After all I'd witnessed that first full day in Fertile Valley, I'd expected to return to my family at the hotel and relax - insulated from the cares of my professional life - removed from the mysteries that surrounded me in this weird little place. Instead, solving those mysteries became even more urgent that night. It became personal then - as personal as it gets. It involved my family, and they meant everything to me.

There were some very dramatic growth surges occurring in them, as Peggy had warned me - a definite cause for concern. As scary as it was, I found it all very arousing. Of course, I'd enjoy Peggy's new 'assets' to my heart's content - as long as there was nothing to harm her, I was delighted.

It was the change in my daughter Meagan that disturbed me most - not just the degree of change - though that was staggering - but her attitude toward it. She seemed to be enjoying it tremendously, reveling in the attention. I hoped she wouldn't flaunt her new endowments.

I didn't know if my heart could take it. Plus, we'd be in for a whole new set of problems with boys buzzing around her. Melissa, Peter and I were waiting for her to get out of the bathroom so we could get on our way to dinner. She'd been in there for a while - it shouldn't have taken that long for the kid to yank off her tight bra and put on her brother's shirt. I had to find out if she was OK so I went over to the door and asked her if she'd fallen in.

"They hurt daddy -- my boobies are SORE, so I'm rubbing some o' that cocoa butter stuff on 'em. Ohh -- It feels better daddy. Oooo, it feels REALLY good to rub this stuff on 'em, but I'll be out in a minute OK." I stood there for a minute longer and listened at the door while my daughter started to moan softly. Her little moans of pleasure were growing more intense - it sounded like my child was having sex in there. I thought it was about time to put my foot down. "Meagan, you get dressed and you get out here right now young lady."

"But DAD!"

"I said NOW Meagan." My kids always knew when I was serious, so she appeared in pretty short order. She'd left the last few buttons of her brother's shirt undone and tied the tails in a knot right under her tits. Her bare midriff was exposed. I probably should have made her put a t-shirt on underneath, but I didn't. And it was a big mistake.

That creamy white little tummy of hers was adorned with quite a substantial belly button - an 'outie', just like her mom's. The size of the thing astounded me - it was big around as a quarter. I guess I'd never paid it much attention before. The shirt didn't look nearly as big on her as I thought it would, nor did it disguise the presence of her new bosom as well as I'd hoped.

Peter's shirt wasn't designed to contain what billowed out from Meagan's chest. I tried not to look at her, but she made eye contact with me again and smirked. Then she looked down at her swollen boobs with a growing sense of pride. I could feel the chemistry building between us again. Like static electricity in the dead of winter, it was strong - almost crackling. She looked up at me, grinning from ear to ear then and asked me "Do I look OK daddy?"

"Yuh ... you look fine honey," I stammered. I couldn't help but notice that her breasts looked even larger without the bra on. It was stimulating, and it was frightening all at the same time. Meagan continued to torment me by catching my eye, then glancing down at her chest and smiling back up at me.

She KNEW, I thought to myself. She knew it excited me... and she was playing it for all it was worth. The relationship she'd initiated was just WRONG - one that I knew would be disastrous if I allowed it to develop. But I was in control, after all.

What was I worried about? I would put a stop to it, and right away. I heard Peggy calling from outside. "They're ready," she said, and heading for the van. Maybe I'd feel better after dinner I thought, but right then, I was a ball of nerves. Adam had been sitting there like he was in outer space -- oblivious to any of the activity in the room. He'd even quit playing Nintendo.

I called him back to earth and we joined the rest of the gang outside. Fertile Valley had the obligatory "fast food row" and an odd assortment of local restaurants serving everything from Mexican food to fried catfish. One little place "Ma's Kettle" had a little sign out in the gravel parking lot advertising 'Home Cooked Roast with Smashed Taters n' Gravy and 2 Vegs - $3.95'

It sounded like just what we needed- some good old home-cooked food. I missed my wife's cooking, and I'm sure the kids did too. We always talked about our day around the dinner table, and although I couldn't tell them much about mine, I was anxious to hear about theirs.

"Honey you're just gonna LOVE one of the houses we saw today. It's a great big old rambling two-story farmhouse with 6 bedrooms 4 baths -- and a breathtaking view out the kitchen window. It's not in the greatest shape, but the rent is CHEAP. And after all, we'll only be here for a couple of years -- it's not like we're buying the place."

