The New House

“How did the drop-off go, Mistress?” Alexia asks, after she opens the driver’s side door for her Mistress.

“It went fine.” Jane says. “That’s the easy part, though. Are the rest of the girls ready to go?”

“Yes, Mistress.” Alexia says. “Megan volunteered to pack Layne’s things, and we let her sleep. She’s exhausted, and was really struggling to wake up, so we let her curl back up on the couch for now.”

“Poor thing.” Jane says, stopping to glance at her for a moment before passing through into the kitchen. “Have the girls start loading. Let’s leave Layne until the end. If the rest of the girls are willing, have them sit in the front rows. We can put her in the second to last row, and recline the seat just a bit, so she can get a bit more sleep before we arrive.”

“Will do.” Alexia says. “I was going to carry your bags down, but I wasn’t sure if you had everything packed yet. Would you like me to do that now?”

“I’ll take care of it.” Jane says, stopping to give her a hug and a quick kiss. “Thank you, my love. You are doing a great job.”

Alexia flushes slightly, a grin covering her face. “Thank you! I’ll get the girls loading now, we should be ready in a few minutes.”

“Make sure they all hit the bathroom first.” Jane says. “We aren’t stopping more than twice on the way up, and one of those stops is going to be for breakfast.”

“Yes, Mistress.” Alexia says, before hurrying up the stairs.

Glancing into the bunk bed room, Alexia is relieved to see that no one has gone back to sleep.

“Is Domina Jane back?” Mei asks eagerly.

“Yes.” Alexia says. “We need to start packing the van. Bags in the back, anything you need with you during the trip up front. Layne is taking one of the third row of seats, so she can recline her chair a bit, so make sure to leave one for her.”

“I call shotgun!” Mei asks.

“Un uh.” Alexia says. “I get the front.”

“Oh, come on.” Mei says. “I don’t get to spend enough time with Jane. Can’t I have it for part of the ride?”

“We’ll see.” Alexia says. “For now, we need to pack. I want us all in the van, packed and ready, when Mistress Jane is ready to leave.”

After a few grumbles from the sleepy group, they started carrying things down to the van.

“Mistress.” Alexia asks, cracking open the master bedroom door. “The van is being packed. Is there anything I can carry down for you?”

“No need.” Jane says, stepping out of the bathroom in her bra and panties. “Just trying to decide what to wear. We are probably going to run into Cheryl again, otherwise I wouldn’t have bothered to change. But I do want to actually get work done, so I don’t want to wear anything I’m afraid of ruining.”

“We can handle the work, Mistress.” Alexia says. “Besides, once we get there, you can send her away, and then change into whatever you want.”

“Good point.” Jane says, walking back into the closet, and picking out her favorite top and jeans. “What do you think?”

“Anything would look good on you.” Alexia says, after following her into the closet.

“Liar.” Jane laughs. “I’m twice the woman I was before I got married.”

“Twice as much for me to love.” Alexia responds, running her hand along Jane’s side. “And Robert doesn’t seem to mind either.”

“Robert is a great husband.” Jane says, blushing. “And you are a sweet girl.”

“You are amazing too.” Alexia says. “Master Robert is lucky to have you.”

“Thank you.” Jane says. “I’ll be down in just a few minutes.”

“Everything ok?” Mei asks when Alexia reaches the van.

“She’s almost ready.” Alexia says. “I convinced her to dress up a bit, since we are probably going to run into Cheryl.”

“Ugh…” Mei growls. “That nasty bitch again?”

“Unfortunately.” Alexia says. “Hopefully Mistress sends her away once we get there.”

A few minutes later, Jane finally makes it to the van. “Domina, are we really going to have to see that bitch Cheryl again?” Mei asks in a slightly whiny tone.

“She’s letting the contractors in this morning.” Jane says. “Hopefully she’ll be gone by the time we get there. We can’t leave town just yet, though. There was a problem at the airport, and some of the girls don't want to get on the plane.”

“What happened, Mistress?” Alexia asks. “I can’t imagine Lucia not wanting to go with Robert.”

“I didn’t get the whole story, but it sounds like going through TSA was traumatic.” Jane says. “There is a chance we will need to go back to the airport and pick up everyone except Robert and Amber.”

Alexia pulls out her phone, typing furiously as she messages Lucia.

“Girls, try not to overwhelm them with messages.” Jane says. “Robert said they are all really upset, they probably don’t need a thousand texts right now.”

“I mean, we have to know what happened.” Mei says. “Maybe just one message each, Domina?”

“One message.” Jane says. “I guess we can get breakfast while we wait.”

“Can we eat in the van, Mistress?” Megan asks. “I’d feel more comfortable that way.”

“That was the plan.” Jane says. “I’ll take us through a drive through near the highway, and we can eat while we wait.”

“If they come back, did you want me to go with Robert?” Reyna asks. “I can handle going through security.”

