CH 21

Bob knew what he was looking for, he could probably just ask the health Teacher about it and he'd get an answer. That would be too embarrassing. Same with the library, if anyone caught him looking up women's private parts, he be branded a pervert or worse. What was he to do?

Look it up on the internet.

Not surprisingly, many returns were porn sites. He didn't think things like, Exploring the Camel Toe, Naked beach pics, hot young lesbians, or the whole string of others he found would really tell him much. A medical site of 'removing the clitoris' was probably not good either. He winced even thinking about that. He refined his search to petting the clitoris.

This reduced the number of porn site by half, which meant only the first two pages of results were porn sites. Seeing a site called 'Watch Jenny get petted' was a possible. Nope, it was a pay site. Low on the list he finally found something. "How to excite the Clitoris'. He clicked on it. A woman came on and explained that properly petting and rubbing the 'clit' was important. She even used a model of a female groin to show where it was and how to flick and rub it to make a woman feel good. This was actually informative.

"Bob, what are you dong?"

Joan's voice from behind him set his heart into his throat as he spun and gaped at her looking in the window. He opened his mouth to tell her and found his voice didn't work. On the screen, the woman was explaining when to rub slow and easy and when to 'pick up the pace'.

"I ... ahh," he croaked out and moved his arm to explain and knocked the laptop onto the floor.

Joan cast him a wicked grin. "Are you watching porn?" she asked.

"NO!" he cried. suddenly, now that his mouth was unfrozen, he blabbered out, "You really gave me a fantastic birthday present and I was trying to think of how I could do something for you like that but I had no idea so I asked Charlie since he knows about this stuff but he's so jealous he wouldn't give me and answer and I can't ask about it in school or go to the library so I had to look it up on line," he got out in one breath while he turned crimson.

Joan giggled and jumped in with a roll through the window to land squatting in his room. Getting up, she picked up his laptop and put it back in place. Thankfully the informative video was over. "You did that for me?" she asked coyly.

"Yeah, I wanted to do something you really liked."

Joan hugged him close. "That is so sweet!" Pulling back to eye him with a crooked grin she asked, "So, what did you learn?"

"Umm, I think it's pretty basic, but I got a good idea what to do now." he replied, grinning at her.

Putting on an impish look she asked, "Want to try it?"

Knock Knock Knock

Bob spun to face the door. His mother said, "Joan don't run out, just tell me if you're both dressed."

Awwww hell! Double and triple HELL! They were caught! Bob thought as his voice once again fled from him.

"We're dressed, we're not doing anything," Joan offered.

And Joan just confirmed she was here. That's it, he was dead.

His mother came in looking way too calm. "Joan, have a seat please."

Joan sat. "It's all my fault, Mrs. Tanner," she said meekly.

"No dear, it takes two to Tango. I will say you do have pretty blue eyes when you're happy. I saw them shining under the doorway the night before Bobby's birthday."

Joan flushed. Bob joined her. it was a race to see who could turn the reddest.

"No more sneaking in," his mother said firmly, "And no more being happy in Bobby's bedroom. I think you know what I'm talking about."

"Yes, Ma'am," Joan said meekly.

"You are both coming into a troubling age, where what you want to do, and what you should do is going to be ... hard to deal with," His mother said firmly. "The thing is, emotions can get out of hand quickly. Faster than you think you can control them. You may not start out with the intent of going too far, but end up there anyway. Joan do you want to face being a mother before you're even out of high school?"

"No," Joan said in her meek voice.

"Bobby, I am sure you don't want to have to go to work every day after school to support Joan's baby, do you?"

"No, Mom," he replied in the same low tone. He then added, "But, I would."

"That's right you would," his mother said firmly. "These secret meetings are over. You want to come over, Joan, you come through the front door like everyone else. Now, I'm not going to tell anyone what's been going on as long as it never happens again," she stated. "Do you both understand?"

"Yes." they both said.

His mother went over and shut the window. "Bobby, your father should be home in another hour or so. Joan, when you leave I expect it to be through the front door. It is proper to tell me when you're leaving. Bobby, when Joan is here your bedroom door stays open."

