Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience.
 
 Author: Invid Fan
Title: A Flip of Faith
Summary: God controls the universe, every star, every atom.  Thus, to a
devout Christian boy, God and Jesus could answer his questions with a
simple coin flip.  What question would a virgin Freshman ask?
Keywords: mf, polly, religion, humor

   ****

   A Flip of Faith

   By Invid Fan (c)2013





   Jesus worked in mysterious ways.

   So, too, did girls.  Not that girls were Jesus, or Jesus a girl.  That
was a robe, not a dress, and not once had Mark seen Jesus with his hair
done up in some girly fashion.  Just to make that clear.  All Jesus and
girls had in common was the mysterious part.  Everything else was
different.

   For one, Mark could talk to Jesus.  With girls, not so much.  Especially
the pretty ones.  As soon as a girl he had known all his life began to
register as damned attractive, Mark couldn't deal.  New girls, who he had
never seen until High School, were even worse.  Well, better, in the sexy
attraction way, but he couldn't even get near them without getting all
flustered.  Jesus, he could talk to.

   Jesus AND God.

   Jesus was God, kind of, but also kinda wasn't.  It was confusing.  The
Bible was unclear, and Church?  Forget about it.  No Sunday School teacher
since Miss Rene in 4th grade had really been able to make it all clear to
him.  He read the Bible every night, thanks to her.  Soaked up the stories.
Committed his soul to God, like she said to.  His parents didn't know. 
They weren't religious, like him.  Dad didn't even go to church, except on
holidays.  Mom took him and his sister every week, but Mark got the idea
she was there for the people, the coffee hour afterwards the main draw. 
Sue, naturally, went because Mom took her.  But, religious, no.  They
weren't.

   Mark had tried.  Attempts to get them to say grace before dinner met
with heavy resistance, and he quickly gave it up.  Prayer was to be private
anyway, according to one of the gospels, he forgot which one, so he did
that.  All of his prayer was private.

   Especially when he asked God and Jesus questions.

   That Jesus answered him was one of the great things about his faith. 
God talked to people all the time in the Bible, like you couldn't shut him
up.  Both he and his son did the same with the fifteen year old Freshman.
Not with words, no.  That would be silly.  Only insane people heard voices
in their heads.  No.

   They used a coin.

   Heads was yes.  Tails was no.  Mark would ask a question, a serious one
(because Jesus wasn't going to be bothered doing his homework for him, and
would probably give the wrong answer just to punish him), flip the coin,
and get his answer.  They were always right.  Oh, sometimes Mark would
screw something up, and it would LOOK like God had been wrong, but, no, it
was Mark's fault.  Just because God said he should or could do something,
didn't mean he didn't have to try to do it right.  God was just advising.

   An example: Mark had not wanted to go with his sister to see that stupid
cartoon that had come out.  Cartoons were for kids.  His Mom wanted him to
go to keep Sue company, even though she was eleven and SHOULD be able to go
alone.  So, he had asked Jesus if he really had to go, or if saying he had
lots of homework to get out of it would be OK.

   It came up heads.  He had to go.

   And, it had been OK.  Good, even, although he wasn't telling his friends
he went to that one.  God had been right.  Again.

   In the theater, looking around, Mark had seen a few teens his age.  ALL
of them were couples, a boy and a girl.  Not brother and sister, though.

   Dates.

   He wanted to go on dates.

   Well, to be honest, it wasn't the date part Mark was interested in.  It
was the kissing, touching, and lots of other stuff.  God, to be able to
make out with a girl!  To...  fuck!  Wow, he'd love to do that!

   At the moment, his chances were slim.

   Which brought him to today.

   Miss Rene had given him the idea.  She had given him many ideas.  Heck,
his first boner had been thanks to her!  Anyway, one Sunday he had been the
only one in the 4th grade class.  Maybe it was over the holidays and
everyone was away, he didn't remember now.  Mark hadn't complained.  A
whole hour alone with Miss Rene!  They had talked, about God.  Life.  Love.
Mark had asked the twenty year old redhead how he'd find the girl of his
dreams.  How he could find true love, someone to be with forever in Jesus's
name.

