Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience. Author: Milliford Jones Title: AMERICAN CREAM DREAM - PART 2 Summary: A hard working businessman finds satisfaction when his AA offers him recompense for a long overdue loan Keywords: Warning! ped, Mg, Fg, MF, scat, oral, rim, mdom DISCLAIMER Imagine stepping into an adult book store. It smells like a mix of cheap men's cologne and dark desires. You go into a booth and see a selection of animated movies. Not the real thing, no real actors. It is anime, hentai. It takes place in a universe where no one gets killed. No one gets hurt without having the hurt assuaged. No one gets fucked up physically or emotionally without eventually resolving it. And love counts. This is the fictional universe of Passions of the Perverted. Please note these tales are intended for adults only. They are obviously fantasy and have no correlation with the real world. The characters are likewise totally fictitious. I neither endorse or take part in any of the illicit acts described, except for that act of fantasy itself, which allows for extreme imagined behavior and exploration, but does not even begin to suggest such behavior is appropriate. This disclaimer is unfortunately necessary in a world where even thought is often deemed illegal, despite the fact that exploring your desires via fantasy is much healthier and worlds safer than much less extreme actual risk taking behavior. It is with this vision and these parameters I present: THE AMERICAN CREAM DREAM - PART 2 I am Artemus McClain, CEO of one of the more successful service organizations in the US and I live a life commiserate with my accomplishments. I am single, divorced, and lonely with a strong penchant for aberrant sex. My freewheeling sex life was cut short six months ago when I had a hemorrhoid operation, which left my asshole permanently open and prone to anal secretions if I wasn't careful. As a result, I spent the past several months recovering. I deemed my recovery complete earlier in the day when my Executive Assistant revealed herself to be as sick as I am. With a little prompting on my part, and once she had my dick in her mouth, my piss in her belly and her tongue up my asshole, she offered up herself and her two little girls in compensation for defaulting on a personal loan. She revealed she loved being dominated, protected and praised for being a perfect slut, and was more than happy to be complicit with my filthiest desires, including defiling her two little girls. When we parted I gave her one final out. I told her she could either join me that night when I sent a car for her, and give over her body and soul, as well as those of her children, to my pleasure-based perversions. Conversely, if she got cold feet, there would be no further repercussions and we could revert to our previous work-based relationship the next morning and let it go at that, never to mention it again. I wasn't sure what was actually going to happen. In fact, I had devised three separate strategies to deal with whatever occurred. If Dorothy did indeed show up with her little darlings in tow I would romance the three of them, do my best to get them all ready for a night of lustful debauchery, following which I would fuck the ever loving shit out of each and every one of them in some fashion or another. If she did not show up, I would breathe a sigh of relief and count my blessings that I had once again avoided complications in the work place. Alternatively, should Dorothy show up with blackmail on her mind, I would make damn sure she wasn't wired for sound, nor were her children. I would confront her for her own rapacious greed and toss her and her brats out on their collective asses. Altough I fully enjoy being the dominant in my sexual encounters, I am not a sadist. I do not fondle females without their explicit consent and participation. It was getting their consent and willing cooperation that is essential. Once gained, all options are open and all orifices are to be fully pleasured, exploited and loaded to the brim with my still fertile semen. As a matter of fact, I was in the mood to start another family if all the stars were in proper alignment, and this seemed to be the perfect opportunity. I had sent my house-keeper home after she prepared an elaborate dinner for four, set the dining table and made sure all the beds were equipped with rubber and disposable sheets. I saw a knowing look in her eyes as she wished me a good evening. She rightly assumed I was resuming my life of sexual extremes, but she would be doubly surprised when she came back in the morning if she were to find the house fully occupied. I grinned at the thought as I soaked in my hot-tub and sipped my pre-dinner shot of scotch. The two hour deadline I had proposed had passed and I considered the possibility that Dorothy might not come. I shrugged to myself. Certainly, life would be a lot simpler without introducing pedophilia into my already perverted after hours life. In truth my suggestion to include her kids had been a