CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO "High On Life" Sunday December 23rd, Night For the next two hours the house was organized chaos as Jennifer drafted everyone into the effort to clean and prepare for the party. Dave and Emily were put to work dusting, vacuuming and cleaning the living room, Olivia and Hayley were drafted as assistant cooks for Jennifer as she prepared as much food as possible for the party tomorrow. Megan was sent to her room to get it clean while Molly swept and mopped the hardwood floors in the main hallway. Once they finished with those chores, Jenn sent Dave, Em and Molly down to clean the family room, where most of the party was supposed to happen. They were joined later by Jenn herself and her two assistants, Olivia and Hayley. Jennifer excused herself once the family room was presentable to go up and check on Megan's bedroom. When she came back and announced that hardly anything had been done, Hayley said she would go up and help her cousin get motivated. It was during this lull in activity that Olivia came over to Dave, sat down in his lap, gave him a quick kiss, and whispered in his ear. "Can I play again, master?" She then gave him a devilish smile worthy of Emily herself. "I don't mind but I'd recommend you ask the mistress," Dave told her. "Of course." She gave him another quick kiss and went the laundry room, where Jenn was pulling clothes from the dryer. Olivia helped her fold all the clothes while they talked. Olivia asked if Jenn would mind if she played some more now that the house was clean and they had prepared as much food as possible. "What are you going to do?" Jennifer asked. "This evening has been educational to Molly. I've been showing her what the life of a true submissive is like. I grant you it's been a crash course and I've been somewhat gentle with her. I may only have tonight but I think it's giving Molly an idea of what it would be like to be in my shoes, shall we say?" Jennifer nodded in understanding. "So what have you been doing to her?" "I will tell you if you promise not to become angry with me, David or Molly and you may not repeat what I tell you to Molly. She would be humiliated if she found out I had told someone, especially you." "Okay. As long as you don't get her in trouble." "I would never do that. The master has been keeping a close eye on me to make sure I don't go too far with my demonstration. As for what I've done..." Olivia went on to explain what had occurred between her, Dave and Molly since they left the house to return to Dave's apartment to fetch Olivia's laptop. She didn't go into great detail, just enough to give her the big picture. "So what are you going to do to her next?" "That depends on who's willing to play with me?" Jenn froze as Olivia gave her a smile. "You want me to play with you and Molly?" "Yes, mistress," Olivia said, bowing her head. "What would I have to do?" "I have no specific plans, mistress. Perhaps it would be better if you told me what you were willing and unwilling to do." "Oh, god!" Jennifer said, shaking her head. She picked up the laundry basket, now full of clean, folded clothes. "Why do I have the feeling that these five days are going to send me and both of my daughters to counseling for the rest of our lives." Olivia giggled. "Does this mean you'll help me?" "Sure," Jenn said, shaking her head as the two left the laundry room. "Why not? What do you want me to do?" "First," Olivia said holding Jenn's shoulder and stopping her just outside the laundry. "Put the basket down. You're the mistress. You have a slave who will follow any order you give." "I assume," Jenn said over her shoulder. "That you're not talking about you?" Olivia smiled. "I would very much appreciate it, mistress, if you would use Molly instead." Jenn nodded and then, conspicuously set down the basket at her feet. "Molly," Jenn called. Molly had been sitting on the couch beside Emily, who was seated beside Dave. Molly sat forward and looked over at her mother. "Yeah, mom?" "Come here." Jenn waved for Molly to come over. Jenn took one more look at Olivia as she waited for Molly to cross the room. Olivia just smiled and gave her a nod. "What did you need, mom?" Molly asked when she stopped on the other side of the laundry basket. Jennifer closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and then turned to face Molly. She opened her eyes and Molly flinched. She could see something had changed. "First off, I am not your mother. Not tonight. Tonight, I am your mistress." Molly's training had set in well. Her eyes darted from her mother to Olivia, who raised an eyebrow to Molly as if asking, "Are you going to obey?" The ends of Molly's mouth turned up just a little, not enough to be a smile, just the very start of one. She then turned back to her mother. "Mistress, yes, mistress," Molly answered, bowing her head and putting her arms behind her back. "Excellent. The first thing I need