A1386G Ch.15

t/w: Stillbirth

After I dropped Marie off at the condo and left her and Serena with my girlfriend, I drove to the airport to pick up my father. I should have stayed behind with Marie, but Constance was with the mourners and Jimmy had different errands. I had good timing, and I was parked in the short term lot for maybe ten minutes when I was startled by the trunk of the car closing. Coming up to the driver's side, my father motioned for me to move over to the passenger seat.

"You're too out of it to drive. I'll take us back to the condo." He said opening the back door to throw a briefcase in.

"You don't have to, you just flew in." I replied as I got out of the car.

"It was business class from Memphis." He said as he sat down and I walked around the car.

"I'm bored, not tired."

"So the flight was okay?"

"Food was worse than your sister's and I did it sober, but that's about it." My father said as he checked the mirrors and fixed the radio. "Besides, you're feeling numb, right?"

I nodded as he pulled the car out of the space.

"Feels weird right?" Dad said as he put the car in drive, and we began going to the condo. "It wasn't yours, you didn't even know her when it happened, and yet you're feeling it too."

"Serena's box is so small." I said, trying to keep my voice even. "I just. I can't. Marie didn't even want to look at the pictures of her. I don't want to look at the pictures of her."

"So what are you going to do?" Dad asked. I could tell he was being gentle about it, so I let the question lead me in.

"I don't know. I know she has Rebecca and Honesty right now, and I guess I'll be there for her, but I don't know how."

"You're not going to fix it." Dad said as we got on the main road. "Don't even worry about that. Right now, job number one is damage control. Easiest way to do that is to hold her close, and let her grieve. Everything else comes later."

"You sound like you've done this before." I replied.

"Yeah, something kinda like that." Dad said, absent-mindedly. "Anyway, did Connie say what the dinner was? Or do we have to fend for ourselves down at that steakhouse with the robot geese again."

"Rebecca said something about it being inappropriate to cook in a home that's mourning, so she convinced Constance to order out." I replied. "So we ordered a spread from that deli on Cass street."

I could feel dad frown at that.

"Also, Jimmy is going to be running the sandwich press and there's deviled eggs."

"That's better." He said, and then we didn't speak for the rest of the drive.

When we arrived at the condo, Dad greeted Constance and Grace, while I was dragged off to my bedroom by a very tired looking Honesty. In my room, I found Rebecca sitting on the floor and holding Marie in her lap, as the shorter of the two continued wailing.

"I taught her some prayers, and we did them. We talked about what she was raised to believe in and tried to see if any of that covered mourning, but it just opened the floodgates." Rebecca said. "I think Serena was the final straw there, and everything else is just coming out."

"I was an animal!" Marie screamed. "My entire life, I was raised to be nothing more than livestock, and Serena was going to be as well! My mother knew that, she knew who I was and what happened to my daughter, and she played dumb as she tried to sell you my sister. She looked me dead in the eyes, and told me it was her job to sell you my sister even as we were picking up Serena's remains."

"I think she was in the same boat." I replied. "Even if she was the receptionist, I don't think she had that much power."

"Don't lie to me." Marie spat back at me. "She was in kahoots with that bitch my entire life, and neither of them bothered to tell me anything. I knew something was up when I didn't hear my baby cry, or get to hold her, and they lied to me about what happened and then sold me off!" She let out a deep wail, and then continued talking between sobs. "The only reasons I found out what happened, and have her remains are because I was lucky! I ended up in a nice home instead of a brothel or worse, my sister was purchased by someone you knew, and he was able to buy her child and both of them told me about mine. A few hundred bucks difference on the auction block? I don't know anything and I end up dying without learning Serena's fate."

I kneeled down next to Rebecca and Marie, and gave the girl a hug.

"She smiled and nodded when the Doctor and our Pastor told us the only way Jesus would love us is if we obeyed our masters, and bore fruit for them. It didn't matter what it was, babies, milk, hell, as soon as we were eligible we had our blood harvested before we could get knocked up." Marie said as she shifted over to me, and pounded weakly on my chest, "She fucking knew all that, and knew who I was, and still specifically dragged her little toy A1470E by to show her what a sinner looked like when Janice and I were being shipped off. Doctor Hansen was at least apologetic."

"What do you mean by that?" Rebecca asked.

"The Doctor said she just had to sell us to keep control of everyone else, even if she didn't want to, and would try to set our prices so we ended up in nice homes, and then she gave us candy." Marie said. "This after she used me for my entire life, and decided to sell me so she could avoid some inconvenience."

Before we could really get anything else out of Marie, there was a knock at the door, and my dad stuck his head in.

"It's good you're getting it all out, but the food's here." Dad said, "And I know you're dating a Jewish girl, but did you have to go full kosher?"

"Dad, if you want cheese on a sandwich Jimmy can just put it on for you when he toasts it." came my sister from the distance. "That's why we ordered a spread instead of just sandwiches."

I then ended up picking up an exhausted Marie and carrying her to the couch in the living room, where Rebecca joined us while Honesty got the three of us plates, and then her own.

