The opulent shower in the suite's bathroom was a perfect setting for the long-awaited chance to fully enjoy the fruits of the other's disciplined attention to conditioning.

After a few minutes of supposed washing, Muriel was stroking his bloated shaft, drooling over how she expected its impressive thickness to stretch her passage. Looking up at him with all of her pent-up longing showing in her eyes, she asked "if you come now, you'll still get hard again in a little while, won't you?"

"I ... I don't think I'll even get soft!" he groaned. "Don't stop now ... you'll kill me!"

She felt a pang of guilt when he came, but only because her mind flashed back to the many times she had felt her beloved husbands shaft swelling with each spurt while his testicles tightened in preparation for the next one. She also remembered her one wonderful session with Dale in Catherine's back yard.

But this was a different man. His organ was different, but no less thrilling to her. This would be hers to enjoy for the rest of their life together. She would once more have the source of that wonderful force in her loving hands.

"Let's get in bed so I can do that for you," he panted as he leaned against the shower wall and gasped for breath. She agreed so enthusiastically that they were still quite damp when they threw back the covers.

Muriel had just one thought: she wanted that splendid muscle inside her. She fairly ached for the feeling. However, the way he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her left her breathless and unsure of what she wanted, where she was, or even who she was. His strength and his desire was were so compelling that she decided that what she really wanted was whatever he wanted.

What he wanted was his hands and mouth on every part of her body. He confessed his lack of expertise, but she was soon ready to argue with him. Perhaps it was the the unmistakable love that flowed through every touch, every lick, every kiss. When his tongue found her clitoris, she was ready to proclaim him the world cunnilingus champion. He had her bouncing and writhing, moaning and pleading for several minutes.

When her body had to escape the sensual overload by collapsing into orgasm, her mind could only handle one thought: she had to have him inside her. She probably did not realize how hard she grabbed an ear, or how much it could hurt as she tugged him upward with a handful of hair. He probably did not feel much of it either. Both of them were lost in the need.

Muriel had waited long enough, and that was a good thing. At the peak of their passion, she never once thought of anyone but Clark. There were no more images of her dead husband, just the marvelous filling and stroking of his cock. It was enough. She had healed and could look forward to a new life of passion with this wonderful man. How many women could be so twice blessed?

-------

With neither being sure how it happened, they fell asleep with the covers pulled over them. There were two beds in the suite, and when they awoke, they realized that they would need the other one. Both felt the need to get cleaned up, and Muriel convinced him that the jet tub would be the perfect way. She had another motive besides just getting clean, though.

When they were relaxing in the hot water, she brought up the subject that she had been concerned about. "Honey, as I told you before, no matter how you feel about what I'm going to tell you, I want to be your wife. There is nothing I won't give up or change if it displeases you."

She recounted what she had done at Transformations until they had to get out of the hot water. It was evident that he was not happy about some of her exposure, although he did not say anything.

Convincing him to stay naked, she cuddled on the couch with him as she continued. "I could tell that you did not like that I was naked around a number of men. Honey, if I continue at Transformations, that will happen more.

"One of the things that management is very strong about is not to let the needs of the job damage families. To me, nudity is no big deal. If you do not feel the same way, it could damage our relationship."

"So, what do we do about that? I don't want to ask you to quit," he stated.

"What I hope we can do is get you comfortable with nudity," she answered.

"Ohhhh. I don't consider myself a prude, or anything, but I don't know if I could ever be casual about it."

"Everyone who goes through it is surprised at how easy it seems afterwards. Maybe you don't want to address the issue now, but in lots of ways, it's best to do it quickly and aggressively. Do you want me to be able to continue at Lindsey's and Transformations?"

"I would hate to ask you to quit. I know how much you love it. You know, I've come to love those kids, too. They really are special. I've thought about ways that we could live there together, but maybe that's unrealistic."

"No! No! That's not unrealistic at all! Oh, Honey, there's even more happening at the Tee that we could be involved with. It would be so wonderful to do it side by side!"

She did not mean to be manipulative. She did not even do it on purpose. Tears of emotion just sprang to her eyes. He knew exactly why. "Working with you would be wonderful, Sweetheart, but I don't want to give up teaching."

"I don't want you to. If we were living there, I'm sure there would be ways you could help when you were not in school. Darling, the steps to get people prepared have been well tested. I would never try to tell you it will be easy. It wasn't for me, that's for sure. Would you trust me to get you comfortable, starting this weekend?"

"What would I have to do?"

"Just trust me. I won't tell you what will happen ahead of time. I will just promise you that it is nothing that hasn't been done by every other male employee."

When he said nothing for a while, she fondled his penis and told him "I can promise you that I will make it impossible for you to get an erection this weekend, except when I want you to. I will tell you that some number of females will see this. I believe I will doing them a huge favor by letting them."

"Muriel, I want very much to be a part of your world. I am so impressed by your commitment to it and the good things that I know are happening. I ... I'll do whatever you say."

"You won't be sorry, I promise," she said, bouncing enticingly in her joy. "The first thing is that you won't be wearing any clothes until we check out. No matter what happens or who comes in here, you will face them and interact with them naked. Still game?"

"Oof! Yeah. Still game."

"Just remember, by the time we check out, it will already be a lot easier. Also, it is my intention to have you so fucked out that you won't remember any embarrassment. As soon as I make a few phone calls, we'll start on that promise."

She was as good as her word. After she spent about ten minutes on the phone in the bathroom, she pulled him to the bed, spread herself out in invitation, and urged him through a very energetic pounding. He was able to hold out until she shuddered through an orgasm, pleasing him greatly.

As they lay recovering, she told him "We really should get some sleep, but now, we don't have a clean bed to sleep in. I'll call housekeeping. You let them in and stay with them, OK?" He was too tired to gasp, but not too tired to realize that his trip through the 'gauntlet' was about to start.

-------

Through Friday and Saturday, Clark was never to know whether the various people who brought meals or did housekeeping were actual hotel employees or plants. As it turned out, almost all were actual employees, although some were supervisors or managers drafted for 'special duty'. All were female.

He also would never know that Norma spent the weekend at the hotel, carefully prepping each employee that was to enter the room. She also tipped them liberally.

That first night, two women came in to make the beds. One looked barely twenty and did not stop blushing the entire time. That was harder on Clark than the older woman who seemed to always have her gaze on his crotch. He could not figure out how they actually got the beds changed.

Muriel did not have to tell him that he was to let room service in to set up breakfast Friday morning. He was not even very surprised to see the two young women set up four places.

Muriel dressed for breakfast and Norma and Paul joined them. Norma gave him a warm hug when she entered and never stopped expressing her joy that they were finally going to be a couple.

Paul regaled him with tales of his own orientation. As he talked about his first exposure to his daughters, Clark was grateful for the wakeup sex that that had made an erection impossible.

Impossible or not, Muriel got him hard enough for another round as soon as Paul and Norma left. He could tell that she was not faking her excitement. Having him naked in front of other women really aroused her.

They had just finished when it was time for the normal room cleaning - two more young women.

Carol and Ryan were the lunch guests, and Gretchen joined them. For dinner it was Faith and Dale plus Yvonne and Michelle. Both Muriel and Clark objected to the newlyweds spending their first day that way, but Faith was having none of that.

"Muriel, don't be silly!" Faith said in mock anger. "An image I will never, ever forget is you standing in Catherine's little studio, sending Dale your love and support with your gaze. If we can help Clark even a little to make the start of your married live better, well ... just don't be silly! There is nothing that could be more important to us."

Being the only naked one with the three gorgeous young women was a lot of pressure on Clark, but Muriel had kept her promise. In fact, it was not until the middle of the night that she was able to get him hard again.

When the two young couples, Leah and Cy and Missy and Ted, showed up for breakfast Saturday, Clark was a little upset. Muriel quickly explained how they were already familiar with nudity, and he settled down.

The biggest shock so far for Clark was when his mother and his sister walked in for lunch. It had taken a lot of talking to get them to do it, and at first he was almost angry enough to send them away.

Muriel cuddled up to him and told him "Sweetheart, please! Just look in their eyes, both of them. What do you see? I see nothing but pride and gratitude. You've got to realize how women feel about this awesome body of yours.

"Your mother brought you into this world. Can you imagine how it feels for her to see you in all of your glory? Your sister has probably wondered her whole life what was between your legs. Does it hurt you any to let her find out? Will it hurt your relationship with her? I think you know those answers. Now, they are doing this for you. They had to be talked into it because they were afraid of embarrassing you. Go give them a hug and thank them. They love you more than ever, if that's possible.

The visit went on for most of the afternoon, and it ended well. At one point, his sister spent a good twenty minutes cuddling on his bare lap.

Julia and Frank were the dinner guests. "Clark, I can't tell you how happy I am to see your penis!" After saying that and seeing Clark's stunned expression, she laughed and told him "I guess you aren't quite comfortable enough yet for joking, are you. Actually, I am glad to see you naked because it means that I won't have to lose Muriel. It also means that I have another man to help in our new venture." She went on to describe Jenny's and how he might fit in on his off hours.

"I think you've heard how our orientations usually go, Clark, but I would like to do something a little different with you. I would like you to come to the Tee after school, and work with the women as a regular employee. The difference is that I want you naked for probably the first two weeks. So, you will be naked, working with about twenty naked women. Can you handle that?"

"I never thought I could handle any of this, so my opinion isn't worth much. Pulling Muriel close, he said "Somehow, I suspect that Muriel will get me through it."

"That's great. I guess you're familiar with all of the theory and the reasons." Somehow, she forgot to tell him that no other man had been required to do quite that much. Somehow, none of them thought of how he was supposed to stand naked and massage the women.

-------

[Mercedes] Early December

Mercedes Charles was not doing well at all. Her initial rage could only carry her so far. When it died out from sheer exhaustion, depression set in for perhaps the first time in her life.

The first thing the morning after the wedding, she had called her lead attorney and ordered her to get the commitment order served. When the attorney had replied, Mercedes had immediately fired her, even though she had served for almost fifteen years. The attorney had declared that the restraining order would make any attempt to serve contempt of court. She also said that since Faith was now married, Mercedes' parental rights over any kind of medical treatment were voided.

"But she's not twenty-one, yet!" Mercedes had screamed back.

"Rights like that pass to the spouse at eighteen," the lawyer replied. "At any rate, she is mere weeks from twenty-one, so it would be easy for her to stall, even if we could serve the order."

Following another extended tirade by Mercedes, the lawyer calmly said "As my last act as your attorney, I must advise you that there is absolutely nothing you can legally do to your daughter any longer. She is now a free, independent adult. I must also warn you that anything that you attempt could land you in jail on a contempt charge.

"No judge here would do that to me!" Mercedes shouted.

"We're not talking about judges here," the lawyer pointed out.

When the acrimonious call finally ended, the lawyer once again wondered if she would not have been better off turning down the apparently lucrative Charles account in the first place. After all of the years, she faced the very real prospect of being blacklisted locally.

A week later, Mercedes received the DVD of the wedding, and it drove her deeper into depression. Despite her private rages, Mercedes had always been meticulous about her public image, and she would never risk being arrested for any reason. Always before, she had found ways to 'play' the legal system to accomplish what she wanted without personal risks. Now, all legal recourse seemed closed off and she was still not willing to risk the humiliation of arrest.

More than she would ever admit, Faith had been a key part of Mercedes' life. The girl had mostly been a source of frustration because of unrealized hopes, but still a dominant factor. Max had also been an important fixture. For Mercedes, targets for her dominance, her manipulations, and her anger were very important. Now, she had lost both of her main targets, and she felt an unexplained emptiness.

In her circle, therapy was almost as accepted as a visit to the hair salon. Mercedes had been more than willing to seek therapy for Faith, even though she paid no attention to the conclusions. Seeking help for herself, though, was unthinkable. Thus, Mercedes was left with two crushing losses and nowhere to turn for help.

Unable to accomplish any more legally and unwilling to take any more personal legal risk, Mercedes had only one alternative. She had to act as if her daughter and her husband never existed. Of course, a decision like that was virtually impossible to implement, but that was the course she chose and she would stick to it with her usual single-mindedness. Everyone in her employ or her acquaintance would soon learn that Faith and Max were never, ever to be mentioned.

-------

[Faith] Mid December

One of Faith's biggest problems through all of her adolescent years had been the feeling of isolation. Because of both her social status and her mother's reputation, she had never had any truly close friends.

The Tee was a whole new world for Faith, one where she could literally communicate all that she wanted with people who truly cared about her. It became a humorous but loving challenge among the residents that anyone who could catch Faith alone would get an award. If she was not with Dale, not working an a machine, or not on a computer, she was talking with someone.

The newlyweds never moved into the apartment that was their 'official' address. Their wedding night, they stayed in the room in the center section again. The next day, Faith sought out Julia. "Could I just live with Dale at Lindsey's? I want to be with people. I'd love to get to know the kids, and I want to get to know Muriel a lot better. She's my mother, now."

Well, Julia did not pretend to be impervious to that kind of emotional plea. She understood how much the closeness to the other residents had helped Faith. Also, it would be good for Muriel to have some help with the kids at Lindsey's, as the number of resident kids was starting to grow.

"His room is not very big, and it's only a queen bed," Julia pointed out, purposely baiting Faith a little.

"But it's like here, isn't it? I mean, the whole place would be like our house. Besides, a queen bed is even more space than we need at night."

"But, at home, you had a whole apartment of your own," Julia challenged. "Will you really be happy with communal living?"

"Julia, the Tee is communal living! I have never been happier in my life. I have a lifetime of privacy, and I don't need it any more. I think I can relate to those kids, and I want a chance to help."

"Does Dale agree?"

With a little smirk that told Julia more about Faith's progress than any words could have, Faith said "Do you honestly think he would disagree? Besides, you've seen him over there with the kids. He's constantly talking with them or playing some game with them."

"Well, from my standpoint, it couldn't be better," Julia said. "With you two and eventually Missy living over there, we'll be covered if Muriel gets married and wants to move out."

"Married? Is she that close?" Faith exclaimed.

"After your wedding and their weekend, I can imagine that is about all that Muriel is thinking of," Julia answered with a chuckle. "It seems that she has found the right man. All she needs is to get past any remaining feelings of unfaithfulness to Dale's father and just do it. You can help with that, you know."

"Oh, I will. I will!"

As it turned out, Faith fit in beautifully with Lindsey's kids. In some way or another, all of them had been deprived of a normal teenaged existence. Even though she was several years older, she became an instant buddy to the girls. Dale and Muriel just watched in loving amusement as Faith tried to replay her lost high school years.

Muriel could not have been happier with her new daughter. She had never questioned that Faith would be the right girl for Dale, but she had not anticipated how almost frantically Faith leaned on her. She had to keep reminding herself that Faith had never had a real mother/daughter relationship. She had several conversation with Mary Hall and with Lindsey about the subject.

A part of Faith's personality that had always been hidden or subdued was a mischievous, teasing streak. Of course, it's emergence delighted the other girls, and Dale was thrilled, too, even though he was the main target of the teasing. It did not take Dale long to learn that when she teased him, it was the beginning of her 'mating dance'. If the time was right and he responded properly, it would lead to some outstanding sex.

Having waited for intercourse until almost their wedding night and living where chances for physical intimacy were limited, Faith and Dale's relationship was much more advanced intellectually and emotionally than it was sexually. Their initial encounters were almost desperate because of the pent-up longing. For Faith, they were especially emotional because she had feared that she would never have a body that could please a lover.

When Faith had first arrived at the Tee, Jessica Conroy, with her perfect centerfold body, was still a resident. Faith never doubted Dale's love for her, nor did she become jealous of Jessica, whom she became quite fond of in the short time they were both residents. It was just hard for Faith to believe that her skeletal body could ever be sexually attractive to the one she loved so desperately. The contrast to Jessica's perfection just fed those fears.

By the time Rachel Matthews arrived, a beauty in her own right, Faith had made progress both physically and psychologically, but she was still very thin. Fortunately, Rachel's almost childlike personality made her seem rather non-sexual. Still, it was like another mirror to Faith, revealing her own physical shortcomings.

Dale had constantly celebrated every pound that Faith gained and every bit of padding that she added, not only with words, but with constant touching and stroking. Word got out to the other residents, and they joined in the praise and celebration.

It helped a lot, particularly when Faith discovered how Dale's shorts bulged when he was paying attention to her body. She knew that reaction could not be faked. It told her what she so desperately longed for - her body excited him - he wanted her.

As Faith shed the remnants of her former fearful, needy personality, sex for the couple became more exuberant and celebratory. Just the feeling of being held against his incredible naked body moved her quickly up the arousal scale. When his hands and lips told her honestly how much her own once-despised frame thrilled him, she expressed her joy in frantic, erotic touches and motions. Her body proved to be very flexible, and she seemed to seek new ways to use that to drive him to sexual heights.

One morning, after the couple had obviously made some vigorous love, Muriel teased Faith by asking her "Don't you feel bad letting these other poor girls see that well-fucked glow?"

"Nope! Gives them something to look forward to," was Faith's cheeky reply. As much as anything, that told Muriel that the emaciated, beaten down girl that had been rescued was no more. She had to call and tell Julia, who was equally thrilled.

-------

[Brett] Mid-December

"Mr. Hall, this is Detective Brooks at the police station. We have your son here. Would you please come over." No parent ever wants to hear that phone call, whether at two am or at any other time. Floyd had been dreading something like this, though.

That they had botched the raising of their son Brett as badly as they had their parenting of Lindsey was no secret. The errors were totally different, but the effect was potentially worse.

Since their time at Transformations, Mary and Floyd had agonized over the fate of Brett. They had gotten the best advice they could find and had carefully begun to exert the kind of control that had been lacking in the boy's life. Unfortunately, Brett had resisted and had lashed back. Things had gone downhill when school and football season had started. Brett was a starting running back, and thus one of the gods of the school. He saw no need to listen to his parents about anything. Now, in December, the call came.

Preparing for the journey to the precinct, Floyd knew that the fault lay mainly with him. Oh, Mary had practically deified the boy and spoiled him rotten, before the Tee. Floyd had done his part by living vicariously through his son's athletic and sexual exploits, religious beliefs notwithstanding. He had done nothing to counter Mary's worship.

A lot had changed since Floyd's traumatic entry into the Tee. No, they had not been able to turn Brett around, but Floyd had more and more assumed the strong role a father needed to play with his son. His biggest fear was that it was too little, too late, and the call from the Detective added to those fears.

Hanging up the phone, Floyd made up his mind that he would tell Mary about it - tell her everything that went on - but as had become his pattern since the climactic time with his mother and sister, he was taking charge of the situation.

When he arrived at the station after insisting that Mary stay behind, Floyd was hit with a gut punch. A kindly officer told him that sexual assault charges had been brought against Brett. That was no misdemeanor mischief problem. Taking a deep breath to quell the sudden panic, Floyd sought out the officer handling the case.

The officer was very courteous, almost gentle. Floyd wondered if maybe he had a teenaged son, also. "Mr. Hall, it was a drunken mess. Your son was either too drunk or showing off too much to understand 'no'. In his defense, I don't know how the girl could have figured out the right word in her condition, either. He did not penetrate her, but he, uh, ejaculated all over her. I can release him to you."

"If he stays overnight, will it necessarily go on his record?"

"Well, technically, but if the DA likes the resolution of things, they usually wipe the record. Nobody here likes to see a kid's life screwed up this way. We use our judgment on these a lot of times and delay the actual arrest until the light of day. If we have to go through with it, it has more of an effect on a sober kid."

"Then, given what's gone on with our son, I think a night in jail would be a great wakeup call."

The officer looked at Floyd hard for a while, then said "That's a gutsy move."

"I'm afraid we screwed up so badly we're out of options," Floyd said sadly.

"Do you want to talk to him?"

"No. I think I'll let him stew," Floyd said. "What time can I pick him up in the morning? Does there need to an arraignment, a bail hearing or anything?"

"He's still sixteen, right? Despite the charges, we prefer to handle these things rather informally. I'm pretty sure the charges won't stick, either. Look, Mr. Hall, I really don't think it's a good idea for you to leave him here. Even in our suburb, there are some pretty unsavory characters in the lockup any given night."

"Is there a clerk who could handle getting him in a cab and pay the driver?" Floyd asked, pulling out fifty dollars.

"Yes, Sir. That's a much better idea. Still sends the 'hands off' message I think you want."

Mary and Floyd forced themselves to stay in bed when Brett came home very noisily at 3:30 am. Floyd had left the front door unlocked, assuming the boy would be unable to unlock it. Both parents gritted their teeth over the mess he was likely to make.

-------

"I appreciate all of you being willing to listen to us," Floyd said as he sat with Julia and the fourteen current residents of Lindsey's. "I'm Floyd Hall and this is my wife Mary. We're Lindsey Hall's parents." Cy, Leah, Naomi, and Missy, of course, knew Mary very well and Cy and Leah saw Floyd at church every Sunday.

"Most of you probably know Lindsey's story," Floyd continued. "We were about the most miserable parents imaginable, and we drove our daughter away from us. I think every one of you here can relate to that."

"Fortunately for us, Lindsey forced us to go into Transformations, right next door. Because of that, we look a lot different and our marriage is stronger. We have also been able to rebuild some of our relationship with Lindsey.

"The reason I am here is because we screwed up just as badly with our son, Brett, who is a junior. He did not turn out as a good kid in a bad situation, like Lindsey did. Using locker room talk, which I rarely do, Brett is an asshole." That brought chuckles and giggles from the group.

"I have a totally crazy idea for how to deal with Brett," Floyd said. "It is an awful lot to ask of all of you, but we are desperate."

"We're so grateful that Lindsey started this place that we'll do anything we possibly can for you," one girl said quickly. Others called out their agreement.

"You'd better wait until you hear my crazy plan," Floyd said. When he finished telling them, they were just as shocked as he had expected. "I'd better give you a few days to talk about this. I realize there are some real problems. If some of your parents found out, there could be legal consequences."

"No, we'll do it," several girls said at once. Missy would have been the most enthusiastic of them, but Julia had taken time for a little heart to heart with Missy beforehand.

"Missy, I love how energetic and involved you have become," Julia had said. "You're not going to like what I'm going to ask you, but I know you'll understand the reasons." When she had explained the plan, she had told Missy "Because of your stay at the Tee, the whole plan will seem quite ... ordinary. It will be far from that to three others. So, I'm asking you to stay in the background - just be one of the group and don't take an active role."

"Damn! I suppose he's cute, too," Missy had grumped. Then she had hugged Julia as she had done so many times in the last months. "I'll trust you to know what's going to help him the most," Missy had declared.

"It's wonderful that we can escape here," a boy said, "but we need to think about helping other kids with problems, too. Even different problems from our own. Of course, the girls will have the most fun out of it." That got him several objects thrown his way."

Muriel was beaming at the back of the group. She had been briefed as soon as Julia had given the go-ahead. Naomi looked quite upset, but she was not about to raise an objection. She had only been living at Lindsey's a short time. She did not need to be at the Tee any longer, but she needed to be nearby for Rachel. Although not intended as a halfway house, Lindsey's was looking like a perfect alternative.

The next few days were a flurry of meetings. The first was with Nancy and Ron Merker, the parents of Chelsea, the girl Brett had assaulted. Floyd and Ron had lunched together immediately after the episode. Ron was almost apologetic, bemoaning how wild his daughter had become and sorry that Brett was in such trouble because of her. He was inclined to just drop the whole matter. It was a real surprise to Ron when Floyd asked him not to.

The two men met with a DA, and then the Halls and the Merkers returned to Lindsey's so the Merkers could see the place and talk to the kids. As they were about to leave, Nancy made a demand. "I'll go along with this on one condition. After the holidays, when school starts again, Chelsea moves in here until her grades pick up. We'll pay more than the normal fee.

That was yet another unexpected direction for Lindsey's. Could living with good kids rub off on one gone a bit wild? Surprisingly, Julia and Lindsey were all for the idea.

Staying with what was now just an act, the Merkers, as the aggrieved party, were 'assigned' by the DA to monitor whether Brett was conforming to his punishment deal. If he was not performing according to the deal, it was their recommendation that would send him to jail. The actual chance of jail was no more real for Brett than it had been for his parents a year earlier, but he had no way of knowing that.

-------

[Brett] Late December

Thus it was that as soon as Brett got home from school on the last day before Christmas vacation, Mary and Floyd took him directly to Lindsey's Place where they met the Merkers and Chelsea.

"Why didn't I get my luggage first?" Brett groused. "A few more minutes wouldn't have hurt."

"We'll bring over what you need later," Mary said brightly.

When it was converted from the men's section, Lindsey's was given a whole new entrance. There was still an entry area from which a second door opened into the main area. The entry area was used as a study site, where the residents could act as receptionists as they worked. Typically, the doors were not locked.

The reception area was empty when the group of six walked in, but once they were inside, Ryan Gilchrist, Dale Rubens, and Terry Torvold came in quietly behind them. All three wore uniforms, but with shirts a couple of sizes too small. The muscles of all three very impressively displayed.

As angry as he was at his son, the next part was going to be very hard for Floyd, but he had insisted that he needed to do it himself. "OK, Brett. There is one fact about your sentence here at Lindsey's that we did not tell you. For the entire time you are here, you will be naked."

"Yeah, right!" Brett snorted. Chelsea, not clued in, gasped, but the adults all stood motionless and expressionless. It took Brett several moments to notice the lack of humor, and hints of alarm started to intrude on his mind. "Hey, wait! This isn't funny. You can't mean... ! This isn't right!"

"Brett!" Floyd snapped, "listen closely. You are going to be living naked with six very nice young ladies and five guys that I wish you were like. They will all be clothed. You know the rules of what you have to do here. You will just be doing it bare-assed."

"No! Dad! This is wrong! Wait!"

"Brett, you are going through that door naked in less than five minutes. You can undress right here like a man and walk through there with some dignity, OR - I'm sure these three guys, including your teammate Terry, will have no trouble stripping you and hauling you in to your new housemates crying and kicking like a three-year-old having a tantrum."

Floyd thought for a moment about whether to add one last barb and his anger won out. "When the girls get their first look at your dick, wouldn't you rather have them think you're proud of it, rather than crying and screaming to keep it covered? You've got ten seconds. Who undresses you? You, or them?"

Brett was totally frozen in place. Acting instinctively, Ryan took a step toward him, with Dale and Terry following quickly. That jolted Brett from his catatonia. Holding his hand toward the three, Brett blurted out "No! No! I'll..." With looks of absolute hatred at his parents and a look of shame toward Chelsea and her parents, he began to undress.

Brett was down to underwear and socks when embarrassment broke through the shock, anger, and hatred. To a teenaged boy, that kind of embarrassment means erection. When he felt it rise, he froze again. The looks of hatred were replaced by sheer panic.

Seeing that the boy would probably be unable to finish, Dale and Terry quickly grabbed his arms and turned him to face the group. Ryan got behind him and managed to get his shorts down over his cock. Talking sternly in Brett's ear, Ryan said, so everyone could hear "What's the matter? Don't you want them all to see your cock? If you could keep it in your pants, you wouldn't be waving it around in front of your mother and all these other people. Now, one foot at a time, I'm taking off your socks."

Brett was unable to look at anyone, angrily or otherwise, as Dale and Terry held him in place for almost a minute. His cock was so hard that it bobbed with every heart beat. Once again, Ryan spoke. "Now, it's time to go and meet your new housemates - your new bosses. Do we drag you, or do you walk like a man?

"Oh, don't worry about the hardon. They'll all be seeing a lot of that. Just keep asking if it's better to be in jail or to be waving your hard dick around at some really nice girls." Ryan had wanted to use some much earthier language, but thought better of it with the three females watching. At least, he assumed Chelsea was still watching, though he was not sure she was even breathing.

Ryan's little speech brought back a lot of the hateful looks. Brett shook his arms and the guys let go. Without a word, he turned and walked through the inner door.

Mary held it until she was outside, and then she started crying. Floyd pulled her close to comfort her, but said nothing. "I can't believe you folks really did that," Nancy said.

"When you've messed things up as badly as we did," Mary said through her crying, "You get desperate. It was mostly me, too. I thought he could do no wrong."

"What Brett did wasn't bad enough for THIS!" Chelsea complained, "Or for jail! We were all just partying!"

"Listen here, Missy!" Nancy snapped. "If you ever say one word like that ANYWHERE, it will be your skinny bare ass in there serving breakfast and washing floors in front of the boys. Do you hear me?" Chelsea gasped at her mother's vehemence and nodded quickly.

"And I'll tell you this, too. If you come home stoned once more or we have to haul you out of some orgy once more, you'll be doing just what Brett is doing. Have you got that?"



-------

Chapter 25


[Brett] Late December

Brett was met just inside the door by Leah, Missy, and Connie. It was surprising how much planning and scheming had gone into his punishment. Given his offense and his attitude toward girls, Julia had decided that his direct supervision would be done by the girls, and all of them would be involved. The boys had been instructed to be friendly and helpful, but not to give him any direction.

Julia had spent quite a bit of time at Lindsey's coaching the kids on how to act toward Brett. It was not just because of Lindsey that Julia was interested in some success with Brett. While something as extreme as Brett's nudity might never be tried again, the idea of letting the regular residents at Lindsey's help in redirecting some wayward kids was fascinating. Julia thought that if the regulars felt that they were contributing in some important way, the unavoidable feeling of being a charity case would be lessened.

What Julia emphasized over and over was that the resident kids were not responsible for Brett's punishment. They were just to make sure he knew how to do the tasks he had been assigned. Also, because there were some very good students among them, they would help tutor him for the time he was there.

The others were never to refer directly to Brett's nudity, but to act as casual and as natural with him as possible. They were not to scold or correct him if he did something wrong or failed to do what was assigned. They were just to report it to Nancy, who promised to stop by at least once a day. She was not nearly as angry with Brett as she appeared, but she was a good actress and had become very sympathetic to the Halls' plight.

"Welcome, Brett," Connie said in a rehearsed greeting. "I'm Connie and this is Leah and Missy. Leah's taken, by the way," Connie was able to add a very convincing little giggle to that. Her time skinny dipping with Dale when she first arrived, being with Ted during his orientation, and the incredible shaving practice with Ray had allowed her to act very casual and at ease.

"We're all sorry you have to be here under these conditions, but we'll try to make sure you're glad you chose this instead of jail. There's a list of jobs that you're supposed to do while you're here, as you know. The first one coming up is dinner. You need to set the table and generally help with serving. It turns out that I'm on with you tonight, so I'll show you what to do.

"For hygiene reasons and for your own protection around hot stuff, you're to wear these while working with food or clean utensils." Connie showed him some standard uniform shorts, which he reached for. "Sorry, we need to do the introductions first. They were very specific that you can only be covered up when absolutely necessary."

Connie and Leah stayed right with Brett as he was led to various parts of the place and introduced to everyone. Reluctantly, Missy backed off after the initial greeting. He was not to know that it had been pre-arranged for him to meet each of the girls separately, as well as Muriel and Naomi. Naomi was overjoyed at the chance to be the assistant housemother, but even after her own stint at the Tee, she did not approve of what was being done with Brett. Because of her gratitude for all that the organization had done for her, though, she had pledged her cooperation to Muriel and Julia.

As many new entrants to the Tee had discovered, the mind can go into a protective 'overload' mode when faced with situations it just cannot deal with. Finding himself suddenly naked, as hard as he had ever been, being escorted by two cute girls, and meeting a string of others, was one of those situations for Brett. He went through all of the motions simply because his embarrassment circuits shorted out somewhere along the way. One thing he did notice that he would recall later was that the other four girls seemed more embarrassed than he was. Well, that was impossible, but the girls blushed brilliantly and were barely able to say 'hello'. He also noticed that the tall one, Missy, he remembered, seemed completely at ease around him.

Speak of the devil: after the last introduction, the tall one, Missy, stepped right in front of him and put a borderline painful squeeze on his balls. Connie and Leah moved in close to shield what she was doing.

"Brett, I'm more than willing to be a real good friend. But I need to warn you: if you say one mean word to any of those other girls, especially Erica, the heavy one, you will leave here singing soprano. Are we clear on that."

Totally caught off guard, Brett nodded his head quickly. When he did, Missy broke into a radiant smile. She released his balls and for just a few seconds, her fingers played on the edges of his glans. She had to step back when he doubled over from the sensation of almost coming. His mind was clear enough to make a note to stay clear of Missy.

Julia, Muriel, and Naomi were watching with some alarm. "Is she touching him?" Naomi gasped.

"I think," Julia answered, "those three girls are just protecting their friends from any insults from Brett. That would be just like Missy. You know, this is quite a shock to the other four girls. They all have zero experience with boys.

-------

Having never had to help in the kitchen at home, Brett was a total klutz. It was all Connie and Alex, the boy working with them, could do to keep a straight face. They had been well drilled, though. He was surprisingly hungry, considering the trauma he had been through. Probably the fact that he wore shorts made a difference.

Connie was good. She managed to look genuinely sorry when she came up to Brett when he had finished cleaning up from dinner and asked for the shorts. In truth, she could have stared at Brett's nicely muscled athlete's body and nice-sized, well-formed cock all day long. She was already regretting that she would only be Brett's main 'handler' through the weekend before one of the other girls took over.

Whatever composure Brett had gained during supper disappeared when he had to again bare his penis to Connie. He already had to stretch the waistband to get the shorts down over it. The only salve to his ego was the way Connie's face flushed a little.

Julia had waited out of sight until Brett was once again naked. She really did need to talk to the boy, but she wanted to put the most possible pressure on him. The decision on how to dress had taken some thought. Julia was very well aware of the effect she had on men. In her professional mode, she tried to downplay her voluptuous figure. There was little she could do about her beautiful features, her auburn mane, and her dazzling eyes.

Julia thoroughly enjoyed spending time with the kids at Lindsey's. It was a form of downtime for her. Earlier that day, she had met with them to warn them about how she would be dressed. She wanted them all to greet her warmly, as they always did when she visited, but she did not want any reaction to her attire. She warned that she would look rather slutty.

Brett had not recovered from the embarrassment of stripping a second time in front of Connie when he turned to see the mature wet dream that was Julia walking toward him, greeting and hugging the other kids along the way. She had chosen a 'standard' staff uniform. It was one, however, that would have fit a woman with much less expansive curves. She wore no panties or bra, so every feature of her anatomy was clearly outlined by the tight fabric.

The women's uniform shirts were distinguished from the men's by a Vee neckline that showed some cleavage. Some quick work with a sewing machine had made the one she wore then show a LOT of cleavage. Of course, knowing what Julia had in mind, there had been no end of suggestions from the other staff women. She was not particularly fond of her belly, since it was no six-pack. The other women nearly mutinied, though, until she agreed to cut off the top so it showed a wide strip of her midriff. Carol had mischievously turned under the waistband of Julia's shorts as she left, as well, exposing the first swelling of her luscious hips.

If Brett had not already been hard, the first sight of Julia would have taken care of that. Her breasts swinging hypnotically, she walked right up to him and held out her hand. "Hello, Brett. I'm Dr. Waxman, the director of Transformations. You're the last of the Hall family that I have not met before. Let's move over to that seating area. We have some things to discuss."

When Julia casually put her hand on Brett's bare back to guide him, he very nearly came on the spot. When he sat in a chair and tried to cross his legs to hide his cock, it was ineffective and Julia chided him. "Brett, just sit naturally and let it show. By now, it's no secret to anyone in the place. I imagine this has been the strangest day of your life, huh?"

"Shit!" was all he could say.

"I suppose I should apologize for keeping the nudity from you until it was too late, but I was afraid you would foolishly choose jail."

"Might have been better," he groused. Apparently, he had decided that Julia was the first person he could vent some of his frustrations on.

"Better for what?" Julia demanded. "Better for your future, or better for the macho stud big-man-on-campus image you've been working so hard to build?"

"But why naked?"

"So the real Brett Hall has to deal with real people and the real world for a while, not the asshole Brett Hall you project to the world." Seeing Brett's jaw drop at the directness of her statement, Julia piled on. "Of course, maybe the real Brett Hall truly is an asshole. If so, we'll hand you your clothes, boot your ass out the door, and everyone, including your parents, will do their best to forget about you."

Nobody, but nobody had ever talked to Brett this way. He was so stunned that his dick started to wilt. "Well, that's good!" Julia said cheerfully. "Your dick tells me that at least what I said made some impact. Maybe you can remember that when you want it to go down. Just think about something serious. Of course, maybe you want to keep a hardon the whole time you're here. You've been trying so hard to convince everyone that you have big balls. Maybe you don't want the girls here to know that your dick isn't really seven inches all the time."

Julia was already ad-libbing, but she could see from his face that she was having the desired effect. She had decided beforehand that it was not important for Brett to like her. She would likely have to be the heavy in this situation. "Terry's your teammate, right? Well, I will tell you that I've seen his dick lots of times, and that boy is impressive everywhere. Know what else? Terry is one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet. Why the hell couldn't you try to be like him instead whoever else you're trying to suck up to? Isn't a future All-American a good enough role model for you?"

The funny thing was, Julia was not having to fake most of what she said. It was easy to get the right edge of emotion into it. Softening her voice noticeably, she went on. "It's no secret that this is not all your fault, Brett. Your mom and dad will freely admit that they screwed up parenting you kids, big time. Unfortunately, you're the one who's going to suffer the most. From what I can tell, you're a spoiled rotten little shit who thinks he can do no wrong.

"Your mom and dad have changed unbelievably, and not just in looks, but there aren't many re-dos in life. They spoiled you badly, and it looks like it may be too late for them to correct that right now. But you can change yourself. That's what this time with nothing disguising any part of the real Brett Hall is all about. You don't have to change anything. If you want to come out the same asshole that went in, it's up to you. You will eventually get out of here, no matter what.

"OK. Enough preaching and time for some detail stuff. You won't be naked quite all of the time, at least not in public. You already know about working in the kitchen. This place has free access for friends and approved family. It would not be good for outsiders to see you here naked. At certain times, you will be told to go in your room, and it will be locked from the outside. At other times, you will be asked to dress. One other time you will dress will be for church."

"Church?"

"Yes, you will be going to church Sunday mornings with your parents. That is not optional.

"Now, you will probably figure out that you can shut this place down just by walking out and waving your dick at the wrong person. If that happens, you're back in the DA's hands, and believe me, I will find other ways to make your life miserable. Sure, it would get your dick covered faster, but it would be covered by a jail suit, and only when Bubba wasn't trying to shove his in your ass." Julia almost winced after unleashing that crudity, but she was quite sure that it would take that kind of talk to get through to the boy.

"Besides the threat I've just made, I hope you will take time to figure out that the kids here all deserve a break. In fact, you have an assignment for next Friday when we talk again. I want you to be able to tell me the stories of every other kid here. If you don't, a bad mark goes to Nancy, and you don't want that. At best, bad marks mean longer bare-assed. At worst - off to jail. Do you have any questions I can answer right now?"

Julia saw Brett shiver a little, and it was not at all chilly in there. She believed that she had succeeded.

"Isn't she unbelievable?" Connie said as she joined Brett as soon as Julia had left.

He was cranky, to say the least. The woman had made him feel like a little kid, or worse yet, like a lab specimen. "What's with you?" he snapped at Connie. "Can't get enough of my dick?"

That stung, but they had all been warned, and Connie was his first 'handler' because of her quick wit and naturally sharp tongue. It was hoped that despite her severely repressed home life, she would be able to hold her own.

"That, too," she said with a cheeky grin. "At home, I was deprived. I never got to watch nice, strong dimpled asses and swinging meat any time I wanted to. Yeah, I haven't had nearly enough of it yet. Is it gonna get hard again soon?"

Brett made a quick decision that this chick was not one to fight with.

"Besides normal teenaged lust for hunky bods, it's my job," Connie went on to say, "so don't get too big a head - except the head of your cock." When she broke into all-out laughter, Brett really decided to watch it with her.

"So, you're like my jailer or something? How long?"

"I only get you through Sunday, so you should survive that. Really, Brett, try not to think of this as jail. None of us want you to feel that way."

"Why should you care?" he blurted out, forgetting his vows of caution already.

"You idiot? Don't you even know who your sister is? Lindsey started this place, and some of us are sure she saved our lives. For some unknown reason, she cares what happens to you. From what your mother has said, she ought to hate your guts for the way you treated her. You want an honest answer? I don't give a shit whether you rot in jail or not. But I would crawl through broken glass for Lindsey. If she's asked me to help save your sorry ass, then I'm damned well going to do it even if it kills you. Does that answer your stupid question?"

'Why couldn't I just keep my mouth shut and get through this', Brett was asking himself. 'Stupid lippy cunt' were the words that formed in his mind. He was a very long way from apologizing for anything, so he kept a sullen silence. Meanwhile, his penis had done its best to retreat inside of him. His reaction to a forceful female was not at all like his father's.

Realizing that she had let the emotions get too cranked up, Connie took a deep breath, then said. "Let's get an early start on evening cleanup."

His mouth was still just as out of control. "Clean up. I don't see anything that's dirty."

Connie had had about enough, but before she lashed back at him, all of the years of biting her tongue and keeping silent at home paid off. After a deep breath, she was able to joke "Typical male. If you can walk on it or through it, you don't see any need to clean it up. It's on the list, so here's what we need to do..."

After spending about an hour dusting, mopping, vacuuming, and generally picking up, everything was ship-shape for the night and it was still quite early. On her own, Connie could have done it in half the time. "Let's do a hot tub," she told him. "You go ahead and I'll be right out."

"Is that supposed to get me hard again?" Brett asked with a sneer when she appeared in her bikini. He felt a thrill of victory when he saw the flash of pain in her eyes. In truth, she was a nice-looking girl. He had no way of knowing how she had been beaten down and ridiculed by her parents and her two older brothers. She had been almost a scullery maid in her own home, very much a cinderella type of story.

"Nah!" she managed to say brightly. "I'm sure it takes cheerleader bimbos with at least 38Ds to get your motor going. I'm just enjoying being able to show some skin for the first time in my life. Even if it doesn't excite you, I like my body. I know you don't really care, but I also know you have to hear all of our stories, so I'll get mine out of the way first."

Brett was not yet at the place where he could let himself feel remorse for what he had said to her. Still, her story made enough of an impression that he remembered it.

Saturday, things did not let up for Brett. He worked breakfast with Connie and Alex, and had to shed his shorts right away. That took care of the familiar part. When Connie said "Time to clean the toilets, now," he began to get an idea of what the work part of his sentence might be like.

Connie managed to keep it humorous as she tried to beat his ineptitude into something productive. When they were finally on the second bathroom, she sat on the edge of the tub while he worked and talked to him. "We usually do our own, but they decided that this was a good thing for punishment, I guess." He just grunted.

"You know why they made me your escort first? They figured I was the mouthiest and I could handle all of your shit. I'm also the best housekeeper, and you sure have a lot to learn. Actually, you only have to do four this morning since you're just learning and you're pretty slow."

He eventually did finish four well enough so Connie grudgingly accepted them. "Well, time to start your workouts, now."

"Workouts? I don't need to work out. I'm in good shape."

"It's in the deal. Besides, you really do need it," she told him.

"Hey, I play football."

"Is that what you call it?" she said sarcastically. "I thought that was dancing."

"What do you know about it, anyway?" he snarled.

"Let's see. Number twenty-seven - running back. Quick feet, good first step, OK speed. A strong breeze will knock him down. Yards after contact negative since he usually gets knocked backwards on his ass if someone touches him."

"Wha... ?!"

"Duh, I go to your school, and I went to all the games this year, home and away. If you start working hard right now, you might get strong enough by next year to actually hit someone and squeeze out an extra yard here and there."

"You're full of shit!"

"I never denied that," she laughed, "but you're the pansy back. They never use you when they really need a few yards."

More even than going bare-assed, her comments hurt because he had heard the criticism before. "Do you think Terry just loafs through the off-season?" she demanded. "We'll get your progress chart started right now," she told him as she grabbed his hand and dragged him toward the exercise area.

All through the early part of the workout, she kept needling him that she could push more than he was doing. When she proved it twice, he went sullen.

He was on the bench press with his legs spread on either side of the bench when Nancy's voice said "Could you leave us alone for a few minutes, please, Connie?" When Brett tried to get up to hide his crotch, Nancy snapped "Stay right there!" Her voice had such authority that he sank right back.

"Now, you had better tell me exactly the same thing I'll hear from Connie when I ask her. Have you done anything that violates the deal?"

"N ... no."

"Have you been belligerent or disrespectful to anyone?"

"Well, I, uh..." she made him tell it in detail.

"I see your erection finally went down. When did that happen?" she asked in a sudden change of subject - a self-correcting subject as it turned out. "Ah, it's back again. I was all for castration, you know." Nancy was a very, very good actress. Like her husband, she was aware of what Chelsea was like. She was joining the hazing because of the poignant way that the Hall's had pled for their help. Not that it wasn't fun.

Brett had never really had the upper hand since walking in the door the day before, and he was sick of it. "She dropped her pants and she was strutting and dancing her bare, uh ... all over the place," he almost shouted.

"I think 'pussy' is the most common term," Nancy said conversationally. "She sure wouldn't flash those dinky little tits. They're smaller than mine. You mean you saw that scrawny ass of hers and you lost your head?"

"Well, I..."

"It was her bare pussy, wasn't it. Have to admit it's probably her sexiest feature," Nancy said.

"It wasn't that bad," Brett whined.

"Bullshit," Nancy snapped. "You tried to fuck her and she said 'no'. That should have been the end of it."

"I was ... was pretty drunk."

"Yeah, well, it should have been attempted rape instead of sexual assault. I'll be back whenever. No schedule. Just don't screw up or I WILL send you to jail."

-------

Brett did not realize that the women were carefully staging all of these encounters. Mid afternoon, he was using the vacuum cleaner when he spotted Lindsey approaching him. She had a straight shot toward him. There was no way he could cover up without it being obvious what he was doing. If he did not just stand and face her, he would appear to be a body-shy kid. That is exactly what he felt like.

"How bad has it been, Brett?" Lindsey said when she reached him.

"Probably not bad enough as far as you're concerned," he said sourly. "What do you care, anyway?"

"I care because you're hurting Mom and Dad."

"Well, I'd think you'd want to hurt them - get even."

"I've been all through that. They've changed. What would be the point? They're very concerned about you."

"Funny way of showing it."

"Let's see how you feel in a couple of weeks. Think your hardon will go down by then?" Lindsey had affected the best smirk she could. The strategy was that the resident kids would make no reference to his body parts but that family, the Merkers, and Tee personnel would pour it on. That Connie had already violated her end need never be known.

Sunday morning, Mary and Floyd arrived early with clothes for Brett. It was the first time in church for him in quite a while. He was very relieved that it was quite different from their old church.

After church, Lindsey and Mark and Mary and Floyd stayed for dinner. They waited around until Brett had to strip again, but did not stay long after that.

Extra pressure was put on him Sunday by a visit from Michelle. Just talking to the lovely nurse, who was definitely out of uniform and dressed very provocatively, was more than he could stand, and he spent most of the question and answer time with his hardon waving.

Sunday evening, Julia came by, apologizing for not seeing him on Friday. "From what I hear, you are living up to the agreement, Brett. Thank you. Now, tell me some of the kids' stories." She named four and he was able to recall their tales.

"Things will be different Wednesday and Thursday, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day," Julia informed him. "You will stay dressed from noon Wednesday until some time Thursday evening. A number of families will be coming here for at least a little Christmas with their kids. We decided that five of them could go home for a while, but with the others, it just wouldn't be wise. Your folks will be coming here, since you can't really leave.

"It sounds like you aren't seeing any possible good out of all this yet. I guess it's early, so we'll just wait you out. I'm interested to see just how long you can stay sullen and angry."

"About as long as I have to stay naked and clean toilets," he shot back.

"How are all the kids treating you?" Julia asked in an abrupt change of subject. She was pleased to see a brief startled look cross his face as it looked like he had never thought about the question before. He just shrugged in answer, but she knew the seed was planted.

"What do you miss most being cooped up in here?"

"Hanging out with my friends."

"The friends that got you busted?"

"That was just bad luck."

"Nope. That was just probability. It was bound to happen sooner or later," Julia said sternly. "Well, you're living up to the deal. We can't make you be happy about it. It will be a strange Christmas, but I hope you find some enjoyment in it."

Monday morning, Erica roused him to get busy with breakfast and he actually felt a little regret that Connie had finished her time. Erica handled her nervousness by being quite stiff and aloof. To himself, he admitted that he preferred Connie's sassiness.

Erica had been chose as the first after Connie because everyone knew it would be hardest on her. Julia had spent another scarce half hour talking with the girl, trying to build up her confidence enough so she could deal with Brett. Having already sat one on one with him to tell her story, it was not a complete shock.

Monday's cock workout was caused by Yvonne Torres, who did a thorough assessment of his nutritional profile. Erica had been instructed to stay with Brett during the session, something that he did not like at all. It did help her to see his confident bluster crack several times.

Throughout the first week, even through Christmas, Brett rarely let his tough facade crack, except when he showed embarrassment or frustration. He refused to show any warmth.

Christmas was indeed strange. When the various families came to visit the residents, Brett, whom no one would consider sensitive, could feel the tension. It was all done for the sake of custom, and there was no real love present in any of the little gift exchanges.

One of the visits by a resident to their parents' home ended badly. It was Alex, the boy who had worked with Brett and Connie in the kitchen the first few nights. Each of the residents visiting homes had been given a tiny signal device to call for help if things got troublesome, and he had to use it. The next morning, his face showed the evidence of a struggle.

As any police officer or psychologist will attest, the holidays trigger much emotional trauma. One of the resident girls received a panic call from a friend who had reached her limit. The friend and her twin brother, not quite seventeen, had run away and the realization of just what they were facing caught up with them. Of course, the resident girl invited them to Lindsey's and she began to appeal for them to stay. There was room, but funding was always the issue.

The investigation was not as thorough as usual, but hurried calls to a school counselor, a pastor, and parents of close friends portrayed the twins as fitting the profile very well. They were welcomed in.

While the decision process dragged on, Brett was told to dress. When the decision was made, management had to decide what to do about Brett. Did they dare just tell the newcomers, perhaps shocking them out of staying?

Julia had the task of broaching the subject with the twins. After describing the situation very carefully, emphasizing the need for secrecy, she was given another of those surprises that she thought she was immune to.

"Oh, that's a relief," the girl said with a giggle. "I was afraid I wouldn't be able to see..." Then she realized what she was saying and clammed up.

"Oh, there would be plenty of chances to see your brother naked. You won't be locked in cells, you know. You can go in each others' rooms."

Gasps from both twins at the transparency of their secret were followed by blushes and averted eyes. "We don't do anything bad," the boy explained. "It's just that with the way things were, we were pretty much thrown together."

"I don't know how much you know about Transformations," Julia said, but you do not have to apologize to me if you enjoy spending time naked together. Just remember, though, that except for Brett, who is being punished, we don't want any public nudity here."

Brett was soon showing his dick to another set of appreciative young female eyes.

-------

Immediately after Christmas, the visits by friends picked up and Brett spent a lot of time locked in his room. At first, he was happy for the solitude, but by Saturday, he was surprised to admit that he felt lonely when locked in.

The following Sunday was the biggest single test for Brett. The whole crew, including the Schermers and Rich Krenz came back after church for dinner and showed no sign of leaving when Brett had to strip. Worse yet, Rich pulled out a guitar and started some impromptu singing. Before long, Brett was having to walk through the casually scattered group naked, serving snacks and drinks. As he worked, there was always at least one of the other kids helping him.

As Mary watched him, she remembered the times at the Tee when she wondered about and fantasized about her son's body. She felt proud of what she had brought into the world, at least physically, and she no longer felt guilty for those feelings. She even felt sympathy for his humiliation, for that was definitely what the situation was causing the boy.

It was Julia's belief that in a case like Brett's, the humiliation was needed to break through the macho shell of arrogance.

Even though she was not Brett's handler any longer, Connie found him later that afternoon and said "That was pretty rough today, wasn't it?"

"Wonder who else they're gonna bring in?" he grumped.

"I felt sorry for you," she told him.

"Who asked you to? I don't need your sympathy!"

"What do you need?" she asked in a brilliant, instinctive move.

"I need to get the fuck out of this nuthouse and back with my friends. I need to get some dignity back. I need a drink and I need a joint. Is that what you wanted to know? Why do you care, anyway?"

Ignoring his question, she said "You had all that stuff before and it just made you miserable."

"Miserable? What the fuck do you know about it. THIS is miserable! Before, I was having fun! I was happy!"

"So happy you had to get stoned out of your mind and try to rape a girl?"

"Shit! It's bad enough having everyone staring at my bare ass all day without some nosy bitch trying to analyze me! Just stay the fuck away from me, you hear?"

Leah was too far away to hear the words, except for Brett's angry shouts. She could see Connie's distraught reaction, though. Despite the difference in their personalities and backgrounds, she and Connie had gotten quite close. She knew that Connie was very much a people person. Rather than trying to comfort Connie as she walked dejectedly away, though, Leah called Julia first.

When Julia arrived, she took Connie by the hand and pulled her to a private area. "I hear you achieved a breakthrough with Brett."

"Huh? I got banished from his sight is what I achieved."

"And that upsets you?" Julia prodded. "You actually want to be around him?"

"I was his first handler. I guess I feel some sympathy for him. I can't imagine what it would be like having to go around naked all the time."

"Why don't you try it?"

"Huh?"

"Well, then you'd know what it's like. You wouldn't have to imagine." When Julia started laughing at her little distracting joke, Connie loosened up and joined in.

"Really, Connie, you accomplished something important with Brett. It's his first real explosion. Sure, he's made some angry remarks before, but he's kept his emotions pretty tightly in check. He doesn't want us to think we're getting to him, and before anything can change, we've got to break him down. As much as anything, that's what the nudity and the humiliation are about.

"The idea of being completely open, unable to hide anything, is basic to our whole approach. But the openness doesn't mean anything until the defenses are broken down. You may not have been aware of any of this, but I think it was your good instincts that made you goad him into yelling at you. Tell me about the whole conversation."

"Well, first I told him how rough it must have been with everyone here, then I told him I felt sorry for him."

