Fascination

Chapter Notes

At last! We finally get Alex's take on events. Brace yourselves, it's a wild ride! Lol

PS: chapters 18 &19 were originally one, but it was an 8,000+ behemoth, so I broke it

in half. Alex had some shit to say! :)

Alex's POV

When Winn excitedly told us about the shocking donation, I was as deliriously excited as

everyone else on the homestead.

What I hadn't expected was two of the most startlingly attractive women I've ever laid eyes on to

show up. They have undeniable physical attractiveness, sure -no one would deny that- but it's

more than that. They're charismatic and curious and have the sort of eyes that make me trip over

myself like an idiot.

The kids are great too, adorable little Lily who I'd bet my tattoos isn't normally this shy, and Ruby,

trying so hard to be a teenager it's almost cute. Her prickliness doesn't fool me for an instant. Shave

off fifteen years and I was her.

It's easier to focus on the kids when I can, though I have a million questions for their hot moms, but

better to keep that locked up in my damn head so that I don't forget how to word. Eventually I'll be

able to function around them… maybe.

In the meantime, I better stick to business.

"If we head back to the kitchen, we can finish the tour, or let you guys get some rest or maybe

something fun to do-" god, down girl, for fuck sake, "-or, you know, whatever."

So smooth.

With effort I manage to not smack myself in the forehead and suffice with jamming both hands in

my pockets and heading downstairs. I can only hope taking the lead hides the traitorous heat

warming my face and ears.

"I guess we'd best get settled in so that we don't feel pressured later," Sam says as we get back to

the kitchen and I gratefully latch onto the neutral subject.

"Sure thing! We've got a spot just on the other side of the pool where there's an RV hookup and

plenty of space to put out an awning and set up an outdoor area if you'd like."

I admit that I'm puzzled over Sam's sheepish look that earns a completely delightful girlish giggle

from Lena -and I'm not going to be over-charmed by them, I'm not dammit- a sound echoed

almost perfectly by Lily. Sam's gaze is pure, loving exasperation.

"To be honest, I'm not looking forward to doing something as insane as backing that damn thing

up."

Oh thank Hygeia and Panacea(*), a task I can distract myself with!

"Oh, we can help with that. If you hand over the keys, we'll get your wheels settled in. Don't worry,

Brainy has a gift with large vehicles. Speaking of which," I turn to mockingly yell at my pal.

"Brainy! We need to get your trailer moved before we get snow!"

Unimpressed with the dramatics, he raises an eyebrow before replying. "Indeed. I will work

towards that goal immediately."

"RV first."

The demand is supposed to be playful, honestly, but my internal disaster lesbian stressing shines

through, raising that eyebrow even more, Kara echoing the expression where she's paused in

cleaning.

"The RV will block access to my workshop."

Set a good example, Alex, and apologize.

"Oh, right, of course. Sorry, I was being pushy."

"There is no need for an apology, but thank you. As the Kubota has returned from morning chores,

moving my trailer can be completed immediately."

"Done. Lucifer! Come make your foul little self useful!"

That sets in motion a flurry of activity, Lucy popping out of the back room of the kitchen and Sam

eagerly handing off the keys to their rental RV.

My brain, in all of its distracted glory, is already off and running to try and escape the reality of the

hot, married ladies. The big table isn't enough anymore, already a tad crowded for our daily count

of eight that can swell to eleven when Maggie, Sara, and Aves are all here. We fake it, but Nia

hates the Tiny Terrors and Sara sitting on her clean counters so they can be close, feet tucked in

among whoever is sitting in the banquette and tumbling crumbs on them periodically. We're

already a bit of a frat house and those meals make it like feeding time at the zoo. Our guests would

make us a full fifteen and that's not even planning ahead for random visits like my folks or

neighbors!

So yeah, gotta get on that ASAP. And, I was supposed to work on the coops today. With winter

bearing down, I don't want it to get left too long. The supplies of chick starter for ostrich and

chicken alike are getting low and the former has to come in from California. And that damn

firewood shipment was due yesterday. I need to call them and find out what the hell the delay is…

"Alex!"