Taylor reaches over to grab her hand, and squeezes. “If Reyna goes, I’d like to as well.”

“None of you are going through TSA today. If the girls come back, I’ll go through TSA, get them, and bring them back, while all of you wait with the doors locked.” Jane says. “We probably need to find a different way to get everyone else home too, because I doubt things are going to get better by the time they are ready to come home.”

“Train maybe?” Taylor suggests. “I used to take the train to see my grandparents in Florida when I was a kid.”

“Maybe.” Jane says. “Feel free to start researching that, and any other options while we are driving.”

*****

“Chicken biscuits never get old.” Alexia says. “I love how lacking in greenery they are.”

“A few veggies never killed anyone.” Taylor says. “Has it been a while since you tried them? Your taste buds change as you get older.”

After making a retching sound, Alexia says. “I tried them the day before you all showed up. It was awful.”

“It wasn’t so bad.” Jane says with a smile. “I certainly had fun that day.”

Blushing, Alexia looks down at her lap. “The day wasn’t all bad. But the food was awful.”

“Sounds fun.” Mei says. “What happened?”

“…” Alexia stares at her phone, unsure of how to answer.

“Sometimes the past should stay in the past.” Jane says. “Hopefully we will hear from them soon.”

“I’ll text Lucia.” Alexia says, taking the opportunity Jane has accidentally provided to get around her one text rule.

“Is Layne doing ok back there?” Jane asks, looking back.

“She’s still resting, Mistress.” Megan says. “I’ve got her food for when she wakes up.”

“Thank you, Megan.” Jane says, giving her a reassuring smile.

“Lucia replied.” Alexia says. “She says ‘We talked it over, and we are all going with Robert. We have to find a different way back home; we are definitely not flying again.’”

“Great.” Jane says, putting the van into gear. “Three hours to the new house. Let’s try not to stop for at least an hour.”

A little less than an hour later, Jane pulls into a gas station. “Ok, everyone stay together. Make sure each other's collars are on. Is Layne awake?”

“I woke her up a minute ago, Mistress.” Megan says.

“Where are we?” Layne asks with a yawn. “I’m hungry.”

“We are making a bathroom stop.” Megan tells her. “I’ve got food for you when we get back to the van.”

“What kind?” Layne asks with interest.

“Chicken biscuit.” Megan says, holding it up. “We need to go in now, make sure to stay with the rest of us when we are inside.”

Layne nods seriously, following Megan out of the van, and making sure to stick to the middle of the group.

When everyone is done, Jane asks. “Does anyone need anything before we head back to the van? This is our last stop, unless there is an emergency.”

“Can I get some chocolate?” Layne asks. “I’m starving.”

“You’ve still got your biscuit in the car.” Megan reminds her.

“Oh.” Layne says, looking genuinely surprised. “Can I have chocolate for later?”

“We’ll go to the grocery store later today and pick up a few things.” Jane says. “It’ll be cheaper there than here.”

“Ok!” Layne says excitedly. “I like the mint chocolate. The round ones.”

“Can one of you add that to the shopping list?” Jane asks. “Let’s get back on the road.”

*****

“Can you make me a new collar soon?” Mei asks quietly while she watches Layne work. “Mine is so scratchy.”

“Sure.” Layne says, working more carefully than normal due to the movement of the van. “And I need to make clothes too. Amber wanted some. And Megan. And maybe Emily? I’ll have to ask, I can’t remember.”

“So, what was going on last night?” Mei whispers a few minutes later. “I saw Megan guarding the door.”

“Oh.” Layne whispers back. “They told me how to make the tingles go away. I tried it, but I was still tingly, but the second time it finally went away.”

“Tingles?” Mei asks, before realization dawns. “Oh, tingles. So, twice, huh? I bet that was fun.”

“It was awesome!” Layne whispers excitedly. “My mom always said to ignore tingles, but she was wrong. I’m feeling a little tingly right now, but Jane said I shouldn’t do that in front of people.”

Mei smirks, and says. “I have an idea.”

Reaching into her bag, she pulls something out. “Ok, so this is a bullet vibrator. If you hold this against your clit, you’ll stop being tingly fast.”

“But what if anyone sees?” Layne whispers. “I don't want to get in trouble.”

“Do it under your blanket, while you pretend to sleep again.” Mei says, pointing to the blanket she had been using while napping earlier. “And stay really quiet.”

“Ok.” Layne says. Putting down her work, she grabs the blanket, pulling it back on herself. “I’m still sleepy, I’m going to nap for a bit.”

Reaching out, she takes the vibrator from Mei, moving it between her thighs. “It isn’t doing anything.” Layne whispers in frustration.

“You need to turn it on.” Mei whispers. “Hit the button on the bottom.”

Mei looks up when the vibrator turns on, convinced someone would hear it and say something, but no heads turn towards the back of the van. The quiet lasts for a few moments, before Layne squeals loudly, causing Jane to swerve the van, and every other head to turn in their direction.