wild errant thought I used to test Dorothy's subservient desires. I felt enormously gratified that she had agreed, and had done so with great enthusiasm. That had really surprised me. This was a line I had never considered crossing before. If I did, my sex-life would not only be deviant, but illegal in the eyes of society. Well, I would give the matter 15 more minutes before I left the tub, dined by myself and put the matter to bed. That's when the doorbell rang. I hit a button on the side of the tub and said into the intercom. "Yes?" "Hello, Art. I have Ms. Dorothy and her lovely daughters. May I bring them in?" "Sure, James," I answered, careful not to reveal my reluctance, but loving the familiarity I managed to engender while still maintaining my authority with all my employees, including my driver. "Did they bring their luggage with them?" "Yes, they did. Is that okay?" James disembodied voice responded. "Perfect!" I said. "Please put their luggage in the two guest bedrooms. Let the girls choose which they prefer. "Um, and the mother's bag? Should it go in your bedroom?" "Sorry," I said. "I wasn't clear. The two girls will share a room. Their mother will have her own. Once that's settled, you may go. Just let the ladies wander around to explore a bit. Sooner or later, they will run across me." "Whatever you say, Art," James responded. I then pressed the release for the front door and waited. I wanted the girls, Dorothy included, to be kept off-balance and forced to discover the open door to the enclosed balcony of my bedroom with the hot-tub without any direction. In a few minutes, James hit the intercom again. "Hi Art, the girls love their room. Now, if you no longer need me I'm heading home." "Please do," I said. "And thanks, James." "My pleasure, Art. Have a great evening." "That's the plan," I said. "And you take care. Drive safe." "Bye," He said. "Good evening," I responded. A few sips of scotch later, with a gentle buzz fluttering through me and calming my slightly flustered nerves, I heard Dorothy's strident voice, "Art? Art?" I turned my head and projected my voice, much as I did in large presentations and board meetings, "Back here, ladies. Go through the master bedroom and out to the balcony." In a scant few minutes, my balcony door opened and in peeked Dorothy's confused face. "Art?" "Come on in," I welcomed her. "The water's hot, the view of the city is wonderful and the liquor is great." She opened the door fully and I saw hovering around her skirt her two daughters, both slender, brunette and freckled, with full makeup like two little preteen whores, and both wearing skin tight gymnast outfits that managed to display their sweet little preteen cameltoes. I did my best to keep my cool and grinned at them. "I'm happy you decided to come. I was half expecting you not to show up." Dorothy said shakily, "I couldn't stop myself if I had wanted to. And I didn't want to. But I'm confused, when your driver put my bags in a separate bedroom, I don't know what to think." I lowered my head and furrowed my brow, very aware of my nakedness barely covered by the bubbling warm water. I asked "How about you girls? Do you like your new room?" "They loved it," Dorothy answered for them while they nodded in agreement. "I'm glad," I said. Turning to Dorothy, I added. "But when I speak to the girls, I want them to answer, not you." Dorothy was cowed. "Whatever you say, Art." I switched my attention to the girls and said. "Did you hear what your mother called me?" Both little brunettes nodded yes. "That's my name. I want you to call me the same thing. So, what's my name?" I gave Dorothy a stern look, letting her know her place in this relationship. She stayed quiet while we waited. "Well?" I said. "I'm waiting." There was a moment of awkward silence until the eldest of the two girls said softly, "Art?" "Exactly!" I exulted. "Now, tell me your names." "Linda," the six year old said in a soft sweet little girl voice. "Lovely," I said. "A lovely name for a lovely girl." I watched as six year old Linda blushed through her heavily applied makeup and smiled shyly at the compliment. I then turned to the three year old. "And what is your name, darling." I said. "Emma," she said. "And I'm pretty too." "Very pretty," I agreed with a laugh. I paused a second, the said. "Well, what are you waiting for? Get undressed and join me in the hot tub." Dorothy gawked, the two girls were puzzled. My voice, still friendly, added a touch of sternness. "That's not a request. Either get naked and hop in the tub or gather your bags, I'll call my driver back and you can go back home." Still nothing. "Your choice," I said, waiting, more than ready to call the experiment and send them back where they came from. Dorothy told the girls, "You heard Art. If you want to keep your new room, lets all get undressed." "Dorothy," I said. "I told you I will be the one taking the responsibility for your children from now on. This is not your choice. It's theirs. They have to agree fully on their own and accept me as their