Quaranteam: SE - Team Davies Ch. 09

Quaranteam: Southeast – Team Davies

 The Quaranteam Universe is the creation of CorruptingPower, used with permission.

Thanks to BreakTheBar, AgathonWrites, RonanJWilkerson, The_Licentious_Laureate, BronanTheLibrarian, OtterlyMindblowing, SilverRyden, BirchesLoveBooks, Reader737b, and the other QT Writers for their feedback and contributions with this work. Be sure to check out their work.

Chapter 9

All Characters depicted in sexual situations in this story are over the age of 18.

***Gainesville, FL – 0830, Saturday, August 8, 2020***

The week sped past in a blur of activity. Miles’ team celebrated his promotion to Captain at dinner Tuesday night, with ‘special’ celebrations later that night after the kids were in bed. The next day, Miles, Debra, and Ava began putting together a larger crew for the 1st Tranche of activities under Operation Endure.

Miles received permission to add other members of his team to the operation in various support roles, and immediately recruited Sophia and Maddie, then delegated tasks for all four separate elements of Tranche 1 to each of the four women on his staff; Debra focused on identifying housing that could be quickly leveraged to host teams, Ava to assign teams to designated existing homes, Sophia to locate structures that could be retrofitted to support large team sizes, and Maddie to organize efforts to reclaim reusable goods from housing deemed unfit for teams.

The remainder of the week was insanely busy, from locating possible workforce among the local survivors to isolating potential housing for new teams. Plans were made to send out survey units beginning the following week to catalog unoccupied housing for reclamation efforts.

Eventually, Saturday came. Miles was determined to try to spend time with the kids on weekends, whenever the pressures of life allowed. On this weekend, he was revisiting a task not yet completed, while beginning a few others.

He brought Sean, Ellie, and Trent out to his workshop in the Outhouse right after they’d finished clean-up chores from breakfast. Miles spent the first ten minutes or so going over safety rules for his shop. None of the children were to operate any of the power tools or workbenches without his direct supervision. He made the kids laugh when he demonstrated to them that he could only watch one thing at a time, making it clear that only one of them could be supervised at any given moment, so only one of them could operate a power tool at any given time unless more adults were present to supervise them.

Bringing out the marker that he and Sean worked on seemingly a lifetime ago, Miles held it up for the others to see. “Sean and I started this to commemorate Marcus, not quite two weeks ago.” He ran his fingers over the wood, feeling the roughness of the incomplete sanding job. “We were making this because we’d been told there’s a very long wait to get a proper headstone or grave marker during this pandemic. We plan to put this next to his mother’s gravestone,” he explained, catching Ellie’s eyes to see that she was paying attention. “El, do you think you’d like to do something like this for your dad and Mary Beth?”

He watched as his niece appeared to weigh the matter in her thoughts. “Will their bodies be there?” she asked, looking a little pensive.

He shook his head. “I don’t think so, no. I've been told that the local undertakers have been overwhelmed by how many people we lost recently. They have been discussing options, but it seems like they’ll probably have to do something new and different, and folks won’t be burying bodies one at a time like before.”

Ellie looked a bit distressed at this information but was not deterred. “You and Sean are still going to put a marker up for Marcus, even though he won’t be buried there, right?” Miles and Sean both nodded in response to her question. “Why?”

Miles thought for a moment before he started to answer, but stopped short as Sean spoke.

“We used to go there all the time to talk to mom. We liked to spend time there, just telling her about things we’ve been doing, or sharing memories with her. I want to be able to do that with Marcus. It doesn't matter to me that his body won’t be there. It probably doesn't matter where I choose to talk to either of them, but it makes me feel better when I do it there.”

Ellie weighed Sean’s words for a moment, then nodded her head. “Yeah, I can see how that might work. Uncle Miles, if you’ll help me, I’d very much like to create something similar for my sister and daddy. Can we put the markers next to Marcus and Aunt Beth?”

“Of course, sweetie. I think they would like that very much, and I know that your dad and sister would be happy to be remembered there as well.”

“Okay,” she responded, looking sad but resolved. “How do we begin?”

****

Miles got the three of them to the point where they were past the need to use any power tools, the only remaining tasks being to sand and varnish the markers. Applying the EDGE method he used to teach scouts, he explained how to sand and varnish the markers, demonstrated each step to them, and then stood by to guide and enable them, ready to explain anything they didn’t understand. A little past noon, Penny and Jan came out, bringing plates of sandwiches, bags of chips, and drinks for them.

Telling the kids to go seal up the cans of varnish, Miles took the time to explain the importance of rinsing the varnish out of the brushes and cleaning up their work area before he let them go wash up for lunch. Checking to make sure the shop was properly cleaned and the tools put away, he noticed that his partners were still in the workshop with him. Penny moved over to examine the marker Ellie had been working on with Trent and Sean’s assistance, her eyes tearing up as she read the inscription on each. Miles stepped up beside Penny and wrapped an arm around her, saying nothing, just being there for his partner.

“This is all I will get, isn’t it?” she asked him with a tremble in her voice. “No body, no ashes, no coffin, nothing to bury.” She looked angry, but helpless at the same time.

Miles rubbed her shoulders as he tried to comfort her. “You have all that you need, Pen. You have their memories, and those will always be there. The rest isn’t really important. Just make sure that you keep those memories safe and share them often with your… with our little girl. She deserves to know all that you can tell her – that we can tell her – about her sister, and her daddy.”

Penny buried her head in his shoulder, softly sobbing, as he rubbed her back. Eventually, she composed herself and looked up at him. “Thank you, Miles. Thank you for doing this, and for including all of the kids. Thank you for doing all that you can to make our team their new family,” she finished, hugging him with all her strength.

“Ssh,” he soothed her, kissing her forehead. “I’m doing this for all of us. You are just as responsible for picking up the pieces of our broken families and putting them together into something new. I should be thanking you.” He hugged her tightly again, trying to put his feelings into the embrace.

Relaxing his grip on her, he blew a stray hair out of her face, asking with a forced laugh, “So, what fine lunch did you wonderful ladies bring out here for us hard-at-work souls?”

Picking up on his forced playfulness, Penny responded in kind. “Why, only the best, dear sir! We have the finest selection of ham and cheese sandwiches – Swiss, of course – as well as an assortment of PB&J, followed by a variety of chips and last – but not least – your tea,” after which, she did a little curtsy.

