9

Waking up to the smell and warmth of Christine was absolutely lovely. She looked so terribly cute sleeping, her mouth scrunched up like that, and with the little noises she was making.

Disentangling myself without waking her was a delicate task, but I managed it. I’d read about it somewhere (well, at least one place), and I meant to wake her with a kiss and some tongue action, down there. But she began to stir, and opened her eyes before I got the chance. I was sure I’d get a chance to try it some other time.

Chris opened her eyes gradually, and slowly blinked the sleep away. She stretched like a cat, and smiled widely once she managed to focus on me. “Morning,” she stretched again and seemed to consider, “No, it’s GOOD morning. Damned good morning, at that. I feel so awake, so clear. What’s the expression? Bright eyed and bushy tailed?” she gave a little snort of amusement.

“Quite. Such a lovely tail, too,” I squeezed her ass.

Chris was built on a lavish scale, and lush and voluptuous were the appropriate words to describe her. She was not fully grown, but she definitely wasn’t going to get any smaller, which was all to the good.

“We’re up awfully early,” she said teasingly, “so much time to spare. Wanna try sixty-nine?” her tone raised goose bumps on my skin, and she pointedly raised and settled her tush on the bed, spreading her legs. The coppery triangle of her pubic her was like a raised red flag, and the bull couldn’t help but respond.

“Actually, not particularly. I mean, maybe you’re more disciplined than I am, and can keep your attention on your cock sucking duties when your world is exploding around you, but you’re so damned talented, deep throat or no, that I’d be doing you a grave disservice. We can try it, sure, but I’d much rather give you the full treatment now. You’re so,” I ran a finger over her pussylips, “so very tasty.”

We left 69ing for another day, and tried to replay last night. Judging by the way Chris expressed her pleasure, over and over again, I did my part. Certainly, I had no complaints. Unfortunately, I didn’t manage to get the sterility spell off this time, either.

Kristen was waiting for us in the kitchen, having already put some food on the table.

She shook her head reprovingly at us, “You know, Chris, that’s not the most pleasant way to wake up. I almost panicked, what with all the screaming. You’re so LOUD, girlfriend.”

“Heh,” Chris took a bite out of an apple, “you’re just jealous. I bet you’d bring the walls down, too.”

“Ha, you’re on! But what do you want to bet?”

“Well, if you win you get Logan for a night, all to yourself.”

“And if I lose?”

“You spend a night helping test all those toys, as a training aid,” Chris’ grin took on a wicked bent.

“You’re on!”

“Ah,” I coughed, “Don’t I have a say in this?”

“Nope,” the girls answered in unison, before looking at each other and laughing.

Well, I was obviously outvoted. We spent much of breakfast practicing spells, and learning a few new ones, and I began to study two new second circle spells. The first, to break the first circle of transmutation, conjured a patch of slick grease, and the other was the closest thing to a battle spell the book could provide, a spell that would allow me to hurl a small bolt of eldritch flames.

Besides eating and practicing spells, I directed the conversation to the tactical uses of the little spells the girls and I had mastered, conjuring up a score of ‘what if’ scenarios, drawing on the book for examples of demons and elemental beasts. I thought this would make for an excellent morning tradition, letting us learn of the nature of the foe, and thinking up creative uses for spells ahead of time, hopefully a time of need that would never arise.

“Girls, your new bikes will be delivered in an hour or two, and I’ve already ordered a credit card for you, Kristen. I’ve also thought of an idea that would allow you to spend the summer, and perhaps more, with me. I do hope your parents are serious about education?”

“Yes,” Chris nodded, and Kristen asked, “So what’s your scheme like?”

“I don’t know about you two, but another year of high school is just about all I can handle. It’s just so boooring, and a terrible waste of time we might not have to spare. After your enhancements, you’ll be able to digest an entire school year’s material in a week or less, and it shouldn’t take you more than a month or three to finish a degree, online. We need to convince your parents, and this will all be above board, that you want, and will, test out of high school after this next year, and finish degrees thereafter. The fact that they won’t have to pay for anything might make them happy, but it’ll also make them suspicious. Quite frankly, you two are best suited to twisting your parents around your little fingers. Do you think you’ll be able to handle it?”

“Yeah, but my dad will most definitely want the details, and he’ll insist on paying,” Chris said.

