The Empath Cycle: 2013 Two To Tango

'Yes. I like it when she...'

There was a shimmering and Kayla's body solidified beside the others.

"There you are. Look at them, Kayla. Kiss them. Let your body enjoy its sensations."

Anne-Marie leaned back against Ann as they watched the three women kiss and touch each other.

"I wonder if it was such a good idea to come here before they learned to separate." Ann said.

"You may be right." Ryanna told her. "They took her in as much as she gave herself to them. We'll have to be careful or they will become Tia and never be able to separate again."

Over time and with a lot of love and patience, the three women understood why they needed to separate so their respective bodies and minds could stay healthy.

Most of the time, they were separate when they interacted with the others, but they often forgot and melded.

One day, Jean was kneeling between Kayla's spread legs so she could penetrate her while Carole was on top of her in a sixty-nine. They were riding a wild wave of pleasure, keeping themselves on the edge when Carole turned around and lowered herself on the wet cock she had just been making oral love to. She could feel Jean's breasts flattened against her back as she kneaded hers while she leaned to caress Kayla's.

The others clearly heard the psychic scream when they came.

'Yes! YESSSSS! I AM MEEEEE!'

They watched the single body before them shiver between Carole's, Jean's, then Kayla's for the impossibly long minutes their orgasm lasted. In the end, a tall beautiful golden skinned woman lay curled on the bed, her athlete's body covered in sweat, both of her hands between her legs as she rode the last spasms of the pleasure storm she had just gone through, her chest heaving as she tried to catch her breath, her midnight hair hiding her face as it cascaded forward.

The four women sat beside her, caressing her as they projected their love.

"You are beautiful Tia." Anne-Marie said softly, trying to reach her friends.

'I am me.'

"You need to separate now. Your parts need to become themselves again."

'Why are you not whole, Mia?'

Seeing that they were not reaching her parts anymore, they joined too. The air shimmered and Mia was sitting on the bed before her only friend.

'This your form, Tia.'

'I was incomplete. I am me.'

'So you are.'

'I find your form pleasing.'

'A part of you gave it to me.'

Tia reached hesitantly to touch Mia, then with more assurance as she became accustomed to her physicality.

'This is strange.'

'Yes it is. I find that I enjoy it.'

'Is this what the physicals do?'

'It is.'

'It is limited.'

'I agree, but it is what they are.'

'Why do you separate then? I do not understand.'

'Our parts make us who we are.'

'I am me.'

'Yes you are as I am me. But we need our parts to be who they are.'

'I do not understand.'

'In this environment, we are limited by the rules our parts have infused in it.'

Mia leaned forward and touched her lips to Tia's.

"We understand now." Jean told her friends. "Mia certainly has a way with 'words'."

"That's one way to put it." Kayla sighed. "I thought making love was the ultimate in pleasure, but that was..."

"That it was." Carole laughed. "These two take the concept of hedonism to a whole different level."

"They certainly do." Anne-Marie joined her. "Mia had once offered Tia to play with her in their world, but Tia never took her on it. I imagine it was because she didn't feel complete. I'm glad for them that they have each other now. We were always afraid that Mia was lonely, being the only one of her kind."

"She certainly isn't anymore." Ann said. "I don't know how much of real time they took though. We control the time difference when we are here, but it has no meaning for them."

"I'm sorry, Kayla. I'm afraid your kids are going to have to do without you for one day." Ryanna told her."

"Let's only hope it's not the middle of the day yet." Julia pointed out.

It turned out that Kayla was just in time to call in before being declared AWOL. She resigned herself to the situation and joined in the conversation around the breakfast table.

Though they understood why they needed to lead separate physical lives, the three women were always as near to each other as they could during the day.

When Carole went to her studio, Kayla brought a chair near her and Jean went to her office, leaving the door open so she could keep the other two in sight at all times.

Anne-Marie came to talk to Carole about her peculiar painting.

"When I first saw it yesterday, all I saw was a cock and the two hands. Now that I know you Kayla, I recognize your lower abdomen, your penis and your thighs. I also recognize Carole's forearms with one hand holding it and the other reaching behind the balls to play with your pussy. But I see so much more. I swear I can feel the emotion in the gestures. Not the sex, the love. You have to let me do a private showing of your paintings, Carole. You can't keep this for yourself."

