Draw your own conclusion (for Tarrakhash and Blurugirl)

Blurugirl

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Oct 25, 2019
Shahlah Jacobson thought she had a perfect life. Mostly.

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Granted, her life hadn't started off perfectly, mostly or otherwise. Her father had become enamored with an Iranian man, and Shahlah had been the result of the romance. But the romance quickly devolved into abuse and control from her biological father, who left her mother and her when Shahlah was five,

No problem. When Shahlah was nine, Shahlah's mother would meet the man who would become Shahlah's stepfather.

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Shahlah loved her stepfather. But she loved all her family. Shahlh's stepfather was a commercial artist who still kept tabs with his classical roots. He was successful enough that he could run his own business out of their office. But he also taught an art history class at the local college, and drew "non-commercially", as he called it. And though Shahlah had no talent of her own, her stepfather made sure Shahlah was still introduced to his world. He had not only taught her about different artists and artistic movements throughout history, but also how to appreciate and critically analyze art as a whole.

Shahlah had a good relationship with her mother. Mostly. Well, Shahalah's felt her slightly nerdy mathlete daughter should be outgoing, and she definitely did not appreciate the mostly frumpy, form hiding clothes her eighteen year old daughter wore. But Shahlah still appreciated her mother. Well, things had become strained between Shahlah's mother and stepfather, and she knew her stepfather spent some nights on the couch in his office, but he always said that was because he was working late. And if the two were having problems, they were going to great lengths not to expose their kids to their marital strife.

And Shahlah adored her little five year old brother. Mostly.

Hunter was blonde and blue eyed (the same as everyone else in the family except Shahlah) and was just as sweet as he could be. He would sit by Shahlah on the couch, cuddle up to her, and ask her for a story if she wasn't busy. Or just sit there and be sweet and good if she was busy.

Hunter was perfect. Mostly.

Except Hunter would draw on anything if given a chance. In response to Hunter's artistic exuberance, the walls were painted with wipeable paints, Hunter was given special crayons, and anything you didn't want drawn on, was locked up and put away. Because Hunter would listen and obey about everything except drawing.

Which is where the story begins.

Shahlah's stepfather would keep his office locked, to ensure that Hunter didn't draw on any of the more expensive books he had on his shelves. In addition, all important papers were kept locked in the bottom drawer of the office.

Shahlah and her mother had keys to the office, and Shahlah went into the office one to use the family printer. While she was printing out a paper due on Monday, she noticed the bottom drawer of the desk was ajar. She was about to close the drawer when a folder in it caughter eye. It was titled "Life Drawings." Shahlah immediately knew that meant Nude Sketches. Although she was a modest young woman (overly modest, in her mother's opinion), Shahlah wasn't shocked about the idea of her father making nude sketches. That's what artists did, after all. She would have been more shocked if her father made landscape paintings. He did have curt words about that sort of thing.

Curious, Shahlah pulled out the folder and began flipping through it. She didn't recognize some of the models, of course, but assumed they were student models her father had met at the college. One of the models, though, looked familiar to Shahlah. It took the teen a few minutes to recognize who the nude woman was in those sketches. It was HER!

Shahal was more than a little shocked that her father has been imagining her nude. Well, he had not only been imagining, he had been mentally airbrushing the nude mental image of his stepdaughter. The young woman in these pictures was gorgeous! It was sort of like the optimized version of what Shahlah thought she could ever aspire to.

Probably the only thing her stepfather had not improved on, Shahlah though with a self-conscious smirk, was the size of Shahlah's breasts in the sketches. But then she couldn't really fault her father on that. After all, with the frumpy clothes she made sure she was wearing any time she stepped out of her room, he had no idea on how to guess. The breasts in the sketches looked to be about a cup smaller than Shahlah's D cup.

Still, the part of Shahlah's mind that her stepfather had trained to look at a drawing analytically thought they were good, if woefully inaccurate. So Shahlah took a couple of post its from the desk, wrote some critiques, attached it to the drawings, then returned them to the bottom drawer. This time, though, she made sure the bottom drawer was locked. Hunter definitely didn't need to get to those pictures!

Chuckling, Shahlah locked up her father's office, headed to her bedroom, did a few things on the compute, then called it a night. At ten o'clock on a Friday night, Shahlah was happily asleep in her own bedroom.
 