   "God will send her," she had said, smiling, nose crinkling in that cute
way he loved.  "You will know, because God's light will shine in her eyes."

   So far, he had not found her.

   That, most likely, had been because he had been going about it wrong. 
Looking at the girls around him, trying to see which one had been
highlighted by God.  That was just too hard.  No, the proper way to do
things, he now realized, was to narrow things down.  To, in fact, just ask
God which girl he should be with forever.

   So he had.



   ****



   Mark brought his bike to a stop in front of the large two story house.

   It was larger than his house, at least a little.  Fancier, yes, with two
white round columns holding up the overhang over the front porch instead of
the blue painted wooden beams he had grown up with.  The lawn and garden
was nice, too, everything trimmed perfectly.

   God had led him here.

   Maybe.  Mark looked around.  Nobody was paying attention to him, just
another kid on a bike this Saturday morning in May.  Reaching into his
pocket, he pulled out his quarter.  Mark closed his eyes.

   "Oh, God, should I go talk to her today?"

   He flipped the coin, catching it, slamming it down on his wrist.  Mark
lifted his hand.

   Heads.

   "OK, then." It made sense.  God had sent him here.  He obviously wanted
Mark to go through with it.  That calmed him a bit.  God was with him. 
This was the right thing to do.  There was no reason to be nervous.

   Taking a deep breath, he pedaled up the driveway.  There were three cars
there, with room for more.  Nice cars, although one was a bit older and
more beat up.  It definitely looked out of place.  Mark rode onto the
sidewalk leading to the front door, kicking out the kickstand once he was
off the driveway.  He dismounted, quickly checking himself.  Mark was not
very fashionable.  He liked wearing short sleeved light blue dress shirts,
buttons down the front and a collar.  His closet was full of them.  They
were plain, yes, but so was he.  Short brown hair, with a part to one side.
About five and a half feet tall.  He would grow more, he thought.  His dad
was a good six feet tall, after all, and Mark was already taller than Mom.
He wore bluejeans, just normal ones, whatever brand Mom had gotten on sale.
They fit, which was all that mattered.

   He checked his breath, blowing into his hand in front of his face.  Mark
had no idea what this was supposed to do, but he didn't smell anything
weird so figured he was good to go.  Leaving his bike, he grabbed the
yearbook and walked up to the front door.

   "God, give me strength, and help me on this day.  Amen."

   He pushed the doorbell.



   ****



   The girl that opened the door was pretty.

   Not beautiful.  Not in that movie star way.  She probably could be, with
only a little effort.  Certainly, she wasn't ugly, or plain.  No.  She was
just not trying at that moment.  Her black hair was straight, pulled back
into a pony tail with a white scrunchy.  Her eyes were brown, large and
questioning as she stood in the doorway.  She towered over him, but part of
that was probably just due to her being one step higher.  On level ground,
she probably only had a few inches on him.  Slender, she wore a pink shirt
that did NOT expose her flat belly like some slut, but did hug the curves
of her nice bra enclosed breasts.  Her jean shorts weren't THAT short, and
could even be mother approved depending on the mother.  He detected no
makeup, saw no jewelry...  apart from a small gold cross on a thin gold
chain around her neck, and one ring.

   She blinked at him.

   "Yes?"

   "Hi," he said, trying his best to look confident.  It all came down to
this moment.  "I'm Mark.  God sent me."

   She blinked again.  Her mouth opened, then closed, expression clouding.
Those brown eyes seemed to bore into him.

   "Excuse me?"

   "God sent me.  I prayed to him to show me the girl he had chosen to be
mine in Jesus's name, and that's you."

   A third blink.  The door did not slam in his face, however.  He smiled.

   "You're Evelyn?"

   "Y-es." Evelyn looked back into the house.  "Yes I am.  And, I'm sorry,
but..."

   "May I come in?"

   "What?" Now her expression was a bit condescending.  Mark was getting to
see the full range of her emotions, which he quite liked.  Get it all out
of the way up front.  "No, you can't come in, and I'm very busy..."

   "Who is it?" A female voice came from inside the house.  Now annoyed,
Evelyn looked behind her again.