“That’s just fine, and we can sit down next week and think up a presentation for him. Remind me, please, Chris. There are so many things, that sometimes my mind’s all in a whirl.”

“My parents will be awfully surprised,” Kristen admitted, “I’m not exactly an A student.”

“Chris, can you help her there? Do her parents know you? Can your father help?”

Chris seemed a bit overwhelmed, but finally nodded. “Yeah, they know I’m more the scholarly type than Kris here,” who just shrugged when we looked at her, “and I think we can make it work. She’ll have to dazzle them a bit with what she’s learned, of course. But first we need to put on the ‘I’m afraid’ act, Kris.”

Kris looked very downcast, “I’m not much of an actor, really.”

“But you won’t be acting, not really,” Chris tried to cheer her up, “you’ll be telling the truth mostly, remember.”

“I’ve got something of a disguise kit,” I added, “so we can paint on some spectacular bruises.”

They were staring at me.

“I’ve made it a habit to collect skills that might be useful, and I must say that magic can really help. Watch.”

Simple spells, but the transformation was remarkable, if the girls’ expressions were any judge. Just adding facial hair and changing the colour… of everything. From somewhat tanned skin, to burnished bronze, from brown eyes to glittery blue, from dark hair to bright gold.

“Holy moly! Hey, Chris, we know those spells. Let’s see how you look as a brunette.”

I realized my mistake instantly. For over an hour, they primped, mirror gazed, gossiped about who would look ‘just fabulous’ with hair of this or that hue, or just that skin tone. I made a tactical retreat, and dealt with the day’s financial business and message traffic, sincerely hoping they’d remember what they’d looked like before all the polychromatic shapechange games. Matt might just notice if I returned a blue haired and silver skinned Christine.

Approaching apprehensively, I saw on my return to the kitchen that I needn’t have worried. Looking as good as old, they were eating ravenously, looking worn. Obviously, they’d forgotten the price of magic – or rather, the price student wizards had to pay. I wondered, briefly, what an archwizard had to pay for access to pure elemental power.

“Girls, you look as lovely as ever…” I looked more closely, “except that you seem to have mislaid a few freckles, Chris. It’s time for some driving practice, as your bikes should be here soon. I’ll give you a complete overview using mine, and you can start practicing immediately.”

Kristen leaped from her chair, eyes shining, “Come on, let’s go!”

Showing them how to drive and take care of the bike was simplicity itself, and I left them arguing over who was going to go next, after each of them had made one circle on the asphalt. “I’ll be in the pool, if you need me. Try not to break anything.”

Chris waved absently, as she looked at Kristen revving up the motor.

I picked up a large tray of food, and went to practice the fourth truly effective combat spell I hoped I’d shortly have in my arsenal. The pool was really the only place I could practice throwing balls of wizardfire, as stone and cement just did not stand up to it too well. According to the book, even the water in the pool wouldn’t be enough for more than a dozen application of the spell, but all I was hoping for were one or three. As long as the food lasted, that is.

It turned out that I needed more time to study the spell, and I was interrupted by the delivery of the girls’ new wheels. They were very excited, and I even collected a wet kiss from Kristen.

Two more hours of work, and I managed to vaporize a significant volume of water from our pool, and had to escape (with the food) to avoid being scalded. Obviously, I really needed to build a secure and invulnerable spell practice chamber. Unfortunately, that was quite a ways beyond my present skills. At least I had the spell down, I thought on the positive side as I sat in the garden, knees weak, and ate. The sound of motors running showed that Criss and Cross were still gleefully playing with their new toys.

I collected another bounty of kisses when I interrupted them for lunch, and then we began thespian practice with Kristen. She certainly hadn’t exaggerated her talents in the area, but reminding her of what had happened, as sour as it made my stomach feel, helped a lot. The girls actually refused my offer to fetch the disguise kit, “Really, Logan, if we can colour our skin and hair, we can paint realistic looking bruises without any nasty actual paint, or makeup.”

Christine was right, and it worked perfectly. She had this annoying habit of making me feel stupid, something which always left me irritable. I made a mental note to bleeding well remember that Chris was smart, and to consult with her when possible. I thought I’d escaped mental conditioning, but obviously, I’d been mistaken. ‘Pretty girl’ equals ‘brainless bimbo’ was just so, so wrong, and that’s one trap I really didn’t want to fall into. Theoretically, I knew better. On second thought, it was more likely that I simply wasn’t used to anyone trumping my ideas, and I’d gotten mentally lazy and blasé, just when I could least afford the luxury.

