Fifteen

Author's note: These chapters are NOT stand-alones...The story starts here.

The final count...3

By March I have three teams of ‘panday¹’ working in the house. Sawdust is everywhere. There are no power tools. All wood work is being done by hand. To be truthful, some of these men have skills that would make an American contractor want to cry. You just don’t see this level of craft in the States… And I am not meaning the hackneyed comment about ‘any more.’ I mean ‘ever.’

You can just sketch something on a piece of paper and some of these men can create a masterpiece for you in a week and for the total sum of $200 plus material, such as plywood, finishing nails, glue, and sandpaper.

Gilbert is still stopping by each week, but I am getting to the point where I really don’t need him here. The structural work is all done. Sure, there are non-structural elements still being built, but I don’t need him for that.

We find we need to put the floor tile in before we do the cabinetry, and so I go downtown with Lyn and Jana to select the tile. This is a huge order. Five times I select a tile only to find out that they don’t have enough stock!

It is getting frustrating for the vendors as well as for us. In the end, with the help of a guy who does nothing but install tile, he shows me how I can use three different tile colors and designs in a way that is attractive.

We order tile worth well over ten thousand dollars. And, bless the heart of the company where we bought the tile, paying cash. They wanted us to pay an extra four hundred pesos to deliver the order. I just spent more than half a million pesos and they won’t deliver it unless they can charge me a fee. You gotta love the idiot who thinks that is a smart way to thank a good customer.

I have three teams putting up the interior walls and two teams following, hanging the ceilings. All of a sudden, things are looking more than promising. We might not be totally done, but I am sure we can move in before September.

More months slide by.

I suspect the only reason Dina isn’t here on the lot with her mother is because Mica would be lonely. Lyn told me that I should have made the two houses, for Gladies and Shara, big enough for all of each family, but that makes no sense. Consider that, with Shara and her three daughters, each may eventually have a child by me, plus each of those women have a son. That makes for too many in those homes. And that’s the case even if I assume no more than one birth per girl. So, no, I don’t think that’s a good idea. I want my girls in my home. Still, Lyn has asked me to consider enlarging their places and I promised to at least consider it.

It’s April and the school year has ended. I have had three girls, Dina, Mica and Lanie, still going to the public high school. But George’s caution has convinced me to pull the girls out. They will do home study from now on.

There was some confusion from the others as these three are not pregnant. I didn’t want to explain my reasons for fear of frightening everyone. But I found I had to tell them. The results were not what I expected. No one was upset and I got hugs and thank yous.

While I have been focused on the house, Lexi, Jana and Lyn have already completed two years of college and have started their third year.

The economy here is pretty much the same as it has been recently. Beggars abound, and the rare, white-skinned man is going to get propositioned on any given day. Knowing how to say no is the most important skill, and most of the men who come here have never had to learn it before.

As the work on the house reaches completion this year, we are reaching a point where I hope, with all my heart, there will be a final settling in and a calm future.

For a long time, I have been wishing that Father Dan was here sitting next to me, as I tried to sort this out. But I have accepted Lyn’s antipathy and Lexi’s disrespect for the church, which I have always seen as mine.

The teachings I learned at the knees of the nuns and Father Dan make no sense here. In fact, those teachings are in opposition to any decent respect for a just and moral code. It has taken me my entire life to finally understand how wrong those teachings are. As to belief in God, I accept Lexi’s theory. God exists but has nothing to do with the church.

Lyn isn’t even that willing to concede that God exists. In Lyn’s heart, if God exists, then God is a first class ass.

And if you think I was digressing aimlessly, you are only half right. Yes, it was a digression, but it was not aimless. It all circles back to Dina, Lanie and Mica. This is July.

Next month… in twenty-two days … Dina comes to my bed. I have already put off her accession longer than I did Dido. Once again, I will likely produce another pregnancy and bring another life into this world. It is nothing but hubris to think any man should father so many children. And yet, it is the natural result of the actions that have occurred.

I need to get right with that. I need to get right with the fact that my girls want more children. Oh, I, sure as hell, can afford it now. Money will not hinder any of this. But how many children will I have?

Damn, my life is just nuts, and I need to accept that and get with the program.

August slides in long before I am prepared for it. In two days, Dina will be fourteen. Dina’s mother is just about eight months into her own pregnancy.