   "Some boy who says God sent him."

   A pause.

   "Tell him to come in!"



   ****



   Mark looked at the four girls sitting in the living room, amazed.

   Not that the girls were amazing.  Well, they were, kinda, but then he
was at the point where any girl who looked at him, let alone conversed in
any way, was that.  No, it was that he knew them.  Sort of.  Not
personally, or even their names.  No.  It was that they had been in the
same yearbook photo Evelyn had been in, that God had pointed out to him.

   Coincidence?

   If you were a godless heathen, then sure.

   "Everyone," Evelyn told them, sitting down between an African American
girl and a redhead on a large, expensive looking couch, "this is Mark. 
Jesus sent him here looking for a girlfriend."

   Ten eyes focused on him, eight of them amazed.  Mark, always a good
observer, one reason he was good at reading the Bible, noticed all of them
had the same gold cross necklace.  He smiled at them.

   "Not girlfriend.  I asked Jesus to show me who I was going to spend the
rest of my life with, my perfect woman, the one who I would lay with and
start a family."

   "And..." said a small breasted blue eyed blond girl, in a white tennis
outfit which showed off long white legs whose knees were tightly together.
She sat next to a dark haired Hispanic teen on a love seat.

   "And, God answered, as he always does.." Confident now, Mark walked
forward.  Opening the school yearbook to the purple Bible study bookmark,
he placed it on the coffee table in front of the couch.  "Jesus showed me
this picture."

   He heard gasps.  The three on the couch leaned forward, cross necklaces
hanging down.  The other two left their seats, coming to kneel on the white
rug on the other side of the coffee table.  The Hispanic girl looked up at
him with dark eyes.

   "Do you know who we are?"

   "No," he said.  "Before God showed me that photo, I had never seen any
of you, although I probably had in the halls at school.  I had figured God
was showing me the first girl named, but, now...  maybe you're all to be my
wives."

   "WHAT?!" Evelyn's eyes almost jumped out at him.  The eyes of the
redhead next to her were wide, her white cheeks flushed.  He shrugged.

   "I asked who would he wanted me to be with, and that's the picture he
showed me.  I never narrowed it down."

   "How are you talking to him?" It was the brown skinned girl.  Her blue
eyes were curious.  She believed.  Or, wanted to.  Mark dug his quarter out
of his pocket.

   "I flip a coin.  God controls all things in the universe.  I ask a
question, and he makes it heads or tails."

   The girls shared a glance.  The blonde looked up at him, amazed.

   "I do that, too!  That's how Jesus told me never to touch myself, to
save myself for the one special man he would send for me!"

   "You do, Paula?" The Hispanic girl took her hand.  "I did that, too! 
When I decided to get my purity ring!"

   "Oh, God!" The redhead stood up, eyes firmly on Mark.  "Maybe he's
right! Maybe Jesus DID send him!  Maybe he's the man who we've all been
saving ourselves for!"

   "We can't SHARE a husband!" Evelyn said, hotly.  Mark looked at her,
surprised.

   "In God's eyes, yes we can, and he's the only one who matters!  Most of
God's chosen had more than one wife!  I didn't come here thinking this
would happen, but if God wants all of you to be mine and bear my children,
I'd be condemning myself to hell if I went against his holy word!"

   "Who are you?" It was the African American girl again, her hand on
Evelyn's knee.  Mark thought the contrast in skin color was beautiful.  He
smiled at her.

   "What's your name?"

   "Gina."

   "I'm just a freshman, Gina.  I go to the First Presbyterian Church out
in Clarence, just because Mom likes it.  I asked the Holy Ghost to come
into me in 4th Grade.  I read the bible every night, trying to understand
God's word.  My family is not that religious, or rich.  I have never dated,
or indulged in personal pleasure.  I want the first time to be with one God
has chosen for me."

   "I'm Tara," said the redhead.  "We're seniors.  We...  well, we have all
pledged ourselves and our virginity to God, vowed to stay virgin until our
wedding night.  We formed this club to help us stay on the true path of
virtue."

   His eyes widened.

   "Wow!  I'm impressed!"