guardian and master." I looked at the children, "It's not really fair to do this to you girls, but I have to be sure you know what's going on. Not everything perhaps, but that if we are going to all live together, it will be by my rules. On my part, I will make sure you always have plenty of food, clothing and toys. You will get a good education, enjoy a very good quality of life, but for that to happen you have to do what I say, when I say it, or give me a really good reason why. That includes getting naked when I tell you and anything else I decide I want you to do. I'm not angry if you don't agree. You can go back to your home and everything will be like it's always been for you. But if you do choose to sty, you have to follow my directions, starting right now. If you want to back out, now is the best time to do it. What do you say?" Both little girls looked to their mother. I gave her a grim look to let her know she was to keep quiet. I saw tears start to form in her eyes. I knew she had committed herself to this course of action. She had already humbled herself and willingly submitted to me. If I let her take the lead now, the girls would stay and suffer the consequences, likely blaming her for the rest of their lives for anything they might later regret. This way, I reasserted my position and the children would either love me or hate me on their own terms, and if I played my cards right, they might even become my little slut sex slaves just like their mother. The six year old spoke softly, almost in a whisper. "What kind of toys?" "Anything you want, darling." I answered, "But I will expect you to do lots of big girl stuff with me and your mom. You will learn to suck a dick, lick your mom's pussy, drink my pee and lap up my shit if I tell you to. That's the price you girls will have to pay." The child looked at me, seeming to ignore my conditions or to take them for granted. "Barbie dolls? Video games? A puppy?" "All the above," I said with a smile. "I want you to enjoy life with me, but once again, there's a big cost. I'm going to know everything about you, inside and out. You will give me your hearts, your pussies, your butt-holes, your pee and even your shit when I ask for it. You will suck my cock, lick my dirty asshole, kiss me, fuck me and eveything else I demand. Most important, you will not tell anyone outside our little family about it or you will lose everything. Your mother, your toys, your home. Everything." "We know you're nasty," Emma quipped, completely diffusing my stern demands. "Mama told us. She told us we'd all do really nasty stuff here, just like we do at home in secret, but you're even nastier. Do you really eat poop?" I paused. This was a turn I didn't expect. I'd expected to get two little innocents, but it appeared they had been broken in long before I showed up. Still, I did my best to keep my cool. "Wow!" making sure to show admiration instead of condemnation. "You're only three, but you already do stuff like that. I am impressed. You are a very big girl." Emma glowed with pride. I looked to Dorothy for confirmation. "Is that true?" I asked. "Y-yes," Dorothy admitted. "They've both been groomed all their lives f-for this." "Oh my," I said, raising up and reaching down to openly expose my hardened cock and started to jack it off. Now that I knew these children had been raised on and for pleasure I wanted them to see I was ready and hard. The prospect of these prepubescent children naked and willing made my pulse race. The girls stared as I jacked off. I said "Then please disrobe, all of you. I am dying to have some pretty girl sit on my lap." "Do we still get the toys?" Linda asked. "Toys, puppies and much much more," I promised. "But if you don't join me quick I'm going to squirt cum all over the water and you'll have to sit in it with me." Little Emma giggled. "Help me, Mama. I wanna sit on Art's lap before he squirts. He can squirt up in my butt." She reached up to her mother and Dorothy sighed in relief. A big smile spread across her face as she began skinning the little girl out of her leotard. "I never would have guessed you for a pedo-mom, Dorothy," I said, openly jacking off to the vision of her exquisitely hairless three year old daughter's naked beauty, her sweet cunt crease. "I am overjoyed to find out, but I never would have guessed it of you." I continued to masturbate. "Oh my God, Emma. You are so beautiful. It makes me want to kiss and lick your pretty little snatch." Emma giggled but then stared in consternation as her big sister won the race to my cock, because while Dorothy was carefully undressing Emma, giving me a lovely little strip tease, Linda had quickly stripped, no longer modest or scared, leaving her clothes in a small heap on the floor. Sibling rivalry had set in and just as little Emma yelped in protest, Linda splashed into the tub, and sat down on my thick hard cock like she knew what she was doing. She wriggled about until my prick was wedged between her slender thighs, her tiny ass cheeks were spread out against