"Connie, the big sing-a-long today was not spontaneous, you know. There are only a few more days until school starts again. I would have to say that until now, we have made zero progress. He's sticking to the deal, but his tough guy image is holding. Having someone feel sorry for him was the hardest thing for him to handle. He's too tough to be bothered by having to wave his dick around."

"I didn't know any of that," Connie protested. "I really did feel sorry for him."

"So you kind of like him?"

"Well, he's cute. I keep thinking what he would be like if he stopped being such an asshole. Ooops."

"That's what his parents keep wondering and hoping for, Connie."

"Well, even if he does change, it won't do me any good, now."

"Don't be so sure. He wouldn't have gotten so angry if he didn't feel something for you. I'm concerned, though, Connie. With what you've already lived through, I'd hate to see you get hooked up with someone like Brett is now. Remember, we have no guarantee that he will change. One of the saddest things in my practice is women who can't let go of men who are unworthy of them.

"I know it is one of the hardest things for police officers who deal with domestic violence, too, Connie. The women get beaten and they just keep coming back. In my experience, it's a lack of self-worth on the woman's part. Please, don't start believing all of the things they said about you all those years!" Julia did not have to fake the emotion in her voice.

"I know what you're saying, and I've thought about that a lot. Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't see Brett as a truly bad guy. I don't really think I'm looking for my father, like I read somewhere." The way the girl shuddered as she said that was reassuring to Julia.

"I think Brett is pretty insecure and just puts up a big front," Connie went on. "Look, Lindsey is the nicest person you'll ever meet, right? I didn't know her parents before, but meeting them now, they're great people. Could Brett have inherited asshole genes from somewhere else, or is he really a nice guy in disguise. His mom admits she never gave him any direction, never knocked the rough edges off."

"And you think maybe you can do that?" Julia asked.

"I think I'd like the prize I got if it worked," Connie said with a grin. Then her face fell as she said "But I guess I blew that already, didn't I?"

"Don't put too much stock on what happened today. It was something that needed to happen before there could be any change - if there is going to be change."

"You gave me a crazy idea with your joke earlier," Connie said, unable to look Julia in the face. "What if I went naked whenever he is?"

Trying not to let her surprise keep her silent very long, Julia managed to ask "What would be the point of that?"

"Well, if I was naked, but just being happy and talking and joking with the other kids like usual, it would make him feel like he was being a baby getting so uptight and angry."

"Shaming him by example, huh?" Julia asked, still fighting her astonishment.

"Yeah. Think it would work?"

"No, I don't, and here's why. In Brett's macho mindset, all girls should be running around naked for the pleasure of the guys. You would just be fulfilling your proper role."

"Really?"

"I'm afraid so. You really would have done that, wouldn't you, Connie?"

"Well, when it came down to really walking out naked with my bare pussy, I might have had trouble, but yeah, I think so."

"To me," Julia said, "that indicates a pretty strong feeling for him on your part. I know as well as anyone, Honey, that you can't just turn off your feelings." The use of 'Honey' was purposeful. "But please, let's talk about your feelings for him. I want to talk to you every few days, OK?"

"You're worried that I'll get sucked into just what I came out of, huh?" Connie asked.

"I can't tell you how many times I've seen it happen," Julia said. "As I mentioned before, it's among the saddest parts of what I do. Look at it from my perspective. You're nothing but very best friends with Ted, who is cute and the nicest, gentlest guy you will ever meet. You haven't felt any lust for him at all, have you, even during his orientation?"

"I hadn't thought of it that way," Connie mused. "Yeah, I really enjoyed seeing him naked, but it didn't make me want to take him to bed."

"Right. Then a good-looking asshole comes in here naked, and you have to change panties three times a day," Julia went on. "As a professional, and as someone who cares about you, that concerns me."

"I guess ... I guess I need someone to remind me of that kind of stuff. My family maybe screwed me up in ways I never thought of."

On a hunch, Julia asked "Being so close with Leah and Missy makes it harder for you, doesn't it?"

"What do you mean?"

"Leah has Cy, Missy and Ted look like a couple, and you've never had anyone," Julia explained.

Connie stared at the floor for quite a while. "Guess I'm acting like a sex-crazed teen, huh?"

"Well?" Julia challenged, followed by a dramatic pause. "Maybe not 'sex-crazed', but 'love-starved' would fit."

"You know," Connie responded, "I heard that yelled at me so many times!"

"You are by definition a bag of hormones," Julia explained gently. "Therefore, 'sex-crazy' is a normal, unavoidable condition for you. In much of the world, women your age are already mothers, often multiple times."

"So I can haul Brett into my room and jump him?" Connie joked.

"You wouldn't get thrown out of here of you did," Julia assured the girl. "I would worry about your choice, though. Connie, how about this: why don't you see how much you can get under Brett's skin."

"How much, uh, freedom do I have?"

"Hmmmm. Let me think for a minute," Julia said, then she went on. "I think it would be good if we suspended the rules for just you. I'll square it with everyone else. That means you can use any language you want. You can touch him. You can abuse him to a limited degree."

"Like how?"

"Well, say you wanted him to follow you somewhere. You could grab his dick and pull him - GENTLY!"

"Wow!"

"If you came upon him bent over, you could goose him."

"You're kidding."

"Now, Connie, this is not likely to endear you to him. The objective, from my standpoint, would be to break through his shell. He might very well end up hating you, but you could save his life, literally."

"That's ... that's..."

"That's not what you really, want, I know," Julia finished for the girl. "Look at if from my standpoint as someone who cares about both you and Brett. If he reacts badly toward you and wants nothing to do with you, that means to me that you are much better off having nothing to do with him. If, on the other hand, you get through his shell and start some real change, he just MIGHT, at some point, be worthy of you."

"W ... worthy of me," Connie parroted softly.

"You see, Connie, that's they way you have to start thinking. I know your family tried to make you think you weren't worthy of anything. That's why I'm afraid you might settle for any dick you can get, because part of you believes what they said. If Brett stays an asshole and you hook up with him, you would be proving your parents right. You would have found your father."

"Oh, God!" Connie mouthed, then started crying softly. Julia had been much more blunt than she would have preferred to be, but she had limited time to devote to the girl and she thought Connie was bright enough to understand what she said.

Moving to sit beside Connie, Julia put an arm around her. "I'm sorry to say those things, believe me. We can't change what has happened to you in the past. All we can do is our best to keep them from screwing up your future any more. Can you see that?"

After a long silence and quite a few more tears, Connie looked right in Julia's eyes and snarled "Can I be assigned his permanent 'handler'? You let me do what I want and I'll have that sonofabitch whimpering at my feet!"

"I need to get a bunch of people together to agree, but I think that's a good plan." Julia spent another half hour that she did not have to spare going over details of the plan.

-------

[Julia] Late December

Late the same evening of her talk with Connie, Julia had decided to just give up her own night. She had called the Halls and the Merkers in, banished Brett to his room, and assembled all of the other residents.

"I'm going to treat you all as if you were fellow professionals," Julia started out. "This is about Brett. He is on a course to finish his time here with no real change occurring." Mary moaned softly at those words, but Julia just went on. "We're going to try to break through that shell of his and break him down some.

"First of all, Brett is expecting to be out of here when school starts. I've arranged with the DA to keep him here for an indefinite period. That will be the first pressure on him. The real pressure, though, will come from Connie." Julia put her arm around the girl as she said that.

"Connie has developed a bit of a crush on Brett, but I have convinced her that as he is right now, he is not worthy of her. Sorry, Mary, Floyd."

"No argument from us," Floyd answered.

Julia went on. "Connie is being assigned as Brett's permanent handler, with 'license to kill', so to speak. All rules are off for Connie, but for Connie only. She will be treating Brett in ways that would normally get her kicked out of here. The rest of you are going to purposely not notice what she is doing, and you are going to deny that anything untoward ever happened if asked by Nancy. Nancy, you are going to be a key accomplice in this." The woman grinned in response. "The first sign of victory will be when Brett complains to you about things that Connie does to him. You are to act all indignant and say that Connie would never do anything like that."

"Connie is going to be touching Brett, constantly. The touching will not be affectionate, but possessive. We are going to make Brett feel like Connie's 'boy toy'. The rest of you girls, try not to be jealous, but Connie will play with Brett's penis, too.

"Why are we doing this? We want Brett to lose his cool. Before we can see any change in him, we have to break him down."

"Why would you want to do that if you like him, Connie? What if he gets mad at you?" One of the other girls asked.

"It's a desperate try at changing him into someone I'd like to date," Connie answered. "If it doesn't work and he stays an asshole, I'm better off never seeing him again. Had enough assholes in my life."

-------

[Connie & Brett] Late December

"Why do I get you all the time?" Brett demanded when Connie told him about her new assignment.

"Because I can be a bigger bitch than you can be an asshole," Connie shot back. "The other girls are too nice. Besides, I like your dick." With that, she ran her hand casually up from his sac, over his shaft, and gently squeezed the head with two fingers.

"Hey, you can't do that!"

"Do what?"

"You're not supposed to touch me."

"What touch?" Right then, Brett realized how much his sentence had changed. He had already been told that he would not be released when vacation ended.

"Well, we'd better hurry and get breakfast set up. Oh, no more shorts. We'll use this instead." With that, Connie brought out an apron and tied it around him. "Hate to cover of the best part, but I guess we don't want it burned. At least I can still watch the dimples on your ass." She put her hand on his ass and pushed him in the direction of the eating area, keeping nonchalant contact all the way.

Connie discovered very quickly that just keeping a hand on Brett was an excellent irritant and distraction. She was very careful not to communicate any affection, although she did not try to hide her curiosity. Seemingly without thinking, she would squeeze his bicep or one of the muscles on his legs. Being as naturally sensitive as she was, she soon discovered that her apparent testing of his masculinity disturbed him greatly.

It only took about a day for her to get into the proper mindset. She was able to put aside her feelings for him and take on the role of the tormentor. She really did start to think of him as her 'toy'.

By evening of that first day, she provoked her first reaction. She was leading him along with her hand on his ass when he slapped her hand away. "Ooooh! Touchy, touchy!" she chortled.

"What's with all this touching shit?" he demanded.

"Hey! Your ass is mine," she shot back. "I'm just having fun. I've got a lot to learn about guys, and you're my textbook." When she put her hand back on his ass, he snorted and kept walking. "It's cool how it flexes when you walk."

Two days later, Nancy stopped by for her review of his progress and behavior. He made no mention of Connie's actions and she lodged no complaint about his work or his behavior.

Connie stuck to him like a second skin for three days. He did not have another blowup, and talking to Julia, it was decided that Connie needed to increase the pressure. Brett was serving at lunch when she made the first move. He moved right next to where she was sitting to put a serving bowl on the table. She casually put her hand on his leg and ran it up the inside of his thigh. Reaching his sac, she fondled it very lightly.

Brett had a real problem on his hands. He was indignant and almost yelled out. At the same time, he did not want to give her the satisfaction of knowing that she got to him. His only solution was to get away as quickly as possible, which he did. She acted as if the whole sequence was perfectly natural and unremarkable.

That was the start of frequent attention to his genitals. She always made the touching seem casual, almost subconscious. It was always exploratory and possessive, never purposely stimulating. She found ways to sit or stand by him so she could touch him in an unforced way.



-------

Chapter 26


[Julia & Staff] Late December

As it turned out, Clark's experience would probably become the pattern for new male employees, although each situation tended to be unique. The reason was not just because he responded so well and became comfortable so quickly. It was also because the women were thrilled to be helping.

In a staff meeting, Julia addressed Clark's experience. "Although Clark thought it would kill him, the women consider the two times he got hard to be the highlights of their stay. I'm considering a new requirement for male employees: at least one erection for the women each week."

She kept an absolutely straight face as she watched the shock and consternation on most of the male faces. She waited until Ryan was about to speak before breaking into laughter. That actually left the men more puzzled than relieved.

"I've had a nice talk with Clark. I admitted that I pushed him beyond what any of you had to deal with - that he was an experiment. He forgave me, I think," Julia chuckled. "I asked him how bad it really was when it happened. His answer was interesting.

"He said his first reaction was guilt. That's right. He felt that it was wrong for anyone but Muriel to see him aroused. But we all know what happened afterwards. The woman that he was massaging at the time was stalled. She was not making any progress, and remember, we had discussed just sending her home with a refund.

"When he got hard right in front of her face, she just started talking. When the massage was done, she pulled him to the pool and never stopped talking. Clark found out things that I had been digging for since she arrived. Since then, there is no doubt that she considers him her therapist."

"Is there a problem? Is she falling in love with him?" Barbara asked.

"Probably. But remember, most of the women fall in love with most of you guys. I made it a point to have Muriel here with Clark a lot after that, and I instructed them to forget the PDA restrictions. The woman could not miss that Clark belonged to Muriel, but she still kept talking.

"The disturbing thing about Clark's experience is what it may say about our efforts to keep the nudity non-sexual. The reason I say disturbing is that there is no way we can use anything overtly sexual in our programs. We all know that when people are naked, sexual thoughts are inevitable. We just try to emphasize that those thoughts are no more than if the women wore bikinis or slinky dresses and the men wore Speedos or jockstraps.

"Nudity is sexual. Everything we have seen here convinces us of that. But life is sexual. When society tries to deny or ignore that fact, things go wrong. We use nudity to foster openness and honesty, not to emphasize sexuality. The sexuality is always there. We just do less to hide it.

"The other time Clark got hard, several women got to enjoy it. I talked to all of them and got two different kinds of answers. One answer was that seeing him hard made him seem powerful, even dominant. Their reaction was to be willing to do anything that he asked them. The other reaction was that letting them see something that they knew was so intimate for him made them feel more open and trustful with him. Most of the women admitted to both reactions.

"Of course, it goes without saying that everyone of them admitted to wanting to haul him off to bed. As we have talked before, after you guys do your naked time in the evenings, batteries get used up in a hurry.

"Ray Ralston is the first time we have purposely used arousal as part of a treatment program. For him, the purpose was twofold: to build his own confidence, and establish a new perception of him in his wife. There is a lot we can learn from Ray's case.

"I have to tell you, Muriel, that you have a real prize in Clark. I pushed him farther than I probably should have. He took it, shrugged off the embarrassment of the hardons, and made every resident fall in love with him. The way he treated them would have done it, even without all of his muscles and the hardons. Are you sure he's committed to staying with teaching?"

-------

[Erica] Late December

Brett's constant naked presence had a strong effect on Erica. At first, she was aghast that anyone could actually stand that kind of exposure. Little by little, though, she began projecting herself into his situation. The thought was both terrifying and arousing. Probably because of the unending criticism of her body from her family, she longed to have people look at her and not react in disgust. Maybe even show interest? Approval? The night when her beloved cousin Troy watched her masturbate naked would forever be a wonderful turning point in her life.

She and Troy had never approached that level of intimacy again. She did not seem to need it more than that once, and he was very cautious not to appear as anything more than her loving cousin.

Because of the credible initial risk of suicide, Erica's room had been carefully prepared. There was a camera hidden in the bathroom. That was because most female suicides were by pills or slashed wrists, and wrists were usually done in the bathtub.

There was a motion sensor that sounded an alarm in Muriel's room. She had insisted that she was more than willing to be wakened to be sure Erica was truly as recovered as she now seemed to be. Coming up on a month, the precautions did seem unnecessary. On the other hand, Muriel did not mind being wakened once or twice a week to see the girl pee or get a drink of water.

During the holiday week between Christmas and New Years, Muriel was awakened by the alarm for the first time in quite a while. She had always become alert quite easily, so she sat up to watch the monitor and turned up the sound speaker.

As usual, Erica peed. When she left the bathroom, though, it did not sound like she got back into bed. There was no real cause for alarm, but Muriel was curious and got up to look out in the main area. Now without her sleepwear, the girl was just walking out of her room.

For over a half hour, Muriel watched as Erica strolled around. Sometimes, she just touched familiar objects. Sometimes she sat quietly for a few minutes. Sometimes she did little dances and pirouettes. Several times she hefted her breasts and a few times she pulled vigorously on her nipples.

Every five minutes or so, she returned to one of the full-length mirrors in the exercise area. There, she looked at herself from every angle. Turned sideways, she would suck in her tummy as hard as she could, then slap it in frustration. Also sideways, she would sort of pat her pubic thatch, testing how far it stuck out. Chuckling to herself, Muriel predicted an imminent pussy shave. She just wondered how short - or bare - Erica would go. After all, naked with Missy on her first day, she had seen Missy's pubes barely growing back in.

When she went back to bed, Muriel saw that it was 3:40.

-------

"I think this fits with my profile," Julia said when Muriel told her about Erica's little escapade. "Do you think she has done it before and you just didn't catch it?"

"It could have happened. I was always just doing the bathroom precautions."

"Oh, I wasn't criticizing. There was no way we could have anticipated this. Are you willing to monitor her for a while longer?"

"Of course. It's hard to imagine what she's going through."

"I have an idea," Julia said. "I know Missy showed Erica her pictures from the Tee. I'll have Missy suggest that Mark do a set for Erica. If she wants them, I'll just make sure she doesn't have contact with anyone else over there."

-------

"I could get a set of those?" Erica asked incredulously.

"I've got pull," Missy said, preening comically. "I'm sure I could set it up."

"Wow! I'd like that."

"I'll make a call," Missy said. "Oh, Mark takes all the pictures."

"M ... M ... Mark? But he's a guy, and..."

"He's Lindsey's guy, even," Missy said with a laugh, "and your headlights say you can't wait to have him take naked pictures of you."

"Miii-syyyyy!"

-------

"Did you chicken out?" Missy teased as she and Erica came back to Lindsey's from Erica's picture session.

"What do you mean?"

"Your bush. It's a lot shorter, but didn't you start out to shave it all off for the pictures." Erica's blush almost burned Missy as they hugged and giggled.

"Of course, I framed my pictures and hung them on the wall so I could track my progress. Too bad you can't do that," Missy said. "Wait! Maybe you could do it! We'll hang them so they can only be seen once you're inside the room. None the guys would come into your room unless you invited them, would they? And you'd never invite them, would you?"

Missy wondered why she hadn't thought of it before. She made Erica wait and ran and called Mark to get several frames. Having an even better idea, she asked Mark to bring them over and help Erica hang the pictures. He was incredulous at what she was suggesting until she explained Julia's theories about the girl.

After a quick circuit of all of the guys to warn them not to be curious, Missy got Leah and Muriel and Naomi all crammed into Erica's room to help frame and hang the pictures. Erica's combination of embarrassment and excitement was both comical and poignant.

Mark suggested the pictures be hung in her bathroom, and that eased her anxiety a lot.

"Now, the only guy who will see them will be Brett when he cleans your toilet," Missy teased. Everyone roared until they saw how really nervous Erica was. "Hey, Girlfriend, if this is going to keep you awake, or anything, let's just forget it." The pictures stayed.

-------

"Troy, I know this is an extreme request, but I think we are on the right track with Erica," Julia said.

"Dr. Waxman, don't even think about it. Of course I'll do it. Suit and tie, huh?"

-------

Three nights after the pictures were hung, Muriel was awakened by the alarm again. When she saw Erica go out into the main area, she made a call.

Ten minutes later, a surprisingly well-groomed Troy, resplendent in suit, tie, and the works, walked in and called her name. Nobody thought that she would flee, and she did not. She stared at the small boom box he carried as he walked toward her. When he reached her, he set down the player, bowed over her hand, and asked her to dance. When she nodded, unable to speak, he started the music, very softly, kicked off his shoes, and took her in his arms.

Over the next forty-five minutes, he showed that dramatic ability ran in the family. They danced, he escorted her elegantly to a table and seated her. He put grapes and berries and chocolates into her mouth, and he poured her non-alchoholic champagne. At the end, he escorted her to her room and kissed the backs of her hands.

She stood in her door and watched as he turned to leave. Suddenly, she dashed after him and dragged him back to her room. There, she took him into the bathroom to show him the pictures.

-------

Muriel and Julia both came into Erica's room a little before her usual waking time. Waking her gently, Julia said "I hope you aren't angry that we have been monitoring you. You were considered suicidal, you know."

"After last night, how could I be angry? What made you think of that?"

"I guess you enjoyed it," Julia teased.

"I'm still not sure it wasn't a dream. Um, I've gotta pee. Wait."

"Are you starting to analyze yourself a little?" Julia asked.

"Well, I guess I'm an exhibitionist," Erica giggled.

"It's not that simple," Julia corrected. "You've just had so much disapproval of your body that you crave approval. Couple that with never acknowledging your sexuality before, and it's not surprising that you want to show your body."

"How did Troy get here so fast?"

"He has slept here for three nights, waiting for a chance." That brought on tears,

"Erica, I want you to tell me if you are falling in love with Troy. That would cause just too many problems," Julia cautioned.

"Oh, no. Don't worry. I always think of Troy as more of my daddy than my father is. He's always done the nice things that I thought daddies should do." That threatened tears from the two women.

"I think the best thing for you, Erica, is if you spent all of your time here naked," Julia said. "The problem is, that would weaken the impact on Brett, and he's a tough enough case, anyway. I have an idea, though.

"Why don't you just strip whenever you're in your room. Our guys here are awfully nice. Muriel can arrange for them to come to your room. You can study together, watch TV, show them your pictures, just talk, or whatever you want to do."

"While I'm naked?"

"Of course. That's what you want, isn't it?" Erica did the wordless mouth movements and her face color cycled rapidly through the spectrum.

"Why don't we start with Missy and Ted tonite. Then maybe Leah and Cy the next night. Does that sound good to you?"

-------

[Phyllis] Late December

Phyllis Hayes was just about to call out to the three women who were sharing a table at the shopping center food court. They were all long-time friends from church, although two of them no longer attended since Reverend Matthews had suddenly left. Over a third of the former congregation had drifted away, and Phyllis no longer felt such righteous anger at the departed as she had at first.

From sneering at her daughter Leah's naivete for believing the scandalous tales about the Reverend, Phyllis had reached a state of troubling uncertainty. She still put up a good front of indignation whenever someone suggested that Matthews might really have impregnated his own young daughter.

Instead of announcing herself and joining the women, Phyllis approached from behind a pillar and sat with one of the large trash receptacles between herself and them. With the scant crowd, she could hear their conversation quite clearly.

" ... can't be anyone left who doesn't believe he's guilty, can there?" one of the departed women asked.

The woman who still attended answered "Well, I certainly know that he did it, but there are a few hold outs. You know, Phyllis was always such a skeptic and so suspicious about everything, but as far as I can tell, she still thinks Matthews is a saint."

"That's why we left, Ellen," one of the departed said. "We realized that a lot of people worshipped Matthews almost more than God. That's not right. How come you're still there if you know the truth?"

"It was a tough decision. Please don't think I'm criticizing you, but we have so much of our lives invested in that church. I can understand why you left for your kids."

"Yes, after both young Matthews and Leah Hayes went to that place, all of the kids at the school started asking questions. I don't think we treated our three that badly, but it was a wake up call, I'll tell you."

"Has anyone seen or talked to young William?"

"Oh, our son sees him at school all the time. He only answers to 'Cy', now. He won't say anything about who his real father is. He says there are legal restrictions on him. He does verify all of the stories about what an abusive tyrant the Reverend was at home."

"That's what's so hard to understand," one of the departed said. "There doesn't seem to be any real question that Matthews was a ... a ... well, I dare not use the most descriptive word. And I hear that all of the elders were given a complete packet of all the evidence, including DNA testing."

"You know what I think: I think Phyllis just refuses to admit the truth because it would lump her in with Matthews."

"How do you mean that? She would never commit incest or adultery."

"I mean the way she treated her children. My kids see Leah at school and they say she looks totally different. They say she is happy, stylishly dressed, and looks beautiful. Phyllis always had her looking so shapeless and plain. But you know what, the girl won't say anything bad about her parents to the other kids. It's hard to be around Phyllis, though, because she's so bitter about everything."

"And Leah and young William are a couple!"

"So you think Phyllis is just in denial?"

"It's hard to believe something and try to live your whole life by it, then find out it's all wrong."

"But our faith is not all wrong! It's one man who was wrong! I guess that's what we all have to learn. It's not about a man."

"I do feel bad for Phyllis. She was just doing things the way she was brought up. I just don't know how I would cope if I drove one of my kids away."

"That's two kids, you know. Word is that their son lied about his age to get into the army."

"Well, as soon as I heard about the whole mess, I yanked my kids out of that church school. I hear they had to close it just after the first of the year."

By this time, Phyllis had cycled through every known emotion. At first, she had been angry that the women were gossiping about her. Then, she had been stunned at their complete acceptance of the unbelievable accusations against the Reverend. When they had talked about Leah and her son, tears sprang unbidden to her eyes. Suddenly terrified that the other women might notice her, she eased out of her chair and moved away in a most undignified crouch.

-------

"Why didn't you tell me the accusations about Matthews were true?" Phyllis demanded as soon as Norman came home from work. Since returning from the mall, she had not been able to sit still or eat anything. The three women had cracked the shell of certainty in which she lived, and she was completely disoriented.

Norman had had a very bad day. In fact, Norman had had a very bad year. He had known about the Matthews' home life, and he had wanted to leave the church long before Matthews fled. When he had received the evidence packet about Cy, he never once doubted it. Unfortunately, he did not have the nerve to even suggest leaving to his wife. He had been staying on as an elder even though his heart was not in it.

Another thing he had not had the nerve to do was to go and see Leah. He had always thought that they were not treating her right, but that was Phyllis's doing, and she would take no suggestions or criticism about it.

For years, he had endured the taunts of 'hen-pecked' and 'pussy-whipped' from his more ribald colleagues at work. Often they were lumped together with 'holy roller', 'Bible thumper', and other religious epithets, so he felt righteous about enduring them as the inevitable persecution of true believers.

Now, Phyllis was berating him for not convincing her. When had he ever been able to convince her of anything? It was probably more frustration than courage, but he did something totally out of character - he talked back.

"When could I ever convince you of anything? I even brought the evidence packet home, but you just yelled at me for the whole evening and refused to look at it. Don't you dare ask me why I didn't tell you! Nobody tells Phyllis Hayes anything!"

Her husband's unbelievable impertinence was just what Phyllis needed to cure the uncertainty and upset of what she had overheard at the mall. The question of the Reverend's guilt or innocence was pushed to the back as she dealt with the more immediate threat of a domestic uprising.

When the tirade began, Norman did something else out of character. Instead of reacting with shame and alarm as he always had before, he first showed weariness and resignation. Soon, his expression changed to indifference and he turned his back on his screeching wife and went to change clothes.

He was quite sure, with the level of Phyllis's anger, that she would attack him physically before long, and he would almost welcome it. Of course, he would never retaliate in kind, but it would give him something to hold over her. Well, maybe she would just manage to justify blows or scratches like she did every other transgression of her own.

There was no physical attack. What she overheard at the mall had impacted her so much that questions about Matthews eventually overrode Norman's impertinence. She fell into her old passionate defense of the great man.

While walking away from her, Norman suddenly turned and shouted right in her face. "If you actually want to know the truth, why don't you talk to Naomi. I'll tell her to call you."

"You ... call me ... when will you see Naomi?" Phyllis demanded after her initial surprised stammering.

"Sunday, I am going to church where Leah and Naomi go. I'm handing in my resignation tomorrow, and it will be my last time through those doors," he stated emphatically.

Outright rebellion and leaving the church combined were more than even Phyllis could react to on that day. She staggered to a chair and sat staring at Norman in disbelief. When Lean had left, she could still console herself that she had firm control of her husband. Now, he was threatening actions that she had definitely not approved of. She had the very strong impression that he would actually do what he threatened. Her rigid, orderly, secure world was about to lose its last remaining foundation stone.

-------

[Norman] Late December

Norman had to admit to himself that he was as rigid as his wife. Sitting at a table at Lindsey's with Leah and Cy and Naomi, enjoying a very good meal, his main feeling was one of unreality. It angered him to admit how lost he felt without Phyllis's ever-present control. Except at work, he was just not used to handling social or group situations by himself.

He had followed up on his threat to resign, and he had just come from Leah's church. Watching the way his daughter interacted with so many people had astonished him. She had never seemed gregarious before, but now, it seemed that half of the congregation knew her.

The way Leah and Cy were with each other also intrigued Norman. There was an ease, a naturalness that he just could not relate to. The number of casual, affectionate looks, gestures, and touches could probably be attributed to young love, but had he and Phyllis ever been like that? Of course, he had to wonder if they were having sex, but he could not muster the proper outrage at the thought.

As astonishing as anything was Naomi. She looked at least ten years younger. She and Cy and Leah shared hugs, held hands, and walked with their arms around each other. That was something the Reverend would never have tolerated.

It took until the meal was almost over before Norman could ask the key question. He had hoped to catch Naomi without the teens present, but they seemed bound together. "Naomi, would you be willing to talk to Phyllis? he asked. "She is still struggling with all of the accusations."

"You mean she still does not believe what my husband did?"

"I think something has shaken her belief in the Reverend," Norman replied.

"Norman, I don't think it would do any good for me to contact her, but I will gladly talk to her if she takes the first step. I assume because you are here and she is not, that things between you two are not good."

"You assume correctly. I resigned as an elder this week. I knew all along that it was all true. I have known what your home life was like for a long time. I was too weak to resign in protest when I found out. Even after the, uh, uh..."

"Incest, Mr. Hayes," Cy interrupted. "Adultery. Call it what it is. It is something that I cannot change, but I will not let it hurt me."

"Even after I was given the evidence of what he had done," Norman went on, still evading the words, "I did not speak out against him."

"Dad, you're here. That's a first step. Knowing Mother, it must have been terribly hard for you to do," Leah said gently.

"Don't you mean knowing me?" Norman said bitterly. "The last time we were here, I don't think I said more than two words. This has made me face up to what I am and what I am not. Mostly, I am ashamed. I should never have been in a leadership position."

"Norman, you were not alone. William did not want strong people around him. He wanted people who would support him and make him look good," Naomi said, patting his hand.

There was one other thing that Norman had promised himself to do, but he was struggling to find the courage for that, as well. Finally, he asked "Leah, is there any way that you could move back home?"

"Why would you want that, Dad?"

Norman had spent his life trying to avoid emotions of this intensity, unless they were religious. Now, he cracked and tears sprang to his eyes. "Leah, I miss you. You probably find that hard to believe because I so seldom show any feelings. Our house has not been a home since you left."

"Dad, it was not a home for me when I left. It was a prison." Leah could not keep all of the anger from her voice. "For me to return home, a whole lot of impossible things would have to happen."

Warming to what she was saying, Leah's voice gained intensity. "Here, Muriel has been what I always thought that a mother should be. I hardly know my grandmothers. They are just these stern, sour old woman. Naomi has become my Grandma."

"Oh, and guess what, Dad? Because the Reverend had Caz's name put on Cy's birth certificate, there doesn't even need to be an adoption. He is legally Caz'z son."

"Caz?" Norman asked, confused.

"Carter Calloway, the one the Reverend falsely accused of rape," Leah answered.

"Leah and I have been talking," Cy said. "We're deciding whether I should have the court change my legal name to Calloway. I know Matthews is quite a common name, but I don't want to carry it through life. I'm afraid that I hate him so much that I don't want to carry on his name."

"And I will take back my maiden name as soon as the divorce is final," Naomi added.

Overwhelmed by the emotional intensity of the statements, Norman sat quietly, trying to absorb what he had heard.

Leah brought the subject back to Norman's question. "Dad, I believe Mother is even worse than Lindsey's mother, and I see no chance of a 'conversion' like Mary Hall experienced. There is no way I can live with her."

As soon as he said it, he regretted it, but Norman had heard is so often from Phyllis. "Leah, was your home life really that bad?"

Leah's response was not at all what he expected. "Dad, if you have to ask that question, there is no way I could go home. Mother made my life intolerable. You either did not realize what she was doing, approved of it, our were too timid to correct it. Either way, I can't go back."

After several gulping breaths to keep from fainting or choking, Norman had to say something. "Will you at least talk to your mother if she comes here?"

"I was ready to talk the last time, Dad. I was even ready to negotiate. Mother does not talk. She criticizes, she ridicules, and she preaches. I've had enough of that for a lifetime."

-------

"Leah, don't beat up on yourself," Julia counseled. Leah had been distraught after her father had left, and Muriel had driven her and Cy over to Julia's home.

"Feelings are not inherently right or wrong, they just are. You honestly told your father what you were feeling."

"But I look at Lindsey and Ted. They worked things out with their parents," Leah said sadly.

"Mary and Floyd represent one of the Tee's biggest miracles. With Ted, there was real love there, just terribly misguided love. There was also some serious dysfunction.

"It is difficult for a psychiatrist to say, but I don't think there is real love in your home. I suspect that your mother has a real problem with love.

"You won't make me try going home, then?" Lean pled.

"Of course not. You can stay at Lindsey's until you get married."

-------

[Leah & Phyllis] Early January

Leah was not at all happy to see her mother waiting in the car outside Lindsey's after school the next day. She thought that she had recovered from her father's visit, but she had to admit that they would always be able to steal from her emotionally. What was puzzling was the expression on Phyllis's face when she followed Leah in. It was neither angry nor smirking, her two most common visages.

Leah stalled her mother outside to give Brett time to hide before showing her in.

"I just couldn't believe he would do it," Phyllis said abruptly as they sat down at a table. She was looking around nervously, wishing they could go somewhere private.

Leah was wishing that Cy was there, but he was working and she would have to go it alone. "Yes you could. You knew it was true as soon as you heard it. You just had to try to keep up your front. So much of your self-worth was tied to the Reverend that you could not let it go. It must have been hell for you keeping up the pretense."

Phyllis's jaw dropped and she stared at her daughter. Apparently, Leah's emotional and intellectual transformation had been as dramatic as the physical changes. The horrifying thing was that Leah was absolutely correct. How could she have known?

Getting no response, Leah let go another broadside. "Any other fiction you want to get me to believe? If that's all you have, I've got studying to do before Cy gets here."

When there was still no response, Leah just kept hammering. "You see, Mother, this place is big on honesty and openness, and I've gotten used to it. You have conveniently forgotten the commandment about lying. To you all that was important was what the Reverend said, whether it was the truth or not. I happen to know that you're no dummy. You must have suspected all along that there was something strange about Rachel's rape. You must have heard the whispers about how Matthews treated his family. I know that Dad knew, and he must have told you."

"I ... I wasn't lying!" Phyllis protested.

"You were certainly lying to yourself," Leah shot back.

"How can you be so ... so cruel?"

"I guess you can't remember how you talked to me the last two times you saw me, can you?"

"But you ran away from home to this sinful place!" Phyllis objected.

"You had better start reevaluating what is sinful, Mother. I think you will find it has little to do with what the Reverend said. Rape, incest, adultery, hypocrisy, arrogance, greed, brutality - his list of sins is so long that you should discredit anything he had to say.

"Let me tell you what I get at this 'sinful' place. I get acceptance, respect, encouragement, real affection, a chance for real sharing, and fun. I got none of those at your house."

"It wasn't that bad!" Phyllis pled.

"After talking to Lindsey, I'm a little more sympathetic with you, Mother. Yes, it was that bad, but I'll bet it was just like when you were growing up, so to you it was normal. Until you can honestly see it for how terrible it was, though, we don't even have anything to talk about."

It was not until after Phyllis had left that Leah realized something important. Her mother had not criticized, ridiculed, or preached even once. Perhaps it was because Leah went right to the attack, but it was very significant. With a sigh, Leah realized it meant that she would have to at least accept another visit.

-------

The next visit was the next day, as it turned out. Leah immediately saw some of the old expressions on her mother's face and stopped in the entry area. When Phyllis started right in chastising her for the way she had talked the day before, Leah made a snap decision.

"Mother, SHUT UP!" she shouted.

As Phyllis gasped, Leah told her. "There is only one way I will ever talk to you again. If you come here, leave all of your clothes right here in the entrance, and walk in there naked, we can talk. Otherwise, have a nice life. I know mine will be much better."

When Phyllis tried to follow Leah as she stomped inside, Muriel immediately blocked her way. "You have to undress first," Muriel said, holding her hand out toward Phyllis's chest.

"You can't mean ... that's ... that's..."

"We honor our residents' privacy. They can set whatever conditions they want for parental visits. Apparently, you abused her goodwill after she saw you yesterday. Now, you can only visit under her rules."

Phyllis could not believe what she had heard, but Muriel looked too strong and too resolute to argue with. To make matters worse, a very muscular young man had appeared just behind Muriel. There was nothing to do but walk away.

-------

"I hope I didn't get Lindsey's in trouble by saying that," Leah told Julia later that evening. "It was all I could think of to get rid of her. She was going to be just like before, and I just couldn't handle it. You'd think I'd be stronger, but she still gets to me."

"Leah, you are stronger, much, much stronger," Julia assured the girl. "There's just a lifetime of sensitivity and vulnerability built up. You are right to protect yourself. That's why you are here.

"I have one question for you, though. What if she does it? Will you talk to her?"

"Ha! Ha! Can you think of anything less likely?" Leah exclaimed. "I doubt if my dad ever sees her completely naked. That's a good one."

"Just remember how many incredible changes you have seen around here," Julia cautioned. "Anything, and I mean anything, can happen. What I think will happen is that she will start to try to contact you other ways, perhaps in other places. She may even come to church to try and talk to you.

"There are a couple of things you need to think about. If she tries to get around your requirement, what will you do? Will you avoid her or will you talk to her?"

"The whole point is to not have to talk to her ever again," Leah pouted.

"But she may keep trying. You have to admit that she steals something from you every time there is contact," Julia explained. That did not cheer Leah at all.

"And even if you laugh at the possibility, you need to think about what you would do if she came in naked. First of all, would you try to soften her embarrassment and humiliation? Would you have the other kids disappear? Would you take her to your room? Would you have Cy be with you?"

"I would sit her right at a table in the kitchen just like last time, only with Cy there. I would tell everyone else just to go on with their normal activities," Leah stated strongly. "I would make sure that one of the guys was in sight all the time."

"I suspected that would be your attitude," Julia commented. "Essentially, you would want punishment. You would want to break her down, humiliate her."

"Exactly."

"Now, I'm going to lecture you a little," Julia warned. "First of all, what would it mean if she really did walk in naked?"

"Probably that she would do anything for another chance to preach at me. Making her do it would give her even more ammunition."

"I have to completely disagree there, Honey. The only way your mother would do something that unthinkable to her would be if she was broken and desperate for a chance at some kind of relationship with her daughter. She would have to be overwhelmed by guilt and remorse.

"That would indicate an opportunity to build a whole new kind of relationship. I will tell you from a professional's standpoint that you should try for that new relationship. It would make your future life much more pleasant.

"Of course, I agree with you that the likelihood is near zero. I still think you should have a 'just in case' plan in mind."

-------

[Brett] Early January

The end of holiday vacation found Brett apparently unchanged from when he first followed his hard cock through the door of Lindsey's Place. However, he was very definitely upset about having to stay longer.

On the Sunday afternoon before school started, Julia called the residents of Transformations together. "I have a very strange request to put before all of you. Most of you know Mary Hall. Right now, her son Brett is serving a sentence as pretty much slave labor at Lindsey's Place. He is there instead of in jail.

"Brett is a pretty tough case. Among his problems, I believe, is a misogynist streak. If there are any of you that are very comfortable in your nudity and would be willing to discuss a radical 'treatment' for Brett, come and talk to me. I would rather not share this with the whole group.

Julia was more than pleased when four women stayed after the group was dismissed. "Before I say any more, I need your solemn vow of secrecy. Can you give that?" They all agreed.

"What I did not tell the group is that Brett is serving his sentence naked among the young people over there. We are doing everything we can to break through his tough shell, but there has been little progress so far.

"My idea is to have some women, probably two at a time, meet Brett in the center section and teach him how to massage. You would all be naked, of course. In the process, I would like you to get him talking as much as possible. Does that sound like something you could do?"

The women all looked at each other, then they all nodded at Julia. One of them said "I sure don't look very good for his introduction to naked females."

"That's better, actually. What we're trying to instill is some respect, some ability to relate to a woman as a person, not an object."

"If we're naked, won't that make us seem more like objects?"

"Good point. There is some danger of that. However, since he will be serving you, I think that is minimized."

"Why would he want to do this?" another woman asked.

"He will be ordered to do it. He is not allowed to return to school yet, and this will happen during school hours. If all four of you are in, arrange your schedules so there are two in the morning and two in the afternoon. I would like you to switch around so there are different pairings. Are you all sure you want to do this? This is really above and beyond. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it."

"Is he a good looking kid?" one asked.

"Definitely. Nice cock, which I'm sure will be hard most of the time," Julia answered.

"Payment enough," one quipped, causing the others to laugh.

-------

"Oh, just so you won't get bored home alone all day, there's another regular job for you," Connie said to Brett at breakfast. She was just about to leave for school.

Brett just grunted in reply. "At ten o'clock, Muriel will let you into the center section. There will be two women there from Transformations. They're going to teach you massage."

"Why do I want to learn that?" he grumbled.

"Doesn't matter if you want to learn or not. Orders."

Connie could see him flush and prepare to object. Nancy, however, had done a marvelous job of threatening him with extended time and even being sent to jail. Although it was all acting, she was so skillful that he believed her.

"Do I get to dress?"

"Silly boy! Those women want to see your pee pee, too."

Connie had not mentioned that the women would be naked, so when Muriel let Brett through the door into the center section, he stopped dead in his tracks as the door closed behind him. One of the women, Sophie, was a fairly new resident and quite heavy. They other was nearing her goals, but was in her late fifties. Regardless of the fact that they were far from his fantasy women, Brett hardened immediately.

Sophie was a real extrovert, and Julia had been delighted that she was willing. She walked up to Brett smiling and extended her hand. "You must be Brett. I'm very happy to meet you and 'little Brett' there. That's a greeting that will warm any woman's heart. It was fifty pounds ago that I last caused a hardon like that." She introduced the other woman, and then insisted that they get down to business. The older woman did most of the explaining about the massage table, the oils, and the other details.

Brett literally did not want to touch Sophie when she laid out on the table and the older one started giving him instructions. Part of his problem was that this was one more thing he was being forced to do. The other was that the woman's rolls and bulges reminded him of how his mother had looked a year earlier. His parents' physical condition had definitely added to the scorn and disrespect he exhibited toward them.

Julia had spent a lot of time coaching the women, and the session was being recorded for later review. Regardless of his complete ineptitude, the woman on the table made all of the contented noises that she could without sounding like she was faking. Julia hoped that the sense of bringing pleasure to a woman might reshape some of his feelings about the opposite sex.

For the first session, the women did not push the conversation too much. When he left after ninety minutes, Brett was more than a little confused and desperate to come, having been erect the entire time.

Neither of the afternoon women was as outgoing and aggressive as Sophie. One of them, however, had a very attractive body, thanks to almost three months of workouts and some good genetics. The other woman carried a very impressive pair of breasts, quite firm and sag-free for their size and her age. Brett's chances of softening during that session were certainly no better than in the morning.

-------

"So, how'd you get along with the women?" Connie asked cheerily as she walked in from school. "Did you make 'em purr?"

"Had 'em begging me to fuck 'em," Brett said, trying to get some kind of upper hand on his tormentor. "Ready for me to massage you?"

"No way! I know how much of an asshole you are. Stick to the women who don't know."

"Hell, I'll bet everyone in this whole damn place knows everything about me," he snarled.

"Really? Then why would they let you put your hands on them?" She had not planned out that answer, but it hit him hard.

Part of Connie's duty with Brett was to supervise his homework and any tutoring that was necessary. Given the high percentage of good students in the house, there was plenty of help available. With the two massage sessions, his regular housekeeping assignments, a workout, and an hour and a half of forced studying, Brett was more than ready when bedtime came.

-------

By the time the first weekend after the start of school came around, some signs of change in Brett were just starting to appear. The first thing was that he was not shrinking from Connie's possessive touches the way he had at first. Julia was not sure at first if that was just an increase in his belligerence or if it represented some approachability. Another sign was that he had gotten up early Thursday and Friday mornings to get his workout done before the other kids left for school. Probably the most encouraging sign was that he had actually asked the women some questions as he did the massages.

Progress was certainly not fast, and there was concern about how long Brett could be kept. At some point, the DA was going to refuse to go along. Julia laid out a series of steps to keep the pressure on Brett. She felt that having him constantly aroused when he was with the women was something they should try to extend. The trick was to find new ways to excite him.

-------

Monday of the second week, when Brett got down to the first woman's waist, that was a signal to Angie, who was watching. "Don't stop at her waist. Do her bottom, too."

Brett had a lot of Floyd's natural strength, and the quality of the massages was definitely improving. So was the quality of the conversation. The women were able to get him to talk about his feelings, opinions, and impressions on a lot of subjects. He listened politely as they talked about their own lives, and even asked some questions.

As he worked the first woman's bottom, the other woman said "The girls you've been with probably feel a lot different than that, don't they?" Brett was unable to answer, and the woman pressed "You do take time to play with their bottoms, don't you?"

"Well, I, uh..."

For the rest of Monday and Tuesday, all massages included working the buttocks.

On Wednesday, it was time for the next escalation. The woman on the table rolled onto her back and told him "I've been having trouble with my leg muscles. This is a better way to work on them. The other woman quickly stepped in and positioned Brett so the subject could rest her foot against his shoulder. The view of her opened crotch reversed the softening. Not surprisingly, that position for leg massage became the standard for all of the women.



-------

Chapter 27


[Rachel, Cy & Leah] Early January

One day as Cy was working right after school, Julia came in and pulled him aside. "I want you to work the early morning tomorrow. Naomi will not be with your mother when she greets you."

"Is something wrong?"

"Not at all. Things are going well. Up until now, your mother was almost non-functional without her mother. She is ready to do some things on her own, now."

"Is Grandma sad about that?"

"Oh, no. She is thrilled. Much as she loves your mom, she is wise enough to know that they both need independent lives."

When Rachel came up to him the next morning, he could see that she was a little off balance. He did his best to act natural and things went smoothly. Rachel did look relieved and she perked up when Naomi joined them later.

The next morning, Rachel had a little surprise for her son. One of the first impressions upon seeing her naked had always been her huge forest of brunette pubic hair. It stood out, and it distinguished her and Naomi from the other women, all of whom trimmed their bushes.

That morning, Rachel had a nice trim. Cy whistled and she responded with a sexy little wiggle of her hips. Breakthrough! It was the first such response Cy could remember. As lovable as she was and as physically attractive, it struck him at that moment that she had always seemed rather sexless.

Her trim still left her labia mostly hidden, but just thinking about it and seeing her reaction caused his penis to push out the front of his uniform shorts. He knew she noticed because she looked right at it. She said nothing, though, and they both tried to make their time together seem normal.

When Naomi appeared with a similar trim and a furious blush, Cy folded her into a hug and said so only she could hear "You have got to be the most beautiful Grandma anywhere!" He could almost feel the heat from her face as she pressed it against his chest.

Cy was so excited about his mother's reaction that he called Julia at noon to tell her about it. She was pleased, but asked him to come over to the Tee for dinner, even though he was not scheduled to work.

Actually, Julia canceled a couple of afternoon appointments and hurriedly talked to all of the female residents. Just before Cy was ready to come over for dinner, Julia called him and told him to bring Leah along.

Julia met them at the door and told Leah "By policy, we need to get permission from all of the residents for any outside woman to come into the section. You have a whole bunch of women who can't wait to meet you."

"But I told Cy you didn't have to worry about me," Leah said.

"I know, and I appreciate your maturity. However, it is never good for one partner to be completely unaware of something the other is involved in. I must admit, too, that there is another reason."

"What's that?" Cy asked.

"After Rachel's little breakthrough this morning," Julia said, then stopped and explained when she saw Leah's questioning look. "Anyway, the next concern is that your mother might start to get romantically or sexually fixated on you, Cy. She is coming out of a state where anything sexual seems to have been completely suppressed. You are the significant male in her life, and when it all breaks loose ... well, I think you can see the problem."

"But how is having Leah here going to help?"

"Right now, those feelings have not been unleashed. Before they are, I want to make her aware that you are romantically attached to Leah. Because of how much she loves you, I am hoping that will keep the feelings in check. She won't want to infringe on your love for Leah."

"Wow! That's pretty deep," Cy observed. "Too bad there isn't some way to get her interested in a man of her own."

"You want to hang your psychiatry certificate in that spare office and open for business?" Julia teased, then ruffled Cy's hair affectionately.

Leah showed remarkable composure when faced with the seemingly endless stream of smiling, naked women who wanted to greet her and talk with her. Of course, Rachel and Naomi knew her from the trips to church, and Rachel's reaction was very encouraging. She positioned herself next to Leah and acted very much like the girl was her own daughter that she was introducing. Julia was watching and breathed a large sigh of relief. Timing was everything.

What was to have been a dinnertime visit extended way into the evening. Cy had heard the stories already, but he sat patiently with Leah while she exchanged tales with most of the women. Julia was long gone by the time Cy and Leah were ready to go home, but Norma was there and she had been talking animatedly with a number of the women. With seven or eight others behind her, she followed the teens to the door where she said "Leah, you have been unanimously designated an unrestricted visitor. That is no small honor, as Cy will tell you. Also three women are fighting over who gets the first chance to adopt you."

Leah teared up and buried her face against Cy's chest. Cy glanced at his mother who was smiling right beside them and answered "Sorry, Norma. I'm going to marry her just as soon as it's legal." That brought a chorus of "Awwwww!" and "WooooWoooo" and some very loud sniffles. Thankfully, Rachel's smile only got bigger and she gave them both a goodbye hug.

As always, the teens had stored their street clothes in lockers in the entry way and changed into the standard outfits when they arrived. Cy should have expected something from the grin Leah wore, but she caught him off-guard when she walked into the men's room right behind him.

"You can't just say something like that and go home," she said as she pulled down his uniform shorts and had him hard in nothing flat. At his confused look, she said "The part about marrying me, silly!"

"Oh, that just popped out! It's just ... I've always assumed..."

"Of course I'll marry you. Sometime, though, you better ask me the right way and give me a ring."

"Uh, huh, unngghhhh!"

"I'm saving my turn for later," she told him as she cleaned him up with a paper towel.

Each of them had a little homework to finish, so everyone else had retired by the time they were ready. "I'm getting my toothbrush and going to your room," she told him. "Stay out here for a while and maybe no one will notice."

She took her turn four or five times and gave him another couple. When they had both had enough, she told him "That was the most wonderful evening! That place is so wrong from everything I have been taught, but I never saw people respect each other and care about each other like that in church. Your mom is looking more beautiful since I saw her before and your grandma looks younger."

"Diet, exercise, and lots of good friends. That's the formula that seems to work," Cy answered.

"I think I'm going to get better about the exercise. I don't want to have to go through what some of those heavy women have to do," Leah said.

"On your worst day, you'll still be the most beautiful woman in the world," he said drowsily.

"Dream on, dream on," she said, then kissed him lightly and added "Thank you, anyway."

-------

[Rachel & Caz] Mid January

Caz had invited Julia and Frank Waxman and Gerald and Margaret Magnuson to dinner and he was explaining why. "Since that night, there has been a single purpose for my life. I was completely unbalanced. I earned a lot of money, and along the way, I helped a lot of other people earn money. All of that help was really incidental to my desire for revenge. It was a natural consequence of gathering enough money to do what I had to do. I did not set out with the intention of helping people. Truth be told, I was pretty down on people.

"In the, uh, vacuum after things were resolved, I've had lots of time to look at my life. Lots of things I see, I don't like. The fact that I'm the odd man out at this table is one thing I don't like. I guess women know that monomaniacs are not good marriage material. Of course, some of them believed I was guilty, too.

"Anyway, the little contact I have had with Transformations and Lindsey's Place has given me a whole new perspective. Because of Cy, I'd like to focus on Lindsey's Place, first. I'd like to set up a trust or a foundation to provide scholarships for kids to live there. I think another one that used the interest for expenses would be good, too. Cars, computers, clothes for the kids - all of those things."

"Your help will be very much appreciated," Gerald told Caz. "I have some people who are experts at setting up foundations and funds."

"Another thing," Caz went on. "I'd like to be able to visit, get to know the kids, do some things with them on a regular basis. Is that something that would work out?"

"Absolutely," Julia said. "Every one of the kids has had bad experiences with adults, particularly their parents. The more they can learn that those bad adults are the exception, the better their future chances. Because of the unavoidable scrutiny we are under, I don't think you should plan to take any of the girls to any events, unless there are several together. Of course, if you had a woman friend who would accompany you..."

"It's sad, but I couldn't even think of one to ask to this dinner. Of the ones I have had any kind of relationship with, none would have any interest in something like that."

"Relationships take work," Julia said. "Perhaps now that your life has changed, you can work at building a relationship."

Grinning widely, Caz quipped "Can I assume there will be another bill in the mail, Doc?" The whole table had a good laugh about that.

"Seriously, though, I would like to take Rachel Matthews out when you have her all fixed up and she can leave there."

"Really? I would have thought she was the last woman in the world you would want anything to do with," Julia said in obvious surprise.

"I guess I am a little surprised myself. But for years, I have had sources inside. I have come to believe that we are equal victims, just in different ways. It's actually kind of a bond. You know, I only met her for those few minutes in the office. She was certainly not at her best, but somehow, she just seemed ... sweet ... lovable."

With a little laugh, Julia said "You're in good company. Every single male in the place has fallen in love with Rachel, and not just because she is very attractive naked. She doesn't even do anything to draw attention. She just seems to have that quality. Tell me, Caz, would this date be just out of charity?"

"Not at all! After all of the women that I've shared only expensive food and entertainment and a bed with, I'd like someone to share something more meaningful with. I just sensed that that could happen with Rachel. Julia, I just have this ... feeling ... this sense that Rachel and I are linked together."

"Does this mystical 'link' concern you? Frighten you?"

"Oh, no! Quite the opposite," Caz answered quickly. "I guess you have never seen Rachel at church. She is absolutely amazing. And when I found out how sweet and sympathetic she was, well..."

As he let his voice fade, Julia finished for him " ... you started to fall in love with her?"