   "So am I," the blonde Paula said softly.  Mark saw her eyes moving up
and down his body.  He felt himself blush, his maleness stiffening.  Evelyn
stood, eyes hard.

   "I say we test this.  Find out once and for all.  If he's just playing
with us..."

   "Sure," he said.  She was pretty when she was angry.  "How do you want
to do it?"

   "I know," Gina said.  She grabbed a purse off the floor, fishing a coin
out of it.  "We all flip a coin, while praying.  If ALL SIX coins come up
heads...  he's right."

   "He's right, and what?" Paula asked, blushing.  Gina blushed back.

   "And we're all his wives in the name of God the Father and Jesus."

   The room fell silent.

   "OK," Evelyn finally said, walking over to her own purse.  "Let's do
this."



   ****



   They stood in a circle on a empty stretch of living room carpet.  Mark
looked at the five beauties before him.  All different.  All blessed by
God. All chosen, by God, to spend their lives with him.  He closed his
eyes.

   "Oh God, hear me.  I have followed the path you have shown, done as you
have asked.  Met five incredible girls who have dedicated themselves to
being pure in your name.  Please, Lord, confirm for us your plan, that we
may follow where your path leads.  Amen."

   He flipped the coin.

   His eyes opened.

   There, on the white carpet...

   Six shiny silver heads looked up at them.



   ****



   "Umm..."

   "OK, wow..."

   "Oh, Jesus..."

   Evelyn met Mark's gaze.  Gone was the doubt.  The distrust.  Her hand
reached out.  He took it, her fingers soft, warm.  Wonderful.

   "You said your name was Mark, right?" Her voice was soft now.  He nodded
gravely.

   "Yes.  And you are Evelyn..." His gaze went from girl to girl.  "Tara,
Paula, Gina, and..."

   "Maria," said the Hispanic girl.  He nodded to her.  He reached out his
other hand, pulling Evelyn's next to it.  The other girls all reached a
hand out to take one of his, their hands overlapping in a rainbow.

   "Maria," he said.  "In the name of Jesus, I vow to love and honor all of
you, forever.  To take care of you to the best of my ability.  To be your
Husband, as God commands."

   "And we," Evelyn said, squeezing his hand, "vow to be your loving wives,
loyal and understanding, serving you as God and Jesus have said a good wife
should.  To bear and raise your children, and teach them to follow God as
we do."

   "Amen." All six of them said it at once, confirmation, if any was needed
for Mark, that this was right in the eyes of the Lord.

   "Do we remove our rings?" Tara held up her left hand, the lone silver
band seeming to glow.  Maria looked at hers, thumb and forefinger of her
right hand lightly twisting it.

   "No...  these are now our wedding rings.  Our sign that we belong not
just to God, but to Mark..."

   "We can't," Paula said, biting her lower lip, "tell our parents."

   "Not yet, anyway," Gina said.  "We'll have to ease them into it."

   "God will pave the way," Tara said.  "We have to trust him."

   "Amen."

   "So...  what now?" Paula looked at Mark shyly.  He looked at Evelyn,
raising an eyebrow.

   "How long will your parents be gone?"

   "Until tomorrow night..." Her eyes widened, as did those of the other
newlyweds.  Mark's smile widened.

   "Did we need any more proof Jesus wills this?  My sister is sleeping
over at a friend's, and my parents are in Toronto for the night."

   "Wait, wow, let's..." Gina licked her lips, looking over at a
grandfather clock.  "OK, it's 2 PM now.  Mark, why don't you come back here
at 6?  Give us time to run home, get ready.  We'll have dinner made for
you, then..." Her eyes met his, a red tinge appearing on her brown face. 
"Tonight, we give ourselves to you."



   ****



   He sat at the head of the dining room table.  Three girls sat down the
left side, two on the right.  All were dressed in white gowns, plain, but
beautiful.  Their hair was down, falling across bare shoulders, apart from
Gina.  Her curly black hair, an Afro he thought it was called, stayed above
her ears, leaving her graceful neck bare, beautiful.  All of them were
beautiful, in their own way.

   Beautiful, and his.