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Stephen smiled and nodded of course,"I'd be happy to." She was the only one still treating him normal right now, and she kept him in the loop, if he asked, all he had to do was wait she said.

Didn't come easy to him but it is what it is. He moved into the kitchen and got started cutting and cleaning as directed,"Where did you learn to cook like this, Sarai? It's something special."
 
"My great aunt," Sarai said, taking some of the vegetables and putting them in boiling water. "She and my granduncle raised me since I was Hunter's age. She wanted me to be a Renaissance Woman. Not just a mathlete. She and my grand uncle were the ones who made sure I was always in some kind of afterschool physical activity,. Which is how I met your daughter. Both of us being swimmers." Sarai paused as she dumped the boiling vegetables to blanch them. "So I know I've always been cute, even pretty, but your drawings make me look beautiful." She smiled at him before she began cutting the blanched vegetables with speed and precision. "I am beautiful, aren't I?"
 
Stephen laughed at the Renissance woman,"They seem to be succeeding. You are most versatile, even managing a grumpy controlling old coot like me." He chuckled at her. Next question and shook his head,"The three of you....what am I going to do with you."

"Sarai, you are absolutely gorgeous. Smoking is the word you used?", he checked with her before chuckling again,"Not a doubt in my mind one of the four most beautiful woman I have ever met. With your friends being the other three."
 
"So, I'm just curious," Sarai began, a light pink on her cheeks as her eyes never left the vegetables she was chopping. "I'm told that guys...men...well, have different preferences. About physical aspects of a woman that they prefer most. I mean, they can like different aspects, but really appreciate one aspect. So I'm wondering," Sarai continued, her eyes never leaving the vegetables she was chopping, "Would you consider yourself a breast man? Or buttocks or legs?"
 
His eyebrow rose slowly as she spoke watching her chop away and he chuckled,"Well...I'm an artist so it's a little more complicated than that....out of your three options I suppose I'm more a breast guy...."

With a low laugh he said,"I never know what to expect with you, Sarai, but to be honest, beautiful eyes and long hair will slay me every time. I can work my way around the other bits....but I need to be able to look in your...um....her eyes and play with her hair."

He kept as serious a tone as possible as he said,"Any other questions? I feel like this is going somewhere but no one plays the long game like you, Sarai, so keep going."
 
"No long game, just curious," Sarai said, still not looking up from her vegetables. Just then, the sound of the front door opening, and the three other teens coming home and being greeted by Hunter.

"Why don't you grab the roast out of the oven, and I'll start setting out the side dishes, and we can get our happy little family fed," Sarai asked.
 
He chuckled and nodded....no long game indeed. He looked up at the noise of the invading horses and got up to help Sarai out,"Our little family, I like that.....thank you for helping me keep it all together."

Grabbing the oven mitts he started getting the roast out and helping serve the meal. Eager to see the rest of his family too.
 
There might have been a little hesitation from the three other teens at the sight of Stephen. but they all sat at the table. Sarai seemed to be making an all out effort to be as affectionate as possible with all involved, giving each a peck on the cheek or a hug around the neck. She didn't exclude Stephen from the affection, but neither did she show him more attention than anyone else.

By the end of the dinner, if the atmosphere was not as relaxed, it was not as reserved. The rest of the girls weren't exactly engaging with Stephen, but they weren't as distant as they had been at breakfast.

It was a quiet night in the family room, with everyone at their laptop or book, in their own world. But nobody had retreated to their bedroom.

And when Hunter's bedtime came, and he gave a hug to Stephen, the other three follow suit. Shahlah gave her father a hug from behind while he was seated, and Shamira followed suit. Shahlah wish her father "Good night Dad," while Shamira wished him a quiet, little girl "Good Night Daddy." Gerri hesitated, before giving the seated Stephen a "Good Night" farewell and hug from behind as well.

"And you should be able to get a good night's sleep tonight, Dad," Sarai said with a stretch and a yawn. "And Saturday morning, we'll hash it all out after we send Hunter to camp. Just remember, if you try to take control, you're going to be by yourself. Every young woman in this household has a choice of somewhere besides here to go. And they're all eighteen, so there's absolutely nothing you can do to stop them. So don't think you're helping by trying to control or trying to tell us what's best for us. Just...be there. Okay?"
 