Bowing to her in return, he exclaimed in a booming Cubmaster voice, “Ah! A lunch fit for royalty! Our thanks, Milady.” This garnered a round of laughter and applause from the three children, while Jan tossed him a smile from across the room, and Penny softly slapped his chest, grinning. He leaned over slightly to kiss her again, this time patting her rump as he did so.

Jan strolled over to the pair of them with a happy look on her face to ask, “Got any of that for me, sailor?”

Miles reached over and brought Jan into the hug, kissing her as well, earning them all a chorus of oooohs from the kids.

****

Later that afternoon, all three of the markers were completed and set aside for the varnish to cure, so that a coat of resin could be applied afterward as a final weather barrier. Miles directed the cleanup efforts, restoring the shop to order before sending the kids inside to play. He was still puttering around, lost in private thoughts, when Penny and Jan came back out to join him, this time with his other partners in tow.

With a combination of curiosity and dread, he eyed them all before asking, “What’s up?”

The ladies exchanged glances before Penny spoke up. “Well, we wanted to run a few things past you, sweetheart. But we really didn’t want to have this conversation within earshot of the kids,” she said, glancing back toward the house.

“That doesn’t sound ominous at all,” he replied with a slight frown, raising one eyebrow questioningly.

“Well, it’s not, but… it's… it's complicated.” Penny was wringing her hands now, making Miles a little more worried.

“Oh, for Pete’s sake!” Jan interrupted, “Miles, we need to figure out how to house more kids. There. Was that hard?”

Penny shot her a stern glance, then softened her gaze as she turned back to him. Sophia and Maddie walked over to the storage closet nearby and grabbed a couple of folding chairs, while Debra and Ava went upstairs to grab a few chairs from around the table. Before too long, a circle of chairs was arranged in an open area of the shop so they could all sit down for the coming conversation.

Miles took the brief interruption to relax, knowing that there was going to be a good reason – perhaps several – behind Jan’s statement. Understanding that his demeanor would directly affect theirs, he did his best to maintain a calm presence, attempting to conceal the initial panic that was running through his thoughts.

After they were all seated, Miles motioned to Penny to continue.

“We’ve… been talking about kids,” she began, a bit hesitantly, “and one of the things that became clear pretty quickly was that we need to address the current bedroom situation before too much more time passes.” She paused for a moment, gathering her thoughts before she went on. “One of the issues of pressing concern is the kids without families. There are still more than five thousand kids that don’t have any surviving families in this area, and who knows if, or when, their extended family will be located and able – or willing – to take them in. I was thinking that we should maybe consider fostering a few of them, do our part to help out, while we encourage other teams to do the same.”

Miles nodded, but patiently remained silent, suspecting that this was not all that the girls wanted to discuss. He was not wrong.

Now Ava spoke up. “Miles, I want to have your children. I’ve always wanted to have kids, and I see how you are with the kids now, so I want to have at least one child with you. More, if you’re willing.”

“Me too,” chimed in Maddie.

“I feel that way as well, Miles,” added Sophia.

Debra just shot him a grin, tilting her head a bit, one eyebrow raised slightly.

He looked at Jan, who just smiled and shrugged in a non-committal way. “I’ve already given birth to one child, Miles, but I’m not opposed to having more.”

Turning back to Penny, he asked, “And what about you, Pen? Are you also considering having more children?”

She chewed on her lip for a moment, looking like she was struggling to answer before she finally just shrugged. “I don’t know, Miles. I’m still young enough to have more children. I just don’t know… I love the idea of this family getting huge, and I know we’ll all find a way to make it work, but…” She paused for a moment, before sighing and finishing her thought, “I’m just not sure I need to bring another child into the mix when there are children already here who need families.”

“Anyway, to get back to the original point… however we choose to add more children, it’s going to happen.” Her cheeks flushed as she pressed home the point. “So, we were thinking about options to increase our capacity here at our home. I know that – eventually – you’ll probably move us into one of your revolutionary modular living units, but for now, you’ve got a really big house that, with some simple modifications, could host more kids. We’d like to explore those options with you.”

“Okay, let’s hear your ideas,” Miles suggested. "Let’s start with the quickest issue – if we foster a few more kids, what are your thoughts on that?”

Jan perked up at this point. “I was thinking, we could maybe look to double up beds per room for the kids. Plenty of siblings share a bedroom, plus, I’ve seen ways to redesign rooms that divide up the space so that each child gets their own space, instead of being crammed into one common room. I think we could easily convert one or two of the bedrooms to achieve that objective in a relatively short amount of time.”

“Another thing to consider,” Penny added, “is that you could reconvert the home theater into a large set of bedrooms in a similar fashion – easily dividing it into space for another four kids, if necessary.”

“And, if you considered moving your home office out here,” Ava suggested, her eyes shining with enthusiasm, “you could easily convert your current office into a nursery for newborns and infants.”

“We could all move our ‘home offices’ out here,” Maddie enthused, getting more invested in the hypothetical possibilities, “at least for the short term until we could build another, separate structure, or add onto this one – potentially for both home offices and homeschooling.”

All the girls were practically bouncing in their seats at this point, clearly getting invested in the ideas they were presenting.

“Okay. So, let me suggest a few things,” he began, looking around the room. “Jan, you said you’d seen some online ideas for how to transform a bedroom. If you could, please bird-dog those for me. I’ll need details – plans, or at least drawings, as well as a list of materials to put something together.”

As Jan nodded her head, he noticed Penny making notes in her little notepad he’d seen her always carrying. “Penny, do you want to look into the foster care issue – see what the current process is, and give me some idea what we’re looking at? Maybe see if there are any kids from our extended scouting family to start with?” She nodded affirmatively, while again jotting notes in her little booklet.

“Maddie, Sophia, I’ve got the original as-builts and blueprints for this structure. Would you two like to take a look at them, and work up a proposal to modify the existing structure to better support remote work and school, as well as whatever other options you might choose to include? I’d ask you to include additional power requirements and might as well factor in how to activate the light-oil heat transfer system.” Both of his former students nodded with enthusiasm at the challenge.

“Okay… what am I missing?” he asked.

Ava gave him a smoking hot ‘come fuck me’ look and answered deadpan, “You have to knock a few of us up.”