"I already told you. I sell a lot of paintings. These are not for just anybody to gawk at."

"What if I brought together some people who would really appreciate your art at its true value?"

"She's right, Baby Girl. There are some people who would. Remember the man at work who got your painting of Kayla holding her arms out to me. He saw the love you put on the canvas."

"I suppose. Let me think about it."

As the day went on and they had to face the moment when they would have to really separate, Carole and Jean would stay closer to Kayla.

Julia took the others inside, leaving the three women beside the pool.

"Something's wrong." She told them. "It's not only the separation anxiety. Kayla is getting more and more despondent as the day goes by."

"I know." Ryanna agreed. "I tried to talk to her, but she puts on a brave front for the others without realizing that they can feel it and that it's bringing them down too."

"I thought they understood the reason for being separate." Ann said.

"I'm afraid it's more than that." Anne-Marie sighed. "Remember, she is Dr. Kevin Blackstone at the hospital. Coming to grasp with being a part of Tia as Kayla on top of discovering that her soul had been looking for Jean and Carole's through the ages, I wonder if this is not too much for her."

"You might be right." Julia agreed. "Not only does she have an identity crisis, but also a gender crisis. It's common in people who come to realize they are in the wrong body. In her case, she is in the right one and is forced daily to deny who she is which is a major problem at this vulnerable moment in her life."

"We've got to do something." Anne-Marie pleaded. "We can't let her suffer like this."

Ryanna and Julia looked at each other.

"Let me make a call while Julia explains." Ryanna told her.

When she came back, she told them that Claude would call her friend and would get back to them shortly. While they waited, they went out and joined their friends.

"Hey, Bear. How's it hanging?"

"Hi, Slim. Same old, same old. And you? The Mrs. still got you whipped?"

"As often as she wants. Do you have a few minutes for an old friend?"

"No, but I have as much time as my friend needs."

"It's called experience, Bear. I'm calling you about one of your young friends. A special one who is with two of my best psychologists and they're worried."

"I'm all ears."

"I didn't get many details, but they think it may be a serious. They wanted me to reach out to you first so you know they are who and what they say they are. Can I tell them they can call you?"

"Is this about... Dr. Blackstone?"

"They didn't say. They only mentioned that the person called in sick this morning."

"Okay, Slim. Do you want to give me their number or should I wait for them to call me?"

"You might as well do it. Here's the number for Dr. Ryanna Monroe..."

"Thanks. I'll call her right away. Don't be a stranger."

"I won't. Bye, Bear."

"All right ladies, we're going to have to get dressed, at least a little. We're going to have some visit." Ryanna told them all. "And Jean, fire the charcoals. He's bringing choice cuts of steaks."

"Who is it?" Carole asked.

"It's a friend of Kayla's actually and he said he knows you two also."

"It has to be Andrew." Kayla said. "Why would he be coming here?"

"We called him." Ryanna took her hand. "We are worried about you and we wanted to have someone you know and who knows you here when we talk to you about our concerns."

"But I'm fine." Kayla wailed, retreating in Jean and Carole's arms." I knew I should have gone to work this morning even if I was late. Call him back! You had no right!"

"You are stronger than this, Kayla." Julia told her firmly. "We just want to talk. You have to... JEAN! CAROLE Don't let her! Aww shit! I was afraid of that."

"It just goes to show we were right." Ryanna said. "Kevin has to disappear for good."

"Let's put them to bed for now." Ann suggested. "You two can talk to her friend when he gets here."

Once they had taken Andrew to look at the 'sleeping' women and they had assured him that their vital signs were strong and stable, they sat with him at the kitchen table.

"So, you see, sir..." Ryanna began.

"Andrew, please." He told her. "Claude said you worked for her."

"Yes, sir... Andrew. She's my boss." Julia told him. "Ryanna works on the research side. She's in charge of a specialized laboratory."

"Your names are familiar. Were you involved with the group who helped her and Lucia?"

"We were. They have become dear friends to us and our family." Julia said.