Peter put his two cents in: "Yeah Dad, and there's this awesome driveway that goes down a hill -- I finally have a place I can skateboard without mom yellin' at me."

"Well, what about it Adam?, Girls? What did you think of this dream palace?"

Adam was his normal, excited self at that point: "Yeah, whatever." The girls on the other hand, were split down the middle - each group with a strong opinion. "It's a DUMP," said Julie. "I think it needs some paint," added Jen. Debbie sided with her older sisters -- "Eeeeeww, the kitchen was gross looking."

On the positive side, I heard, "We can go swimmin' in the little creek," from Dee; and, "There's plenty of bedrooms -- not like that place where we had 3 or 4 of us in the same room!" from Melissa.

Meagan was too busy looking at her new chest to catch any of the conversation. She'd re-tied her shirt tail, stretching the material tighter across the fullest part of her bust. It made her appear even larger. Or had she GROWN larger? I wondered. She just stared down at those tits bulging out the front of her brother's shirt, like we weren't even there.

It was cold in the restaurant and I noticed her nipples for the first time. They were simply ENORMOUS. That's what she was staring at. I muffled a gasp when I saw them. Nobody else but Peggy seemed to notice, which was good. There was enough sibling rivalry already. Peggy whispered in my ear when she saw me staring at Meagan's chest. "My lord, she could nurse twins with those things Bill -- he's HUGE honey. I better get her attention."

"Earth to Meagan" Peggy called out. "Tell Daddy what you thought about the house sweetie."

"Oh, yeah, well I liked the big trees out in the yard. It's really a neat yard with lots of places to hide, and there's hardly any houses around." Peggy confirmed Meagan's assessment. "It really does have a lovely yard Billy, and our closest neighbors are half a mile away. We'd have lots of privacy, and the kitchen can be cleaned up OK."

"Sounds like we have a winner" I said, to some grumbling from the opposing team. "Now kid's, you know I always go with your mother's judgment on things like this. We'll be happy there if she thinks it'll work, OK?" They all seemed agreeable enough at that point, and I was glad it was time to eat.

The waitress came over to take our order and we all had the dinner special. Peggy always made sure we got our veggies and plenty of protein. "Growing girls need their protein." She'd let it slip out before she even thought about it I guess. Jules and Jen looked at their mother like they wanted to stab her. To add insult to injury, my other 4 girls giggled and stuck their chests out. There weren't many people in the little place and I was glad.

The dining room was small, with 10 or 12 tables crammed in it. We had it almost to ourselves until our food came out. Then close to 20 people came in at the same time. It was Friday night at 5:30 -- dinnertime there, and the pace was picking up. I was starving, and dug right in. But I became distracted when the last bunch came in. I hadn't seen any examples of that particular type of family before, though Maggie had mentioned it in our first meeting. She said families like the one I was ogling were frequent visitors to the ER.

I'm glad I'd almost finished my food. It was hard to concentrate on anything else when these people got close and I got a good look at them. They sat at the table right next to us. I broke out in a sweat as I watched the girls struggling to get situated at the table. The 'men' of the family were of little help. Actually there was just one man -- a 40ish oaf with a beer belly and a grizzly beard.

There were 3 boys - one around 8, the other maybe 10 and a young teenager. All of them sat down right away and grabbed a menu while the poor girls tried to squeeze their pregnant young bodies into the tight confines around the table. I watched more closely as they tried to maneuver their way in to the chairs, holding on to the table and chair-backs for support. The girls were very, VERY pregnant. Every one of them.

I couldn't help but notice the vicious cycle that Maggie had referred to when she spoke of the families coming in to the ER. There were 6 girls in all. The oldest looked no more than 18, but I guessed she'd have to be. There were a set of triplets 11 or 12 years old and a set of twins, maybe 9 or 10, all calling her "Ma."

I remembered all too well what Peggy looked like when she was about to deliver Melissa and Meagan. They were our biggest twins at birth - over 9 pounds each - and they made my wife's belly so fucking huge I had to help her move around the last 2 months she was pregnant.

The pregnant twins were every bit as huge as Peggy had been with Meagan and Melissa. Remarkably, their breasts were even larger than Peggy's. They were truly identical in every way. They must have gotten knocked up at the same time, I thought. I could picture them lying side-by-side with their legs up in the air - bucking their hips back at their brothers as they fucked like little bunnies -- whimpering, then getting their young pussies pumped full of all too potent sperm.