"Huh? What?"

Kara is staring at me like I've lost my mind and the great-room is completely empty except for the

two of us.

"Where did everybody go?"

"God, I swear, Alex, you disaster. You spaced out like five minutes ago and scared our guests off.

Brainy and Lucy have the RV in hand, and your hot moms are supervising. They look a little

chilled and the kids are going to get bored fast."

Kara gives me a completely unimpressed look as I grin cheekily at her. "Guess I better go then."

One of the many great things that has come of this new life is an openness that is hard to put to

words. City living forces us inward to protect our self and sanity so often, especially if you're a

woman. Crowds shorten your stride, indoor spaces so often discourage loudness, we're conditioned

to not annoy others we are forced into close quarters with.

Here? Here is just we few and more space than any of us have ever known to run loose in. I like

my longer stride, feeling the muscles I've worked hard for bunch and stretch. I like taking up

space!

As I leave the bathhouse, a flicker of movement over to my left diverts my path. Sure enough, in

the eight-ish foot alley between the main village deck and Brainy's barn, the visitors have clustered

to watch their temporary home get settled in. As I walk down the triple steps, the leaden skies

finally release some of their load in a pissy drizzle.

"You got better warms in there?" I tease and they all jump and turn around. "I hope, 'cause for a

bunch of New Yorkers, you guys don't know how to layer worth shit."

While the moms and Ruby look at me sourly, Lily just giggles over my cussing. Behind them, the

ass end of Brainy's trailer pokes past the corner of the building and joggles back and forth a bit as I

talk.

"All teasing aside, I can help with that if you like. Get you into some proper farm clothes. Oh, and

here's your ride now."

Carol is at the ass end of the RV, gesticulating towards the nose end and firing off the occasional

insult. The big machine drifts close enough to the edge of the swimming pool that I hear at least

one of the hot moms draw in a sharp breath. Then the transmission thumps and the engine falls

silent. At the rate Carol and Lucy are laughingly berating each other, I better get my charges out of

here.

"They'll finish up. Come on."

Once back at the barn, I automatically listen in for my various charges, which is mostly the cats

during daylight hours. I can't hear the new kittens over the noises of the New Yorkers, but that's

okay, I'll check in on them later.

The shop is still a shock in how the stillness trapped behind insulation makes the space so much

warmer. If I'd managed to get the damn floor cemented in, well…

Let it go, Alex. Shit takes time and the drafty ass walls are sealed up so your fingers are more

likely to stay intact in the chill of winter.

"I have stacks of warms that you guys can use," I call over my shoulder as I head for the backroom

to hunt down the right box. It's always a bit of a shock to see how much crap we've accumulated in

such a short period of time. Giving the box a punch in case of lurking spiders -god, I hate spiders-

I haul it back into the shop to thump it down. Even as I start talking, I note what they had each

been looking at, eager for ideas to entertain them.

"Tada! This is mostly me with a little from Luce, since we bulked up and outgrew stuff we already

had. Kara and Brainy had to pretty much start from scratch for winter clothes. Straight from

Seattle, land of flannel and fleece!"

Pulling back the flaps with dramatic flourish, I dump the mess across my worktable. Without

hesitation, Lily goes for the only purple thing I own, clearly delighted with it, despite its size.

That's signal enough to her family to dig in. Parking my butt on my work stool, I watch them and

make conversation.

"We got really good at scouring secondhand shops for clothes when down in the valley. Luckily,

there's a lot of farmland down there and a major college just south, so the pickings are generally

pretty good."

"This is good material," Lena notes as she rubs a pinch of soft cotton between her fingers. It

shouldn't look as suggestive as it does and I have to shake off my distraction.

"Uh, yeah. I've always been picky about what goes against my skin and little if any of this is cheap

stuff. One of the reasons why I held on to it, just in case. I'm a big fan of cotton and prefer material

blends to be at least eighty percent or better. It was a pain in the ass to get scrubs that didn't make

me squirm. Sorry, language again."