*** Gainesville, FL – 2000, Saturday, August 8, 2020***

The women on the team decided that Miles would have a date night with his two Air Force partners that evening. After dinner, the three were sent off to the Outhouse, Penny, and Jan shooing him away when he’d tried to help clean the dishes.

Earlier in the week, Penny, Jan, Maddie, and Sophia moved some things over from their old homes – Penny’s old sectional sofa unit was brought up to the second floor of the Outhouse, along with her coffee table, end tables, and lamps. Maddie added some flair by bringing her oversized beanbag chairs, Sophia brought her floor rugs, and Jan brought her 55” flat-panel TV.

Moving into this newly furnished area, Miles turned the lamps on at their lowest level of illumination and took a seat in the middle of the sectional unit, where he was joined by Debra and Ava, to his left and right. Ava grabbed the TV remote, and turned on a fireplace screensaver, while Debra brought up a smooth jazz playlist from her Spotify app and adjusted it to a low volume. Then both women snuggled up against him, each leaning over and resting their heads on his shoulder, contenting themselves for the moment by being in his arms.

Luxuriating for a while in just sitting there with a woman on each side, Miles finally broke the silence by inquiring, “What would you ladies like to do for our date night?”

Debra examined her fingernails while responding, “Jan told us what the three of you did on their date night,” she replied, looking up at him hopefully, before continuing, “We were thinking maybe we could do something similar.”

Miles shifted slightly as he recalled the events from the other night. “Are you referring to the questions or the… after?”

Ava smiled as she spoke up quickly, simply saying, “Yes,” with a broad smile on her face and a gleam in her eyes.

Debra echoed her sentiments just as succinctly. “Both.”

“I see,” he chuckled softly, rubbing each of the girls on their shoulders. “Do you girls have question cards like they did, or…?”

“We thought we’d just start out asking you a few questions of our own,” Ava purred demurely, leaning in to give him a quick kiss while Debra got up to fetch them each a bottle of Mike’s black cherry hard lemonade.

As she accepted a bottle from Debra, Ava took a quick drink before continuing. “Let’s start by filling in some gaps. How about you tell us about your family? Mom, dad, siblings. Where you went to high school, that sort of thing. We don’t know much about that part of your life.”

Miles took a long draw from his bottle as he considered his response. “Let’s see… well, I was born down in Dunedin – that’s down near Clearwater, about two hours or so south of here – and grew up there. My mom’s name was Elizabeth. She died from cancer when I was about ten. She and my dad didn’t have any other kids.” He paused for a moment, a faraway look in his eyes as he stared at things only he could see.

“My Dad’s name is Carl. Carl Jackson Davies,” he added a bit more sharply. “He works for the FBI and is living in Reston, Virginia with his second wife, Victoria. He married Vicky when I was about fifteen – it was during the summer break between my sophomore and junior years in high school.” His voice softened a bit as he continued. “Vicky brought with her a little girl from a previous relationship – her name is Andromeda. I didn’t get to spend much time with Rommie – when I came up here to start college at UF, they picked up and moved to Virginia. Rommie started Kindergarten in Falls Church the same year I was a freshman in college. I never lived with Dad and his second family after I started college. As an ROTC midshipman, I’d spend breaks on remote attachments, or I’d hit Daytona. You girls know what those years are like.” He grinned just a little as he reminisced. “Anyway, Rommie just graduated from the University of Virginia Law School back in 2018. I took the boys up to visit their grandparents and aunt to celebrate her graduation. Not sure what she’s up to now – we don’t speak very often these days.”

Debra looked at him with one eyebrow cocked, as if she wasn’t sure she’d heard him correctly. “Hold on – your dad's a Fed, and your stepsister is a law grad from UV. What does your stepmom do?”

Miles shrugged, shaking his head with a slightly annoyed look. “Last I heard, she works for the State Department. I haven’t kept track, so I’m not sure.”

“State Department, FBI, Old Dominion Law. And you – top of your class in Navy Nuclear Power School - no small feat, that – master’s in engineering, some sort of Sustainability Whisperer to Ron DeSantis. Just what is it with your family, Miles? Overachievers, much?”

He just shrugged. “I can’t speak for them. We went our separate ways decades ago. But I admit my old man always encouraged me to reach ever higher when I was growing up. I always felt like my best wasn’t good enough. Maybe he did the same with Rommie. Either way, it makes sense that he might apply that same philosophy to his own approach to life.”

Ava leaned in to ask softly, “Do you not speak with your family?”

“Not very often,” he admitted, making a squirrelly face as he thought about the question. “No. I mean, Dad’s always very busy at work, with whatever he does, so they never seem to have time to come down to visit.” He scowled at a memory, before giving voice to it. “I think it really hit home when they couldn’t make it to Beth’s funeral. I was pretty pissed about that. I went to Rommie’s graduation as a peace offering, but it doesn’t seem to have mattered. They rarely call me, and I’ve pretty much stopped calling them.” He paused again, this time for longer, before admitting, “I just realized that I didn’t even consider calling them to let them know about Marcus. Or any of the other recent events, good and bad.” He sat silently after that, scowling to himself.

Eventually, he realized that he was being a buzzkill, so he tried to change things up. “So, how about you two? I know very little about either of you. Same questions – where you grew up, the works. I want to know.” He looked at them both with a fresh smile and raised eyebrows.

Debra shrugged slightly, forcing herself to relax. “That’s fair. I’ll go first, and I’ll keep it brief – I grew up on a farm outside of Jonesboro, Arkansas. Mom is Bonnie, she’s a housewife. My dad is Clayton, and he’s a full-time farmer. I have one older brother, William – he runs an F22 squadron with the 36th Wing out of Andersen AFB on Guam. I got my BS in Biology from the University of Arkansas and graduated in 2017. Like you, I was an ROTC student, so straight on to OTS and I’ve been attached to the 144th Medical Airwing ever since.” Satisfied with her spiel, Debra gave Miles a quick kiss and sat back, looking expectantly at Ava.