Fortunately, Chris was too involved to notice how perturbed I’d become, or I’d managed to keep a poker face. I, very reluctantly, gave both girls my cell phone number and admonished them to use it only when truly necessary, and never to give it away. The rolled eyes and dramatic sighs showed that the message hadn’t truly gotten through, but perhaps a few spankings would take care of that.

At least they were willing to try extra cautious on their very first driving experience. We drove in column formation to the bank, and I spent half an hour idling by while the girls cornered Matt. I spent the time ordering and consuming some fast food, and cast the wizard sight spell. I wanted to see what there was to see.

BIG mistake.

Three teenagers, whispering over their meals, were not teenagers. They weren’t human, either. I could see through the spider web thin illusions covering them, and they were ugly. As in, crawled out from under a rotten log, climbed all the way up the ugly tree, slipped, fell, and hit every ugly branch on the way down before landing in the putrid muck. There was nothing cute about all that ugly, either. It was warty troll-crone disgusting. You could almost feel the psychic stench wafting off. The bubbly, oozing, suppurating skin made me clench my throat shut, to avoid spewing everything in my stomach out on the serving tray.

Not that I had time for such luxuries. They’d turned around to look at me, and I cast, desperately, aiming for their distorted interiors and what I guessed were their vital organs, and sliced. Again and again.

I was down on the floor before I consciously thought about it, and something whispered through the space my head occupied an instant ago. I looked about for other demons, and noticed a twisted claw-like foot, somehow sheathed not in illusion, but inside human flesh. I cut, and the monster fell. I cut again, and again.

I could see the life leaving it, and then a flash of power. It was just gone, not even ashes left. A quick reconnoiter showed nothing suspicious.

“Hey, you alright?” a man who’d been busy reading a financial paper asked.

“Yeah,” I forced a smile, “just dropped a coin.”

The expression on his face showed doubt, but he went right back to his paper. People just didn’t want to get involved, in general.

A look at the booth the three demons had occupied showed absolutely nothing. And no one had noticed anything.

I was beginning to understand exactly why the Conclave hadn’t risen from the ashes. But why hadn’t the book told me about those illusion sheathes, or their ability to wear human shells? The fact that demons could be just about everywhere? How far did the infiltration go?

These demons are of unfamiliar breeds, with unknown capabilities was the inadequate explanation. I wanted to scream, but I was still in combat mode, adrenaline pumping, looking wildly about. I also had a newly excavated pit in my stomach.

I bit my lip, hard, and forced myself to breathe easily… and ordered another full tray, moving to a corner table, where I’d be able to see anything and anyone that came in. With an emphasis on the ‘anything’. I was starting to rethink my stance on not letting ‘them’ frighten me. I was plenty frightened. I was also considering the sort of collateral damage a battle with real magic would cause… even the minor sort of real magic I had at my fingertips. The ball of fire I could throw wasn’t much… but it was enough to collapse walls and make cars explode movie-fashion.

Information was something I needed most of all. There was a nest of demons in the city, at least one. Those had been two different sorts of demons, call them Pustule demons and Grasshopper demon. I had a hunch there were lots of insectoid varieties, and I’d run out of words eventually, even if I turned to binomial nomenclature.

I needed the where, how many, and what they could do. Most especially, I needed to know if holding concentration on wizard sight was something they would notice, as opposed to activating it. If they were able to separate me from the human herd, I wouldn’t last long. If I was able to separate them, I had a decent chance of driving them out of my city, even in the short term.

I didn’t think it was the smart thing to do. It was, quite possibly, suicidal. But I couldn’t just leave the demons free to finish whatever nefarious plans they were working on, any more than I could stop learning magic. The smart thing would be to hole up, study like mad, and act after the first enhancement ritual. Or the second, or third, or last. When I was ready. But if I did wait, I just might never be ready. Excuses were always easy to find. After all, the world had managed just fine before super-me arrived on the scene.

I sat there, eating and looking for the next demon, until my cell phone rang and I nearly jumped out of my skin. Chris wanted to know where the hell I was.

“Encounter, I’ll be right up.”

