Chapter Two --- part nine

   Life went on and he did go out to the drive-in with Pamela. While it was a very interesting evening, it was nothing like the last one. They spent more time talking and laughing than fooling around. She did try to 'brand' him again, but he was having none of it this time. It probably had helped that Tony stopped by the truck to whine about the concussion he had from Andy swatting him in the back of his head, for no reason, according to Tony.  On Sunday, at church, Pastor David called Andy up front and made the official announcement to everyone at the end of church. He had asked permission and warned Andy he was going to do it, but it had still been very uncomfortable standing up there while everybody filed by. Then the last week of school for Andy began. It was mostly practice for graduation for the seniors, that and last goodbyes to the underclass and teachers. That wasn't too bad. Now all that was left to face was the actual graduation. That would happen Friday night and it was going to be a major event for everyone. Andy was looking forward to it and dreading it. All of the family would be in to see him graduate and make his speech as valedictorian. He had called each of his sister's while he talked with his folks each night during the week, but they hadn't been able to talk much and he knew they would each corner him at some point. 

    Much to his shock, everyone came in Thursday evening rather than Friday. He had expected them to arrive just in time for graduation. The house was sheer chaos that night, but in the best of ways. It was almost like being a little boy again. At least all of the girls treated him like he was a little boy. The biggest shock was the next day though. They all got up and had a big family breakfast. Then his dad and mom went out for a day on the lake. No explanation, they just took the boat and a basket of food and left. Andy found himself alone with all seven of his sisters. They had all come home alone. Husbands would be arriving later this evening for graduation. Until then it was just them. Andy quickly realized that this was all planned. He would be at their mercy all day and somehow he didn't expect much mercy. They spent most of the morning just messing around the house. They talked and laughed about the past as well as about plans for the future. Then just before noon they made him get his truck and drive them all down to the swimming hole. As soon as they asked he had turned on Sandy. She just grinned and stuck her tongue out at him.

    That was the start of something very special. He wasn't sure he knew what to think about it, but he did know he would never forget it. They did exactly what he had expected them to do when they asked him to drive them to the swimming hole. They made him go skinny dipping with them. Well almost skinning dipping. They had underwear on, but nothing much was hidden after it was wet. Oh they all stayed in the water like they had most of the time when they were kids, but still. They had made him strip down and dive in first. He knew better than to argue too much since all seven of them were in on this. Once he was in they took his clothes and locked them in the truck. Then they hid the keys. He had to turn his back, which he gladly did, when they were all ready to jump in. The water was cold, but as long as you stayed under, it wasn't too bad. It was actually more fun than he had expected it to be. He only got embarrassed once to any extent. That was when they decided it was time to get out. The girls insisted they all get out together. They might be his sisters, but they were grown women now, not little girls. He remembered seeing some of them in various states of undress as teenagers, but not after he was old enough to really notice or after they were more women than girls. Getting out was about the only time he protested much about the whole deal. In the water they had some modesty. Once out of the water that went out the door. All that wet skimpy underwear was almost worthless as far as hiding anything.

   Jodie, the doctor, had just laughed at him when he had asked how they planned on getting out. Then she had walked right out on the bank and turned around facing them. "How about like this?" She said as she spread her arms and laughed. Andy had dropped his head and covered his eyes, but that had just been the beginning. All of the others had slowly gotten the nerve to do the same thing. They had stood out there teasing him for a couple of minutes. He had been determined to wait them out this time. It would be cold standing there almost naked, even if the sun was warm today.  Finally it was Jackie, the oldest, who managed to hit the mark with her comments. "Oh come on now. We may not be as hot and sexy as 'Miss Pamela,’ but we aren't that bad."

    Andy's head snapped up at her words before he thought about them still standing there almost naked. He glared at her for just a minute, trying not to look at anyone else and then suddenly it hit him. "Are you pregnant?" The rest of the girls all burst out laughing. Jackie turned a bit red and squirmed just a bit, before she regained her composure. "As a matter of fact I am!" She straightened up. "Why don't you take a good look? I think I look just fine for someone almost four months pregnant." Andy couldn't keep from doing just that. He did take a long look and not just at her. The rest of the girls had crowded close and were telling her how great she did look. Honestly, if he hadn't seen her without any clothes on he doubted he would have noticed, but now he doubted he could help but notice regardless of how she dressed. Shaking his head he gave in and started out of the water. He almost turned back when they started commenting on his body, but he knew it was too late. For that matter, it had been too late when they had decided to do this to begin with.

    As it turned out Jackie wasn't the only one expecting, Jodie was too. She had just found out, so she wasn't showing at all. In spite of his best efforts, Andy took a good long look at all of them while they all got dried off and dressed together. Most of the girls were about average height and skinny with light brown hair, like their mom. Jackie, the oldest, and Sandy the youngest were tall and a bit heavier build with almost black hair, like their dad and Andy. All of them were what he would have called real lookers. They seemed to think he would be considered a very hot fellow and they certainly didn't have any shame about discussing his build or anything else for that matter! Once dressed and back home they all had some coffee and fresh cookies while they laughed about their day. The only thing Andy would have changed about any of it was when they made him talk to them about Pamela and his intentions for her.

    Thank goodness Sandy had stood up for him. The rest were convinced he had gone all the way with Pam and should marry her. Sandy had finally stepped in and defended him for all she was worth. It turned out that she had been concerned enough to go talk to Pamela personally though. When he got upset over that, she had turned the tables on him. She reminded him of all the times he had went to 'have a talk' with boys they were dating, even before he was old enough to know much. The girls all remembered little brother defending their 'honor' at least once. In the end it all worked out. He still got the old, 'you won't be able to stop if you start,’ lecture, but he gave them as good as he got. They were still sitting there talking when everybody started to arrive for graduation. His mom and dad never said a word about what the kids had been doing when they arrived just before everybody else started to show up. Andy was pretty sure they knew about the skinny dipping. They had always known when they did it as kids, so it was likely they knew now. Since they didn't mention it, he didn't either. Jodie had sworn everyone to secrecy about her. She wanted to wait a little longer before making it official. Jackie had promised she would tell everyone soon, but she wanted to be the one that did tell everyone. All in all it had been a perfect day. A day spent together as kids for one last time, as Sandy had put it.

    The rest of graduation went off without a hitch. There were just under two hundred graduating seniors. Andy gave his speech and kept it as short as they would let him. It would have been even shorter, but the principal made him promise to do five minutes minimum. After graduation they all went back home. There were way too many people to use the house, so they used the hay barn, which was mostly empty, for the party. It went well into the morning and Andy got to tease three of his sisters about rolling in the hay, when they showed up with hay all in their hair at different times during the evening.  Since two were married and Steve was with Sandy again, nobody seemed to mind too much. Even mom had got in on the teasing. She could still make the girls blush when she wanted to, married or not. It had been a very special day and a wonderful night, but Andy was glad to finally get in a bed, even if it was the couch since they had everyone home.

    Most everybody hung around the rest of the weekend. They did lots of remembering and played lots of games. Pamela came over and spent part of Saturday with them. She took all of the teasing and abuse the girls gave her very well. In fact, before it was over, Andy was the one who was feeling ganged up on. There were some tearful goodbyes, even though the girls all knew they would see him again before he headed off to the Academy. Andy was glad that Jackie made the big announcement about her baby Saturday night. At least that put some of the focus on her for a while. Dad didn't show much one way or the other, but Mom had been very excited. That is until Martha called her "Granny". The shocked look on her face had been priceless. Even his dad had laughed at her expression, until she shot him a look that made him muffle his laughter. It had only made everybody else laugh even more though.