Interracial Story 12

It was the next week, Thursday, when I got her call. "Jeannette? It's Rachel. Do you have a minute?" "For you, love? Any time." I settled down on the couch for a chat. "Well, you remember last weekend?" How could I forget! "Yes, I certainly do." "Well, you said something about making me part of your... 'clan', I think you called it." "Yes...." ""Um, what would that mean, exactly?" "Well, it means that you'll be a part of a large, extended family, scattered all across North America. They are all, to some extent or another, grrlfriends of mine, and they're also kind of interested in each other.

It means that you'll likely have crash space and a friend whenever you go to the area in which one of them lives. You might well have a snuggle partner, too. In return, you might find one of them calling you some day, looking for a place to stay while they're in town." "That's it?" "Well, yes, that's the basic setup. We're just like another family, this one tied together by love, not blood." "Cool!" "Why, whazzup?" "Well, I've not been getting along with my family much lately. They keep hassling me about not having a boyfriend yet." "Oh, you poor grrl! *sigh* You're not out to them, I take it?" "Not yet, no, but I'm planning to tell them tomorrow night." "Let me know if I can help in any way, Rachel. You know that you'll always have my love." "Thanks! That helps!" We said our goodbyes, and I silently begged Diana to keep her safe. Saturday morning, I got a tearfilled call. Rachel had come out, and her parents freaked. Bad news. "So now I need a place to stay," she sobbed. "Would you mind staying here with Michelle and I, while they take some time to get used to it?" "I don't know how long that will take!" "Stay as long as you need to, dearheart. Do you have much stuff?" "Just my clothes, and my CDs, and softball things." "I'll be right over." I left Michelle a note saying I was going out, and I'd be back later, then kissed her gently as she slept and headed out to where Rachel said she'd meet me. When Rachel saw me, she came running over and practically threw herself into my arms.

As I hugged her tight, I got some of the details... She told them she's not interested in guys, really, just girls. They freaked, not atypical of het parents. They tried to tell her it's just a phase, and that escalated into a shouting match, leaving Rachel in tears. They didn't *exactly* throw her out, but she said she doesn't feel comfortable staying there any longer. "I don't blame you, hon. Give them time, they'll probably come around. After all, you've known for what, the past six years? So let them have time to get used to the idea. Now shall we go get your stuff?" She agreed, and she played navigator to guide me to her place. As she went in to gather up her things, I had a chat with her folks. I gave them the phone number of the local PFLAG group, and assured them that their daughter was going to be cared for "as one of my own". They had very mixed emotions about seeing Rachel going away with somebody nearly as old as they are, but I gave them my number, and address, and told them I'd call every so often to let them know how Rachel is doing. I then begged off, to help Rachel pack her clothes into my car. "Goddess, what's in here, a dead body or two? Ooof!" "Well, it's mostly clothes, and my teddy bears, and some books and such. I hope there's room enough for it all." We somehow fit it all into my car, with room left for us both.

En route back, I stopped off to get a spare set of keys made, for the door, the mailbox, and for my car. "You'd trust me with your car, too?" "Rachel, it's all part of being clan. It has many similarities with ideal communism, without the overhead of the dictatorship. I do reserve the right to toss deadbeats and dweebs out, tho I've only done that to two people so far." "Why did those two get tossed out?" "Because when they needed, the clan and I provided. When I needed, I was told to stop whining." "That's not right!" "Yes, I know that, and you know that, but they didn't. It was no great loss, really. We didn't need anchors and leeches like that here." "I hope that I'm not a leech..." "Hon, no you are not a leech.