“What’s going on back there?” Jane asks in a concerned voice. “Someone check on Layne!”

Mei panics, looking over at Layne, who is rapidly building to an orgasm. A hand grabs the blanket, pulling it off of Layne, revealing the vibrator.

“She’s fine, Mistress.” Taylor says, giving Mei a look. “She got her hands on a vibrator… Somehow.”

Heavy breathing, and then a louder squeal rips through the now silent van, before Layne drops the vibrator. It keeps buzzing on the carpet for a minute before Mei leans down to scoop it up, turning it off as quickly as she can.

As the van comes to a stop on the side of the highway, Jane turns around, and asks. “Who gave her a vibrator?”

Mei shrugs sheepishly, face getting bright red.

“What made you think that a road trip was a good time to hand her a toy?” Jane asks, staring her down.

“She said she was tingly.” Mei says. “I was just trying to help, Domina.”

“I could have wrecked the van.” Jane says flatly. “I thought there was something seriously wrong with her.”

“I’m sorry, Domina.” Mei says, eyes flicking downward. “I guess I didn’t think it through.”

“Yes, you did.” Alexia says. “You’ve been jonesing for some time with the Mistress since this morning. You thought if you got in trouble, she would punish you, and that punishment would involve spending time with you.”

Mei flushes, a look of shame coming over her features.

“Is that true?” Jane asks.

“Yes, Domina.” Mei says softly, eyes downcast.

“We will discuss this tonight.” Jane says. “Someone switch seats with Mei.”

“I’ll switch back, Mistress.” Megan says, getting up so that Mei and she could switch seats. “I probably shouldn’t have agreed to switch seats at the gas station.”

“We are almost at the house.” Jane says. “Can everyone just sit quietly until we get there?”

After a few murmurs of agreement, Jane puts the van back into gear, and pulls back onto the highway.

*****

“Shit, she is here.” Jane says as she pulls past the ornate gates into the driveway.

“Domina, I can tell her to go away if you want.” Mei says eagerly.

“You aren’t going to be telling anyone anything.” Jane says. “Alexia, when we get out, pair the girls up, and get them to work. Everyone is to stay together, I don’t want anyone going off on their own. I want enough bedrooms cleaned up for us to sleep here tonight. At least one bathroom too. Next priorities are the kitchen, living areas, and the rest of the bedrooms. Try to keep to yourselves, and if the contractors bother you, call me.”

“Reyna and I will pair up.” Taylor says immediately.

“Layne and I should stay together too.” Megan says quickly as well.

“That leaves Mei and Valentina.” Alexia says. “Mei, you don’t speak Spanish, right?”

“No.” Mei says.

“That’s actually the same in Spanish.” Alexia says with a smile. “I’ll keep Valentina with me, and you can work with Taylor and Reyna for now. Mistress, which floor did you want us to start with?”

“Probably the top floor.” Jane says. “That way we’ll have an empty floor between us and the ground floor construction when they start the master suite. Please make sure to get the staff bedroom cleaned up, it may sound selfish, but my back can’t take a night on one of those bunk beds.”

“I’ll do that one myself, Mistress.” Alexia says.

Jane gets out of the van, stretching her back before looking around at the crowd of trucks, vans, and other construction vehicles. “They really are going at it.” She murmurs.

“They do seem motivated to keep us here.” Alexia says, coming up behind her.

“It’s probably more about being able to show us off to other potential new residents.” Jane suggests. “If they can show that they’ve made us happy, they are more likely to get other people excited about the possibilities.”

“Jane!” She hears an unpleasant voice say. “I didn’t realize you were coming up today.”

“Hello, Cheryl.” Jane says, finally spotting her walking in their direction. “Robert had to go out of town with a few of the girls, so I thought we might as well get here and start working on the house.”

“Don’t get in the way of the contractors.” Cheryl says with a smile. “They are swarming like ants.”

“We’ll be fine.” Jane says. “I practically grew up on construction sites. The perks of being a carpenter’s kid.”

“Are you sure?” Cheryl says. “We could drop your girls off at the basement of the courthouse, and go out for lunch. I could introduce you to the ladies at the local Leading Ladies chapter; they are doing their monthly meeting today at Gracie’s diner.”

“I don’t think I’m ready for the Leading Ladies just yet.” Jane says with a smile. “I’ll have to leave that to more distinguished ladies like yourself. You should go though, I’ll be here to supervise for at least a few days.”

“Well, bless your heart.” Cheryl says with a twisted smile. “I’ll leave you to it, then.”

After Cheryl’s car begins to move down the driveway, Alexia asks. “Did you just call her old?”

“I did.” Jane says with a grin. “And she didn’t like it much.”

“Good.” Mei says. “Maybe she won’t come back.”