Stephen was happy to accept any of the affection he was shown, wishing them all a good night equally. He sighed listening to Sarai and nodded,"Yes, treat them like water...don't grab. Let them flow to you."

"Be there and answer questions....I'll do my best. I don't want to lose anyone. Thank you again, Sarai."
 
"Yes of course, I just normally put myself to bed.", smirking he got up gave her a hug and headed to his room with a brief chuckle,"Or were you wanting to tuck me in and read me a story? Goodnight, Sarai."

He was sure he'd sleep fine tonight.
 
Friday morning found Sarai a little wistful.

She wasn't Hunter's mother or sister or anything like that. She was just one of the three surrogate...somethings whose maternal instincts Hunter triggered. Four surrogate somethings now, when you included Gerri. Who had easily fallen in love with the little boy as well.

So since she wasn't flesh and blood, she shouldn't be worried about Hunter going away to a soccer camp for a week. Ok, granted, the camp was just an hour away, and wasn't really a camp per se, with tents and things like that. They'd be in comfortable beds, in comfortable rooms, with all their friends, playing soccer during the day, running drills, but friendly drills, and games and movies at night. And if Hunter got homesick, one call would be all it took to get him home. And there were family visitations every other afternoon, which the girls would probably fight it out with Stephen about who got to go.

Fighting with Stephen. Sarai sighed. Every time she thought things were gelling, Stehen put his foot in it. She or Shamira would tell him time and time again what he was doing wrong, and he'd acknowledge his wrongdoing...and then do the same thing all over again.

Sarai shook her head and sighed. Well, maybe they could work it all out on Saturday. And, if not...

Well, Gerri had gotten access to her trust fund again, and was actually looking at some place off campus to stay. Of course, she hadn't actually been looking for any place until Stephen...

Sarai shook her head and sighed.

Well, she was making waffles this morning. Normal ones for everyone else but Hunter. Hunter was getting with chocolate chips and whip cream on top. Sarai giggled when she thought about handing off the sugar hyped Hunter to his teachers that day.

Sarai looked around the kitchen and sighed. It had been fun, being here, flirting with Stephen, and generally having fun. And if things had flowered between Stephen and Shamira, well, the girls would have eventually supported and protected the couple. And there was even a hint that perhaps more....unconventional relationships might have developed.

But Stephen seemed insistent upon treating the four teens like they were kids who could be dictated to. Or that the four were tweenies that a round of ice cream could mollify.

And that crack about unstable bodies...

Just de-escalate the situation and see what happens, Sarai told herself. And if worse comes to worse...well, they could always move out. Maybe even attend that out of state university after all. It would break Sarai's heart to leave Hunter behind. It would break all the teens' hearts. And Stephen meant well. But if he was going to insist on being controlling, even if he felt it was justified by the events that had overwhelmed all of them over the last couple of weeks...well, there was nothing to do but leave.

Feeling strangely calm after having reached her decision, Sarai began setting breakfast on the table.
 
Stephen had not slept as well as he thought, his mind was all over the place as the girls, even his stepdaughter, had kept their distance. He had plenty of time to think, and contemplate, but he had always thought a couple of jokes and a well timed hug would fix things but as the length of time he got the cold shoulder increased the more he wracked his brain to figure out where exactly he had lost control.

Part of it was the relationship with Shamira, whatever that was, part of it was his own self created tension with Gerri over where she could stay and part of it was his sense of entitlement to thier love and obedience. He didn't think of himself as particularity controlling or dominant but it didn't matter what he thought.

Perception was reality, and somehow the girls understanding of what he was doing was different to his. He was able to distract himself with the final preparations for Hunter's departure but he was also aware that Hunter had acted as a buffer over the last few days.

He had to relax, not let his fear of losing get the better of then and he had to be respectful. It was hard not to grab onto what he could get, hard not to clutch but two ex-wives later....something was going to have to give if he didn't want to find himself all alone in his later years.

So he was a much subdued man, many thoughts going through his mind as that Friday morning he came for breakfast, looking up at Sarai,"Morning, Sarai, thanks for cooking breakfast....I'm sure Hunter will love it. Can I help in anyway?"
 
