SARAH JO MOVES IN

Dani was finishing up with the morning dishes. He was wearing a big grin on his face and whistling a happy tune as he worked. Today was the day Sarah Jo was going to move in to the house he and Duende shared! Duende came into the kitchen, and asked "Are you almost finished there? Remember, we wanted to have Sarah Jo's things moved in before she gets here."

"Almost done!" he said as he loaded the last dish in the dishwasher and did a quick swipe of the counter tops. "Has Rayden sent her stuff over already?"

"Yes, it's waiting for us just at the bottom of the stairs. I hope you had an extra helping of oatmeal this morning, my friend; because these things are heavy indeed," he told him, mentally getting himself ready for the task ahead.

Dani groaned when he saw all the antique cedar furniture waiting at the foot of the stairs. Besides the large bedstead, there was a huge wardrobe, dresser with a mirror, and a hope chest "Couldn't we ask him to send it up to her room at least?" The stuff looked heavy. As if right on cue, Rayden appeared in a shower of sparks, sitting halfway up the stairs with a silly grin on his face.

Duende was extremely glad to see him and asked, "Rayden....we had no idea these things would be as formidable as they are! I am afraid that Dani and I might drop or otherwise damage them trying to get them into Sarah Jo's room. Do you think that you might be able to do us the favor of putting them into her room? We'll straighten them out and put them where in the room she wants them to go, but.....we would very much appreciate the help in getting them in there." He hoped he was pleading his case well without looking like he was desperate!

"I would have put them up there but I wasn't sure where you wanted them. Why don't you show me where they go," Rayden said, as he chuckled at the sheer look of relief that appeared on the faces of Sarah Jo's two charges when he said that.

They both led the way, and pointed out to Rayden exactly where each piece should go. In a matter of moments, each piece was placed where it belonged and the bed was made up with new sheets and a quilted coverlet. As an added bonus the furniture had been shined up too, until the beautiful red color of the old wood gleamed.

Dani and Duende both thanked Rayden profusely for his help. Before he disappeared he concentrated once more and a pile of her clothing appeared on her bed as well as a large portfolio of her artwork. "Why don't you put this away for her," he suggested. "She is helping Ev with the twins right now, so it will be a half hour or so before she walks over here."

He looked around with an approving look on his face. "She will like this room," he said with a grin. " You two did a good job of fixing it up for her. She will especially like that terrace and all the flowers you have out on it." With that he vanished in another shower of controlled lightning.

Duende sighed, then said to his friend and roommate, "I have no idea how ladies like their things to be arranged in their dressers....with the women in my life before here, it was always a very personal thing, done by themselves. Would you know how she might like these placed in her dresser?," looking helplessly at the pile on the bed.

Dani looked at the extremely neatly folded clothing on the bed and it triggered an old memory. "When I was a kid I did a stint in an orphanage. The nuns there made us fold our clothes like that," he said with a grin as he started to transfer the clothing to the dresser. "Everything had to go in a specific place, folded a particular way. