Chapter 5

Alex drove Vicki and me home, since the girls had already made arrangements to stay with us ... or, rather, with Zoe ... following the homecoming dance. No one talked in the car, although I could tell it was more Vicki giving me space to think, rather than her being mad at me too.

When we got home, mom pointed me at a chair at the kitchen table.

“Vicki, the girls are already upstairs. You head on up and let me talk to Cas for a minute.”

Vicki patted me on the back once then headed up to join the other two girls. Mom sat across from me and just looked at me for a minute.

“You know, with everything that has happened, sometimes I forget you’re fifteen years old.”

“I know. I screwed up tonight,” I said, hanging my head.

“It’s not just tonight, Cas. You have been a little reserved for weeks, ever since we found out about your unique biology. It got a lot worse after Alex showed up, and we learned about the behavior changes. Tonight was just the ‘straw that broke the camel’s back, ‘ but you have been headed towards this, all week.”

“I know you have a lot on your shoulders. I can’t even imagine what it must be like to feel responsible for the development of humanity. I don’t think anyone could imagine that. But you can’t let that shut you down, or change who you are. From the first day I met you, you have been kind and caring. Now isn’t the time to stop being those things.”

“So, what do I do? How do I fix this?”

“Well, for starters you need to stop thinking about yourself. I know it’s tough with all the pressure being put on you, but you aren’t alone. Those three girls are crazy about you. I know they have already tried several times to tell you how happy they are and to allay some of your fears; but I don’t think you really listened to them. You need to stop feeling sorry for yourself, apologize to them, and remember that we are all behind you.”

“Okay.”

I was trying not to sound mopey, but it was tough. How do you not feel sorry for yourself, when someone is telling you to stop feeling sorry for yourself? But I knew she was right. I had been way too self-absorbed and it was hurting me and everyone close to me.

I got up and started to head towards the stairs, when I was grabbed from behind and pulled into one of her bone crushing hugs.

“Just remember, Cas, we all love you. If you start from there, everything will work out.”

I hugged her back, hard, and whispered, “Thanks. I love you, too.”

I could hear whispering through the opened door, but all talking stopped when I walked into the room. All three girls were already dressed for bed, and both Tami and Zoe were glaring at me. I pulled the desk chair up to face the three of them and sat down.

“I know you guys are pissed at me, and you have every right to be. First, I want to apologize to you, Zoe. I had no right to yell at you. You were trying to protect me from my own stupidity. There was no excuse for it. I also want to apologize for ruining the dance. I know you three were really looking forward to going. More than that, I have not been fair to you three all week, or hell, even for the last few weeks. You have all tried to reassure me that everything was fine and I haven’t listened to you. I want you to know: that stops, now. I am done with my pity party.”

“So now all I can do is, say I am sorry, I will try not to let it happen again, and I love all of you.”

Both girls turned to look at Zoe who, besides apparently being the one most pissed off at me, was still the nominal leader of my ... harem, for lack of a better word.

She nodded once and said, “Okay. Apology accepted, but you can only get away with the ‘I’m a dumb boy’ excuse a few times, so don’t make a habit of this.”

“So, what now?” I pleaded, hoping for a chance to make it up to the girls.

“Now you make it up to us,” she said.

And I did my best to do just that.

The next morning I woke up with Tami and Vicki still pulled in close to me. Zoe had kind of sprawled and was laying half on me and half on Vicki. I kissed all three awake.

“Jesus, girl, I am not a mattress,” Vicki said in a joking tone, rolling Zoe off both of us.

“I don’t know, you’re pretty comfy and come with nice pillows,” Zoe teased back.

I hopped out of bed and realized I was still wearing the pants I wore to the hospital last night; the other three were naked.

I pulled Vicki to her feet and said, “If you girls are done with the morning banter, let’s go get a shower.”

Vicki looked at me quizzically, “I don’t think there is enough room in there for all four of us.”

“You’re right, but I want to take a shower with each of you, so you will have to cycle through. It’s all part of ‘Operation: Get Cas Out of The Dog House’.”

Vicki just shook her head and helped Tami and Zoe to their feet. We did manage to cycle each girl through so I could scrub their backs and wash their hair. We kept the grab ass to a minimum so it didn’t take all that long, actually.

At breakfast, Tami sat in my lap and the other two pulled chairs up close to me to eat. As usual, I was required to feed the one sitting in my lap. I didn’t mind, really, since I knew ‘which side of my bread was buttered.’

Mom was smiling as she served us breakfast, “I see you kids managed to work out your issues.”

Zoe nodded and replied in between bites, “Yeah. Cas admitted he was an idiot and begged our forgiveness, so things are back to normal.”

“Well, just keep training him up right. Guys are like decorating, they need a woman’s touch,” mom said as she went back to cooking.

Zoe gasped, “MOM!”

Mom whipped around and put her hand over her mouth, “Ohh, I didn’t mean ... I meant like ... ohhh, damn.”

We all broke down laughing.

The next several weeks flew by. We got into a pretty good pattern. I would go once a week to meet with Ted and Marcus. In the mornings, I would run with what was now a pretty large group. Now that I didn’t have practices, I would work out with the afternoon crew. I did go to one or two practices, but the coaches knew I couldn’t play, so I just watched. I helped out at all the study sessions, went to the Dojo, and spent a lot of time with the girls.

It was really nice to go a while with no crisis. The last month, with my getting shot, then getting kicked out of Margret’s house, then mom’s medical crisis, plus all the new stuff we learned about my biology and the changes to everyone ... it felt like life would never slow down!

I watched Tami and Zoe cheer at the last game of the season and rooted for Josh and my former team mates.

True to her word, Megan went to see Doctor Chang trailed by Alex, her boyfriend. New tests were run on the all of us, well, except for Tina who was still not talking to me. They also managed to get Rachel in for a “research study” to get her tests and she didn’t seem to realize anything unusual had happened. Alex (our Alex, not Megan’s Alex) and Mom both said it would be a few weeks before we had answers from these new samples.

The week before Thanksgiving, Ted called to tell me. Jonathan would be at our next meeting. Apparently, we had progress. I followed up with a call to Jonathan, to get a ride from him. It was still more than six months to my official or at least state recognized, birthday. Then I could get my license. I was more than a little impatient. Begging for rides was getting old, fast.

Marcus was already in Ted’s office when I got there and was keyed up.

“Okay, so what’s the big news?” I said sliding into one of the open chairs.

“We made big progress this month. The patent applications are all researched, written, and filed with the patent office.”