you to do is to pick up this laundry basket and follow me." Molly almost responded but remembered her training and, instead, just bent down and picked up the laundry basket. Jennifer started up the steps. Molly followed three steps behind. Olivia brought up the rear, giving Dave a thumbs up as she disappeared up the steps. Dave glanced over at the only other person left in the room, Emily, who was seated beside him and had been watching the show. "What do you think they'll do to her?" "With those two, there's no way of knowing." Emily looked around. "We're all alone, you know. I think it's the first time we've been really alone in days." Dave thought about it and realized she was right. They had been alone in the last couple days but it had always been a quick moment here and there, never any real quality time. "I guess you're right," Dave said with a nod. "So what do we do with it?" Dave slowly turned to look at Emily. He knew that smile on her face. "I have a feeling I'm not going to truly get a vote here, am I?" Emily shook her head no, stripped off the tee shirt she was wearing, and stood in front of Dave. One leg at a time, she kneeled over his lap and wrapped her arms around her father's neck. "Are you aware that you haven't so much as kissed me, except for little fatherly kisses, since the night I dosed myself with the SLuT9?" Dave didn't need to think about that. He had purposefully avoided intimate contact with Emily since that afternoon a week earlier. "You've been avoiding me, haven't you, Daddy?" Dave took a deep breath and realized he was too comfortable with this situation. His hands were already on her butt, rubbing. Dave forced his hands back to his side and looked Emily in the eyes. "Honestly, Em, yes, I have been avoiding for just this reason." "Does this mean it was a one time thing?" she asked, sitting her ass down on her thighs. "Em, it shouldn't have happened the first time." "You're probably right but it did and we can't take it back. My question for you, daddy, is, since we've already done it once, does it matter if we do it again? And again? And again?" It was at that moment that the doorbell rang. Dave pushed Emily off of him and quickly got up off the couch before she could trap him. "I think I better get that." "You're avoiding the topic, daddy. It's gonna catch up to you." Dave stopped at the bottom of the steps leading up to the main level and turned back to his daughter. "Yep. By then though, maybe I'll have figured out what to do and say. Stay here and get dressed." Dave turned and went up the steps. As he expected, no one else was heading for the door. Molly, Jenn and Olivia were upstairs, Emily was downstairs and he wasn't sure where Megan was. The doorbell had rung again as he made his way up the stairs and rang again as he headed for the door. He looked out the small window in the door and was shocked. Dave opened the door. "What are you doing here?" "I tried calling your cell. You didn't answer. I went to your apartment,. You weren't there so I came here figuring you might be here," Rebbecca responded. "Why are you here?" "I need to talk to you, alone." Dave closed his eyes and shook his head. "Every single time a woman says that to me, I end up in a bigger and bigger pile of shit." "Are you going to leave me standing out here or are you going to invite me in?" Dave stepped out of the doorway and waved her in. Rebbecca came into the house and looked around. "Is there someplace we can talk? Alone? I think it'd be best if the girls didn't know I was here." Dave closed the door and moved around Rebbecca. "Why don't you want the girls to know you're here?" "That will become clear, David. Is there someplace?" "Yeah, come on." Dave turned and led Rebbecca into the library. He closed and locked the door behind her. Dave moved to the chair behind the desk and took a seat while Rebbecca took a seat on the beat up old black leather couch. "Okay, so what do you want?" "You know Paul is running for the State Senate?" Dave nodded. "Yesterday, a gentleman from the Governor's office came and met with Paul. The Governor is going to announce that he's backing Paul in the race." "Well, I'd say that means Paul will probably win the election." Rebbecca nodded. "With the Governor's influence in the state, and his popularity as high as it is, it's going to add a lot of money to the Paul's coffers. There are some issues the Governor wants cleaned up before that happens though." "Issues? What kind of issues?" "You know the Governor is very conservative?" "I presume that's why he ran as a Republican and not a democrat." "The Governor doesn't believe in divorce, abortion or living together. The first thing he insists we do is come to the capital and get married." "In the capital?" "The governor has offered to marry us, himself." "Can he do that? I wasn't aware that was within a Governor's power." "Before he entered politics, Governor Wilde was an ordained minister." "I