“Okay, I guess I’m up,” Ava began hesitantly. “Let’s see, I grew up in Little Rock. Mom’s name is Felicity – she works as a loan officer at Wells Fargo. Dad is Roberto – he’s a harbor pilot at the Little Rock Port Terminal, helping to dock and undock all the barges shipping goods on the Arkansas River. No siblings. I went to the University of Arkansas on an Air Force ROTC scholarship, like Deb. That’s how we met – she was busting my ass for a wrinkled uniform blouse during my first inspection – haha! But we ended up as roomies for the next two years, and besties afterward, so everything turned out well. I graduated with a BS in Systems Engineering in 2019. After OTS, I was assigned to the 22nd Logistics Wing, and eventually to you.” Following Debra’s example, Ava wrapped up her tale with a big smile and a kiss for Miles.

“Now that the hard part is over,” Debra slipped in quickly, “I’d like to video chat with my folks. I think it’s high time they meet my man!”

Miles blinked in surprise, not expecting this turn of events. “Before you call them, do they know about Teams, or do I have to persuade them that I’m not some sort of super charismatic cult leader? I mean, how do you think they’re gonna react when they hear I’m lovers with their daughter, as well as her friend? And are we telling them about the others?”

“All good questions, my love,” she smoothed him, softly running a hand down his arm. “No, they don’t know about DuoHalo or the Quaranteams, and we can’t tell them about either. We can, however, tell them that the three of us met through work, but we can’t tell them what we do. And, maybe just for now, we only tell them that the three of us are a throuple. That should be enough for now. We can tell them more later, and I can’t wait for them to come visit – they’re simply going to love our team! Just be as honest as you can, within the limits of our NDA. The good news is that they already know Ava – she used to come visit on school holidays.”

After a final check that they were ready, Debra set up her tablet on its kickstand and tapped on the Facetime app, starting a video call to her mother. After a few rings, the call was answered by a woman who appeared to be an older version of Debra, perhaps a little fuller in the face, with a remarkable scattering of smile lines, but those same over-large Disney princess eyes, and teasing smile. “Hey Deb, how are ya?” her mother asked a little louder than necessary.

Deb grinned at her mother’s mannerisms. “I’m fine, Mom. Is Dad around? I’d like it if he could join the call as well.”

Bonnie turned away from the camera and hollered, “Clayton! Your baby girl is on the video chat and wants to talk to both of us. Hurry up, now.”

Offscreen they could hear no small amount of mumbling and grumbling, but shortly, a man who appeared to be well-weathered and in his late fifties appeared on the screen. “Hiya pumpkin. Whatcha need?”

“Mom, Dad, I want to introduce someone to you. I’d like you to meet my man, Miles Davies. Miles, this is Bonnie and Clayton, my parents.”

Miles leaned forward to better be seen in the video, smiling politely as he greeted Deb’s parents. “Mr. and Mrs. Jansen, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I’ve heard a lot of good things about you both, and they must be true, as I can see them reflected in your daughter.”

Miles was patiently silent as he watched Clayton go all owl-eyed for a moment before putting on a pair of glasses and leaning in closer to squint at the screen on his end of the conversation. “Well, I s’pose this must be the one. He does look less like a shiny new sports car, and a bit more like a high-mileage family wagon.”

“I prefer ‘full-size SUV’, Clayton if we’re going with car analogies,” Miles smirked, enjoying the man’s sense of humor. “In fact, I drive one. I call mine ‘the Beast’. It’s very handy when it comes time to take the scouts camping.”

The elder Jansen’s eyebrows rose slightly at this information. “Oh ho, so you’re getting a pre-made family along the way, is that it, Deb? Well, it sounds like we’ve got a lot to discuss. When can you two come for a visit?”

Debra shifted slightly, trying to decide how best to parse this next part of the conversation. She opted for the most openness she could deliver and smiled broadly as she leaned into the picture to respond to her father. “Daddy, it’ll be more than two of us when we do come to visit, just so there’s no major surprises. And I’m not just talking about kids. You both remember Ava?”

Ava leaned into view at this point and waved to the Jansens. “Hi, Bonnie. Hi Clayton. Good to see you!”

Bonnie took the phone from Clayton and peered into the screen, beaming a big smile as she waved. “Hi, Ava! Good to hear from you, gal. You let our darling daughter get you into something complicated?”

Ava smiled and nodded, while Debra leaned in again to continue. “’ Complicated’ is the right word, Mom. I can’t go into any details right now, or I’d happily answer all the questions that I know you’re gonna want to ask. For now, I just wanted you to know that I’m settling down with this man, as well as other people who are now in our lives. I promise that, as soon as I can, I will call you to tell you more, and I can’t wait to bring them up to the farm to visit, as soon as that’s possible. For now, I just wanted to let you both know that I am safe and that I am happy.”

They could all hear Clayton grumbling off-screen, saying “Pretty sure that’s what she’d say if she’d gone off to join some cult.”

Bonnie just shushed her husband and then smiled that big smile he’d come to associate with Jansen women. “Now, don’t you let your father’s concerns trouble you two… err, you three none. I’m glad to hear you’re happy and safe, baby girl, what with all the weirdness going on this year. Miles, you make sure to take good care of both of these gals – they’re prizes, to be sure!”

“Yes ma’am, I surely will,” was all he could get in before Bonnie ploughed on.

“And whenever you can, you make sure to bring the whole group up to see us. It’s been a while since Deb’s been home, and we’d sure love to see you all. Was there anything else, dear? Dinner is gonna burn if I don’t get off this call.”

“No Momma, that’s all I called for,” Debra replied, her eyes glistening. “I can almost smell your chicken and dumplings from here. Love you both, and stay safe!”

“Love you too, baby girl. Love you, too.” Bonnie replied, and they could hear Clayton call out ‘love you, too’ from somewhere offscreen just before Bonnie broke the connection.

Debra bounced a bit in her seat as she closed out of Facetime. “So?” she asked, with eager anticipation, “What did you think of my folks?”

“Beats being poked with sharp sticks,” he replied with a mischievous grin, earning him a slap on the chest. “Seriously, they seemed like real nice folks, Deb. I can see a lot of your mother in your face, and your father in your wit. Thank you for introducing me to them.”

Debra couldn’t contain herself anymore and launched herself into his lap, locking him in a fierce hug while kissing him passionately. After a moment, she broke the kiss, then nodded to Ava, mouthing ‘sorry’ as she scooted back off of his lap.

Ava just smiled, her body relaxed, as she also leaned over to give Miles a hug and a kiss.

Turning to meet her gaze, he asked, “So, are we going to call your parents now, my dear?”