my groin and my erect peter was pinned against her hairless pussy. She pushed my hands away and took my dick into her own small soft hands. She began jacking me off. As she did, she used my slippery cock to masturbate her hairless baby snatch at the same time. She said, "You can squirt now, Art, I'll rub your penis on my pussy and make us both feel good. Squirt on me and in the water too." "You sweet little cunt," I moaned, enjoying the sensation of the child's hands, her baby pussy and the image of her mother and little sister watching us as we play fucked. "No," cried little Emma, jerking away from her Mom, she jumped into the water with us, she waded into the water in front of me and her big sister and forced my legs wide apart as she said, "You cum in my mouth. Not on Linda's belly and not in the water. I want to eat your cum like a big girl." With that she stuffed as much of the head of my cock she could into her open mouth as as her six year old sister rapidly pulled my foreskin up and down. "Oh shit!" I cried and released a wave of sperm-laden semen into the child's mouth. It was the first time I had ever cum in a little girl's mouth and it was the sexiest, nastiest, sweetest sensation I had ever known. "Eat it, you beautiful baby cunt!" I groaned. "Eat it all." Dorothy was still undressing, but she said, "Suck it hard, Emma. Show him you can eat cum like a big girl. Just like Linda. Just like Mommy." Emma applied even more suction on my spurting cock and drank down my cream as fast as I could produce it. As she did, six year old Linda rode my dick to glory with her immature pussy panting, "Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Ohhhh fuuuck!" and shuddered in a little girl orgasm, straining her lithe tiny body back against me. "Fuck me, fuck me, fuck me forever!" she sang. And there I was, immersed in my first ever little girl blowjob, my first ever pedophile experience, with two little painted whore cunts fulfilling a fantasy I had never had, but would no doubt revisit many times now that I realized how wonderful it could be. I stroked the tiny three year old's wet hair as she released my dripping cock back into the water, "That was so sweet, little Emma. You made me cum so much I thought I would never stop." Emma beamed at me. Without prompting, she opened her mouth to show me she had swallowed it all. "I eated you," she said. "Beautiful," I sighed. "You eat cum better than any other girl I ever saw." Then I turned to Dorothy as she slipped into the water with us, sitting beside me, her soft body melding into mine and her small plump tits pressing against me as she curled up at my side and nestled in against me, watching me as I toyed with her six year old's nipples and cunt as she slumped back against me, legs spread wide and totally lax against me. I said, "You've groomed these girls well, Dorothy. I never dreamed I would ever get to play with such beautiful little girls like this." "Whatever you want, Art. We're here to do as you please, however you want and as long as you want." I pulled back and looked into Dorothy's eyes. It was true. This was a crazy bitch. She had raised her children to love to cum and to be cummed in and on. I leaned into her and said, "Kiss me cunt. Kiss me while I molest your little girls." Without any hesitation, even pressing my offending fingers into Linda's tight slickened pussy hole with her own hand, Dorothy pressed into me and kissed me deeply, first probing into my mouth with her tongue then accepting meekly as I kissed her back. When I broke the kiss, she panted, "I've wanted to be with you like this for years, Art. I watched you set up and seduce woman after woman, privately treating them like shit and making them like it by publicly treating them like royalty. I wanted to be one of them. I felt that if anyone could ever accept me and my girls as the sluts we are, it would have to be you." She went on as if in an apology, "They don't know anything about toilet games, but they can learn. They already suck dick, lick pussy and cum like grown women, but they are both still virgins technically. But you can fuck them, pussy and asshole if you want. I'll help. You can shit on them, piss in their mouths, whatever you like. And they'll help too. You can shit in my mouth while they suck you off, feed me their filth while you screw them or me. Whatever you want, Art. I mean it. Anything." I studied her. She meant every word she said. When I looked at her girls, though, they seemed to be a little confused. "Pee and shit? You mean like in the toilet?" Emma asked as she settled in beside me on the other side. I was a little surprised she hadn't chosen to stay close to her mother, but evidently now that we'd all gotten naked and she had sucked down a belly full of my semen, we were no longer strangers. I took the hand I was using to play with Linda's tiny nipples and put it around Emma. I reached down into the water and began gently rubbing her baby cunt. I said, "Something like that, but only sexier and filthier. I want you to