“She’ll come back if she’s told to come back.” Jane says. “I’ll tell Tom we are good for a few days though. I’ll go inside and let the contractors know we are here. When I come back, you all can start grabbing the cleaning supplies, and get to work. I’d leave the rest of your stuff in the van until we clean out enough rooms.”

When Jane approaches the front door, she is surprised to see that the majority of the workers appear to be detained individuals. Seeing a man in his thirties sitting on the settee in the foyer on a laptop, she approaches. “Hello. I’m Jane Wolfe.”

Startled, the man looks up, before setting the computer aside, standing up, and holding out his hand. “Chad Ritter.” He says. “Tom said to expect you, but I thought it might be a little later in the day.”

“We got an early start.” Jane says, taking a seat on one of the antique chairs on the other side of the small table. “I brought most of my girls with me, I’m planning on having them clean out some bedrooms for us, so we can stay the night.”

“We haven’t touched the two upper stories yet. I’ve got a crew about to start on the roof, and a plumber and electrician working on those items.” Chad says. “After that, we can prioritize whatever you want.”

“I was thinking of starting with the new Master suite.” Jane says. “I’ve got some plans on my phone that the girls and I dreamed up, if you want to take a look.”

“Sure, here is my email address.” Chad says, handing over a business card. “I should probably take a look, sometimes what people want, and what can actually be accomplished, are very different, especially when you start talking about knocking down walls.”

“Sent.” Jane says. “I’m going to bring my girls in now, and have them start cleaning up the top floor. Can you make sure to tell your guys to leave them alone? It would probably be best if they just stay off that floor entirely. The last thing we need is any misunderstandings.”

“I already warned them, and as of right now, they have no reason to go past this floor.” Chad says, and after a moment’s hesitation, continues. “Most of these guys are related to my wife, and they are just thrilled to be staying in the area. They aren’t going to do anything that risks them being sent to a real work camp. And I’ll be here watching the stairs most of the day.”

“Thank you.” Jane says. “So… your wife was detained?”

“For about fifteen minutes.” Chad says. “I bought her back immediately. Tom was there every day during testing, and tried to keep families together when he could.”

“That’s good.” Jane says. "Tom seems like a decent guy."

As she makes her way to the van, she waves at the girls to get out.

“Ok ladies.” Jane says, when are all out. “It sounds like the workers are starting with the roof, plumbing, and electrical. They should be staying off our floor for now, so we shouldn’t have any problems with them. Let’s get moving.”

As the group enters, Chad waves at Jane. “After you get them settled, we should discuss these plans. There are a few things here that are going to need to be changed.”

“I’ll be back down in a few minutes.” Jane says. Leading the girls up the stairs, she has to pause when she reaches the top.

“Are you ok, Mistress?” Alexia asks.

“Stairs are my nemesis.” Jane says, breathing a bit heavily. “I hate them so much.”

“Do you need to sit down?” Alexia asks, and not waiting for a response, she looks at the girls. “Go find a chair.”

“I’ll be fine.” Jane says. “I just need a minute.”

“Got one.” They hear a moment later, and Taylor and Reyna come into sight dragging an uncomfortable looking antique.

“It was in the staff bedroom.” Reyna explains as they put it down next to Jane. “I don’t think there are any others up here.”

“It’ll do.” Jane says, sitting down heavily.

“I think I understand why you wanted the master suite finished first.” Alexia says.

“I do fine with a few stairs.” Jane says. “I mean, our master suite is upstairs now. But this is too many for me to want to do multiple times every day.”

“I get it.” Taylor says. “I’d rather be on the second floor than the third, once we get settled in.”

“The top floor has better views.” Megan says. “I bet I can also see my old house from up here.”

“Why don’t you girls go pick rooms for tonight, and get to cleaning them?” Jane suggests. “After that, just go room by room, until you’ve got the floor done. That may take more than just today. Once we have this floor cleaned up, we can all do the kitchen, and then the rest of the basement, but there may be workers down there, so I want to do that together.”

As the girls filtered off to look at the rooms, Alexia quietly asks. “Would you like me to help you down the stairs?”

“I’m doing better now.” Jane says. “Up is much harder than down. Can you get a shopping list together? Anything we need that we didn’t bring for cleaning, along with snacks, drinks, etc…?”

“I will.” Alexia says. “Can we get a microwave and mini fridge for up here? So we don’t have to go all the way to the basement if we want something?”

“Add it to the list.” Jane says. “And see if Layne has the login details for her online shop. We need money rolling in, and that feels like the fastest way to get something going.”

“I’ll take care of it.” Alexia says, opening up her phone to start the shopping list. “Are you sure you don’t want me to go downstairs with you?”

“I’ll call if I need you.” Jane says with a smile, before rising to head downstairs.

*****

“Ok, so I’ve got your plans on the left, and the actual building floor plans on the right.” Chad explains. “The upstairs changes are feasible. We will need to adjust walls a tiny bit, and run a beam for the nursery, but that’s all easy enough to do. I think you need to rethink your master suite design though. The actual bedroom is twelve feet by twelve feet, and most of it is just bed and closet. It doesn’t seem likely that is going to make you happy for very long.”