"I wish I understood love well enough to answer that," he said sadly. "At this point, all I can say is that I find her fascinating, and I very much want to find out more about her."

"Fair enough. When she nears the end of her residence, it might be good therapy for her to know that a man is waiting to pay her attention."

-------

Rachel had been at the Tee for four months, and she had made great progress. The times when she retreated, withdrew, or whatever the phenomenon was were very few. Since everyone has those spells on occasion, she was approaching normal in that respect.

The constant need for her mother to be nearby had disappeared. They were still very close and wanted to be with each other a lot, but there was no longer any separation anxiety for Rachel when they were not together.

Naomi had been less wounded and was much more resilient than her daughter. After three months, she was ready to leave, but she really had nowhere to go. Julia made the decision to let Naomi move back and forth between the Tee and Lindsey's as she chose. Naomi enjoyed being with the kids so much that she stayed at Lindsey's except for twice-daily visits with Rachel when they exercised together.

Rachel still had significant self-worth problems. The self-awareness issues had been greatly reduced, but she had not yet learned to like the self that she was now aware of. In Julia's opinion, Cy and Leah were the best treatment for Rachel's current problem. Many nights, they brought their books and just studied while Rachel read, watched TV, or surfed the Net. Formerly, she had thought the Net was the virtual repository of sin, but she had found many things that intrigued her.

Julia had watched very carefully and she was convinced that Rachel genuinely loved Leah and harbored no jealousy for Leah's obvious hold on her son's heart. For Leah, it was becoming a taste of the mother/daughter relationship that she had never had at home. Lindsey had recounted her own relationship with Norma and encouraged Leah to share anything and everything with Rachel. Rachel's sweet nature and genuine expressions of interest had made it easy.

Julia made a decision to do something highly irregular for the Tee. She felt that things were stalled with Rachel again and the woman needed something to make her see herself in a different light.

"Caz? Julia Waxman, here. Were you serious about dating Rachel Matthews."

"I sure was! Is she leaving Transformations?"

"No, she's not ready for that, yet. I would like to have you take her on a date, maybe more than one, even though she needs to stay here for a while longer. I think it would be the thing that gets her moving toward where she needs to be. Would you be willing to do that?"

"I would love to. I have been thinking about her constantly. What kind of date would be best?"

"I think for the first one, you should do the Cinderella bit."

"Huh?"

"I mean make it just as magical and fairy tale as you can. I will make sure that she looks the part, and the rest would be up to you. I had thought of the ballet, but I have an even better idea. Jenny Ballard has her big local concert coming up, and Lindsey will be singing. I'm sure I can arrange a celebrity box for the two of you."

"That would be perfect. I'll set up dinner, the limo, flowers, the whole bit. You make her a princess for me, OK?"

"You know, for a Jenny concert, the Cinderella idea probably isn't the best. We'll have her in Western chic. You dress accordingly. If you feel like doing it again, you can try the opera or the ballet and Cinderella will work for that."

Rachel had not received a phone call at the Tee for many weeks. Once Cy joined the staff, there was no need. Her puzzlement turned to astonishment when she heard "Rachel? This is Caz Calloway. I would like to invite you to go out with me for dinner and the Jenny Ballard concert."

"But ... but I'm here and ... I can't leave. You knew that."

"Rachel, is Dr. Waxman there right now?"

"Y ... yes. Do you want to talk to her?"

"No. I want you to tell her that I've invited you on a date and ask her if you can go."

Too unnerved to think straight, Rachel dashed to where Julia was standing, pretending to talk to one of the women. "Dr. Waxman, Dr. Waxman! The phone ... Caz Calloway ... he asked ... he wants..."

Taking the woman's hands and exerting all of her self control to not laugh, Julia said "Rachel, relax! What did Caz ask you?"

"To go ... to go ... to go on a date!" she finally managed to blurt out. Unbeknownst to Rachel, everyone else in the place had been clued in. Naomi, Cy, and Leah were all there in case Rachel needed their support.

"Why, Rachel! That sounds like a wonderful idea! You would like to go, wouldn't you?"

"Oh, I ... yes! Yes!"

"Then tell Caz you would love to go with him."

Stunned for a moment, Rachel finally sprinted back to the phone and stammered "I ... I'd l ... love to go."

"Wonderful!" Caz said. "I'm really looking forward to it. I'll call again with all of the details. Thank you, Rachel."

"Th ... thank you, C ... Caz."

By that time, everyone in the place was either grinning from ear to ear or sniffling and leaking tears. After putting the phone down, Rachel stood motionless for several seconds, then began sobbing loudly.

"What's the matter, Rachel?" Julia asked, getting to her first.

"I've ... I've ... I've never b ... been on a date!" There were no more grins after that. Even the men lost the battle with the tears.

-------

The concert was three days away, and Julia could not remember anything but Faith and Dale's wedding that had galvanized the residents of the Tee the way that 'project first date' did. Everyone loved Rachel and everyone knew how difficult her struggle for normalcy had been. To a woman, they were determined to make her date the experience of a lifetime.

Of course, none of the residents could go out and buy clothes for her, so Mark called Margo Ballard and she was there in nothing flat, taking Rachel's measurements and assessing her coloration. It turned out that in the group of residents, there was some real expertise in both makeup and hairdressing and those with the skill were adamant about preparing Rachel without seeking outside help.

The decision to opt for the concert was a good one. Trying to prepare for an ultra-dressy evening the first time would have been a tall order.

When Rachel saw the above-the-knee flared skirt that Margo chose, she balked at first. Her chaste skirts had all fallen well below the knee.

"Honey," Margo chided her, "You've been naked for four months, now. How hard can it be to let the people enjoy those sexy legs of yours up to your knees?" As a sign of her progress, Rachel was able to laugh and give Margo a hug.

Julia made another big exception for that night. She allowed Caz to enter the women's section to pick up Rachel. All of the women were standing several feet back of their friend, clad in robes.

Caz could not believe his eyes. Her outfit: skirt, short, mid-heeled, dress boots, elaborately stitched silk blouse, turquoise-studded vest, free-flowing hair, and nervous but radiant smile - she was a vision he never expected.

Controlling his shock and delight, Caz walked up to her and held out his arm, which she gracefully took with a little curtsy. Rachel did not know that Caz talked regularly to her mother at Lindsey's, and that Naomi was the go-between to make sure that as many potentially awkward moments as possible were avoided.

There were some other things that Rachel did not know. Frank and Julia were at the restaurant in another section where Rachel could not see them. Julia was taking no chances. At the concert, Mary was backstage, but her main purpose was to watch out for Rachel, not to be with Lindsey. Rather than a box, Rachel and Caz were in the front row.

Caz did not know how the conversation would go. He had seen how sociable she had been at church, but that had been in her 'perfect pastor's daughter' manikin role. He need not have worried because she managed to converse animatedly and intelligently. She showed no fear of him and very little shyness. She was absolutely enthralled by the concert and yelled and clapped until her hands hurt after each of Lindsey's songs.

Afterwards, they had backstage passes. Jenny and Amy were new to her, but Lindsey, the Schermer sisters, Rich, and Mary she knew. Caz just stood back and watched, thinking of a butterfly having sprung from a cocoon. He had been fascinated by the woman for the years that he had had an inside ear on her life. Now, he found himself enthralled. She was able to adopt her polished, gracious 'church' persona, and she left him almost speechless at times.

When Caz returned her to the Tee, she was almost trance-like, but not from her usual detachment. To Caz's surprise, the inside door opened for them, and there were all the women in robes again. Somewhat non-plussed to be on public display, he kept his cool, taking her hands in his and kissing the backs of the fingers on each had before bowing to the other ladies and leaving.

Even through the heavy door of the section Caz could hear the squeals and giggles as he walked out. He was definitely going to do that again.

Julia had some fear that there would be jealousy because Rachel was allowed out. After dinner, she had come back to the Tee and had summoned all of the female residents for a brief meeting.

"You all know that we have a set of rules here. You also know that on occasion I decide that breaking those rules will help in the treatment of a particular patient. That is what happened tonight with Rachel, and I believe it will happen again. I think I know how all of you feel about her, but if there is any resentment because of the special privileges I am granting her, please see me. Do not ... I repeat, do not complain to your fellow residents. That's all I wanted say.

"Oh, I would like to repeat the little scene when Rachel left upon her return. The limo driver will call us when they are ten minutes out. I will make an announcement. Either line up again in your robe or keep your bare boobs out of sight." That ended things on a jovial note.

-------

[Erica & Julia] Mid January

Julia was enjoying her more relaxed appointment schedule. It did not mean that she had a lot more free time, because she spent a lot more at the Tee and at Lindsey's. As Frank and the others had been telling her, though, the hours at the complex were just as important as far as their impact on lives. As Frank had pointed out again and again, her heart was really at the Tee and with the kids. She had paid her dues and won her reputation as a clinical therapist, but few others could accomplish what she did with the residents.

A professional has to try not to have favorites, but Julia was very, very human. Barbara Ventri, Mary Hall, and Missy Farnsworth would always rank as some of the Tee's most outstanding transformations. They were also ones that she felt personally very close to and whose company she enjoyed.

Erica would never match the physical transformation of the other three, but Julia found herself really loving the girl. Erica would always be larger than average. Her frame and her genetics made her completely ineligible for a runway model's job. She had started attacking her loose flesh with a vengeance, and Julia was very pleased with the girl's realistic goals as far as her appearance.

Emotionally and personality-wise, Erica's metamorphosis was every bit as dramatic as Missy's, and Julia found her an absolute delight to be with. The other residents found the same thing. She had developed the reputation for non-stop socializing, and no one ever felt like turning her away.

Julia was taking careful notes on everything that happened with Erica. She was a fascinating case study in several ways. Faith and Jessica had started Julia thinking about the healing value of experiencing things that had been denied earlier in life. With Faith, it was the emotional closeness and approval of a mother. Actually, the same was true of Missy. Watching Faith and Muriel together, Julia almost - almost - regretted her decision not to have children. Earlier, Lindsey and Norma had bonded in a similar way.

With Jessica, Gretchen had for a short time filled the mother role that Marie had been rejected from. Also, Jessica's past discussions of sex had been limited to how disgusting a duty it was. By the end of her six weeks at the Tee, it was a source of some humor how she went from person to person, hungry to talk about sex.

Erica was intriguing because there were two areas where she needed to make up for past deprivation. The socializing had been denied her at home because her family equated the ability to interact normally with acceptable appearance. She herself eliminated socializing at school as part of her effort to be invisible. It made Julia bristle to think that parents would withhold communication because a child was overweight.

It had been Erica that had eventually made the comment that she probably did not miss anything by being left out of conversations at home. Compared to things she talked about at Linsdey's, her family's conversations seemed meaningless.

The other intriguing thing about Erica was the positive impact of body exposure on her. Missy and Leah had both told Julia about their visits with Erica naked in her room. She reacted like a Tee resident who had been there for months. Her nudity just seemed to make her more animated, more communicative. It seemed to put her in a mode where no one could ever guess what she had been like before. The presence of Cy, Ted, and later all of the other boys did not seem to make any difference.

A big challenge in 'treating' all of Lindsey's kids was to resolve the situation between them and their families. Resolution did not mean reunification. Rather it meant determining what the long-term livable relationship would be, from the resident kid's standpoint. In some cases, relationships with siblings could be different from those with parents, either better or worse.

A difficult thing for the kids to accept was that the relationships could not be resolved without contact. Almost without fail, the resident would just as soon never see or hear from their parents again, once they escaped to Lindsey's. They understood, though, when Muriel and Julia insisted on some contact. Because every resident had to suffer through it, they supported each other enthusiastically during those encounters. A 'victory' over one 'sibling's' parents was like a victory for all of them.

Julia was well aware that it was best not to portray a resident's parents as the enemy. However, because of the extreme situations that brought the kids to Lindsey's, there was no use fighting that feeling early on. In fact, because of the way many of the newcomers had been beaten down, they badly needed a boost in self-confidence. The idea of winning over their tormentors was heady stuff. The effect on Erica had been particularly dramatic.

From the very first, Julia was sure that much of the benefit to Erica came from exposing herself. After a lifetime of being told that exposing any of her disgusting body amounted to a social sin, being able, even encouraged, to show all of herself was truly life-changing.

That day, Julia first arranged for Brett to be kept in the center section until notified, then waited for Erica out at the reception area. When Erica greeted her warmly, Julia responded with a hug. She then told Erica "Leave your clothes right here."

"Huh?"

"Just undress and leave your clothes here."

"But I'm not supposed to ... Brett..."

"I'm the boss, Erica. You can break the rules if I tell you to. You've always wanted to, haven't you?" The furious blush gave Julia her answer. In less than a minute, Erica was walking naked beside Julia, heading for a table in the kitchen.

When they were seated, having a soft drink, Julia hit her with the subject. "Honey, we need to arrange a way for you to be naked with your family."

Erica just made a squeaking sound. "WHAT? How can you say that? Why would you want me to do that? I don't want them to see me naked!"

"Yes, you do," Julia countered calmly.

"I don't ... No! ... why would you think that?"

"Honey, what are you feeling right now? Are you nervous? Are you embarrassed? Afraid? Or are you excited? Your nipples say you're excited. What about between your legs?"

Erica just stared at Julia for quite a while. "But with my family..."

"It would be a victory for you," Julia stated. "To you, exposing yourself is a way of erasing the lies about your body."

Quickly dropping her objections, Erica asked "But how would it ever happen? I sure don't want to go to their house. I can't imagine my dad ever coming here again."

-------

[Erica & Family] Mid January

Trevor McCann had hardly been able to believe the changes in his sister, Erica. As a freshman, he only saw his sophomore sister occasionally at school, but every time he did, she was upbeat and animated, and with a group of people. Erica! The ultimate hermit - fat hermit. She did not seem to have lost a lot of weight - maybe some. She just looked different.

Not yet fifteen, Trevor had been less involved in the ridicule and abuse of his overweight sister since he reached puberty. Perhaps it was because their older sister, Jenna, a senior, had used her vicious tongue too much on Trevor during the most awkward part of his puberty. Also, he had always admired their cousin Troy, and Troy was always nice to Erica.

Thus it was that Trevor felt bad that Erica had been driven out, and he fully understood that that was exactly what had happened. Now, he was curious about how she was doing and surprised at the dramatic differences he saw.

As Trevor waited outside school for Erica, he did not even know what he intended to say to her. While he was still pondering, she was right in front of him. Even though she was chatting with a group of other kids, she saw her brother and stopped dead in her tracks.

"It looks like it was good for you to get away," was what he came up with.

"It was the best thing that ever happened to me," she said with a slight smile. She was quite surprised and pleased at the positive comment from him.

"Did you really meet Lindsey Hall?" he asked. Somehow, he had heard of Lindsey's involvement in a conversation at home. Since he went to her school, she was very well known.

"She visits every week," Erica answered.

"Is there ... do you think ... could I ever visit?" he managed to ask.

That was something that Erica never expected. "They'd never let you," she answered.

"I've got enough money to take a cab home. They'd never know. Jenna's got drama after school.

The last thing Erica wanted was to have to deal with her family. However, her recent talk with Julia popped into her head, making her shudder. Not with Trevor! That couldn't be what Julia meant, could it?

She had noticed that in her last year at home, he had not been hard on her like the others. In fact, she had had several quite civil times with him. What would it hurt? Maybe she could test out whether she could actually do it. After a quick conversation with one of the girls with her, Erica pulled her brother out to a loading minivan.

On the ride, Erica did not talk much to Trevor, but did do the introductions. The other three girls and three boys were all courteous to him. He noticed that Erica was treated as an equal by all of the others. Erica was rather quiet, though, because she was trying to decide just what to do with Trevor when they arrived.

Upon arrival after school, the first destination was always the kitchen, where some good snacks were always waiting. Erica just had diet soda, but Trevor dug in with most of the others.

Erica asked Trevor what time he needed to leave and how much homework he had. Then she told him she wanted to go for a swim and there were suits for him. When they got to her room, she told him to change in the bathroom, knowing that he would see the pictures.

While he was changing, Erica quickly stripped, but did not get out her own suit. He was quite a while in the bathroom and she assumed he was getting a good look at the pictures. If he only knew what a surprise awaited when he came out.

When Trevor came out of the bathroom, he looked pretty upset, and she could see a bulge in his swimsuit. When he saw her standing naked, facing him, he froze on the spot.

"Oh. I forgot about those pictures of me," she said casually. "I hope they weren't too much of a shock."

"B ... b ... but Erica! You're ... you're ... whaaaa?"

"I'm sorry, Trev. I guess I should have warned you. I'm not ashamed of my body any more. Nobody here makes nasty remarks, or anything. It's such a change! I just like to, you know, kind of celebrate."

"But you don't ... I mean... " he stammered, waving his arm toward the door.

"Oh, no. I would, but it's against the rules."

"You ... you would?" She had obviously made a huge impact on him. Maybe this was the best thing that could have happened. She finally dug out her suit, and doing a good job of hiding her nervousness, pulled it on.

They used both the pool and the hot tub, and Erica showed him around the whole area. When he had to get ready to leave, she stripped off her suit while he was still there to watch. As had been pre-arranged, one of the guys walked into her room and they chatted for a brief moment with her naked and her brother's mouth gaping open. She was very sure the word would get to her parents. Then, she would see what happened.

-------

It was only two days later that Mona McCann showed up at Lindsey's at dinnertime, looking very concerned. Julia had talked with Erica about the possibility, and they had a rough plan.

Erica was in uniform shirt and shorts, barefoot, when she met her mother and invited her to eat with them. Mona refused and just fidgeted until Erica was done. Then, Erica led her mother to her room, where she stripped off her two garments as soon as they were in the door, and without even closing it.

That had the desired effect. "Erica! What has happened to you? Have you turned into an exhibitionist? Trevor talked about some pictures." Erica quickly showed her the pictures, which did not reduce her tension at all.

When they were coming back out of the bathroom, part of the plan went into effect. One of the boys was standing in the doorway holding a sheet of math problems. "Erica, could you check these for me when you get a chance? Oh, hi. You're her mother, aren't you?" He walked into the room to shake Mona's hand, almost causing her to stroke out.

When the boy had left, after a purposely drawn-out little conversation, Mona had what for her was an explosion. "Erica, this is not right! You can't just go displaying yourself like that!"

"Why not, Mother? No one criticizes my weight. You saw Jeff. He hardly noticed I was naked. People just know I don't wear clothes in my room. It feels so good when people just accept me as Erica, not 'fat Erica'."

"Honey! It wasn't like that at home. You've got to come back and get out of here."

"This is home, now, Mother, and yes, it was just like that. It was all I ever heard."

-------

[Phyllis] Mid-January

Julia had been right about Phyllis. Within a week, she was trying everything she could to get to talk to her daughter. Norman had turned into something that she did not recognize. He no longer responded to her directions, and she had never learned how to use rational persuasion or even sex to get her way. The women that had been her circle of friends at the church had either left for other churches or had cooled toward her. Somehow, she fixed on Leah as the last link to the life that she was trying to hold on to.

Leah had to debrief with Muriel after every attempted contact. She had stuck to her condition and would only say "Mother, you know what you have to do to talk to me." Every time, Phyllis would break into tears.

Muriel finally went to Julia about it. "Phyllis seems obsessed," Muriel warned. "It wouldn't be good for Leah if her mother got arrested or committed."

"You're right about that," Julia agreed. "OK. Let's offer a different deal."

The very next day, Phyllis was waiting for Leah outside the school, by the van. "OK, Leah. I'll do it. I've got to talk to you!"

Her mother's words were so unreal that Leah just stared in disbelief. "I have to talk to you, Leah. I'll do anything! Even that!" Phyllis pled.

When Leah was finally able to grasp that her ultra-prudish mother was willing to walk naked into Lindsey's just for the chance to talk to her, she was left with a decision to make. She had a new, different choice to offer her mother, but Phyllis had just agreed to the original condition.

Her need to punish her lifelong tormentor would be best served by making her mother go naked amongst the kids. But if Phyllis admitted herself to the Tee, she could be changed, maybe even changed like Lindsey's mom, or Ted's.

Alex was driving that day, and Leah rode in silence beside her mother. There really was no decision. Leah knew what the Tee could do, and Phyllis needed that as badly as any woman. She could get just a little satisfaction by not telling her mother that until the last minute, though.

When they pulled up to Lindsey's and got out, Leah took her trembling mother by the arm and led her toward the entrance to the Tee. Over her shoulder, she called to Libby "Tell Muriel to make sure we can get in. Tell her my mother is admitting herself."

"Ad ... admitting?" Phyllis stammered.

"The deal has changed, Mother. "Now, I will only talk to you if you admit yourself to Transformations."

"T ... T ... Trans ... formations? But ... but that's the place..."

"Yes, Mother. That's the place that Reverend Matthews and Reverend Schermer tried to shut down. It's also the place that saved Rachel Matthews' sanity. You are going to admit yourself there before you end up in a psyche ward."

"Will I have to be ... n ... naked?"

"Of course. I will come in there with you right now, and I promise that I will come and talk to you every day."

It took only a few minutes before a naked Norma opened the door for the mother and daughter. Just the sight of the naked woman was such a shock that it sent Phyllis into near hysterics. Over and over, she tried to start a conversation with Leah, but over and over, Leah just said "I won't talk until you're in there naked." A few times, she did add "Mother. This is it. Either you undress right now and go in there, or I will get a court order to keep you away from me."

It took a little over twenty minutes, but Phyllis's objections and hysteria suddenly turned to catatonia. Naomi and Rachel came through the door together, naked.

Every belief, everything she had been taught about modesty and propriety, the way she had revered Naomi as the saintly wife of the Reverend; all of those things were made meaningless. Two of her icons of godly womanhood now stood totally exposed before her in a sight that just could not be real.

Julia had been interrupted in the middle of a session because of the seriousness of what was happening. She had been brought to tears when she heard the choice that Leah had made. The kids on the van had heard Phyllis agree to strip at Lindsey's.

Julia was also sensitive to Leah's need to inflict some humiliation on her mother. That humiliation could also have some therapeutic value. Phyllis needed a severe jolt, and Julia knew just how to administer it. It would be a completely non-standard entrance to the Tee, but it should be very, very effective. It would throw Phyllis into 'another world' where some true change could start more rapidly.

Phyllis was already wavering from the shock of the naked Matthews women when Cy, naked, stepped between his mother and grandmother and lovingly put an arm around each of them. In fact, that was almost too much for Leah, but Phyllis just crumpled in a dead faint.

Cy had been warned to watch for just that problem, and he was quick enough to keep Phyllis from hurting herself. Norma was on the woman in a flash, almost tearing the clothes from her. "It would be best if she comes to already naked," Norma said softly but urgently.

A few other pairs of hands helped. Several seconds later, Phyllis became aware enough to make a desperate but futile grab for her panties, her last garment to be pulled off.

As Phyllis roused, Cy disappeared. The objective was leave her unsure whether she had actually seen him there, naked. The shock had facilitated stripping her, and that was a necessary step.

Surrounded and supported by Naomi and Rachel, and by Mary Hall, whom she did not yet know, Phyllis was led to her new room and sedated into sleep by Ryan.

Just as Phyllis was drifting off, Julia hurried in. Norma knew how to issue a piercing whistle and Julia often used her to call everyone together, as she did then. Julia had found Leah and held her hand tightly. When the crowd of residents and staff had assembled, she pulled Leah in front of her and wrapped her arms around the girl.

"Frank and I never had children," Julia started out. "I feel fortunate about that because I have been blessed with some of the most unbelievable teenagers anyone could imagine."

At that point the professional Julia lost out, and the emotional woman Julia went on through unabashed tears. She haltingly told the story of the choice that Leah had made, reminding everyone that they all knew Leah's story. "Phyllis Hayes is probably a monster in your eyes. She certainly has been a monster to her daughter. But Leah, Phyllis's victim, has chosen to try for healing, for change. What does that mean to all of the rest of you? Can you do any less than treat Phyllis as a fellow sufferer who needs your help?

"Mary Hall's experience is so similar to Phyllis's that it is almost spooky, and I am asking you, Mary, to be her companion for a while." Mary nodded, also in tears.

Julia just stood and rocked Leah back and forth in front of her for several moments, tears still flowing freely. Then she spoke again. "To those of us that are not particularly religious, I want to point out something. Leah, Naomi, Rachel, and Cy have just demonstrated what true faith must be meant to be. What has happened to them, being naked here, is wrong by everything that they believed. Yet, when it came to another troubled woman, a woman they had every reason to shun, they freely bared themselves again to help her on the way to change.

"I will never attempt to influence what any of you believe. But I will be very upset with anyone who ridicules or denigrates the faith of these people or anyone else who comes to this place.

"I think you all know by now that you are all part of the healing process. You are all psychologists in a very real sense. Phyllis is all of your new patient. Treat her as you would like to be treated, no matter how unlovable she might be. Remember the choice Leah made. Don't dishonor it."

The sight of the director crying unashamedly was something completely unprecedented for any of those present. It was unlikely that her plea would be forgotten.



-------

Chapter 28


[Julia & Staff] Mid-January

"I know you hate to have this subject brought up, but is Phyllis going to have to be a freebie?" Frank asked in the staff meeting the next morning.

"Not a problem, this time," Julia answered. "Caz Calloway is covering her for as long as necessary. He offered as soon as he heard what had happened.

"On another matter," Julia went on. "I guess you are all aware of the extreme deviation from normal admittance. I could make a joke and say 'Extreme deviations are us'. Lately that seems to be the pattern."

"Julia," Paul said gently, "I'm not sure they are really deviations from anything. After all, the FDA, AMA, or American Psychiatric Association have not specified or established our entrance procedure or any of our other policies. They were established as our best guess at what would best serve our clients.

"I know that you are not a rigid person, and I don't think you should worry so much about adapting to what will work best for a particular patient. For instance, I think you should send Phyllis to church with her husband and daughter right away."

Ryan followed that up. "Paul's right about church. We all saw how much it sped the progress of Naomi and Rachel. And the totally non-standard treatment of the Ralston family - when it's such a howling success, how can you worry about deviations. I think it just follows the proven doctrine of 'whatever it takes'."

"Thank you, Paul and Ryan. Eloquently and persuasively spoken. Now that I have been given carte blanche..." Julia had to pause for laughter after that. " ... here's the radical approach I've been considering for Phyllis.

"I think we should make her fall in love with Cy." All hilarity was quickly banished and surprised looks dominated the faces.

"Here's my thinking behind that. I probably should have said 'falling in lust' or 'become submissive to'. I just wanted to shake you up. I think you know my theory that many oppressively dominant or controlling women are actually working very hard to disguise a strong submissive streak. All of you understand that any person living a persona that is contrived or put on is a basically unhappy person.

"In a shambles of a marriage and family like the Hayes, it may not be possible to directly repair the husband-wife relationship. Now, it worked with the Halls, but they may be the exception that proves the rules.

"My early assessment is that Phyllis was raised in the absence of real interpersonal feelings. At least, those feelings were never allowed to be expressed. I would guess that she has never truly lusted after her husband - has never truly longed for his sexual attentions. I should amend that statement to say that she has never admitted to lusting, desiring that attention.

"We have to approach the problem somewhat obliquely. Lust - sexual desire - has to be unleashed in Phyllis, first. If we try to treat Phyllis head-on, as it were, it could take forever - perhaps longer than it took for Mary.

"My idea is to assume that she is at heart submissive and use that to bring about the fastest possible change."

"But using Cy!" Muriel objected. "He's still pretty young. And he wants to be faithful to Leah. How could she accept it?"

"I hope you didn't think I meant for Cy to have sex with his future mother-in-law. Going that far would have too many dangers," Julia explained.

"Then how far were you thinking of?" Frank asked.

"The only answer I can give you right now is 'as far as it takes'. This is a situation where there will have to be constant discussion and planning with Leah and Cy. In fact, I envision Leah always being present when there is contact between Cy and her mother."

"Wow!" came from several people. It was Gretchen who asked "Cy will have to bypass the usual woman's permission and just do things to her, won't he?"

"You've got it," Julia agreed. "That's why the planning is so important."

"Why does it have to be Cy?" Michelle asked.

"My original thought," Julia responded, "was that we just had to awaken the sensual side of her. Given her background and beliefs, though, allowing any kind of intimate contact with just any of our men would make her immediately defensive.

"Why would she react differently to Cy? I think there is a mystique about Cy in Phyllis's mind. For one thing, he is the offspring of her erstwhile hero/saint. In her mind, Cy is not just another teenager. For another thing, he has captured her daughter's heart in a way that Phyllis's own heart has never really been captured. I think we will have to let Leah and Cy make mockery of the usual PDA rules around here. We want Phyllis to have no doubt that the two are deeply in love and also in serious lust."

"Isn't this plan playing with fire?" Ryan asked. "After you get her in love or lust with her son-in-law-to-be, how do you redirect that to her husband, where it belongs?"

"See, that's why I never wanted to get into marriage counseling. I just don't seem to have a choice," Julia joked. "My plan is that what Phyllis feels for Cy and what she sees in the relationship between Leah and Cy will make her long for that in her life. Cy's age, though, and the fact that he belongs to her daughter will make her realize that it cannot be Cy. The obvious candidate, then, is her husband."

"What if her respect and feelings for her husband are too far gone?" Gretchen queried.

"Can't you people please throw some softballs at the boss once in a while?" Julia mock complained. "That is a serious problem for which I do not yet have an answer. The somewhat cynical answer would be to worry first about transforming our client, personally. Then, we'll worry about the marriage. If the marriage is not salvageable because the husband is unworthy, our client is a happier person on her own with a chance to build a new, more satisfying marriage with someone else."

"You do realize that divorce is treated very, very seriously in their circles?" Ryan said.

"Oh, yes. I understand that. I will not, though, discard it as sometimes the best alternative. I will try to accommodate religious beliefs, but not at the expense of rational analysis of the client's best interests."

"Oof! That's deep," Ryan chuckled. "Let's see if I picture this the way you do. Here's Cy giving Phyllis a massage while Leah sits beside the table and talks to them. He does her legs and her ass, without even asking for permission. Then he turns her over and starts masturbating her, right in front of the woman's daughter - his own fiance. Is that what you see?"

Refusing to be baited, Julia threw a question back at Ryan. "If that happened and Phyllis began to need and expect it, what would that do to her marriage?"

"I suppose she would no longer be interested in sex with her husband as it had been," Ryan answered. "I suspect it was lights out, flannel nightgown lifted, wham, bam." That produced a chuckle from the others, a nervous chuckle.

"And my hope would be that she would try to introduce and stimulate Norman to new sexual practices," Julie stated "Look, I warned you that this would be radical. I promise you that nothing will happen that Leah and Cy are not in complete, unfaked agreement with. We will not seek Phyllis's agreement."

"Hey, we haven't had a client for a while who had to meet naked with a clothed son. Are we looking at one of those?" Gretchen asked with a grin.

"I assumed that was waiting for Phyllis down the line. I am, after all, an optimist. We're going to fix her."

-------

"My idea is that we have all of the guys massage your mother, just as with the other clients. The difference would be that Cy's turn would take things much farther," Julia explained. "Now, I've admitted that this is not a proven, certified technique. There is a chance that she could get sexually fixated on Cy. And I have to keep saying it over and over again: I do not want anything to be done that will harm the marvelous relationship that you two have. Even if it helped transform you mother, it would not be worth that."

"You know, Julia, the hardest part would be watching," Leah said. "Not because I was upset that Cy was doing something too intimate with her - just because I still have so many feelings against her. I know how wonderful Cy's touch is. She doesn't deserve to feel that."

"So, you're saying we should just forget the whole idea right now?" Julia challenged.

"No!" Leah said quickly. "As usual, your idea is brilliant, and I honestly believe it is just what mother needs. As much as I almost hate her, I would like to see her escape her life as a cold fish. Cy can certainly do that for her."

"How about you, Cy? Will feelings of unfaithfulness make it impossible to follow the plan?"

"Those feelings will certainly be there," Cy acknowledged, "and Leah will have to convince me every step that she really wants it. The hardest part will be simply touching her. It is not at all a pleasant thought. I keep seeing Leah the way she used to be, and I know Phyllis is responsible for that."

"But you would still do it, for Phyllis's and Leah's sakes?"

"Yes, I would. I understand that a mother/daughter relationship as bad as they now have would harm our own happiness later in life," Cy answered.

Julia wondered how these kids could keep bringing her to tears.

"Could I suggest something?" Cy asked. At Julia's nod, he went on rather hesitantly. "You mentioned trying to, uh, uncover her submissive streak. Could I be the slave-driver who pushed her on her exercises, made her sore enough to need the massages? Could I make her, uh, fear my anger?"

"I've joked before about you hanging your shingle in the spare office," Julia said. "I guess that was no joke. That is an absolutely brilliant idea. There is only one problem: can you be that bad guy to her?"

"Honey," Cy said to Leah, "can I tell Julia what happened later the night she put you in my bed?" Leah blushed hard, but nodded, and Cy recounted the scene around the pool.

"Julia, looking back, I believe that was the night I fell in love with Leah, even though it took me a while to realize it. It was not just the intimacy we shared that night, although it was amazing. It was the fact that I instantly understood and felt exactly what she was feeling. I knew that because of what we had both been through, there would always be a special understanding between us.

"But something else happened that night. I developed a very deep anger at the people who could cause such a wonderful, innocent person such terrible mental, emotional, and spiritual anguish. Whenever I am with Phyllis, I will never forget Leah that night, and I will always hold Phyllis responsible. Can I be hard on her, over and over again? Absolutely!"

Julia nodded thoughtfully and held her silence for a while. "Sometime, both of you, we have to talk seriously about forgiveness. We also have to talk about the fact that Phyllis was only following the life template that was beaten into her."

"I already understand that," Cy assured her. "It still won't erase that vision of Leah. It won't stop me from doing the 'tough love' bit."

"Cy, if you can handle that, it will solve another problem, I believe. The big concern for myself and the staff had been diverting her developing love or lust for you to her husband, where it belongs. If you are the source of pain and some humiliation, as well as affection and pleasure, then my job may be easier. The only remaining danger is if she subconsciously longs to be a slave."

"Wow! Does that really happen?" Leah asked in amazement.

"Honey, anything you can imagine can happen and has happened. Because of your own wonderful purity and innocence, a lot of things happen that you would never imagine. Many times, I have seen a woman who acted like your mother because she was trying to hide a very strong submissive streak."

-------

[Brett] Mid January

On Monday of the third week, Brett was thrown a new challenge. Mary walked in with the women, clothed. That was a clear deviation from the center section policy, but Julia felt that it was a good next step.

Needless to say, that put a lot of pressure on Brett. His mother had visited Lindsey's several times and he should have felt somewhat comfortable naked in her presence. The problem was that he was involved in some pretty intimate touching of the women. That, combined with his mother's presence caused him to be hard for almost the entire session.

On Wednesday, Mary and Nancy were there, both clothed. They sat and talked animatedly with the women getting the massages. They purposely got into some very intimate subjects, although Mary refrained from saying anything about herself. Friday, Muriel joined the other two. The idea was to surround Brett with women and subject him to their talk and their outlook.

For the entire third week, the women all turned onto their backs and put a leg up. With his mother there, the exposed pussies put even more pressure on Brett. There were no new escalations, though.

-------

On Sunday afternoon before Brett's fourth week, Julia got together with the four women that Brett was massaging.

Sophie, despite how new she was at the Tee and despite her own challenges, had assumed a leadership role in Brett's 'treatment'. "Julia, shouldn't we use this chance to teach Brett a little more about women and how we react?"

"I think we're doing that with the massages, aren't we? I hope you're all doing a good job of faking pleasure at his efforts."

"We aren't having to fake a whole lot," Angie, one of the other women interjected. "He has pretty good hands and he is actually following instructions." Angie was forty something and well along toward her goals. She had a naturally attractive body.

"That's great to hear," Julia said. "How much more were you thinking of, Sophie?"

"Oh, just what we all wish for every time one of your studs massages us here. The stuff they aren't allowed to do? See, he doesn't have to stick by your employee rules."

"You mean masturbation?"

"Well, if he's a misogynist asshole, like you say, he'll probably never take time to learn to give a woman pleasure on his own. If he's not really that asshole, maybe it will trigger something in him."

"That's not something I can ask you women to do," Julia protested.

"Oh, I don't think that's the problem," Sophie said with a chuckle. "I know it's sure not for me. Looking like I do, I've been my only source of stimulation for a long time. After getting off the table from one of Terry's massages, all it would take is a puff of wind on my clit, and I'd come with a crash.

"What we need, at least what I need, is to know what you would NOT forbid."

"I'm thinking that we have to improve our applicant screening process," Julia joked. "How did we let you in here, anyway, Sophie?"

"I just faked lots of problems," Sophie shot back, and all five of them laughed.

"It would be crossing a dangerous line to allow any kind of overt sexual activity on Transformations' property," Julia said.

"But it's just two of us women and Brett in there," Sophie countered. "No Transformations official knows what goes on, except for what we tell you, right?" That brought more laughs because they had all spent time reviewing the tapes.

"Is this out of concern for Brett, or is it because you're horny?" Julia asked Sophie.

"Yes." More laughter.

"Any of the rest of you feel like going that far?"

Polly, the woman with the exceptional breasts said "I don't think I want him playing with my pussy, but these could be educational." She lifted up each of her mammaries with a hand.

"Can I sneak a dildo in?" Angie asked, to gasps from the others. "Well, I'm sure he's not a virgin, but I'll bet it's just been 'wham, bam' stuff. I think Sophie's idea is to make him see what happens when a woman is treated right."

"So, will you be comfortable with one of the other women standing and watching while Brett pushes that fake cock into you?" Julia challenged.

"Ha! The boys can see my 'rhoids' every time they massage me," Angie retorted. "'Modesty' is just a word I heard somewhere."

Julia was lost in thought for a minute or two, then she shook her head and said "I'm certainly glad that none of you suggested anything outside of our rules. It pleases me that none of you would do that."

The four women were confused for a moment, then Sophie said "Oh, Julia, we would never try to break any of your rules."

After meeting with the women, Julia went to Lindsey's and pulled Connie aside. "Am I correct in assuming that you've had little experience with boys?" Connie nodded. "Then I have a rather tough assignment for you, but one that you will enjoy.

"Tomorrow, and for the rest of the week, we are going to delay Brett's afternoon sessions with the women so the rest of you are already home when he comes back over here. If I give you some instructions, can you pretend that you're much more sexually experienced than you really are?"

Connie's nod was uncertain that time, but Julia went on. "Here's what I want you to do. This is even more secret than anything else that has happened, OK? When he comes through the door, you be waiting and..."

-------

"Brett! Tell me, when you push your cock into the girls you fuck, does it slide in easily, or are they pretty dry?" That was how Angie opened the morning session on Monday of the fourth week as Brett massaged Sally.

"Well, I've always had a condom on, and..."

The women had talked this over beforehand. They assumed from Brett's general attitude that he was paying no attention to the girls' pleasure. They also decided that they should not approach it from an accusatory viewpoint. They needed to teach, rather than criticize.

"Brett, can you keep this absolutely secret? We would get kicked out of here if anyone found out what I'm going to do."

"Don't you want to get out of here?"

"Only when I reach my goals. Can you keep this secret?"

"Yeah, sure."

Angie took Sally's place on the table, but on her back, and with her bottom right at the edge. She brought her feet up tight against her buttocks and let her knees fall out to the sides. "Help him out," she told Sally.

With Brett's eyes practically bugging out, Sally pulled out a realistic looking dildo about the size of Brett's cock and put a condom on it. She positioned it at Angie's opening and brought Brett's limp hand over to take control of it. "Get it into her," Sally ordered.

Brett looked partly horrified and partly confused and Sally had to take his hand, close it around the fake cock, and help him start to push it into Angie. Naturally, there was quite a bit of resistance.

"Brett," Angie said in a strained voice, "that hurts. The little lubrication on the condom doesn't do much good. It pulls and burns and to me, at least, pain is not stimulating. I wish the thing would get out of me." With that, Sally pulled it out. Brett was still hardly able to move, except for his rigid cock, which twitched with every heartbeat.

Angie slid back up the table and stretched out her legs, keeping them as far apart as the table allowed. "Come up here by my waist, Brett," she told him. Sally had to guide him there. Angie took his limp hand and placed it over her mound. She got her hand on top of his and managed to move his middle finger down between her labia. "What do you feel? Is it slippery, or is it pretty dry?"

"P ... p ... pretty dry."

"Yup. Never try to enter a girl if she feels dry like that," Angie counseled him. "Now, I'm going to get myself good and slippery." With that, she started caressing her breasts and teasing her nipples.

"This will take quite a few minutes, Brett. It's important to learn that girls do not get worked up as quickly as guys do. Now, girls your age get there a lot faster than I do, but still nothing like you. You can go from soft to ready to spurt in a matter of seconds, right?"

When both of her nipples were rigid, Angie slipped one hand to her mound. "The magic button is the clitoris, right at the top of my slit. For me, rubbing in rapid circles right around it is the way to wind me up. It's different for other women, so you need to ask."

Those were Angie's last words until after she had brought herself off several minutes later. Still panting, she told him "In case you didn't know, I came - I had an orgasm.

"Smell. That's me. Learn that smell. It's the smell of a woman sexually aroused. If you smell that, she's ready for sex. Give me your hand again. Doesn't it feel different, now? That means that I'm ready. Let's try that dildo again."

With Angie back in position at the bottom of the table, Sally again helped Brett insert the dildo, this time without the condom. "Just so you know, not many girls can orgasm from having a cock in them," Angie said. "I'm one of the lucky ones. Now use those muscles, and if you stop, I'll rip your cock right off! I'm nice and slippery now, and it feels wonderful."

It took some cajoling, some pleading, and finally some profanity before Brett was using the amount of motion and force that Angie wanted. Once he got the stroke, it took most of ten minutes before she had another climax.

It was Sally who talked to Brett as Angie recovered. "Remember. This never happened, OK? Any questions?"

Of course, Brett was nowhere near ready to reveal his ignorance by asking, so he just shook his head.

"It doesn't take what she did to get a woman lubricated, Brett," Sally told him. Still standing because Angie was not quite ready to stand up, Sally took Brett's hand and helped him check out the relative dryness of her own pussy.

When Angie was able to get up, Sally laid down on her stomach and told Brett to massage her, including her bottom and her legs. When he had spent almost twenty minutes doing that, Sally pulled her knees up under her and said "Get your face close to my ass and smell. Recognize it? Now, check for slipperiness again."

When he had run his finger between her labia and found her quite slippery, she told him "See, you weren't even masturbating me. To women, anything sensual can be arousing. We really respond to good touching. Men are visually aroused, but we need touch. Oh, we like to look at cocks, but it doesn't have the same effect as you seeing a bald pussy."

Brett definitely had learned something that session, but it would not do to react too strongly.

-------

In the afternoon, Sophie appeared with her labia shaved smooth and bare. There was still a full patch above her cleft. Because of her excess fat, she was not sexy, but the sight of her bare, plump lips was nearly enough to put Brett over the edge.

Polly was first that day. She went through the normal sequence, down over her ass, then onto her back for treatment of her legs. When he finished with her legs, though, she did not get off the table. Sophie told him "Polly needs some attention to those awesome boobs of hers. You wouldn't mind playing with them, would you? We'll teach you how to do it right."

For the next twenty minutes, Brett got a lesson in attention to breasts, using a pair that he would be unlikely to touch the equal of again in his lifetime. By this stage of his 'massage' duty, Brett had dropped most of his bravado, at least as far as following instructions. For their part, the women had done a great job of gently teaching him, being very careful not to anger him with criticism.

After he finished Sophie's legs, she told him "You got a lesson on Polly's world-class boobs. Now you're going to get a lesson on my pussy. I won't say it's world class, but I've been told that the lips are unusually large and thick and that everything is nicely put together.

"I think you're getting the idea now, Brett, that starting slowly and building up is the way to get the most response out of a woman. Give me your hand, and I'll show you what I want you to do."

Sophie started him running his hand up and down over the smoothly shaved skin of her closed lips. She had put lotion on so his fingers moved quite easily over her. She raised and spread her legs as Angie had done in the morning. "Rub all the way down to my asshole. Don't worry. It's perfectly clean and I was lucky - I don't have any hemorrhoids. There, kind of circle around it. Ooooohhhh! I like that feeling!"

After a few minutes, she had him squeeze and pinch the lips together, encouraging him to be firm. She got him to use his whole hand to grasp and squeeze the area. He seemed afraid to hurt her, which was good, but it was what she wanted.

A few more minutes were spent with his fingers between the lips, squeezing, rubbing, and pulling each lip separately.

A big escalation came when she had him insert a finger into her now slippery channel. Once he got over that shock, she had him use a second, then a third finger until he was vigorously simulating the dildo he had used on Angie.

She was very aroused by then, and her speech was halting. "C ... can't come from that. Hand! No! Other hand! Don't stop!"

She got the thumb of his other hand on her rather prominent clit. When she was getting close, Polly came up behind him. She put an arm around his shoulder and pressed her breast against him. "When she comes, don't you dare stop the rubbing. You need to make it last."

When Sophie erupted, it was too much for Brett. The women had been amazed that he had not lost it before, but they assumed, correctly, that he was relieving the pressure morning and noon. Polly could tell that it was about to happen, and she spoke right in his ear. "Let it come. Let it come. Don't you dare stop doing Sophie."

Things were pretty quiet as Sophie recovered and Polly cleaned things up. Brett went off to the bathroom and was gone for a few minutes. When he returned, Sophie was sitting on the table. "I hope you learned today, Brett, that a woman's appearance has nothing to do with how she responds sexually. You made me feel very good and I thank you."

There was a little more discussion, and then they each went to their respective areas.

-------

[Rachel & Caz] Late January

Caz liked his date with Rachel so well that he made it a weekly event. The next week it was the ballet. Margo got Rachel an elegant evening gown with all of the accessories. Her shoulders were bare, and once again it took some serious talking to get her to wear the dress. At least she had a beautiful shawl with which to cover herself.

The women decided they liked the line-up idea for departure and return. They seemed to be living vicariously through Rachel's experience and they seemed to anticipate the dates as much as she did.

On their return from the ballet, when inside the section, Caz could not resist. Standing behind Rachel, he lifted the shawl from her shoulders and planted a brief kiss on the exposed flesh. That brought gasps and a few moans from the assembled women and caused Rachel's knees to buckle a little.

The third date was a reception at an art gallery. Margo really pushed Rachel with the dress she chose for that one. It showed a lot of cleavage and with its high, uneven hem and it's slit up one side, it showed a lot of leg, too. The heels were higher than she had ever worn before and Julia permitted her to wear them for two hours a day to get used to them.

Caz had worried about taking her to such an upscale event, but his worries were unfounded. Her social graces, occasionally instilled with the back of her father's hand, had not atrophied at all. She was instinctively courteous and friendly. She ended up charming the whole crowd of party-weary sophisticates. Caz was definitely among the charmed.

Her looks had not been a major consideration when Caz had decided to date Rachel, but her appearance was turning out to be an enormous bonus. It had been the sweetness and the vulnerability that had first attracted him. The bond of their common suffering had also been a powerful draw. Now, he was gawking at her beauty and poise along with everyone else who saw her.

It was the third date, and Caz decide that it was time for their first kiss. It would be a chaste kiss in front of all of her friends, but it would be an important first. When it was time to say goodbye, he took both of her hands in one of his. With his other hand, he lifted her chin a little and gave her a brief kiss on her lips.

When he pulled back, she was still puckered and she stumbled toward him just a little at the loss of pressure. It made him wish he had held the kiss a little longer. The next kiss would be somehwhere private where he could find out how she really felt.

-------

[Janice] Late January

Finding out that Julia would be at Lindsey's for a while after dinner, Janice came for dinner and stayed to talk with Ted, Missy, and Connie. She and Ray had been frequent visitors, and she had largely repaired the damage from her early tirades against the girls. Missy had always rather liked Janice, and Connie was coming around.

When Janice was able to get a minute with Julia, she got right to the subject. "I would really like to have Ted come home."

"Yes, I think it's time," Julia agreed.

"We'd like to have Connie come and live with us, permanently, too," Janice added.

"Oh! You caught me with that one," Julia exclaimed.

"I know that it costs to keep the kids here, and it looks like you are filling up. We can afford another child. I'm convinced that there is nothing romantic between Ted and Connie. I would like to try having a daughter, even this late."

"Wow! Connie is our first resident, and she is such an awesome young lady! You're right, though. We could use the space and the money for more kids. You know about Brett, obviously. Connie is really critical for that project right now. Please don't mention this to her until Brett leaves, OK? Otherwise, I think it is wonderful. I rate you and your family as one of our great successes, Janice."

-------

[Brett] Late January

Connie met Brett as he came through the door. Putting a hand possessively on his arm in her typical fashion, she led him toward his room, asking "Do you have to pee?"

"Huh? Uh, no, uh, what... ?"

By that time, they were at his room. She led him in and closed the door behind them as he noticed the three other girls waiting.

"Brett, all of the girls here have been really nice to you. Now, you've got some women helping you learn things. Well, this is your chance to pay back for the nice things done for you. You're going to help these girls learn about men."

"Wh ... what do you mean?"

"You need to come. I know that. We're going to watch you get yourself off."

"No way! I can't do that!"

"Sure you can. Look, you've got a nice body and a neat cock. We've all seen it. These girls have led really restricted lives. It would mean so much to them to learn first hand. Just think how good a come you can have with four girls watching. It should be awesome."

Connie got aggressive, then, rather forcefully leading him to the bed. Because he had sprung to instant, total hardness as she talked, she doubted that he would put up much resistance. She was right.

She got him on the bed, leaning back on pillows that she had piled up with a towel under him. He put up no resistance as she bent and spread his legs, exposing him completely. She sat by his feet with her hand on one foot in her possessive way.

"Come on now, Brett. The girls will be really grateful, and it will feel really good for you. You like to show off. Do it now." She took his limp hand and placed it on his stiff shaft. She even made it move up and down a little.

He did not move his hand away, but he did not start masturbating himself, either. He just looked back and forth between the girls. Then, the macho Brett kicked in. "How about if you show me some tits and pussy to help out," he said.

"Oh, I know that nothing I have would excite you - you said so. The other girls are way too shy for that," Connie said in a dismissive tone.

There was complete silence for almost a minute. Connie watched for any sign of his hand moving. In truth, this was as new to her as to the other girls, but she was doing a masterful job of hiding her eagerness.

"Brett," Connie said, her tone now sharper, "here's the deal. You are going to ejaculate for these girls. I'm asking you to make yourself come in this nice, friendly, intimate setting. If you won't do that, I'll get someone in here to make you come. Then, it will be like you're a lab animal. You don't want that, do you?"

"You wouldn't. That would be ... that would be..."

Connie waited several more seconds, then, with a sigh, she got up and went to the door. When Nancy walked in, Brett could not restrain a gasp. "Brett," she said, "if I'm going to do this, we'll make it a public event. All the girls will watch. Wouldn't you rather do it yourself?"

"Shit! OK! OK! I'll do it," he said frantically. "Aren't ... aren't you going to leave?"

"You had your chance. Since Connie had to call me in, I at least want to see how you came all over my daughter."

Brett groaned, but did not start anything.

"Does that mean you want me to call in the rest of the girls and do it for you?" Nancy demanded. "Come on, Brett. Let's keep this nice and friendly. You'll feel good about it afterwards, I'm sure."

He delayed again. Nancy, just like Connie had done, sighed and went to the door. "No, wait. I'm doing it! I'm doing it!" And he was.

As much as she hated to, Connie gave up her position with a direct view of Brett's genitals. She badly wanted to see everything, but she had to keep up her pretense of relative disinterest.

The three girls were so nervous they could hardly move onto the foot of the bed, so Connie and Nancy helped them. "See how emotional this is for the girls, Brett?" Nancy asked him. "Doesn't it make you feel good about doing it?"

The girls almost did not move fast enough. They were barely positioned and watching when Brett stiffened, gave a long groan, and sent four good spurts up onto his belly.

Brett had naively thought that particular ordeal was over. but when Connie started pulling him to his room again the next day, he stopped in his tracks. "That's OK, I guess. I'll get the girls and we can do it right here," she said cheerily. That level of public display exceeded his macho coefficient and he let her lead him along.

Nancy had coached Connie enough so that Connie could sound very authoritative. She positioned Brett at the foot of the bed with everything hanging over the end. Then, she instructed Brett on just how to stimulate himself and gave a running commentary to the girls on what to watch for.

When he had come, the girls all waited to see him soften, but their presence prevented it. With Nancy having to deliver some threats, he got himself off again, and Connie described the changes the girls should look for as he wilted.

"You realize, don't you, Brett, that none of this ever happened?" Nancy said with a smirk as he was panting in recovery.

-------

Wednesday of that fourth week, two new women took their turns. That little bit of variety kept Brett's arousal where Julia wanted it.

Also on Wednesday of the fourth week, the DA informed the Halls that enough was enough. Brett had to report to school on Monday.

Friday morning, four naked women greeted Brett with the makings of a little goodbye party. As it turned out, though, it was a much more serious occasion than just a party. Sophie, who had been the de facto leader all along, got everyone seated and spoke to Brett.

"Except for the first day or so, Brett, we haven't seen the asshole that we were told to expect. Now, that's either because you're a hell of a good actor, or because you aren't really that asshole after all. Being a person who likes to see the good, I choose to think you're naturally a pretty good guy who somehow decided he'd rather be a macho jerk. Tell me, what do you think of the kids at Lindsey's?"

"Huh? Well, they're all OK, I guess."

"Would you have been friends with any of them at school?"

"No way."

"Well, how will you react now when you see them at school?"

"Oh. I hadn't thought of that," Brett admitted.

"Are you afraid of what your jock friends will say if you talk to any of them?" He silently looked at the floor.

"How would you say they all treated you while you were here? Were they mean like you would have been to them?"

"I wouldn't have..." he cut off his own protest.

Changing the subject, the woman asked "What are you going to do when you run into Chelsea?"

"Probably run the other way," he quipped.

"How do you think she feels about you being 'sentenced' to this?"