My dad ended up sitting across from us, with Constance and Grace roughly in the middle. There was some mindless gameshow on the television on mute. Janice occasionally popped out to hug her sister, but otherwise kept herself busy serving food alongside Jimmy and keeping Katerina out of sight. Marie barely ate, mostly salad and some chopped liver, while the rest of us ate a decent amount. We mostly talked about lighter stuff, dad told Rebecca about where he worked, he made a pass at Honesty, the usual dinner party conversation.

And then dad had to ruin it by trying to help.

"You know, when Kelly miscarried, it tore a hole in all three of our hearts, and we were like that for a good couple of months before we decided to try again. You two are both fine to have kids right?" Dad said, as he looked at Marie and I, "Having another one might help with that like Anne did. Besides, it's not like you have to legitimize it."

I could feel Marie tense up for a second, before looking at me strangely, while Rebecca and Honesty gave me concerned and sympathetic looks over her shoulder and head. Marie then apparently recovered her appetite, or was forcing herself to eat more.

"Wait, mom had a miscarriage?" Grace said. "Nobody ever told us that."

"This was like March 1997, Dolores was like five months pregnant with Steven, your mom was just starting to show, and you two were barely talking. Tore the two of them up, and I was there trying to pick up the pieces. Thank god we still had the staff, that poor cook went through so much. I ended up feeling a lot like Janice does, and at the lowest point I was concerned we'd get divorced." Dad said, "Anyway, about a month later, we still don't know Steven's gender, and your mom doesn't want to stick the kid with a much older partner like she had to deal with, so she gets back on that horse, and we conceive Anne. Problem mostly solved."

"And then I was a boy." I said.

"Oh yeah, your mom was pissed when you came out, but that's tangential to the whole miscarriage thing." Dad replied. "I'm sorry I couldn't be a better dad either, but Kelly was a good mom to you even though you two never call her that. So like one out of the three of us is pretty good. You'll probably do better by whatever kid you four have next, and Connie is already a better mother than Dolores ever was."

"Thanks dad." Constance said. "But I don't have kids."

"You've got Katerina, which counts."

"Can we not talk about babies right now?" Rebecca said. "Maybe something a little less topical?"

Which is how we ended up arguing about baseball instead.

After dinner Marie trudged back into my bedroom as the three of us followed behind. As soon as Honesty had closed the door, Marie started taking her clothes off robotically.

"Master, we're trying tonight." Marie said, as she looked at me, with tears in her eyes. "I don't know if I'm ovulating, I don't know if Serena will be in there, but I know I have to try again eventually, and we've already had more time than Doctor Hansen ever gave me to rest or mourn, so we're doing this now."

I nodded, and started disrobing. "You two can stay if you want." I said, "I think we're going to need help."

"Am I that unattractive to you now?" Marie half shouted and half wailed as she tore the button on her skirt. "Are you going to shun me like god has?"

Rebecca and Honesty rushed over to support her and help her undress, as I got out of my clothes.

By the time she was disrobed enough, clad only in a bra and stockings, she was laying on the edge on the side of my bed with a pillow under her hips, and her head in Rebecca's lap.

I tried to get it up, and I did still find Marie attractive at that moment, but I just couldn't. As Rebecca played with Marie's breasts and clit, Honesty directed me in. Between the two of them, I managed to eventually get erect enough to penetrate Marie, as her heels rested on my shoulders. Honesty then switched to playing with Marie and Rebecca in the hopes that would work, but the mood just wasn't there.

I did my job, and as I thrust in and out, the sound of slapping flesh drowning out Marie's sobs and occasional gasps.

I tried to drown everything out and just focus on myself, and the physical sensation of fucking a wet enough hole, but that didn't work well enough for me to get near ejaculation.

So despite the best efforts of all of us, after a few minutes we had to call an end to it, and Marie just started crying harder.

We ended up dragging her up to the head of the bed, wrapping her in a blanket, and while I wiped myself off and put a pair of pants on, Rebecca and Honesty curled up next to her.

As I sat on the bed, Honesty got out of the way, and went to hug her mistress, while I pulled the crying blonde in a burrito into my arms.

"Master, will you forgive me even if God doesn't?" Marie asked, still exhausted and disheveled from the long day she'd had.

"A god that would condemn you for anything you've been through isn't worth your worship." I replied. "There's nothing to forgive, and we can try again another day."

"So you're still attracted to me?" Marie managed to work out between sobs and hiccups.

"Yeah, you've just had a long day." I replied. "You've been pushed past your limits, and when you're like this, all I want to do is give you a hug and a snack."

"Marie, mourn your daughter, and don't force yourself to do anything." Rebecca said. "Steven, is it okay if I take her to services with Honesty and I? I think it would help."

"Marie, do you want to go while you're here?" I asked. "Because I'm not going to order you to go."

"Will your god reject me as well?" She asked.

Rebecca just cried as she hugged the poor girl and pushed her deeper into me.