Tripper had twisted off his own ring, then slid it onto Annie's fingerbefore unwrapping the Matrix. The ring by itself had a calming effect,but as the...matrix was placed on her forehead, the pain stopped and theStar Clan tattoos shot up her arm, the star forming on her forehead asshe began to shift. Kessa heard over the comm when the matrix madecontact, the groans of pain stopped, and then the warning squall of aconfused feline."Holy hell that was fast," observed a medic."Annie, look at me,". Everyone just calls The Church, 24/7, and every problem seems to somehow get resolved. It took nearly a week and an eventual bill for services rendered that exceeded my regular monthly salary at the Courthouse, but Marsha and the girls could now take a hot bath. It was money very well spent. Marsha learned everything I could teach her about computer operation within a week, and soon she could handle everything all by herself, and seemingly without any stress, unlike when I had handled things. ”Resigned to my fate, I lay back down beside her.This time when we finished, we decided it would be fun to take a shower together, a tight squeeze in the bathroom shower cubicle but we managed by helping each other out with soaping up and rinsing off.Once we were both dry we dressed and went downstairs to make soup and a sandwich for our lunch.AS we sat down, side by side at the table, I covered her hand with mine.“Cal,” I said, seriously, “I’m not complaining.”Let’s face it, what boy my age. Realising what I was doing he spun round and faced me. We can either do this the easy way or the hard way, either way you are going to take whats coming to you. I reluctantly took a step forward, theres a good girl. He said, now come with me to the house I have something for you. He continued, pulling me by the arm to the house. Once inside, he pulled my bedroom door open, I couldnt believe that I had been so stupid that I left my door unlocked from the outside. Take of your dress, he.