"She's probably laughing all the time."

"Brett, that's not true. Nancy will be here tonight. Ask her, OK?"

"Yeah. Sure."

"What about Connie? You going to come back and date her?"

"Connie? I'll just be glad to be rid of her."

"Are you sure?" the woman challenged.

Another woman took over. "Brett, we're all here hoping for some big changes. You can leave here and go back into exactly the same life that you left, a life where people only mattered for what you could get from them. I think that would be sad. Your mom and dad are completely different people than they were a year ago. You should try to react differently to them. It would make your life better.

"You can go right back to the same friends. Before you do that, I wish you would think about something. Why are they your friends? What do they do for you? What do you do for them? When you have those answers, think about how important those things are to any of you. Think about how much they will mean to you a few years from now."

With that, the women all stood up and began passing around the treats. There were no massages that day.

-------

Brett would be leaving the following day, Saturday, and Julia had been scrambling to make one last impact on him. She was quite sure that Brett was at least intrigued by Connie, if not more than that. Of course, there was no way he would admit it.

Part of Julia did not want to do anything that would cause Connie to get closer to Brett UNLESS he actually changed. On the other hand, Connie might do a lot to change Brett. It was a tough choice, so she tried to come up with something that should only affect Brett.

As always, luck was welcome. Terry had been a frequent visitor to Lindsey's and knew all of the kids except the twins, who had arrived while Brett was there. It had been decided that, except for his entrance, it would be best if Brett's teammate Terry stay away and not add to his humiliation.

Quite early Saturday morning, Muriel told Connie that she was scheduled for breakfast out with Julia, Terry, Trish, and a friend of Terry's. Having developed a taste for hunks, even those that were taken, Connie was more than willing. Muriel warned Connie not to let on to Terry's friend that Brett had been naked.

At breakfast, Julia explained what she wanted to do, although she soon noticed that Connie was having severe attention problems.

Jed, Terry's friend, had just transferred to the school because his father, a colonel in the army, had been assigned to what would be his last post before taking retirement. Jed was also a linebacker, and while not quite in Terry's class physique-wise, he was a cross between the Marine recruiting poster guy and the Marlboro man. On top of that, he had impeccable Southern manners and a mild drawl.

"Here's what I have in mind, Connie, and Jed has kindly agreed to go along with it. I would like you and Jed to pretend to be, let's say, a new 'item'. Before Brett leaves today, I want him to see you two together a few times and looking like you are quite well acquainted. Then, if you can find some ways to have him see you together at school, it would be great.

"You see, Connie, I think you have gotten to Brett more than he will ever let on. If he starts to get back together with his old crowd, I want him to see the contrast between those girls and you and Missy and the other girls at Lindsey's."

Connie had listened in wide-eyed silence, a rarity for her. Almost in a trance, she looked at Julia and said "Does it have to be pretend?" Immediately, she gasped, reddened and covered her face. Fortunately, the shock had brought her back to herself. Before long, she started to laugh for all she was worth.

When she could finally look at Jed, she asked him "Do you really think you can pull this off with an inexperienced dork like me?"

"Wellll, ma'am," Jed drawled exaggeratedly, "I think it's gonna be a whole lot of fun trying."

That got laughter from everyone, and by the time they returned to Lindsey's, Connie had resumed most of her usual persona. As had been planned, Brett was there and dressed, just waiting for his parents to pick him up.

Falling into her role, Connie took over the job of introducing Jed to the kids, while Terry went off to meet the twins for the first time and chat with them. It was considered important that it be just Jed and Connie together.

Brett's introduction was about half-way through, and Connie purposely did not do or say anything different with him except to mention that he and Jed would be teammates in the fall.

At that point, Jed took the initiative. "Hey, Brett, I go over and work out with Terry at the super setup they have at his house. A couple of other guys do, too. You know, his dad is a professional trainer. I'd sure like to go out on a championship team next fall. Why don't you join us Monday?"

Julia had hovered around just close enough so she could hear, and she could hardly keep from jumping up and down. The suggestion was so much better coming from Jed than from Terry. Just associating on a regular basis with a group of achievers would be a significant step in trying to turn Brett around.

After the Halls left, Terry and Jed stayed around for the afternoon. They borrowed some uniforms to work out in and some suits to swim in. With Brett gone, Connie hung back from Jed, but he took the initiative to keep close to her.

Muriel managed to get Jed into her room without being obvious about it. "I'm guessing that you have had a speech or two from mothers of girls you were interested in, right?" she led off.

"Waall, nothing compared to what I got from my own mama," Jed answered with a grin.

"That's good to hear," Muriel said with a little laugh. "I'm sure you noticed the impression you made on Connie."

"Yeah. She made an impression on me, too," he assured her.

"I don't know how much you found out about her, but she was our first resident here. Her story is as close to Cinderella before Prince Charming as you can get in this day and age. Still, she is incredibly strong and upbeat. But she is also inexperienced and probably fragile. Enough so that a bad boy like Brett appealed to her.

"God! This isn't even a good concerned mother speech," Muriel lamented. "I never had a daughter before. I guess ... if you have any interest in dating her,..."

"Oh, I definitely do, I definitely do," Jed interrupted.

"Well, just take the time to find out as much as you can about her life. I sense that you will know best how to treat her."

"Ma'am, I'm afraid you're assuming more experience than I've had with girls. Dad has been reassigned almost every year for most of my life, so it has been hard to have a serious girlfriend. Look, I can tell why you wanted to talk to me. If I hurt Connie, I'm pretty sure I'd have to leave town, right?"

"A lot of people love her," Muriel agreed.

"She's got a toughness to her - a kind of a ... a ... spark. Most girls seem kinda shallow in comparison," Jed explained. "Do you think it is too soon for me to ask her out?"

"That, my young friend, is the silliest question I have heard in a long, long time."

-------

At dinner, Julia came back to talk to Connie. "You seem to have pulled it off pretty well," Julia commented.

"Really! After I terminally embarrassed myself at breakfast?"

"Oh, I think you recovered all right. Did you have time to change your panties when you got back here?" Julia teased.

"Julia!!" Then the two giggled together. "Are you trying to make me forget Brett? Is that the whole idea?"

"Honestly, Connie, I had not met Jed. Terry just told me a little bit and said he was a great guy. Who knew he was such a hunk?"

"Well, I've been Cinderella my whole life, but I can't believe in fairy tale endings, I'm afraid," Connie lamented.

A little later, Missy cornered Connie and told her "Hey, Sis! That's some stud you caught there!"

"As if! It's all just an act for Brett's benefit."

"Not on your part it isn't."

"Am I that obvious?"

"How could you help it?" Missy teased.

"So, you gonna flash that sexy bare pussy at him and catch him for yourself?" Connie asked, only half teasing.

"Aw, Sis. I know you're interested, and I would never do anything like that."

Connie gave Missy a quick hug and said "Yeah, I know you wouldn't. Sorry!"

"Besides," Missy went on, "I'm really interested in your favorite little brother. As long as he's still just your brother, that is."

"Ted? Yup. We're still just brother and sister."

"See, Ted and I have a lot in common with what we've been through. We're learning a lot of things together. Even if he's a little younger, he just seems ... right."

"So, how far have you two gone?" Connie asked in a conspiratorial tone. "Have you... ?" All that could be heard from then on was whispers and giggles.

A few minutes later they were interrupted when another girl panted up to them. "Connie! Connie! That ... that HUNK! He's up front asking for YOU. And he's got FLOWERS!"



-------

Chapter 29


[Nancy, Ron & Julia] Late January

"We certainly didn't plan for anything like this," Ron Merker lamented.

"I couldn't believe it when the Halls did it to Brett," Nancy admitted. "When I threatened Chelsea with the same thing, I wasn't serious. I'm afraid I am, now."

"Brett's punishment was supposed to be a one-time thing," Julia said to the Merkers as they sat in her Transformations office. Julia had come into the office that Saturday morning after her breakfast with Terry, Trish, Connie, and Jed. "I agreed to have Chelsea stay here because it got your cooperation with Brett. This wasn't part of the deal."

"We honestly thought that seeing what happened to Brett would get through to her," Ron said. "Dr. Waxman, it's either this or drug rehab. We will not wait until she is hopelessly hooked." Nancy was nodding in agreement.

"Next time, there might not be a friend who was sober enough or cared enough to call us. I don't think she knows how many boys took her."

"Have you had her tested? Oh, that's right. You work at the hospital. Did they do the rape kit?" Julia asked. Ron nodded.

"Because of my connections, I was able to get it without the police being involved," Ron explained. "We'll have the DNA of any boys who came in her. The pretense of STD tracking was enough justification."

"Was last night the only time she's been this bad?" Julia asked.

"It was the worst, but not the only time we had to fetch her. You remember what got Brett in here. I thought at the time that it was more Chelsea's fault, and I was probably right."

"You know, it won't do any good if she leaves every day to go to school," Julia pointed out.

"We know that. Even if it costs her a semester, it's better than the worst case. We should be able to work out something like Brett did."

"We're not a rehab facility, though," Julia insisted. "What if it doesn't do any good?"

Nancy answered that. "She's not tough like Brett. She won't be able to ignore being naked. It will be very traumatic for her. I think she will change pretty quickly."

"How long do you think it will take?"

Nancy shrugged. "We'll leave that up to you."

"You know that I don't have much time to spend with the kids," Julia lamented.

"We know this is an intrusion and a distortion of what this place is for. But look, the kids seem willing to try to help other kids. They were all wonderful to Brett, even though he didn't deserve it. You have great kids here. I think the boys will be as respectful of Chelsea as the girls were of Brett. You won't even need a designated irritant like Connie was."

"You picked that up, huh?" Julia said with a chuckle.

"Look, Julia ... uh, Dr. Waxman," Nancy said, "Your whole philosophy is based on using nudity to achieve change. It works!"

"We're not sure of that with Brett."

"I know you're the shrink, but I'm sure there will be some big changes. We want it to work for Chelsea."

With a sigh, Julia said "All right. I'll talk to the kids. You're right. They really are special, aren't they? Are you going to do a grand entrance like Brett's?"

"No, we have something different planned for Chelsea. She should just about be waking up when we get home. Thank you, Dr. Waxman. We owe you."

-------

[Chelsea] Late January

As it turned out, Chelsea was still asleep when Nancy and Ron got back to the house. The other kids, an older sister, Karin, and a younger brother, Bud, had been up for a long time. It took another half hour to get everything organized for what they felt they had to do.

Ted then went up to Chelsea's room, pulled the covers from her naked body, and shook her shoulder until she woke up. She went through the usual disorientation, which seemed to be shortened when she noticed that she was naked in front of her father. She made a grab for the covers, but he stopped her.

"Dad! I'm naked!"

"Of course you are. That's how we found you last night. It must be how you prefer to be."

"You f ... found ... what ... how? But Dad! You shouldn't see me like this!" She huddled into a ball on the bed.

He took her by both upper arms and hauled her from the bed. She struggled, trying to cover herself until he swatted her sharply on her ass. Her reflexive reach back to the wounded area left her exposed.

"Now, quit this covering up nonsense," he said sharply. "There's nothing about your body that I don't know about. I got to wash semen off of you last night and douche it out of your vagina. I think I know your body pretty well by now."

Chelsea let out a shriek after hearing that and started to cry. Ron wanted to hug her and comfort her, as he had done so many times. That was not the time for it, though. "Now, get in the bathroom and do your business," he said sharply. He walked her to the bathroom and stood waiting outside the door.

He had to wait several minutes, but the mixed anger and sadness that was building in him kept him from getting impatient. Ron loved all three of his children, but he had to reluctantly admit that Chelsea had always been his special one. He and Nancy had debated long and hard about how to deal with Chelsea's wild streak and the bad circle of friends she had chosen.

All of the loving, conscientious parenting that worked so well for Karin and Bud had failed to keep her out of trouble. What Ron most wanted to do with his daughter was to love her and to celebrate all of the wonderful things that a normal teenager could enjoy. Bad friends and drugs were endangering that.

What he was about to do was extremely harsh, probably cruel, and quite likely illegal. The others had been very reluctant to go along, but their large extended family was close, supportive, and loving on both sides. This would strain some relationships, but he felt that it had to be done.

Ted knew of too many parents who had watched their teens slide into addiction, crime, disease, prostitution, and death without taking drastic enough action to stop it. Maybe he could not stop it, but he was drawing the line then and now.

He knew that his baby might very well end up hating him after today. In his mind, it was a sacrifice he would have to make if it saved her life and her future.

When Chelsea emerged from the bathroom, she had a towel wrapped around her. With a quick grab, he yanked it away, causing her to shriek.

He took her by the upper arm and turned toward the stairs. "Let's go downstairs."

"Dad! I gotta dress!"

"You're wearing just what you will be wearing for a while," he snapped.

"But ... but ... I can't! Bud might be there, and..."

"Of course Bud's there. So what? If you can be naked around all your friends, it sure can't bother you to let your loving family see you, can it?"

"No! No! You can't make me do this! Why are you doing this, Daddy? Please! Please! I won't be bad any more! I promise!!"

Although he had hoped it would not be necessary, Ron gave up. He had some velcro handcuffs in his pocket and he quickly got her hands cuffed behind her back. That really drove her into a panic. She started screaming and jumping around frantically, not able to believe what her daddy, her idol, her protector, had done to her. She was terrified of what might happen next.

The cuffs had a dual purpose. Of course, they made her more controllable, but they almost made her more exposed. For some time, she had shaved her pubic hair completely off. She was a thin girl with minimal breasts and a small, tight, ass. Her best physical asset was definitely a very sexy pussy, so she accentuated it. Until the night before, Ron had not seen her pussy since she reached puberty. Obviously, many of her friends and acquaintances had. Since she wanted to flaunt that pussy, the cuffs would make certain that it was completely visible.

He kept hold of her upper arm, hoping that his grip would not leave any bruising, although there were already several bruises on her from the night before. It took a couple of minutes before the tantrum subsided.

"Chelsea, I know you have heard us say that something will hurt us more than it hurts you, and it has never been more true than right now. I am going to ask you just once: are you going to cooperate and take what's coming, or do I need to give you a very, very hard spanking right now?"

Disbelief, confusion, and fear warred on the girl's face for a while. "Honest, Daddy, I'll never do anything like that again. I've learned my lesson. Please! Let me go! Let me get dressed!"

"Chelsea, Sweetheart, how many times have you made that promise already?" The only answer to that was more tears.

"Now, you have a tough choice, Honey. I'm going to make you do some very hard, very humiliating things. I AM going to make you do them. Your choice is how you act. You can cry, scream, swear, and let everyone know how horribly you're being abused. Or, you can decide that you're getting just what you deserve and take it like an adult."

Without saying any more, he led her down the stairs, carefully supporting her so she wouldn't stumble because of her hands being cuffed behind her. When they reached the family room, his task was to keep her on her feet because she did her best to collapse into a heap, screaming at the top of her lungs.

Spread across the other side of the family room, totally silent and staring right at Chelsea, was a good portion of their extended family. Both sets of grandparents, four aunts or uncles and their spouses, and eight cousins, including five boys and three girls in their teens or early twenties.

Ted nodded to Chelsea's favorite uncle, Nancy's closest brother, and he came right over to hold Chelsea's other arm and help keep her upright. She reverted to three-year-old behavior, trying her best to be dead weight. Ron had to use his left hand, but he delivered a slap on her bare bottom that resounded through the room.

The slap worked. It brought her out of the fit or tantrum or whatever it was that she had gone into. She stood, shoulders slumped and eyes on the floor, no longer struggling.

Deciding that the time was right, Ron leaned over and talked softly in her ear. "I don't want you to have those handcuffs on, Honey. I just hate that idea. If you will promise me that you will stand here and face the people who love you without trying to cover anything up, I will take them off. Can you promise me that?"

She was only able to nod her head, but he accepted that as her answer. When her hands were released, they shot immediately to her front, as he had expected. He hissed sharply "You promised." It took several seconds, but her hands did drop.

It was time for Ron to talk to the group. "Nancy and I have always been proud of you, our family," he said to the group. "We could not ask for more love and support, and we have tried to return that. This may be the most extreme request any of us have made of the others. I know that you parents are not happy about your children being here, looking at Chelsea standing naked in front of you. The fact that you brought them here says a lot.

"Today is a crisis point for our family - Nancy's and my family and our extended family. It gives us hope that we can get through this because all of you are in this with us.

"Why are we doing something so extreme? Why is Chelsea standing here naked?

"First of all, let me tell you what happened last night, at least as much as we know." He retold everything in explicit detail. Chelsea and several other people cried through most of the telling.

"Why is she naked? She thought is was exciting to show herself this way at that party last night. She wanted everyone to see every part of her, even her labia, with nothing in the way. If showing herself is important to her, we want her to show herself to the people who care, not those who want to use and abuse her.

"I love Chelsea with all of my heart. Nancy loves her with all of her heart. Chelsea is a wonderful, loving daughter most of the time. She is that way to all of you. But I can almost believe the business about being demon possessed, because nothing else could make Chelsea do the things she has done a few times lately. It is like she is not the same person.

"How bad is it, really, you might ask? She hasn't done this very many times, has she? In my job, I am aware of far too many teens who get too far down the road to destruction before their parents take serious action. We will not take that chance with Chelsea. We love her too much. She may hate us for what we are doing, but we can live with that if we never have to identify her OD'd body in a morgue; if we never have to stand masked outside her isolation room as she dies of AIDS; if we never have to try to comfort her because some sexually transmitted disease stole her ability to bear children; if we never have to feed her, bathe her, and wipe her ass as an adult because drugs fried her brain."

At that point, Chelsea was shaking so hard that Ron and the uncle had to work to keep her upright.

"From here, we are taking Chelsea to Lindsey's Place." She gasped at that revelation, already guessing that she was about to suffer what Brett had been through.

"Lindsey's is a refuge for good kids forced to live in terrible home situations. Chelsea will essentially be a slave to the other residents - a naked slave. We have not worked out the schooling situation yet, but we know that she will not be going back to her school until we can be sure that the so-called friends who have led her astray have no more hold on her.

"We treasure the love and support of all of you. I am going to ask you for two things. First, if you will all accompany us to Lindsey's, it will show Chelsea that we love her regardless of what she has done. Second, if you will all promise to visit her as frequently as you can. It is an exceptional place with some great kids. They serve wonderful food at a modest price to visitors. Chelsea might very well be your naked server, but there will be plenty of time to visit with her and to see how she lives."

Ron had purposely tried to upset Chelsea, and he had succeeded. He was serious about the family visiting. She was now sobbing violently beside him.

She did not yet know it, but Tom, her fifteen-year-old cousin with whom she had always been very close, was going to stay with her at Lindsey's through that night, just to be sure there was someone she knew. None of them were aware that Brett had agreed to stay for her first day, as well. For the first time, he would be there clothed.

The large family group all drove to Lindsey's. Although it was hard to know just what to say, they all told her of their love as she walked from the car, wearing flip-flops and with a blanket around her, but with no clothes.

It is a common reaction to be more stressed by someone close seeing one naked than if it were a stranger. That was certainly Chelsea's reaction. Brett and Tom introduced themselves to each other quickly and together took the blanket from her in the entryway. Brett had agreed to help, but it could not be said that he was happy or enthusiastic. If he had any positive feelings, he was still not of a mind to let them be seen.

There was one thing that kept Chelsea from total disintegration that Saturday. At the sight of her bare and very sexy pussy, most of the boys got hard. That was something she had become good at noticing.

-------

Julia had spent several paid sessions with Nancy and Ron, talking about Chelsea's problems and the possible solutions. Julia believed that the girl suffered from a severe self-image problem. At fifteen, having a rather underdeveloped body could be a tough psychological hurdle for a girl.

Julia saw several things that supported her analysis. Chelsea had been shaving her pubes completely for over a year. As a rule, that was the last thing an underdeveloped teen girl would want to do, since it tended to make her look even younger and more 'little girlish'. Most girls would have at least left a visible patch of hair.

Somewhere along the line, perhaps in the locker room or maybe at a sleepover, a friend or friends must have complimented Chelsea on how sexy her pussy looked. It was one piece of acknowledged sex appeal for her to hang onto.

For a girl desperate for approval of her sexuality, her one erotic feature did her no good if no one saw it. Reports that Nancy and Ron received about some of Chelsea's escapades indicated that she would take any opportunity to be bottomless and show off her most erotic feature.

A neighbor at one sleepover house had reported to Ron that several girls were romping in the back yard naked or bottomless, even though there was no privacy screening. He reported three boys standing and watching, but that was all that was known for sure.

Nancy and Ron were by no means careless or overly relaxed parents. In fact, they monitored Chelsea's activities very closely. The problem was that some of her friends who seemed very normal and average were very much into sex, drugs, and hard partying.

There was no reason, at first, to be suspicious of a sleepover with a friend who had been in their home many times. That it turned into an unsupervised mini-orgy because a girl with an adult sounding voice had pretended to be the mother on the phone was not Nancy's fault.

Every time an episode occurred, they clamped down. The problem was that in every other respect, she was such a great daughter that they could not see totally imprisoning her. They did not want to trigger rebellion that was not there.

In all, there had been five episodes, culminating in the previous night's very serious one. Nancy suspected that Chelsea had lost her cherry on the first or second one. The last one was the first time there was blatant evidence of unprotected intercourse.

In Julia's mind, Chelsea's willingness to have sex without any romantic attachment verified her strong need for sexual verification. The drug use did not necessarily tie in with anything but a general need for acceptance and perhaps a longing for the fantasies that a high could bring.

-------

Julia had hurriedly gathered the Lindsey's residents together after her meeting with the Merkers to brief them on Chelsea's arrival. "This is not the same situation as Brett. Chelsea is not hardened like Brett. She is really a very likable person. She just gets pulled into things by some bad friends and goes wild.

"I need to warn you guys that her crotch is shaved bald, and her mother tells me it looks pretty sexy. I can't stress this strongly enough, guys. I want you all to be as friendly to her as possible, but like a close brother or cousin. At least for right now, any romantic or sexual involvement could be the worst thing for her.

"Now, all of you pay attention to this. Guys, you are going to get hard around her. It can't be avoided. Girls, it is not a sign of weakness or perversion, so don't be upset with them. The only difference from when Brett was here naked is that the guys couldn't see the dampness in your panties when you looked at him. Did I get that right, girls?"

Their nearly unanimous blushes verified her comments. "Let me just say that if any of you girls were to go naked around here, you would get the same reaction from the guys.

"The jury is still out on how much effect you all had on Brett. I know that you did a wonderful job, and I personally believe that there will be results down the road. One proof is that he agreed to come back today so there is someone here that Chelsea knows. He will be clothed. Now, perhaps to him, it is a way to exact some revenge on Chelsea for getting him in here. Even if that is his motivation, he is still doing a good thing.

"What do we hope to accomplish? Why are her parents doing this to her? Why did I agree to it? The ideal situation is that all of you would become such good friends with her that she completely forgets about the old crowd. If she and one of you guys should fall in love, that could be the thing that really removes her from her old life.

"Chelsea has a severe self-image problem. It is my theory that being accepted naked, building up her body through exercise, and just maturing a little more will give her a good enough self-image so she won't be vulnerable to the friends who pulled her down.

"How can you most help her? Well, first and foremost, Chelsea is not at all like Brett. He pretty much preferred to be left alone to make his point about how much he hated being here. Chelsea will want to do things. Get her into your games, your horseplay in the pool, whatever you're doing. Guys, don't be afraid to touch her. No one here will criticize you for it. I think you will find her to be a fun individual, once she gets over the initial shock. Remember, I have lots of experience with women who have to be naked.

"I think tonight you should have a little dance by the pool, probably in your suits. Pretend it's a regular occurrence. All of you, just treat the guys' hardons as no big deal, OK? Make sure you talk Chelsea into dancing, guys.

"What if she starts complaining about what's been done to her. Try not to get sucked into that conversation. If you can't get her off of the subject, ask her what she thinks her parents should have done.

"I've decided that she won't be a slave like Brett was after a while. We'll make her work hard until we start to see some changes, then we'll just put her in the normal rotation. We're not so interested in punishment as in redirection. Her parents had planned to have her live her, anyway. The nudity is just because of what she has been getting into.

"I can't tell you how proud I am of all of you. Here you are, fleeing from terrible home situations yourselves and you're going out of your way to help some kids who had it all and tried to throw it away. I promise you right now that we here at Transformation will always be watching out for you, helping you in the future in any way that we can."

-------

Missy and Connie were waiting by the door when Tom and Brett brought Chelsea in, each holding her arm. Connie greeted Chelsea warmly, but it was Brett she wanted to talk to. As soon as possible, Connie pulled him aside. "You know you're ruining your rep, don't you?"

"Huh?" He always got angry at himself for responding to her that way, but it just kept happening. And here he thought he had seen the last of her.

"A true asshole wouldn't be doing this for Chelsea, would he?"

"Maybe I just want to watch her bare pussy," he countered, eager to quell any hint of affection.

"Yeah, right. Better work harder to keep the nice Brett hidden," she said with a giggle. Then, she took his face in both hands and kissed him quickly but firmly. As she walked away with an extra wiggle to her ass, she turned back and said "Hey, you look pretty good in clothes, too."

-------

When it was finally time for bed on Chelsea's first night, Missy waited a while before coming into Chelsea's room where she was crying softly. Reluctantly, Julia had let Missy bring a folder of her pictures, showing her progress from her arrival at the Tee. Missy's and Chelsea's situations were quite different, but they did share the shock of the imposed nudity.

Missy started by just turning on the bedside light and starting in on her story. It was clear that Chelsea was not terribly interested and even a little puzzled. That changed when Missy laid out her first naked 'before' picture. With a gasp, Chelsea became fully engaged. When the first pictures with Missy's pubis bare were presented, an important connection was made between the two.

"So, you could go naked around here and it wouldn't bother you at all, huh?" Chelsea said when things wound down.

"I wish I could," Missy admitted. "You really do get used to it."

"No way!" Chelsea declared.

"Besides," Missy went on, "the guys here are a lot like the ones who work at the Tee."

"W ... work? With naked women?"

"Sure. Didn't you know that?" Missy responded. She went on to explain.

"So, for Cy and Ted, it's no big deal seeing me naked?"

"Oh, I wouldn't say that. They're still teenaged boys, after all. Don't worry, that will affect them," and she pointed at Chelsea's crotch.

"I've been trying to decide when to have Ted take my virginity," Missy went on.

"What? Would you risk getting kicked out?"

"No risk. If both of us were willing, I don't think there would be any problem. Well, if we did it out by the pool there might be."

Chelsea was quiet for a while after that exchange. Finally, she looked at Missy with a sad face and said "I don't have anything romantic and special like that to look forward to."

"Why don't you just forget all the past shit and declare a do-over. Then make sure your next first time really is special."

-------

It was absolutely ridiculous for Julia to spend any of her precious Sunday time, but there was no doubt that she would when asked. Her one concession was to have the Merkers and all of the adult relatives that had witnessed Chelsea's exposure come to the Waxman home. She also gave in to Nancy's demand that Julia not mention refreshments of any kind.

Frank was there, and knowing the general concern of the group about Chelsea's nudity, Julia let Frank talk about the Tee philosophy. When Frank finished, Ron's mother said "I can understand your ideas, even though I can't quite accept them. But how does that apply to Chelsea?"

"With her, it's all about self-image. It has been low, not because the family has failed in any way, but because she believes she is lacking in the physical attributes that appeal to boys the most - breasts, buttocks, and legs. In retrospect, it might be a better decision to have her wear just a shirt, one just long enough to cover her breasts."

That drew some questions, and Julia went through the whole explanation about accentuating what she perceived as her best asset. "It may not seem like it, but the nudity is not the key part of her time at Lindsey's," Julia declared. "The real key is getting her focused on good kids who give her genuine approval. The hold that her current friends have on her MUST be broken. The best thing that could happen is for her to fall in love with one of those nice boys."

"Fall in love? At her age?" Nancy's mother protested.

"It is often said that girls her age are mothers multiple times in many parts of the world. Despite her rather immature-looking body development, she is highly sexed. She is the proverbial bag of hormones. That makes her perceived lack of sex appeal that much more traumatic to her."

"What kind of 'love' could that be when she's naked when they meet?" one uncle's wife asked. "Wouldn't it be simple lust?"

"When you go to visit Chelsea, sit down with the boys and hear their stories. Despite what has been done to them, you won't find more considerate, respectful young men anywhere.

"Now," Julia went on, "what are you going to do about school? Not taking care of her education is the one thing that could get us in trouble with the authorities."

"Dad," Nancy said, "why don't you home school her?

"Dad just retired after 40 years teaching," Nancy explained to Julia. Ben, her father, had retired at 63. He had taught math and science courses in high school and had coached track and cross country for most of his career.

"That would be a perfect solution," Julia said. "We need to keep her out of the school and away from those friends."

"Would she, um, be dressed for schooling?" Ben asked.

"I'm afraid not," Julia said. "At least not until her need to be naked is over."

"I don't think I could do it," Ben said. "I don't think the nudity is right, anyway, and having to work with her for hours like that ... it just wouldn't work."

"That's too bad," Julia said. "You'll have to look for plan B, then. It's not an emergency for tomorrow, but it can't be left too long. I'll see that one of the other kids picks up her assignments from school"

Conscious of Julia's time, Nancy cut the meeting off when the important matters had been covered. She quietly told her mother to follow them home and stay for the evening.

-------

[Merker Family] Late January

Ron had offered Nancy's folks a drink and he and Ben were just sitting down to enjoy them when Nancy came into the family room completely naked, blushing from head to toe, and barely able to walk steadily. Bud and Karin, Chelsea's older sister and younger brother, were in the room, and it took everything Nancy had to walk in.

"Nancy!" Ben hollered, jumping to his feet. "What are you doing? Have you gone crazy? Bud's here, too!"

"I'm j ... just b ... breaking you in, Dad. H ... helping you get r ... ready to t ... teach our b ... baby."

Ben was ordinarily gentle and soft-spoken, but one does not survive a long career teaching teens without some steel inside. The attitudes and lifestyle choices of modern teens had definitely prompted him to take his retirement early. Public nudity was just not something he could accept.

"Nancy, I know you think you're helping Chelsea, but you know how I feel about this nudity business. It's just not right to show your body to other family members."

"I know, D ... dad. We were always c ... careful to keep ourselves modest at home. But Daddy, we're talking about Chelsea, here - her future - maybe her life." Nancy's stammering disappeared as her feelings took over.

"Surely there must be some other way," Ben said, waving his arms in frustration. "Now you've got Bud aroused. That can't be right!"

"What's not right is Chelsea, our happy, perfect daughter taking drugs, partying naked, and letting who knows what boys have sex with her. Dad, I know what Lindsey's Place is like. Sit down and let me tell you about it."

First, she told the stories of some of the kids at Lindsey's. Then, she told the Halls' story, and described what she had done with Brett. Nancy stood in front of her father, pacing, turning, and gesticulating. It was the way she would normally tell something, but she also did it to keep him looking at her. She could not help but notice a thrill whenever he would let his eyes roam over her body. He tried hard not to look, but that was impossible.

"Daddy, I was horrified at what the Hall's did to their son, but I saw how troubled they were and I agreed to help. I know it's not the way we were brought up, but Ron and I both believe it will work. It will work so much better if Chelsea gets serious about her studies. Besides, I know you're already bored with retirement."

Ben just sat and shook his head. "I can't just change a lifetime of belief, just like that."

"You don't have to change what you believe. Can you do it for Chelsea, even if you think it's wrong?"

Discussion and argument went on for several more minutes with Ben not giving an inch. He got up to go to the bathroom. As soon as he was out of sight, Ron began to strip. "Karin, Bud, get your clothes off. Now!"

Both kids froze, mouths open in disbelief. "Nancy, help Karin," Ron snapped as he pushed down his underwear. Moving to Bud, Ron said soothingly "This is for Chelsea. Don't worry about your hardon. Please, Bud. This is important." With that, he got on his knees and pulled down the warmup pants and underwear the boy wore.

Karin was frozen at the sight of her father's penis, and it was only Nancy pulling down her sweats and panties that jolted her aware. She grabbed for her pants, but Nancy said sharply "We've got to do this, Karin. Come on, give the guys a thrill!" That little bit of flattery enabled Nancy to get Karin's last garment off just before Ben walked back into the room.

Ben stopped in his tracks and the way his head swiveled from naked person to naked person would have made a great home video. Then he stared, flushed red, and spat out "Joyce! What the hell!?" Unbeknownst to the rest, Nancy's mother was just stepping out of her panties when Ben returned.

"Ben, you don't seem to get how important this is," Joyce said in a shaky voice. "None of our kids was ever in this kind of trouble. We never had to agonize over how to fix it. I don't like this any more than you do, but do you have a better idea? It's something they believe in, and that's half the battle.

"Chelsea's not doing what she could do in school. You're the one person who could change that. Sure, having her naked beside you would be a big challenge, but think of the good you could do. You know as well as anyone that kids who take school seriously don't get into as much trouble.

"Don't you realize that if Chelsea goes off like that again, it could kill her?!!"

"Are ... are you expecting me to strip, too?" Ben asked in the first sign of surrender.

"No, Dad," Nancy answered softly. "We expecting you to ignore Chelsea's cute little bobbies and her sexy bare pussy and get her on the National Honor Society for next year."

"Ben, Honey, think back over the years," Joyce said. "How many kids have sat in your classes, then you've had to go to their funerals because of alcohol or drugs?"

"But Chelsea's not like that!" Ben objected.

Ted left the room and came back with several pictures in hand. "Because I work at the hospital, I was able to get these. Ben, I agree. Chelsea's not like that - except when she gets like this."

Ben paled visibly and the others thought he might have to hurry to the bathroom and vomit. After forcing himself to take several deep breaths, he asked "Is that really her? I just can't believe..."

"It makes her into someone completely different, Ben," Ron said, taking the pictures from his father-in-law's shaking hand. "Remember what Dr. Waxman said about being naked and some of the things that happen? We want Chelsea to drop all the pretenses that she tries to put on for those awful friends of hers. You know that the real Chelsea is a pretty special girl. Without any clothes on, that's the only Chelsea there is."

Ben was so shaken that he sat on the sofa, not looking at any of his naked family. The others respected his silence and didn't even move.

"I guess you're right," he finally said. "She does need me - what I can do. It's ... it's worse than I thought, I guess. I just couldn't imagine her being into anything that bad."

"Neither could I, Dad," Nancy admitted. "Ron's been the one saying we had to stop this before it was too late. I should have listened earlier."

"It's just that ... it's just ... I don't know how I can ignore her bare body?" Ben lamented.

"Don't try to ignore it, Dad. Appreciate it."

"I'll be so afraid I might accidentally touch her."

Shocking everyone, Karin walked over to her grandfather and gently lifted his lowered head with her hand. Then, she sat herself right on his lap. "You're touching me, now, Grandpa. Nothing bad is happening, is it?"

Not satisfied with that level of contact, Karin wriggled herself closer, grabbed his arm and put it around herself, then put her own arm around his neck. "How many times over the years have we sat like this, Grandpa?"

"N ... never like this."

"You know what I mean. So I don't have any clothes on and your hand is on my bare hip. So my little bare tittie is almost in your face. Is the world gonna end, or anything?"

"It just seems ... wrong ... indecent."

"Is it worth it to keep from losing a granddaughter? Grandpa, two kids that I've been through school with OD'd. That's what's indecent."

"Karin, Honey, you'd better get up. You've made your point. I love you." She made a point of wriggling her butt and giving him a tight hug and a kiss before she left his lap.

Ben just sat shaking his head as Joyce took Karin's place. "Now, this is something that hasn't happened for a very long time," she said saucily.

"Joyce, you're going to have to go over there with me," Ben said, ignoring his wife's tease. "It just wouldn't be right for me to be there with her all alone and naked."

"I'll go with you, then," Joyce said. "I'm just so happy that you'll do it."

Nancy sat down beside her father and looked pensive for a while. "Dad, in the time I spent over at Lindsey's, I got some chances to talk to Dr. Waxman and some of the employees. To get to work there, they all go through the process of getting comfortable with nudity. The only way to do that is to just get used to it.

"For the next week or so, you're living here when you're not with Chelsea. I'm not going to wear any clothes while you're here. Hopefully, in a week or so, you'll be a lot less nervous and can teach Chelsea better."

"Me, too, Mom," Karin piped up. "I want to help."

"Oh, my!" Nancy said, caught off guard. "We'll, uh, have to talk about that."

"I'll drive home and pick up what we need," Joyce told Ben.

The others left Ben to his thoughts. Bud dressed as quickly as he could, anxious to hide the erection that had never receded. Out of love and respect, none of the women said a thing to him.

As Joyce was picking up her clothes, Ron could not resist. "Is that all I get to see, Joyce?"

Teasing and verbal sparring had been going on constantly but lovingly between the two since Nancy's first date with Ron. "I've always wondered what Nancy got to play with in bed," she shot back. "She didn't get cheated."

"Bring swimsuits and workout clothes for both you and Dad," Nancy told her mother. "Of course, it would probably be good for Chelsea if you just skinny dipped with her. I'll check and see if that's allowed."

"Oh, I don't think ... for Chelsea, right?" Joyce said.

When Joyce had driven off, Nancy turned to Karin and said "I think it would be best if you dressed."

"No, Mom. All three of us look a lot alike, but I'm the most like Chelsea. This is really important, right?" Nancy nodded. "Well, it's something I can do."

"You won't be able to have any friends over," Nancy cautioned.

"Awwww! I know some guys who'd love to get a look at you," Karin countered.

"I'm afraid, My Dear," Nancy said, putting her arm around her daughter, "that none of us have the tits that get the high school boys excited."

"I've sure noticed that," Karin agreed glumly. "I've had the same feelings as Chelsea. I've just never ... I wouldn't."

"We know you wouldn't, Sweetie, and we're so thankful. It's so unlike Chelsea, too, that I guess I just refused to believe it was happening."

As mother and daughter hugged, Ron was struck again by how fortunate he was. "You know," he said, putting a hand on each of their shoulders, "It takes a grown man to appreciate real beauty," He suddenly wished he'd kept his mouth shut as he felt some stirring in his penis.

Karin did not help by turning to him and saying "Thank you, Daddy. I know you mean that. Don't think I'm nasty or anything, but I like showing myself to you. I guess I've always kind of wanted to. I'm glad you made us do it. And thank you for letting me see you. You can't imagine how curious I've been. Are you going to stay naked, too?"

"Well, I, uh, don't think that's what Ben needs, so..."

"Darn. Can you at least wait a little while? Maybe 'til Grandma gets back?" Karin did the little girl pleading pose, arms straight and hands clasped in front of her crotch, head lowered, looking up through hooded eyes, turning gently back and forth.

"If you don't stop that right now, I'll have to run for the bedroom," Ron quipped.

"Ron!" Nancy said in mock horror, then burst into laughter.

None of them noticed Ben coming up behind them. "Is this ... is this something that's happened before here?"

"No, Dad. This is an absolute first. We have been as modest as you have."

"Until now, you mean," Ben grumped.

"Are we that disgusting to look at, Grandpa?" Karin asked. 'Where did she learn to fight dirty like that' Ron wondered as he watched his eldest.

"Oh, of course not, Karin. I didn't mean it that way," Ben hurried to say. He reached out to hug her as he normally would in such a situation, but pulled back. Nancy could see that Karin was about to react to Ben's retreat and pulled the girl into her own hug to prevent any kind of a scene. She was realizing that her father's feelings on the subject were sincere and very deeply held.

When Ron took his clothes to the bedroom to dress, Nancy went to call Julia. She described what had happened and what she and Karin had planned. "I guess I didn't realize how strongly Dad felt about nudity. I don't know why, but it really bothers him."

"Does he have a large penis?" Julia asked.

"I don't honestly know," Nancy admitted. "The front of his pants certainly seems full, but to tell the truth, I have never seen it. Why do you ask."

"Well, men who are very well endowed often become exhibitionist and promiscuous. On the other hand, some, particularly those who get teased about their size a lot when they are young, can become prudish. Ask your mother."

"I don't thinks so, Julia. How about if I put her on the phone with you when she returns?"

"That would be good."

Joyce returned after less than an hour and brought takeout food with her. Nancy immediately got her on the phone to Julia.

"I don't have experience with any others," Joyce told Julia, but from what I have read and heard, he is quite a bit longer than normal when he is soft. When he gets an erection, though, he doesn't get much longer, just thicker and stiff. Why?" Julia then explained her theory about Ben's aversion to nudity.

There was one other notable event that evening. Shortly after Joyce got off the phone with Julia, Karin walked casually back into the room. The reaction of the others was anything but casual, though, because she had shaved her crotch bald.

To the shocked reactions, Karin said "Well, Grandpa, I wanted to look just like Chelsea to help you get used to her. Except for these," she cupped her modest breasts, which were still somewhat larger than Chelsea's, "I look just like her, don't I?"



-------

Chapter 30


[Chelsea] Late January

The wisdom of Julia's decision not to keep Chelsea a slave for long became apparent that very evening. She was on the crew to set up dinner at a pool party, and it was obvious that she was a whiz around the kitchen. She was still shellshocked about the whole situation, but being busy seemed to help.

Well before dinner, Muriel had gone around to each of the boys and given them racing style swimsuits with the instructions "Julia's orders."

Irrepressible Connie followed Muriel around and told the guys "Julia wants Chelsea to be sure and see the hardons she gives you. I won't mind, either." In a few cases, she had to run squealing to avoided a thrown object or a snapped towel.

When the party got going, several of the kids expressed amazement that it had not been done more often. Teens and a pool means several kinds of horseplay. For a while, Chelsea only watched, even after she had finished her cleanup chores. When the chicken fighting started, Alex started working on her to join in.

The first few times, she just shook her head. Then, she told him in exasperation "Alex, in case you didn't notice, I'm bare down there. If I got on your shoulders, it would touch ... I mean ... no! I can't."

Snapping his fingers, Alex grabbed a towel and tied it around his neck so there was plenty of fabric where her labia might contact his neck. "How's that?" he challenged.

Chelsea could not help laughing, as much as she tried not to. She had a competitive streak and she had actually been wanting to get in on the fun. "OK! Let's kick some ass!" she said, jumping into the pool.

Chelsea and Alex lost three straight times. As she got ready to mount up for another try, she angrily grabbed the towel and jerked it from his neck. "This is stupid!" she declared as she climbed up on his shoulders.

Removing the towel did not help for the first two tries. Alex was slight, just like Chelsea. He had been working out since he arrived and he was gaining strength, but he was still a little behind the other boys.

Finally, they got lucky. In her exuberance over the win, she jiggled up and down on his shoulders. She felt him stiffen beneath her and was about to say something. Fortunately, she caught herself.

At that point, the chicken fighting broke up and other pool play took over. Chelsea stayed right in the middle of things from then on, until she had to do some tasks.

Much later, Chelsea knocked on Alex's door and opened it cautiously, just enough so she could talk to him. As an unstated sign of trust in each other, none of the residents locked their doors.

"Can I come in, Alex?" When he invited her in, she sat on the bed and told him "I wanted to thank you for talking me into playing. That bit with the towel was really brilliant."

"I can't imagine what you're going through. I just thought that it would be better for you to enter in, rather than sitting around being angry."

"Hey, you could know how it feels. Join me tomorrow."

"You're really something, you know? You're already joking about being naked," Alex said. "It's really not much of a punishment for you, is it?"

"Oh, there will be some really tough times. All of my relatives are supposed to come and visit me. Did you know there were about thirty of them standing in our family room, looking at me when Dad brought me down the stairs naked?"

"Did they make fun of you, or call you names, or what?" he asked.

"Oh, no. They would never do that. I heard some crying when Dad told what I had done. They all love me. I hurt them all, I know."

Alex did not respond, and when she looked at him, she saw his head down. "I didn't mean to make you feel bad, Alex. I'm sorry. I guess ... I guess you haven't had much love from your family. Why don't you tell me your story."

Alex talked for almost half an hour before he said "Geez. I've been babbling. This can't be any fun for you."

"Well, maybe I need to hear it to remind me how lucky I am. That should be enough to keep me from ... to keep me from... " she stopped as her voice broke up. He just let her be for quite a while.

Regaining her composure, she changed the subject. "Alex, when we won that time, did you ... did you ... uh ... you know?"

"Pretty pathetic, huh? I never had a chance to learn anything about sex, except from guys at school. Dating? Hah!"

"I don't think it was pathetic, Alex. It was sweet. This body doesn't excite many guys."

"Who told you that?" he demanded.

"Well, my chest looks almost like yours. Girls are supposed to have tits, you know."

"What are you talking about? I think they're really nice, Chelsea. God, I can't believe this! I'm sitting here with a beautiful naked girl, talking about her ... her..."

"Her tits, Alex. Tits. Thank you for saying that, but I know guys like the big ones."

"I've seen your mother in here a lot, Chelsea. Her's aren't big. She just looks nice and trim and ... she looks just right. I'll bet you end up just like her."

"I'll tell Mom what you said. What are your mom's like?" she asked.

She saw him shudder a little and watched his jaw tighten. "Sorry, didn't mean to get back on the bad stuff again."

"She's got these huge ... like udders. She thinks they're sexy and they're half out in the open most of the time. I guess my dad must like them."

"So to you, big tits go with meanness, huh?"

"I guess."

"You probably guessed," Chelsea said quietly after a pause, "that I'm pretty much a slut."

"I didn't guess that at all. It sounds like you have some bad friends and they got you into some bad stuff, is all," he said.

"I ... I better get outa here before I start kissing you," she said.

"You'd be the first," he said almost in a whisper.

She heard, though. "A nice guy like you?" she protested, knee walking to where he sat against the headboard. "That's just wrong. Can I have the honor of being the first?"

He could only nod, and she did not overdo it. It was sweet, but not very long. "This whole stay is going to be a lot better than I thought," she said.

"For me, being able to look at all of you is like ... like heaven." After that, she had to hurry from his room because she felt her control slipping.

Even though it was late, Chelsea immediately called her mother. Nancy and Ron had agreed that it would be better to stay away for a few days, but talking on the phone was fine.

"Are you OK?" was the first thing Nancy said. Fresh from the touching time with Alex, Chelsea astonished her mother by being upbeat, almost bubbly. She recounted the whole day, including her time with Alex in some detail.

Nancy had prided herself on her open relationship with her daughter. To avoid endangering that, Ron had taken on the complete 'heavy' role. Even after their very frank discussions on every pertinent female topic, Nancy was flabbergasted to hear that Chelsea had talked so openly about her body with the boy. To know that her own breasts had been mentioned as well was hard to believe.

-------

Chelsea knew that Ben would be teaching her, and rather than being nervous or worried, she practically vibrated with anticipation. She wanted to show her body to her beloved Grandad.

She was not, however, at all excited about the studies. Good grades were definitely not cool in her circle of friends, and she had fallen into that mindset. Ben realized that he was facing one of his bigger teaching challenges. Knowing that it was personally one of his most crucial gave him plenty of incentive.

The few days of being with Nancy and Karin naked could not really prepare him for Chelsea, but it definitely helped. The thing that was toughest for him to get used to was her expressiveness. Her many movements and gestures just seemed to emphasize her lack of clothes.

Even being with her Grandad, Chelsea was just putting in her time during her designated school hours. Ben just kept looking for the little hooks that could catch her attention and make her focus on and even talk about some subject for a while. He knew it was the way he had to start.

-------

[Janice & Connie] Early February

"You really want me? For real? Like a daughter? Oh, My God!" Connie shrieked.

"I hope you won't hold against me the way I acted at first. I've come to love you, Connie. I can see why you and Ted bonded so quickly. I will always be grateful for the way you supported him when I didn't. We're not filthy rich, but you've been to our house. You can be comfortable there."

Connie was thoughtful for a minute, obviously troubled about something. "Janice, before I could agree, there are some things that Ray has to tell you. They might change your mind."

Janice grabbed Connie in a firm hug and exclaimed "You are such a wonderful girl! Ray told me all about the shaving. Why would you insist on that?"

"Well, I was afraid the secret would make it hard for me and Ray to live together. I mean, it's kinda awkward anyway."

"Oh, he's over it, believe me. Let me tell you a secret, Honey. He couldn't wait until Ted moved back because he needed some relief from me. I'm afraid I've worn him out. The last two months have been way better than our honeymoon, even. You helped to give me a new, much better husband. How could I be upset about that?"

"Um, I've started dating Jed. Will that bother you?"

"You're a sexy teenaged girl. You're supposed to be dating. Invite him for dinner as soon as you can. I'm looking forward to having lots of teenagers around the house. Isn't that amazing, the way I used to be?"

-------

[Chelsea] Early February

By the first Wednesday, Chelsea had figured out when Alex did his workout and did hers at the same time. They talked a little as they exercised, but Alex was far too intent on his routines for serious conversation. Chelsea was really blown away when, after, his weight work, he started doing some form drills. She could not help asking.

"I got beat up when I went home for Christmas," he answered. "I swore that it would never happen again. Mr. Herwaldt, the Medical Director knows martial arts and he got me started."

"It's ... it's beautiful to watch," Chelsea told him honestly. "Do you think I could learn? Are you going to do all of the stuff you see in the movies?"

"I'm sure he would help you get started," Alex answered. "I'm going to learn some of that movie stuff as I go along. I am going to go home one more time. If my father hits me one time, I am going to knock him on his fat ass, and I will leave forever."

"Can you really learn to do that? You said he was big - a football player."

"Yeah, that's one reason he hates me. I'm a big disappointment. I was supposed to be his sports star, you know, so he could relive his career through me. Well, I'm a really good runner, but that's not enough for him. It will take me a few months, but I will learn enough so I can lay him out."

"Wow! Do I have to see Mr. Herwaldt, or can you help me get started?" That was the start of an interesting relationship. The two slightest kids in the place joined Erica as workout fanatics. No one was ever sure if Chelsea was just doing it to be with Alex, but she became very disciplined and consistent from the first day. Ben was delighted. Anything that established controlled behavior would eventually benefit her studies, as well. If it was because of a crush, so be it. From Ben's perspective, if she had fallen in love with any of the resident boys, it would have been a good thing.

Ryan did start working with Chelsea. When he told her that building muscle mass would make her breasts more prominent, that was the ultimate incentive. When Carol came over to talk to her about her own breast concerns, it was even better. Carol came while all of the other kids were at school and she was already naked, almost causing Ben to stroke out.

"Look at these little things," Carol said to Chelsea, presenting her modest breasts with her hands. "I was so ashamed of them that I married the first guy who showed an interest. He was an abusive asshole. You've met Ryan, right?"

"Sure, he's helping me build muscle," Chelsea answered. "He's such a hunk!"

"Well, Ryan's my husband. My itty bitty titties don't matter at all to him."

Chelsea's mouth worked wordlessly as she tried to absorb and respond to that revelation.

By the end of the second week, Julia conceded to her staff that being naked caused no embarrassment or stress to Chelsea most of the time. In fact, it was more stressful to the boys. By then, she had resumed her normal high-voltage, expressive demeanor, and they had the same problem that Ben did. No way could they be as unconcerned about her bare body as she appeared to be.

Julia did not suggest letting the girl dress, yet, though. The benefits of nudity in terms of honesty, openness, and receptivity were still needed. There had to be solid evidence that the life that had nearly dragged her down was no longer of interest to Chelsea.

-------

[Phyllis] Early February

Phyllis's ordeal at the Tee followed Mary Hall's very closely. Just as Mark's seeing her naked had horrified Mary more than anything else at first, so Phyllis almost disintegrated the first several times that Cy saw her. They had to wait several days before Cy became the main attendant for her workouts.

The other residents had been told that Cy would be behaving toward Phyllis in a non-standard fashion, and they seemed to understand the reasons. As might be expected, the others had to work very hard to treat her well because of her martyr's attitude.

Cy drove her to tears and legitimate pain on the exercise machines for almost two weeks before he did her massage. The other guys had scrupulously kept her massages strictly above the waist, leaving her with much untreated soreness.

As part of the overall strategy, all of the staff 'piled it on' poor Phyllis. Shock therapy, as it were, was considered necessary. She had to be made to feel like she was suddenly in a whole new world. She also had to feel like there was nothing she could do about it. If left with any sense of a choice, there would be so much guilt that nothing would be accomplished.

Thus, from the very first day, it seemed to Phyllis that there was always a male nearby, looking at her body or touching it. It seemed like there were always two or more women talking to her, talking about subjects that should never, ever be mentioned, but talking so casually and naturally that she somehow could never object.

Phyllis Hayes was definitely immersed in a whole new world. She was so completely immersed that she could hardly remember the 'real' world.

Every day her daughter was there talking to her. Leah was gentle and respectful in the conversations, unless and until Phyllis showed any inclination to preach or criticize. Over and over, Leah would say phrases that had been rehearsed beforehand. She might say "Mother, you are thinking like your old world where everything was all wrong. Stop thinking that way." Or if Phyllis went a bit critical, Leah might say "Mother, you do not have a valid concept of right and wrong on that subject. You must forget the values that you lived by before. I will not be around you if you keep thinking that way." To Phyllis, that was the ultimate threat. The daily times with her daughter were her only remaining link to 'reality' in that unbelievable place.

Fortunately, Julia's analysis had been on the mark. Phyllis' submissive streak was strong, and just waiting to be tapped. Cy kept testing it when it was his turn with her workouts. All were quite shocked that Phyllis would try to do anything that he ordered, even if it was impossible.

The very first time Cy massaged Phyllis, he did a marvelous job of almost putting her to sleep with back and shoulder work. Because he had made certain that she would be sore, she was unable to object when he just continued down over her buttocks. There was some unavoidable clenching, but she could not keep it up. After her ass, there was no complaint when he continued on down her legs.

Phyllis was ordered to do her exercises only right after school when Cy could be there to push her. After the first time he massaged her, he alternated with one of the other guys for several more days. The others stayed with just back and shoulders. That made her eager for his turn because of the greater relief.

Phyllis was being carefully led into an addiction to sensuous feelings. In the process, her body was improving at a remarkable rate because Cy was completely merciless. During her workouts, he was only stern and demanding. He never complimented or encouraged, and he was quick to lecture. Julia watched several times and had to wonder if he was just a really good actor, or if he truly harbored that much animosity toward the woman.