Their sisters' bellies were even bigger. Like Maggie had described, this family was a cycle repeating itself. The triplets all looked like they could go into labor at any minute. They were full to bursting, each of them hugely pregnant with their own set of triplets (at least). I marveled at the size of their bloated tummies. I stared at them openly - unaware of what my family was doing.

The babies completely overwhelmed their young bodies -- their bellies starting a gentle curve outward, right under their flat chests -- then bulging out 'egg shaped' where the babies had settled in low and wide. They were so pretty and SO -- FUCKING -- PREGNANT!

I suppose I'd seen pregnant women that large before, but only in photographs. These girls were all too real, and only 5 feet away from me. I felt hypnotized as I watched one of the triplets take a break from the whole ordeal of getting situated. She eased her shoulders back in a stretch and placed her hands at the small of her back causing her belly to bulge out obscenely.

The girl had no modesty at all -- the bottom half of her dress had been unbuttoned, draping loosely in front of her. The new posture she assumed made her grossly swollen tummy poke right out through the open gap in the dress -- the material hanging at the sides of her naked belly.

She straightened up again and began scratching -- all over her big belly full of babies. The kid could barely reach her arms around her bulging middle it was so huge -- but she managed. She flicked her fingers over her belly button then. The fucking thing had popped out the size of a ping-pong ball, and poking out of the kid's gigantic belly, it looked like the biggest nipple I'd ever seen in my life.

At that moment, the vision of that huge pregnant child with her big belly button was permanently etched into my memory. It was one of those images that never leaves you -- one that makes your dick hard the second it enters your mind. I felt Peggy's punch at my arm then -- she'd become aware of my interest and brought me back to reality. The girl they called 'Ma' spoke up all of a sudden, getting my whole family's attention:

"Ya could at least try and help yer sister git in that chair Jimmy Ray - you the one gott'er belly all swole up like that." The girl was yelling at the teenaged boy still looking at the menu. He looked so stupid I was surprised he could read. He reluctantly got up and took his pregnant sister by the arm. He guided her sideways into position on the chair and she swiveled to face the table. The other boys followed his example and helped the rest of the girls.

I caught the oldest girl's profile then as she wedged her way in to the last seat. She was so huge, she could've been pregnant with a horse. I didn't want my children to hear any more comments from this family. I'd have enough to explain as it was, so I told Peggy to head to the van with them, and that I wanted to see if these people would be part of my research test group. She gave me a 'yeah, right buddy' kind of smirk but went along with me. I was serious about my intentions.

I introduced myself to the fat bastard at the end of the table, and the eldest girl. I explained that I was doing some research at the hospital that involved improving the health of newborn twins, triplets and so on (OK, so I lied a little) and that I had a lot of questions they could answer. They would get a free physical, including all kinds of blood tests, and medicine for their children -- I could even pay them I said.

That got the fat bastard's attention. "How much money we talkin' here Doc?" I told him, depending on the number of family members involved and the amount of time it took, it could be as much as 7 or 8 hundred dollars, and that I'd need them at the hospital by 10AM the following Monday.

"We'll be there Doc -- ya want ALL the young-uns there?"

I told him it would be helpful if everyone in the immediate family were there. That seemed hard for him to grasp at first. Then I explained what I really needed was any sons and daughters, his wife, and any grandchildren. He finally got it.

One of the twins at the end of the table started whining all of a sudden. "Pa, mah TITS are leakin' again, and they HURT!" I was really happy my kids were outside at that point. The kid ripped open the top of her dress, hauled one of her big tits out of her bra, and sprayed milk all over the table. "You stop that Ellie - you ain't in the barn ya know!!" the oldest girl shouted at her.

The pregnant twin proceeded to pull her other big breast out of the bra, and let it go too -- some of it hit the oldest girl in the face.

"Pa, tell'er ta quit that" the oldest girl pleaded.

"Now Ellie, yer Ma told ya to feed them young-uns o'yours 'fore we left the house -- now you just gonna have to wait."

My mouth fell open as I heard this exchange, and I just had to ask the oldest girl if what I'd heard was true. Had I misunderstood, or did I just hear that her daughter already had babies?