She then turned and left, leaving the door open.

Bob sat quietly. Joan did too in their guilt at being caught.

Joan whispered, "I'm sorry."

"I am too. I think that was worse than being yelled at."

"She didn't say I can't see you any more," Joan offered meekly.

"True. That's good. She's also not going to tell Dad," Bob said, which was a huge relief.

"Or my parents," Joan added. "You do not want to face my mothers when they are angry."

Bob looked at his laptop and closed it. "Joan, some day, I really want to try ... what I talked about with you. For a while anyway, I think we should cool it."

Joan nodded. she then offered him a smile and said, "Thanks for thinking of me."

Bob returned her smile. "I always think of you."

"I umm, originally came over to see if you wanted to go bike riding with us."

"Yeah, sure," Bob said quickly and got up. "I could use some air right now anyway."

Brightening up, Joan said, "Let's go!"

Going out to the living room where his mother was lounging on the couch reading a magazine, Bob meekly said, 'Mom? Joan came over to see if I could go ride bikes with her and Allison."

"Have fun dear, be back for dinner."

"I will. And Mom? Thank you." Bob said sincerely.

She offered him a smile and said, "Just be careful."

"We will," he assured her. He knew she wasn't talking about bicycle riding.

.

Louise's house was sold. Cameron went to the Real Estate office to do the closing. The Agent was there as was the lawyer for the bank. Everything was set for her and the buyer to sit down and fill out all the paperwork. Cameron got a coffee and sat with the agent and the lawyer and chatted about home and kids while they waited for the buyer.

The buyer, a man in a light blue suit and ugly orange shirt, no tie, strode in. He sat down and stated, "Let's get down to business. I'll buy this house for one hundred thousand even, change the price and I'll sign."

He went to reach for the contract, Cameron slapped her hand down on it. Staring at him, she said, "The price is one hundred thirty thousand. You agreed to that."

"I changed my mind. I know you need to sell, and I need to make a little on it. You will drop your price. I can make things uncomfortable for you."

Cameron remained unmoved, casting him her Terminator stare. "The price is One hundred thirty. Sign the documents and hand the money over, or walk out the door," she stated flatly.

"One Hundred even, or you may find yourself in trouble."

"Get up and leave." Cameron stated.

He pulled a bank check out of his pocket, opening his jacket far enough to show the handle of a pistol. "Lady, do yourself a favor. Take this check."

Cameron snapped the contract up and tore it up. She then grabbed the check and tore that up. While he gaped at her, she reached into his jacket, pulled his pistol out of his shoulder holster, racked the slide and pointed it at his head.

"Leave, if you want to live," she stated flatly.

The agent and the Lawyer shot up and backed away.

Now wide eyed, the man got up and stumbled back. "You … you don't know what you've done!" he warned.

Cameron grabbed the pistol in both hands and broke it in two. Tossing the broken gun in the trash, she stepped up and grabbed him by the collar. "We will speak outside." To the agent, she said, "This deal is a bust, sorry to waste your time." She then walked quickly out, half dragging the man with her.

There was only one more car in the parking lot. The red Challenger must be his. Another man stood by it. Cameron threw the buyer ten feet to hit the side of his car. "You would be wise to run away with your tail between your legs now, or else I will hunt you down day and night until you are dead," she stated.

The other man held up his hands. "Mrs. Connor, I will take care of this. We're sorry to have bothered you. What can I do to make it up to you?"

Cameron glanced at the man now cowering on the ground beside the dent he put in the car when he hit. "He tried to cheat me on a Real Estate deal. I expect he will want to buy the property for One Hundred Thirty thousand as originally agreed."

The man standing said, "Give us a moment, we will be in to complete the transaction as written."

Cameron turned around and went back inside.

The Agent and the Lawyer were still standing away from the table when Cameron returned. She looked at the pieces of contract on the floor. "If he comes back in, we'll need a new copy of the contract," she told them.

They only nodded. Neither said a word.

A few minutes later, the other man came in. He straightened his suit and offered them a smile. "I am sorry for the trouble. Please, allow me to purchase the property for sale. The price is One Hundred Thirty thousand?" he asked Cameron.