"Just relax," Sarai said. "Enjoy breakfast."

She gave him a hug and a playful push to the dining room.

Shamira and Hunter were the first pair down the stairs just as Sarai was setting out breakfast. Hunter saw the stack of chocolate waffles Sarai had made for him and immediately came to life, making a beeline for them. Shamira shook her head in mock dismay.

"What? He'll burn that off running around before class begins," Sarai said innocently.

Shamira shook her head again, smiling, and went over and gave Stephen a hug. "Good morning, Daddy,." She broke the hug off after a couple of seconds to sit by Hunter. "Slower," she admonished him. "You should taste those waffles, not inhale them."

Hunter just grinned at Shamira. but did slowed down a little after the gentle admonishment.

Gerri and Shahlah came down a few moments later, Shahlah giving her stepfather a sleepy 'Good morning' before plopping herself in front of her plate. Gerri did flash Stephen a friendly smile and a "Good morning" before taking her seat. Shahlah drank her coffee in silence, trying to wake up, while the other girls made innocuous conversation, making sure to include Stephen in their conversation.

"Looking forward to camp next week?" Gerri asked. Hunter nodded enthusiastically, while not slowing down from his eating, which made Gerri laugh.
 
Stephen gave a slightly strained smile to Sarai,"I'll try, thanks."

His smile lit up as Shamira came walking down the stairs, his heart strings tugging as she came over to him, he returned the hug and was not at all eager to release it but he let her go, somewhat reluctantly,"Morning, Shamira."

He was just watching her interact with Hunter, his smile already looking more relaxed and normal, when he heard the other two coming down. His smile tightened just for a moment when a sleepy Shahlah greeted him and his heart melted, she was so cute when she just got out of her bed all warm, he remembered cuddling her straight out of her bed and how warm she'd be. Sighing he reached over the table and fluffed her head,"Morning, my darling, sleep well?"

It was amazing how the thought of losing them made the little things so much more important, he gave Gerri and equally warm smile and greeting before falling in with the conversation that the girls were allowing him into.

He smiled at Gerri's question before adding,"More than Sarai is, she's going to be so dissapointed that none of us are going to be inhaling her food with such enthusiasm. It's on all of us to make sure she knows her food is still being enjoyed, so I for one am going to be practicing my enthusasitc shovelling of food for the time Hunter is away.", his eyes turned to his son and he chuckled,"We're going to miss you, Buddy, but you're going to have a great time!"
 
"Shamira, why don't you get Hunter cleaned up and ready for school, and the rest of you can get cleaned up as well. We'll get Hunter off to school and have a little meeting in the family room. Today, rather than tomorrow. And pajamas will be fine. Keep it informal. Chop chop!" she said as she started clearing the table. Hunter giggled as he pulled Shamira up the stairs to help him get ready for school. Shahlah and Gerri shared a bemused look as they headed dutifully upstairs.
 
Stephen was equally bemused at Sarai's actions, waiting till everyone was gone to walk up, out his arms around her and kiss her forehead,"Thanks, Mom." He smiled,"And I mean that as in the glue holding our family together kind of way, not a shot at you kind of way. Thank you, let's see if I can remeber all you've told me."

A last squeeze and he tied his bathrobe together, before flopping on the couch in the family room. It was early than expected but somethings had crystalized over the last few days for Stephen and he wasn't afraid. He was going to be honest, make himself vulnerable and see how the girls took it.

The one thing he knew for sure, once he was done sharing his feelings...well the topography of these relationships would never be the same. A hint of nerves at at him and he let out a long slow breath as he waited for the girls to arrive....he was going to let them speak first and only talk when they asked him to....let them be in charge of this...he'd fucked it up enough times.
 
Once Hunter was off to school, the four teens joined Stephen in the family room, except for Sarai, all had slightly damp hair. But like Sarai, they were still dressed in sleep shirts and house robes.

"So, before we get started," Sarai asked, "Does anybody need to be anywhere?"

The other teens shook their heads, then looked toward Stephen.
 
Stephen shook his head,"I took the day as a work at home day...." He didn't say because he didn't think he'd be able to focus with this exact thing hovering over his head,"I'm not going anywhere."
 