She pretended to think about it before shaking her head. “No, it’s right in the middle of their dinner time, and watching you just now with Bonnie and Clayton has made me even more horny.” Reaching down, she placed her hand high on his thigh while she narrowed her eyes. “I think maybe it’s about time we move to the ‘fuck our brains out’ part of this date.”

*** Gainesville, FL – 2230, Saturday, August 8, 2020***

Miles stretched his back a bit, wiping sweat from his eyes as he returned from the adjacent bathroom and approached Ava from behind. She was on all fours, bent over between Debra’s legs, eating the blonde’s pussy while shaking her own ass in a very inviting way. Accepting her invitation, he stepped up behind her and hilted himself fully into her hot sheath, feeling her tight walls grasping at him as soon as he entered her. Groaning at her tightness, he started to slowly stroke himself in and out of her, eliciting a moan from Ava as well. Looking over her shoulders, Miles marveled again at how beautiful Debra looked, her eyes closed as she rubbed her breasts, pinching and pulling at her nipples as Ava brought her closer to another climax.

Gripping her hips, he started to pick up speed and force, thrusting harder and deeper into Ava, making her pant in delight beneath him. She, in turn, picked up her efforts on her other partner, plunging two of her fingers into Deb’s snatch as she began to focus her oral efforts on her clitoris. In no time, Debra began to arch her back, pushing herself up into Ava’s face as she began to reach her peak. Wanting them all to climax close to the same time, Miles redoubled his efforts, gripping Ava’s hips more firmly while he railed away at her from behind, sinking into her so deeply that he felt himself beating a tattoo on her cervix. In just a few more strokes, he felt Ava’s walls clench down on him with a pulsating ferociousness, while Debra cried out in her own orgasm.

Their combined peaks did it for him, allowing Miles to meet them in the climax, firing volley after volley of his baby batter deep into his lovely partner. This, of course, flipped her climax level up past eleven, causing her to spasm impressively beneath him, until she lurched forward and collapsed atop Debra, both of them panting for breath. Pulling out mid-orgasm, he gripped the base of his cock and climbed up to be next to Debra before releasing himself, allowing a few more weakened jets of his come to dribble out onto her face and chest. As she opened her eyes and saw him close to her, Deb opened her mouth for him. Moving his cock past her lips, he watched in awe as she closed her orifice around him, then hollowed out her cheeks to suck him in as far as she could, swiping her tongue around him to capture what fluids she could reach. He grinned as her eyes slammed shut once more and her torso spasmed beneath Ava, shuddering into a serum-induced orgasm. Not wanting to miss out on the extras, Ava leaned up to lick his cum off of Debra’s face and breast, enjoying yet another serum-induced orgasm of her own.

Both women being completely spent, they lay there in a heap as Miles made his way to the bathroom once again to clean up, this time returning to the bedroom with a warm washcloth and a hand towel so that he could clean up his partners. Too exhausted to move, both women simply remained still, allowing him to clean up their combined mess. As soon as he finished drying them off, Ava rolled from atop Debra and made room for Miles to climb into the bed between them.

Having settled in their midst, he lay on his back as each of his partners snuggled up to him, resting their heads on his shoulders, each wrapping an arm across his chest. They covered themselves with the top sheet only, forgoing the comforter. Having kissed both women and told each that he loved them, Miles was just starting to drift off when Ava woke him with a simple request.

“Miles, darling, if you haven’t done so already, please, please put a baby in me. I really want to have your children. At least some of them.”

Before he could respond, Debra spoke up from his other side. “Put me down for some of that action, too, honey. I wanna make big, strong babies with you.”

Turning to look at each of them individually, he could see the love plain on their faces. They weren’t kidding with him – they wanted to have his babies. Hugging them both more tightly, he kissed each of them, “Yes, of course. If that’s what you both want, I will do my very best to oblige. I love you both, though I have no idea what I’ve done to deserve either of you.” Closing his eyes once more, Miles drifted off into a peaceful slumber, dreaming of building a much larger home with many bedrooms and bathrooms.

***Gainesville, FL – 0630, Sunday, August 9, 2020***

Miles had risen at his usual time – around 0600 - and managed to exit the bed without disturbing Ava or Debra. After completing his morning ablutions, he’d slipped on some workout gear and thrown himself into a rigorous exercise routine, trying to deal with all the different gadfly thoughts chasing around in his head. He’d dreamt of building additional bedrooms in his house to support more children, and he knew intellectually that more would be coming, some very soon if Penny found some children to foster. This also meant that he would have a heavier burden to shoulder, not only looking out for the well-being of a half-dozen women and seeing to their needs but also being the father to an increasing number of children. Miles knew that he would rise to the challenge, but he also knew that he needed to be mindful of his own health. More than ever, so much depended on him remaining healthy.

Focused as he was on his rowing program, he failed to notice as his partners began to gather around him, joining in his morning exercise. Finishing his latest set of risers, he was recovering at a low-intensity rate of 20 strokes per minute when he became aware that he was no longer alone. Looking around, he was surprised to see Penny, Jan, and Sophia all using various other exercise stations, engaged in their morning strength training, each listening to music of their preference via their earbuds. Looking off to his left, he saw his other three partners, earbuds in place, performing basic stretching exercises as a warm-up to their morning calisthenics. Pleased that they were all following their own fitness regimens, he threw himself back into his HIIT routine, going through another set of grueling risers, increasing his intensities and paces at intervals until he reached a sprint, then working his way back down for a final resting phase.

Upon completing his cooldown, Miles left the rowing machine, seeing Penny rotate in as soon as he moved over to the Body Active System. Doing a brief stretching routine, he silently observed all of his partners performing their various fitness routines, occasionally assisting one another. Aware that they were all surreptitiously observing him, Miles strapped on his bag gloves and began his martial arts workout, alternating back and forth between upper and lower body attacks, striking the various target pads with fist and forearm blows, then striking the lower pads with foot and shin blows. He turned his sequence into a sort of dance, rotating through the same pattern over and over, focusing on his breathing, hip rotation, and overall efficiency of the blows, as well as their effectiveness. Jab, jab, uppercut, elbow, elbow, roundhouse, reverse roundhouse, front kick, front kick, leg sweep, leg sweep, lunge, lunge, duck, repeat.