“I don’t love it, but the only other option I can think of is to move it upstairs.” Jane says. “And I’m not doing that. I abhor stairs.”

“There is another option.” Chad says. “If we blow out the back wall of the master suite, we can double the size of the suite. Instead of twelve feet by twenty-six, including the bathroom, the whole suite would be twenty-four by twenty-six. You could keep the bathroom you planned, use the back twelve by twenty-six as a bedroom and closet, and fit in a sitting area. Or use that last twelve by twelve area as an enormous closet. It gives you options you don’t have right now.”

“Blowing out walls sounds expensive.” Jane says. “My husband is already on me to save money with this renovation.”

“I get it.” Chad says. “But you are hoping to stay in this house for a long time, and I doubt you want to do a second round of renovations in a year or two. You don’t have to decide right now, but if it were me, I would do it.”

“I’ll talk to Robert.” Jane promises.

“While we are on the subject of ‘What would I do?’” Chad says. “I know you wanted us to just handle the major stuff, and let your handy-woman do the rest of the work, but I would suggest you let us handle most of these renovations. No matter how skilled your girl is, this amount of work is going to take her forever. If we handle moving the walls, plumbing, electrical, basically everything except finishes like paint and flooring, you might save yourself a year of living in a construction zone. She can still do the finishing touches to save you a bit of cash, especially if you aren’t going to be using all of the rooms immediately.”

“How much is that going to run me?” Jane asks.

“Let me talk to Tom.” Chad says. “I need work to keep these guys from being sent off to camps, and we don’t have anything lined up right now. I can get the material cheaper than you would be able to on your own too. The cost difference might not be as much as you think.”

“I’ll look at the numbers, but I can’t promise anything.” Jane says. “Between the move, buying the girls, buying the van to drive the girls around, and now this, our savings are going up in smoke.”

“I understand.” Chad says. “Just think about it. I’ll talk to Tom later today.”

Jane stands up, surreptitiously stretching her back. “Sounds good. I’ll be upstairs if anything else comes up.”

As she heads back up the dreaded stairs, Jane’s mind is racing. “Not living with construction noise and dust for a year does sound nice.” She thinks. “Especially if the girls start popping out babies. Having newborns and construction noise at the same time sounds like hell.”

By the time she reaches the top of the stairs, she’s panting again. “I need to get back in shape.” She thinks. “I wonder if it’s too late to add a gym?”

*****

Jane is just pulling the van into the local grocery co-op parking lot when her phone rings. “Hey, Honey!” Jane says. “You are on speaker; the girls and I are about to walk into the grocery store.”

“Hi Sugar. I just wanted to update you on the situation here.” Robert says. “Are the girls texting updates? Or do I need to go through it all?”

“We’ve been getting updates in the girls only chat.” Jane says. “The last we heard was that you were somewhat unsuccessfully trying to get some work done.”

“I got enough done.” Robert says. “Anyhow, we are headed to the store too, and then to grab some pizza for dinner.”

“Pizza!!!” Alexia says, turning to look at Jane. “Mistress, can we get pizza on the way home?”

Jane sighs. “If you find a place with good reviews.”

“You could always ask Tom for a recommendation.” Robert suggests. “There can’t be many pizza places in town.”

“If there even is one.” Jane says, glancing over at Alexia with a grin. “Alexia may not get her fresh pizza anymore.”

“There has to be one.” Alexia says, furiously typing on her phone. A moment later, she sighs heavily. “Oh, Thank God. There are two.”

“That doesn’t mean either of them is any good.” Jane teases.

“This one has an almost perfect rating.” Alexia responds. “And it’s wood fired pizza.”

“Ohh…” Jane says, glancing at the phone screen Alexia is holding. “Ok, we are going to try that tonight.”

“By the way, I talked to Tom earlier. If he tries to push you to take in detained children temporarily, please say no. We don’t need kids we don’t know running around a construction zone. And we still need to get settled in. It’s just too much right now.” Robert says.

“Wait, did Tom ask you to do that?” Jane asks with a frown.

“I’d go with strongly hinted.” Robert says. “I told him we have too much going on right now, but he mentioned he’s trying to get them all placed as quickly as possible.”

“We will have a houseful of kids soon enough, either way.” Jane says. “Girls, has anyone come up with ideas for how to get everyone back home?”

“The train is VERY expensive.” Taylor says. “Much more than the plane was, and it would take like four days to get home.”

“I found some charter flights.” Lindsey says from Robert’s end of the call. “You don’t go through TSA for those. We would have to do a flight change in Texas, and the flight would end up about four hours away from the old house.”

“How bad was the pricing on that?” Robert asks.