   Dinner had been steak, cooked perfectly, with mushrooms, a wonderful
mashed potatoes and his favorite vegetable, corn.  They drank grape juice
in wine glasses, also his favorite drink.  Mark's parents liked to go tour
local Western New York wineries, he and sister Sue drinking white or purple
grape juice while they sampled the more adult drinks.

   His plate empty, apart from the bone and some liquid from the meat and
corn, Mark raised his glass.  The five wonders before him did the same.

   "To God and Jesus, Father and Son, for bringing us together.  May we be
together forever in happiness."

   "Amen."

   "We got something for you," Evelyn said.  She pushed a small box across
the white table cloth towards him.  "Tara can't cook, so we sent her out to
get it."

   "Wow.  You shouldn't have!" Mark opened the hinged lid, the name on it
unfamiliar.  "Oh!" It was a ring.  A silver ring, plain, but beautiful. 
"Thank you!"

   "It's a promise ring," Tara said, blushing.  "Like ours, but for guys.
You can tell everyone you're taken..."

   "By the five of you." He smiled at all of them.  "Thank you." Mark
slipped it on his left ring finger.  It fit, perfectly.

   "We should have had a ceremony," Tara said.  He chuckled.

   "Actually, I thought of one.  Clean up, then meet me in the living
room."



   ****



   Mark had pulled the curtains closed in the white, tastefully decorated
room.  Lights were off, candles of various sizes and shapes lit and placed
on every surface.  On the floor, a large, thick towel, folded over.  He
stood at one end.  As his five brides filed into the room, Mark smiled to
them.

   "Ladies, I never thought God would bless me as much as he has today.  I
wish we could all be in a church, declaring our love and devotion before
the world!" They smiled back, shyly.  "But, before God and Jesus will have
to do, and, to be honest, they are all who are truly important." All five
nodded, eyes serious.  "Today is special, and I wanted something we would
remember always."

   He began to strip.

   The girls gasped, Paula's hands going to her face.  Slowly, Mark removed
his dress shirt, pulling the tails out of his pants and letting it fall to
the floor behind him.  Next his shoes came off, feet already without socks.
He undid his belt.  Without pausing, his blue dress pants fell to the
floor. All he wore were light blue boxers.  His erection pressed outward,
threatening to just pop out the fly.  He kicked his pants away.

   Mark dropped his boxers.

   "Oh!"

   He stood there, before the five seventeen and eighteen year old girls,
in nothing more than his wedding ring.  He saw their eyes drink him in, the
first nude male they had ever seen.  He spoke, voice serious.

   "As Adam and Eve were nude before God, so should we be.  One at a time,
you are to remove your clothing, everything, and come stand before me
holding your promise ring.  When I place it back on your finger, we will be
wed.  We will then Know each other, as man and wife."

   The five looked at each other.  He wondered who would be first.  Mark
could call them up, one at a time.  He could do that...

   Evelyn stepped forward, hands behind her back.  Gina moved to help, but
she waved her away.  Eyes focused on Mark, the candle on the hutch beside
her flickering its yellow flame, her hands came back into view.  Her
shoulders made a weird, yet graceful, movement...  and the dress fell to
the floor.

   She was nude under it.

   Mark gasped.  She was...  incredible!  Her body was slim, not model
perfect, but beautifully curved with nice hips.  Evelyn's breasts were
large enough to not support themselves completely, but looked perfect on
her.  Between her legs, a black triangle of fur.  She seemed to glow in the
candle light.

   His reaction seemed to ease her nerves.  Smiling, hips swaying, Evelyn
slowly walked towards him, removing her ring as she did.  As she came to a
stop before him, Mark saw she still wore her necklace, golden cross hanging
between those wonderful breasts.  Reaching out, he took the cross between
two fingers.

   "I'm glad you kept this," he said.  "God is always with us."

   "We do this in his name," she replied softly.  She held out her ring. 
"Place this on my finger.  Make me your wife."

   Releasing the cross, he took the ring, his right hand taking and lifting
her left hand up, palm down.

   "With this ring, I thee wed."

   It slid on her finger.