Phyllis had never learned to swim, and that presented excellent opportunities for more stern control combined with many seemingly innocent touches on private places. Just holding her up as she dog-paddled could be done so she felt one arm right across her pubic bush and the other pressing against the bottom of her breasts. Before long, it was an open hand squarely over her mound and the other hand spread between her breasts.

Cy had perfected his stern, demanding, sharp-tongued demeanor so well that she literally did not dare object to the touches. She was quite literally afraid of him. At the same time, she needed to be commanded by him. The next progression came as he helped her float on her back. With his hand under her bottom, he let his thumb 'accidently' slide up her crack to just brush her rosebud. She gasped, but also quivered a little.

In following days, he just stuck his thumb right up there and unabashedly pressed it against her anus. Next, he extended his thumb right against her slit when he supported her on her stomach. His other hand cupped her breast.

Her progress in swimming was slow, which suited the conditioning purposes quite well.

On the machines, he increasingly positioned himself so he was looking right at her crotch. If she seemed to restrain herself so he would not see as much, he came down hard on her.

The next out-of-the-water escalation came on the treadmill. He let her get started, then stopped her. Exclaiming that her sports bra did not seem to be supporting her very well, he had her start up again with his hand cupping a breast, ostensibly to test the amount of bounce. Stopping the machine again, he pulled the bra off of her. Putting another one on her, he carefully tested the fit while she looked around frantically.

Before any new touching was done, Julia met with Leah and Cy. She always asked several different ways to make sure that Leah was OK with the next step. It became clear after the sports bra episode that Leah was not likely to be the problem at all.

"Why is it that you always seem eager for the next step, Leah? Doesn't it bother you at all that Cy is starting to touch your mother in ways that only married people should touch?"

"Cy and I have talked about that a lot, Julia. It's ... it's not easy to explain, but there are a couple reasons. It seems that the reason she treated us so terribly was because she just didn't understand ... life, I guess. I want her to understand what she did to me, and until she understands normal life, she will never realize what she has done. Does that make any sense?"

"And your desire to 'show' her overrides any jealousy because Cy is touching her?"

"Um, I guess ... I guess there's a bragging part of it, too, Julia. I want her to know that the daughter she tried to turn into a sexless nun has a real man who can do wonderful things to a woman. She's stuck with a spineless cold fish."

"Ooooh! So, you're getting your revenge after all?"

"I guess I am."

"You mention a couple of reasons. Was bragging the second one?"

Leah let out a rather dramatic sigh. "I never thought I would say this, Julia. I'm afraid I'm softening - I'm actually feeling sorry for her. As wonderful as Cy makes me feel, I wish that every woman could experience that."

"Face it, Leah, you're just too nice a person at heart. That proves it," Julia said gently. "She does come across as rather pathetic, doesn't she? You two haven't gone all the way yet, have you? And you still find it so wonderful. That's beautiful. Never lose that, please.

"Somewhat on that subject, I have a couple of our more forward women working on your mother. I want to get her to masturbate," Julia told them.

"Maybe I should just let you women talk about this," Cy quipped. Lean quickly plopped in his lap to keep him from getting away.

"Lean, what would be the ideal outcome of all this?" Julia quizzed.

With no hesitation at all, Leah said "Cy would give her a monster orgasm. She would scream so loud that the whole place would hear her and freeze. Then, she would beg him for another one."

For perhaps the first time in her professional life, Julia did the drowning fish thing, working her mouth but not making any sound. "And you wouldn't see that as a violation of your commitment to each other?" She finally asked.

"No! That would be my way of saying 'See, Mother! Do you see now what you tried to steal from me? Do you see why I had to ask God for help not to hate you? Do you see what a woman's life is supposed to be like? Are you even a little bit sorry?'"

"And if she wants Cy to keep doing it?"

"Enough so she is hooked for life," Leah replied.

"Just to be very clear, Leah. You want this to go all the way to Cy masturbating your mother."

"I can't see how anything less would accomplishing anything."

Cy was sitting with his forearms on his knees, his head down. "You obviously aren't happy about this are you, Cy?"

"You can't believe how much we've talked about this, Julia. It has been the reason for our first serious arguments. No, I don't want to do even what I am doing now to her mother. Sure, there's a certain thrill that every guy must get from touching a woman. But any thrill is lost in the guilt.

"Before you ask, I'm still doing it because after all of our ... battles ... I believe it is necessary for us to have the happiest possible life together. At risk of seeming cold, I don't much care if this helps Phyllis to change and heal. I'm doing it because it is helping my love heal."

"Leah, do you feel that Cy is really only doing this for you?"

"There's no doubt of that. Julia, I've made him cry a few times. I don't like to do that, and I know he's not faking it."

"Actually, Cy, if you can maintain the attitude that stimulating Phyllis gives you no joy, it will work well toward our overall objective. Now, she has not gone aromatic, yet, has she?"

"Huh?"

"You haven't yet detected any arousal smell as you massage her, have you," Julia clarified.

"Oh. Yes, a few times I have noticed it."

"Good. I should have asked about that earlier. Here are a couple more escalations I think we should try..."

-------

The next day, after finishing her workout, Cy and Leah led Phyllis to stand in front of the full-length mirror. He had her stretch her arms way over her head, then told her "I want to check your muscle development. It may be time to modify your workouts."

Having her spread her feet a little, he proceeded to stroke, squeeze and jiggle every part of her body. The entire time, she was looking around to see who was watching. While she looked, she was emitting a major cloud of pheromones.

When Cy's 'inspection' was done, she begged for a chance to pee before her massage. The fact that she actually said the word to him was a huge milestone.

On the table, as he worked her ass, Cy spread her cheeks apart at every opportunity. He ran his thumbs down her crack, passing over her anus, but stopping short of touching the joining of her labia.

When Phyllis got off of the table, there was a look of almost desperation on her face.

-------

Sophie was just ribald and profane enough that somehow Phyllis did not just reject her out of hand. Perhaps the increasing stimulation from Cy had triggered enough curiosity that she was open to more. At any rate, Sophie kept asking Phyllis about masturbation, describing how she did herself, and rhapsodizing about the fabulous feelings.

"I would think that after your hunky son-in-law used his magic hands on you that you would be climbing the walls for a good come," Sophie probed.

"I ... I have trouble relaxing," Phyllis admitted.

"No shit!" Sophie knew that she could now get her profanity by Phyllis. Sophie had a strength of personality that made it easy for her to gain friends.

Sophie knew better than to check with Julia, even though Julia had 'sicced' her onto Phyllis in the first place. The next time Phyllis came back to her room after a session with Cy, Sophie and two other women were waiting. They closed the door and got a very nervous Phyllis laid out on the bed before Sophie stroked her forehead and talked to her gently.

"Phyllis, please believe that we care about you. We want you to experience the most wonderful feeling a woman can have. If you tell us to, we will all leave, or maybe you only want me to stay. I want you to let me touch you on your clitoris."

Phyllis gasped and looked at Sophie with wide eyes, but she did not move or say anything. "We can tell from the aroma that your are sexually aroused. I don't see how you can help it after your massage. We all get that way.

"Please don't think this is homosexual. I just want to show you so you can do it for yourself. If the others leave, will you let me do this for you?" Phyllis could not actually respond, but Sophie took her non-response as acquiescence and motioned for the others to leave. Without wasting any time she began teasing one of Phyllis's nipples with one hand and went right for her clit with the other.

For three more nights, Sophie brought Phyllis off. On the fourth night, she coached her through many tears to her first self-induced orgasm. Four more times, Sophie supervised before deciding that Phyllis could now handle her own needs.

-------

One fact assured Julia that her strategy was right on target. In the rather long talks between Leah and Phyllis every day, Phyllis never once mentioned the escalating touching that Cy was doing. That was even more remarkable because Leah was always present when it happened. Julia debated whether Phyllis's silence was because she just could not talk about the subject, or if she did not want to risk stopping the touching.

The next step was to start rolling Phyllis onto her back. Following that, Cy started lifting each leg onto his shoulder to work it. One day, they took a huge jump. When Phyllis was on her back, Cy pulled her down so her ass was barely supported on the table. Leah then stepped in and pulled one of her legs to the side, spreading her crotch wide open. Without saying a thing, Cy took a scissors and began trimming her thick bush.

Perhaps it was no longer surprising that Phyllis did not object or resist in any way. Noticing that, Cy began handling her labia in ways that were not really necessary to accomplish the trim. He also trimmed shorter than he had originally intended.

With the trim finished, Cy moved her back up in position to finish the massage. Phyllis had had all she could take, though. She reached for Cy's hand and pushed it between her legs. She said no words, but the meaning of her little mewling sound was perfectly clear.

-------

"I would have been a bit disappointed if you had not reacted this way," Julia said. She had driven out to Lindsey's and was talking with a very subdued young couple in Leah's room. It was just after the anticipated breakthrough. The only surprise had been that Phyllis had asked Cy to get her off. Begged, actually.

"Correct my if I'm wrong, but I think there are a couple of things bothering you," Julia told them. "First of all, there is a typical emotional lag after you achieve something you've worked toward for quite a while.

"Beyond that, I think you feel some sadness because a once-proud woman with very strong beliefs has been subjugated and has gone against those beliefs."

"But I wanted her to be forced to change. I wanted this to happen," Leah complained.

"Yes, you did, and it was a worthwhile goal. I believe I made sure of that. I am sure that this letdown is temporary. Soon, you will feel like you have accomplished something important."

"The way she cried afterward did not make me feel like I had given her a wonderful feeling," Cy said.

"You have to remember that every part of Phyllis's world is either being destroyed or dramatically changed," Julia counseled. "Here is my guess at why she cried. She did feel wonderful, and she was thrilled, Cy, that you did it for her."

"But I have always been stern and demanding with her. I have tried very hard not to show any warmth," he objected. "Why should she be happy that it was me."

"There's a problem that I chose not to mention to you at the beginning," Julie explained. "You are a person who has a naturally high regard for his fellow human beings. That regard, that respect is conveyed through your touch and your general attitude. You cannot hide it by a forced stern demeanor."

"But she did cry," he pointed out.

"I was getting to that. I think she cried because she knew that she could never have what her daughter had. She cried because she was sure that it would only happen once. Leah, I assume your feelings about your mother have changed, haven't they?"

"Oh. I hadn't really thought about that," Leah responded. "I guess they have. She seems more ... human, I guess is the best way to say it."

"That's quite a change, isn't it? How long since she has showed her old behavior toward you?"

"Come to think of it, she really hasn't since she went in."

"How does she behave toward your father when you all go to church?"

"She just sits by him and doesn't say much."

"Does she hold his arm? Take his hand? Kiss him hello or goodbye?"

"The last couple of weeks, she has taken his arm. There has been no kissing, though."

-------

[Julia & Staff] Mid-February

"The problem with the Hayses is that Norman needs transforming nearly as much as Phyllis does. We no longer have any way to accomplish that," Julia explained as the staff discussed how to proceed with Phyllis and Norman. "The problem is that Phyllis will have outgrown her husband when she is released."

"Wasn't she the dominant one already?"

"True, but it was all negative dominance. We will be sending her home with a whole new set of values and needs, many of them quite positive. He will be mostly the same old Norman."

"Julia," Muriel spoke up, "Why not let Phyllis transform Norman. We know he is submissive to her. I think her morality says that she should be faithful to her husband. With her unleashed sexual desires, won't she think it a worthwhile project to turn Norman into a lover who can satisfy her?"

"What you're saying, then, quite brilliantly, is that instead of a mean, controlling bitch, she could be a benign, caring mistress?"

"I guess the question is if she would think it worthwhile," Muriel mused.

"As you all know," Julia pointed out, "Phyllis is now very, very aware of what a caring sexual relationship can offer her. I think the only way to assess their future potential is to put them together in the nude section and see what happens."

-------

[Erica & Chelsea] Mid February

Julia had a bit of an inspiration. Erica had taken to the recommendation to be naked in her room, and to invite other kids in to study, watch TV, or talk. By that time, everyone had spent time in her room, and the changes in her self-image were gratifying.

There was still more that Erica could benefit from, though. Having to be naked only in her room still had a connotation of isolation, of perhaps preventing people from having to look at her. At least, that was the mindset that Julia believed the girl lived with. It was time for a meeting of the residents.

"I hope you all know how proud I am of you. Your willingness to help your brothers and sisters, and even outsiders, is unbelievable. Well, one of your sisters, Erica, needs a little more help. You all know what has been pounded into her about her body. She's making great progress, but I believe there's one more step that will really help her.

"Erica, I want you to join Chelsea naked for a while." Julia stopped to check Erica's reaction. The girl was blushing madly, but there was a glow behind it. "The rest of you: this is not permission for anyone else to be naked in the common area. And I don't even have to remind you about courtesy and respect.

"I think that in a few weeks, your friendship, your respect, and your appreciation of her body will have repaired enough of the damage her family did so it should not affect how she lives her life. Oh, by the way: I hope you've all been watching Erica's weight chart. She's doing great!"

It was highly significant to Julia that Erica only waited until the little meeting ended before shedding the few things that she wore. She did not even go back to her room to undress. It was just what she needed.

It did take a lot of self-control for the kids not to react upon seeing the sight of the two naked girls together. The contrast in size was so visually striking. It did not take long for the two girls to realize the latent humor in the situation. Muriel was concerned that it might set Erica back and she talked to Julia about it.

"Well, I guess this will be a test of how much she has recovered," Julia observed. "I think that she is accepting her natural build quite well, but you are right, there is some risk."

It turned out that the only risk was keeping the laughter down. One of the most gratifying things about Erica's stay had been the revelation of a mischievous streak as wide as her generous bottom. She was the one who talked Chelsea into doing simultaneous cannonballs into the pool. On one occasion, she had Chelsea walk directly behind her, in perfect step. Muriel happened to be the intended victim, and her reaction when Erica stopped in front of her and and moved her mouth but Chelsea's voice started talking was choice. Chelsea then sprang from behind Erica and everyone watching broke up.

"Do you realize how much you have changed," Julia asked Erica about two weeks later at a little impromptu session. "I can't tell you how proud I am of the way you can even joke about your size, now."

"You know, I'm actually feeling proud of my body," Erica declared. "I'm losing a lot of the loose stuff, my tummy is shrinking, and my butt is getting smoother. I'm enjoying the guys at school gawking at my boobs, too. They show up so much better, now."

Julia almost cautioned her to be careful with how she flaunted her assets, but did not think Erica needed that kind of warning.

"How much longer do you need to go naked around home?"

"To be honest, I should probably dress, now. I guess I would love to just stay this way all the time, but it has accomplished what I need," Erica admitted.

"Thank you for realizing that. We are discussing doing more things like we did with Brett and with Chelsea. For that to work, there needs to be just one person naked," Julia explained. "Stay bare until we talk again, OK?"

-------

[Rachel & Caz] Mid February

"I need to know how you truly feel about Rachel," Julia told Caz. He had been visiting Lindsey's and she asked him to stop over to her office after dinner.

"Julia, I honestly believe I am falling in love," he answered.

"Well, it is really important that I know as much as you know. The first three dates could be written off as a beneficial fairy tale if you aren't really serious about her. From now on, she will start to think about a relationship. To her that can only mean marriage and a family."

"How long before she can leave Transformations?"

"That's a tough question to answer," Julia admitted. "If she had somewhere to go, I would say two or three weeks. We don't have any kind of a halfway house, so that is a real problem. Right now, I would probably have her move over to Lindsey's until she and Naomi could find a house. That's not what Lindsey's is intended for."

Caz was thoughtful for quite a while, staring off into space. "Julia, this may sound crazy, but what if she moved from here to my house - as my wife?"

Julia was caught with her mouth open and closed it with an audible snap. "I pride myself on not being surprised by the things people say, but you got me big-time with that question? You can't be serious, can you?"

"I don't consider this a joking matter. Look, Julia. I've only been on three dates with her and I only met her once before that. But I've known her for years. I went to their church many times in disguise just so I could watch her. I've had listening devices planted all over their house ever since they moved to town. I feel like I have been getting to know her all of that time. In person, she has been far more than I had imagined. I think you are responsible for that."

"Sympathy is not a good reason to marry someone," Julia observed.

"I can't deny that there is sympathy involved," Caz admitted. "But there is a lot more involved. On the first date, I was a little worried that she would be awkward and make some real gaffes. After the gallery opening, I was in awe of her poise. Naomi said that social graces were hammered into them by the Reverend. Well, he did something right. Julia, you should have seen the way people responded to her!"

"I know what you mean. Everyone at the Tee is an instant friend of hers," Julia said. "I'm still not sure that I have heard a good enough reason for a move this sudden."

"This is hard to explain," Caz said with a sigh. "I think the feeling of inevitability has been with me for a long time and I just didn't recognize it. The first night in your office is when I realized what that feeling was. It's like Rachel and I are tied together in some way. We're just destined to be together."

"That night? She looked awful! She was almost in a panic having to meet you."

"It has never been about looks for me. Remember, since she was fourteen, I never talked to her until that night. All of the voyeuristic things that I heard over the years made her fascinating to me."

"Why didn't you pursue her? Oh, that's right - the agreement."

"Right. After they escaped, I was afraid I might seem like a predator or something. I would have frightened her if we had met any sooner, wouldn't I?"

"Probably. I still haven't heard the 'L' word."

"You probably won't like this, but I feel like I need someone to teach me what love is. I want it to be Rachel. Does that make sense? Since that first date, I have not been able to wait for the next one. It seems like everything that happens I think about what she would say or how she would react."

"Hmmmm. Well, maybe you have described love better without the word than anyone I have heard. Look, I'm not 'authorized' to judge your suitability. I'm just concerned about my patient. She is a woman who could not stand another rejection or another big disappointment. It would destroy her beyond what I could repair. You have no idea if she will be a good sexual partner."

"If she isn't, it's my fault," Caz insisted. "From the way she responded to one small kiss, I'm not worried. I refused to listen myself, but the technician who reviewed the recordings told me that she masturbated. I believe the sexuality is there."

"So you think she'll be a project, huh?"

"No! Definitely not! She'll be my wife. My partner. My friend. I don't want to make her into anything but what she is. If anything, I'll be a project for her. I've got a lot of bad things to get rid of."

"Right answer. You have my permission to ask Naomi for her hand. This is sudden, but it makes sense."

-------

"I've been expecting that," Naomi said to Caz's surprise when he asked her for permission to propose to Rachel.

"You have?"

"Back before the trouble, I saw you as one of the boys that would be worthy of my daughter. Of course, you weren't of our faith, but I believed that would work out.

"After William did those terrible things, it seemed like there was no hope, but somehow, I could not get you out of my mind. When I learned that you had helped us to escape,..."

"How did you know that I had helped?"

"I just ... knew. From then on, I knew that the two of you would be together."

"But I've never talked to Rachel about it," he protested.

She waved her hand dismissively. "Poor Rachel has been waiting for a man for her whole life, but she has been deprived. I'm not saying that she would have fallen in love with just anyone, but when you paid her some attention and she could tell you were sincere, she was gone."

Caz found himself thinking that this must be the strangest engagement in history, but it did not change his mind. "So I have your permission, then?"

"I have just one request. Despite what has happened, Rachel's faith is precious to her. If you could attend church with her, it would help your life together."

"I can do that," Caz said. "I promise to be respectful of her beliefs."

-------

The strangeness did not abate. Rachel called Caz and asked if he could come to the Tee to see her. She did not give him any clue as to the reason, but he would be more than happy to see her. Pulling some strings, he bought a very nice ring before heading to the Tee at supper time, as she had asked.

Julia met him at the main door and told him to change into one of the standard uniforms of shorts and shirt. Completely baffled as to what was going on, he went along, remembering to put the ring in the pocket of the shorts.

When Julia opened the door to the women's section and motioned him in, he was paralyzed in shock. The tableau resembled the line of women behind Rachel that had greeted him when he picked her up for their dates. There was one huge difference - all of the women were naked, including Rachel, who stood in her usual place in front, blushing but resolute.

He had come there at her request hoping to have a chance to propose to her. It would be unusual to do so without ever even discussing it with her, but there was nothing usual about their relationship. Shaking his head to come out of the shock of the sight before him, a little dramatic streak in him decided that this was the perfect time.

He walked toward her, hoping that no one noticed him fumbling in his pocket. He was going to kneel in the classical manner, but with her naked, that did not seem quite appropriate. Instead, he took her left hand in his and kept the ring hidden in his right.

"Rachel, in the few short weeks we have known each other, I have fallen in love with you. Will you be my wife?"

After that question, he had to kneel, and quickly. She passed out, and he was just able to catch her as she crumpled to the floor. That was certainly not the romantic way he envisioned her responding to his proposal, but in a way, it was very meaningful. It told him that he had touched some very deep, very strong emotion in her. That was what he needed to know.

The other women had gone from joyous surprise at his proposal to concern over her condition. They had barely started to gather around her when she opened her eyes and tried to focus on him. After some seconds, she seemed to lock in on him. "Did you ... did you really..."

"Yes, I asked you to marry me. You didn't answer."

"Yes! Yes! YES!" That brought cheers and applause from all of the women. He stayed on the floor cradling her in his arms for several more minutes until her color returned and she appeared able to stand.

When she was on her feet, he took the ring and slipped it on without saying anything more. She stared at it and did not breathe for what seemed a dangerously long time. Finally, she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him soundly.

Eventually, they worked their way through the congratulations to the eating area. He had just helped her sit when Julia pulled him away for a moment. "In case you are confused, you have been voted an unrestricted visitor. That is very, very rare for a man. That's why the women are all naked. Three or four of the women were not really in favor of it, so let the women initiate conversation with you.

"Naomi and I campaigned hard for this, keeping it secret from Rachel. We had no idea you would propose tonight, but it was perfect. You are a hero to these women, you know. They all love Rachel and they can see what your dates have done for her. Now, after this proposal! I think some of them expect you to walk across the pool on the water."

"To say I am overwhelmed is an understatement."

"This is a rather unprecedented situation," Julia explained. "I hope you can spend a lot of time here."

"Try to keep me away."

"Of course, you want to spend it with Rachel. But try to find time to hear the stories of the other women. Tell them yours, too. In other words, act a lot like you're on the staff."



-------

Chapter 31


[Norman & Phyllis] Mid-February

It was probably unfair to the man, but Julia had not told Norman that he would be naked for the meeting with his wife. She had also not told him that he would have to undress before she ushered him in. With her low opinion of the man, she had considered having Mary Hall or even Naomi usher him in. Because he saw Mary regularly and had known Naomi for many years, it would have been a huge jolt of humiliation. She had decided against it for fear that he would just walk away. The meeting was too important. She still would not compromise and have a man escort him or let him strip inside.

"Good morning, Mr. Hayes," Julia said as she handed him the locker basket used for smaller items, along with two hangers. "Please undress in the Men's room right there and I will help you put your clothes in a locker."

"Un ... undress? What do you mean?"

Resisting the urge to be sarcastic, Julia explained "Mr. Hayes, you and your wife will be meeting in our nude section."

"No one told me that! That's not ... how can you expect me to do that?"

"Mr. Hayes, I'm sure you know that Phyllis has been naked for the entire time she has been here. She only dresses to join you at church. Surely you're not afraid to be naked with your wife." He quite clearly WAS afraid of just that and he was struggling to avoid revealing that fear. He sensed that it was not a manly fear.

"But you're here, and if I undress..."

"Mr. Hayes, I am an M.D. I also spend a great deal of time with naked people. Please, just go in there and undress. I can only reserve this section for a few hours."

Julia sensed that it was a pretty close call, but Norman did undress. He could not look at Julia when he came out. As he hurried to the door that he assumed entered the section, Julia asked "I did tell you that a very nice breakfast would be served, did I not?" He was only able to nod.

When he finally stepped into the doorway, the fear of the gorgeous doctor looking at his penis was replaced by the fear of having to be naked in front of his wife. She could always make him feel like a little boy, and without even the protection of clothes, it would be even worse.

He barely had time to think about that fear because she was right there in front of him, and he hardly recognized her. Of course, he had not often seen her completely naked, but he never imagined that she could look that good. She was tanned. Her body looked quite firm, rather than the slack look he remembered. His rather imprecise memories included a rampant thatch of pubic hair, but when he looked at her crotch, he could actually see her cleft through the short hairs.

It was her eyes, though, that surprised him the most. He was used to looks of irritation, downright anger, condescension, even pity. Instead, it was a look that he hardly recognized - desire mixed with a good bit of fear.

He would never know how some of the women had coached her on what do to, nor how fiercely she was having to battle herself to follow her friends' instructions.

Even the complete immersion of the Tee could not completely erase a lifetime of beliefs and opinions. It had certainly shed a new light on those opinions, and she had certainly done many things that were contrary to those lifelong beliefs.

In a way, the total isolation and immersion of the Tee did not really prepare her for this first 'clash' with her former life. Of course, Leah had been constantly present, but she and Cy had been an integral part of the immersion. In a very real sense, Norman had been out of her thoughts while she was a resident. While Cy was doing sinful, humiliating, but oh, so addictive things to her body, she really had not thought of Norman. He was truly part of another world.

Now, that old world was intersecting her new, isolated, almost unreal world. Julia and her friends had told her over and over that she could not have Cy and his wonderful hands when she left the Tee. She also had been warned that she would have to leave fairly soon. In one sense, it would be a relief to leave because as wonderful as the feeling were, she knew that what Cy was doing to her was wrong.

The problem was that her libido had definitely been unleashed. Mary Hall had spent hours with her, explaining how her sexual desires were natural and given by God for her legitimate pleasure. Through countless arguments and gallons of tears, the prudish teachings of her lifetime had been refined down to what was really Scriptural.

Whatever two people did for mutual, agreed pleasure within the marriage was right and proper - that was the doctrine so painfully instilled in Phyllis's thinking. There was no question that what Cy had done to her was wrong, but she at last understood that it had been necessary to shake her from her ignorance.

In fact, Phyllis herself had been the one to call a halt, explaining that she knew what they had been doing. She had tearfully told them she understood what a sacrifice it must have been for them, and she had thanked them profusely. After the first time, Cy had gotten her off four more times before she ended it.

Sophie and her other friends had suggested using Cy or some other man to practice some elementary touching and stroking before her first meeting with Norman. That idea, however, had been quickly shot down by Julia and by Phyllis herself. Her friends had cried after Phyllis' little speech.

"I've never had a marriage like most of you have had. I can't even say that I have ever loved Norman the way Lean and Cy love each other. I guess I didn't know that kind of love was possible. I probably thought it was improper.

"Except that he is quite handsome and imposing, I have never had the kind of feelings for Norman that I see in couples around here. Except when I was pregnant, I never really wanted sex with him. It was just something that a wife had to do.

"I know now that this place has awakened the sexual side of me. I ache for Cy, but I know I can never have him. I made a vow before God to love, honor, and obey Norman. I now know that 'love' also means sexual love. When I leave here, I cannot go back to the life I had before. This place has 'ruined' me for that.

"The only place I can satisfy these new desires is with Norman. That seems impossible, but because of my vows and my new needs, I have to try."

She felt that need and that determination as she stepped toward him. Barely able to breath and feeling more fear than a pre-teen, she took his genitals in her shaky hands and began stroking and fondling them. All the time, she was staring right into his eyes.

"Norman, I have been without sex for so long. I need it so badly. Please!" He had no way of knowing that she had rehearsed that simple sentence over and over. Still, her voice quavered as she said it, and she stumbled a little.

Perhaps it was fortunate that she was obviously nervous and uneasy. Despite their nakedness and her changed appearance, Norman only knew her to be strong and demanding when she spoke to him. The evidence of need and uncertainty weakened his automatic resistance to her words.

Another factor that was crucial was the unreality of the situation to both spouses. Just the two of them being naked together in such an open place was totally outside of their experience. Norman, in particular, had no basis for his responses, so he just let the sensations lead. And the sensations were unprecedented and too seductive to resist. Maybe a few times early in their marriage she had fondled him briefly. Other than that, she had touched his organ only to guide him into herself.

He had no way of knowing that the nearby chaise lounge was not usually in that position near the door. He only knew that she was pulling him toward the chaise by his rapidly hardening cock.

At the chaise, she risked hurting them both with the awkward way she flopped back with legs spread and pulled him down on top of herself. To anyone else, the move would have been laughably clumsy and hardly seductive. To him, it was disorienting and captivating. One hand kept a hold on his cock, and she pulled him right to her opening. She was wet and ready.

In her early forties, Phyllis could still become pregnant, and that point in her cycle was not completely safe. She had debated with herself about contraception, and decided to let God decide if a late child was His chosen way to renew their marriage. Previously, intercourse had been so seldom that staying in her completely safe time was no hardship.

Norman had no blood left in his brain to fuel thoughts of a possible pregnancy. The blood all went to making his cock harder than he could remember. Never in their entire married life had Phyllis acted so erotically. As he thrust his way into her, she was thrusting back at him as if she intended to devour him whole.

Their coupling was simple missionary. That was all they knew. It may have been unimaginative, but it was very, very energetic and intense. With all of that, it was not really affectionate. Phyllis stared fixedly into her husband's eyes, but he was not able to maintain the gaze all of the time.

Watching on the surveillance monitor, Julia decided that Phyllis must have been either challenging or inviting Norman to kiss her. At least she did not show any dismay at his lack of response. After her discussions with Julia and the other women, she must have had a pretty realistic idea of the state of their relationship and how he felt about her.

Julia had purposely not 'briefed' Phyllis before her time with Norman, leaving that to Sophie and the women. Watching her uncoached conduct would be a very good measure of her progress. Any evidence of the old harsh control would be a disappointing sign. Her conduct toward Leah had changed quite dramatically. If it did not change toward Norman, though, Leah's efforts at repairing her family could very well fail.

He did not last very long, which was understandable. Julia found herself wondering if he had ever developed any control. In her experience, men involved in infrequent, prosaic sex typically did not work on their control.

Needless to say, Phyllis came nowhere near an orgasm, but she did not express any irritation or disappointment. Julia had the distinct impression that Phyllis was evaluating just as intently as Julia herself was.

By the time Phyllis had gotten them all showered and dried, it was time for breakfast. Julia had gone back and forth on whether to let Gretchen or Carol serve, to get one of the guys to do it, or to have Phyllis herself bring out the food. She had decided to have Carol, who was on duty, do it clothed. She instructed Carol to bring out the food and the settings quickly and let Phyllis serve it up.

That very brief exposure was almost more than Norman could take, and he had a hard time eating. Phyllis had to reassure him repeatedly that Carol would not be back out.

Julia could never have predicted what happened right after breakfast. Phyllis led Norman to a love seat. As soon as he was seated, she laid across his lap. "Norman, I have been mean to you. I know it was wrong, and I am very sorry. It will help me if you give me a good spanking. Don't be polite. Spank me hard."

His response was as surprising as her request. Unbelievably, his hand smacked down, hard, almost before she stopped talking. He seemed to be waiting for her tears before he would stop, and he got them.

While she was still crying and and still smarting, she got on her knees and worked her way between his legs. While spanking her, he had hardened and she took him in her hands again.

"I am so happy that I can excite you," she told him. "After the way I have been, I would have understood if I disgusted you. I promise you, Norman, that I have changed. I will no longer control you because I want to lord it over you.

"I'm sure you must know, though, that you need my ... help," she insisted. "You do realize that, don't you?"

This time, he delivered the fixed stare, and he finally spoke. "Is that how little you think of me?"

"No, no. I don't think little of you. I am just telling you the way things are. By yourself, you are too indecisive and you avoid tension and confrontations at all costs. You can't deny that, can you, Norman?"

Apparently, Norman wanted to deny that, but he was honest enough that he could not.

Phyllis knew that this was one of the two riskiest times of the session. She was working hard to cover the near panic that she felt. After she got past the absolute terror of being naked at the Tee, she had no choice but to constantly compare her marriage to what she heard from the other women. Even more than the other women, she had to compare it to Leah and Cy.

Even though they were not married, her daughter and the Reverend's son had a relationship that she could not help envying. It was only the terrible prospect of finally and completely losing Leah that had made her enter the Tee. More than just the sanity-saving daily talks with Leah, it was watching the two young people together that brought about the most change.

Most of the married women at the Tee had significant marital problems, but they usually had some successful periods to talk about, as well. By everything that she heard, Phyllis knew that her marriage had no rational reason to continue. The only possible justification was the strong feelings against divorce that she and Norma shared.

During many sleepless late night hours she had agonized over whether it was right to try to salvage her marriage. Why would she want to stay with Norman? She could not honestly say she respected him, if she ever had. She could barely remember feeling some sexual desire for him, and that was when she was carrying the children. Because the Reverend always sought out men with somewhat impressive appearance for his elders, Norman was quite manly looking, despite his personality.

Just like her clothes had been stripped away, most of her pretense and self-delusion had left during her stay. Only one thing made her determined to stay married to Norman: she had made a vow before God. As so many other beliefs had been chipped or eroded away, her core faith had actually been strengthened.

That was another anomaly that could only exist in the unique environment of the Tee. Her faith grew while she enjoyed the undeniably sinful attentions of Cy. Actually, her faith did not so much grow as get purified or perhaps streamlined. The non-essential things that had so dominated her life just could not withstand the endless discussions with the other women. They were particularly defenseless against Cy's wonderful hands.

After some fairly heated discussions, Cy had stripped to use the pool and hot tub in the way that male employees were expected to. Naturally, Phyllis did not miss a chance to be with him then. She knew it was unfair to think of Cy's lovely organ as she now fondled her husband's. Oh, how she wished she could see it aroused like Norman's was. It had taken everything in her to resist reaching out and taking Cy in her hand as they sat in the hot tub together.

Cy was Leah's. Phyllis could never have his cock. She would never have Cy's hands touching her secret places again, either. She understood that. But Pandora's box had been opened, and Phyllis Hayes was a sexual woman who needed the attentions of a man. Could she turn Norman into the man she needed?

Why had she paid so little attention to his penis before. It really was quite fascinating. She could only guess what Cy's would look like fully aroused, but Norman's must be at least as large. When he had entered her before breakfast, there had been a most pleasant sensation of being filled.

The big question was whether Norman could change as much as she had. It took entering the Tee to bring about her change - and Cy's hands. What could possibly change Norman? There was no Tee for him. The answer had been obvious from the first time she had asked herself the question. She was the only one who could change Norman into what she needed in a husband. Well, not really what she needed, but enough to make staying married worthwhile.

Phyllis knew by then that what she needed was Cy, a man who could take her over and control her. Norman could never be that. But Norman had a cock that filled her well. He had hands that could be taught to arouse her and satisfy her. He had an almost stately appearance and she was never ashamed to be seen with him.

How much more like Cy could Norman be? He had spanked her eagerly and forcefully. Was that just anger, or was there more manliness there than she had expected?

"Norman, I know how wrong I have been in the way I treated you. I want to make up for that. I want to change that."

-------

[Norman & Floyd] Mid-February

Saturday afternoon and evening, after being with Phyllis that morning, Norman was a shambles. The experience had been erotic beyond anything in his experience, or even in his fantasies. Between his upbringing, the stern teachings of the church, and the ever-present threat of somehow invoking his wife's wrath, he had been remarkably successful at subduing even his fantasy life.

Like everything else in his tightly-controlled life, occasional intercourse, wherein Phyllis fulfilled her wifely obligation to relieve his physical pressures, was all he ever expected. It was all he ever thought he should expect.

He still could not understand why he had not just walked out the door when the stunning lady doctor asked him to undress. Everything that he believed told him that he should. Was it just because he felt compelled to obey the doctor? He was very aware that he did not stand up to people well, especially women.

Whatever his reasons had been, he had gone naked into that room. If getting that far had been unprecedented, what happened inside was so far out of his comprehension that he had trouble remembering clearly. Phyllis naked and ... and very appealing; Phyllis brazenly, if nervously, stimulating him; Phyllis virtually pulling him into herself; that other woman entering the room with food while he was naked; Phyllis asking to be spanked; him spanking her - hard; her kneeling and ... and worshipping his inflated organ; her promising to be different; her declaring that he needed her; him having to grudgingly admit that she was right; all of those memories and impressions kept cycling through his mind in a jumble.

It was very difficult to face Phyllis the next morning in church. He had the feeling that everyone in the congregation could look at his face and know just what had happened the morning before.

Norman's biggest problem was that there was no one he could talk to about his disorientation and uncertainty. Before, he could always just depend on the Reverend's teachings to guide him, strongly enforced by Phyllis's harangues. Now, the Reverend's influence had been invalidated, and Phyllis herself had done things completely contrary to her own previous demands.

As they were leaving the service, Floyd Hall shook Norman's hand. Perhaps seeing something in Norman's eyes, Floyd suggested "Would you join me for lunch, Norman? I'll let Mary go on to the usual lunch at Lindsey's. I'd like to talk man-to-man about how you are getting along." Norman wondered if Floyd had been put up to that, but he had been promised that his sessions with Phyllis would be completely secret. He believed that.

The two men ended up spending the entire afternoon together. It took lunch for Floyd just to discover how troubled Norman was, but there was no hint of just what was the problem. As they left the restaurant, Floyd called Mary, reaching her at Lindsey's.

"Honey, how would you feel about me telling Norman about our time together in the center section?" he asked Mary.

"Oh! Why would you want to do that?"

"I'm just guessing, but I think Norman is very disturbed and conflicted. He must have had a meeting with Phyllis, maybe nude. I don't know. Tell you what: see what you can find out, and call me at home. I'm taking Norman to our house. Can you stay away for the afternoon?"

It took Mary a while to reach Julia and to convince her that it was important to know what had happened to Norman. Hearing that Floyd was trying to help Norman, Julia was delighted. She broke the confidence, insisting that Norman and Phyllis never know.

After the call from Mary, Floyd told Norman "I don't mean to pry, Norman, but we both had daughters who were forced to leave home. I suspect that both of our upbringings and our marriages were pretty similar before.

"I suspect you have heard something of our story, but there are parts that no one knows that could be helpful to you. I have Mary's permission to tell you about those parts, as long as you promise never to tell anyone else, even Phyllis. Are you willing to promise that?"

Somewhat disturbed at being so transparent, Norman was desperate enough for any kind of guidance that he readily promised.

"Mary also gave me permission to show you these. This is what we looked like when when we were forced to check in to Transformations." Floyd handed Norman their naked admittance pictures. "You can see one of the reasons why sex was not a factor in our marriage. There were other reasons, as well."

After Norman finally regained some composure after the shock of the naked pictures, Floyd spent over an hour recounting their previous hangups, the time alone in the center section, and some of the things he had done the previous summer to assume a more dominant role in their marriage, especially sexually.

Norman was completely floored by Floyd's openness and by the similarities with some of the things he was experiencing himself. He surprised himself by admitting "I don't know if I could ever take a dominant role."

"Not that I can profess to be an expert," Floyd said, "but maybe you won't have to. What you need to do, though, is learn how to satisfy Phyllis sexually. I hate to say it is like magic, but it really is. A sexually satisfied woman will give you feelings and sensations you never thought possible."

"I ... I know almost nothing about that sort of thing," Norman admitted.

"Nor did I. You can study to find out things," Floyd pointed out, "but it might be better just to ask Phyllis what you can do for her. Pardon me for saying it, but she has always been, uh, the strongest one in your marriage, hasn't she?"

"Yes, she has," Norman had to admit.

"Is that something you think you can change? Something you want to change?"

"I don't know. I've never thought of it as a possibility," Norman said softly.

"Let me tell you what I think has happened," Floyd said. "I think the nudity and just the interaction with the other women has awakened the repressed sexual side of your wife."

"That ... that certainly seems to be true. But I keep thinking that is all wrong ... sinful," Norman complained.

That launched a long discussion on the proper role of sex in marriage. Floyd presented Biblical arguments that Norman had either never heard or had always heard dismissed or discredited.

"Look, Norman. I grew up believing that if it felt good, it must be sinful. I suspect that you are struggling with the same feelings. I don't know when you will see Phyllis again, but I think you should try to resolve those issues in your mind before then. From what you said, her physical appearance pleased you very much and her sexual response both surprised and excited you.

"I imagine it is hard for you to believe that she has really changed emotionally and psychologically. All I can tell you is that Mary was very much like Phyllis before. Now, we are like newlyweds, only better. You can have that, too. You just have to accept some new ideas and be willing to forget a lot of the past. From my perspective, it is more than worth it."

-------

[Phyllis & Norman] Mid-February

"Norman," Phyllis said on the phone, "Dr. Waxman has arranged for the two of us to have dinner and a few hours alone together every evening. It is amazing that she would give up the whole section for us that way. Will you do it? Please? Will you come over every night after work?"

"Would I have to ... to undress?"

"It will be just like the first time, Norman. Only, I promise to make it even better for you than the first time."

Norman hated to make decisions like this. His life had been so peaceful since Phyllis went away. It was too bad it could not last forever. That one Saturday morning had been - enlightening. Unfortunately, the first thing he thought of was having to walk naked past the stunning lady doctor. He did not want to have to do that again. And that other woman, the one who brought breakfast. What was he doing, letting strange women see his privates?

For all of his many shortcomings, Norman was still blessed with a libido. It was a libido that had been awakened that Saturday morning. He would never have the nerve to satisfy his awakened urges with another woman, but he did not want to force those urges back into hibernation, either.

"Will Dr. Waxman be there when... ?" he tried to ask.

"Usually, she is still in session with patients that time of day," Phyllis answered.

Julia had forbidden Phyllis from saying any more than that. She was not allowed to promise who would let him in, although Julia had decided that it would be a male the next few times. Julia considered it critical that the promise of more sex with his wife be enough to make him tolerate the embarrassing exposure. There was a strong chance that the threat of exposure would scare him away. If that was true, their union was probably doomed, anyway.

Julia knew about the discussion between Floyd and Norman, but Phyllis did not. No one, though, knew what Norman had decided.

-------

"How did you know he would do it?" Ryan asked in staff meeting.

"Oh, I never knew for sure," Julia admitted. "It was a necessary test. I need one of you guys to show him in at least the next three times. Then, he won't know who to expect after that. We will keep him off-balance."

"How long will you let this run?"

"I'm thinking three weeks," Julia answered.

"That's a lot of the center section to give up."

"Not really. There is no other consistent demand, and it is for treatment purposes."

"I guess it's up to Phyllis to give him reasons to keep coming, then," Gretchen commented.

"Exactly," Julia agreed. "Especially after we start increasing his exposure."

"Why would you do that?"

"I think you know. When we send Phyllis home, there will be a big difference in their levels of comfort with nudity. You know how troublesome that difference can be. There is no way that we can erase the difference in a limited time. We just have to get Norman so he can at least survive naked in the sight of a female."

"You going to use Leah?"

"Of course. Norman needs some humiliating penance, too, even if he's not a resident."

-------

Norman barely made it through the first week of naked evenings with his wife. Even the very enlightening time with Floyd and Norman's own decision to try to rebuild their relationship could not ease his timidity.

Not only did Phyllis push him to work out quite aggressively, she was constantly checking to see if he could erect again, and she made energetic use of every serviceable hardon. It took until the third night before he made any attempt at initiative. Then, it was tentative.

Julia had decided only to counsel Phyllis on a few specific things, such as not initiating the first kiss. In consultation with Sophie, Julia found that Phyllis had opened up dramatically to the other women. She decided that sexual advice from her fellow residents might be better received than from her.

As they were preparing for their second coupling that evening, Norman said "I understand there are other positions for intercourse. Is there some other way you would like to try?"

Phyllis had to restrain herself from leaping up from the chaise where she was already spread out and waiting for him. Sophie and her other 'sexual counsellors' had discussed positions with her at great length. The one she fantasized about was 'female 'superior', with her riding him. Given their history, however, she had been encouraged to leave that one for a while.

The suggested first 'deviation' was him entering from behind, with both of them on their sides. The chaise was too narrow for that, so she led him as sedately as she could manage to an area of tumbling mats. Laying out a few giant towels, she positioned them and rather awkwardly got him inserted.

The reason her friends had suggested that position first was that with him behind, it had a hint of his dominance, but it was less awkward to accomplish than 'doggy'. In fact, he found the flair of her hip from her tightening waist to be very appealing, and his hand went to it instinctively. It was the first time he had used his hands for other than support as they fucked.

Another good thing about the position was that if she brought her knees up a bit, he could achieve deeper penetration than in missionary. She liked that a lot, and her reactions showed it.

On his first visit, her open enjoyment of intercourse had bothered him. Since talking with Floyd, he had read and reread 'Song of Solomon', and he was beginning to see her thrusts, moans, and quivers as good things. He was realizing that they were evidence that he was pleasing her. Why had he considered that bad?

The one limitation of the position was that he could not get enough leverage to really pound her hard, something that she seemed to like. She sensed the same problem and gasped out "Roll over on top of me! Please!"

From on top, he could definitely thrust more strongly. She, however, could not, and the penetration was not as deep. Attempting to take more of him in and to return his thrusts, she started to raise her ass instinctively. Before they really knew it, they were up on their knees and he was slamming into her, pulling back on her hips for more force.

As her friends had counseled her, Phyllis cheated as soon as he entered her while on their sides. She used her lower hand to start working her clit. While he was prone atop her, she could not really continue, and that was another reason for raising her ass.

Once he was upright on his knees and pounding her vigorously, it did not take much more frantic rubbing of her button before she went off. It was the first time he had ever seen her orgasm. He barely realized what was happening before he also went over. They were both wobbly enough that they were happy to sink back on their sides, panting heavily.

"Th ... thank you, Norman," she was able to gasp out. "That ... was ... wonder ... ful."

Still not sure what had happened and why, he reacted brilliantly. "I want to make sure that happens every time from now on."

She was too stunned and elated to respond immediately. After a while, she rolled over to face him. "I'm afraid I can't usually come just from intercourse. You will have to do other things to help me. Do you really want to do that?"

"It was ... it was amazing to see. Yes, I want to do that." It took all of her restraint not to kiss him right then.

-------

They did not see each other Saturday, but they kept the regular Sunday schedule at church.

One thing that had not yet happened between them was a kiss. It seemed incongruous, since in six sessions, they had had intercourse more than a dozen times. Julia's hard and fast rule, though, was that he had to initiate kissing for at least a few days. There were humorous staff bets on when, or if, that would happen.

On Thursday, Norma had escorted him in, after three days with one of the guys. He was not at all happy about it, but he was back again Friday, to be greeted by Cy. That was not exactly easy on him, but he knew that Cy worked there.

For dinner, the two women still served. They gradually increased the time they were in his sight, but purposely did not look at him.

Apparently, the weekend was just the right formula. On Monday afternoon, Phyllis greeted him with the hug that had become their custom. She always looked up at him as they hugged, and this time, he kissed her softly and briefly. She had to force herself to return it in kind, rather than with the intensity she wanted to deliver. She understood that it was an important step in trying to awaken or unleash his manhood.

Phyllis was quite pleased with one aspect of Norman's manhood, though. He was proving to be an energetic, forceful lover, with good control the second time each evening. Again, she had been counseled to respond only in kind and never be the one to increase the intensity or add something new unless he asked. After their first, very satisfactory attempt at a new position, he was almost eager to ask.

Perhaps because it was not sex as he had always known it, learning to touch and stimulate her was not easy for him. She was guilty of exaggerating her pleasure at each successful touch, but it was only exaggeration, not faking.

The first time each session, they just coupled quickly and he ejaculated. Before their second time, though, he began to make sure that she came.

-------

An important breakthrough came during the second week. Phyllis was forbidden to talk about nudity until he brought of the subject. As they were recovering after making love, he asked "How can you stand to be naked so Cy can see you? I don't even see how you can let Leah."

"You know how I felt about nudity when I came here," she answered, starting an explanation that had been rehearsed. "You know the demand Leah made before she would talk to me. Well, I got so desperate that I gave in, only she brought me here instead."

"Do you know who greeted me here that first day, naked? It was Naomi and Rachel and Mary Hall." That stopped Norman from breathing for a while in his astonishment. "They were as against nudity as we ever were. This place saved Rachel's life, though. She might have been in an institution, otherwise."

"How can I stand it, you ask? Well, I found out that nothing terrible happened when men saw parts of my body that are supposed to be covered. Lightning did not strike me dead, and I did not contract a fatal disease or anything.

"Look, Norman, a couple of different women have seen your penis. How terrible was it, really?"

"But, it's just not right," he objected.

"I agree. But it's something that we're faced with right now. Admit it. It hasn't hurt you, has it?"

"No, I guess you're right," he admitted. "I could never be as easy about it as you are, though."

"Oh, I'm sure if you lived naked for a couple of months like I have, you would be very comfortable. Would you excuse me for just a minute?" Phyllis went off to push an unobtrusive button that would signal the Tee. Julia could not let her know that everything was monitored.

In barely five minutes, Sophie came walking naked into the section. With her excess weight, she was not a sexy sight, but that was intentional. Also intentional was the fact that she had a very compelling story.

When Norman saw Sophie and bolted to his feet, Phyllis responded in a rehearsed manner. "Norman, please just relax. Sophie is a woman whose life has been very, very different from ours. I think you should sit and listen to her story. It will help you understand how this place can help people and how nudity helps people change. Will you talk to Sophie? Please?"

"I need to cover up, though!" he objected. This got touchy. She could revert to some of her usual dominance over him, but that would be a last resort and might set things back.

"Honey," Phyllis pled, using the affectionate name for the first time, "Sophie is letting you see her body and I know she is not happy about her body. I enjoy looking at yours. Let her enjoy it, too. Please!"

His wife had never dealt with him this way. His confusion, a much as anything, caused him to stand there and silently accept Sophie's greeting. Over the next half hour, Sophie's natural strength of personality and her sad story of a life shattered by drugs held his interest.

As she stood to leave, Sohpie said to Norman "Phyllis has been as courageous as any of us women trying to right what she has done wrong. Please give her every chance. Your marriage is worth anything you can do to try to strengthen it. It can be something better than you ever imagined." With that, she went back to the women's section.

From long training, he had stood as Sophie said goodbye, and he remained silent for a while after she had gone. "Should I expect more visitors like her?" he finally asked.

"Would it make you stay away?" Phyllis asked. "Wasn't it much easier than you would ever have imagined?"

Letting out a sigh, he admitted "Yes, I was surprised how easy it was. It won't keep me away."

Not really a perceptive, sensitive person, Norman had noticed the way that Sophie looked at him. Of course, Sophie had purposely 'ogled' him as part of the plan. It touched something in him, and although he would never have admitted it, he wanted to experience it again. At first, he had hoped that the woman did not notice the occasional twitching in his somewhat overworked penis. After a while, he stopped thinking about it.

-------

Later that night, at home in bed, Norman held himself and stroked gently. Unlike the Reverend, he had forbidden himself activities that he considered sinful. He considered sexual purity to be one of the commitments of an elder. Why he was abandoning that commitment now, he was not sure. He just could not help himself.

It was Sunday, walking into church with Phyllis hugging herself to his arm, that Norman first felt the stirrings of a new kind of pride and confidence. The women were making him feel like a man. Phyllis had seemed to spend most of their married life demeaning his manhood, but now she was contributing to that buildup.

There had been a different woman the two nights after Sophie. Neither had Sophie's force of personality, but they had emotional stories, and they all seemed to enjoy looking at him. Monday and Tuesday followed the same pattern. The woman on Tuesday was near the end of her residence, and her naturally fine body was nearly back to where she wanted it. Knowing who was coming in, Phyllis had made sure to give him an extra workout. He did not have a problem.

-------

Wednesday was almost enough to erase Norman's growing self-confidence. Leah walked in after dinner, dressed. In a near panic, he sought something to cover up with. Finding nothing nearby, he doubled over and used his hands.

"Dad, be a man, please. The women have all told me how much they enjoyed their visits with you and how fortunate they thought Mom was to have you. Believe me, I have seen quite a few penises and bare backsides.

"Let me tell you why I'm here. This is a little bit of punishment for you. Maybe Mom was mostly responsible for driving Bradley and me away, but you never stood up for us. Now, recognize this as a punishment you deserve and take it like a man. Please."

Julia had decided that Norman was ready for this challenge. She was sure that he acknowledged his blame in the children's departures. She suspected that he would actually appreciate some sort of penance.

It did not take long for Norman to realize that he did not look at all manly right then. He had very much enjoyed his recent ego enhancement. Unable to stop some trembling, he nevertheless managed to face Lean and drop his hands to his sides. She looked only at his face until he sighed and let his shoulders sag.

It was only after giving his daughter permission to examine his body that he realized that Phyllis was pressed tightly against him with one arm around his waist. It was a gesture of support and encouragement that was unprecedented between them, but had a huge emotional impact.

Leah saw her father's penis start to swell. Part of her wanted to stand and watch. He was, after all, owed the humiliation. Just as with sending her mother to Transformations, though, she made the loving choice and turned away quickly. "How about if I come back in half an hour?" she asked over her shoulder.

Phyllis immediately stroked him to full hardness. "She'll know what we're doing!" he protested.

"Don't you think she will be happy that we are?" she countered.

"But ... but ... this is private, and..."

"Norman, do you like making love to me? Do I please you? Then take me now. Leah wants this for us. Believe me."

Leah had a struggle with her emotions when she returned. She had thought so many times about how good it would feel to get revenge on her parents. She had just passed up another chance, but somehow, there was more satisfaction knowing that they were becoming ever more normal.



-------

Chapter 32


[Erica & Julia] Late February

"Is it OK if I start wearing clothes again?" Erica asked Julia after dinner one night.

"Of course it's all right, Erica. As a matter of professional interest, can you tell me why you don't want to be naked any more?"

"I guess it's because I don't need it any more," Erica answered. "In fact, it's starting to make me feel different from the other kids. No, wait - that's not right. I felt different from everyone from the first. I thought I could never really be one of them because I was so repulsive."

"That was only what your family made you feel. No one else felt that way," Julia reminded her.

"Well, I was physically different from most of the kids, and I know that will always make me, um, noticeable. I guess I needed the naked time to find out that they didn't think I was repulsive."