"Then Kayla, Carole and Jean's state of catatonia..."

"It's not catatonia as you understand it." Ryanna explained.

""Sorry, poor choice of word then. Claude told me about the kind of work you do at the Institute. Does this have anything to do with it?"

"It does." Ryanna told him. "As I was saying, she had some strong emotional experiences this week-end and they were tied to her identity as Kayla."

"We are afraid she came out of it in a fragile state." Julia went on. "We think she's caught in a conflict between her dedication to her kids, as she calls her patients, and the identity of Kevin she has to assume to treat them."

"That's the reason I urged her to come out to Jean last month. I could see how it was tearing her apart. The reason she calls them her kids is her way to compensate for her maternal instinct. A way to talk as a woman when she's not allowed to be one. I was hoping that once she had a solid group of friends who accepted her for herself, she's be able to become Kayla for good."

"You couldn't have chosen a better woman to bring into her life." Ryanna told him. "We can't tell you everything, but she has found more than a friend in Jean and in Carole too."

"So. All that being said. What can I do to help?"

"Kayla will require... specialized help. The kind only we can provide." Julia told him. "We have already called for transportation to the Institute. We know she has only been working at the Children's for a few months, but we would like to see if you could find a way to put her on medical leave for an unspecified length of time. If you can't and they fire her, then we'll deal with that too."

"I'll see what I can do, but changing to another field of medicine may be best for her. She has trouble dealing with the death of her patients. I spoke to her supervisor in Toronto and he said the same thing. That's why he approved her transfer to Montreal. He hoped the change of venue would help."

"We'll look into it. I have an idea about a way for her to keep working with children." Ryanna said.

"All right then. You have my number. Please keep me informed of her progress."

"When she's stronger, you can visit." Julia told him. "If you want to have some fun too, I'm sure we can arrange for you to surprise Claude and Lucia in a compromising position."

Andrew was still laughing at the prospect of putting one up on his old friend when he drove away.

"Hi Barbara. If you're answering Lee Ann's phone, I assume she's playing with her special friends."

"Who is this? And how did you get this number?"

"Did you forget me already? You hurt my feelings."

"Ann? Ann Taylor?"

"In the flesh, so to speak."

"Then I'll forget the question of how you got Lee's private number."

"Good because I wouldn't answer it. I needed to speak to Lee Ann, but you'll do."

"Did something happen to Jean? Is she hurt?"

"She's not hurt, but she won't be coming to the office for a while. She's going to have to work from a remote site. She'll call to arrange it with you as soon as she able. With the set-up she'll have, the only thing you'll be missing is her body at her desk."

"But we need her to..."

"Barbie dearest, remember who you're talking to. She's been training her second in command for months for just this eventuality and Nancy can take care of anything that comes up at the office. I told you she'd be back at work soon, just not from her desk downtown."

"Anything else, Mistress Ann?"

"Don't pout, Barbara. It doesn't become you. As a matter of fact, I also meant to tell you that your favorite painter is taking a sabbatical. I'll have what's already done shipped, but you'll have to wait for her production to resume. If it will make you feel better, I'm pretty sure she found a new source of inspiration."

"You really are the bearer of ill tidings tonight. I'll tell Lee Ann and we'll wait to hear from Jean."

"Remember how it worked out for you the last time, Barbie."

Chapter 6

Karlie looked at her daughter sitting on Kayla's lap as Carole was sketching them. She marveled at the woman's patience.

In the last weeks, she had begun to take shifts at the clinic to help with the few children there and with those of the clan families who came in for paediatric care. She had come a long way from the scared woman who needed either Jean or Carole to be near her at all times.

Kayla had 'come out' to the family, but she insisted on wearing shorts around the house even if she went bare-breasted and didn't mind that they were naked.

The process of changing her name and gender legally was under way. It was only taking slightly longer because she had been born in Nova Scotia, had studied in Montreal and Boston, worked for five years in Toronto and now lived in Quebec. As Karlie had expected, she hadn't encountered any problem from the universities, nor from the Toronto hospital who were more than willing to give Kayla sterling recommendations whatever her name and gender. The only problem had come from the Montreal hospital who said they didn't know her well enough, but Andrew had contacted some parents of her patients and they had been happy to write affidavits in support of Kayla.