The collection is a tangle of flannel, fleece and button-ups with little stretch. It's split about even

between colors and somber neutrals, and most of the colorful stuff has been gifts from Kara over

the years. I miss my old cottons, worn down to buttery soft and just that right shade of grungy.

Fleece, while not as comfortable in its staticy, felty plasticness, is light, stretchy and so very Pacific

Northwest. There's only a few pieces in the box, stuff that pulled at me just enough to be annoying

and all of it is snatched up by my visitors. Lucy is going to die laughing to see little Lily swimming

around in that hot fuchsia monstrosity Ava bought her last Christmas just to outrage Sara, and Lena

has my favorite; blue, thick and kitten-soft, whose seams had finally pulled tight enough at my

neck to be given up. Oddly, Sam sticks to black, but has also doubled up on layers of colorful

flannel underneath. Ruby likes the solids, some duller flannel covered by crimson red.

While they dig through the mess, I call the firewood company and get a confirmation for the next

day. At least our being able to accept the delivery any time of day gets us taken care of reasonably

quickly.

There's a weird twang in the base of my brain in seeing the four of them in my clothes. Shaking off

whatever the hell that was, I grin wide.

"Much better! You'll fit right in as New York bohemians. Grab what's left for later use. Later we'll

find an afternoon to head down and hit the secondhand shops. Yes, Lena, I see that expression. The

joy of secondhand clothing is that destroying it with farm life holds no guilt."

She is clearly the most cultured of her family, making a face but nonetheless shrugging into a black

and white flannel with the blue fleece over that, only to find her stylish puffy coat no longer fits.

She sighs and tucks her hands into it.

"Fair, I suppose."

With that settled amicably enough, I carry on. "Now, we didn't finish the tour, but it's still raining

outside. And maybe later, you can help me and Kara collect eggs." For a moment I'm baffled that

Lily looks so alarmed, then it clicks and I choke down a laugh. "Chicken eggs. No going near the

ostriches. As I'm sure you saw the video where I got dropped, I don't really need to say why,

right?"

They all nod emphatically.

"Actually, I hadn't really thought about you coming along, junior. Tell you what, we'll set some

ground rules in the morning, okay? Nothing to awful, I promise. In the meantime, just stick to an

adult or two.

"It's not just the ostrich that can be dangerous, but the big donks could stomp and not even realize

they did it, and their little cousins are mean cusses when they want to be. Never -and I'm dead

serious about this- never trust a pig once they get bigger than a medium sized dog. They are

dangerous and can easily be deadly and they are always hungry and will eat just about anything."

Now the city girls look alarmed and even a bit squeamish. Good. I'm not trying to be an ass, but

pigs are serious business. Lightening up my tone, I finish up my little rant.

"So far we haven't seen anything bigger than coyotes, but there's no way there's not cougar

somewhere in these forests. Thankfully, they don't like being around us any more than we like

being around them, but the warning is valid."

Clearly trying to make conversation, Sam manages to find some words. "I didn't even know you

had pigs."

"Yep. Two older ones and eight piglets kept apart from them. They're way out at the fringes of the

pasture and were getting moved around just like everyone else during the summer. It's a long walk,

well, drive, because we need the small tractor to haul food and water, but the further away the

better because they start to stink a bit after a few days in one place."

Yeah, this is clearly too much for them and I rub my forehead in exasperation with myself. I'm not

normally such a damn blabbermouth.

"Anyway, don't worry about it. So, while we're in here, I noticed that we don't fit the dining table

anymore. Like at all. Would you guys like to help me out with that?"

Their nervous worry turns to stereo curiosity and I'll take that as a win. Still, the moment is

awkward, but I decide it's cute and gesture around me.

"Help choose the wood and even maybe help me build it?"

For a moment they all still look confused, but then Lily gets excited, looking to her mothers. Ruby

is at least intrigued, but she's trying not to be obvious about it. Ah, to be a teenager again. Not.