Pushing himself harder than usual, Miles felt an unfamiliar sense of euphoria begin to creep over him, as his stamina pressed beyond his usual limits. He felt as if his movements entered what he considered to be the ‘muscle memory’ zone, where his attacks were not being consciously directed, but were instead bordering on reflex motions. Reaching the point where he wanted to conclude this particular exercise, he completed one final open-crescent kick, stepped back, and then launched into a Superman punch for the finale. Stepping through the punch, he closed his eyes to catch his breath, shaking off the fatigue, and started to unstrap his bag gloves. Glancing up, he paused as he realized that all eyes were on him. Standing there, dripping with sweat and breathing heavily, he became keenly aware that all of his partners were watching him closely. Penny was no longer rowing, and Jan and Maddie’s hands were thrust into their shorts. He froze for just a moment, then wisely pivoted and headed inside to take a shower, leaving the women to complete their workouts.

****

Standing in the shower, just letting the water wash over him, Miles struggled to sort through his conflicting thoughts. He’d stumbled across the realization of just how fucked over his team could be if something happened to him. There was very little chance that the team would remain intact and be reassigned to another male. It was far more likely that they would be split up, separated from one another, placed into multiple teams, perhaps separated by geography as much as partners. In that case, what of the children? It would make sense that they would follow their biological mothers, but what of foster, or adopted kids? What of Sean? It pained him to wrestle with the derivative outcomes, and he ultimately decided that he needed to discuss the matter with his partners if only to solicit their input and perspectives.

He felt a pair of hands snake around his waist, drawing him into a hug. The coldness of the nipple rings pressed against his back told him who was behind him. He pushed away his dark thoughts and turned to face her, taking her into his arms and just holding her. She stood there, holding him for a few moments, quietly being there for him.

“I didn’t realize you’d all started fitness routines. I was pleased to see it,” he murmured into her hair, avoiding the subject that was troubling him.

“I guess we all kind of started getting into it when you started working daily at the FOB,” she explained as she started to soap his body. “We’ve even got the kids joining us for morning exercise – just bodyweight stuff, calisthenics, nothing too much.” Tapping him to turn around, she continued to soap his back, running her hands across his back and shoulders, rubbing the areas that felt particularly knotted.

After a few more minutes, Miles turned back around to grab the soap and started to wash Penny. He allowed all the stress to melt away as he focused on the wonderful woman in front of him. Thinking back a few weeks, he was stunned at how much seemed to have happened in so little time. Turning her around, he washed her back, consciously avoiding anything sexual, just focusing on cleaning her, as she’d done for him. Turning her back around, he bent down to kiss her.

“I’d considered giving you a blowjob, but to be honest, I thought you were struggling with something, so I just wanted to be here for you,” she explained, allowing him to hold her for another moment. “But I am going to prune up, so let's finish this shower and let others get cleaned. Besides, I wanted to drag you downtown with me.”

Doing a final rinse, he turned off the water and stepped out of the shower bay to towel himself dry. “What’s downtown?” he asked her, wondering what she’d planned.

Drying herself off next to him, she paused for a second, then blurted out, “It’s where the foster care temporary offices are located. I wanted to take you with me to see if any children from our scouting families were in their system. All of those kids deserve better, but it gives us a place to start.”

Miles smiled to himself, quietly taking pride in Penny’s pragmatism. “Sounds like a good idea. Let’s check in with the others over breakfast, let the kids know what we’re doing, and then we can go for a ride – maybe grab lunch while we’re out.”

“Such a man! Planning for your next meal while you’re at it.” She laughed, snapping her towel at him. He considered his options and chose to retreat, hanging up his towel on the way out and ducking into the closet to grab some clothes. Fortunately, Penny did not pursue, and he smiled at the echoes of her laughter coming from the bathroom.

****

Miles found himself amazed that a state-run function was open and servicing customers on a Sunday, even if the appointment had been set up by phone in advance. This only hammered home the direness of the situation, making him all the more anxious to speak with the contacts Nunez had provided to him to see how his operation could possibly help.

Penny, ever with a head for details, brought a roster of the scouts registered as part of the troop and the pack. She insisted on checking first to see if any of the kids from those families were at the orphanage, feeling that their care should be prioritized. Together, she and Miles sat quietly at the desk of the exhausted-looking Ms. Ackerman - an elderly childcare worker from the state who was short of stature, nearly as round as she was tall, wearing rumpled old clothing that smelled of mothballs, having unkempt grey hair and coke-bottle spectacles - as she rummaged through her notes. It took her less than twenty minutes to come up with a short list of the children who matched Penny’s criteria.

As Penny scanned the list of names and details, one pair caught her attention, and she excitedly turned to Miles. “Look! This is how we can help the most! The Meyer twins!” Miles began to read what she handed to him as she went on speaking. “Noah and Emma were Wolf cubs last year. They were in Avery Martinez’s den, Den 6.”

Miles nodded, vaguely recalling the fraternal twins from their exploits during the Pinewood Derby. “And we’re sure that they have no living relatives who would want to take them in?” he asked Ms. Ackerman.

“None that we’ve been able to contact,” the state worker clarified, her total lack of enthusiasm uninspiring. “Of course, should any come forward soon, we’d vet them first, then contact you to arrange transfer of the children. The state will always defer to blood relations in these matters. However, after a few weeks, the likelihood of such an occurrence diminishes to near zero, in my experience.”

“That makes sense,” Miles agreed, stroking his chin as he considered options. “What is required under current circumstances to offer Foster care for any of these kids? We’re particularly interested in the Meyer twins, as we know them from scouting. I was their Cubmaster, so I would at least be a familiar face.”

“Normally, you’d have to have been previously screened, to ensure the children were being placed into a safe environment,” Ms. Ackerman explained in a slow, pandering voice. “Mrs. Sommers has already provided me with a great deal of information about you and your team, and I’ve been able to do a preliminary assessment already. Assuming there are no issues, I don’t see why the twins couldn’t go home with you today. I’ve already got your background checks done – pretty easy with your military affiliation, Captain Davies. Plus, you, Mrs. Sommers, and Ms. Seward already have up-to-date background checks on file from recent checks performed by the Scouts BSA program. Ms. Jansen and Ms. Chavez were likewise easy – again, due to their military affiliation. The only checks I am still waiting for are for Ms. Jeffries and Ms. Palmer. I expect to have those back within the hour. In the meantime, would you two care to meet with Noah and Emma to get their take on matters?”