"Correct." Cameron stated.

He nodded. "I will arrange a direct wire transfer bank to bank, if you would accommodate me."

Cameron waited as the transaction was done and the new contracts signed. This man bought the house and again, apologized to Cameron for the unfortunate events of earlier.

.

Bob and Joan behaved themselves. They still met at Allison's house or on the street. With Valentine's day coming, Bob got Joan a card and a silver necklace with a cute red heart shaped bauble at the end. The card Joan got for Bob was heart shaped and sweet. She also got matching bracelets. Actually, they were almost matching. Friendship bracelets, when put together side by side, the designs on them made the word 'Forever'. She put one on Bob's wrist, he put the other on hers. They hugged and kissed for a while after that.

.

Delilah got the news that the 4th season of Saving Atlas was the last. The Station used ratings as the reason. They also got an offer from a science fiction station to pick the show up to re-run the first four seasons. The Connors saw that as a win, they'd still get paid for work they already did.

Charlie Farnsworth hadn't come up with any good new ideas since Saving Atlas. He wanted the Connors to do an autobiography movie about them. He was sure it would be a blockbuster. John and his wives talked about it and declined. They did discuss the possibility of making movies on their land once they got to Texas. Of course Charlie was going to want to come along.

.

Louise was settling into the Connor family well. She thought Joan was a bit bold and Jackie was mischievous, but they both were funny in the ways they did it. Allison Young was considered as a sister to them, and Louise got to know her as well. JJ was kind to her, as a brother should be and didn't even wince when she hugged him. Louise herself was slimming down, due to her increased activity, and some diet change. Having pizza was rare now. Ice Cream was a once a week treat, if that, and to drink was mainly milk or water. Soda only was available with the pizza.

JJ found he was also liking Louise around. Unlike his other hyper sisters, Louise was more his pace. Walk to school, not run. Ride bikes at a sane speed, not as fast as they could get the bike to go. This also meant JJ and Louise's bikes were always in better shape, unless Joan had just put new parts on hers.

The bike shop did like to see Joan and Jackie come in. They were good customers.

Besides Louise seeming to be more 'his speed', JJ noted that Louise was looking better. Her dark brown hair reminded him of Gramma Sarah. He knew he was fated to walking to school with her, and Misty when they got to her house. The days Louise stayed over night at Misty's house, he got to walk alone. Misty was also going to sleep over at their house, which meant he had to walk home with both of them all the way, then back to school with both.

The two person, four wheeled bike he and Jackie started, Louise helped him finish with help from Dad when there were pieces that needed to be welded together. The thing was long, and Dad called it a 'recumbent' style, since instead of standing up, one sat in chairs with the pedals in front. JJ noted that this made pedaling easier. The 'steering wheel', turned the shaft that turned the bar attached to both front wheels. With the riders sitting side by side, it almost looked like a small car.

By mid March, the two seater was ready for testing. JJ and Louise got on, JJ on the left where the steering wheel was. The gear shift was in the middle where the drive chain went back to the back wheels.

"Ready?" JJ asked.

"Pedal!" Louise coaxed. They did and their bike rolled forward away from the garage. They road out to the circle and took a couple loops, then down the driveway and onto the bike path inside the perimeter wall. So far, in was looking like they had succeeded. The bike was working smoothly and it wasn't taking any more effort to pedal. They also seemed to go a bit faster.

It wasn't until they went back to the house down the driveway and were almost to the garage, when JJ noticed a problem.

Louise stopped pedaling. "JJ, slow down," she said.

JJ had stopped pedaling too. They were coming up on the bushes at the other end. He looked at those and the curb at the far end of the end of the driveway, looking for a place to go.

"JJ stop!" Louise cried.

"I can't, there's no brakes!" he retorted. He did get them to crash gently into the brush.

Once they got untangled from the bushes, they pushed the bike back into the garage and worked at putting brakes on the thing.

At least they hadn't tried to go down the driveway to the road.

.