You are my lover, my friend, my almost-daughter, but never a leech." She smiled shyly, turning a wee bit red under the compliments. When we arrived, I opened the door for her. "Michelle, hon, look what followed me home!" I said loudly. "Can I keep her? She won't make a mess, and she's already housebroken, and she can eat some of my food, and she can sleep with me..." When Michelle saw Rachel carrying her suitcase, she broke into a grin. "Sleep with you? SLEEP WITH YOU? Hell, no! She can sleep with me!" I pointed out that we already sleep *together*, and the waterbed *is* plenty big enough for three... and Michelle went over to help Rachel unload. We made room in our closet for her clothes, freed up a drawer for her undies and socks, and found a place for her bears, along with our bears, then went to the kitchen to make a pot of tea. "Whacha doin?" asked Chelle. "Well, I thought it'd be nice to have a tea party, to introduce the bears, and let Rachel unwind a bit too. She had a rough night, and maybe by being a little grrl again, she'll feel free to cry, and let the healing begin. Let's not do anything real major tonight, ok? Just show her that she IS loved, for the person she is." Michelle rounded up the formal tea set while I found pillows for us all. When I brought tea in to our room, Michelle and Rachel were already seated, playing with the bears. "Who wants honey in their tea?" "Memememe," cried Michelle. "Rachel?" She nodded.

I poured us all some tea, "Constant Comment", a good tea for early afternoon. Even the bears got small cups *smile* Of course, *they* all had honey, too. While we sipped, Rachel told Michelle her story. I was very proud of Michelle when she hugged Rachel and offered her a shoulder to cry on. Rachel, who had been blinking back tears, took her up on the offer, and I handed her my silk hanky (light blue, carried in the right pocket, if you *must* know). "Rachel, hon, would you like to lie down for a bit? You've had a stressful day, maybe a nap would help. I'll get the dishes later." She looked so vulnerable there, eyes all puffy, nose all red. She didn't protest at all as I helped her get up, undressed her (well, mostly undressed), and guided her to the bed. While I started by massaging her feet, Michelle started on her head and neck. By the time we met in the middle, Rachel was quietly dozing. We both stripped and joined her, making a Rachel snuggle sandwich. It was dusk when we awoke. I gave Rachel my blue silk kimono as a robe, pulled on my favorite sleepshirt, and took the tea set out to the kitchen.

As Michelle began to prepare us a nice stir-fry, I got out my beading supplies, and began to make a set for Rachel. She was curious as to what I was doing, so I explained it. "I'm making you a set of clan-j jewelry, love. It's a very special set, very magical." She looked puzzled. "Well, we use this set to stay in touch without using the phone. It's like we're all in a ring, anything one person wearing it feels, we all feel. Some of us send better than others, I receive better than most, but we all share in our emotions." "It sounds neet", she said. "Well, it has its ups and downs. One day, when Susan was wearing it and her fiancee, Seth, was in town, we all got treated to, um, an emotional 'buzz' while they, um, enjoyed themselves.

Twice." Rachel giggled. "Sounds VERY neet!" "Well, we also had a bad time when one person was suicidal one night. She nearly took us all out when she tried." "Ouch! What happened to her?" "She got a bit better, but she wound up being one of the leeches that I removed. When she needed three thousand for a new car, I paid for it. When I needed fifty for food, a newspaper and some stamps, to find a job, she told me to go piss up a rope. I told the rest of the clan, and we all removed her from the loop. I *think* she's still alive, but I no longer care." Rachel gave me a hug. Just as I finished the necklace, Michelle announced that it was dinnertime, and we settled down to eat one of Michelle's fantastic stir-fried whatever's-in-the-fridge meals. "This is weird," Rachel started. "I've only been here a few hours, but I feel so... I dunno, so comfortable here, I guess. It's almost like I *should* be here." "Perhaps you should, Rachel. I do know that Michelle and I have been together in many past lives, and we've made a vow to do so again and again, until the Universe ends, and beyond that if there *is* a beyond that.

Maybe you were part of it, too." Michelle added, "Maybe you were, maybe not, but you *are* a part of it, now. Welcome home, Rachel." There is more to making love than just sex. We spent the night in another Rachel snuggle sandwich, content to just *be* with each other.