“For both flights, I think it was about two grand per person.” Lindsey says. “But no TSA, we just pull up, grab our bags, and get on the plane. I think it said there are around twelve people per plane, so we wouldn’t have it totally to ourselves, unfortunately.”

“Sixteen thousand dollars…” Jane murmurs. “Robert, honey, you and I need to talk about finances. The renovations are probably going to be a bit more than we expected, after talking to the contractor. If we can find a cheaper, safe, way to get you all back home, we need to consider it. I’m going to start looking for a job tomorrow too.”

“Just give it to me straight.” Robert says. “How bad is it?”

“I don’t have the numbers yet.” Jane says. “But apparently the plans I drew up needed some adjusting. And the contractor says he can do the job almost as cheaply as Valentina could, but much quicker; but that means we need the cash now, rather than gradually over the next year.”

Robert sighs. “How much do we have left in savings?”

“Well, we bought the girls, paid cash for the van, then there is the increased spending in general to support seven times as many people as we normally have…” Jane says, hesitating to give Robert an actual number.

“Please, just give me a number.” Robert says, voice full of anxiety.

“The van was around Seventy, and I think we paid a little over twenty for the girls…” Jane says, trying to do the math quickly. “We haven’t touched your retirement yet, so that’s still intact…”

“Jane…” Robert warns.

“Thirty thousand, probably.” Jane admits. “And I still need to pay off the credit card this month.”

“Shit.” Robert says, the tiniest edge of panic in his voice. “And how much of a deficit are we expecting to run month to month, if we just have my income?”

“I’m not really sure.” Jane admits, and then adds. “I’ll work on the numbers when I get back to the house. It’s hard to do the numbers when nothing has been stable.”

“I know, honey.” Robert says. “I’m not mad at you, but we need at least a rough estimate. Let the girls help, but I’d really like some idea, even if it’s very rough, before we go to bed.”

“I promise, I’ll have something.” Jane says.

“Maybe I can start doing some vet work this week?” Taylor suggests. “Extra income solves this problem.”

“I’ll talk to Tom in a bit.” Jane says. “Lucia, don’t let Robert stress too much. That’s an order. Distract him by any means necessary.”

“Yes, Ma’am.” Lucia says, and then giggles.

“Not while I’m driving!” Robert says. “I’ve got to go, please text me before you go to bed.”

“Always, my love.” Jane says, and the call ends. “Ok, girls. Before we go inside, I’ve got a few assignments for you. Mei, I want you to work up a food budget for the month. Take a look at the pricing in the store, so your numbers are as realistic as possible. fifteen people, three meals a day, with a little extra padding for snacks. When you do the budget, assume we are cooking every meal at home.”

“Yes, Domina.” Mei says, taking out her phone to take notes.

“The rest of you, start thinking of any realistic way you can help generate some cash.” Jane says. “Even if it’s short term. Nothing illegal, obviously. Layne, do you know the login for the site where you sold your crafts?”

“Un uh.” Layne says, frowning. “It was on my computer.”

“Any idea where the computer is now?” Jane asks.

“Probably in my room.” Layne suggests.

“Do you think the Sheriff or Tom could help us get the computer back?” Jane asks.

“Rick has a key.” Layne says. “He would come check on me, before they moved me to the basement.”

“Do you know Rick’s phone number?” Jane asks.

“It was in my phone.” Layne says.

“And that’s in your room?” Jane asks.

“Yep.” Layne says. “I miss my room.”

“I guess I can text Tom, and ask for the number.” Jane says, pulling out her phone.

*****

“Thank you for meeting us here.” Jane says.

“My pleasure.” Rick says, his face betraying a hint of sadness as he unlocks the door, and steps aside for Layne and Jane to enter.

Layne pauses for a moment to hug Rick, before hurrying inside to her room.

“Do we need to get everything now, or can we come back once we have a room fixed up for her?” Jane asks.

“I doubt this place is going to be sold any time soon.” Rick says. “Just let me know when you need me to come unlock it.”

“Thank you.” Jane says, and pauses. “Rick, I don’t mean to pry, but were you and Layne’s mom… together?”

“I’m a married man.” Rick says. “And this is a small town.”

“Understood.” Jane says. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked.”

Rick nods, but doesn’t speak.

Jane goes into the cramped trailer, taking in the messy kitchen and living room, before turning down the only hallway. Hearing noise coming from the first room, she glances inside. Layne is trying, and failing, to pull a suitcase out from under the bed.

“Rick says we can come back once we get a room fixed up for you at the new house.” Jane says. “We don’t need to take everything today.”

“Oh…” Layne says, letting go of the suitcase, and falling onto her ass. “So I just need to get the laptop?”

“And your phone, if you want it.” Jane says, and quickly adds. “And the chargers for both.”

Layne digs around in her closet, pulling out random cords, and then the laptop, before going to her bedside table, and digging out her phone. “Got it.” She says, attempting to hold it up, while the ends of the cords drag on the ground.