Early March, Delilah got the message the new houses were 'in the dry', that meant all the outside walls and roof were up and finished. Rooms were still being built and services, electric, plumbing and cool/heat ducting were still being put in. According to the contractors, everything was on schedule for the houses around the lake to be completed by June 20th. The road around the lake and driveways to the houses were smoothed, but still dirt and gravel. They were to be paved with packed, crushed rock by the beginning of June.

Power for the houses was an outbuilding that going up that had a windmill rising up out of the center. Inside the nearly house-sized building were a pair of six cylinder engines with generators. What fed those engines was going to be six electrolysis units that split water taken from the lake into hydrogen and Oxygen. A computer console was being put in to regulate water input, which units and engines were to run depending upon usage requirements. The designer insisted this setup could power ten city blocks. He told them only a single engine and possibly two Electrolysis units would be running at any one time at maximum power usage by all four houses. Then again, he knew nothing about the TDE that was being put in under the Connor house. The powerhouse had all the equipment in, and power lines were being run to each house.

The end of March had the barn finished. Tractor trailers showed up at the house to load the tanks on to be driven to the lake house in Texas. Sonya drove the moving truck that was now loaded up with things they didn't immediately need. Most of the guns, ammo, parts and workshop equipment as well as the turret for the EV-2. Once she got to Texas, Sonya would be setting up in the barn.

.

The drive to Texas with the two tractor-trailer convoy carrying their tanks took five days. Sonya had the moving truck seat all the way back, and she was still hunched over the steering wheel. She was happy to see the Texas border and even happier to drive through Driftwood and down the road to the lake.

Coming to the south end of the lake, she saw the Tanner house. It was a nice singe story with a large garage. The acre sized yard didn't look nice yet , but once the lawn was growing, it would look better. Taking the road left with the other trucks, she noted the road ran out of sight of the lake. Around the west end of the lake, another driveway went down to the lake. She only caught the roof of the Riggs house driving by.

Coming around to the north end, she followed the trucks down another wide driveway. Here, she saw the roof and second story at long range. To the right was a five bladed windmill. The drive was a couple hundred yards long. The barn sat away from the main driveway with a dirt yard in front of it. The trucks pulled into the yard and parked facing away from the barn. She parked on the other side of the barn so her truck would not be in their way.

Getting out to help put the tanks away, Sonya realized something. There was no way she could fit into the driver's seat of either vehicle. Once the unload ramps were down, the truck drivers agreed to park the tanks in the barn for her. John should have come with her.

Neither had ever driven a tank before. It was fun watching them try. They could back up straight to get the tanks off the trailers, but backing and trying to turn, they didn't do so well. Not sure where John wanted them, and to keep the drivers from hitting the barn, she had the tanks put in the center towards the back, side by side. There was plenty of room to get round them.

Sonya gave each driver a hundred dollar bill for helping her. They left happy. She got her van backed into in the barn, closed the doors and began unloading, putting the smaller items up on the second floor. That turret was going to be tough to move by herself. She should have brought an unloading dock with her.

.

It was Sunday, Joan had called to see if Bob could come up to the house. Thankfully, the answer was yes, and Misty was also coming with her mother. Joan went to tell Dad the good news. He was on the patio, lounging back in a chair and talking on the phone.

"Sonya, I didn't think about it either. Just leave that turret on the floor ... We'll get things put away once we get moved ... that's fine ... OK see you when you get back, and thank you for doing that. Have a safe trip home." He hung up.

"Dad, Bob's Mom said he could come today," Joan beamed.

"Good. While he's here, behave yourself," John reminded her. "The garden hose is hooked up to the top of the slide so you can use it when it's not raining. Did anyone remind Misty to bring her bathing suit?"

"I think Louise did, let me go check," Joan replied and hurried off again.

.

Jake had to work today, something about an emergency at work, so Carol decided to take Bob up to Joan's house for the Sunday barbecue. They started out going to the Young's house to follow them. On the way up, she noticed they were going uphill out of town.

"They live way out here?" she asked. "Joan rides her bike all this way to come see you?"