   She was kissing him, soft lips on his.  He had been right, she was only
a few inches taller than him, her hands tilting his head upward as she bent
to him.  There were gasps and cheers from the others.  Forever and an
instant later, Evelyn broke the kiss, stepping back.  She lowered herself
onto the towel on the living room floor, spreading her legs.  Mark saw the
heart of womanhood for the first time.  It was...  wow.

   "Make me yours," she whispered, arms reaching up to him.  "Know me."

   In a daze, Mark lowered himself down to her.  Her hand took him, placed
his hard manhood at her entrance.  With no thought, or knowledge, of
foreplay or anything else, he thrust.

   "Ah!"

   Evelyn let out a grunt of surprise and discomfort, Mark one of surprise
and pleasure.  She was warm around him, a bit wet, and tight.  Oh, so
tight. Never had something held his cock.  Not a woman, not his own hand.
He quivered inside her.  He...  he wanted to...  Mark pulled back. 
Pleasure shot through his body, so painful he thrust forward again to stop
it.  He did it again.  And again.  She was now wet around him, moaning in
time to his thrusts.

   "Oh God...  Mark...  oh, Jesus, Mark!" He felt her hands pull his head
down, felt her lips kissing his face all over, her tongue forcing its way
into his mouth.  He let her have her way, as his body kept thrusting, and
thrusting...

   "Gooooodddddddd!" Evelyn let out a scream, her body suddenly squeezing
him painfully inside her.  He felt something too.  A rush of pleasure, like
nothing else he had ever felt.  Something was coming out!  He pushed
himself as far into her as he could...

   "Oh Jesus!"

   "I can feel it!  I can feel it shooting into me!"

   They were man and wife.



   ****



   They got to their feet shyly, Mark helping his wife up as the others
clapped and cheered.  They stood there a moment, eyes only on each other.
She kissed him again, softly.

   "I love you."

   "And I love you."

   Her expression suddenly became one of surprise, head looking down.

   "Oh!  It's coming out!"

   "Get some more towels," he said.  "You can sit over there on them."

   She nodded, no longer worried.  One more kiss, and she was off.  Mark
looked at the others.  Gina was already nude.  Her brown skin looked
exotic, her eyes seeming to glow in the candle light.  She began to move
forward, but Mark held up his hand.

   "Wait."

   Disappointment filled her face.  In a moment, though, Evelyn was back
with a handful of bath towels.  She dropped one on the floor a few feet
from the large towel she had been on a minute before, lowering herself to
sit on it cross legged.  Mark motioned Gina to him.  She crossed the room,
gold cross seeming to radiate its own light.  Holding out her ring, she
repeated Evelyn's words.

   "We do this in his name.  Place this on my finger.  Make me your wife."

   His cock still hard, he did just that.



   ****



   Four wives sat on the side of the room, softly conversing.  They drank
wine glasses full of grape juice, a tray with the bottle set on the floor
before them.  Mark, too, had a drink, replenishing himself after four
incredible orgasms.  He had stayed hard after the first three, but now was
soft, his cock a limp sticky mess.  He didn't know if he could finish.

   He trusted God, though, to provide a way.  God, working through Paula.

   The small blonde knelt before him, gently kissing his cock.  She, too,
was nude, her body much younger looking than the others.  Her hair fell
half way down her pure white back, skin seeming to have resisted the suns
rays so far that spring.  Her blue eyes looked up at him.

   "I always wanted to try this."

   "As my wife, you can do it any time you want," he said.  She smiled.

   "Good." Paula took all of him into her mouth.  He shuddered.  Mark could
feel himself start to stiffen again.  She pulled back.  "Wow.  It's getting
hard again!"

   "How does it taste?" Tara asked.  Paula giggled.

   "It tastes like you four!  Kind of good, actually!"

   "We'll have to try it," Evelyn said.  Maria nodded.

   "Now that we're married, there's no reason not to do everything.  God
now wants us to make love all the time."

   Hearing that brought Mark the rest of the way to full hardness.  He
looked down at his fifth wife, both the silver ring and golden cross
glowing in the candle light.

   "I'm ready."

   "So am I." Paula dropped back onto her butt, scooting back a bit before
laying down on the now messy towel, legs spread.  She looked closer to his
age than the other girls, which excited him.  Now well practiced, he found
her opening, and thrust.

