"I watched, stunned, never expecting an apology from this man. "Now, young lady. If I ever step out of line like that again, I hope that you'll rememb...r that I'm only human and I have faults, though few. Still, I want you to always let me know when I have acted the brute."I could only nod."With that said, I want you to step over here." You stepped aside and I found myself staring at a rope hanging from the ceiling with an odd contraption attached. "Now." Trembling, I stepped forward as ordered.. The entire way I was thinking aboutwhat...and how...to tell Sammie my 'other little secret'. It would needto be after dad left for the evening.When Sammie finally returned from the lab, dad and I were sitting on thecouch enjoying just being family. My half-brother Bridger...we allcalled him Bridge...was our topic of conversation. Like my dad, Bridgewent to the 'boat school'. That's what they called the Naval Academy.And, like my dad, he was in 'the boats'.We couldn't communicate as much as. Linda at first thought she'd keep the baby. She was in her late 20's now and she'd been wanting a baby even if she never got married or was in a long-term relationship with a guy. When she first started showing, she'd gone out and lavished herself to a very expensive shopping spree to buy new maternity clothes and things she could wear to cover up her expectant state for awhile without making it blatantly obvious. Then, about 5 months into her pregnancy, Linda's life suddenly took a turn for. I had a good feeling, and was reasonably relaxed, although there were many men who looked at me.First we stood at the bar and got a cup of coffee. We talked a little with a high, slightly bald guy in the fortieth, Jens. We had seen him on a previous visit, on a couple evening, with his wife.Soon after, we went into the film room, which was dark and only the film lit up a bit.There was room on one of the front sofas where Jens already sat, and I sat down in the middle between him and Joe.(There.