"So, you now realize that you're not repulsive," Julia probed.

"It's hard to believe after all these years," Erica said. "I mean, here's me, naked, and Chelsea, naked, and she's about half of me, all over. But the kids, they..." She had to pause a while because she choked up. " ... they didn't treat us like we were unusual, or even like we were naked."

"I hope you realize that there might not be any other group of kids that could do that," Julia cautioned. "The troubles all of them have been through have made them more sensitive and caring."

"Oh, I know that. At school, I still get some of the looks. But the people who are important to me don't seem to care what I weigh or what my waist size is."

"Erica, you are making incredible progress on your body. You weigh less, and you are more firm. Don't you want to show off how much sexier you are?" The answer to that question was of tremendous clinical interest to Julia.

"NO!" was Erica's emphatic reply. "When I came here, Missy and Connie teased me about being an exhibitionist. I don't think I am. I don't want to show off my body. Believe it or not, I think I am really modest.

"When I came here, that first night in the pool, do you remember?" Julia nodded that she remembered. She did not want speak for fear of breaking the girl's extremely interesting train of thought.

"Well, I had never, ever shown that much of myself, even at home. And that bit about the suit bottoms! At first, I thought I would die of embarrassment, but no one said a nasty word. No one even looked away in disgust. Julia, it was like I got addicted to the ... the ... I don't know what I mean. They weren't looks, really. They were just..."

"It was just an attitude, Honey. It was an attitude that said 'Erica, you're a person, and you're pretty cool'. Oh, your tummy is showing and it's way too big? So what? You're my new sister and you're still a cool person."

"That's it! That's it! It was like I had to keep showing more and more. I just knew that if I showed enough, the looks and the nasty remarks would come." Erica stopped and thought for a moment, then grinned at Julia.

"Of course, you knew that, didn't you? That's why you told me to be naked at home, isn't it. It was to find out that the looks and the remarks weren't going to come. I would never have believed it just by being told. I had to live it."

"You're getting pretty good at analysis," Julia said with a smile. "You know, that's important for happiness in life, knowing yourself. If you decide that your naked days are over, I have to ask you to observe the normal rule about public nudity. Will that be a problem for you?"

"Huh, uh. I kinda wish there were times when we could maybe skinny dip. It's fun. But that's OK. I understand why you have to have the rule."

"I have to tell you, Erica, that I am going to miss seeing your naked butt and those awesome naked boobs bouncing around the place. You are very much a symbol of what we try to do for people here."

"Well, what you try to do is sure working. I don't feel like the same person that slunk in here just a few months ago. You've sure worked a miracle for me. I probably won't be able to lose a lot more weight. I know I'll never be a Missy or a Chelsea. I think I can get rid of all the loose stuff, though, and turn it into muscle. Who knows? There might be a nice guy out there who'll like a full-sized girl."

Erica stopped talking, but Julia could tell there was something else she wanted to say but just could not get out. "Erica, spit it out, or you won't get to wear clothes for the next year," Julia said with obvious mock sternness.

Erica looked up, startled at first, but quickly blushing when she saw that Julia was pulling her chain. "There's this, uh, friend of Terry and Jed's. He plays guard on the football team. We have a couple of the same classes, and he's been really friendly."

"What's his name?"

"His name is Jason, but they call him Dozer. Trish says that's 'cause he bulldozes all the opponents out of the way."

"Has he asked you out?"

"Julia, I've never been on a date before. We're going with Terry and Trish and Jed and Connie to this new indoor water park."

"So, you're going to let him see you in a swimsuit on the first date, huh?" Julia asked, working very hard to hide her amazement.

"Uh, huh. I'm never going to try to hide anything again. If it's my only date with him, at least I will have had one. If I'm too big for him, I'll find someone else."

"So, you won't get all depressed if he doesn't ask you out again?"

"Oh, probably a little, but Julia, I was REALLY depressed my whole life until I moved here."

"If they get into chicken fights, will you be afraid to jump on his shoulders?"

"If he can't hold me, that's his problem," Erica answered with a giggle.

"Gonna go buy a sexy new bikini?"

"Oh, no. Fantasizing is fun, but I think I'm better off keeping these a little under control." Erica bounced her breasts a little as she said that.

-------

[Connie and Julia] Late February

"Why did you not want to meet at Lindsey's?" Julia asked Connie late Sunday afternoon as Julia was finishing a visit to the Tee.

"It's about Erica."

"Oh? Did something happen with Erica?"

"It sure did!" Connie enthused. "I know you love to hear good news, and it's all good. Lady, you are an absolute genius! That is totally not the same girl that came here that first day."

"This sounds interesting."

"Well, it was more than just the party at the water park yesterday. Some stuff has been going on at school for a while. It's mainly Erica's bitch of a sister, Jenna. Every time she sees Erica hanging around with Terry and Jed, you can almost see the steam coming out of her ears.

"I, uh, guess I'm on the shit list with the 'in' crowd, myself. Jed was supposed to be new meat for the cheerleaders and such, but he somehow got interested in me, first. In their book, that's just wrong, I guess."

"From what I know of Jed, Connie, he has no interest in bimbos, anyway."

"Yeah. Julia, every time I'm with him, I just can't believe it. Anyway, we're talking about Erica. Dozer is an absolute riot. I don't think he can say three straight serious sentences. Well, here's what will blow your mind: Erica keeps right up with him!"

"I'm not that surprised," Julia said. "She has shown quite a humorous streak lately."

"My sides are still sore from laughing at them yesterday, and I think the others are just as bad. It turns out that Jenna was at the water park, too, with several other girls. So, when she sees 'fat sister' with a date and with two other couples, and she sees her having such a blast, she lost it."

"You mean, she actually yelled at Erica, or something?"

"Did she ever! She was almost foaming at the mouth."

"How did Erica handle that?"

"That's what was so unbelievable! Erica turns to Dozer and says right out loud 'Hey, Doze! Think I can still sue the hospital?"

"'Sue them for what?' Dozer asks."

"'For the screw-up in the maternity ward that put me with the wrong family, ' Erica says."

"Dozer does this real thoughtful pose and stares at Jenna. Then, he says 'I see what you mean, Bub.' He started right off calling Erica 'Bubbles'. When she called him 'Doze' once, he started calling her 'Bub'.

"Anyway, after he stared at the sister for a while, he asked 'You think maybe she has that annexia stuff? Or maybe just a tapeworm?' I'm sure he mispronounced 'anorexia' on purpose. He gets really good grades."

"We were all laughing so hard we could hardly breathe. Actually, I guess it was kinda cruel to Jenna."

"Does Dozer know Erica's history?"

"I asked Jed, and he said Dozer asked all kinds of questions before he invited her out," Connie answered.

"Do you think it's just a one-date thing for Erica."

"Nope. He already asked her out for next weekend," Connie answered. "Haven't you seen her? She must be about floating."

"I think I'd better stop over there before I go home."

-------

Julia almost got flattened when Erica saw her and grabbed her in a charging hug. "Julia! Julia! I got another date!"

"Oh? Who is this one with?"

"With Dozer again!" Erica retorted, with that patented expression girls have when answering a silly question.

"Then I can assume you had fun on your very first date."

"The only bad thing was my sister showing up and mouthing off, but Dozer helped me chase her away. He is the nicest, funniest..." Julia was more than happy to let the girl babble for fifteen minutes. Some of the other kids were laughing at Julia's attempts to keep a straight face through it all.

-------

[Phyllis & Julia] Late February

"Phyllis, it looks like you are building a new relationship with Norman. That means you are nearly ready to leave here. There is one major thing that you have to do, though. Do you know what that is?"

"Bradley."

"Yes, your son. You drove him away, too. Do you know what I want you to do about him?"

"I ... I know what other women have had to do. It was pretty awful," Phyllis said.

"But how did they feel about it after they had done it?" Julia asked.

"They felt much closer than they ever thought possible," Phyllis admitted.

"What will be your objective when you meet with Bradley?"

"To apologize."

"And what reason will he have to believe you?"

"Because I will be naked. I won't be able to hide any thing or pretend."

"I see that you understand quite well, Phyllis. How do you feel about being naked for a few hours with the son that you drove away.? He will be clothed, you know?"

"I'm terrified."

"But will you do it? You can just leave here anytime, you know."

"Yes, I'll do it. I understand how important it is for any future relationship with him."

"Before you meet him, I will help you plan out how to spend your time together. We know what has worked best for other women. There is one other thing I want you to do for your meeting with Bradley, Phyllis. I want you to shave your crotch bare."

Phyllis gasped and turned pale. Julia thought she might faint and was afraid she would just leave the Tee. For a long time, she said nothing, in fact, she hardly breathed. Finally, she was just able to squeak out "Why?"

"Phyllis, we've talked about the words that best described your behavior that drove your children away. What were the top words."

Phyllis hung her head and sniffed a little. Without looking up, she whispered "Sanctimonious. Prudish. Rigid."

"How could you convince Bradley that you were not being sanctimonious?"

"By never criticizing. By never seeming to look down on anything about him," Phyllis answered, her voice gaining a little strength.

"That's good. Those are the right things not to do. Are there some things you SHOULD do?"

"Um, compliment him, especially if it's something I used to criticize. Honestly be interested in his life."

"I think you understand. Now, how do you convince him you are no longer prudish?"

Now, Phyllis looked up with a plea on her face. "Julia, I don't know how I will even let him see me naked! Isn't that enough?"

"I've done a little checking," Julia said. "Bradley was extremely upset when he left. I understand that there has been zero communication in the four years since he left. We are not sure we can even get him to come back here. If we can, it will probably be your only chance to restore any kind of a relationship at all. What is the complete opposite of prudish?"

"Well, sexy, I guess."

"Actually, slutty, or promiscuous would go even farther. That would be too extreme to be believable," Julia said. "What we have to do is make you look as sexy and desirable as we possibly can. If he walks in to the sight of your completely exposed sex, will he even be able to remember how prudish you were?

"If he sees you bare, tanned, firm, toned, will he be able to remember you dressed in dowdy, concealing clothes, constantly lecturing him? We hope not. You have to realize, Phyllis, that this is a long shot. Now, can you do it?"

There was another long silence. When Phyllis did talk, she blew Julia away. "Can Cy shave me?"

She had not even complained that other women had not been required to shave. She had freely revealed her fixation on her 'son-in-law'. Well, that was what they had worked toward. Julia hoped that they could redirect that lust. "Phyllis, who should you want to shave your private parts bare?"

"I know. I know. I should only think of my husband. Julia, I honestly don't think he would ever do it for me?"

"Oh, I'm sure he will," Julia countered. "You just have to ask him the right way."

-------

[Erica] Late February

One of the difficult lessons for most residents of Lindsey's was that their parents never really went away. Even bad parents, or maybe especially bad parents, hated to see their offspring just leave home. Sometimes it was the embarrassment, sometimes the ego hit, sometimes the loss of control. Occasionally, there was true guilt and remorse. For whatever reason, the parents seldom just left the residents alone.

Julia had not even left Lindsey's after 'debriefing' Erica about her date when Erica's mother showed up with a very worried look on her face. "Can we talk in your room, Erica?" Mrs. McCann begged.

"No, Mom. Anything you need to say, you can say right here." With just a glance, Erica signaled the other kids present to move away, which they did quickly. Julia hovered on the edge of hearing range.

"Jenna said she saw you with a ... a boy at ... at the water park," Mrs. McCann said haltingly.

"Yeah, Mom. It was what they call a date."

"But I didn't know ... you never ... I mean..." Mona McCann was having no luck trying to verbalize her concerns.

Besides her rapidly emerging humor, Erica suddenly unleashed another unrealized talent - eloquence. Making no attempt to keep her voice down, she unloaded on her mother.

"Are you here because they passed a new law that fat girls can't date? Is that why you're here? Huh? Is it now illegal for fat girls to laugh and have fun? Are we prohibited from having boyfriends?"

"We're just concerned," Mrs. McCann tried to recover. "You're not very experienced, and..."

"Well, when I'm with three of the nicest guys in the whole school, what's to worry about? Afraid I might have sex? Is that it? Hell, Jenna's been doing that since she was fourteen! That didn't bother you, did it?"

"ERICA! Don't say things like that about your sister! That's terrible!"

"Damn right it's terrible. Sex should be for love, not just so you can stay in the in group at school."

"Jenna wouldn't do that! Erica! What's gotten into you?"

"Tell you what, Mom. You go find out the truth about Jenna, then you see if it's worth hassling me about my very first date. Better hurry or you'll have to worry about my second one." With that, Erica turned to walk away.

"Erica! Wait! Please!" Heaving a dramatic sigh, Erica turned back. "Jenna said you made a nasty crack about the hospital giving you to the wrong family."

"Well, how many times has your husband said the same thing," Erica shot back. "And how many times did you just nod your head or say nothing."

"My husband?" Mrs. McCann said with her voice rising. "He's your father!"

"I try not to think about that," Erica spat out. "He's a narcissistic asshole, and Jenna is his clone."

"How can you be so bitter?" her mother pled, now almost crying.

"Because I've had a chance to see what love and respect feel like. It makes me angry to know what I have missed all of those years."

"What you mean? We've always loved you, and..."

"Don't even try, Mom. If you aren't honest enough to acknowledge how bad it was, just stay away from here, OK?"

Mona was at least tenacious. "Who ... who was the boy?"

"Jenna knows who he is. He's on the football team. If he wasn't such a nice guy, I'd say she's probably fucked him."

The woman made a strangled squawk and covered her face with both hands. Her mind was working, though, and she tried still another tack - a plea for sympathy. "Honey, it hurts me that you think you can't live at home."

"Well, maybe it's time you get some help to figure out how screwed up your family is. Maybe you won't drive Trevor away."

"Trevor? What are you talking about. He's ... he's..."

"Yeah, he's beautiful, so there's no reason he shouldn't feel at home, right? Well, here's a flash, Mom. Trevor's got a problem. He's got a little bit of a heart. Jenna did her damndest to stomp it out of him, but she didn't quite make it."

Mona finally had taken one blow too many. She just stood in place, shaking her head from side to side. Perhaps she was expecting Erica to soften and try to comfort her, but it didn't happen. Instead, Erica just stood and watched until her mother turned and walked out.

Julia had overheard enough to know that she needed to talk to Erica. How she approached the girl, though, was important, and she decided on humor. Grabbing one of the ubiquitous towels, she waved it theatrically in front of Erica's face, as if to cool the girl down.

Erica was so tense that for a moment she just gave Julia a blank look. Finally, she started to giggle, and several kids started clapping. It was just the right relief, and Julia was able to lead Erica toward a table and get them each a soft drink.

"I think you got her attention, at last," Julia mused. "Before, I don't think you got through at all. Next time, you should start being gentle. From now on, she will be honestly looking for the truth."

"You really think she'll be back?" Erica asked in amazement. "I thought for sure that would make her go away for good."

"Won't happen, Erica. Your mother is realizing that something is very wrong. She is having some normal motherly longings, too. You need to nurture those motherly feelings and try to help her change."

"Julia, I could never go back to that, so don't even suggest it."

"If you ever should go back, and I'm not saying that you should, it would not be at all the same. You're too different to ever put up with what you did before. Even your father couldn't get to you any more."

"What a waste of a dick," Erica muttered.

"WHAT?!" Julia exclaimed around a laugh. "Where did you ever hear that?"

"A girl at school said it about her ex-boyfriend."

"Well, it is quite an image!" Julia stared for a long moment, then said "You are naturally very expressive, aren't you. It's wonderful to see the real you set free. Think you can invite Dozer here for dinner one night this week?"

That got the conversation back on a much more pleasant subject before Julia finally went home.

-------

[Ben] Late February

It started out just like any other school morning. Ben was enjoying teaching his granddaughter more and more each day. They had gotten to the point where she was showing glee when she grasped a concept or solved a tough problem. It was a sign of the hunger for learning that was all that kept most teachers going.

When she got something right, her smile at him and her dazzling eyes were almost hard to take. He had noticed early on that in those situations, her rather oversized nipples were always distended.

Muriel waited until their morning session was just finished, then called out "Chelsea, Ben, Joyce; we have a couple of visitors today."

Joyce had been clued in, but Ben was totally astonished as two naked women walked up to them. The slimmer, fit-looking woman held out her hand and said "Good morning. I'm Norma Ventri. I'm an employee of Transformations, as are my husband and my son. My job is ... well, I don't know what to call it. I spend a lot of my time naked, helping the residents to get comfortable.

"The reason we're here this morning is that Sophie," Norma motioned toward the other, heavier woman, who shook Ben's nearly limp hand, "has been begging to come over. She feels that she has a lot in common with the kids here and would like to get to know them. She particularly wants to get to talk to Chelsea. Hello, Chelsea, we haven't met, but I've heard a lot about you.

"Mr. Ormond, Ben, the reason I came along this morning is to assure you that Sophie's visit has the approval of Dr. Waxman, the director. As you might imagine, quite a bit of discussion went on before she was allowed to come over. The final decision was that as long as she remains naked, she has free access to visit Lindsey's. Two other women with similar backgrounds were granted the same privilege, but they have not yet decided to visit.

"Chelsea, I think it would be good for you to show Sophie around while your grandfather tries to recover his composure," Norma said. "Then we can all have a workout and a swim before lunch. Isn't that what you usually do?"

Ben was barely able to say anything yet. Nancy and Karin's nude week at their house had indeed gotten him to the point where he could act fairly natural with Chelsea naked. That did not mean that his basic feelings about exposing body parts had been forgotten. The appearance of two additional naked women, both as unconcerned about their exposure as Nancy and Karin were by the end, had set him back.

Ben was a people person, courteous, well-spoken, and curious. He asked "Norma, didn't it bother you that you had to agree to be naked to get your job? Isn't that illegal?"

"Oh, Ben, that's not what happened at all. Why don't I tell you my - our - story over lunch so Chelsea can hear it, too. I see you've already got your workout clothes on. Let's get a head start on those two."

As they walked toward the workout area, Joyce stopped and looked around uncertainly. When Ben got to his first machine, he looked back and saw his wife stripping off her clothes. "Joyce!"

"Oh, Ben, the other women are all naked. Why should I have to be the stick-in-the-mud?" Actually, Joyce had wanted to strip the first Monday with Chelsea. Julia, though, thought there would be more impact if Chelsea was the only naked person. With Norma and Sophie showing up, that bit of pressure was lost.

For the rest of the workout and the swim, Ben was barely able to think about what he was doing. Was his wife implying that now he was the 'stick-in-the-mud'?

Norma left them briefly before they got in the pool, and at lunch they found out why. "Our story started when my husband Paul lost his good job in a merger. That's the tough part of the story. The good part, the Transformations part, started with our son Mark." She went on to recount as much as she reasonably could in the lunch time.

After her story, Norma laid down a set of her 'before' pictures, some of the computer projected 'afters', and current actual pictures. All were nude. "Wait 'til you see mine tomorrow," Sophie said. "Norma still looked good enough to keep a husband. I was a godawful mess!"

That left no doubt in Ben's mind that he would have naked company again.

-------

"I'm a walking reason why you should never, ever touch drugs, Chelsea. They've taken away everything that was important to me. I was a social studies teacher. Drugs cost me my job. I had a husband and two kids. He divorced me and my kids won't talk to me. I don't blame them, either. I was an unbelievable bitch to them.

"Here's my college graduation picture. Can you believe I turned into THAT?" She handed Chelsea her entrance picture to the Tee. "I blame that on drugs, too. I couldn't bother with eating the right food. All I could think about was the next fix."

"What ... what changed you?" Chelsea asked.

"I was sitting in my lonely little apartment, reading my final divorce decree. I had a decent settlement from my ex, but no job. I literally had no one to comfort me. Of course, the first thing I thought of was a fix, but it was like a revelation. It finally hit me that all the fixes did was put me in that miserable situation.

"Right now, I'm on a furlough from my Twelve Step program because they know that no drugs can get in here."

"Wow! I ... I didn't take anything that much," Chelsea claimed.

"Nobody does to start with," Sophie warned her. "Have you talked to Shannon Torvold?" At Chelsea's negative head shake, Sophie said "She's the one who proved the Transformations concept. I'll get her to stop and see you. Drugs almost ruined her life, too."

Chelsea was very sober after hearing Sohpie's story.

-------

"Sophie, the kids will be home from school pretty soon," Chelsea warned the woman.

"That's all right. I have permission to stay. I really want to meet the rest of the kids.

"But ... but my family keeps dropping in, and I've got a lot of family."

"Oh, I guess it wouldn't be good if they saw me naked, would it?"

"I wouldn't want to have to explain it," Chelsea said.

"So, do all of the relatives come to see you as sort of a punishment, you know, humiliation?"

"No, it's not like that. Well, maybe it is a little. But we're a really close family, and Dad said I hurt all of them by what I did. I think they all want me to get over it."

"Do you want to get over it, Honey?" Sophie asked, "or do you just want to get back to your friends and the parties?"

"I'll do anything not to go through this again."

"It doesn't seem to bother you much, being naked," Sophie commented.

"Yeah, but the way it started!" She then told Sophie the whole story.

"Let me make a call," Sophie said when Chelsea finished her tale. When she got back, she said "Muriel is going to make sure I get a warning when any visitors show up. I guess they already do because of you. I'll either go back to your room and stay with you or if it's your visitor, I'll go back." She held up the standard uniform shorts and shirt. "I'll keep these right by me. As a last resort I can put these on quickly."

As it turned out, there were no visitors that night. Sophie's presence made quite an impact. At first, it was her nudity, but as she told her story, many of the kids related to her home life as a girl. She listened to the stories of several of the resident kids before she went back quite late in the evening.

The next evening, Sophie hid in Chelsea's room during a visit by an aunt and their family. After that, she helped a couple of the kids with homework, making a big impression.

The following evening, Sophie was there again, but Julia came in and called a quick residents' meeting. "Is anyone against Sophie visiting?" When no one objected, she asked "Would you object if two other women began visiting?" That also received no objection, and the brief meeting ended.

-------

[Phyllis & Julia] Early March

For a case like Phyllis, it was hard to know when to declare her transformed and release her. One problem was that although Bradley had been persuaded to come back for a visit, he could not get leave for three weeks. There was demand for the space, and Julia decided on a somewhat risky test.

"Phyllis, I'm going to send you home. However, I want you and Norman to continue coming to dinner every night, and I want you to do your normal workouts here with him. When Bradley gets here, I want you to follow through with the visit, shaved and all. Will you commit to doing that?"

Phyllis nodded rather reluctantly, and that concerned Julia. "You know, Phyllis, you have come a long ways. You have a chance to build a much more satisfying marriage, and you now have a talking relationship with Leah. One thing we have not talked about is Leah moving home. That is still a hurdle. If she knows that you backed off on any of the assignments, it might affect her decision."

That was just the right button to push, as Julia could see in Phyllis's eyes. Actually, Julia had decided to back off on the shaving requirement, but Phyllis would not know that until the last minute.

-------

[Ben] Early March

It was a pleasant surprise when Chelsea and Ben finished their morning school session and Julia walked in wearing the Tee uniform. All three of the 'regular' women were already there. "I only have time for a swim with all of you," Julia said. "Can we change the normal schedule?"

Julia stripped along with Joyce while Ben went to get his suit on. To say he was surprised to see her naked when he returned was a huge understatement. As he approached, Julia whispered to Joyce "Stay close to him."

"Ben, I'm not here just to swim with you folks today. I have a more serious purpose. It's time."

"Time?"

"Ben, I'm going to ask Joyce to pull off your swimsuit and you're going to swim naked with us. Please don't object. Just let her do it."

Joyce must have figured out what was up because Ben had not had time to react when she pushed his trunks way down his legs and put her foot on them where they puddled around his feet. "Just step out of them, Sweetheart," Joyce said to him softly.

As Julia had so carefully planned, Ben had a real dilemma. He very much wanted to cover up again because he thought it was wrong to expose himself that way. On the other hand, if he made any move to cover up, he would look timid and not very manly. And Joyce had done it - she had exposed him.

For several days, Sophie and the other women from the Tee had come to Lindsey's and visited with the kids, appearing to be totally unconcerned about their nakedness or the condition of their bodies. And Julia! The boss! She had stripped and he had not detected so much as a blush or a flinch when he first saw her.

He was intimidated by the women's casual attitude - intimidated in the sense that he wondered why he could not feel the same. He was definitely intimidated enough to remain exposed and outwardly calm.

He felt a bit of panic as he glanced at Chelsea. Then, it was no longer just a glance as he stared at his granddaughter. Her eyes were riveted on his penis for a long moment, but when they lifted to meet his gaze, her look of adoration almost buckled his knees. He could never forget that look. It was the same one that still thrilled him every time he got it from Joyce.

It really is not possible to change an opinion held for a lifetime in just one instant, but Ben knew that his opinion about nudity would have to be pushed to the background right then. There was no way he would do anything to erase that look from Chelsea's face.

It was quite a while before he could pull his eyes from Chelsea's adoring smile. When he looked at the three women from the Tee, the expressions he saw were surprisingly similar. What had he done to produce such feelings in all of these women?

Julia's expression was resolute with a large question component and just a trace of doubt. Joyce had stood back up and he never got to check her expression. He knew what it was, though, because she kissed him intensely.

When the kiss ended, Joyce and Chelsea each took a hand and led him to the pool. He had the strange feeling that he was sleepwalking. He swam some laps, as usual, and then he just stood and talked to the women, as usual.

"It's not so bad, is it Grandpa?" Chelsea asked, standing disturbingly close to him. "It's like Karin said, isn't it?"

He looked puzzled and she explained "She told me how she sat naked on your lap and nothing bad happened."

"You thought it was pretty bad when you came here, didn't you?" he asked the girl.

She looked around to see if anyone could hear her, then answered in a soft voice "Actually, I liked having people look at me, especially you. It's just the way it happened, what I did, and what Dadddy made me do."

"So, you're still angry at him? It's been over three weeks and you haven't even called him, you know, just your mom."

"Sophie's been, um, on my case. She keeps telling me I need to thank Daddy."

"Do you know that he was willing to have you hate him forever if he could save you from that life? You know you've always been his favorite, don't you?" Ben decided not to push for complete reconciliation at that point. He was pretty sure it would happen soon.

About that time, Julia came up to Ben and said "I need to talk to you and Joyce in private. Let's get up on those chairs."

He would have preferred to stay in the pool with his penis under water. He suspected that Julia wanted him out of the water so it was visible, so he did not object.

When they were seated, Julia immediately asked "So the other kids used to give you a pretty hard time about the size of your penis, huh?" At his shocked look, she continued "I suspect that is why you have always felt so strongly about modesty. That's right, isn't it? Ever since you were young, you wanted your penis to stay hidden so there would be no more teasing."

He had to admit to himself that she had nailed it.

"Well, let me tell you as a woman who appreciates men's bodies, Ben," Julia went on, "the days when you were teased are long past. You have a wonderfully trim and fit body. Your package is impressively large and it is well-shaped. You will have to get used to stares, but they will be stares of admiration, never of ridicule."

"You talk like I am going to be naked in public often," he complained.

"Ben, I am hereby formally recruiting you to work at Transformations. In order to do that, you will have to meet the same criteria as all of our staff regarding comfort with nudity, others' naked bodies and particularly your own. That's where the comfort truly starts."

"But I just recently retired," he objected.

"I know that, and I also know that you often wish you had stayed teaching longer. For what we have in mind, you would not have to be full time, and you could have a good deal of flexibility about time off," Julia told him.

"Are you going to make me ask?"

"That's good, Ben. That bit of humor means that hanging your lovely dick out doesn't bother you as much as you've tried to pretend."

"Now, wait a minute, I..."

"Sorry, that wasn't called for, was it? Do you know who Jenny Ballard is?"

"Of course," Ben answered.

"Well, she has committed a large part of her considerable fortune to helping unwed mothers. Remember, she was thrown out by her parents when she was impregnated by a rape. Her story is an inspiration, but that's not the key thing right now.

"Jenny is collaborating with the Magnuson Foundation to add a new section to Transformations. It will be for unwed mothers and it will operate much like our current section except that the women will have their children with them."

"The women will be naked?" Ben asked.

"Yes. The purpose of the section will be to prepare the young mothers for a new start toward providing a decent life for themselves and their children. The ones who come here will have their confidence and self-image destroyed. In some cases, they will have been rejected by their families. Some will not even have high school diplomas. In other words, they will have neither the skills nor the attitude to hold down decent jobs."

"But isn't finding jobs always the hard part for these women?"

"Very true. I tell you, Jenny is amazing. She has always been very committed to helping people. When Lindsey Hall, who sings with Jenny, came up with Lindsey's Place, it gave Jenny this idea. She has put together a consortium of companies that will use the Tee as their first source for new employees at certain levels. They have all committed to free on-site child care, and four of them have already put it in place for existing employees."

"I still don't see why the nudity."

"Rebirthing, Ben. It is one of our core concepts, and it works. If you watch Sophie and the other women carefully, you will see that there is also a special dynamic among the women that speeds everyone's progress."

"Won't having the children around slow that progress? Will the women want all the other children to see them naked?"

"Good questions. While we are trying for a clean start, the children are already part of the women's lives. Up to a certain age, probably five to seven, nakedness is inconsequential to children. If they choose, the mothers can keep those children with them in the big section.

"However, the place is being built cleverly. Each mother will have a little group of rooms between the main section and a separate children's section. That children's section will have all of the features and it will provide some jobs for Lindsey's Place residents. Did you know that every single one of Lindsey's kids has asked, almost begged, for some way to help pay for what they are receiving?"

"I can believe that," he commented. "I still don't know just what job you want me for."

"For sure, we want you to be in charge of education for the women in the new section. We are considering even more. We might want to offer leadership of the section to you and Joyce." That made the couple gasp.

"I don't see how you could think we could do that," Joyce said.

"From the beginning," Julia said, "we have found our people through families. It was almost by accident that we learned how valuable it was to have multiple people from a family on our staff.

"We also learned that we had to examine families very carefully when selecting our staff. Let's face it: nudity is not that common in our society. If a member of a family was going to work in a nude environment, it would take a strong family to handle that difference in experience.

"We also learned, and it should not be a surprise, that members of close, loving, supportive families were best equipped to work effectively with our residents.

"I hope you are not offended, but we have been checking out your family. You two are wonderfully successful parents. In a very real sense, you two would be substitute or alternate parents to the young women. That's why we think you would make good managers.

"The reason I say we are just considering you for the position is because it will be a fairly demanding job, best done if you live on site. Being retired, we were concerned that you would not want that level of commitment."

His exposure now almost forgotten as he listened in amazement, Ben had to ask "How could you choose us when we have always been so modest, particularly me?"

"Actually, it appears that modest, even prudish people who will take an honest look at what we do and see how nudity fits in make good staff. For one thing, they do not come into it for voyeuristic or prurient reasons. For another, they are more sympathetic to the impact of the nudity on the residents."

"So, you think we could be sort of house parents to these young women?" Joyce asked.

"Excellent house parents," Julia assured her. "Oh, we expect that some of the women will not be that young, certainly into their thirties."

"OK," Ben said, "just supposing we said we were interested in the management jobs. What would we have to do to prepare?"

"Ben, we need to talk about this," Joyce cautioned.

"Don't worry, Dear. I'm just trying to find out. I'm not saying that we will do it."

"To answer your question, Ben, the first thing we would have to work on is your acceptance of and comfort with being naked around other people.

"I was afraid of that," Ben grumbled.

"You saw how Norma walked in here the other day, right? Truthfully, I worry about her forgetting to put clothes on before driving home some nights. She is just that comfortable being naked. Let me tell you about the evening that got the Ventri family to be such an important part of Transformations." Julia told about the evening she and Frank had come to the Ventri home for dinner and found Norma naked and barely able to function, but resolute.

"Now, for Norma, there was an element of almost desperation to help her family out of their financial doldrums. That gave her the incentive to do something she never thought she could do. You don't have similar motivation. Still, Norma came from similar feelings to your own about exposure to what you saw the other day.

"Joyce, I doubt that you will have any problem at all. Ben, if you are willing to force yourself through the steps that I will lay out for you, you will be fine. I will warn you, though, that you have to do it because you believe the job is something that you really want to do."

"Describe the steps."

"First of all, you should be naked all of the time while you are teaching Chelsea. The women from the Tee will continue to visit, and along with Muriel, you will be exposed to enough women so that it will not bother you after several days or a couple of weeks.

"The next step is to begin entertaining guests while naked. The first guests would be people who work at the Tee. Along the way, you should include at least your immediate family.

"For you, Ben, there is a special reason for being naked. Chelsea is pretty much marking time right now, relative to the progress we had hoped to see. I think she feels separated or isolated from the family. I'm sure you saw her face earlier when Joyce first exposed you. That look of adoration was partly because she felt that you had joined her. She was no longer separated from the rest of the family because she was naked."

"Wow! So you honestly believe I can help her progress that way?"

"I am very confident that it will help," Julia replied. "Joyce, your willingness to strip has already helped.

"One other thing I would like you to do, Ben and Joyce, when you are ready, is this: I would like you to spend some days living here, naked the whole time."

"You can't mean that!"

"Yes, I do mean it," Julia insisted. "Originally, Lindsey's Place was not going to have anything to do with nudity. I guess that was unrealistic, given the proximity to the Tee, where nudity is a key part of the treatment. Perhaps if I had not gone along with the punishment of the Hall boy, things might have been different, but that no longer matters. Next, it was Chelsea, and now the women from the Tee.

"As you know, Missy spent her six month sentence at the Tee and Ted and Cy work there. Leah is a frequent visitor. For them, the nudity is incidental.

"As it has all developed, I feel that it is good for the kids. Right now, though, the educational value is all for the boys. As a naked male, you would help to balance things out.

"Before we accept the first mothers into the new unit, I would have you work at the Tee for a while. That would be your final preparation."

"It's hard to believe a man my age would be 'educational' for the girls here."

"I could almost think you were fishing for a compliment, Ben, but you're not like that. You have a body that few forty-year-olds can match. You have a six-pack, for God's sake! And seeing a penis as large as yours is a treat for any female."

"I've just never thought ... I didn't consider my body interesting to anyone," Ben said.

"Then we need to instill a little exhibitionism into you. Start watching the way women react when they see you. You should be able to take pride in the reactions you produce."

"I didn't do anything to produce those reactions," Ben said. "I can't take credit for genetics."

"No, but you CAN take credit for working to look like a much younger man," Julia told him. "Very important parts of what we try to instill at the Tee concern our bodies. First of all, our bodies, every single part of them, are nothing to be ashamed of. If some parts need to be hidden, it should only be because of the needs or feelings of other people, not from our own fear or unwillingness to have them seen.

"The second thing we stress is that we are to be content with what our genes dictate our bodies to be. But along with that, a crucial third point is that we should strive to make our bodies the best that our genetics will allow."

Ben was thoughtful and quiet for a minute before he said "I guess that is a rather humanistic philosophy, but I can't find anything wrong with it. How long do you think this 'preparation' of mine will take?"

"That's up to you, of course," Julia replied. "Does this mean that you want the job? If so, which job?"

"The first thing I need to do is to find out if I can tolerate all of the nudity. Joyce and I need to talk a lot about those jobs. When do you need an answer?"

"As you may know, much of our construction is modularized. The sleeping units are nearly ready at the manufacturing site. Once we break ground, we can be operational in less than ninety days. Let's say we would like to begin accepting the first women by June first."

To the puzzlement of Joyce and Julia, Ben called Chelsea over. The women's puzzlement turned to astonishment as he took both of Chelsea's hands in his, and asked her "Honey, if your Grandma and I agree to stay naked for the rest of today and this evening, will you call your mom and dad and ask them to come and see you? Have them bring Karin and Bud, too?"

"N ... n ... naked? With all of the kids? You'd do that?"

"We want you to be back in the family. Maybe that's what it would take to get you back. Will you do it?"

In truth, Chelsea had been trying to think of a way to make contact with her dad. At first, she had been truly angry with her father. Lately, it had become more a matter of pride and some fear.

Frozen in shock for a moment, Chelsea finally nodded her head vigorously. Then, she burst into tears and threw herself at her Granpa. She seemed not to notice the naked contact, but he certainly did. Joyce could read his mind, and before he could start to try and disentangle himself, she was hissing in his ear. "Don't you dare let go of her! You did a wonderful thing. Don't spoil it. You won't go to hell for hugging her bare body this once!"

Ben knew his wife was right, but sixty years of upbringing and discipline shouted for him to stop the indecent contact. Particular when her little butt was touching his penis and he felt blood moving to the point of contact, the urge to push her away was almost overwhelming.

Suddenly, Julia was in the other ear, whispering "Don't worry if it gets hard, Ben. This is too important. None of the other women can see it."

His penis never filled to the point where it rose up. If Chelsea felt some increased pressure against her bottom, she never let on. Seeming to realize that she was making Ben very uncomfortable, she gave him a hard kiss and stood up as soon as she got control of her sobbing. Showing even more sensitivity, she said "I gotta tell Sophie. She's been after me," and tore off for the pool. It was pretty obvious that she did not want to embarrass Ben by seeing him partially hard.

"You surprise me, Ben - amaze me, actually," Julia said. "Can you actually do this?"

"To tell the truth, I don't know," he answered. "Maybe you'll have a head case in treatment for a while if I freak out. What I do know is that I can't imagine taking your step by step approach. I would be losing sleep over some increased exposure every few nights."

"Do you think Joyce can do it?"

"Oh! Joyce, Honey, I'm sorry. I didn't even ask you. I was just so ... that was wrong. Forgive me."

"Oh, no one will even notice me," Joyce said with a laugh. "Between Chelsea's bare pussy and your beautiful penis, both the males and the females will be fully occupied."

"I guess if I just think about the teaching job, you don't even have to be involved."

"Don't limit yourself just to preserve my modesty," she said sternly.

"Ben," Julia interjected, "are you willing to be aggressive with your daughter and her family?"

"Aggressive, how?"

"I could reserve the nude section for your group for dinner and a few hours afterwards," Julia explained. "Could you convince them all to strip and go in there?"

"Why?"

"What better way to show Chelsea that all of you are really with her?" Julia asked. When Ben just stared at her, she pushed. "You said you wanted to just see if you could do it all at once. You know you'll have to do it with each of your children. I'll require that. Because of the special situation with Chelsea, it should be her whole family."

"I see your point. I guess they shouldn't have a problem after what they did to convince me to teach her," Ben admitted.

"I think it can be a wonderful experience," Julia said, warming to the subject. "I'll have Muriel and Dale serve the dinner - give the girls a thrill. Oh, they'll be clothed, though."

"But Muriel doesn't..."

"Sure she does. She worked at the Tee before Lindsey's opened. She had to do all of the 'getting comfortable' things. I've found, Ben, that I can't compromise on that point. The relationship between staff and residents is just too crucial. If the employees are at all uneasy, the healing is slowed down."

"I don't know if it should be Dale. It will just make me and Ron look bad with all of his muscles."

"Ben, with what you have between your legs, no man can ever make you look bad. Besides, remember our philosophy about bodies? Dale would be the first to congratulate you on your conditioning."

Joyce entered in at that point. "How about if we have Chelsea wait in the nude section. Ben and I will meet Nancy and her family. That way, to see Chelsea, which I'm sure they're desperate to do, they'll have to undress."

"Won't it be awkward when she falls all over her dad in tears?" Julia asked. "I'm sure that's what will happen."

"Hey, I survived it," Ben quipped. "Let Ron have his turn."

-------

Julia canceled her afternoon sessions to manage the little drama with the Merker family. She had Joyce and Ben stay in Chelsea's room while she intercepted all of the kids and told them what was happening and why. When most of the teens had returned, Julia went to the room and escorted Joyce and Ben out, with Chelsea proudly holding onto Ben's arm.

Joyce and Ben had spent time with all of the kids before, so the kids knew, liked, and respected them. The respect showed in the greetings. Julia had told the kids that Joyce and Ben were being considered for an important job. They had already heard a lot about the Tee because of Sophie and the other women.

Julia had Joyce and Ben wait just inside the entry for Chelsea's family. Nancy lost all of her noteworthy cool when she saw her father standing naked before her. She literally flew at him and wrapped him in a sobbing hug. In just a moment, Karin was fighting her mother for a place on her grandfather to hug.

It was Ron who finally asked "Where's Chelsea?" It had been weeks since he had seen his beloved daughter, and he dearly missed her.

With an arm around Nancy and the other around Karin, Ben answered "She's waiting for us in the nude section."

Julia stepped in and explained first the job that Joyce and Ben had agreed to take and her rationale for having them all dine nude in the center section. Only Bud looked uncertain. Ron just said "I need to use a bathroom, first."



-------

Chapter 33


[Leah & Julia] Early March

"This is probably the question you've been dreading," Julia said to Leah as the girl held Cy's hand tightly. "If your mother follows through with Bradley, and if you can be convinced that home is much different, will you move back?"

"If the reason for my being here no longer exists, it would be selfish to take up a spot, wouldn't it?" Leah answered. Julia should have expected that, perhaps, but it still brought moisture to her eyes.

With a sigh, Julia answered "I never like to tell anyone that they don't need to be here anymore. Part of me wishes that Connie and Ted could stay here until they graduate. That's how I feel about all of you. Realistically, Leah, once Cy moves in with Rachel and Caz, won't a big part of the appeal of this place leave, as well?"

"We've talked about that," Leah agreed, "and you're right. It's hard for me to imagine that home could really be different, but there's no doubt that mother is different. I guess she went through all of this mainly to get me back, so I owe it to her."

"I never get to send kids back to perfect homes, you know," Julia pointed out. "But, realistically, how many perfect homes even exist. I believe that in your relatively short time here, the worst problems in your home situation have been corrected. I honestly think that your situation would be better than average for all homes."

"When do I have to move back?"

"For a number of reasons, I think that if you and Cy move out at the same time, it would be the easiest on you. Your mother would like you home right now, but she and your father need more time alone to, uh, restructure their relationship.

"I hope the two of you realize just how unique an experience you have had here. By that I mean living together as siblings, but sharing far more than that because of the Tee. Nothing can completely erase the negative things that brought you here, but I believe your stay will let you put it behind you."

"It will be harder on Leah," Cy commented. "She will have to go back to the same house. That's sure to trigger some bad memories."

"I'm ahead of you," Julia said with a smile. "That is a very important point. One of the conditions that I laid out for your return was as complete a change of the main living areas and Leah's room as was reasonable on their budget. Margo Ballard, our resident fashion and style expert will be assisting. I think you, Leah, should do the selections for your room."

"Wow! I don't think I want to do anything elaborate. I will only be there for a couple more years, and I plan to spend every possible hour with Cy."

"Then set it up so the two of you can be comfortable studying or watching TV there together." Seeing Leah's stunned look, Julia understood her reaction immediately. "You see, that's how much change has happened. In your old home, that would have been unthinkable, wouldn't it."

"Even having a boy in the house would have been unthinkable. I guess that's why you chose the name 'Transformations', isn't it?"

-------

[Julia & Jed] Early April

Connie & Jed were among the most frequent visitors to Lindsey's. Connie still considered herself a resident at heart, and Jed seemed to genuinely like the other kids. It was no accident that Julia arrived one evening while the couple was there. Trying to make it seem casual, she pulled Jed aside while Connie was gabbing with Missy and a couple of new girls.

"You and Connie seem to be a real couple," Julia commented.

"I tell you, Ma'am, Mama is already thinking grandkids."

"So, she approves of Connie?"

"Approves? Hah! If I ever break up with her, Mama will toss me out for sure. She thinks Connie is the greatest girl she's ever met, my sister included."

"As I'm sure you know, I share Mama's opinion," Julia said. "But what about you? Are you thinking of breaking up?"

"No way. You know, it takes something special to be an Army wife. Mama's got that and more. My folks are throwbacks. They're like all the old TV serials. I guess I'm a throwback, too, because that's what I want.

"I read somewhere about guys wanting to marry their mothers. I can't see anything bad about that, and Connie is perfect. I know, you're going to ask if I love her. Let's say I think she's teaching me what that means and I'm all for it."

"So, you think you two will be together past the senior prom, huh?"

"I'd put money on it!"

-------

[Alex] Early April

Alex Sudoski was feeling more confident than he ever had in his life. Working with Ryan Herwalt, he had concentrated on building strength and on techniques that would first allow him to deflect an attack by a much larger person and, if necessary, temporarily disable that larger person.

At Christmas, he had suffered several blows from his father. Some had been open-handed slaps. A few had been with fists, and a couple of kicks had landed, as well. At that point, he had sworn that he would never go back home. However, Julia and Ryan had worked to convince him that for his own future self-image he needed to leave his parents' home feeling victorious, rather than fleeing. He had accepted that wholeheartedly and had become a workout fanatic.

Alex's mother, Tanya, had continuously tried to get him to visit again. Certainly, she had participated in the mental abuse that had originally driven him away. Apparently, the stigma of having a child flee was a severe ego blow to her, and she had become fixated on getting him back.

Even Alex's father, Vitor, had tried to persuade him. Of course, Vitor was very capable of forgetting his derision of Alex's slim physique and lack of any 'real' athletic accomplishment. It was as if the way he had bounced Alex around was just the way families worked. The fact that Alex was a lock to qualify for state competition in both cross country and 1500 meter events meant nothing to a man whose ego was tied to his accomplishments in college football.

Under gentle but constant pressure from Chelsea, Alex had agreed to let his parents visit him at Lindsey's. The discussions between Chelsea and Alex about family had been intense. He envied the love that all of her extended family showered on her. She kept telling him that he at least needed to feel some victory over his parents before leaving them forever.

By the time the Sudoskis began visiting, Chelsea was allowed to dress for their visits. Julia could see that her support of Alex was very important to him, and she wanted Chelsea with Alex all of the time.

Julia had considered one problem, and it turned out to be worse than expected. Chelsea did not at all fit Vitor's model of female attractiveness. With his almost total lack of tact and sensitivity, he made a number of remarks disparaging Alex's choice of girlfriend. The shots were taken so Chelsea could hear them.

At the first such nasty crack, Alex wanted the Sudoski's thrown out. To him, it should have been all over. That resulted in a very tender interlude in his room later that night. "Did you mean it when you said you like my scrawny body and tiny tits?" She asked him. She was still required to be naked except for special circumstances, like visits.

"No," he said firmly, shocking her at first. "I said I love your body. I especially love the girl inside your body." That rendered Chelsea speechless for some time. It affirmed his oft-repeated compliments. It also introduced the 'L' word openly for the first time.

When she had gotten her mind around what he said, she told him "I don't want you to pay any attention to your dad's nasty cracks. As long as I know what you think, nothing he can say will hurt me. Well, it hurts a little, but it's your opinion that counts. Alex, he makes so many cracks about your body. I feel honored to be included with you."

That was pretty heavy emotional stuff. Up until that point, both teens had avoided any overtly sexual touching. They hugged, kissed, and held hands, but that was all. She needed to make sure that what happened with Alex was in no way connected with her previous debauchery. The only way to accomplish that was to take time, and to build her relationship with Alex around something other than sex. Julia had a number of conversations with Chelsea about that situation.

For Alex, their relative 'abstinence' was pure torture. Her little body excited him tremendously. Every little affectionate thing that he did with her was a first, but Julia had counseled him not to push, and in fact to hold back for Chelea's sake. He understood and was more than willing to agree.

That night, the dam was broken. Chelsea threw back his covers, yanked down his sleeping shorts, and took his already hard cock in both hands. "I know some things that I wish I didn't know, but I do. If I can do them for you, they will finally mean something."

With that, she took him in her mouth. She barely had time to swirl her tongue around his glans a few times when he groaned out "Chelsea! Look out! I'm going to come!"

She looked at him and smiled around his shaft as best she could. When he started spurting, she took it all down. As she licked off the residue, any slight softening that had begun was quickly reversed. As soon as he could get enough breath to speak, he told her "You have to show me how to do that to you. Ever since you first walked in, your, uh, your pussy has made my mouth water."

"In all of the things that I did," she sadly told him, "no one has ever used their mouth on me. Hey! That's one first that I can give you!"

She never went back to her room that night. They stopped short of intercourse, but it was obvious to both of them that that would happen soon.

When the Sudoskis next visited, both teens took all of Vitor's shots with a serenity that infuriated him. Given the history, Ryan and Dale were always standing by, and they really thought they would have to intervene to protect Vitor. Chelsea was able to calm Alex down enough to remove the threat.

When the Sudoskis had left, Chelsea threw off her clothes and jumped on Alex in front of everyone. "We won! We won! That was so awesome! I'm so proud of you!"

"You're the one who took all the nasty comments," he pointed out, spinning her around in his arms holding her up with his hands on her bare ass. It was such a dramatic move for the normally reserved boy that everyone was impressed.

"But you kept your cool just like we talked about. You were the man. He was worse than a little kid."

-------

[Alex & Parents] Early April

The first bite of a late Easter dinner did not even get tasted at the Sudoski house. Alex had arrived about 10:30. By arrangement, he was wearing a wire and a Plonske agent was parked in easy transmission range. Transformations had carefully cultivated relationships with the police and the DA, and the squad covering the area around the Sudoskis' was staying close. Everyone hoped that Alex could pull off a conciliatory visit and avoid any violence, but no one was betting on it.

With an energetic sendoff that morning from Chelsea, Alex's confidence was at an all-time high. They had first gone 'all the way' two weeks earlier. It was an event that Julia had insisted the Merkers be fully aware of. The rule had been that no adult would 'authorize' or 'recommend' that the couple do it, but neither would they condemn.

Predictably, it had been hardest on Ron, but Nancy talked him through it. Fortunately, the Merkers and the entire extended family had enthusiastically embraced Alex. They all recognized how much of Chelsea's turnaround was due to Alex's love and his influence. Just as at Lindsey's, in any congenial or neutral environment, Alex was very social and a perfect gentleman.

Vitor had started in on Chelsea just after noon. Somehow, he had found out about Chelsea's transgressions and thought he had a psychological club to use on Alex. Everyone at Lindsey's had warned Alex that he would be attacked through Chelsea, and he deflected all of the attacks very well.

Seeing that he could not provoke a rise out of his son by disparaging remarks about his girlfriend, Vitor somehow decided that he had the right to order Alex to break up with Chelsea. Alex knew the moment his father first ordered him not to have anything more to do with the 'scrawny-assed little slut' that a blowup was at hand.

"Dad, my relationship with Chelsea is none of your concern. I love her, and no way will I break up with her." Alex knew that would provoke the first blow, and it helped to be able to control the action to that degree.

The first attempt was a quick slap at the face, the blow that had 'worked' at Christmas. Ryan had worked hard with Alex on exactly that move. He was able to duck the slap, then hit the back of Vitor's extended wrist in just the right spot with his knuckles. Vitor's hand went dead for quite a while.

That was a surprise to the man, but rather than cooling him off, it enraged him. He was not the typical bully who would back off at the least sign of effective resistance or a counter-attack. He had once been a dominant defensive player who used near brutality to intimidate and subdue runners and receivers.

Unable to use his right hand for the moment, Vitor made a grab for his son with his left. Alex executed a finger bend with his right hand, then deadened Vitor's whole left arm with a blow to the inside of the elbow.

Next came the attack that was most dangerous to Alex because of the one hundred pound difference in their weights. Even without the use of his hands, Vitor was so enraged that he charged with arms wide.

All along, Vitor had been mouthing threats of what he was going to do and Alex had been purposely telling him to stop, warning him that he would get hurt. This was for the benefit of the recording, to prove that Alex had no part in starting or prolonging the fight. All along, Tanya had been yelling at Alex right along with her husband, although she had not made any physical moves as she had done in the past.

When the charge came, Alex ducked low and kicked at his father's knee, catching it just when he put his weight on it. It was not enough to cause any serious damage, but the knee was temporarily unable to bear any weight. Vitor was no sooner on the floor, bellowing out his rage and pain than the police were at the door, demanding admittance.

-------

[Staff] Early April

"We have agreement from the police and the DA," Julia told the management group. "The question now is should we do it. First of all, is it safe, given Mr. Sudoski's rather irrational behavior? There is credible danger of him hurting someone. Second, is there any reason to suspect that it will bring about any real change? Third, but no less important: should we put this kind of pressure on the kids?"

"Remember, Honey," Frank interjected, "We have the support of his employer. Their concern is that Vitor's apparently worsening anger issues are detracting from his otherwise strong job performance. I would think that the threat of losing his job would be a huge deterrent to any further outbursts."

"Yes, that's a very valid point," Julia agreed.

"I think we need to do this for the sake of Chelsea and Alex," Muriel opined. "Maybe it's premature, but they show all the signs of being together for the long haul. A warm family relationship with the Sudoskis is most likely impossible. The next best thing is for them to at least feel that they are in control.

"I guess I don't think the long-term effects on the Sudoskis are as important as the immediate effect on our Alex. If we do nothing but punish them with humiliation for a while, it has to change the long-term relationship between Alex and his parents. The fact that he demonstrated physical superiority over his father must have already caused some change. I say let's pile on all the humiliation we reasonably can in whatever time we have them."

"That's a wonderful analysis, Muriel," Julia said. "I had not thought about your point of piling it on. It's true that we will have them for just eight or nine days, and we cannot expect a lot of change in that time. What you suggest makes a lot of sense. One question, though: Is it fair to the other kids?"

"It seems like ganging up on someone's parents is the one thing that brings the kids together more than anything else," Paul pointed out. "I think they will treat it as a privilege rather than an imposition."

"But can they be respectful and courteous about it?" Julia asked.

"They did for Brett and for Chelsea," Ryan offered.

"That's different, though," Muriel cautioned. "They were contemporaries that they would like to help, even a jerk like Brett. Of course, he was Lindsey's brother, and that bought him some consideration for her sake. Chelsea? Well, she's just too lovable. It's a whole different story with the Sudoskis, I'm afraid. They all remember how Alex came back from Christmas, and they all heard the shots that Mr. Sudoski took at Chelsea. They are certainly not lovable people, and with their clothes off, I don't imagine they will be at all attractive."

"Excellent analysis again, Muriel" Julia said. "Now, so far, I've been playing the devil's advocate. I have to tell you, though, that I think we should do it. I will confess that I have a great clinical interest in seeing our theories tested to new limits. There is no question that the kids will be part of an experiment."