Walking around with wizard sight active was like stepping through a bed of blazing coals, feeling needles pricking every bit of skin, especially just there behind the neck. I tried to keep my back to the wall, and unobtrusively look everyone over. I’m pretty sure I didn’t manage the unobtrusive part, but the two demons that passed me, bipedal vaguely vulture-like creatures wearing illusions, did not seem to notice me. That was a big victory, and I relaxed minutely.

Of course, given the might-as-well-be-infinite variation of demons, my ability to pass off as a normal was not given. Still, I felt a lot better.

Christine was actually jumping up and down when I found them, and leaped on me with a cry, hugging and kissing. The whistles and boos from the onlookers didn’t seem to bother her.

“It’s on! I can stay with you for the summer, minus regular visits. Dad will finesse things past my mother, and my brother’s too drunk to remember the last time he saw me, anyway. He bought Kris’ act, too, and he’ll call her parents, even before we talk to them. It should be easy. He did want to report things to the police, but we convinced him that would bring Kris nothing but grief. I’m sure the school thing will work, too. He wants what’s best for me, and he already knows being with you is best,” she smiled widely, showing perfect white teeth.

“Say, boyfriend,” she gave me another look, “what did you mean by encounter? You look a bit… shaken. Not another elemental?” she whispered, eyes widening with emotion.

“No, demons,” I whispered right back, motioning Kristen close so she could hear, “They’re mixed in with people, wearing veils of illusion or actual human flesh. I killed four, they noticed my casting a spell, and saw two more just walking in public. With the wizard sight spell, I can see past their illusions. We’re in trouble. Let’s finish this as quickly as possible. I really want to get back home.”

The girls were silent and fidgety on the way to where we’d parked, looking around nervously. My reassurance that no demons were in sight did not help.

I cautioned them not to let the demon problem distract them from concentrating on the road, and they nodded, looking sufficiently serious that I saw no need to insult them by emphasizing the point.

It was one of the hardest decisions I’d ever made, and I agonized over it, before finally just doing it. I stopped concentrating on the spell, and my vision returned to normal. I couldn’t afford a movie-style vehicle chase-fight, as our bikes weren’t too fast, and the girls definitely weren’t ready. Likewise, I could not afford to pinpoint Kristen’s home, if they chose to put a tail on us.

I developed an intimate understanding of how blind folk feel, or at least, the closest I’d ever had. The urge to look wildly all around, instead of concentrating on driving, was almost overwhelming.

I was sweating like a stuck pig when we finally got there, and was more than a mite frazzled.

The girls looked at me for a moment, “Ahh…,” Chris started.

“No, it’s all right, I’ll wait outside. I need to cool off, and I might as well learn the lay of the land. Call me when you need me.”

I strolled around for nearly half an hour, picking up some sweet stuff in a local confectionary, munching steadily and NOT casting so much as a single cantrip. After I got a look around the blocks surrounding Kris’ home, I sat down on a bench and consulted the book.

The first thing it showed me was how to adapt the first circle energy manipulation spell that lit a fire into an elemental flame I could light inside demons. Nasty, that one. It also showed me two second circle life spells, one that would enhance my situational awareness and come close to precluding the possibility of surprise, the second to enhance my agility and grace. That spell would allow me to perform superhuman spiderman-like feats. I’d need to learn both of those, as well as spells to enhance regeneration, mental activity, bone density and muscular strength, before I could work the ritual.

The book was quite firm in telling me that lone ranger activity against demons would result in quick failure. I needed to bring Criss & Cross up to speed, and at a minimum add a disciple or two, before going demon hunting. Demons were not lemmings, or the usual computer or game machine opponents. Any that had made it to Earth were usually powerful, dangerous, subtle, capable, smart and well equipped. I’d survived my first encounter with demons because I’d had surprise on my side, and only barely survived at that. I had best not underestimate them.

It was a vast relief, learning that I wouldn’t have to go off on my own. I was not going to ignore my very own battle-computer. Not that I wanted to risk the girls, but I really did not feel like anything even approaching ready for something like demon hunting. What I needed to do, I decided, was add a disciple who was a police officer, just out of training. She’d have access to things we’d need, and more important, she’d have training we lacked, knowledge of investigative methods. Computers weren’t everything. Karla, I was certain, would be happy to introduce me to just such a prospect. Whoever it was would need to take a vacation in order to get up to date, magic-wise, and it would have to be a rookie, given the requirements for a student wizard. I’d need to think up a juicy bet and some bait to dangle in front of Karla, but that would be simple enough. The age limit on wizardly awakening was annoying.