“I see.” Jane says, stepping inside. “Why don’t you put it on the bed, and we can wrap up the cords so you don’t trip on them.”

Two minutes later, they head back down the hall, a much tidier pile in Layne’s hands. “Rick, thank you again for this.” Jane says.

“Always happy to help, when I can.” Rick says. “And I’m almost always working anyhow.”

As they walked back to the car, Rick asks. “Do you mind if I have a word with Megan?”

“Sure.” Jane says after a moment, barely managing to stop herself from asking why.

“Megan, Rick wanted to talk to you for a moment.” Jane says as she climbs in.

“Umm… Ok, Mistress.” Megan says, getting out of the van.

“Any idea what that is about?” Alexia asks quietly as she watches the two talk.

“Not a clue.” Jane says. “Maybe he wants to see if she wants him to buy her?”

“I don’t think so.” Alexia says. “Their relationship seems more fatherly than anything to me.”

“I guess we will see if they tell us after they talk.” Jane says.

“You could just order her to tell us.” Alexia suggests. “I think she would, if you told her to.”

“I’d rather not risk pissing off local law enforcement right away.” Jane says. “And so far, Rick seems friendly.”

“True.” Alexia says, and turns around in her seat. “Layne, any idea what they are talking about?”

After a moment of silence, Reyna turns in her seat to give her a nudge.

“Huh?” Layne asks, eyes swapping between her phone and the other women.

“Any idea why Rick wanted to talk to Megan?” Alexia asks again.

Layne shrugs. “Not sure.” Looking back at her phone, she zones out again.

“That wasn’t exactly helpful.” Alexia complains.

“I think they are wrapping up.” Jane says. “I’ll ask her if she wants to talk about it when we get home.”

Jane rolls down the window as Rick approaches. “I brought the rest of Layne’s things from the basement.” He says. “I’ll have Megan move them over, if you are good with that.”

“Sure.” Jane says. “Thank you.”

Rick nods again, before popping his trunk, and helping Megan carry over the few boxes to the van. Afterwards, he hops into his SUV, and drives away quickly.

When Megan gets in, she gets a few looks, but the girls manage to keep themselves from asking any questions. “Ok, home it is.” Jane says.

“Pizza first, right Mistress?” Alexia asks.

“We may as well get it on the way home.” Jane says. “Call and place the order while I drive.”

*****

“This pizza is really good.” Alexia mumbles, mouth still half full.

“Alexia, please don’t speak with your mouth full.” Jane says. “Set a good example for the other girls, so that everyone can set a good example for kids in the future.”

“Yes Ma’am.” Alexia says after swallowing. “It’s neat having us all at a table, instead of eating in shifts.”

“Definitely.” Jane says. “Do any of you have the energy to clean this room up a bit tonight, now that the construction workers are gone? If not, I can take one or two of you down with me tomorrow to do it.”

“I can take care of it, Mistress.” Megan says. “I would like to speak with you after this as well, if you have time.”

“That’s fine, we can work on cleaning up together.” Jane says. “At least for a bit. It’s been a long day.”

“Domina, can I start on the kitchen?” Mei asks. “I should start cooking, to save us money.”

“Don’t overdo it.” Jane says. “I’d rather you be available to help tomorrow than wear yourself out tonight, and sleep all day tomorrow.”

“Just a few hours.” Mei says. “I’ll start with the walk-in freezer and fridge, so we can turn those back on. And at least one section of the stove.”

“That’s fine.” Jane says. “If anyone wants to help, feel free. But it’s optional.”

“Can I work on my crafting?” Layne asks. “I have lots of things I need to make.”

“That’s fine.” Jane says. “Do you want help getting into the store on your laptop? I’d like to start selling things again soon.”

“Umm… I don’t really understand how any of it works.” Layne says. “My cousin did all of it. Can you do the store stuff?”

“I can help with it.” Mei says. “After I clean up the kitchen a bit.”

“Taylor and I can help with the kitchen.” Reyna says. “Just tell us what to do, and then you can work on the laptop.”

Alexia translates for Valentina, and then says. “Val and I can help out in the kitchen too. Real food sounds amazing.”

“Great.” Jane says. “I’m going to go call Robert and then I’ll be back to help out in here.”

Jane calls Robert as she paces around the downstairs, peeking into the various rooms.

“Hello, Gorgeous.” She hears him answer.

“Hello, Handsome.” She replies. “We are back home now. I may have to put off the budget until tomorrow, but we’ve got some new potential income streams figured out. I think we are going to be ok, it just may take a while to rebuild our savings account.”

“Ok.” Robert says, and after a short pause. “Sorry about earlier. You know the idea of being broke freaks me out. I spent too many years having absolutely no money to go back to that.”

“I know.” Jane says. “We aren’t going to be broke. Taylor is going to do a few vet jobs this week, and Mei is working on figuring out how to get into Layne’s storefront so we can start selling crafts again. Worst case, maybe we can have a few of the girls help her with that, and turn it into something. And I’m going to see if I can find a work from home job.”