All around the house, the gals are making a big deal in their plans for Dina. And, like normal, none of them have consulted with me. Well, I am all for Dina having a great party, but I’ll not be the fucking icing on the top of the cake. Dina should have a great party without the issues of joining me cluttering up the day.

This is Sunday and Dina is back from church. I text her.

Sweetheart, please come up to my balcony?

Is everything OK? Please don’t say I have to wait any longer.

Don’t worry, just come now.

A couple of minutes later, dressed in everyday clothing, and with no inkling of why she is here, Dina stands in front of me. She is taller than she was when she was up in this room the last time.

The last time is the time, I, with the help of Lyn, ran her out of here. In the intervening time she has not been here even once.

Dina, you have grown more beautiful every day since I first met you. But, sweetheart, that is not why you are here. If beauty was the reason, then I might be surrounded by girls who were pretty but have bad hearts.

Sir, I not understand.

Dina, do you still want to be my girl?

Of course, yes. I always tell you that.

And what do I always tell you?

You say, wait. Always, you say that. I ask and that always what you say! Wait!

Ask me again.

What?

Ask me.

Sir, I want to be your girl. Please allow this.

OK.

What?

OK, Dina.

We not wait?

No. No more waiting.

When? When we do this? What you mean not wait? My birthday not yet.

Let’s do it now. That OK with you?

Really? You not teasing?

Really.

But I not ready!

I smile. I think I know what she means and that’s just nuts. How do you dress for something you need to be naked to do?

Sweetheart, unless you are having your period, you are ready. That is, unless you are going to tell me, wait, I not ready!

Dina almost wants to say, wait. But she won’t. She knows that. Not now. What we do, Sir?

You have a choice. We can kiss first, or we can get undressed first. Which would you like?

Kiss?

Good. I like that. I extend my hand to Dina and she comes to me. Her lips are quivering a bit and I place my hands on her cheeks, center her face, lift her head a little and seek her lips with mine. Her lips are soft upon mine. They part a bit and slowly our tongues meet. Her hands grasp my biceps. Her head tilts back a bit as she slides her body closer in to me.

Her skin is soft. When I first met her sister, the sun and weather had tightened and darkened her skin. Dina’s skin is lighter, softer. She rarely is exposed to the sun and the elements these days. Hers is the body of a girl living in relative luxury and her skin betrays that fact.

The kiss continues, as my hands, and hers, seek a nonsexual but meaningful sense of connectedness. Slowly, an urgency builds in the kisses. She pushes her body more firmly into mine. Hands become more active, more frantic, and needing more of what is not yet there.

She has a top on that needs to be pulled off, over her head. I grab the bottom of it and pull up. There is no resistance. She raises her arms to assist in the removal. She has shorts on. I unbutton and unzip them, pushing them down to the floor. Dina steps out of them.

Now Dina takes the initiative and unbuttons my shirt. The shirt is tucked into my slacks, so she unbuttons and unzips those. My slacks fall to the floor. I step out of them and Dina finishes unbuttoning and removing my shirt.

Both of us are out of our flipflops. She is still in her bra and panties. I am still wearing my boxers. I bring her lips to mine again and kiss her deeply while, at the same time, undoing her bra. She lets it fall to the floor.

Briefly ending the kiss, my lips seek her ear and quietly ask, Are you ready?

The answer is clear, if quiet. Yes. Please.

I slide my fingers under the waistband of her panties and pull them down until they hit the floor. Dina steps out of them, reaches for my face and pulls me in for another kiss.

I move her to the bed and place her on it, removing my boxers and joining her.

Every part of Dina is smooth, pale, and virginal. My lips move to her breasts. No one has ever touched or sucked on them before. My lips suck her breast and my tongue plays with her nipple. Dina is having feelings she has never felt before.

Si2x and Jing2x had ringside seats watching their mothers earn an income. All this is something she has never seen before. Dina’s life has been far more protected.

My mouth on her breast is new, unexpected and exciting. She had no idea that this was part of sex.

But, the foreplay needs to end. I can put off the main event for just so long. I knew I would be with Dina and so, before she entered the room, I had applied a little K-Y to my cock. The tube is on the nightstand by the bed and the cap is off it. I push another bit onto my fingers and apply it to her labia.