When the phone began to vibrate, I immediately rose and started towards Kris’ residence.

“Chris?”

“Yep, come on up.”

“How did it go?”

“Well enough. It’s meet the parents time, sweetie.”

Chris opened the door, and met me with a demonstrative kiss and a proprietary hand on my arm, in front of Kristen’s parents. As she’d told me, they were middle aged, and Kristen was the youngest of five, the rest having left the nest by now. Her father was semi-retired, and owned a plumbing business, while her mother taught grade school, history and English.

Her mother seemed calm, but her father, Fred, had a belligerent expression and a scowl stretched across his craggy face.

“So, boy, why exactly do you think she’ll be safer at your villa?”

“First, her assailant won’t have any realistic chance of finding her. Second, if he is unlucky enough to do so, there’s the security system. It’s a…”

I began to detail the security measures on my home, lying a lot to avoid compromising safety, and being overly generous on the details. I took the ‘professor’ stance, and lectured, words pouring out, inventing no less than 13 companies, giving them mostly Japanese names. I was trying to annoy the hell out of him, and only secondarily to convince him, but the techno-geek performance, and it was a practiced one, did the job.

“Yes, okay, shut up already,” he interrupted me after eight minutes of increasingly technical jabber, eyes somewhat glazed.

“No land mines? Machine gun nests? What about AA?” he guffawed. I sincerely doubted that he actually understood half of what I’d said – which was a good thing, as almost half of it was pure bullshit – but I smiled along.

“Really, Kristen will probably be safer at my place, and I’ve signed her up for martial arts class. We’ll get her a pepper spray, and she won’t be bored, either. Christine wants to skip a class at school, so we’ll be doing quite a bit of studying, and there’s the library, the pool, all the movies and games in the world…”

“What do you think, hon?” Fred looked at his wife.

“Just exactly why do you want her with you?” she looked at me piercingly.

“Well, I don’t,” I ignored the deadly looks the girls sent me, “But Chris does. And what Chris wants, she gets. Did I mention that we’re going clothes shopping? Now?” I asked, in an attempt to deflect the girls’ ire, and just possibly, shorten the interrogation.

It worked, at least partially. Chris stopped short of kicking me in the shin, and Kristen’s open mouth closed with a snap.

“And think of how much you’ll save on the phone bills,” I joked. I looked pointedly at my watch, “Now, I have an appointment in less than three hours. Kristen will call you, and you can always call her, but we’re burning shopping time here, and I don’t want the girls leaving me tied up in a dark place somewhere, while they take off with my credit card.”

“Hmmph,” her mother smothered a smile, “And just why are you taking them shopping? For clothes, of all things?”

“Christine needs a few things to complement her beauty,” I looked at my favorite redhead, ogling her in a very obvious manner, “and my b…, my dear, sweet, precious sister will be obnoxious enough even if Chris is wearing the best possible. I shudder to think how she’ll react otherwise. Besides, Chris deserves a big thank you and a reward,” I leered at her, and this time she did kick me in the shin, “Ouch. And Kristen benefits.”

Mentioning my sister seemed to clinch things, and they let us go with a minimum of farewells.

“Come on, girls!” I exclaimed as soon as we were out of earshot, “That was an act for the parents. If you kick me again, Ms. Christine Felvers, I’ll tie you up and spend an hour tickling you with a feather,” I said in the most formal tone I could muster. I wasn’t joking, either. Those kicks hurt. “And what I said concerning my sister was purely true, by the way.”

Chris muttered something, eyes down. She was slightly flushed, and Kristen was grinning widely, giving me a thumbs up.

“I do have an appointment, with a realtor. Remember? Another one tomorrow morning. Kristen, remind me to give you a pair of pepper sprays when we get home, two because you’ll need some practice for accuracy. Chris, you should have one, too. Now, we’re going to spend two hours – and no more than two hours!” I emphasized, “Shopping for the best you can find. If you like it, buy it, but remember how much room we have in the bikes, so don’t go overboard. Chris, your credit card has a fifty thousand monthly spending limit. Not because I don’t trust you, but in case it’s stolen. If you need more, just ask. Now, I truly, truly don’t know the first things about buying the expensive, elegant and wonderful clothes you’ll need to look like a millionaire’s wife and mistress. What do you say we put on that act and twist the realtor’s feathers?” I smirked. “Given enough practice, Kristen, you’ll make a decent actor, I’m sure.”