"Well, I guess you gonna find out soon anyhow -- my Pa done knocked her up twice already 'fore he planted them two that's swellin' her belly now. Her twin sister Tessie too. Preacher says he done good by his family. Pa done spread his seed real good mister. The same seed that made me up inside my Ma, and made Ellie and Tessie inside o'me has got them two all swole up with more young-uns on the way."

"So you mean, he's THEIR father too? And they were only..." the girl stopped me, and as she giggled a little, said, "Pa likes ta start us young -- says it's good for us. Ellie was the youngest though -- he had her swellin' up by her eighth birthday. Tessie showed her belly just a few days later - and they both been knocked up ever since. I think it was cuz they growed 'em such a big ole pair o' tits fer young-uns. Pa likes 'em big, and they git bigger ever' time he plants another set o' young-uns in their belly."

She wasn't kidding -- the tits on those twin girls were huge, and so full of milk they looked like they could explode.

I told the girl and her 'Pa' that we'd talk about all of it more when they came to the hospital, and I thanked them for participating in my study. I paid our check and headed out the door. My mind was racing with all kinds of explanations for the early sexual development of the children I'd just seen, and all their pregnancies at such an early age.

If their mother was right, the youngest girls had become pregnant when they were only 7. And they already had breasts -- big ones apparently. Some chemical agent was responsible for it I thought, although I'd heard of isolated cases of pregnancy in girls that young before -- even younger. I had no reason to doubt the girl's word.

Peggy wanted to go for a little ride before we headed back to the hotel, so we went by the house they told me about. There was a beautiful sunset silhouetting the farm-house when we drove by. I could see us living there among the gentle rolling hills of the valley surrounding it. A big oak tree in the front yard would provide shade for the next summer.

The line of pine trees flanking the north side of the property would provide a nice wind break in the winter. The paint wasn't in horrible shape despite the complaint I'd heard from the peanut gallery. I told Peggy to find out how soon we could move in and we headed for the hotel. I would have a big day ahead, we told the kids, and, "Mommy and Daddy had a lot to talk about."

Mommy and Daddy 'talked' until 2AM. It reminded me of our discussion the night we created Julie and Jenny. Peggy had misplaced her diaphragm, but since she was on the pill, and it wasn't a fertile time of month for her, she assured me everything would be "fine." We went at it like teenagers as Peggy pushed an arsenal of new buttons on me.

My wife brought up every detail of the girls we saw at the restaurant that night -- how busty how young -- how pretty -- how PREGNANT they were. She pushed her big swollen tits together, bucking her hips back at me while I fucked her like a madman. Then she pushed a few buttons that surprised me - she'd been watching me closer than I thought, and she used what she saw to drive me wild.

I could hardly believe what came out of her mouth: "You know what I think?" she asked as she groaned and jerked under me, "I think my Billy got all horny looking at our daughter's tits - that's what. I saw you looking at our Meagan's little tummy too, you naughty boy. Did you wonder what it would look like stretching her pants tight with a baby? Is that what's got my baby all hard and ready to burst? Is that it Billy? Is it little Meagan with a big belly? Oh? FUCK me Billy fuck me baby."

Peggy kept wriggling her hips faster and faster, swirling her wet pussy around on my dick - fucking me silly. "I think my baby's wondering how big his little girls' bosoms are gonna get too. How are you gonna stand it when our Meagan and Melissa start wobbling around the house 'cause I can't find bras big enough for them? Huh Billy? That day is coming Billy -- they're already big and they're gonna get ENORMOUS. Are you ready baby?"

Peggy had become better than ever at getting to me -- right to the core of what made me so horny I could scream. It was frightening how well she could read me. She knew her teasing would drive me to the brink of orgasm, then push me over the edge. It worked every time - all FIVE times. I came and came and CAME in her. She begged me to pull out the first time, but all too late. After that I figured it was a moot point. I dumped more cum in my wife that night than I had in the past 6 months. I finally passed out from sheer exhaustion.



A DAY OF DISCOVERY

The next morning, remembering Peggy's comment about paying more attention to our first born, I knocked on their door to say goodbye before I left for the lab. "Ya can't come in," Jenny yelled, "The little COWS are massaging their udders with skin cream." I decided to leave them alone and asked Peggy to have a 'heart to heart' talk with them as soon as possible. I didn't know what to say to them really, except that I loved them, and that might not have been enough right then.