"Is there anything we can do to ensure that Mr. Sudoski doesn't go off and hurt anyone?" Ryan asked.

"I suppose we could keep him mildly tranquilized," Julia mused, "but I would hate to have to justify that to any board."

"What is Sudoski's attitude right now," Paul asked. "Is he belligerent, vengeful, frightened, what?"

Frank took that one. "I'm a little surprised, but he seems quite frightened. Perhaps if the police had been involved years ago, things might not have come to this point. One other point, Honey. Don't you think that doing this will eliminate any chance of Alex moving back home?"

"I suspect you're right, Frank. On the other hand, I think that chance is so slim as to not be worth worrying about. With the father's often-expressed attitude toward Chelsea, I don't think Alex should consider reconciliation. Knowing him, I'm sure he won't. Now, if by some miracle, Sudoski should have a genuine change of attitude toward Chelsea, we could have a new ball game. For now, I want to do the best for Alex. And Chelsea."

"Julia, I think we should just put it out to the kids and get their input. I would suggest that Alex and probably Chelsea be excluded from the discussion."

The discussion late that afternoon with the residents was very short. They all wanted to do it, and they all pledged the same treatment given to Brett and Chelsea. Chelsea, of course, was now considered one of them, regardless of her wonderful home situation. She had been attacked and needed to be defended along with Alex.

-------

[Tanya & Vitor] Mid April

Sometimes the right people do get elected to key public offices. The current DA was a very results oriented man. Particularly when it came to domestic problems, he was willing to listen to any idea that might solve the root problem. He was also very interested in solutions that would keep any of the family members from getting a criminal record. Along with those at Transformations, he considered Mary and Floyd Hall to be the star examples of that approach.

Thus it was that an ADA and a squad car were at the entrance to Lindsey's when Tanya and Vitor arrived late on Friday afternoon. "You understand, now, that unless both of you do EXACTLY what you are told, you, Mr. Sudoski, will be arrested and charged. Is that clear?"

Both Tanya and Vitor nodded. Nancy Merker stepped in front of them and the ADA told them "This is Mrs. Merker, Chelsea's mother. She is the person that you have to keep happy. One call from her that you have not complied, and you will be taken away in cuffs, Mr. Sudoski. Is that clear. Also, how long you have to stay here is also in her hands. Mr. Sudoski, we have made sure that your job is protected no matter how long it takes. I sincerely hope we will never meet again. Good luck to you both."

Including Tanya had been the biggest push. There really was no legal basis, but there was none for the whole plan, anyway. When an agreement under the DA's signature had been presented, the parents had been convinced.

The reception area was empty except for Nancy and her father, Ben Ormond. As soon as the outside door closed, Nancy said "All right. Remove your clothes out here and we will take care of them."

"What? Remove... ? What are you talking about?" Tanya objected

"You will be naked for your entire stay here," Nancy said calmly.

"No one said anything about that!" Tanya cried. "That's ... that's ... there are kids in there ... boys ... Alex ... Oh, no! I won't do that!"

"Fine with me," Nancy said with her usual dramatic flair. "It saves us a lot of trouble. I'll just get the cops in here." She stepped toward the door, but turned back just as she reached it. "Oh, Mr. Sudoski, I guess your employer won't be too happy about the criminal charge, will they?"

Not many generations removed from the old country, a job was something to be treasured above almost all else to the Sudoskis, and to them, it was normal to hold one job for an entire career. Vitor was immediately petrified by the threat. Even with no direct legal threat to herself, the threat to their family livelihood had a huge effect on Tanya, as well. She withdrew from the debate, knowing that she had to follow her husband.

It was not really a debate. Husband and wife just raised objection after objection and plea after plea for several minutes. The one thing that was significant was that Vitor did not utter a single threat.

Nancy let them complain and plead for a while, but finally, she just said "In two minutes, if you aren't both naked, I call in the cops."

Tanya cried. Vitor looked mostly angry, but he stifled it, and well within the two minutes, they both stood naked, doing the best they could with their hands to hide themselves.

Having the Sudoskis constantly naked was not going to be the visual treat for the kids that Brett and Chelsea had been. He was a muscular athlete gone to seed. She had just never worked on conditioning. She had very impressive breasts, huge, full, and with a surprising amount of lift. The rest of her, though was overly padded, loose, and flabby.

"You are going to be here naked for some period of time. You will very soon have to use your hands for something besides hiding your boobs and your dick. Right now, drop your hands to your sides. NOW!" Nancy had a wonderful crack to her voice, and both parents reluctantly obeyed. "OK, let's go in."

Naturally, the first people to greet them were Chelsea and Alex, standing there and holding hands. Tanya broke into all out sobs at that, and everyone just waited her out. After a couple of minutes, Alex walked up to her and gently said "Believe it or not, you will get used to it very quickly, Mom. No one here will be mean. Just try to do your job. It's time to set up for dinner, so that's the first job."

Giving her something to do was exactly the right approach. In addition, the safety and hygienic needs for an apron gave them a short reprieve from complete exposure. Showing some of her mother's acting flair, Chelsea remained very nonchalant and even upbeat as she took charge of directing Vitor. It turned out to be quite a challenge, as Alex had warned, because their family template had the males totally uninvolved in any kitchen or food activities.

By the time the Sudoskis were told to remove their aprons after dinner, Vitor had worked up a good deal of anger. Nancy, though, did not even let him voice it. Seeing the expression on his face, she held up her phone and asked if she should call the police to get them out of there so they could dress. It did not erase the angry look, but he never said a word of complaint.

-------

When nudity was being imposed as part of a punishment, it was easy to find ways to increase the humiliation. For the Sudoskis, it was the number of people who were allowed to come in and see them naked.

Starting immediately, a solid stream of people came to visit. All of the Tee employees or former employees plus anyone else closely connected was asked to visit. The visits were strung out over nine days, which would probably be the length of their stay. One week of vacation had been arranged for Vitor, but more than that would have caused him a problem.

The idea of having only or mostly women visit had been discussed, but was discarded. The reasoning was that Vitor was the real offender, with Tanya just in a supporting role. However, even though it was only Vitor who actually beat Alex, she had been right there urging him on and hurling verbal abuse at the boy. At Christmas, she had gotten in a few blows, as well.

As with Brett, the Sudoskis were ordered to learn the stories of all of the resident kids and be able to tell them to Nancy. They had to have the conversations individually, not as a couple. It was apparent that the stories were having an impact on Tanya, if not noticeably on Vitor.

Tanya had never done any consistent exercise, and when forced to do it every day, she complained loudly. Vitor seemed to work out willingly, but his bravado caused him to be very sore for the first several days.

A master stroke against Vitor was saved until Tuesday, four days after their arrival. During the day, when things were generally quite peaceful, the highest ranking woman in his company's HR department and two admin women that Vitor worked closely with were shown in. He panicked upon seeing them, but the HR woman snapped at him and he froze.

"Vitor, you have an excellent work record, and you are very productive," the woman started right in. "There have been a number of incidents where your temper or your arrogant attitude have come close to getting you into trouble.

"Now, we will never tell anyone about this," and she waved at him to indicate his nudity. "As the management at this place believes, I sincerely hope that being completely exposed like this for a while has made you think more honestly and clearly about your interactions with other people. We would certainly hate to lose you, but in today's workplace, it does not take much to endanger your job. I truly hope that this can bring about some beneficial change for you, in both your work and family situations."

That day, and Wednesday and Thursday, the women spent about two hours going over company policies and sexual harassment and general behavior. The admin women discussed incidents where Vitor had violated policy, even though he had not been reported. Each day when the women left, he was very subdued.

The second Sunday afternoon, after another impromptu get-together of the church-going group, the main area was suddenly empty except for Tanya and Vitor. Everyone else had gone into their rooms.

Julia walked up to the couple, completely naked except for high heels. It was a move that she had not discussed with anyone but Frank. It was calculated to bring about the last bit of humiliation to Vitor. Julia was well aware of her effect on men and she was more than willing to use it.

When Vitor noticed her approaching, Julia went into a runway strut, accentuating the sway of her breasts and the undulation of her hips. She had shaved her labia bare, leaving an auburn patch above.

"Well, Mr. and Mrs. Sudoski, you have had a little taste of how being naked can bring about a lot of changes in the way a person thinks and behaves. Tell me, Mr. Sudoski, were you able to make it through the week without getting a hardon where anyone could see it? Did any of the girls' teeny weeny bikinis get to you?"

Julia continued to pile on suggestive and erotic questions and comments. Within six or seven minutes, she got her result. The couple did not see all of the doors behind them opening and kids moving up behind them.

"Well, everything has been cleared with the DA and you are free to go home. Say goodbye to all of the kids, and you may get dressed." It was a borderline vicious thing to do to Vitor, but Julia's conscience did not suffer at all. Naturally all of the girls were right behind Vitor and swarmed around him as soon as Julia released them.

He was left with the choice of being 'manly' and standing there with his hardon while the girls each said goodby, or being 'cowardly' and finding the nearest pair of shorts. During his moment of indecision, the girls surrounded him and he would have had to push one of them aside to get away.

Once he was erect, the fact that a number of females were examining him made shrinking highly unlikely. For him, it was the humiliating 'lowlight' of the week, not at all an opportunity for pride or showing off his endowment.

-------

[Julia & Staff] Mid April

"Was that just because you detest the guy, or was there a clinical reason?" Ryan asked Julia with a laugh.

"Yes." Julia answered, returning the laugh.

"And of course, there was no thought of giving the kids a thrill, was there?" Gretchen teased.

"Well, you know how I feel about the kids," Julia answered. "If it happened to be pleasant for them, that's fine with me."

"If it happened to be?!" Paul said sarcastically. "I know exactly what all of the guys will have to do to get to sleep tonight."

"Including Vitor, I'll bet," Ryan added.

When the merriment subsided, Julia told them "It was a necessarily short test, but I am pleased with what we learned. I believe we restructured the Sudoski family dynamics so that Alex can feel a sense of control, even dominance over his parents. How much effect it has on Tanya and Vitor's marriage remains to be seen. It should definitely reduce the risk of Vitor doing something that loses him his job."

Muriel commented "I believe that Tanya was significantly changed by the week. Toward the end, I thought she was surprisingly, uh, subservient to Alex. She seemed very anxious to please him. I think not having him come home will be very hard on her."

"And that could cause some real problems in their marriage," Julia agreed. "I would have to say that all along, Vitor has been the problem. I am a bit concerned that we may have dropped a bomb on their relationship. Nevertheless, we did it for Alex. A marriage that can drive away the only child is not one to be very protective of."

"Even though we aren't sending Alex home, do you see this as a 'penance' that other parents might have to do to get their children back from us?" Paul asked.

"Oh, I would not generalize it that way," Julia responded. "For instance, what good would it do to force Erica's parents to go naked. They would think they were doing the kids a tremendous favor." That brought chuckles. "It will only work when we have legal leverage from the DA."

"That may not be quite true," Frank opined. "We could certainly set it as a requirement for releasing the child. Their 'participation' would be voluntary, but they could still be held to a standard."

"Good point. I wonder if Connie's parents... ? Nope. Couldn't happen," Julia mused allowed.

"I will say, though, that we should watch for ways that nudity, both punitive and therapeutic, can be used to change the dynamics of families."

-------

[Julia & Alex] Mid April

"I don't think there is any question that some changes will come out of the week," Julia told Alex.

"You're not suggesting I go back are you?" he asked.

"No. There have been no changes of that magnitude, yet," Julia answered emphatically. "Until you dad's attitude toward Chelsea honestly changes, I don't think you could even consider it."

"You got that right!"

"I do think, Alex, that you should be receptive to attempts to communicate with you. It make take a while for the humiliation to wear off, but I think they will want to visit, and will probably want you to visit home. Your mother, in particular, seems to be undergoing some changes."

"First of all, I will only go there if Chelsea is invited," Alex insisted. "If they want to visit here, it has to be both of them. Is that fair?"

"Fair isn't the question," Julia declared. "The question is what will make it acceptable to you. Out of curiosity, why would you demand that?"

"Dad's the bad guy. I think Mom just isn't strong enough to do anything but follow whatever he does. There's that Old World attitude there, too. Maybe if she wasn't so passive, I wouldn't be here."

"That demand could create a lot of tension between them," Julia cautioned.

"Could. Why should I be concerned about a marriage that made it intolerable for me to stay at home?" he demanded.

"Those are almost the words I used with the management group," Julia revealed.

"So, you guys talk about all of this stuff, huh?"

"I've got some very wise people working with me. I would be foolish not to seek their counsel.

"Now, a nice surprise for you, Alex. There is a job waiting for you at one of Mr. Magnuson's companies. It will be full time for the summer, and you may be able to continue part time during school."

"Wow! That's fantastic!"

"But first, you have to go out and win some blue ribbons at the state meet. We are arranging for at least the kids here from your school to be there rooting for you."

-------

[Julia & Transformations Staff] Late April

"OK, it's decision time. If we want to back out, we have to call the DA's office and cancel today," Julia told the staff. "Let's look at the pluses and minuses of taking in more Brett or Chelsea type cases.

"I think we all believe that we can turn kids around. With Brett, it happened slowly, but it seems to be progressing. With Chelsea, you could argue that it was all due to Ben and Alex. That still doesn't invalidate the idea. So, we think we can straighten out some more kids. Any disagreement there?

"I think the legal concerns have been taken care of. Even if visitors happen to see the naked kid, nothing bad can happen. As far as objections from parents of the other residents - who cares. The fact that we had to take their child away invalidates any right of theirs to object to anything that happens at Lindsey's.

"We have always felt that the greatest effect was achieved when the subject was the only naked person. Now, though, we have a steady stream of naked Tee women visiting Lindsey's. I think we all agree that the interaction there has been wonderful for both the women and the kids.

"If we take in another Brett, will the women have to stop visiting?"

Paul spoke up first. "Julia, could we perhaps be over-emphasizing the importance of the subject being the only one naked? Even with some naked women around, his would still be the only penis on display. Wouldn't that be enough?"

"Well, we have observed that some males think it is their natural right to have naked women around," Julia pointed out.

"But if you make sure that the women treat the boy as an obvious servant, won't that help?" Muriel asked.

"Good point," Julia agreed.

"I think," Ryan offered, "that the chance to save some kids is too valuable to pass up. Perhaps in actual trial, the 'only one naked' principle will prove to not be as important."

"I think you're right, Ryan," Julia agreed. "Let's see if it will fly with the DA folks."

-------

[Julia, Frank & DA Staff] Late April

Three members of the DA's staff who work with teen offenders were just finishing dinner at Lindsey's. The whole Transformations management team, Gerald Magnuson, and Lindsey were eating with them.

As they drank coffee, Julia began speaking. "When we finish with our meeting, I hope you will all stay around and meet Lindsey's kids. They are the reason that what we are proposing works. Listen to their stories. If you can keep from crying, you're better than I am.

"Yet, for all that they have endured, there is one thing that every young person has begged for, without fail. They all want to do something to help pay back what has been done for them. We have found ways to use them productively in other parts of the complex, and there are more possibilities with some of our future projects.

"What we want to tell you about, though, is what they as a group have been able to do for kids who have gone bad. Now, it is no secret that nudity is a major factor in what we do at Transformations to change lives. You may think that introducing nudity into a teen group home is immoral, illegal, or both. Well, we have had the legal question researched thoroughly, and I won't assume to address the moral question.

"Let me describe, anonymously, the two test cases, one boy, and one girl." Julia told the stories of Brett and Chelsea, never revealing their identities, but being very candid about the relative successes. There was considerable shock on the faces of the DA people when she finished.

"Now, I have not revealed names, but both sets of parents and one of the teens have insisted on speaking with you." She first introduced Mary and Floyd, who gave a very forthright recounting of their own mistakes and their decision to put Brett through his sentence. They honestly told how Brett had not done a complete turnaround, but was being drawn more and more into the circle of great guys that made up the core of the football team.

The Merkers told their story, with Chelsea standing in front of Ron and his arms around her. When they were finished, Chelsea spoke.

"Now, we are offering to take other teens under similar sentences as what we did for the first two," Julia said. "The absolute requirement is that the teen have a good, solid, caring, distraught family behind them. Neither of these two families wanted to put their child through this. Because of their own experience, Mary and Floyd were confident that it would cause some change in Brett. As Floyd said, the fact that he still has no police record, no SDTs, and no known addictions is a victory in itself.

"The Merkers at first thought the Halls were crazy, but when it came down to their own crisis, they believed in the approach. You saw the results.

"What we are offering is to take 'ideal' cases, one at a time. Your department, the parents, and ourselves would all have to agree before we would take a young person. From you, we would particularly need the credible threat of a much nastier sentence if they fail here. There is no question that it worked with Brett. Because Nancy did such a masterful job with Brett, we would suggest that you let her be the 'cop' again.

"Now, the nudity has a much bigger impact on boys. It has been our overall experience that after the initial shock of exposure, women and girls take to nudity with surprising ease, even in the presence of males. If you have girls that are candidates, talk to us about getting them 'sentenced' to Transformations. Missy, tell the folks about your experience at the Tee."

Both Chelsea and Missy had wanted to be naked as they spoke to the group, but Julia had nixed that. Julia was not sure where Missy found the 'almost -existent' bikini that she wore, but she might as well have just skipped it.

"I'm not doing this just to shock you," Missy started off. "Well, maybe a little, but a good shock. To understand what the name Transformations really stands for, I have to show you my before and after."

Julia could not stifle a small gasp at Missy's obvious intent to show her naked entrance pictures. Missy's quick glance conveyed an apology, but no remorse as she laid the pictures out before the visitors.

"Now, don't be fooled that the Tee is all about just making women look better," Missy cautioned. "Let me tell you about the inside differences." She proceeded to talk about her attitudes and her personality and how they had changed.

"If you send some girls here, and I hope you do, I will be there, naked, to greet them and stay with them for a few days. Lindsey Hall did that for me, and I know she will do it again if she is in town. Can you imagine the impact that will have on a mixed up teen girl?

"Now, I know Julia said the 'sentence' here at Lindsey's is for kids with good homes behind them. I think you can send girls with no support system to the Tee, so there is another possibility. This is not for general publication, but I have a sizable trust fund. Right now, I will commit to funding one girl at a time at the Tee."

When Missy sat down, Julia did not dare speak for a moment until she could gain control of her voice. Then, she said "There is no doubt that Missy is special, but I will tell you that her attitude would be echoed by any one of our kids if we had them talk to you.

"Now, rather than my saying any more, what information would be most helpful to you?"

The kids who were serving kept coffee and other beverages filled, and a bowl of mixed fruits and berries replenished. At one point, the male ADA motioned Alex over and asked him "Wasn't it tough on you, having a naked male around all the time, with the girls seeing him. When I was that age, I would have been embarrassed to death. I mean, he was showing what I tried to keep secret."

There was brief laughter before Julia spoke up. "I commend your honesty. That is a psychological principle that is too seldom acknowledged. Very perceptive. Alex?"

"When the Halls asked us about Brett, nothing mattered but the fact that it was Lindsey's brother. I would have done anything for her, I was so grateful," Alex said.

"But the next boy will be a perfect stranger," the man pointed out,

"I like to think I've grown up a lot since I got here," Alex said. "It's not just about my personal feelings any more. I've been given a chance that I never expected to have. You've heard the phrases 'pass it on' or 'pay it forward'. This place just naturally makes us think that way. I WANT some other kid to have the chance that I got, even if it was his own screwups that got him in trouble.

"Look, Chelsea was a stranger when she showed up. Now, she's my girlfriend. See how things can work?"

"What about erections," one of the female ADA's asked. "If a boy is naked all the time, won't that happen?"

"Brett was hard all the time for the first ten days," Mary answered. "It's a fact of life. I think that for Brett, the humiliation of displaying his arousal was important in breaking through his tough shell."

"Mary has mentioned a very important principle," Julia added. "Brett was, after all, serving a sentence. There had to be some negative aspect to his stay here." That discussion thread went on for quite a while. Julia was going to mention the role assigned to Connie, but decided that should be held back.

The man who had asked Alex the question asked again. "Alex, wasn't it your parents who spent a week here, naked?" When Alex nodded, the man asked "Dr. Waxman, will what you did with his parents be repeated?"

"We have discussed that a lot in our management meetings," Julia admitted. "All that I can tell you is that we will treat every situation uniquely. As I mentioned, we at first thought that nudity would have no place here at Lindsey's. I guess I naively thought we should shelter the kids from it. Nudity is a big part of what we do. Our kids are part of our 'family', so my intent was quickly shown up as ridiculous.

When the discussion ran down, Muriel said "We've got plenty of swimsuits, if you'd like to enjoy the pool or the hot tub. There's all the snacks you can handle. Stay around and meet the kids. Listen to their stories."



-------

Chapter 34


[Erica & Dozer] Late April

She had talked about it with Julia several times. She never knew whether she hoped Julia would talk her out of it or talk her into it. It had been very frustrating when Julia would do neither, only ask probing questions.

Finally after six dates with Dozer, the last three ending with very warm kisses, she made her decision. There had never been any question, but Julia had agreed immediately. Dozer had agreed to come over right after school, bring his books, workout clothes, and swimsuit, and stay for the evening.

He had been at Lindsey's several times already, so he was puzzled when Erica had him bring all of his stuff and Muriel led them to a door which she had to open with a keypad. Being Dozer, he had to make some funny comments.

"I'm trying to remember if I did something to piss you off," he said, dramatically holding his chin in his hands. "I'm worried that you're taking me into some kind of torture chamber."

"Oh, no! I wouldn't do that to you," Erica countered, somehow overcoming her nervousness. "You've been such a good boy, I got special permission for you to visit our secret naked harem."

Once they were inside, while he was looking around she quickly slipped off the uniform shorts and shirt that were all she wore. "D ... D ... Dozer. I wasn't t ... telling the exact truth," she stammered, causing him to turn toward her.

There are moments in any developing relationship that either destroy it or accelerate it. It was such a moment for Erica and Dozer. After his initial surprise, he read the expression on her face and took both of her hands in his. "This is not the time for jokes, is it?" he said softly.

She could only shake her head in answer. "Do you want to tell me why, now, or should I just enjoy the sight for a while?" he asked.

"I n ... need to t ... tell you,"

"Why don't we talk in the pool?" he said, pulling off his shirt.

She just watched, but when he unbuttoned his jeans, she objected "N ... no! You don't have to!"

He almost reverted to humor and said 'You don't want to have to look at me?' but he remembered the seriousness of the situation. Instead, he said "I think I know why you're doing this, Honey. It makes me cry that you think you have to, but I understand. I may be just a dumb jock, but Mama taught me some chivalry. I, uh, understand that you've seen hardons before. I won't be able to help it."

When he was naked, he took her hand and led her to the hot tub, rather than the pool. "Please don't be angry at me or your friends, but I've been asking a lot of questions about you?"

"Wh ... who did you ask?"

"Promise you won't be angry at them for telling things about you? They all love you and want the best for you," he pled.

"O ... OK."

"Well, Trish and Connie and Missy told me a lot. Then, I talked to Troy and to Trevor."

"You did all that? Why?"

"Now, I think you're fishing. Erica, I really, really like you. There has never been another girl that I felt so comfortable and relaxed with. You know, my crazy sense of humor gets on almost everyone's nerves. You just give it right back. And you're so ... so real. I don't ever get the feeling that you're pretending anything. You don't know how rare that is."

"Wow! S ... so you know why I had to show myself to you?"

"I think so. After all the years of all that shit, you still have to be reassured that your body won't turn me off. Is that about it?"

"Yeah. Um, and ... well, I guess I want to see if there is any, um, appreciation ... that there might be something about my body that you like."

Dozer knew just what he had to do for her sake, but it was definitely not easy. He had made it to the hot tub only slightly inflated, but under the water, he had grown a full erection. Showing it would say far more than he could ever verbalize. Unable to suppress his blush, he moved up on the edge of the tub, exposing himself completely. Her gasp told him that he had made his point.

When he sat back down, she was not ready to talk yet, so he told her "The girls told me how much you had changed since you moved here. But I have to tell you, the way you've changed just since our first date is unbelievable."

She found her voice, then "I guess you just found my funny bone."

"Oh, it's more than just the humor. For instance, that wiggle when you walk down the hall at school is new."

She looked at him astonishment. "I didn't know I was doing that!"

"That's what makes it so wonderful. All those bimbos that work so hard for a sexy walk just turn me off. Only when it's natural is it really sexy."

She pondered that for a while. "Your mother is, um, not slender. Did that make you OK with a bigger girl?"

"That probably helped. You've met her. She is the best, most thoughtful, most loving mom anyone could ask for," he answered. Seeing moisture fill her eyes, he felt a little bad. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to imply that..."

"Mine's a spineless trophy wife. That's no secret," she snarled. "I'm getting over it, and I know what kind I want to be. So you don't mind a girl like Mama, huh?"

"Not at all. In fact, I prefer one." With that, he gave her a wide grin.

"I guess you know you were my first date," she said.

"I knew that. I feel honored."

That made her blush, and for a while, she just moved her hand around in the water, not looking at him.

"Will you go steady with me?" he asked suddenly.

"G ... go steady? Really?"

"Really. You should ask some questions of my friends and family. I think you'll find out that I've been happier than ever in the last few weeks."

"I can't imagine you being unhappy," she commented.

"Oh, you should know that a lot of jokesters use it to cover up," he explained.

"Do you?"

"Not any more," he said with another of his foot-wide grins. "Well, will you?"

"Huh? Oh, of course I will!"

"Uh, shouldn't we seal that with a kiss?" he teased.

She hurried across the tub, then came to an uncertain halt just as she started to hug him. Seeing her uncertainty, he told her "I need to tell you, Erica that what I want to do is take you to bed and make love to you. I want to do everything with you. You decide what we're going to do, though. If you're not ready for our bare chests to touch, I'll understand. If..."

Suddenly, her lips cut him off. Her arms were almost strangling him as she sat on his lap and pressed her breasts against him. The kiss lasted a long time and they were both panting when it ended. She laid her head on his shoulder and kissed his neck.

"The problem is," she panted, "I want to do all of the same things, too." His cock had been poking against her tummy and she almost sent him into orbit when she reached down and took it in her hand. "I want you to put this amazing thing way up inside me. I just ... I don't know..."

He began running his hands over her back and down over her bottom. "It's alright. You'll know when it's the right time, and it will be wonderful."

"I've been talking to the girls," she said softly. "I don't see anything wrong with doing lots of other things to make each other feel good. Do you?" She had started stroking up and down on his cock, and he could only groan in answer.

"I ... I can't take much of that!" he panted. "You've got me so worked up!"

"What do I do to make you come?" she demanded.

"Just that, just that, just ... ungghhhhh!"

Muriel could not help sniffling, and Julia asked "I guess you don't feel like a nasty voyeur do you?" They were in Julia's office, watching on the monitor.

"Julia, there has to be some luck involved," Muriel said around her sniffles. "How do these perfect guys keep showing up for our girls?"

"You're right, Muriel. I couldn't find them that perfect if I tried. I think there's a lot more to Dozer than any of us expected."

"He's a lot more than a dumb jock or and funny man, isn't he?" Muriel agreed. "I just hope Erica isn't getting set up for a broken heart, here."

"I don't think it would destroy her," Julia opined. "Right now, she is collecting experiences just as fast as she can. If a failed first love was one experience, I think she would go right on to the next."

"You think her self-image would survive intact, huh?"

"Oh, there would be some damage, but that is one very strong girl coming out of her shell. Let's not worry about that, though," Julia urged. "This has all the signs of our other young loves, and not one has come apart, yet."

"Do you think they will go all the way tonight?" Muriel asked.

"I doubt it, but I would not consider it a problem," Julia answered.

"Um, Carol is scheduled to serve them dinner. Do you think that will embarrass the boy?" Muriel asked.

"Probably. But seeing how he reacts will be very instructive."

Back in the hot tub, Dozer said "Here, let me make you come, now."

"Oh, I'd love that. Hey, you ever give a massage?"

"Actually, I have, many times." When she just waited, he chuckled and said "Mama's back freezes up once in a while."

"So, what does she wear when you massage her?" Erica teased.

"You'll have to ask her that. If she ever asks the same question about you, she'll get the same answer. I'll bet there's a massage table around here somewhere."

Not having much for comparison, Erica thought his efforts were fabulous. In the first few minutes, she told him "I hope you can feel some difference on my back. The loose stuff is tightening up, but it takes a while." He chose not to respond with words. Instead, he gave her kisses in several places on her back.

When he had worked on her legs and her bottom, she turned over. Taking his hand, she placed it right on her pussy and told him. "Now you can make me come. Suck on my nipple while you rub my clit. You can rub hard. I like it that way."

She came in only a couple of minutes, but she put her hand over his and panted "That was just a little warmup. Please. Give me another one! When I tell you, bite my nipple."

After he gave her the big one she sought, she looked over and said "You're hard again."

"Never went soft."

"Here. Lay it on my tummy. Just the right height."

It was a slightly awkward position, but very stimulating. With one hand, she cupped and tugged gently on his balls. With the other, she pressed his cock against her tummy and stroked the top of it. Unable to reach her with his mouth, he massaged her breasts with his hands.

It was hard to believe that she was inexperienced. She certainly was inquisitive, and her hands seemed eager to learn every square inch of his crotch. Perhaps by accident, her finger rubbed behind his sac. When he gasped and jerked, she started rubbing the area firmly. In less than a minute, he was shooting globs across her tummy.

He had to grab the edge of the table with both hands as he regained his breath. "I guess you need to get back in the tub to clean that off," he wheezed.

"No way! That stays until you can't stand my stink! Let's study for a while." Study was the farthest thing from his mind right then, but so was arguing with her in any way. They studied.

When dinner time approached, she said "Um, I guess you'd better put some pants on."

"Why?"

"Either Carol or Gretchen will serve dinner."

"Will they be offended if I stay naked? I thought everyone was used to it around here," he teased.

"Yeah, but I just thought maybe you didn't want, um..."

"Bubbles, I have to tell you," he said seriously, "this is the most wonderful day ever. I don't want to change anything until I have to go home."

"So it won't bother you if they see your, um..."

"My penis? Yeah, it will, but I'll bet you'd rather I not dress, right?" Her only answer was a giggle and a blush. That settled it for him. Pleasing her had become so much fun!

It was a complete surprise when Muriel came out naked to call them to dinner. Dozer had been worried about whether he could stay soft when the women saw him. What Muriel did was just playing dirty. She was a very attractive women, and she had caught him by surprise.

She was watching for it, though, and when she saw him react, she turned away and called out "Wash up and come to the table. I'll bring the food out in a few minutes." The tables were glassed topped, so there was really no concealment for him. Still, he appreciated the courtesy.

There had been an interesting little debate in Julia's office when Muriel said what she wanted to do. "Isn't that putting unfair pressure on him?" Julia asked.

"Well, thank you, and maybe it is. Aren't we evaluating him, though?" Muriel challenged.

"You mean you don't mind being naked in front of a kid who's not part of our organization?"

"Julia, I can't believe how much I've come to love all of these kids. I get the feeling that by this little show of, uh, closeness, I can improve their chances of staying together."

"I'm not sure I can reason it out, but I get the same feeling," Julia agreed. "When he talked about massaging his mother, I got the distinct impression that modesty was not given much thought."

"I don't know just how to say this, Julia, but won't it be interesting to see how they both react when there's another naked person present whose, um..."

"Classically attractive, you mean?" Julia said with a laugh. "You really are a shrink at heart, aren't you?"

"Guilty, I guess. So, do I do it?"

"Great idea," Julia said, giving Muriel a hug.

When Dozer saw that there were three places set at the glass table, he knew that he still had a problem. His erection would be visible to Muriel all through the meal.

When Muriel had served the food and sat down, he took the initiative and asked "Why?"

"Well, this section is supposed to be all nude, all the time," Muriel answered.

"But I know you make exceptions all the time," he countered. "You didn't even ask me to undress."

Muriel grinned at him. "Jason, you did a brave, loving thing for Erica. I know you undressed just to support her. I'm hoping maybe this is a little reward for you."

"Oh, it is. It is. It's causing me a problem, though," he said.

"You need to realize, Jason, that seeing your hardon is a real treat for both of us gals. Isn't that right, Erica?"

"Sure is!"

"One of the major things we've discovered here at Transformations is that people are more open, honest, and communicative without clothes on," Muriel explained.

"What do you need to find out from me?" Dozer asked.

"I think I've already found it out," Muriel said with a smile.

"Did I pass?"

"You two are such a great couple!"

-------

"I can't believe you did that!" Erica shouted. She had headed straight for Muriel's room as soon as Dozer left. In keeping with the custom, Muriel's door was not locked, Clark was staying the night with her, and they were in bed. Erica hardly seemed to notice.

"Did it bother you that much?" Muriel asked. She had taken Clark's penis firmly in hand to keep him from saying anything.

"No. It was ... well, it was wonderful, actually. I just can't see how you could do it."

"Honey, you know the attitude about nudity around here. Your young man is a great guy, and..."

"My young man? Do you really think he is?"

Muriel barely caught her self before she mentioned the couple going steady. That might have given away the surveillance. "Just what is the status of your relationship?"

"He asked me to go steady!" Erica replied with a little jump. Muriel could feel Clark's penis twitch as Erica's braless breasts did their own jump.

"Well, congratulations! I guess that really makes him your young man, then, doesn't it?"

"Yes, it does. It really does! Wow!" Clark barely stifled a groan as she hugged herself and wriggled in glee, causing her breasts to make other intriguing motions.

When Erica was gone, Clark rolled over on top of Muriel. "That girl should be licensed!"

"You know I can't lock the door," she warned.

"If someone comes in, they'll just have to get an education," he grunted as he worked his way into her welcoming passage.

-------

"You have to promise never to let on to anyone that I told you, OK?" Muriel said to Erica in a conspiratorial tone. They were in Erica's room early the next morning.

"You know I wouldn't. What did he say?"

"He said you should be licensed."

"I don't understand."

"Your boobs, Honey. Every time you jumped or wiggled, they went in motion. His penis twitched and he got harder. Girl, you have there deadly weapons in the battle of the sexes!" That made Erica gasp and squeal and demonstrate just what Muriel was talking about.

-------

[Erica & Kathy] Late April

Jason (Dozer) was the only child of a single mother. Kathy had gotten pregnant with Jason late in her senior year of high school. It was an accident with a boy she would never consider marrying. Abortion was never an option. Adoption, although considered, became impossible once she saw her baby boy.

Sturdy and buxom, Kathy was an exceptional athlete. She had been a high school girl's softball coach for many years, along with teaching social studies. Her parents were loving and supportive, providing funding and child care for her to get her degree.

Despite being short on traditional sex appeal, Kathy had a high sex drive and was completely hetero. Early motherhood and accelerated graduation kept her busy enough to survive without a man through college. Since then, she had gone through a number of fairly long-term partners. She currently had three 'friends with benefits' who had kept her at least minimally satisfied for several years.

One of the men was married and old enough to be her father, but very vigorous. It had been agonizing for her to get involved with him, and she had first verified that his marriage was indeed completely sexless.

Neither of the other two men were interested in marriage. One had soured on the idea after an extremely painful divorce. The other was married to his business and had a travel schedule that made marriage unthinkable.

Jason had always been aware of the men, and they had always been aware of each other. That was the only way Kathy would do things. On a very few occasions, such as her thirtieth birthday, the men had gotten together to give her a fantasy night.

The two single men had made honest efforts to fulfill some of the father role for Jason, and were avid supporters of his football success. Despite her unusual relationships, Kathy was in no way an immoral person. She lived by and and raised Jason by a strong code of behavior and achievement. Her son loved and respected her deeply.

After their breakthrough evening in the nude section, Dozer could not wait to get Erica out to their home for dinner. His mother and girlfriend had met only twice, both times at softball games, since the season was in full swing. During the dinner at her home, Kathy recognized a lot of herself in her son's girl, whom she liked instantly and strongly.

The evening after Erica had been out for dinner, Kathy told Dozer that he was alone for the night, and that she was the one going to see Erica. Kathy had planned ahead and Muriel was there to lead her and Erica to the center section. Erica was not at all surprised when Kathy stripped, and followed suit. Soon, they were in the pool together.

"I assume this is where you two were the night Jason came home all starry-eyed," Kathy said with a smile. Erica nodded. "Did you ask him to strip?"

"No, he just did as soon as he saw me."

"You were naked, of course," Kathy stated.

"How did you know that? Did Dozer tell you?"

"It's what I would have done, Honey, that's how I know. You needed to do it, didn't you."

"We'd been out several times," Erica explained. "I loved it, and I was falling in love with him. I had to know if he could stand my body. Otherwise, it was better to end things right away."

"How long did it take him to get hard," Kathy asked.

"Kathy!"

"I'll tell you more later, but I have seen Jason's erection many times since he first had one. How long did it take?"

"We just walked right to the hot tub, and he was already hard."

"Well, he must have been really impressed, and I can see why," Kathy complimented. "Let me explain some things.

"My mother is not big like me. She is quite trim and very attractive. I take after my dad, who was an NFL lineman in prehistoric days. Mom, though, never, ever said anything negative about my body, like I hear yours did.

"Even when I was little, they let me run around naked. It wasn't all the time, or anything, but you know how little girls like to show off their bodies."

Seeing Erica's head drop and her shoulders slump, Kathy quickly apologized for bringing up a sore point. "Daddy would hug me and let me sit on his lap and cuddle when I was naked, just like when I was clothed. When I grew up, they did the same thing. I tell you, it was like I was addicted to their acceptance and approval. Even today, if I'm at their house and I shower, or after coming in from the pool, I'll have a naked cuddle with Daddy."

"That's ... that's so sweet," Erica murmured.

"Don't you have anyone you can be naked with and feel good about it?"

"Well, there's my cousin Troy." Surprising herself, Erica told Kathy all about her times with Troy."

"That's great. At least there is one person."

"Two. Now there's Dozer - I hope," Erica interrupted.

"Oh, there certainly is Dozer. How about your your younger brother? Could you cuddle naked with him?"

"Oh! He's, uh, seen me, but we didn't, you know, touch or hug or anything."

"Anyway," Kathy continued, from the time I left the hospital, I started nursing Jason naked. I was living with Mom and Dad and I knew they didn't mind. In fact, sometimes Daddy would sit and watch and have tears in his eyes. Sometimes, I would sit against him and he would wrap his arms around me as Jason nursed.

"When he stopped nursing, I decided I would still hug and cuddle with him when I was naked. As he got older, I would catch him naked and we would cuddle.

"When he started puberty was the critical time. Boys get pretty body-shy, then, but I wanted to prevent that. The secret was to be really open about his erections and his wet dreams and stuff. I think it worked. He massages me a lot, and I'm always naked. Lots of times he is, too, and he'll get hard."

"Isn't he embarrassed?"

"Oh, I'm sure he was, at first. He knew, though, that I would feel bad if he hid anything from me, so he didn't."

"Yeah, that's the kind of guy he is," Erica mused aloud.

"Are you on the pill?" Kathy asked suddenly.

"Huh? Oh, uh, yeah. Muriel talks to all the girls when the arrive and Julia, uh, Dr. Waxman, prescribes them. She makes sure we know that it's not encouragement or even permission to have sex, though."

"I suppose Jason has told you that he's not a virgin."

"Uh, huh. That's OK. I want him to be my first - hopefully, my only," Erica said firmly.

"Well, if you two are for the long haul, I know you will be Jason's only from then on. When are you two going to do it? I'm a firm believer that prom night is the worst possible time."

"Kathy!"

"Look, you probably shouldn't let Jason know I'm telling you this. You need to know because I'm guessing you two are for good. I..."

"You really think so?" Erica asked incredulously.

"I know my son," Kathy declared. "If he decided you weren't the one, I'd tell him he was crazy, and I'd probably disown him."

Erica started shaking alarmingly, and Kathy moved across the tub to hold her tightly. She did not have to ask what was wrong.

"It's almost t ... t ... too much to hope for," Erica stammered. "I mean, six months ago, I was trying to work up the courage to kill myself. Now ... how can I get so lucky? Could it really happen to me - the fat misfit?"

"I'd advise you never to talk about yourself like that in front of Jason. Last time I said something like that about myself, he paddled my bare ass so I couldn't sit down for two days. Had to teach standing up."

With a little grin, Erica said "I know. It wasn't all bad." That brought a fit of giggles from the two.

"As I was about to tell you, with everything else, Jason and I have never had sex, and we never will. I know everyone he has done it with. In fact, I set up a few for him. Two of them were my age or older. One was his first. I wanted him to learn right. The other needed to be loved, and he was getting pretty good at it. There was a cousin, too. Great girl, and no threat of complications."

"Cousin? Wow!"

"You should find a way to do it with Troy," Kathy said matter-of-factly.

"WHAT? I want Dozer to be my first! I don't think I could..."

"Talk to Jason about it. We're not sluts, or anything, but we have a little different view of sex between people who mean a lot to each other. You two are young and not nearly ready to be engaged. It's learning time. But only learn from the right people."

"Kathy, are you trying to turn my world upside down?"

"I thought Lindsey's already did that," Kathy joked. "There's one thing you should think about with Jason. He's going to be a football player for as long as someone wants him. He'll go away to college a year before you do. If he makes it to the NFL, it could involve moving to some places you don't really like. Could you handle that?"

"Kathy, I spent my first sixteen years as a hermit. I want any new experiences I can get." The conversation focused on possible futures for several more minutes before Erica changed the subject.

"So, from what you've been telling me, Jason is used to your bare body, which is a lot like mine. He's used to your size, and that's why he likes me. Is that about it?" Erica asked.

"I'm sure that's part of it, but you're missing the point, Honey. It's not that he's just attracted to full-sized bodies. It's just that if everything else about the girl is right, the size of her body doesn't bother him," Kathy explained.

"Erica, we're not built that much alike, you know. See, I have these big, strong hands and feet, while yours are dainty. My face is nice and symmetrical, but it looks strong, rather than beautiful. You have classic features. Your face is just more round than the models. Overall, you appear much more feminine than I do."

"You and Jason are both such good athletes," Erica said, embarrassed by Kathy's analysis. "I've never played any sports, and I don't even know much about them. I'm trying to learn about football, but it's not even in season," Erica lamented.

"Why didn't you play sports when you were younger?" Kathy asked.

"I would be too visible," Erica said. "My whole life has been spent trying not to be noticed. I always hoped that would stop the nasty remarks from my father and my sister."

Kathy fought the urge to choke up at those words. The girl did not need sympathy as much as she needed an ally and lots of encouragement. "Do you feel more like showing off a little, now?"

"Oh, I don't know. Why?"

"What are you wearing to the prom?" Kathy inquired.

"Several of us are going shopping for prom dresses this Friday night," Erica said, showing some excitement.

"Why don't you go for daring - put on a real show?"

"Me?" Erica asked in amazement.

"Yeah. Look, Honey, not only do you have awesome boobs. You have great skin. I think you should wear something that will almost get you thrown out because it shows so much of your chest. Turn around a minute."

When the stunned girl complied, Kathy unashamedly felt all over her back. "You're really pretty firm on your back, and you've got the same great skin, there. I think you should wear a dress that's bare all the way down to your butt crack."

"Kathy!"

Ignoring the blushing protest, Kathy asked "Is anyone helping you girls find dresses?"

"Lindsey's friend Margo is some kind of fashion expert, I guess. She's going with us."

"Hmmm. I want to talk to her. "You know, you should probably have a slit all the way up one leg, too."

"God! I'd be almost naked!"

"Isn't that what you'd really prefer?" Kathy said, staring right in Erica's eyes. "Wouldn't you really rather strut into that dance wearing nothing but high heels, with your big nipples sticking out like little rockets? Wouldn't that be your ideal?" When Erica just blushed and gulped, Kathy told her "Remember, I know pretty much how you feel, except I never had all of the ridicule to get over. I didn't have your natural grace, either.

"In a way, I think every woman would love to once in her life go naked to some kind of major event. It's the way we're wired. For you and me, it's just stronger because approval of our bodies has been so lacking.

"Honey, this is no joke. I think you could look spectacular with a very revealing dress."

"Wh ... why do you want me to look like that?"

"You are the first serious girlfriend Jason has had. He will be so proud to have you with him at the prom! I just want him to have even more to be proud of. I also want him to have a girlfriend who isn't suffering from concern about her body or from past psychological abuse. It would help you heal."

There was another hour of talk in the pool, the hot tub, and at a table enjoying a snack, then Kathy left so Erica could study.

From her car in the parking lot, Kathy called Muriel to find out who Margo was. From there it took a few calls, but she was finally connected to Margo Ballard and explained her idea about Erica's prom dress.

Kathy had no way of knowing how much Margo was already looking forward to outfitting Lindsey's girls for the prom. Months earlier, she had declared that she was paying for dresses and beauty treatments for all of the girls. In truth, whatever she spent would hardly be noticed with the money that she and Hank had made from songs they had written for Jenny, Lindsey, and others. Kathy's ideas for Erica got Margo even more excited.

-------

[Erica] Mid May

No one, especially Erica, believed what she looked like when the limo that Terry, Jed, and Dozer were sharing arrived at Lindsey's to pick her up. Dozer just stood frozen in place when Dale escorted Erica from her room. Muriel was flashing pictures as fast as she could, and Mark was taking videos of all of the guys and girls and their dates.

The management team had agreed that the prom was a perfect opportunity to make up for some of the deprivation and abuse the kids had suffered. By doing a little extra to make them stand out, it would provide an unprecedented psychological boost. Mark had gotten permission to take videos during the evening, and most of his footage would be of the Lindsey's kids.

Erica's dress was pretty much as Kathy had described it that night in the hot tub. One exception was an elegantly designed back that showed a tremendous amount of skin without being completely bare. No known fashion engineering could have provided a completely bare back while still providing enough superstructure support for her heavy breasts to satisfy the law and propriety. The 'all-the-way-up' leg slit was there, though, showing more of her delightful skin without really emphasizing the girth of her thighs. It was obvious that a thong was the only undergarment she could possibly have on.

Erica fully understood the impact she had made on her guy because Dozer never made a single wisecrack or joke all the way to the dance. That was unprecedented.

Management had negotiated with the school to get a couple of Plonske agents into the dance. Several of the kids would have siblings at the dance, some of whom could cause trouble. That included Erica and Connie.

When they neared the dance site, Dozer was able to talk to Erica, but there was no joking. "Baby," he said, using that name for the first time, "don't be blusing when you go in there, OK. Hold your head up and strut your stuff."

"But I'm pretty nervous."

"Just think of upstaging your bitch sister. Focus on that." Her eyes grew wide, but soon a look of determination took over her face.

Neither Erica nor Dozer were accomplished dancers, but they had practiced some and had agreed to be energetic. That meant that the bodice of her low-cut dress was repeatedly stress-tested throughout the evening.

As the evening wore on, she became more and more confident, and that precipitated an ugly incident. It was a very upbeat number, and she was gyrating and bouncing, lost in the music and the movement. Dozer was just as hypnotized, but only because his eyes were riveted on her. Several nearby couples had stopped dancing, and the guys, in particular, were staring at Erica.

Suddenly, Jenna forced herself between Erica and Dozer, knocking Erica off balance. "You slut!" Jenna shrieked. "Why don't you let those udders all the way out?!" With that, Jenna reached out with both hands, intent on ripping the front of Erica's dress down.

Dozer had great reflexes, and he instantly grabbed Jenna around the waist to move her to the side. Unfortunately, she was able to rake the fingernails of one hand down over one of Erica's breasts and get a hold on the dress as Erica fell backwards.

There was a ripping sound that was drowned by Jenna's shriek as she was thrown to the side. By the time Dozer could get on his knees beside Erica, she was lying on her back with all of one breast and most of the other exposed. She had three scratches on the exposed breast.

Dozer was as angry as he had ever been, torn between caring for his love and punishing the bitch sister. Connie and Missy had both stayed close to Erica the whole evening, and they got to her shortly after Dozer did. As he was pulling the dress back up to cover her, both girls knelt down to help surround her. Connie put her arm around Dozer's shoulder to gently restrain him from venting his anger.

It was Missy who hissed out angrily "Erica, you have got to get up and act as nonchalant as you can. If you do that, you will have scored a huge win over Jenna, and she will look like the arrogant fool that she is. Can you do that?"

"M ... my dress!" Erica objected.

"I'll hold it together while Connie finds pins or something to fix it," Missy insisted. "Erica, I know about psychological victories. If you can do this, you will be a hero. Just stand up and don't even acknowledge Jenna. Do it. Please!"

There was a live band, and when the commotion started, the music had stopped. In an amazingly short time, Erica was on her feet and Missy was holding the dress together. The female Plonske agent came rushing over with a safety pin, and one of the two torn straps was soon held together. It was enough to temporarily ensure propriety.

Missy's words had resonated with Erica, even through her shock. Rather dramatically brushing off the back of her dress, she turned away from Dozer toward the band and hollered "Hey! How can we dance with no music?"

The band had to wait out some heartfelt cheers and applause before restarting the number they had been playing. Erica insisted on dancing through the entire piece before agreeing to have her scratches attended to.

When she returned from a little first aid and dress repair in the ladies' room, three other football players had asked Dozer if they could dance with his girl. He watched proudly as she ignored the damaged dress and her oozing scratches and danced her heart out.

-------

[Erica & Mona] Mid May

Erica probably should not have been surprised when her mother was waiting at Lindsey's after school the next Monday. "Why did you get your sister suspended from school?" Mona demanded angrily.

"What are you talking about?" Erica answered in disbelief.

"She came to talk to you at the prom. That ... that boyfriend of yours pushed her away, and she's the one who got suspended. How could you do that to her? She could get kicked off of cheerleaders!"

Without a thought, Erica pulled off the uniform shirt that was all she usually wore on top when home. "Did she tell you about these?" she demanded angrily of her mother. "These are from her fingernails"

Even though she hated to touch her mother, Erica grabbed Mona's hand and dragged her rapidly toward her room, not bothering to put her shirt back on. Pulling the prom dress from the closet and thrusting the torn straps at Mona, Erica snarled "Did your precious angel tell you about this? She did that when she tried to pull my whole dress down! Did she tell you what she said to me when she pushed between us in the middle of a dance!?"

Mona stood slack-jawed, leaning away from the anger that she had never before seen from Erica, who was not through. "Mother, you get the hell out of here, right now. Don't you dare come back until you've found out what really happened and are ready to apologize to me! Now, out!"

Erica stomped from her room, still topless. After a few steps, she realized that fact, and turned back into her room. She grabbed her shirt, gave Mona the most withering glare she could generate, and walked out again, pulling on the shirt as she went.

Erica was through with her mother, but Missy had heard the interchange and hurried into Erica's room before Mona could get herself together enough to leave. Actually, Mona was holding the dress, looking at how little there was to it when Missy came in and shut the door.

In a very even tone, Missy asked "Do you want to hear what really happened last night, or are you content to just believe Jenna?"

"Why would Jenna lie to me?" Mona pled.

Missy threw up her hands dramatically and said "OK. Believe the lying bitch, find out for yourself, or just stay away from here forever. I can see that Erica would be better off if she never had to see you again."

That woke Mona up. She had never been talked to like that. "Wait!" she yelled as Missy went out the door. "How dare you call my daughter a liar!"

"Why not? You called your other daughter a liar."

"But ... but..."

"Lady, just sit your ass on that bed and don't move. I'm not even going to try to tell you the truth. I'll let the security agent who saw the whole thing tell you. Maybe you'll believe her," Missy said.

"Security agent? But ... but why?"

"Because management here is smart. They knew that Jenna hated Erica so much that she was a threat. One agent was within ten or fifteen feet of Erica the whole dance. Now sit while I fetch her."

It took less than ten minutes before the Plonske agent was recounting the incident as if dictating a police report. When she finished, Mona just sat and shook her head. After a few minutes, she got up and went looking for Erica, who had hidden in Missy's bathroom. Mona eventually had to give up and leave.

-------

The next morning, Erica's father was at the school, trying to start an action against Dozer for assaulting Jenna. The whole situation was getting utterly ridiculous. Fortunately, the Plonske agent was thinking ahead. She knew that the entire hall was covered by security cameras, so she had gone about getting the footage of the encounter. Not knowing how important it would be, she had a copy ready when a tearful Erica came home from school telling of the assault charge that her father had filed against Dozer.

One other thing that no one realized was that Mark had the incident on videotape, as well. Just because she looked so spectacular and was letting herself go so completely, Erica was on a good percentage of Mark's footage. At the time of the incident, she had drawn a crowd of onlookers, so Mark naturally turned his camera on her.

Julia called a quick management meeting and described the whole soap opera. "The question is how strongly should we respond? Obviously, the charge can't go anywhere."

"I think we should go after the sister as hard as we can," Muriel said. "Dozer isn't one of our kids, but by extension, he kind of is. The real victim here is Erica, just as she has been all of her life. The father is a world-class asshole, but we can best get at him by shaking his faith in the sister. If he gets in trouble for believing her, maybe he will worship her a little less."

Muriel did not even finish before several other were enthusiastically agreeing. "I couldn't agree more. We'll get the legals starting all possible action against the sister and the father. They'll never know what hit them," Julia declared.

Julia's next stop was with Erica. "Honey, I guarantee you, nothing will happen to Dozer. Between witnesses and the tapes, the truth is on our side. First thing tomorrow, lawsuits will be filed on your behalf against your sister and and your father. They will think the sky has fallen on them."

"L ... lawsuits? What for?"

"Perjury for Jenna. Fraudulent and malicious prosecution for your father."

"Wow! You'd do that for Dozer. Doesn't that cost a lot?"

"Erica, it is very important to us to establish that our kids are fully protected here, from everything. They are really attacking you through Dozer and we can't allow that. Sure, it costs money, just like the security agents cost money. Pretty soon, though, everyone will learn that you don't mess with Lindsey's. Next year, maybe, some father will try to file suit to get his daughter back from here. The lawyer will just laugh at him and tell him to call someone else. You can't win against Lindsey's."