drink my piss like you do my cum, and to lick out my shitty asshole, just like I'm going to lick out yours." Emma made a face, then giggled. "You're so dirty, Art. You're a dirty old man." "Absolutely," I agreed. "And your Momma's a dirty mother too. She's the one who taught you to lick a pussy and suck a dick, isn't she?" Linda interrupted, "Mommy likes to suck our pussies too. Our Daddy taught us to suck him when I was little, and as soon as they brought Emma home after she was born, he pushed his peter in her mouth and came in it. He said she needed to get used to sucking dick if she was going to live with him." I turned to Dorothy, who had quickly learned to wait for me to talk before she said anything. I said, "Well, Dor, is this true? This is the same man who left you because you weren't conservative enough?" "Elijah had something of a double standard when it came to his family," she said softly. "He wanted a wife who wouldn't put out, little baby girls who did, and had us all go to church three times a week." I laughed, lowered my head to Dorothy's perky tits and sucked one deep then bit the nipple and made her squeal. When I raised my head, I had my left forefinger now sliding in and out of Linda's preteen cunt to my first knuckle and my right hand rubbing up and down Emma's pussy crease, looking for a way in. "No wonder you're all so fucked up," I said. "And you're going to fuck us even more," Linda said, but as she did she began humping against my offending finger, obviously ready to get another nut. "I am," I agreed as I urged her on and used my thumb to massage her little girl clitoral hood, "But I will do my best to make it as good for you as it is for me." I then began finger fucking the child a little more vigorously, feeling the tip of my finger nudge against her hymen as I did. Dorothy cuddled close and spoke up, "You want to bust Linda's cherry, Art? You want to give her her first real fuck?" I looked at the woman in wonder. Her eyes were wild and hot as she watched me finger-fuck her six year old daughter. "Yeah, I do," I said as I leaned down to kiss the child's forehead only to have her lean her face back so I was kissing her tender lip-stick smeared mouth upside down. I was panting when I pulled away from her and said to her, "I'm going to fuck your tight little cunt till I spill a whole new load of sperm up your little girl womb," I grunted, struggling to keep myself from ramming my finger home up into her prepubescent cunt. Instead I took her to another orgasmic peak, letting her cry and grunt her way back to a completely lax state, lying back against me, my cock pushing proudly up above the swirling water once again. I was breathing hard and wanting more, but I said. "How do you want to go about this, Dor? I've never even fucked a virgin before, much less a six year old." Dorothy smiled. She said, "I brought along a bottle of Nyquil with this in mind. We'll give my baby a slight overdose and knock her out. Once she's asleep we'll grease her up and I'll watch you make her cunt bleed. I'll even hold her hot baby cunt open for you." I felt a thrill of lust and another of fear. Dorothy was both the woman of my dreams and my scariest nightmare. She wanted to see me debauch her six year old daughter. Heaven help me, that's exactly what I wanted too. All this either didn't register with the munchkin nestled between my thighs or she didn't care. She just purred a bit as she reached for my rehardened cock and began playing with it again. Little Emma did understand, it seemed. "What about me? Is Art gonna fuck me too?" "Not yet," Dorothy answered. "I want you to help Art and me to make your sister a big girl. Starting tonight, she's going to be Art's big girl pussy slut. He'll be sticking that thick dick up into her belly every day from now on." She smiled sadistically. "Won't you?" "Yes," I said flatly. "This beautiful little cunt is mine, starting now." And stood up. As I did, I picked Linda up in my arms and said to her, "Give me your mouth, Linda. I need to kiss you." Linda draped her lean arms around my neck and opened her mouth for me. I raped the child's mouth and throat, then probed under her tongue. Her mouth filled with saliva and I sucked it out, drinking it down and then doing it again. She didn't resist, but rather, gave herself over to me. I kissed her for what must have been five minutes. As we did, I felt Dorothy's mouth swallow my cock to the root and suckle at it. Little Emma sucked and licked my balls at the same time. I wished to God the child know how to eat out my ass because my asshole felt a ticklish need to be sucked and probed right then, but after an eternity I pulled back from Linda's passive but willing mouth and gasped. "Let's get out and have some food. Then I'll use you little girls and your momma the way you should be used." I pushed Dorothy off my cock and said to her upturned face. "Dinner's in the oven. You load up that Nyquil in Linda's food so she'll be ready for my cock right after we eat." Then I added sternly, "I'm going to