Fortunately, I was getting an early start. With 5 hours sleep, a good breakfast and a hot shower, I was on my way to the hospital by 8 AM. On the way there I reflected on what Peggy teased me with to get me so hot the night before -- she'd SEEN me ogling our daughter - she knew what it had done to me - and she didn't care. I believe she'd even picked up on Meagan flirting with me. Did she think I wanted to do more than look, and would she even care about THAT? She had used it successfully to make me cum my brains out. And if I knew Peggy, she would use it again.

It was all too strange and I would have to sort it out later, but I began to wonder about what she'd said -- I really DID think about how big my girls' breasts would get. And worse -- I even wondered what Meagan's tummy would look like a little more, well -- you know.

I forced myself to think about work then. The first order of business would be to send the spring water out for analysis. I stopped by Maggie's office to say hello on the way in. She hadn't made it to work yet so I proceeded to my work area to get started. The hospital had equipped the lab completely -- including an adequate supply of clean white lab rats, neatly organized by reproductive development, size and sex.

I had the water sample hand delivered to the nearest facility that could isolate the chemical elements -- it had to be driven to Ashville, N.C. over 150 miles away. The nurse that recommended the lab said their results were reliable, but it could take up to 3 days to get a complete report from them. In an effort to forge ahead, I injected a few CCs of spring water into 2 of the female rats marked 'adult' among the group of cages lining the back wall of the lab. There were other groupings marked 'pre-pubescent', 'possibly (or recently) fertile' 'pubescent' and 'young adult'.

I thought I'd better test all the groups to have a valid comparison, and hopefully observe some short-term reaction to the chemical makeup of the water. I proceeded to inject the same amount of water into 2 female rats from each of the other groups. It would only be physical evidence, but that was all I had to work with, and it may prove enough to draw some initial conclusions. All I could do was wait then, so I familiarized myself with the surroundings and got my thoughts organized.

I went out to the van to get the box of personal items I always kept at my desk -- photos of Peggy and the kids, favorite paperweights and such. I saw a flyer on my windshield -- it was an ad for the personal appearance of that poster girl I saw at Dixon pharmacy. I started reading the flyer, which included a more recent photo of the girl than I'd seen on the poster. "September 15 is here", it said.

"The day we've all been waiting for -- and the day every Fertile Valley poster girl looks forward to. 12 year old Emily Walton is due to deliver her triplets any day now. In tribute to that blessed event, she will be available to personally autograph a copy of her poster for you today at Dixon Drugs from 11AM to 1PM." My hands were shaking as I looked at the girl's photo on the flyer -- it was identified and dated: 'Emily Walton on Sept. 1st, at 8 months and 2 weeks pregnant.' The kid's belly was substantially larger than it was in the poster. I kept reading:

"Fathers, you owe it to yourselves to witness, in person, the promise of new life being fulfilled within this growing child of God. You've seen the poster photo taken one month ago, now see the miracle that has blossomed forth since then, bringing this very pregnant young girl to full term. Emily will truly inspire you to do God's work in your own homes."

My dick was already hard just looking at her picture. I wouldn't have trusted myself at my own home just then. I thought about how fucking HUGE that girl would be in person -- two weeks after that picture was taken. There was more to the flyer:

Today is also the final day to register for next year's poster girl photo sessions -- bring your girls to the Unity Church Community Center, right off the town square. Remember, as always we'll need a picture from each month of their blessed development -- so mark your calendar for your assigned photo appointments. Judging for November's poster girl contest begins next week. All entries will be reviewed today at the Community Center."

I knew that I'd have to see that girl for myself after that 'come on' in the flyer. And I had to know what those photo sessions were all about. Something sounded fishy about the whole thing, and I was curious. On the way back in, I figured Maggie must have made it in to work, so I stopped by to thank her for the tour of the town, and for her help in getting the lab set up. She had made sure everything I'd asked for was there, and I told her I was truly grateful. Maggie had a rosy-cheeked 'glow' about her, and I commented on how happy she seemed.

"Little Luke came to see me this morning Bill, for the first time in 3 weeks. I think he got excited by what he saw, if you know what I mean." She smirked at me and poked her tummy out as big as she could. "I believe you two boys have the same taste in girls," she said giggling.

Maggie reeked of cum and pussy juice, and her knees were wobbling. She limped over to me, rested a hand gently on my shoulder, and whispered in my ear: "The kid's gotten bigger Bill - I don't know how -- but his prick was simply gigantic today. MUCH bigger than it was -- and he fucked me so hard I can barely stand up."