Penny sat hunched forward, clenching her hands as she fought to be patient with the state worker. Finally reaching a point where she could give input, she rapidly nodded her head in affirmation, saying in an excited voice, “Yes, please. We’d like that very much if it’s not too much trouble.”

Ms. Ackerman rose slowly to her feet, making a big show of grabbing for her cane, and slowly led them to the adjacent room, which was furnished to resemble a comfortable living room with a few chairs and a sofa. “If you two would care to wait here,” she gestured to the room, “I will have the children brought to you shortly.”

Waving the list in her hands at Miles, Penny enthused, “We should go through this list and find the rest of the kids from our scouting families and spread the word to the Pack. Maybe someone else will be willing to foster kids like we’re doing!”

“I can distribute the list if you’ll boil it down for me,” he agreed. “Get it to me as soon as you can, and I’ll email it out to the Pack-wide mailing list through the Scoutbook app and remind folks during the upcoming Committee Meeting.”

****

Seemingly twenty years later – or, in actuality, about thirty minutes later – the elderly state worker opened the door to the room and stood aside, waving the two children behind her to enter before closing the door behind them. The children stood just inside the doorway, hand in hand, looking terrified, dressed in clothes that looked like they’d been wearing them for a few days. The young boy was just a bit over four feet tall, with a head of dirty blond hair that looked like it needed a cut and a comb, while the girl was maybe an inch shorter, with golden hair, though fraught with rats and split ends. Miles and Penny stood up and held out their hands to the twins, beckoning them to come over. Recognizing their old Cubmaster, the young boy and girl both burst into tears and ran over to hug him. He pulled them in and gave them a big hug, then opened his arms to let Penny into the hug with them.

After a few minutes, Miles relaxed his hold on the kids and knelt down so that they could more easily look into his eyes as he spoke. “Noah, Emma, I take it you both recognize me. Penny here,” he gestured to her as she knelt next to him, “You might not recognize, as she was more active with the troop, but her youngest daughter was in the Bear den just ahead of you two. You might recall her – Ellie Sommers.” The two nodded, listening to him attentively.

“Well,” he continued, speaking to them softly, but treating them as adults, “we wanted to come have a talk with you to see if you would like to come live with us. What do you think, would you like to maybe come to stay with us, while these folks here keep searching for any members of your family that you might be able to go live with permanently?”

Noah sniffled a bit, looking down at his shoes for a moment before he replied. “What happens if they don’t find anyone? What do they do with us?”

Penny spoke up at this point, asking, “What would you like to happen in that case?”

Emma spoke up at this point, her lower lip trembling. “We don’t want to come back here. If we can’t go home with our parents, can we come home with you – at least for now? Mr. Davies has always been nice, if a little goofy, but I like him.”

“He certainly is goofy, that’s for sure,” Penny agreed, grinning at Miles as she did. “But, to answer your question, yes. We came here today just to talk to you about this. When I heard that some of our scouts were here, I insisted we try to help. So,” she took a deep breath and let it out slowly, calming herself before continuing, “What do you think? If Ms. Ackerman says it’s okay, do you want to come live with us? If you find out you don’t like it, I’m pretty sure Ms. Ackerman would try to find you another home…”

***Gainesville, FL – 1715, Sunday, August 9, 2020***

Miles was grinning as he backed the Beast into the garage. The twins in the middle row seats were still arguing about the name of his SUV. “But I don’t see a picture on the front with big fangs, or mean-looking eyes, or anything like that,” little Emma was saying, “so why should you call this a Beast? It looks more like an Ox to me, so shouldn’t you call it Big Blue, or maybe Babe, like Paul Bunyan’s ox?”

“We’re home, kids,” Penny told them, with just a bit of excitement in her voice. “Grab your bags and let's go inside to meet the rest of the family.”

The twins hopped out of the Beast and waited to follow Penny into the house, with Miles bringing up the rear, arms laden with Domino’s Pizza boxes. He paused at the door before he entered, listening to the commotion taking place in the kitchen, and smiled. It was nice to hear the laughter of the children.

***Gainesville, FL – 1900, Sunday, August 9, 2020***

Miles looked at the half-dozen faces on his screen, pleased to see so many familiar people yet concerned at the ones who had not responded to his Zoom call invitation. Along with himself and Jan, the third of the Key Three positions – the Charter Organization Representative – was present. Of the den leaders, they were missing the leader for Den 4, the Arrow of Light den. The other den leaders were present. Sadly, the rest of the committee was also absent – no secretary, no treasurer, no advancement chair, and no training chair.

Miles, Jan, and Pastor Darlene Swinkle, the Charter Org Rep from Trinity United Methodist Church, would be able to access the bank account for the pack and reassign the treasurer role once they identified a new volunteer. It would take a while to rebuild the committee, as well as train a new den leader, but they’d gone through similar times before. Adult Scouters regularly transitioned out of roles and needed to be replaced.

Miles cleared his throat, then hazarded, “Jan, I think this may be all we have for tonight’s call.”

Sharing her meeting minutes on the Zoom call so that all attendees could see them, she proclaimed, “Very well. I hereby call the August Committee meeting for Pack 479 to order. I have captured the names of all attendees and recorded them in the minutes. Let’s begin with a review of Old Business, -“

“Seriously?! You’re not going to address what happened?” exploded Trisha McMasters, the Tiger Den Leader. “That’s pretty cold.”

“You’re out of line, Trish,” Miles began to chastise her before Jan cut him off.

“It's okay, Miles, we need to clear the air,” Jan asserted calmly. “Trish, what exactly is it that you believe I need to address?” she asked the agitated den leader.

“This was all our fault! The pack’s fault, and especially the troop’s fault! And now you think we can just go back to scouting as if nothing happened!” the distraught woman blurted out, her eyes bulging with her anger and disbelief.

“Trisha, I hardly think that’s a fair statement,” Miles responded, having anticipated such concerns ahead of time. “Our adult leadership within the Troop knew nothing of the threat posed by DuoHalo. We did not have at our disposal that key piece of information that likely would have resulted in a different decision than the one that was made.”

