Joi's panties and bras werefolded and stacked on the couch."Hello?" Kinny called. "Somebody home?"He could hear birds outside. Children yelling somepl...ce far away."Hello?"No answer. The rumble of pipes rattling. But they always did that.Kinny went upstairs. He found the vibrator he'd cleaned this morningon Anabelle's bed. It was heavy with fuel."Somebody refilled this?" He put it down again, next to the handcuffs.They weren't rusty anymore. The mechanism was freed up and oiled. Nokey,. Later that morning he loaded the family into his Jag and they sped off to eat Christmas Dinner with the rest of their family. There was great excitement in the house as everyone greeted each other and exchanged gifts, then it was time to sit down and eat. They had a fine feast of turkey and all the trimmings with plenty of good wine and the children were all pulling Christmas crackers, telling jokes and making all the adults wear the silly paper hats. By three o'clock the meal was over and. ’ Murmurs of ‘Yes, Coach,’ came from the team, and Brody nodded in acknowledgment. ‘Now, get out of here.’ The coach tugged at the collar of his shirt. ‘Go Christmas shopping or something, get any distractions out of your system, and then I want everyone’s mind on the game tomorrow.’ The players drifted out of the room in twos and threes. Mark came up and nudged Brody. ‘So, how are you going to spend your afternoon? Pining—I mean, waiting until the show?’ ‘Dick.’ Brody shot him a glance and. She had strength of a manner with which I was unaccustomed. I had neverallowed such openness to another person ever before, I was always socareful to make a display of strength. It was such a relief."Why are you here?" I asked quietly wiping away my tears. "There aremany reasons, any one of them reason enough to come here," she repliedgently holding my hands in my lap. "The most important thing," shecontinued with a slight furrowing of the brow, "is to help you with achoice that you must make.".