   The other wives cheered as Paula gave her gasp of pain.  She was tighter
than the others had been, yet wetter.  Her hands clutched him as Mark began
thrusting.  Soon her hips were matching his rhythm, ankles crossed behind
him.  Her entire body seemed to become part of his. Her cry of pleasure
drew another round of cheers.  As his wife pulsed around him, Mark released
for the fifth time that evening.  For the fifth time in his life.

   God in Heaven, it had been worth the wait!



   ****



   The six relaxed in the in-ground pool in the back yard.  It was dark,
and the fence was high.  They stayed in the shallow end, arms around each
other, touching, caressing.  Talking.

   Becoming friends.



   ****



   "We need a plan," Maria said.  Mark saw her arm under the water go
around Gina's waist.  His own arms were around Evelyn and Paula.  Tara
nodded.

   "We can put some things off.  We're all going to U.B.  in the fall, so
we'll still be here with Mark, but once we start getting pregnant we'll
have to do something."

   "The earlier the better," Maria told them.  "Napoleon once said God was
on the side with the most cannons, meaning if you don't do some of the work
yourself God isn't going to help you."

   "You all have beautiful cannons," Mark said.  Five lips found his in
gratitude.

   "I have an idea," Paula said.  Mark squeezed the blonde.

   "What, Love?"

   She blushed.  They all did when he called them that.

   "Well...  we're together because Mark talked to God, right?  Well, what
if we all, together, asked him one more thing.  For one piece of
information that could solve all our problems?"

   They nodded.  It would work.



   ****



   Mark and his family were walking down the church steps.

   It had been an OK service.  The minister had gone off on one of Paul's
letters, using it to make some point or other.  Mark wasn't big on Paul. 
He wasn't Jesus, after all.  The gospels were where most Truth was to be
found.  Afterwards, instead of going to the youth group, he had gone with
Mom to watch a slide show given by someone who had visited the Holy Land.
That had been fun.  Sue was chatting merrily about King David, so that
obviously had been the focus of her class.

   "After we get home," his Mom was saying, eyes squinting in the bright
sun after two hours inside, "get changed.  Dad's taking us for a ride."

   "Where?" Sue asked.

   "We'll see...  Mark?"

   Mark had stopped on the last step before the sidewalk.  He couldn't
believe it.  There, standing in their Sunday best, were his wives!  All
five of them!  He had managed to find time with all of them during the
week, and both Paula and Gina turned out to have the same lunch period as
him, so they had sat with him, REALLY turning heads!  Now they were here.
He took his Mom's hand.

   "Mom, you have to meet someone!"

   The five girls were all smiles as Mark came up to them.

   "Mom, Sue, this is Evelyn, Paula, Tara, Gina, and Maria.  Ladies, this
is my Mom and sister."

   His mother gave him a strange look, but gave his friends a polite enough
greeting.  Sue just stood there like an idiot, eyes wide, probably not
believing her brother even knew any girls.  Evelyn spoke.

   "Mrs.  Thomas, may we talk to Mark for a moment?  We won't keep him
long."

   "Um...  sure.  Mark, meet us at the car." The look she gave didn't tell
Mark much.  He shrugged it off.  As Mom and sister moved away, he looked at
his wives.

   "What's up?  You all look beautiful!"

   They beamed.  Tara opened her purse, pulling out a piece of paper.

   "The drawing was last night."

   "And?" Mark asked, excited.  She showed the paper to him.

   "All our numbers hit."

   There they were.  The winning Power Ball numbers.  All the ones God had
picked for them.

   "What was the prize?" he whispered.  Evelyn took his hand.

   "If I take the lump sum, $210 million."

   He closed his eyes.

   "We can raise a lot of babies with that."

   "Yes." Other hands were touching him.  His eyes opened, tears beginning
to fill them.  Mark lifted them to the sky.

   "Thank you, God."

   As his eyes returned to his new family, their entire future before him,
a soft, loving voice flowed into the back of his mind.

   "You're Welcome."

   ****

   Edited by The Old Fart, Packrat, J Spe

   Comments more than welcome.

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