They looked sort of shocked at the ‘millionaire’s wife and mistress’ comment, and I didn’t give them time to recover.

“I’ll drop you off at the nearest big mall, and we’ll meet up by the bikes, after two hours. I apologize ahead of time for abandoning you, but if you insist on modeling everything there, we’ll never make it in time. Please, be efficient and on time, and I promise you another shopping expedition next week. Don’t put on whatever you wish to wear, as we’ll drive back home and take the car. The house we’re seeing is outside the city limits. Agreed?”

They exchanged looks and nodded at me, and Kristen was more than willing to guide us to the mall. The girls drove slowly and prudently, which made me very happy. I had a sneaking suspicion that a guy would have tried to show off, as that’s what I might have done, and the first time on a bike in the middle of the city in busy traffic was the last place for it.

I left the girls with an admonition to enjoy themselves and be back on time, and went to do some shopping of my own. Pepper sprays, as I didn’t want to touch Lee’s supply, some tech toys the girls might enjoy, educational CDs containing most of what we’d need to deal with the next few school years, a present Christine would present to her father, who’d done us a real service by smoothing the way and being so agreeable, and a few more things I could use as presents. I went shopping very rarely, as, contrary to my recent and near future spending spree, I was an absolute cheapskate. It was so bad that I’d actually started buying or ordering things for no special reason, just to break the habit of buying nothing more than the absolute minimum necessary. Too cautious and too cheap was as bad as too little, and I was gradually managing to avoid the stab of guilt whenever I bought anything. In olden days, I’d actually left books I wanted on the shelf, figuring that I didn’t need them at the moment. I’ve no idea where that puritanical streak had entered my bloodstream, but skimping on things was totally irrational, so I was training myself away from the habit. If slowly and painfully.

Concentrating on not thinking about demons and elementals did help with shopping-guilt, and I also managed to pick up some take-out, a big bucket of KFC. I also thought of another thing to research, in my copious spare time. Mediums and psychics – perhaps some were genuine? Or at least, spell casters? If so, one of them might have the requisite books for the study of divinations, and knowledge and information were more than half the battle. Those spells would be almost as important as the battle magics.

The girls were on time, and they’d bought a lot less than I’d thought they would. I didn’t really try to hide my surprise at that.

“We’re a bit early,” Chris said as they shot me superior looks.

“Actually, I was surprised that you bought so little.”

“Little?” Kris rolled her eyes, “Do you know how much that ‘little’ cost?”

“No, and I don’t care, either. Next week, I’ll come with you, and we’ll do a proper shopping spree. You need to fill a big walk in closet to the brim. You’ll have your own rooms, you get to pick them out tonight.”

They were quite cheerful, exchanging banter about clothing as they pack everything. Chris exhibited some curiosity concerning my purchases, and I told her I’d show them everything after we returned from house hunting.

I put on a bit of speed on the way home, and it was a good thing we were riding bikes, as the roads were packed.

We took quick, individual showers, and I put on a suit and tie, adjusting the colour of my skin and eyes, picking up the identification papers for one Kenneth Dennard, and adding a dapper beard.

The girls were absolutely stunning. I’d only given them fifteen minutes to get ready, and phoned the realtor, telling him we’d be late by at least that much. His hearty acknowledgement left me staring hard at a mirror. I really hated salespeople, and this was another slick weasel of that mold.

Kristen was wearing something diaphanous and layered in warm amber tones that highlit her brown skin just so, almost appearing to glow slightly. Her long legs were on display, a belt of gold-links emphasized her slender middle, and she was obviously not entirely comfortable with the fairly low golden heels.

Christine was a vision in white and leaf green that served to hug her generous curves, subtle makeup making her appear older than her fifteen years. She’d picked a gold bracelet and a diamond ring from the jewelry box, and sprinkled a bit of silver glitter on her bare left shoulder.

When I managed to stop staring, I coughed slightly and said, “You look wonderful, utterly scrumptious. Sophisticated and twenty. You’ll give the realtor a really, really HARD time,” I smiled widely.

They preened, and they were early enough that we could afford enough time to eat some of the take out, with extreme care. A bathroom break, one last fix-up, and we were on our way.