Love our creator (Junkin and Thybeloved)

Jeremy was almost done organizing Jennifer's room. James had gone to pick her up while he finished, it had taken a few days to move everything from the spare room into the basement hopefully she wouldn't mind the small size of the room it was all Jeremy could organize on the short notice, he heard a knock at the door and walked briskly. "They couldn't be here already." He said to himself as he opened the door, seeing the principal of the school. "Oh hey Toby how is it going?"

"Great, just swinging by to let you know your daughter has been enrolled without any hassles we look forward to seeing her in class." Toby said with a smile. "Oh and the boys and I are having a poker game a little later in the week you in?"

"Of course, wouldn't miss another chance for you to steal all my money eh?" Jeremy laughed as Toby handed him a envelope labeled 'Jenny's school stuff'

"I'll catch you later, back to the grind of running a school" He waved as he walked off with a false look of exhaustion.

Jeremy waved Toby off before placing Jennifer's school information on the front table and moving the last of the boxes down to the basement. "Alright that is that."

James waited at the train station for his sister Jennifer, sitting on the hood of his pickup impatiently tapping his foot and looking at his watch. "Come on Jenny..." He let out a small sigh of dejection. "Gotta show you around town and get you caught up to speed yet." James looked to the sky, only 30 minutes or so of daylight left.[/font]

Jennifer was truly excited. And it wasn't just the fact that she was riding a train for the first time in her life. No, it was the destination that made her little heart jump with joy. She had finally escaped the clutches of her drunk mother and she was heading toward her long lost family, toward her brother and her father, toward a better life.

Her mother had left her dad long ago leaving her brother with her dad. Thanks to that grumpy woman she now had only a few memories of them. But they were some of the happiest memories she had. Her father was a handsomely cool dude and her own personal white knight. Her brother, well, he wasn't as silly as some of the other boys and he was kind of funny. Actually he was really funny.

She wriggled in her seat. "Come on stupid train, bring me home, to the place I belong!" She prayed silently feeling a bit nervous. As if Fate has just heard her prayer the train slowed and her stop was called. She shot up like a neurotic squirrel and gathered her belongings: a backpack filled with books and her cameras plus two suitcases containing her whole wardrobe. It took a bit of effort, but she managed to descend from the train without maiming any of the other passengers.

Standing on the pavement of the station she looked around. Would there be anyone waiting for her? Maybe they forgot? Maybe they didn't want her? Then her heart skipped a beat. There he was, her brother. And he was looking for her! She waved at him and tried to run toward him, but the maximum velocity that her burden allowed was "waddle".

Beaming a wide honest smile at him she had to admit that she had been truly blessed. She had a great feeling about this.

The simple sight of her brother' smiling face was enough to melt away that knot, made of doubts and anxiety, that was had been festering in her stomach. This was her family, this was her home. There was nothing to be afraid. She jumped in the car wearing a big silly smile on her face.

As they rode through the town she kept her eyes glued to the window trying to absorb the scenery as much as possible. She knew that this was some kind of religious community. She had been afraid that they would turn out to be some kind of oppressive ultra-conservative cult, but instead they seemed to be more like care-free hippies. Even the women clearly wore what they wanted, even quite daring dresses in fact. Considering that she was wearing tight jeans and a long white t-shirt with a stylized cat on it, she was relieved that she wouldn't have to change into a hijab or a puritan black dress.

Her brother, as usual, proved to be a bit of a jester. She loved it. Back in her old house, mom never laughed or joked about anything. She wasn't cruel, she just wasn't much fun to be around. This was a most welcomed change. To show him her appreciation for his attempts at levity she planted a solid kiss on his cheek. "Thanks, bro! You're the best". She left him to deal with the luggages and ran inside the house. "Daaaaad? I'm home!" Her voice betrayed the glorious joy she was feeling.

This was where she belong.

Jeremy bolted to his feet from the single bed he had dragged into his daughters room once he heard her call out, he stepped briskly out of the room. "Jenny!" He reached foward and picked her up after seeing her, spinning her around in his arms before pulling her in for a hug. "I've missed you so much sweetie" Jeremy said with tears welling up in his eyes.

James stepped in holding all of Jennifer's luggage, doing his best waddle impression of Jennifer when she stepped off the train. "I'll just get moving to the bedroom then." He said continuing the waddle for a few seconds before walking normally, realizing probably neither of them would get the joke properly. "If only I had the camera" He muttered to himself before disappearing into Jennifer's room.

Jeremy rolled his eyes at James' silliness before pulling back from the hug. "I'm so glad you finally came." Jeremy's smile was from ear to ear, beaming with happiness. "We have been asking the creator to bring you back to us since you mother left with you, but lets not fall back into bad times." Jeremy guided Jennifer to her room. "It probably isn't what your used to but it is all we had." He said as he showed the very cramped room with barely the space for the single bed and a small cupboard. "But it isn't like you will be spending much time in this room anyway, it is mostly for your school studies, I'm going to try and fit in a desk somewhere for you to sit at for your homework."

James walked over with a brand new book with no title and handed it to Jenny. "I know...mother" He said the word with an acidic tone. "Probably wouldn't have let you keep one of your own but this is the book of the creator, it is probably the biggest part of school so do your best to read as much as possible okay?"