“Hold off on the job until after the move.” Robert says. “Especially if Taylor is going to be doing the vet stuff. She’s going to need a handler with her, and until Amber and I are back, it’s going to have to be you.”

“How are things going there?” Jane says. “Lucia’s giving us the basics, but how are you feeling about it?”

“The camp administrator is definitely going to try to stop us from taking Isabel.” Robert says. “I just hope Tom is right, and the magistrate overrules her. We are supposed to see him tomorrow afternoon, if they haven’t tampered with the DNA test.”

“Do you think you could get it all cleared up by tomorrow?” Jane asks hopefully. “We all miss you already.”

“I honestly have no idea.” Robert says. “If there is a way to delay, they are going to use it. I think she thinks if she can make it difficult enough, we will give up.”

“She clearly doesn’t know us.” Jane laughs. “Make it too difficult, and we will all show up and make a nuisance of ourselves.”

“She kept harping about the financial aspect of it.” Robert says. “They seem to think they are going to rake in the cash selling these girls when they turn eighteen.”

“They might.” Jane says. “All the more reason to get her out of that environment. Then we can make sure that when she becomes an adult, she has some choice in what happens.”

“Did the girls have any other travel ideas?” Robert asks. “We are all stumped. Rental vans are basically impossible to find, and renting two cars would be super expensive, especially when you add in hotel rooms for three or four nights.”

“They don’t, but I do.” Jane says. “I think we should sell our car and Valentina’s van, and get a seven or eight seat SUV. Driving around town today in the van was a giant pain in the ass. Something a little smaller would be nice for day to day stuff, but the car might be too small. What if you bought an SUV there, and then we sold the car and van when you get here?”

“That could work.” Robert admits. “We would still need hotel rooms, so it would be pricey.”

“I’ll have a few girls start looking for good deals on vans and SUVs.” Jane says. “I’d rather do an SUV though, something with four-wheel drive.”

“I’ll get the girls here looking too.” Robert says. “We’ll have to finance this time, right?”

“Unfortunately.” Jane says. “We just don’t have the cash to buy anything outright.”

Robert sighs. “Ok, maybe we should look at used vehicles too.”

“As long as it’s fairly new and low mileage.” Jane says. “I don’t want you breaking down in the middle of the desert with no cell signal.”

“True.” Robert says.

“There is one other thing I just thought of.” Jane says. “You could always try to find a bus.”

“Maybe.” Robert says. “If we can find one with seven available seats, doesn’t have tons of transfers, and everyone feels safe on it.”

“That’s fair.” Jane says. “I’ll have someone look into it, just to see if it’s an option.”

When Jane re-enters the dining room, she finds Megan already at work polishing the wooden table.

Closing the door behind her, she asks. “So, what did you want to talk about?”

“Mistress, I’m sure you are curious to know what Rick wanted to talk to me about.” Megan says.

“We all are, but I told the girls not to ask.” Jane says. “If Rick doesn’t want us to know, you can keep it to yourself.”

“He doesn’t want Layne to know.” Megan says. “He was checking up on her, and asking me to keep an eye on her.”

“Ah.” Jane says. “He thinks she might be upset if he thinks she needs that?”

“I think it’s more that he doesn’t want to risk it.” Megan says. “I think she would think it’s sweet. Rick is the closest thing to a father that she’s ever had.”

“I kind of assumed Rick was her father.” Jane says.

“He might be.” Megan says, shrugging. “I honestly have no idea. It’s a small town, but even in small towns, there are certain people it’s not smart to gossip about.”

“Anything else from that conversation you wanted to share?” Jane asks curiously.

“That’s all we talked about, Mistress.” Megan says, making a concerted effort to maintain eye contact. “Was there something else you thought we were discussing?”

“I wasn’t sure if Rick had a thing for you.” Jane admits. “You and he clearly get along well. I thought he might be asking if you wanted him to buy you.”

“Oh, definitely not.” Megan says, making a fake gagging sound that reminded Jane that she was in fact, still college aged. “He’s like an uncle to me. Gross.”

“Ok, Ok.” Jane says. “I get it. Glad we could clear that up.”

“Yeah, no.” Megan says. “That’s definitely not the case. And Rick really likes knowing that I’m here to help keep an eye on Layne, and to tell him honestly how she is doing. Trying to get information out of her can be like pulling teeth.”

“I noticed.” Jane laughs. “I still haven’t punished Mei for setting Layne up earlier. Did you want to weigh in on punishments?”

“She just wants attention.” Megan says with a sigh. “Giving her any attention, even negative, is giving her what she wants. If you had a chastity belt, I’d suggest putting her in it for a week. You don’t have a chastity belt, do you?”

“I left it at home.” Jane says with a laugh. “I didn’t imagine I’d need it. I’ll think of something though.”