I suppose the rag tag collection of tools hanging on the walls isn't inspiring confidence. Some of

them look like they were dug out of a landfill or were medieval torture devices. And that isn't even

getting into most of the power tools. There was little point buying most of them new until I figured

out how much I would use them. Upgrading takes time and an intimidating investment. So far

hanging them on sheets of plywood dotted with screws and long nails and loops of strings have

sufficed, but one of my winter tasks will be a permanent safe place for each thing.

Clearly, the hot moms are going to need a little persuasion, so I dredge up what charm I can.

"When I was a doctor, I had nurses and staff who set up our tools the same way every time, so we

always had them and didn't need to really think about where they were and could focus on our

patients. They also did the cleaning up, and I tried to pitch in when I could. I was one of the few,

unfortunately. The medical industry -and make no mistake that it's just that, an industry- is hard

on the people in its ranks. And too many doctors take advantage of their status to heap work or

abuse on those that work for them. Few people are as underappreciated as nurses and medical staff,

and it sucks because doctors are one hundred percent useless without them. There's a handful of

them I still miss."

Shaking off the wistfulness of memory, I gesture to the sloppy but organized sheets of plywood

adorned with my tool collection.

"One thing I've tried really hard to make a habit is putting my damn tools away. If I didn't, my old

nurses might find me and kick my butt. And I know it looks messy and haphazard, but I have to see

my tools. Again, from being an emergency room doctor."

Utterly deadpan, Sam says, "so you need a shop nurse?"

My laughter is real.

Racing off into the rain to get my truck, I pull it up to the barn where my guests wait to pack in.

Despite the king cab turning the machine from 'overlarge' to 'behemoth', it's been incredibly handy.

Past the barn, I follow the road where it curls around the edge of the turtleback hill that defines the

northern edge of the village. My speed is barely above 'crawl', but it's worth it to see how the

family ogles the scenery.

"Is the bridge strong enough?" Lena suddenly asks tensely and I nod in reassurance.

"Yep. We did some reinforcing to ensure it's solid before we get in a permanent bridge. That one

will be concrete and steel. We'll get on the permits this winter and spring, and it might take both.

The stream is salmon habitat and there are strict rules, which is fine, just slow."

"What sort of rules?" Ruby asks as we break into the bridge's clearing and I slow to a stop on the

wooden deck. The water is moderately high right now. Nothing like the spring melt, but still, a

good show.

"We have to be extra careful to not disturb the habitat, which means not just keeping the water

clear, but not disturbing the bottom of the stream, because that's where they lay their eggs. You

guys saw the old lakebed coming in, right? The dam that made the lake was ripped out not just

because it was old, but because it blocked the salmon from moving freely up into the mountain

streams. Now that they can do that again, the government agents are extra careful about the

streams. We're lucky that the ridge separates the village from the stream and we could run septic

into that field away from the rocky drop-off behind the buildings. By the time water leaks out of

the field, it's been cleaned up by the infrastructure and the tons of earth between it and the stream."

I swear this YouTube shit has made me a damn talking head. At least I had practice training the

Junior Woodchuck interns and new doctors.

The road beyond the bridge is still rough, but I mowed it and brought over a couple tractor-buckets

of gravel for the worst divots and gullies. From the dwarfing gloom of the rainy forest, the

grayness brightens as the trees fall away and the first warehouse looms up. Parking at the first of

the big doors, I twist a bit to talk to my passengers.

"Just give me a sec to jog over to the person door and I'll open the big one here from inside. Hang

tight!"

Doing that and flicking on the lights only takes a moment and I'm back in the truck to pull it inside

and out of the rain.

"This is the one with the damaged roof," Lena notes as we all climb into the cool stillness of the

warehouse.

"Yep! You can see my patch job over there. I kept the wood stacks away from it, just in case the

snow caves it in again. Behold the collection!"