Maggie sat down behind her desk then and suggested that her 'Little' Luke and the rest of the McCabe's might make an interesting case study. "If you saw that 'boy', you would know something wasn't normal Bill." I told her about the other family I had coming in that Monday and asked her to see if the McCabe's were interested, and find out when they would be available. I had plenty budgeted for that sort of case study, and the more data I carefully gathered, the more valid and reliable the results.

I was anxious to see what results, if any, my little rats had for me. Maggie said her workload was small that day and asked if she could join me in the lab for just a little to see what I was up to. I could use an assistant I thought, so I said, "sure, why not" and informed her of what I'd done already on the way back. I opened the cage with the adult females and examined one that I'd tagged and injected.

Maggie grabbed a normal one for comparison and turned it over. I heard a "WOW" from Maggie as her eyes darted from one underbelly to the other. "It's not a very big difference, but there it is... the pink nubs on your rat are bigger," she said.

It was a noticeable difference, and it happened in less than an hour. It would be interesting to see what happened by the end of the day. We went to the opposite end of the spectrum to the pre- pubescent group and found no changes there. That didn't surprise me. The next results did.

Maggie grabbed one of the rats I'd injected from the 'possibly fertile' group, and I grabbed a normal one. She almost dropped hers when she looked down at it. "OH MY GOD!! Come and LOOK at this Bill. I don't fucking believe it. It can't be, but it's holy SHIT!!"

I threw my rat back in the cage and went over to where Maggie was standing. Her young female rat had developed 6 marble-sized protrusions on its underbelly capped by fat pink teats as big as the end of my finger.

I'd used rats for a dozen years in countless experiments. Never in my experience had I seen anything like this staggering amount of development. The chemical responsible for that phenomenon was powerful and expedient -- and I suspected it worked directly on the pituitary gland. Nothing could have produced that degree of change without impacting the pituitary in a BIG way.

Part of the rush I got from my work was uncovering developments like this. My heart was racing. I was on to something now, and I couldn't wait to check the other groups. We had two groups left. When we looked at the pubescent samples, I'd expected to see even more astounding results, but they were less dramatic.

They exhibited more of a change than the adult rats had, but less than the 'possibly fertile' group. It was the same story with the young adult group. Aside from the youngest, they had all shown evidence of growth at varying degrees. My conclusion at that point was that somehow the drug acting on the pituitary had a more profound effect at a certain developmental stage. That stage, according to this evidence, was right at - or just prior to - the onset of puberty.

I thought about my little girls for a minute, and about Peggy. It hit me squarely between the eyes then, the pattern of their development matched what I'd seen at the lab that day. Meagan and Melissa had just started having periods when they began to guzzle the water. The results were impossible to ignore. Dee and Deb had shown a more modest amount of growth, though it had been amazing in its own right.

As for Peggy, there was still some mystery there, though her weight may have held the answer. When she gained weight, much of it went straight to her chest. She had been eating a lot lately, and knowing what I do, I NEVER discouraged her from that. Maybe the combination of that and the water made her so large all of a sudden. My thoughts turned back to the children.

I became even more concerned about my reaction to one of my daughters - and her flirtatious behavior toward me. Try as I might, I was not able to get her out of my mind. It had become difficult for me to focus for very long on anything else, and I didn't know what to do about it. I was fixated on the image of my daughter Meagan and her big chest. I could see her smirking, looking at me with her pretty blue eyes while she pushed her big tits together. I could hear her asking me: "See how big I am Daddy?"

Peggy complicated matters by getting me so hot over my own child. I knew it was wrong to feel the way I did, and I fought it. At the same time I felt helpless. I couldn't help thinking about that image Peggy had used on me -- I pictured Meagan's tummy pushing out the front of a tight pair of jeans. Gently at first, then the button wouldn't close.

She'd have to move the zipper down a notch soon as her bras became oh- so-tight from the strain of her swelling breasts. She looks up at me again and says: "See daddy, I'm HUGE for you."

Maggie had me by the shoulders, shaking me. I'd gone off the deep end. "Bill, are you OK? I thought we'd lost you." I came back to the world of the living and realized it was time to head downtown for the poster signing and to see what all this photo session business was about. Emily Walton would be worth the trip. I could feel it.

On to chapter 8