My cock is centered over her cunt. I spread her legs and am holding them wide. I push in.

Her sister, Dido, was a tough character. Pain was something she expected and never showed. Not so for Dina. She cries out and I wait before continuing.

Dina is ready now, and she shows me by reaching up to my face and pulling me down for another kiss. The fucking begins.

The thing about fucking is that it is one of the most basic acts our bodies do, and no one needs to teach us. Our body informs us and we just do it.

It is no less true now. Dina and I make real and meaningful love for the very first time. It will never be like this again, but that just doesn’t matter. What matters is that we are now joined, and nothing is going to pull us apart if I have anything to say about it.

And just like every true love you have ever been with, at times such as this, there is only her, the mattress, and you connected to her. There is nothing else in the world. Nothing. Time is meaningless.

We pay attention to our own body and the body of our partner. Nothing else matters. At those moments, no one else matters.

I don’t know how long we have been fucking, but I sense I need to bring it to a close. Dina is somewhere else now. I have no idea how many times she has cum, but now it is my turn and, though it will only be once, it is all we need.

She gasps. Her eyes lock onto mine.

Sir?

No, Dina. My name is Craig.

Dina tells me that she thinks she really enjoyed her birthday party a lot better. I am sure she did… am very glad she did. Right now if she was in classes at Lagao National High School and not doing home study, she would look no different to the other students and her teachers than she did last week. But she is different now. I can see it in her eyes, and in how she is in these surroundings.

It is an ineffable, but real, difference.

This is just another morning here at the lot. Much has been done and much more needs to be done. Two outbuildings, the ones for Shara and Gladies, have been built and the girls have moved into them. Both swear that these homes are the nicest they have ever had.

We still have the huts they had lived in and I have moved the huts to either side of the entry gate. My hut is now unused and I am not sure what I want to do with it. I don’t need it any more. I am set up now in the partially unfinished first floor of the house.

I have really enjoyed building this, but there are moments I am frustrated. I am frustrated now as the basic structure is up, the wire runs are all in place, the plumbing all completed to the CR’s, the kitchen sinks, the wash room, and the bar. We are done installing interior walls and ceilings. Carpentry work for the kitchens, bathrooms, the bedroom closets, the bar, and the entertainment centers continues. The stone countertops will need to be cut to fit on-site and installed. Painting inside and lighting fixtures come later. Outside we need to apply the (plaster) skim coat prior to painting.

The permanent gate has been up for a while but will need a new paint job. Following that, I have three more outbuildings to start on, plus walking paths construction and landscaping.

So, George’s caution last Thanksgiving was warranted, as the months roll on.

We have installed, and finished, the basic work in the utility room and have water here in one bathroom, which I am now calling a CR, as no one here says bathroom. The workmen still use the latrine, but I don’t have to do so. It has allowed me to get running water for Shara’s and Gladies’ homes. There are also a number of outside taps that the workmen use.

It is the finish work in the main house that is in progress. I think it is taking a long time, and have reasoned that it is the size of the structure. A number of folks have told me I am building this very quickly. Many places not nearly so large take longer to construct.

That may well be. Everything here is done by hand. And I do mean everything. We were getting deliveries of two hundred fifty kilo sacks of Portland cement. Every sack was loaded on the truck by hand and unloaded the same way. There are no forklifts. Every hollow block we used, and we have used thousands, has been made by hand right here on the lot.

But, because I am not constrained by cash, we have been able to run as many work crews as it is possible to supervise. And I have not needed to space things out timewise on my purchases related to budget limitations. That has allowed me to move far faster than others have been able to do.

George tells me I am doing fine. I hope I am. All I can say is that it is gratifying seeing it all come together, now that the finish work has commenced.

Shara has come to sit with me. Gladies will join us after lunch. Right now, Gladies is cooking lunch for me. I no longer bring food from home. These two gals take care of all my needs while I am out here.

But, considering how far each of them is in her pregnancy, their roles in taking care of me will not be possible very soon. Dido and May tell me they are moving out here to stay with their mothers next week. As they come out, so will May’s child, Alyssa. That kid is only two years old. But Dido and May also have younger brothers here on the lot.

From an empty piece of dirt, there are now two completed homes with occupants. It feels good.

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1 - Carpenters

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The final count...4