drill your baby's pussy hard and deep tonight, bitch. She'll be my cum dump right along with you." Linda giggled. "What's a cum dump?" she said, leaning her head against my chest. Dorothy answered, "That's a girl who is always ready to have her man cum in her or on her. In her mouth, her pussy, her asshole, on her titties, or anywhere. Whenever and however her man wants her." Linda looked at me. "And you're going to make me your cum dump, Art?" "I am," I answered, "And your mother and your sister too. That's part of the deal for you girls to live here. I'll fill your baby twat, asshole, belly and mouth with my sperm any time, night or day, and expect you to be there when I call." Linda got a puzzled look on her face. "Will you be my cum dump too?" "Linda!" Dorothy said harshly. "Wait," I said to Dorothy. Then I looked back to Linda. "Yes, sweetheart, I'm your cum dump too. Not only that, but when you need to pee, from now on, you come to me first to see if I'm thirsty for you. When you need to shit, you check with me if it's alright and to see how I want my nasty turd treats. If I want your shit in my mouth or on my cock, or maybe I'll just want to eat out your little asshole after you dump your load in the toilet, or if I might want to see your momma suck out your bm, or see you shit in your sister's pretty little face." Linda gazed back into my eyes in wonder. "Got that?" I said. "Yes," Linda said back to me, then her big brown eyes seemed to melt and she added. "Even my pee and doo-doo is yours from now on." "Right," I said, then looked down at Emma who continued to stare up at my hard naked cock. "And that goes for you too, baby girl." Emma surprised me. "I know that," she said, then added. "I'll doo-doo in your mouth too," she said earnestly. "When I say so," I said. "I've never been a shit-eater before, but I think you girls are going to change that." "Oh my," Dorothy said as she climbed from the hot tub, her naked body now steamed red, a knowing and triumphant lecherous expression stealing across her face. "I never thought you would allow yourself to be subjugated like that, and by my two little whore girls." "Only by Linda and Emma," I said tersely. "You are and will remain the bottom here. I expect to see you crawling on hands and knees when I call your name from now on. Matter of fact, when your girls call you I expect you to do the same for them, come crawling. Preferably naked." Her triumph melded into a look of total submission. "Art," she said. "I'm their mother." "That's right," I agreed. "You are their mother and you groomed them to be little sluts. They are. You succeeded. But now they are my little sluts. You are my slut as well. Inside this house. Inside these rooms, you are my possession. They are mine. Totally and completely." I carried Linda over to her and said, "Now suck out my little slut's asshole like a good whore mother. I want to see you bury your tongue all the way inside her baby shitter." I turned to offer little Linda's ass to her mother. Dorothy was already breathing hard. Being humiliated turned her on. Doing the unthinkable, even moreso. I whispered in Linda's ear as her mother knelt down and parted the child's ass-cheeks. "You got any poop up in your butt for me, sweetheart?" "I--I don't know," the child whimpered, then clasped my neck tighter as her mother began eating out her tight baby butt-hole. "Oh! I like it, Art. I like having Momma's tongue up my heinie." I laughed as I watched Dorothy bend to my will. "You look perfect like this, Dorothy. I'm just jealous it's not me eating out Linda's asshole. In fact, once she passes out, I think the first thing I'm going to do is suck her shitty butt. I felt Emma start sucking my nutsack again, and sighed in contentment. All felt right with the world, at least for the moment. But we still had to eat. "Enough!" I commanded. "Dorothy, you get your big round rump into the kitchen and serve our food, including the Nyquil seasoning....for both the girls." Dorothy grinned slyly as she walked away, her rounded ass swaying in invitation. As she moved away, I felt baby Emma grab hold of my cock again and start nibbling on the tender head of it. She looked up at me and with a sweet lick of the length of my dick, she crooned, "You gonna knock me out too, Art." "Yes, I think I will," letting my smile reveal all my depraved lechery for her to see. "Good! Bust my pussy open too," she begged. "I want you to make me a big girl, just like Linda." I called out to Dorothy as her naked butt swayed its way through the glass doors of my hot tub santuary. "You hear that Dorothy? Make it a half dose for Emma. You're going to help me take her virginity too. Your babies are both becoming my little slut cunt whores tonight." "Just like you, Mommy!" called Linda. I kissed the baby nymphette again and said. "You are so fucking sexy, Linda. I think I'm going to molest you all night long, you and your tiny cunt sister." Linda smiled at me, and I looked down to see baby Emma gazing up at us, grinning as well. (to be continued)