"Well, first thing first. This is a pajama party, ladies, so let's see some pajamas."

Gerri gave her a raised eyebrow, Shahlah rolled her eyes and Shamira giggled, but all the ladies took off their house coats. The girls were all wearing the same style, knee length sleep shirts, and all were braless underneath. Sarai's was a light blue, with Elsa dressed up as Marilyn Monroe and a caption reading "Blondes prefer snowmen." Shamira's was its usual plain gray, Shahlah's was dark gray with a steampunk zeppelin, and Gerri's was lincoln green, with a picture of Freddy the Flute from the children's show more than half a century ago.

"So who wants to start this off?" Sarai asked. "Any takers? Or should I start the ball rolling?"
 
Stephen smirked, trying to control his smile as Sarai got them out of their robes. Pushing his own off.....his rather boring flannel pajamas not showing anything he gave Sarai a look and then let his eyes slide from girl to girl as he let out a long breath he didn't realise he had been holding.

"Go ahead, Sarai, its come to my attention that I've been too quick to speak and I've said more than enough. Please....Ladies first.", plus he wanted to clear the air before he offered an apology, make sure he hadn't done anything else stupid.
 
"Everyone in this room has been through a rough time for the last couple of weeks," Sarai began. "And in some ways, it has brought us together. Dad has given us emotional shelter. Everyone has enjoyed it. And we've taken care of each other. But I think it has made us a little edgy. And maybe some things have happened that we're a little unsure of." Gerri looked curious at that last remark, Shamira blushed a deep red, and Shahlah might have shrunk into her seat a little.

"But I don't think that's the problem here. I think that, as far as our interactions are concerned, we can figure out what we need to do. But we need the freedom to be able to do that. Dad, this is your house, and you have the right to make rules. But we are four young women who are capable of making our own way in the word. We're not out there living hedonistic fantasies. Probably the worst we've done is the admittedly misguided offer to do some hacking."

"You did what?" Gerri asked, looking and sounding incredulous.

"We'll update you later," Shahlah said, then asked Sarai, "So what's your point?"

"I think each one of us has the right to figure out what they're feeling without someone else trying to tell them when they have to talk, what they have to do...if something I'm doing, or you're doing, or Dad is doing...well, if it's making you feel uncomfortable, I can back off, and so can everyone else. But if we want to have a little space to figure things out, give us that space to figure things out. Nobody wants to be controlled. Everyone okay with that?"

The rest of the girls nodded, then looked as one toward Stephen.
 
Stephen listened to Sarai talk, reactions were telling, Gerri didn't know and Shahlah wasn't happy with Shamira and what he had done. He flushed a little too, now he knew where everyone stood in that regard. It wasn't something he thought about or planned it just kind of happened and he knew how it looked.

It also removed one of the key ingredients in his plan, total honesty, he needed to figure somethings out in the interim. But he listened carefully, smiling slightly at the mention of the misguided hacking and then his smile slowly faded as Sarai outlined, very carefully and without blame, where he had gone wrong.

He nodded,"I agree....and I apologise for my attempts to control, well, you guys. You are capable, intelligent and more but I lost control over a lot of things, including myself at times." His eyes slid over to Shamira as he said carefully,"There are things I do not regret....but need to figure out." And then over to Gerri as he tried an apologetic smile,"And there are things I do. Gerri, I owe you an apology, a lot was....is...going on inside of my head and you represented something new and, at the time, I felt threatened. It is clear that my feelings were wrong....and well....I'm sorry for trying to push you away. You needed to know I'd be there for you....and I failed."

He raised his hands, making little cups out of his palms,"I'm still figuring things out but I'm okay with letting things flow and I'll do my best not to try and control." He glanced at Sarai to see if he had managed to answer the questions without saying too much....or too little.
 
"So I think we should talk about some specific interactions...all of them," Sarai said, looking specifically at Shahlah. A number of unidentifiable emotions flashed across the other teen's face.
 
Stephen sighed, smiling slightly at his stepdaughter and then looking at the others before shrugging,"Alright....so I'll talk about any and all.....where do you want me to start." He looked at Shahlah,"Did you have one in mind for me to start with?"
 
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