"To see Allison too," Bob replied. "For Joan a mile ride is nothing. Remember that day I had to wear those stupid rabbit ears to school? I bet Joan she couldn't make it home before we did on the bus. I lost."

"She started out ahead of time?"

"No Mom, she started out after we did, then passed the bus on the highway. Her and Allison were riding like demons. They were outside the house to present me with those ears when I got home."

"They passed the bus? she asked. "They have motor bikes?"

"Nope, just plain bicycles. Shocked the crap out of me."

Carol thought about it. "They are cyborgs. Joan, and Allison too."

"They say their sisters. You know the creepy thing? Allison looks just like Joan's mom, Cameron."

"Maybe the are sisters."

Bob grinned, "I tried to understand their family tree. It's a bush, Mom. From what I understand, Cameron and Allison are the sisters."

"Claire doesn't look that old," Carol noted.

"Maybe she had Cameron like when she was 12," Bob offered.

"Bobby!"

"I don't know, I was guessing on how Cameron could be Claire's daughter!"

Carol followed the Young vehicle up another hill to stop at a gate. Daniel reached out and punched some numbers into a security box. The gate opened. "There's a gated community up here?"

"No Mom, they got a big house."

Following the Youngs through, Carol looked at the walls going away to each side. "All this area for one house?"

"They have two guest houses also in back of the main mansion," Bob told her.

Down the drive they turned to the right. Carol saw the place. Her jaw dropped. "This place is HUGE!"

Bob chuckled. "Wait til you see the inside."

They parked and got out. The front door burst open and Joan ran down the steps three at a time. She slowed before she ran into Bob, hugging him, then turned to her. "Mrs. Tanner, welcome! Hi Grandpa, Gramma, Allison!" Joan said,and waved heartily.

Carol frowned. Daniel and Claire were her grandparents? How could that be?

Going inside, Bob pointed up. "Isn't that ceiling cool?"

Taking in the painting that covered the whole rounded ceiling of the foyer and the large chandelier, Carol asked, "They're rich, huh?"

"Bob, meet us out by the pool, you brought your swim shorts, right?"

"I did," Bob agreed.

Joan and Allison ran upstairs, taking two at a time.

Carol noticed them as they topped the stairs. Even the stair rail and supports looked expensive. Leaving the foyer, she eyed the impressive hallway they were going through. Damn, make that filthy rich!

"Mom, Dad! Hi. You must be Bob's mother?"

Carol turned to see a smiling Allison behind her carrying a cooler. "How'd you change so fast?" she asked. Allison had a purple T-shirt on over her bikini that read THING 1.

Bob laughed. "Hi Mrs. Connor, this is my Mom," Bob said.

Carol looked closer, very close. She noticed this girl looked to be about 17, a little older, but still the spitting image of Allison.

"I'm Cameron, nice to met you."

"Carol," she replied automatically. "You're Joan's mother?" This woman was way too young to have a 13 year old daughter!

"Mommy One," Cameron said with a grin. 'Delilah is Mommy Two, she's outside helping to set up."

OK, Delilah must be the older, and real mother.

"Want help with that?" Danial asked.

"I got it, Dad," Cameron assured him.

"Claire, Cameron is your daughter too?" Carol asked.

Claire cast her a weak grin. "We'll go outside and sit. This will be a long and not so nice explanation."

"Mom, you don't have to," Cameron said.

Claire told her, "I do. I want to tell her how proud I am of our hero."

"John's the hero," Cameron told her.

"And so are you dear, never forget that."

OK, Carol realized there was something going on here she didn't quite understand.

Going outside to a large patio with a pool a few outbuildings behind that and a pir of smaller houses to the sides, Carol followed Claire over to a Marble table that had marble benches. Daniel and Cameron went over to a young man working at a grill with a busty blonde. The blonde wore a T-shirt with THING 2 across the front. That girl couldn't be more than 20, either. Too young to have teenagers. She also had to wonder how much of that girl was silicone.

Joan and Allison came out. "Bob! I got your fins!" Joan called. Going over to poolside, Joan called to a girl who was already in the water. "Louise! Want to try my tail?"