"I ... I don't know how to thank you, Julia. For so many things."

"You said it once, Erica. You said you knew what your family was going to be like when you got married. You're going to break the cycle, and that's why Lindsey is doing this. That's all the thanks we need. Of course, going to weddings for several couples that found themselves through this place is going to be very rewarding, too.

"There's one thing we need to discuss," Julia went on. "It may not be tomorrow, but before long, after she finds out the truth, your mother is going to come back. You need to think about how you will react to her."

"I have no idea," Erica admitted. "She's so clueless, so gullible that it makes me crazy!"

"Much as you may doubt it, your mother loves you. It is almost impossible for a mother not to. Her problem is that she loves all three of her children. Unfortunately, she has always believed Jenna implicitly because she is the one who fits the family's definition of beauty. Mother's can live vicariously through daughters, just like fathers do through the sports successes of their sons. Your mother is reliving her teens through Jenna."

"Guess there's no way I could give her any vicarious thrills, huh?"

"I think that right now, your mother is being forced to do a lot of growing up."

"Huh? She's almost forty and has three kids. Growing up?"

"Maturity has surprisingly little to do with age. When this all settles out, she will see how gullible and shallow she has been. I suspect it will be very hard on her.

"So what am I supposed to do about it?" Erica asked with an edge to her voice. "You won't make me move home, will you?"

"Absolutely not. I'm just warning you that your mother may end up very, very angry at both your father and Jenna. She may also be distraught because she won't have anyone she can believe and depend on. Her marriage may even be in serious trouble."

"And you think I should try to support her?"

"I think you should carefully consider what you can and cannot do if she pleads for forgiveness and support."

"It isn't fair that she can shit on me my whole life, then I have to come to her rescue," Erica complained.

"I can't count how many times I have heard that," Julia said gently. "Doing the loving thing when it isn't fair is one sure sign of maturity. I think that very soon, your role and your mother's will be reversed. Will you deny her what she denied you?"

Erica sat silently for a few minutes, looking at the floor and sniffling occasionally. Finally, she looked up at Julia with moist eyes.

"You know, Cy has told me that the revenge he wanted so badly wasn't nearly as satisfying as he had imagined," Erica mused. "And what Leah did for her mother ... I guess ... I guess I'd rather be like them and forget the revenge. Do you really think I could help change Mom?"

Taking a second to get control of her voice, Julia answered "When it comes to people changing, I never say never anymore. I have just seen too many supposedly impossible changes."

"Well, if Mom changes, it will be one for your record book," Erica asserted.



-------

Chapter 35


[Bryan] Mid May

There had been no commitment from the DA people when they left after discussing more naked 'sentences' for troubled kids, but none had been expected. About three weeks later, Julia's admin caught her between appointments and said "A very distraught woman called. She said she was given your name and number by someone in the DA's office."

Five days later, there was a replay of Brett's entrance into Lindsey's. There were some differences, though. Only a mother stood watching. Ryan, Dale, and Clark were there to provide some impressive muscle. A sympathetic, cooperative police officer had readily agreed to do all of the talking.

'Deuce', as he insisted on being called, fifteen, had just been released from a drug rehab facility. The officer and his mother picked him up and drove straight to Lindsey's.

"Your mother has worked it out for you to do your sentence here, rather than jail, Deuce," the officer said. "I think you're getting off too damned easy, myself, but that's just me. This woman," and he pointed to Nancy, who was made up to look extra stern and severe, "is going to be keeping track of you. If you screw up, she's the one who sends you to jail. Now, before you go in, take off your clothes."

"What?"

"Oh, I thought I mentioned that you are going to spend your whole sentence here bare-assed," the officer said casually.

"No! You can't make me do that! Mo-om!"

"Now look, Punk. In there are eight great guys and nine really nice girls who are going to treat you a lot better than you deserve. Or would you rather just go to jail?

"You're pretty scrawny and kinda cute, so my guess is that it will take about a day for you to end up as some big kid's bitch." This time, the rough language had been cleared with the mother, who was desperate for anything that would help.

"Now, which would you rather do? Would you rather wave your boner around for some really nice girls? Or would you rather have some big bully ram his hard cock up your sore asshole every night?"

It was the mother's turn to play her part. "Bryan, you don't even get to decide. It's my decision. Are you going to take your own clothes off, or does Mommy have to undress you?"

Bryan was no Brett in many ways. He did not even have Brett's ego and his anger to get him through it. As so often happens, drugs had killed a lot of his will. He had to be physically stripped, kicking and screaming the whole time, and the men had to carry him in the door. When they stood him up in front of Missy, Libby, and Erica, he jammed his hands in front of his crotch, then ejaculated all over himself.

Looking at the miserable, crying heap that ended up huddled on the floor, Missy found herself wishing for another Brett. Then, she squared her shoulders, motioned to the other two girls, and together, they led him off to his room and his bathtub. The introductions could wait.

Outside, the mother was in about the same shape as Mary had been. The officer tried to console her. "Ma'am, I've spent some time with these kids. If there's any chance for your boy, it's here. I know if my young son grows up to have a problem, I just pray this place will take him."

-------

As Deuce was led to his new 'cell', as he then thought of it, his senses reached that overload point where what was happening to him ceased to seem real. For the first several steps, he did not so much walk as be dragged. Little by little, he began to support his own weight, although he made no attempt to shake off the hands holding him.

Reaching into the tub shower, Missy turned it on, then all three tried to get him to step in. That was where he decided to make a stand and resisted their efforts.

To herself, Missy hoped that her attitude toward Bryan was not just because he seemed so un-manly. Regardless of her reasons, she goosed him with her middle finger, aiming it for his asshole as closely as she could. Rather than climbing in, he fell over the tub edge, only saved from some nasty bumps by the other two girls still holding on to him.

That was more than Missy could handle. Single-handedly, she got him up against the opposite wall of the tub, facing her. Before he could react, she had one hand around his throat, not tightly, but firmly. With the other hand she grabbed his balls and applied enough pressure to make sure that he did not try to escape.

Exerting all of her self-control, she talked to him in a near hiss. "Listen, Bryan. I would love to get to be your friend. You know, horse around in the pool, sit and gab, beat your ass at computer games or whatever. But I'm no child any more, and I don't play with children. I've got a pair of balls in my hand and we saw you shoot off earlier, so I guess you're male. We certainly haven't seen anything to indicate that you're a man, though.

"All of us here have been given an unbelievable chance. We'll do anything for someone else who's been given that chance, as long as they realize what they've been given and try to make the best of it. If you decide to just piss on everything here, I will see that you get to enjoy Bubba's infected dong up your rear the next night. Do you understand me?

"Who made you queen?" Bryan spat out.

So quickly that he had no chance to protect himself, Missy snapped his glans with her middle finger, causing him to double over with the pain. "You have exactly thirty seconds to prove to me that you have really changed your attitude. Otherwise, your start here is going to be a lot less fun than it could have been," she said cooly.

-------

[Mona & Erica] Late May

It took over a week, but once again, Mona was waiting for Erica after school. Erica had been thinking a lot about how she would react if Julia's prediction came true. Her kinder intentions were shelved, though, when she saw her mother's face. There was concern in Mona's expression, but no contrition.

"So, you didn't even believe the tapes, huh?" Erica challenged before her mother could say anything. "What happened to the charges against Dozer?"

"I, uh, guess there wasn't enough evidence," Mona said uncertainly.

"No, Mother, there was plenty of evidence. The charge against Dozer was dropped because Jenna lied. What about the lawsuits against your daughter and your husband?"

"Th ... that's why I came here," Mona pled. "To ask you to drop those."

"Did you ask your husband and daughter to drop the charges against Dozer?"

"N ... no, I..."

"Why not? Didn't you believe the agent? Didn't you watch the tapes?" Erica's voice had risen and Mona was unconsciously recoiling from her daughter's angry words. "There is no way you could still believe Jenna, yet here you are!

"I was all ready to accept your apology and try to rebuild some kind of a relationship. How stupid of me! Well, you'd better just forget you ever had me! I've found a new, real mother, anyway." Mona jerked back at that as if Erica had struck her.

Erica was so angry that she was just reacting, not thinking. She remembered Leah's ultimatum to her mother and jumped on it. "The only way I will ever speak to you again is if you walk in here naked. Now, just leave and go back to your perfect family!"

-------

At her nearly regular dinnertime visit to Lindsey's Julia sought out Erica.

"Might as well just drop those lawsuits," Erica said. "Dozer's been cleared. I had hoped the suits would help change my mother, but she's just too far gone."

"I heard about your conditions for talking to her again," Julia said softly.

"Yeah, well, I can really understand how Leah felt."

"You have to realize that there is a difference, Erica. Phyllis was the instigator. She was just plain mean. Your mother is a, how should I say it ... she's almost like a slave to your father. I don't think she has much of a will of her own any more."

"But I can't give her one ... a will, I mean."

"No, you can't. But the way things are, she'll never see you again unless she develops one on her own."

"I can't believe she really wants to see me again," Erica declared.

"Honey, I'm just afraid your mother could be at a dangerous place."

"So, why should that be my problem?" Erica yelled. Then, she burst into tears, hugged Julia fiercely, and apologized over and over.

-------

[Mona] Late May

As in many such cases, Mona's suicide attempt was more for show than for results. There was little chance that the pills she ingested could have killed her, but from the way she felt in intensive care, she may have wished that she had succeeded. It was Trevor who called to let Erica know, then asked if there was any way he could come and stay with her for a few days.

Naturally, Erica went right to Muriel, who in turn called Julia. Julia took time to call the hospital and find out the details. Then she called Dozer and asked him to hurry to Lindsey's.

By the time Julia arrived, Trevor and Dozer were there, and Kathy had insisted on coming, too. Finding a secluded spot, Julia told them all "It appears to be a classic plea for help case. There was little chance of it actually being fatal. Trevor, I'm sure it was pretty traumatic for you, though. You were the one that found her, right?" He nodded. "Well, I want to assure you that you reacted very well. You did everything right."

"Plea for help, huh?" Erica said softly. "And I didn't help her when I guess she needed it." Tears were leaking down her cheeks. Dozer and Kathy were quickly hugging her.

"If it's any consolation, Erica, this surprised me," Julia said. "I would not have guessed that she could marshal the will to do even that much. Trevor how is your dad reacting?"

"Um, at first, he was like in shock. When he came back from the hospital, he was swearing and calling her all sorts of names. I really don't want to be around there!"

"What about Jenna?"

"She justs sort of stares off into space. It's like she's trying to deny that it happened."

"I managed to talk to a doctor who treated your mother," Julia said to Erica. "He said there was one thing she kept muttering. It was 'she said she found a real mother'. Did you say that to her."

"Yeah. I was really pissed. But I meant it, Kathy." Erica hugged Kathy after saying that. "I ... I guess that was pretty cruel."

"Erica," Julia replied, "I don't want you thinking that this is your fault. Remember, you have been the victim for most of your life. Now, you have found love and respect. I think Mona looks at you and sees you enjoying things that she has to admit she never really had. Add to that a mother's natural feelings for her child, and you can see why she might be a mess."

"When you talked about our situations being reversed, you weren't kidding, were you? But why did she believe Jenna instead of me?"

"That's a tough one. Would you like to talk some more in private?" Julia answered.

"NO! Trevor needs all the help he can get if he's going to survive that nuthouse. Dozer is my rock. I wasn't kidding about Kathy being a real mom to me."

"OK. I understand. Mona's problem is that she has constructed this perfect little world. She took a lot of pride in it. In fact, she was so proud of her world that she ignored that her gorgeous older daughter was a spoiled rotten, hateful slut, and her husband was a..."

" ... narcissistic asshole is the proper term," Erica interjected.

"That's just what I was going to say," Julia chuckled. "Since this is not a session, I can use the proper terms." That lightened the mood a little.

"When you left, you put a serious crack in Mona's perfect world. Jenna and your dad were the foundation of the world she wanted to preserve. She could not make herself go against them. Does that make any sense?"

"Of course it does. You're the genius shrink. You always make sense," Erica said, keeping a straight face for only a second. Julia was thrilled that the girl could inject humor in that situation. Just as quickly, Erica became serious again. "Then, why the suicide attempt."

"You see, she really does love you a lot more than you think. She knows that her family is hopelessly fractured. She wants her 'perfect' family but can no longer deny that it is not at all perfect. It has badly hurt someone she also loves - you. She was being pulled in two different directions and just could not deal with it.

"Now, this is a quick analysis based on limited contact with her. But I have dealt with a number of similar cases over the years."

"Can't I just get out of that mess?" Trevor asked in a shaky voice.

"Trevor, I'm sorry, but we really can't take you in here," Julia told him gently. "You're not a victim like Erica was, and that's what we're set up for. It's my guess that your parents are headed for divorce. When that happens, I think you can be quite happy living with your mother."

"Tell you what," Kathy spoke up, "we have an extra bedroom. Would you like to stay with us for the summer? From what Erica says, it's pretty modest compared to your house, but it would get you away from all of the stress."

"You'd really let me do that?" Trevor asked in amazement.

"And since Dozer almost lives here at Lindsey's," Kathy said with a grin, "I'm sure you could spend a lot of time here, too."

"And I'll bet Troy would like to have you stay with him sometimes, too," Erica added.

"One thing you have to consider, Trevor," Julia cautioned, "is how it will affect your mother if you move out. If she will agree to become my patient, I will counsel her to seek divorce immediately. I always consider that the last resort, but in this case..."

"Is that because Dad's hopeless?" Trevor asked.

"Let's just say that if your mother was my patient, I would not see any way that she could get better while still married to him."

"Yeah. Hopeless," Trevor grumped.

"Trev," Erica spoke up, "you and I need to go and see Mom in the hospital. We need to tell her that if she wants to see us again, she has to sign up with Julia."

"I'm not sure that's the way to..."

"Julia, you practically said that she's the child and I'm the parent, now," Erica pointed out. "I'm just going to tell her what's best for her."

"After a divorce," Julia queried, "will the two of you agree to live with her?"

"Oh!" Erica gasped. "I hadn't thought of that." She looked around, silently expressing her reluctance to leave what she saw as her perfect home. "I guess if things changed that much, I wouldn't really need to be here, would I?"

"Let's just say that the reasons that brought you here would no longer exist. Your self-confidence has increased a thousand percent. You've found a great guy, and you would have a very different mother. I would not let you leave here unless I was convinced that she had truly changed."

-------

When Erica and Trevor walked into Mona's hospital room hand in hand, she looked at Erica with genuine surprise. "I thought you said you wouldn't talk to me unless..."

Mona was sitting in a chair, rather than in bed. She was well enough to go home, but by hospital policy, she had to be cleared to leave by a psychiatrist after a suicide attempt. Erica sat on the bed and pulled Trevor beside her.

"We've got a new deal for you, Mom. Trevor and I will come and live with you IF: you become Julia's patient, and if..."

"Julia?"

"Dr. Waxman, the director of Transformations and Lindsey's Place. She's a phenomenal psychiatrist. You never took time to meet her when you were there."

"And you'd come home to live if I became her patient?" Mona asked with almost pathetic hope in her voice.

"That's not what I said," Erica corrected her. "That's just the first part of the deal. The other part is that you have to file for divorce immediately and live separately from your husband."

"Divorce? Why would you ask that? I've never ... there's no reason..."

"Look, the reason you tried to kill yourself is because you're being torn in two and you just didn't know what to do," Erica stated, using words that Julia had coached her on. "You finally realize what Jenna and your husband are like. You realize what all of you did to drive me away. You honestly do love me and wish that I was back home. You know that I can never be reconciled with those two, so you are in an impossible position.

"Next year, Jenna will be gone to college, and all you will have left is your husband. Trevor is already looking for a way to get out of there, and..."

"Trevor! I never knew you were unhappy!" Mona said around a little sob.

"It's ... it's been growing since Erica left. Those two are just ... I can't stand either of them, and it just gets worse," Trevor admitted.

Changing the subject a little, Mona complained "You never refer to him as your father any more."

"'Dad' is an affectionate term expressing love. 'Father' expresses respect. I feel neither for him - haven't for many years." That little explanation had been coached by Julia. "When I needed something from a man - something fatherly - I always went to Troy. He's a real man."

"But your father is..."

"Yeah, he's handsome and built, and he's got a good-sized cock. So what?"

"Erica! Don't talk like that in front of Trevor!"

"Oh, for God's sake, Mom. He's growing up fast. He's no kid any more. I'll bet your husband is a lousy lover. I'll bet he's so selfish he just takes care of himself and ignores what you might need or want. Isn't that right? You're supposed to be honored that he'll stick his big cock in you. Just the privilege is supposed to leave you satisfied, right?"

"How can you talk this way? What do you know about any of this?" Mona shrieked. Her assigned psychiatrist was just outside the door, but after an intense conversation with Julia, she had been convinced to let Erica carry the ball.

"Tell you what," Erica said, "I'll give you one hour with Dozer. Then you'll know what you've been missing. You'll know how a real man treats a woman."

"Dozer?"

"God, Mom! Dozer is my boyfriend - the one your husband tried to get arrested. We've only had sex a few times, but he thinks first about me. By the time he puts it in me, I'm barely conscious from the things he does with his hands and his mouth."

"You can't say those things in front of Trevor! He's too young! You shouldn't be having sex, either."

"Oh, come off it, Mom. Trying to hide sex - the real world - from Trevor isn't going to help him be a man. You had sex at a lot younger than my first time. Have you finally found out how many guys Jenna has had?"

"You keep saying that about Jenna! How can you be so hateful?"

"Tell Mom what people at school think about Jenna, Trev. Tell here exactly what they say in the locker room."

He looked uncertainly between his mother and his sister. Then, he squared his shoulders and said "The word is that she's such a foul-mouthed bitch that they hate to kiss her. But once she gets going, she's an awesome lay. Discounted for boasting, at least twenty-five guys must have had her."

Mona just clutched her arms around herself and moaned softly for a while. Finally, Erica asked softly "You already knew that, didn't you, Mom? Trying to deny it was one of the things that made you take the pills, wasn't it."

Mona could only stare at her two youngest with wide, tear-filled eyes. Erica did not feel very good about what was happening, but she believed that Julia was right. She was now the adult and Mona the child. If there was hope for a better life for Mona, it was up to Erica to drag her kicking and screaming away from her old life.

"They'll release you from here tomorrow, Mom. You have an appointment with a lawyer to start the divorce. You and Trev can stay for a while in an apartment at the Transformations complex."

"I can't just ... just walk away like that!" Mona objected.

"You have to. Otherwise, I'll just make sure you get some stronger pills so you don't fail next time. Those are your only real choices." That part had not been rehearsed with Julia, obviously, but it certainly struck home. Mona let loose an anguished shriek.

Erica was not aware that Leah had come to the hospital, and was standing outside the room with the shrink. When Erica and Trevor came out, the doctor had left, and Leah wrapped Erica in a hug. "Believe me, I know how hard that was. I guarantee you that when it's all over, you will feel better than you could have imagined."

"I believe you, Leah. I saw you, remember?" She turned to Trevor and put an arm around him. "How you doing, Bro'. That was pretty tough stuff, wasn't it?"

"You ... you became like her mother, didn't you? She's like the kid, now."

Ruffling his hair and chuckling, Erica said "At least someone in the family has some brains. Basically, she was always her husband's child, before. I had to take over that role to save her."

-------

It was terribly hard for Erica to concentrate on the end of the school year and finals. With Julia's help, she got fully into her role of 'parenting' Mona. The divorce was filed, and Mona, Trevor, and Erica all moved into the apartment. The divorce lawyer from Marty's firm was concerned that Mona was giving up her rights to the family home by moving out, but Julia convinced him that it was a psychological necessity.

Perhaps the hardest thing on Mona was that her husband accepted the divorce almost eagerly. Jenna's reaction hurt, too, as she totally rejected her mother.

The apartments were not designed as halfway residences or refuges, but a lot of things about the complex were being put to unexpected use, and they did no one any good when empty. Julia arranged for the three to eat all of their meals at Lindsey's, and she talked Mona into helping Gretchen and Carol in the main kitchen. The idea was to immerse Mona in the atmosphere of the place and to get her communicating with the kids and with the resident women.

Just after school let out, Erica and Mona were walking around the grounds after breakfast and Erica asked "Are you ready for that hour with Dozer?"

"Erica! You can't be serious! How can you think of letting your man do that?"

"The question, Mom, is if you need that to help you heal?"

"I think..." Mona stumbled for words, " ... no, I could never do that. I've been watching you too, though. And Faith and Dale and the other couples. You're all so young, but there's something there that I guess we never had."

"Besides the obvious love, Mom, I think it's respect. Your husband could never respect anyone but himself. Look at Muriel and Clark. They're more your age. Can't you just see the respect between them?"

"Yes ... yes. I admit, I'm jealous. But even if I ... with Dozer ... I need a man of my own."

"But you don't need another one like that last one. Tell you what: we should maybe wait a while because of the divorce, but as soon as it's safe, I'll introduce you to Max."

"Max?"

"Max Charles. He's Faith's dad." She told her mother a brief version of Max's story. Mona had already had several conversations with Faith. Mona's reaction was stunning, and Erica could hardly wait to tell Julia.

"Do you think he would like me?" the woman asked, sounding for all the world like an insecure teenager.

That one question told Erica the correctness and the importance of what she had done. Her mother really had needed a parent to get her out of the trap she was in. The role reversal that Julia had suggested was absolutely correct.

That realization released Erica's ability to genuinely love her mother. Mona's bad treatment of her daughter was not entirely her fault. She was just too compliant to go against her husband and eldest, even if she felt guilty about what was happening.

No longer an official resident of Lindsey's, Erica still considered it her home, just like all of the other former residents. While they were still in the apartment, she caught Trevor one day and asked him "Are you up for a project?"

"What kind of a project?"

"A girl. She'll be moving in tomorrow. She's your age, so she'll be among the youngest. From what I hear, she has had absolutely no love, tenderness, or even kindness from any male."

"Wow! You want me to try to make up for that?"

"Well, all girls want to be treated nicely by guys, so it isn't hopeless. Besides, the word is that despite crummy clothes, a lousy hairdo, and lots of bruises, she is really quite beautiful."

"And you think I can do that?"

Erica debated with herself for several moments before deciding to go for it. "Let me tell what Troy did for me. I think you're a lot like him, and there's no better example to follow." Refusing to acknowledge any embarrassment, she told Trevor in detail about everything that had happened with Troy, including the masturbation episode.

"So you see, Bro', Troy played a key part in literally saving my life. If you can do that for Madison, with my help, I will feel like I have repaid what Troy did. You talk to Troy about it, and I'm sure he will tell you how good it made him feel."

-------

[Sophie & Julia] Early June

Sophie had spent a longer time at the Tee than anyone but Missy, and that was just because of Missy's longer than necessary sentence. When it was agreed that Sophie no longer needed to be a resident psychologically, she still wanted to make more progress physically.

It was becoming rather common for ex-residents to return to the Tee for workouts, and Sophie was invited to do that. The problem was where she would live. She had moved out of her apartment when she admitted herself. The several apartments on the grounds were not all full, so it was agreed that she could rent one.

Starting with the sessions with Chelsea, Sophie had spent as much time as she was allowed at Lindsey's. She would gladly have moved in, naked. Several other women had joined her sporadically, but she had been the consistent one.

Sophie moved to the apartment just about when Bryan started his sentence. Being away from the camaraderie of the Tee and not being able to visit Lindsey's was tough on her. Julia realized that even with her wonderful progress, Sophie was always in danger of falling back into addiction.

"You're certainly welcome to spend as much time as you want at the Tee," Julia assured Sophie. "We just need your room, and you have to admit that you're ready to move out."

"I know, Julia. I'm really realizing how wonderful it has been for me. It makes me not want to go back into the real world. You're not going to keep the women from Lindsey's just so that boy can be the only one naked, are you?"

"No, we've given up that requirement. In fact, you will be a perfect one when he is ready. Maybe you can get to him about the drugs. Oh, I assume you're willing to do it naked."

"Of course. I had a thought," Sophie said. "How about if I went over during school hours and made him work out with me. Then, we could do the massage bit, kind of like I did with Brett."

"That's a great idea. We're waiting until he's not hard all the time. We thought that would take a week or less, but he is extremely easily aroused. Once he starts to slack off, bringing you and some others in will crank him up again."

"Is he as tough to 'break down' as Brett?" Sophie asked.

"It's different," Julia complained. "He's certainly not tough like Brett. You probably heard what his entrance was like. Instead, he's sullen and withdrawn. I think part of it is that we don't have anyone as good as Connie to be his handler."

"Missy?"

"We've decided that she should be kept out of that. I know she's not the oldest, but she is likely to be here the longest. We need to preserve her 'senior sibling' status, and getting down and dirty with Bryan doesn't seem to fit."

"Hmmmm. Sounds like I could have some fun," Sophie mused. "Julia, I really need to be with the kids. It's the only time I don't really feel the urges."

"Even when you're with the women?"

"Oh, it's great there. Please don't be offended, but all of the women are to some extent losers. We're recovering losers, but..."

"That's a little harsh, but I think I understand what you're getting at," Julia admitted.

"Well, the kids are just victims, and I don't have to tell you how great they are. With the women, we're all digging out of a hole. The kids are like they are just being unleashed. All that potential and promise!"

"Maybe we won't wait as long as planned before we sic you on Bryan," Julia thought out loud. "Any bright ideas on how to shake him up, break him down?"

"Does his mother work during school hours?"

"Not all the time. Why?"

"How about if she spends as much time as possible with him. I would be there, too. Let's start treating him like he was a small boy. With my help, his mother could shave him."

"Shave him? I don't think he needs ... OH! Sophie, that's brilliant."

"We would say things like 'A pretty boy like you shouldn't have all of this unsightly hair. We could even shave his legs. There could be some other things that attack his manhood."

"Hmmmm. Missy hit him pretty hard on that topic when he came here. Of course, there could always be backlash, but he is a strange one."

"How committed is the mom? Here's another radical idea: every day when the mom comes, she could check his bottom to be sure he had wiped himself well enough. She could examine the loose skin on his penis and testicles to make sure he had gotten that clean. In another words, all of the things she might to with a little boy. Could she do that?"

"I suspect that after you had worked with her a little and I gave my approval, she could do anything that she thought would help."

"Would she strip? I don't know if that would be good, but I just wondered."

"The reason Bryan is here is because his mother is a good woman who is at her wits' end with the boy. I don't think there is anything she wouldn't do. Let's think about this for a day. Tomorrow, we'll lay out a specific plan, then bring her in on it.

-------

Since Sophie had not yet been 'unleashed' on Bryan, she, Julia, and Brian's mother, Kay, met in Julia's office the next evening. Sophie was naked, to make a point. They described what they had talked about to try to turn Bryan around.

"But ... but he'll be humiliated," Kay objected.

"Kay," Julia said gently, "How responsive and communicative has Bryan been?"

"He's ... not at all. He might as well be in a separate world. Won't this just make him withdraw further?"

"That is a possibility, but I doubt if it will happen. Even as withdrawn as he is, he is surrounded by his contemporaries. Having to be so unique among them has to put a lot of pressure on him. We want to increase that pressure dramatically. Treating him like a child should make that pressure unbearable. He just isn't tough enough to take it all and ignore it."

"But we've always been modest around each other," Kay objected. "We've always respected each others' privacy. This just seems wrong."

"How much privacy will there be if he fries his brain and you have to wipe his ass for the rest of his life?" Sophie challenged. "Privacy isn't very important after you have to bury him from an OD, is it?"

"He ... he really wasn't that bad," Kay complained.

"Kay, believe me when I tell you this," Julia said. "Bryan has the kind of personality that can easily get sucked farther and farther into drugs. That is a one-way street to one of the disasters that Sophie just mentioned.

"You showed a lot of courage and tough love in getting him in here. You haven't come to see him much, though. Is that because you think it embarrasses him?"

"Yes. I just hate to..."

"You have to realize, Kay, that humiliation is a tool, a part of treatment. It may be the only one that will work. Right now, you have to decide that this is a necessary next step in your 'tough love'."

"Will you always be with me?" Kay asked Sophie.

"Yes, she will," Julia assured. "Whenever you need her, Nancy will be there, as well. You may not have seen it, but she terrifies Bryan. She is a wonderful, compassionate woman, but a terrific actor. If Nancy tells Bryan to bend over and spread his cheeks so you can see if he is clean, he will do it. Believe me."

"Maybe Nancy should do all of these things to him," Kay said hopefully.

"No. She is the cop, and it has to stay that way. Besides, having his mother do them makes the treatment as a child have more impact."

"How about Sophie?" Kay tried again.

"Sophie will be his sexual stimulant and his drug counsellor. She will be naked all the time, and..."

"Oh, no! That's not right!" Kay interrupted Julia.

"Kay, nothing about Bryan's situation is right. We're trying to do whatever we can to make it right."

"But if she's naked all the time, he'll get ... get, uh, aroused. That's not like a child," Kay pointed out.

"No, it's not. We think the contrast between the childish treatment and the constant sexual arousal will leave him completely disoriented. You should know that other naked women will be visiting, as well," Julia cautioned. "By the way, if we thought it would help, could you be naked around him, too?"

Kay could only stare in disbelief. "Maybe I should not have asked you that right now," Julia admitted. "Will you do the other things?"

"I guess you're right," Kay said. "I don't know what else to do, and I am scared to death of where he will end up. I trust you, Dr. Waxman. You and Sophie will have to help me, though."

"We'll give you all he help you need," Julia promised.



-------

Chapter 36


[Lindsey & Madison] Early June

Connie's life had been like Cinderella before Prince Charming. Madison's had been even worse. She definitely could have qualified to be removed by Social Services, but a concerned teacher led the effort to get her to Lindsey's instead.

It was the gym teacher who started to suspect a problem. Between some obvious bruises and Madison's near terror at having to undress and shower, she stood out. The poor girl was dressed and groomed like a street waif, even though the house her family lived in was definitely middle class.

One day when Madison could not hide a large bruise on the side of one breast, the gym teacher went to the guidance counselor, who knew about Lindsey's. Madison was a perfectly behaved student and got decent grades, so she she seemed like a good candidate for Lindsey's.

When the counsellor tried to do a little research on Madison, she came up empty. All she could find out was that she had a mother, father, and older brother. None of the neighbors had even met the girl, although she had lived in the house her entire life. That was a definite red flag.

Jeanette, the Plonske agent who spent a good deal of her time with Lindsey's, was the one who insisted that they bug the house to find out more. She personally came to a staff meeting and pled the case. After she had told the group what she was sure they would find, her tears prompted Julia to ask "That's what home was like for you, wasn't it, Jeanette?"

It was even worse than Jeanette's. As much a scullery slave as Connie had been, Madison was denied any scrap of privacy. The punishment for any perceived infraction was a period of having to be naked while performing her long list of normal tasks. Strangely, but fortunately, the father's weird sense of right and wrong forbad any sexual contact, so Madison was still a virgin. Corporal punishment, however, was just fine - sometimes vicious corporal punishment.

As had been done with Erica, Lindsey was in the school counselor's office to convince Madison to move. There was the same trip home to fetch a few meager belongings. This time, both Missy and Connie were fetched from school.

-------

Since the 'sentences' of Brett, Chelsea, and Bryan, there had been an extra challenge bringing in a new resident. The presence of the naked teen had to be explained. Of course, the increasingly frequent presence of naked Tee residents visiting the kids also had to be explained, but the women could be kept away for a few days to work into that.

Because of her environment, the presence of a naked boy would be very upsetting to Madison. It was decided that Lindsey should do the explanation. It had to be done immediately upon arrival, since it was unfair to restrict Bryan to his room for more than a few hours.

Besides the problem of explaining Bryan, it was Missy who called Julia and begged for some kind of dramatic event to show the new girl once and for all how different her world had become. "With Erica, I just sensed that she need to show her body."

"You were absolutely right about that, Missy," Julia agreed. "What do you think Madison needs?"

"First of all, I think she needs to be dramatically shown that the men and boys here are completely different. If that doesn't happen right away, she will be afraid of all of them," Missy said.

"From the briefing, I had anticipated that as our biggest challenge," Julia agreed. "I suppose you have an idea about how to accelerate that?"

"Well, yeah. It's, um, pretty radical, but..." Missy explained what she had come up with.

"Missy, you're brilliant, but that seems way over the top," Julia objected. "We could never get them to do that."

"Don't under-estimate Lindsey's power with the kids," Missy cautioned. "I'm going to ask her."

-------

Madison was almost in shock, having barely gotten her few rescued possessions into her room when Lindsey entered and asked to talk to her. At the school, Lindsey's plea had been the deciding factor. Now, it was hard for Madison to even concentrate. That was probably a good thing.

"There's one thing we couldn't tell you until you moved in, Madison," Lindsey started right in. "It's not a bad thing. In fact, for us girls, it's kind of fun. There is a guy here, named Bryan, who is serving a sentence here instead of going to jail. He has been busted for drugs three times.

"Madison, as part of his sentence, Bryan has to a lot of the less pleasant jobs around here. The main thing, though, is that he has to be naked all the time."

The new girl's shock had been expected, so Lindsey just went on to recount how her brother had been the first, then Chelsea. She described the week that Alex's parents spent there naked.

Along with disbelief, Madison felt some instant sympathy for the boy. She knew how humiliating forced nudity could be. She was unable to say a thing.

With still almost nothing but shock from Madison, Lindsey pushed a little harder. "Bryan has been here a while, now, so he is not hard all of the time like he was the first several days. I'm sure you'll get a chance to see him hard before long, though."

Lindsey went on to describe how the residents were expected to treat Bryan. When she finished, she asked "Madison, do you have a sexy bikini?"

"What? Oh, no! I never got to swim." Berating herself for irritating a wound, Lindsey said "Well, we've got extra suits here, and I'm sure the kids will teach you to swim pretty quickly. The reason I ask is that we always greet new residents with a pool party. That will be tomorrow for dinner. It's a really fun time."

"You're kidding, right?" Madison was finally able to say. "I mean about B ... Bryan ... uh, naked."

"No, Madison, I'm not kidding."

"But ... but that's cruel!"

"It's not like what your family did to you, Madison. You did nothing to deserve being made to go naked. If he wasn't here, Bryan would be in jail. He is not making much progress, and we've had to try some pretty harsh things. When you see him, don't be surprised that his body hair has all been shaved off, even around his penis.

"Everyone here wants Bryan to get free of drugs and get his life back together. You'll meet his mother. She is a sweet women whose heart is breaking. She is doing some humiliating things to her son because we have convinced her that they are necessary.

"Let's go out there right now. I think they let Bryan out of his room, knowing that I would be explaining him to you. Do you want me to introduce you to him, or would you rather just watch for a day or two?"

"J ... just watch!" Madison said almost frantically.

"OK. I should tell you that if I introduced you right away, he would probably get a hardon for you. Seeing a pretty girl so nervous looking at him always seems to excite him."

"Doesn't ... doesn't that humiliate him?"

"Part of the humiliation is on purpose, Madison. This is punishment, after all. He's here instead of in jail. The main thing, though, is to break him down so his behavior will change." Lindsey gave a brief explanation of the theory, and she was pleased to see Madison coming out of her shock and seeming to understand and agree with the methodology.

"You'll have to talk to Bryan pretty soon, you know," Lindsey warned the girl.

"Oh, no! I just couldn't! Why do I have to?"

"Every week, Bryan is quizzed about the stories of all of the kids who live here. If he doesn't know a story, it's a bad mark. Too many bad marks and off to jail he goes. Tell you what, we'll arrange for someone to be with you when you talk to him, OK?"

"Could ... could you?"

"I think it would be better if it was one of your new brothers or sisters, Madison. They already know his story and they can make sure he doesn't hold anything back or twist the truth."

"Wow! This is ... I never thought..."

"Tell you what. Just forget about Bryan for now, except for keeping an eye out for a hardon," Lindsey said with a giggle. "We'll make sure that you don't have to talk to him until you're ready. How does that sound?"

"Thank you, Lindsey. I still can't believe you're here, taking time to talk to me."

"You are in a new world, now. You're starting a new life. Just remember that. I feel honored to be part of it," Lindsey said before giving the girl a farewell hug.

Lindsey had actually laughed at the crazy idea Missy had brought to her for Madison's welcome. After talking to the girl, though, the plan did not seem ridiculous at all. She set off to see if she could make it happen.

-------

While Lindsey was briefing Madison on the Bryan situation, Julia called a hurried meeting of her management team. As soon as they were assembled, she told them Missy's idea.

"Personally, I think the idea is brilliant, and it would certainly address one of Madison's biggest problems," Julia said. "It's just that it's an awful lot to ask of them. Besides, if it happens, Pandora's box will be thrown wide open."

"Honey," Frank said gently, "I think the top of the box was blown off long ago. The only problem I see is that they will think that the have to do it."

"I told Lindsey to be very, very sure that none of them think that," Julia assured him. "What do the rest of you think?"

"My guess is that besides the impact on the poor girl, you are dying to see what happens from an experimental perspective," Paul said.

"Paul!" Julia exclaimed in mock anger. "Don't you know that a woman likes to have some secrets?" When the ripple of laughter died down. "Yes, it will definitely have some experimental value. I think just seeing who joins in and how they act will tell us a lot about the individual kids. I still have not heard any negative responses."

"This is a step with pretty big implications for the future," Ryan pointed out. "I'm certainly not against it, but we need to think about 'what next'."

"I couldn't agree more," Julia said emphatically, "but that's for other meeting. Oh, Muriel, I hope you're not upset that Lindsey is doing the asking, rather than you."

"Of course not, Julia. She has a magic with the kids that none of us could touch."

-------

Welcome parties for new arrivals were always carefully orchestrated. All Julia or Muriel had to do was describe the 'new sibling' and their story. The kids, led by Missy, did the rest.

This time, Missy did call Julia with her idea. Madison's background was so extreme that Missy believed some real shock therapy was needed to convince the girl how different her new life was.

Thus is was that on her first night at Lindsey's, at about 11pm, Lindsey and Missy walked into Madison's room naked. Madison could see several other naked girls behind them, but she could not keep her eyes from Lindsey. "We're having a girls-only skinny-dipping party," Lindsey said. Come on, strip down and join us."

Madison just sat and worked her mouth silently, staring in disbelief at her new hero and the tall girl she had barely met. "But ... but ... boys!"

"The boys will stay in their rooms," Lindsey said emphatically.

"But won't they ... won't they peek?"

"They won't, Madison. I promise you," Lindsey emphasized.

"How can you be sure?"

"Madison, this is what I mean by a new world. The boys here are all your new brothers, but good brothers. They know it would upset you if they saw you naked, so they won't look. They respect all of us girls too much. Come on." Lindsey took Madison's hand and pulled her to her feet. Missy started pulling off Madison's sleep shirt, and there was no resistance. "Take off your panties, Madison. Please. Do if for me."

That was more than Madison could resist, and soon she was walking shakily toward the pool, completely surrounded by other naked bodies. Muriel and Faith joined the girls and they spent an hour playing in the pool, using the hot tub, and enjoying some snacks. There were always two or three close around Madison, providing a visual shield.

"Are ... are they locked in, or something?" Madison asked at one point. She had been constantly looking toward the doors, expecting one to crack open.

"Only Bryan is locked in," Missy assured her. "We're not that sure of him, yet. The other boys will do what they promised. Can you imagine how much they want to look. How would you feel if you were in your room with a dozen naked guys out here, but you had promised not to look. Wouldn't that be tough? That's what the guys are willing to do to show you how they feel about you."

As midnight approached, Missy brought out a two-piece suit that did not quite qualify as a bikini. "Here's your swimsuit for the party tomorrow night, Madison."

"Oh, no! I couldn't wear that!"

"Yes, you can. Otherwise, you will look different from the rest of us. Girls!" They had all stowed their suits near the pool, and within about a minute, everyone but Madison wore a very revealing suit. "You are really beautiful, Madison. You should be proud to show off your body."

"But ... bruises!"

"About half of the kids here arrived with bruises. Consider it a badge of honor. They're the last ones you'll ever have, unless you decide to play soccer or something. Now, don't you want to look like all of your new sisters tomorrow night? Don't you want to reward the boys for keeping their promises?"

"Reward?"

"I told you; you're beautiful. Reward the guys by letting them look at you. They won't do anything and they won't make any suggestive comments, just compliments."

Missy had been doing all the talking, but Lindsey took over. She held the suit bottom for Madison to step into. The magic worked again. When Madison had her top on, Missy hollered out "OK, girls. One ... two ... three..."

Then, at the top of their lungs, the girls all yelled "COME ON OUT, GUYS!" From somewhere, Missy had a robe that she held out to Madison, who eagerly put it on.

From simultaneously opening doors emerged all of the guys, including Dale and Clark. They were all naked. It had been decided that Madison probably wasn't up to talking to them, so they went to the pool or to the eating area or talked with some of the other girls.

Because they were forewarned, the guys had all done everything possible to prevent erections. For three of them, it had not been enough. Lindsey had talked to all of the girls, as well, and they all made it a point to comfort and reassure the boys who got hard.

Again according to plan, most of the guys were only out five or ten minutes, but Dale and Clark stayed out. Lindsey and Missy managed to get Madison over to the eating area where they sat with Muriel and Clark and Faith and Dale. "What do you think of your new brothers after that, Madison?" Lindsey asked.

If it was not so poignant, it would have been humorous the way Madison tried not to stare at the two naked hunks, but could not keep her eyes away from them. "I feel like ... maybe Alice in Wonderland, or something."

"What the guys did - what do you think they were saying to you?" Lindsey probed.

"I don't understand how they could ... I don't understand how you can!" She waved at Dale and Clark. "I never could!"

"Do you think it was easy for the boys?"

"Oh, no! Why did they do it?"

"Remember, Honey," Muriel said, "every one of the kids is here because of a terrible home situation. Yours is probably as bad as anyone's. All of them know that the hardest part is realizing that everything is different. What the boys did has never happened before, but we have found lots of ways to kind of shock newcomers. We think it's a way to keep you from even thinking about yesterday or last week or last year."

"It shocked me all right! I mean I'm still shocked."

"Madison," Clark interjected, "Dale and I are very used to being naked, so it is not that difficult for us. For the others, though, it took a lot of guts. For a couple of the boys, it was the first time naked in public."

"I still don't understand how they could do it - or why?"

"After you've been her a while," Lindsey explained, "another new person will come in. It may be a boy or a girl. By that time, you will be overwhelmed with how much better your life is. You will want to help show that new person how different things are. You will want to help them forget the past and look forward. Wait here just a minute."

With that, Lindsey got up and went to one of the rooms. In less than five minutes, she returned with Randy, a fifteen-year-old who had been there barely three weeks. She had her arm around him. He was naked, blushing all over, and his rigid cock was bouncing with every step.

When they got to the group, Lindsey kissed Randy on the cheek and told him "You are such a man, Randy. Thank you for doing this. How many times have you been naked in front of females?"

"Some weekends at home, my mother and sisters never let me dress at all," Randy said quietly, "even when we had lots of company."

"So, you were forced to show yourself to them?"

"That was just part of it. They..." Randy gave a brief account of the kind of humiliation and 'soft' sexual abuse he suffered at the hands of his mother and older sisters.

"How did you end up here, Randy?"

"I finally got up the courage to run away late one night. Our older neighbor lady, who everyone thought was just a nosy snoop, saw me and begged me to come to her house. She hid me and made a lot of calls, and here I am."

"What was the first thing you asked when you got here?"

"I had heard of Transformations and that people were naked there. I had to be sure I would never have to be naked again," Randy answered.

"Then, why did you come out with the other boys, earlier? Why are you standing here like this?" Lindsey asked, hugging him gently.

"You told me that Madison's life was a lot like mine."

"Did I ask you to join the other guys, naked?"

"No. You told me what was going to happen so I wouldn't be puzzled or feel left out. You said I should just stay in my room when the others came out."

"But you didn't. Why not?"

"When I first came here, Muriel and Faith and Missy took me into that other section. They undressed, and some other naked ladies came in. They never made me undress and they were all so nice to me," Randy recounted.

"I understood why they did that, and it helped me a lot. All the other kids did anything they could to help me. It's my turn."

"Doesn't this bring back bad memories, though?"

"No! I'm doing this because I want to. Not because they made me. Mr. Hall has helped me a lot. I still can't help this," and he motioned to his hardon, "but it would probably happen anyway with a beauty like Madison looking at it."

Julia had said many times that the residents were really the most effective psychologists. Muriel just sat and shook her head at the compelling evidence of that from the abused boy. Just a glance at Madison's face showed that Randy had just done more for the girl than many sessions in Julia's office could accomplish.

When Randy complimented Madison's beauty, he also helped her by not mentioning that he suffered from persistent erections because of what his family had done to him. A heavy-duty jock strap, tight jeans, and a modest-sized organ were all that allowed him to avoid getting kicked out of school. He had gotten a medical excuse from phy ed and the accompanying showers.

"Want to stay and have a snack and chat a while, Randy?" Muriel asked, admittedly testing the boy.

It was obvious that his bravery was running out. He looked down at his pulsing hardon, then made the mistake of looking at Madison. Her gaze was locked onto his cock with such a look of fascination and longing that he was lost. "S ... s ... sure."

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" ... every single one of them, even Randy. That's the amazing thing," Muriel was telling the staff. "I've got to tell you what Randy said when Lindsey brought him out." She described Randy's words and behavior as best she could.

"I guess if Lindsey asks, they'll do about anything," Paul mused.

"It doesn't matter if it's Lindsey or the Pope, or whoever asking," Julia observed. "It was still a loving and courageous thing for those boys to do."

"I guess that puts paid to any last thoughts of keeping nudity out of Lindsey's, doesn't it," Ryan commented.

"We all knew it was heading that way," Frank opined. "We're still not going to allow just anyone to be naked just any time. This was for a very special reason, after all. That kind of shock therapy might never be needed again."

"Just how much we will allow will be a discussion topic at our upcoming 'retreat' day," Julia told them. "Rather than focusing on the nudity from last night, I would like to emphasize the reason for that and the other unique welcomes that have been done.

"It kind of started with Erica. Missy, with her wonderful instincts, understood Erica's need for acceptance of her body. Actually, it goes back to Connie, Muriel, where you and Dale had her skinny-dipping the first night. The intent with Connie was to show her a male that she could bare herself to without fear of harm or humiliation. That was completely new for her.

"Obviously, nudity is a big part of what we do, here. It is also of great significance to a hormonal teenager. That said, I'm sure it will often play a part. I would guess that as much as Madison was thrilled at seeing penises for the first time, it will be what her new siblings were willing to do to help her that she will remember down the road."

"Well, the way things are going, she'll be seeing lots of penises," Ryan quipped.

"Perhaps," Julia agreed, "but that won't make the sacrifices of Randy and the others any less meaningful. Now, we have a request for a naked sentence for another boy. We have always believed that the most impact came from being the only naked person. Results with Bryan have been less than amazing. Would this be the right time to see what happens with two naked boys?"

"It's certainly worth a try," Frank offered.

"This family situation is like Chelsea," Julia explained. "There is a large, supportive, but distraught family behind this boy. He did not get sentenced to rehab, but he did have to undergo STD treatment. I have talked to the parents, and they are all for a public stripping and caravan like was done for Chelsea. The boy's attitude, though, is more like Brett than it is like either Chelsea or Bryan.

"Sophie made a good point about the effect of another boy on Bryan. Our kids are always respectful and never ridicule him. If a new boy with a chip on his shoulder is sentenced, will he show the same respect for Bryan? I doubt it. Perhaps the new boy's ridicule of Bryan's 'child' status will finally shake him up.

"I am seriously thinking of asking Connie to come back for several weeks. I suspect that it will take something like what she did with Brett to crack through Darrin's tough shell. I don't see any of the other girls, except for Missy, who could do it."

"So, why not use Missy?"

"I think we should keep her in her 'almost staff' role. All of the kids acknowledge her implicit leadership. If she has to get 'down and dirty', it could harm her status. Of course, there is no question that she could do the job very well."

"Is it fair to keep Connie away from Jed for that long?"

"I've wondered about that. One thought is that perhaps having some trustworthy outside guys in the know and letting them be around frequently could put more pressure on," Julia explained.

"But how would Jed feel if he saw Connie leading Darrin around by his penis?"

"Except for the demands of football, I would already have Jed on staff."

"Why not use Erica," Gretchen suggested. "She almost lives there, anyway. I think Dozer would be much less upset by what she had to do. There's no doubt she could do it."

"I hadn't thought of her," Julia enthused. "You're right. She would be perfect!"

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[Julia & Staff] Mid June

"Ain't evolution interesting?" Julia said to lead off the session that was scheduled to last most of Saturday.

Special arrangements had been made so there were no current employees in either the Tee or Lindsey's. Mary Hall was 'babysitting' in the Tee, while Nancy Merker was with Faith, providing a 'just in case' presence at Lindsey's. It was considered important for all active staff to be present. The meeting was in the center section and everyone was naked.

"One year ago, when we had just survived the Schermer attacks and were still concerned about the agencies, who could have predicted the kinds of residents and the kinds of results we have seen.

"Perhaps nothing has been a bigger surprise than Lindsey's. A girl who many of us thought was just too good to be true has proved it beyond a doubt, hasn't she?" Everyone jumped to their feet and applauded the blushing Lindsey.

"Stories, people. The stories of those we have been privileged to touch are barely believable - stranger than fiction, as someone pointed out.

"We have two young women who validate the 'poor little rich girl' legend. Missy and Faith led as miserable lives as one could imagine in the middle of extreme wealth.

"With Jessica and Rachel, we admitted two women whose 'before' and 'after' pictures were interchangeable because they were physically perfect coming in. Yet, both of them needed the psychological transformation as much as any woman who has bared her body here.

"Janice was the first woman we brought in without any outside involvement. Along with the Halls, the Ralstons will always rank among our greatest successes in repairing families. Of course, the jury is still out on Brett Hall, but he is definitely 'migrating' more toward the achievement-oriented football crowd. It is our firm hope that the upcoming season will complete the 'recovery'.

"No one, not even Lindsey, I wager, could have predicted the astonishing things we saw at Lindsey's. Not because we no longer wanted them, but we have to claim as victories the return to their homes of Ted and Leah, the move of Connie to the Ralstons' home, and Cy's moving with in Rachael and Caz. And talk about stranger than fiction! No adoption was necessary because Caz was listed as the father on the birth certificate. Erica's 'taking over' of her new family after the divorce is another case for the journals.

"And how could you ever top the romantic story of Rachael and Caz? Andi and Andy, it has to rank right up there with yours, and with yours and Faith's, Dale.

"In fact, real, lasting love may be one or our most important results. Just in the last year, Rachael and Caz, Faith and Dale, although they did not meet here, Leah and Cy, and Chelsea and Alex. Connie and Jed and Erica and Dozer are less directly attributable to Lindsey's, but Missy and Ted definitely met here. Although not yet committed to each other, those couples show all of the signs.

"Hopefully, we will be able to claim a hand in bringing Muriel and Clark completely together." Julia had to pause for reaction to that. "And don't forget that Gretchen has now gone on ... how many dates has it been, Gretchen? - with Jessica's father. We can certainly claim a key role in that connection.

"We have done some radical things, many involving breaking our own rules. I sometimes shudder to think of what we did with Ray Ralston, but the fact that it worked is the most significant. What we did with Norman Hayes was not as radical, but again, we achieved the optimum result. We've already discussed how foolish we were to think that nudity could be kept out of Lindsey's, but again, I am proud of what was accomplished. Even one obvious 'save', like Chelsea, is worth more than any of our rules.

"Ray and Norman's cases give us some other things to ponder. First of all, are we foolish for avoiding anything overtly sexual as part of our therapy. Actually, we could include Phyllis, as well, since Cy did masturbate her. The 'therapy' we used on Brett Hall is another example. I will admit to being very worried about the 'slippery slope' problem if we open ourselves to more strategies like those used on Ray and on Phyllis.

"I also have to list as a monumental accomplishment the successful recruiting of Caroline Worth to be my new partner. She is the glowing red person that I believe all of you have met." That generated friendly laughter. "She has not had nearly the usual time to get comfortable with nudity, but she insisted that she wanted to be one of us in this meeting." There was general applause, and some cheers for Caroline.

"It has been a wonderful recruiting year! Having Joyce and Ben Ormond here and ready for the upcoming opening of Jennie's is a result of following our policy of finding good families and getting as many of the members as possible involved. If Jennie's is as successful for it's target clientele as Lindsey's has been and as we believe it will be, we will not even have time to mention all of the success stories next year.

"Well, I'm going to cheat. I'm only going to talk about the successes right now, except for one thing - the former men's section. There will be plenty of attention to our less successful residents, though. We will be working through them in smaller groups, looking for things that were done wrong, warning signs that were overlooked when accepting them, and possible ways of salvaging future similar cases.

"As for the men's section, we will spend some time analyzing what we missed and why. I will just say that shutting it down was the right move. It allowed us to build Lindsey's, which has already yielded more dramatic successes than the mens' section did.

"One discussion topic will be how we might still be able to transform men. Does what we did with Ray Ralston and Norman Hayes offer a general approach that might work for men? I think we can say that just having to be naked has a punishment component for men.

"One phenomenon that we need to discuss is the tendency for ex-residents to want to stay in close touch. What does that mean for facilities? For staffing?

"Still another topic is the center section. Does it really make sense to call it the nude section? What future uses do you see for it, if any?

"All in all, I think that unexpected diversity characterizes the last year. I strongly suspect that that trend will be permanent. That is not a negative thing at all. Does it complicate our environment? Definitely. Does it stress our decision-making skills and our inventiveness? Absolutely. Does it change lives, the thing that we are all here for? Without a doubt.

"Let us not spend any time grumbling about how out of hand things have gotten - how our tidy plans that we agonized over have gotten trashed. Let us rejoice every time a person who needs us finds their way here, whether or not their need is something we anticipated. Let us get excited about another life that we can make richer and more satisfying.

"Thank you for waiting for breakfast while I did this little intro. Let's eat."


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The End
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Posted:  2008-04-03
Last Modified: 2008-04-12 / 02:46:15 am
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