There was a lot of YouTube watching of dudes that love sawing logs into boards and stacking them

with sticks between the slabs to let them air dry. Unfortunately for this crew, most of our sort of

business is done by men. Boring. At least there's a few welcome exceptions.

"I have something in mind, if we want to get a little wild. I love the firs and hemlocks, but when

we were bringing down some trees, we also got a few cedars."

The cedars really are gorgeous, rich cream and warm reddish tones layered like pattern steel and I

haven't wanted to waste the wood on just anything. That I get to show off my strength in moving

slabs has nothing to do with it.

Even I don't believe that.

The saved trees were sliced into long planks which were then stacked in order with little junk sticks

spaced along the flat faces to give them a bit of airflow to dry. Thank you, YouTube! Some of

these have been stacked here since we built the bridge five months ago and I have one special

specimen in mind. Really, they should have at least six months, but I'm hoping I can push my luck

because we really do need a much larger table.

"Keep back, these things are heavy."

With a grunt and a crash, the top board is down. Unless I get clever, it's a useless thing, the outside

curve of the trunk with a curved backing of hairy cedar bark. But it's the smallest piece and will

show an example of the grain within. So I brace myself, get a good grip near the center and haul it

over to the still-open door. Resting the slab against the doorframe, I brush off some of the lingering

dust and wood particulate.

"I've used some smaller pieces of this tree for little projects, but have saved these huge beams,

hoping for something special to happen."

"Like a new dining table?" Lena asks and crouches down beside me to stroke the wood. "It's

beautiful."

It takes real effort to not get lost in her elegant profile, a soft smile gentle on her mouth. Really, this

is the worst place for crushes, dumbass.

Luckily for me, the cedar is a big hit, though after moving the first couple of slabs, I realize that

moving these beasts isn't just difficult, it's dangerous. They're more than twelve feet long and two

inches thick, their edges crumbly with dried bark. When we stacked these months ago, there was a

whole damn lot of us. And tractors. Which I am clearly going to need again.

"Okay, guys, I'm going to need mechanical help to do this without getting hurt. How about I run

you back to your RV to settle in for a bit and I'll grab one of my team to help me out. Later, you can

help me go through some pictures and find a nice table to try and duplicate."

There's some disappointment and relief in them. Understandable, as it's been a big day and these

old warehouses can be a bit creepy. We pile back into the truck and don't bother to close the big

door up, since I'll be right back. Despite it being close to midday, the rain has everything gloomy as

dusk, particularly in the heavy forest. Lights are on here and there in the village, the sight of which

still fills me with a deeply satisfied warmth. Past the yurt, I turn down the smaller gravel road and

pass between the Rambeau's cabin and my little green house. Another left has me skimming past

the porous concrete pad poured behind mine and Brainy's places, now crowded with the travel

trailer and the big RV.

"Oh good, the gang got you all prepped."

Sure enough, the RV is lit up from within, awning and slide-outs deployed, even a big rectangle of

outdoor carpeting from our piles of crap laid out at the foot of the step. Pulling right onto said

carpet, I drop the truck into park and twist to smile at them.

"Take your time, we have lots of it. The wifi is excellent and unsecured because, really, who's

going to steal it out here? There's also excellent cell service because a lot of the townies are also

ex-city slickers and had a really nice telecomm tower put in long before we got here. Brainy's got

us on surprisingly reliable fixed direction wireless and… you don't really care about all this, do

you?"

There is something to be said for being adorable when you're rambling like an idiot. At least I hope

I am, because the four of them are smiling, so it can't be that bad, right?

"So, yeah, no rush. We'll get you on the farm group chat to keep track of where everyone is and

what we're doing, okay?"

Nods all around, and Lena, who took the passenger seat, reaches out to give my arm a squeeze.

"Thank you for everything."

"Yeah, of course, I mean, you too."

God I'm an idiot.

Thankfully, I find myself alone in the truck to catch my breath. It's been a long time since I've been

unnerved so badly by a couple of hotties. I swear this is like being a teenager again.

No, this is worse.