“Maybe,” she replied, seeming unconvinced, “but we were all told to remain sheltered at home, and socially distance ourselves, and –“

“Trisha, didn’t I see you at the grocery store shopping for food on the Friday before the 4th of July?” Pastor Swinkle asked.

“I’m sorry, what does that have to –,” Trisha started to respond before the pastor continued speaking.

“I mean, we were all told the dangers of going places where there were others,” the pastor explained, “and yet you chose to go to the store. Why?”

“I took the proper precautions, Pastor. That’s not the same thing,” Trisha protested.

“Isn’t it, though?” Pastor Swinkle asked. “The troop took the proper precautions. All scouts and adults were instructed to monitor their health beforehand. Blood oxygen levels and body temperatures were all taken prior to departing for summer camp. Those same indicators of risk were monitored throughout each day of the camp. The attendees all wore masks, all wore gloves, and all practiced social distancing. All activities which would have precluded social distancing were either modified or canceled.”

“That’s not the same thing,” Trisha started to argue.

The pastor wasn’t having it. “I disagree. If you’d been aware of DuoHalo on July 3rd, would you have gone to the grocery store anyway?”

“Well, n-no,” she stammered, looking like she wanted to say more.

“Of course, you wouldn’t have,” the pastor answered for her. “And, if the troop had known about DuoHalo, they would have canceled summer camp. It’s that simple. So, in the end, it is not fair for you to accuse any of the surviving adults of a misjudgment. They managed the known risks appropriately. No one could have expected the groundskeeper to show up on the last day of camp. The facility staff were all told to stay away, but the infected groundskeeper had been out of the country and did not get the message. The same individual could have come to your grocery store and infected us all there. Would that have been your fault for going shopping?”

Trisha’s shoulders slumped, and she looked visibly upset, though a bit less angry at the adults on the call.

“Thank you for making that point, Pastor,” Jan spoke softly, but confidently. “Look, we can’t change what has happened, and I will not subscribe to the notion that we caused this to happen through malice or carelessness. The Guide to Safe Scouting was forefront in every leader’s mind as the summer camp plans were made. We made the best choices we could, given the information that was available. Now, at the risk of seeming insensitive, I’d really like to get this meeting back on track, so that we can get done what we need to do, and I can get back to my family.”

Trisha looked like she wanted to say more, but thought better of it, and remained silent.

“Okay, so – old business. The cubs who attended summer camp with the troop completed many activities that need to be recorded in their books, as well as updated in Scout Track. Donna, you’re the leader of the Webelos den, can you please take the time to go through the record of summer camp activities and update Scout Track for your Webelos who attended?”

Donna Fletcher nodded, then responded, “Of course, I’ll get that done this week.”

“Miles, I know that you are technically the Assistant Den Leader for the Arrow of Light den, but can you please do the same for Den 4? I’ve been told that Mr. Patten is no longer with us,” Jan added, the last bit quietly.

“Yes, I’ll update those records in the next day or two,” Miles assured her.

“Excellent. That closed out the old business that we needed to attend to. Moving on to new business,” Jan said, having made notes in the minutes that Miles and Donna Fletcher would be updating the accomplishments of the Webelos who attended summer camp. “Miles, as Cubmaster, you’re responsible for the Pack Meetings. We have been meeting on the third Thursday of each month. That going to change?”

“I’d prefer to keep to schedule for now, if that’s okay,” Miles replied. “So, the next pack meeting will be on Thursday, August 20th, starting at 7 pm as usual. For this month, however, I’d like to hold the meeting at my residence, instead of Trinity Church. I have an outdoor activity in mind, and it would be better if we held the activity in a remote area, such as where I live. We’re still navigating how lockdowns will impact us, given that we’re all in Teams. Anyway, please be sure to bring your camp chairs.”

“Very well, I’ll make sure to include your address in the minutes that I’ll send out after this meeting, as well as a reminder about the chairs,” Jan stated. “Anything else?”

“Yes, actually,” Miles offered, taking on a serious expression. “Two things. First, I’d like to ask each of the Den Leaders to plan at least one den meeting between now and the Pack Meeting on the 20th. We need to make sure we get our scouts back on track. Especially now, in the face of all the changes they’re confronting. We need to use the program to continue to train each of them to be good, upstanding citizens and the leaders of tomorrow. You can opt for one last remote meeting, but we’re all in Teams now, so the risks have been significantly reduced for in-person meetings going forward. We just need to balance personal safety against our obligations under the Vaccine NDA. It’s important for the scouts that we get back to business as usual, to quote Trisha. So, please send out emails to your den, follow up with a phone call, and please – let’s get our kids scouting again. Just a reminder, make sure you copy me on your meeting invites. I’ll drop by when I can, especially the meetings for the three dens in which I have scouts.”

“And the second item?” Jan prompted, knowing what it was.

“Earlier this evening, I sent out a short list,” Miles began. “The list contains the names of children currently under the care of the State of Florida, having lost their family during this recent tragedy. I’d like to encourage those of you with the means to consider opening your homes to these, or any other kids at that facility, and provide them with a Foster home. The email includes a link to the agency, as well as a brief outline of the process describing what you will need to do should you decide to help. I don’t want to pressure anyone, but these kids need our help.”

“Did your team pitch in, Miles?” Donna Fletcher wanted to know.

“Yes, we did,” he responded after a short pause. “We’ve taken in the Meyer twins. I’ll update Scoutbook so that we receive any email intended for them.”

The call ran on for another ten minutes, with several questions between the den leaders and Miles, and as it was getting ready to wrap up, Miles added one last request. “I’d like for each of you to bring one or more partners from your teams to the pack meeting. We have some Adult Scouter vacancies that we need to fill, and I need to start somewhere.”

At last, the Zoom call was closed, and Miles leaned back in his chair to reflect on the conversation. Things went pretty much as expected. He’d figured someone would bring up the summer camp and point out the connection between the camp and the outbreak. He’d been prepared to counter the issue himself but was very relieved with the way in which Pastor Swinkle addressed the matter. Her reasoning was sound, and she was very deliberate in her methodical approach to refuting the accusation that the outbreak was the troop’s fault. He found himself optimistic about other Scouting teams being willing to help the orphans. Scouts were always there to help.

Now, he just needed to keep everyone motivated and on track to deliver a quality scouting program to the kids. Given all they’d gone through this year, they deserved nothing less.

****