Both Jeremy and James were happy about Jennifer finally getting her own. "Oh that's right, I got your school papers from the principal today, he is looking forward to seeing you in class, but first you do need to read through the book of the creator as much as possible, there is an initiation test that comes with earning your school uniform." Jeremy all of a sudden remembered. "Oh right I ordered in some bad junk food, no one should be cooking on such a great family occasion." Jeremy walked out to the kitchen and laid out all the food into portions. "You two come and get some when you are ready." Jeremy yelled out, after being single and with no women in the household for so long he had forgot one of the principal tenants of his religion that he could invoke. James too had forgotten as he almost sprinted into the kitchen/dining room with a hunger in his eyes.

Jennifer flung herself in her fathers arms. She had to fight back the tears. Tears of joy. She had left a cold, hostile home and it felt weird being with people that truly cared about her. She didn't know how to describe the feeling. It was as if something had melted inside her. As if something cold, hard and horrible had turned into something warm and fuzzy. She repressed a sob and gave her dad one last squeeze before let him go. Her eyes were on the brink of turning into waterfalls, but she smiled and kept her boundless joy in check. Neither the small room nor the big book to learn did could quell any of the optimism that had taken hold of her. These were trivial details. The only thing she cared about was her family. With their help she was sure that she could do anything.

"The room is perfect dad, thank you!" She said repressing the instinct of stamping a big kiss on his cheek. Seeing the room through the rosy-tinted haze that she was in, it looked cozy and comfy, like a snug little nest. She felt protected and she loved it. The book was another matter, but she didn't let it deter her. She hadn't been a very religious person. Her mother had kept her away from churches. But she didn't mind it too much. It would be an interesting read at least and if that was the price to pay for her family, she would pay it gladly.

Trying her best not to offend their religious sensitivities, she took the book with two hands. "I'll do my best!" She sounded confident, but she was a bit perplexed about this book being the biggest part of school. Anyway she didn't want to cause a scene and, after all, this was just high school. A few years of religious teaching might even do some good. In a few years she would go to college, so it didn't really matter. What scared a little was the mention of an "initiation test". She disliked tests and official ceremonies. They made her terribly nervous and insecure, but she resigned herself: every silver lining had its cloud. Deciding that she would worry about it later, she smiled at the mention of junk food. "Sounds great! I'm starving! Let me just freshen up ... ehm ... where is the restroom?" She asked with an enthusiastic brightness in her eyes.

James had already began to bury his face into his food, Jeremy looked up at his daughter to answer his question. "Just through there sweetie" He pointed past the kitchen. "First left." He smiled as he waited for her to get back before eating. "Hungry?" He said with a jokingly aggravated face.

With a full mouth of food James replied with. "It's been a big day." It had been for James and Jeremy, organizing Jennifer's joining the town was no small feat, this was a fairly closed off town with very strict rules, James swallowed. "So when are we going to explain to her the rules? You know as well as I do it is going to be a shock to her, especially when it comes to some of the...practical learning."

Jeremy let out a sigh of exhaustion. "I don't know son, I don't think she will be open to the idea, we may have some rough seas ahead of us for a small while until she understands what our community is about." Jeremy began to think about the other few cases of bringing women into the community, not one of them going smoothly. "We will explain it after dinner, WE will." Jeremy made sure that James didn't have any excuse to wander off after dinner. "I'm not going to be the only one to do the heavy lifting in regards to this."

"Okay okay dad, jeez, I think it will go smoothly, Jenny is smart and she will understand that we are only trying to open her eyes to the love of the creator.

Jenny ran toward the bathroom to empty her bladder and wash her hands. Now she felt a woman again. She would take a shower later, for the moment, she was too hungry. Giving herself a soft slap in the cheeks for courage, she emerged from the bathroom and headed toward the delicious smell.

"Junk food here I come!" She said with an innocent giggle. Before sitting down she surreptitiously placed a quick kiss on her brother's cheek. It was so wonderful to be part of a family, everybody sitting at the table eating together. To be surrounded with people that would always help her and protect her. It was a feeling she rarely had felt before. She quickly washed a tear away before they could see it.

Taking a quick breath, she lightened up the room with a beaming smile. "It feels good to be home, guys!" She said before throwing herself on the food.

"Welcome back sweetie" Jeremy smiled watching her daughter give a cute cheek kiss to her brother. "Dig in, your brother already has." Jeremy began to eat as James stretched with a look of victory plastered across his features.

"You know what happens when you put food in front of me dad, it mysteriously vanishes" James wiggled his fingers as if trying to imitate some weird form of magic.

"And that is why I never send you shopping on your own." Jeremy said after swallowing a mouthful of chicken. The rest of the meal was fairly quiet apart from a few smartass remarks from James. Jeremy waited until Jenny was finished with her food before speaking again, obviously nervous, his voice shaking a little. "So before we go on through the rest of the night there are some things we need to talk about." James' carefree smile changed to a more serious face. "You see there is a lot about our religion you don't know, or may know about but your mother probably shone a less then understanding light on. you see we worship the creator, we believe in love of all things in all ways." Jeremy looked confused on how to go on so James took over.

"Basically we believe that the love you may share with your husband or wife also has a place in the family, we think that it strengthens bonds, there are also other rules regarding the community. Men work for the community doing everything from manual labour to engineering jobs and such, women work for the men." James began to look confused on how to go on so Jeremy took over again.

"Now please don't be confused this is not a community about oppression as your mother saw it, we all love each other as family and that is what it is all about, however due to the rules stated by our religion there may be a...learning curve for you coming from the outside, one of the rules is that a woman is as James stated to work for the men, every woman is 'owned' for lack of a better word by her closest living male relative and that she is to serve his needs and desires as best she can. Now this is anything from housecleaning to the more intimate needs." Jeremy decided to stop for a moment, letting all of this sink in and giving her a chance to ask questions.