didn't know that." "Perhaps that's because you never bothered to learn anything about him. You never do. You vote on pure instinct. You always have." "I didn't vote for him because he's an asshole. Whether he's a minister or not never entered into the equation." "Whatever. So Paul and I will be going to the capital the day after Christmas to get married by the Governor." "That quick?" "That quick. That means the girls are going to have to stay with you for a while longer. And, if things go as expected, we may not be back here... well, at least not until the elections over." "That's nearly eleven months away, Rebbecca." "I know that. But Paul's going all over the state campaigning and it wouldn't be right for him to leave me behind." "You're quitting you're job?" "In order for Paul and I to be together, I have to. If he gets elected that means moving to the capital." "I hadn't thought about that. So what happens if and when he wins the election? Will you be coming to get the girls and taking them with you?" "David, the girls are already out of control. Emily is a little smart mouthed..." Rebbecca saw the anger in Dave's eyes and decided against finishing the statement. "You seem to have better control of them than I do and that's one of the issues the governor wants cleaned up." "What? Our daughters?" "No, David, our custody agreement. It would be... unseemly for a state senator's wife to be in a huge custody battle and considering the lengths you have gone to just to visit with the girls, I would imagine a court battle is in our future if I try to take the girls across the state." "You're probably right. So what are you going to do?" Rebbecca took a breath and slowly released it. "I'm willing to give you full custody of the girls, with visitations of course, on one condition." "Which is?" "When this comes out, and it will come out, and the press comes to talk to you, you have to give a positive statement. You simply tell them that this is the girl's home town. This is where they were born and raised and you, me and Paul all decided mutually, that it would be best if the girls stayed here with you while we were out campaigning and then, once Paul wins, we'll probably buy a house in the capital, Emily will be done with high school and hopefully off to college. Hayley will have only a year or so left. It really wouldn't be worth it to pull them out of their school, away from all their friends just to move them to the capital, not when their doting father is still here and can care for them." "So I give a good statement to the press when it comes out that you have two daughters who aren't in your care, and I get physical custody?" "Yes." "Done!" Dave said without hesitation. "When do I get the papers?" "When do I get the videos?" "Bec, as soon as those custody papers are signed, I'll destroy the DVD myself." "I don't know if I trust you." "Bec, I don't need or want anything else from you. I made the video because I needed leverage to use against you to get to see my kids. If I have custody, that's no longer an issue. If I have the girls, there's no fight over child support. I neither need nor want your money. Once you get married, no more alimony. At that point, we are well and truly done with each other and I look forward to that day." Rebbecca nodded. "Is there anything else?" "No, I don't think so. I think that's it," Rebbecca said and stood up. " Goodbye, David." Dave followed Rebbecca to the door. "You should have the new custody papers in hand a few days after Christmas. Paul already has a good attorney working on them." "As soon I have them, I'll have my lawyer look over them, and if they're okay, I'll sign them and have him file them as soon as possible." "Thank you." Rebbecca turned and headed down the sidewalk and Dave closed the door. "WHOOPIE!" Dave shouted as he literally jumped up and down in excitement. A few moments later, Emily came up from the family room. Jenn, Hayley and Megan all came running down the steps from the bedrooms. "What was that, David?" Jenn asked. "Daddy, what's going on?" Emily asked a moment later. Dave did a jig right there in the hallway. "Jennifer, is that offer still open to stay here?" "Of course, David. Why?" "We're moving in. Me, Olivia and," he said, taking a dramatic pause, "the girls." "What does that mean?" Hayley asked. "It means," Dave said going over and kissing his daughter on the forehead, "your mother was just here. She didn't want to see you. Her and Paul are going to the capital to get married by the governor and they are not coming back until after the election. Hope you two really want to stay with me. Cuz now you're stuck!" "We don't have to go back? Ever?" Emily asked. "Em, as close as you two are to being adults, I think it's a safe assumption, you will never have to go live with your mother again." Both of the girls threw themselves at Dave who wrapped an arm around both of them and hugged them tight. "We win!" he said.