"I'm fine."

Carol looked to see Joan and Allison in bikinis, carrying their mermaid tails. Joan also had a pair of flippers that she gave to Bob. No wonder Bob loved coming here. There were mostly naked girls everywhere!

JJ was at the top of the slide. "Here I come!" he yelled. he slid down the slide fast, shot off the end and splashed down in the pool with a happy yelp.

Carol sat down by Claire. Claire put her hand over Carol's and said, 'It's hard to believe, but hear me out. Allison and Cameron are the same person but from different times..."

Bob decided to try the slide with the slip-and-slide covering it. He gave himself a good push and found there was zero resistance. He flew down the slide faster than he thought he would. The end came up, and he was flung into the air. He hit the water on his back, making a big splash.

Joan raised a hand in the air, "I thought of a new game!"

Carol listened to Claire tell about Sky Net, and how it had nuked the world, her Allison in that time being taken apart, alive to be made into the killing machine, Cameron. Then Cameron coming back in time with a couple others to destroy Sky Net before it could destroy the world.

" ... And since she's been back, she has been involved with some nasty battles to stop this Sky Net. I was here one time when they returned, their tanks were damaged, and Cameron was a horror to look at! She was missing skin all over and a couple places she was ripped up down to her metal bones. I was so horrified, I passed out. She had gone straight from giving birth to Joan, to jump in a tank to go fight that battle the same day! Cameron doesn't like to take the credit, but she helped save the world, she is one of the biggest all time heros there is!" Claire said proudly.

"That's incredible. And you saw her like that?" Carol asked.

"That one time, yes. I've had nightmares from seeing her like that. She's been in many other battles. Right up until recently when they went to College, that's all her life was. One battle after another. Cameron has been gaining her humanity back. After being ripped apart and remade into a killing machine, she's getting back what was stripped away from her. John has done much to help her do that. His support has helped her heal."

"That's why you look so close in age," Carol said.

Claire nodded. "Yes, Cameron is still a metal terminator on the inside. She hasn't aged since that was done to her. One thing she was instant about, was she was going to ensure that horror would never happen to Allison again."

"How did she live through that?" Carol asked in wonder.

"Cameron says Allison died when she came to be, but I have found there are still parts of Allison in her. Even if it's just some brain tissue in her head, what's left of my Allison is still in there, and I believe, helping her to regain all she's lost." Claire explained.

"That's why we have cyborgs now."

"It is, ones like Cameron came back in time to set things right."

"John and Delilah know about Cameron?"

Claire giggled. "After two kids with Cameron, you can be sure John knows. Delilah's one too."

"The blonde over there?"

"Yes."

"I don't get it!" Louise announced. "I'm having a harder time swimming!"

"You do?" Joan asked as she cruised by in her tail.

"Yes! I'm getting more exercise, but it's getting hard to stay up!"

"Are you gaining weight?" Jackie asked in a giggle.

"No!" JJ cried. "Don't turn into a fatso!"

"I'm not!" Louise replied with a frown. "My clothes are getting a little looser, I'm loosing weight!"

"Maybe you're just weaker," JJ offered.

"No, I'm not!"

Allison swam up to her. "Lift your arms to the sides," she said.

Louise did. Allison picked her up by her underarms. "I think you're a bit heavier."

"Tubbo-bound!" JJ said and laughed.

"I am not!" Louise yelled back and splashed her arms down, trying to splash him.

"Louise!" Cameron called from over by the grill. Walking towards her she said, "Come up her a minute, please."

Louise got out of the pool and went ove to meet Cameron. Cameron looked her over, then like Allison she lifted her up off her feet briefly.

"Don't I look a bit thinner?" Louise asked.

"I expected this," Cameron said to no one.

"What?"

"You've gained 9 pounds."

Louise frowned at her. "How can I be heavier if I'm thinner? My belly is all but gone."

"Yes, and your bones are gaining weight. Put some metal salt in your food from now on. It will help."

Louise scrunched her face up. "How is that going to help?"

"You're still growing, you're going to need it," Cameron explained, and went back to the grill area.

Louise looked confused.