"Caro." Kayla said softly, getting up to put her hand on the woman's arm. "Stay with us. Later, we'll go there together."

Karlie saw Carole shake herself, smile tenderly at Kayla and kiss her. They had explained to the family that she sometimes went into what they called creative trances and that she sometimes did it unconsciously when she was with Jean or Kayla. Ryanna had installed unobtrusive measuring and recording instruments all over the first floor where her para-normal talent was more susceptible to manifest when she painted in the small studio they had temporarily set up for her in the room Jean used as an office.

Recognizing other signs too, Karlie got up to get her daughter.

"Sorry ladies, but this hungry girl needs to be fed before she throws a tantrum."

"Would you mind bringing your chair over here, Karlie? I'd like to sit on the picnic table so I can get a different angle."

"Don't you have enough sketches of this little glutton sucking me dry?"

"I can never have enough. You're both so beautiful when you feed her. I only wish you could allow me to study you."

"I suppose we could do it when she's asleep otherwise she wouldn't have the patience for it."

"If you don't mind, I'd like to try. It won't be exactly the same, but I already have a good picture of you feeding her in my mind."

"Just tell me when you want to do it."

Patricia joined Kayla in the backyard where she was watching the birds jostle for the best seeds in the feeder hanging from a branch of the old American elm.

"I often come out here with my morning coffee. I have this old Peterson Field Guide book I use to identify the species. It's relaxing way to start the day."

"It's really peaceful out here. I can't believe there are so many other houses nearby."

"The compound was originally designed with that in mind so they set a limit to the number of houses that could be built and no one was allowed to cut trees unless it was absolutely necessary. You saw how the streets are all curved. That cuts down on noise and gives everyone more privacy too."

"Ryanna and Julia told me the story of the mammies. They must have been extraordinary women."

"They were indeed. From everything I heard, Sarah was a woman ahead of her time. I think she would have loved the twenty-first century."

They stayed silent, communing with Nature, for a long while.

"If you feel strong enough, I'd like you to come in the city with me tomorrow. I would like you to meet some people."

"Does it have anything to do with the free pediatric clinic you're trying to set up with the Foundation?"

"I see that my wives' propensity for gossip hasn't diminished with time."

"They mean well. They're trying to get me interested in medicine again, now that I won't be practicing oncology anymore."

"If you are interested, you may just be the person we've been looking for. I know that Lucia is salivating at the idea of having you on staff, but Jean needs to be in town for her work and you and Carole wouldn't want to stay here without her. This would be the best of both worlds."

"You know I'm not a paediatrician, right?"

"You're a doctor and you've been working with children for years. I'm sure you can take night classes in whatever specialization you feel you need."

"Why don't I meet your people first?" Kayla laughed. "I admit that the idea intrigues me."

Carole walked out of the house and came to sit on Kayla's lap for a snuggle.

"Young lady, you know you're supposed to cover at least your naughty bits when you come out. We don't have line-of-sight neighbors, but they are there nonetheless."

"Oh pooh, mommy. You're no fun. At home, we don't have to dress up when we go out in the backyard."

"I saw the pictures. You have a ten foot privacy fence."

"We were just talking about that, love. If everything works out, we will be moving back home soon."

"You too?"

"Yes, me too. My home is with you and Jean."

Carole jumped off Kayla, then came back to kiss her soundly before showing them that her years of gymnastics weren't too far behind her.

Her shouts of joy brought the rest of the family out to see what the commotion was about.

Patricia put her face in her hands and groaned dramatically when she saw that they were all naked.

Jean and Kayla stood looking at one of the sketches Anne-Marie had finally convinced Carole to let her show to a limited number of carefully selected people. She had laughed when Carole made her swear a blood oath that there would be no critics, no cameras, no public, but she had sobered when she was asked to swear on Patricia's head too.

"I'll never be able to come even close to this." Kayla groaned. "I can't believe how, with so few lines, we can clearly recognize Jaylie breastfeeding. Look at the contentment on her face. Our Carole had an incredible talent."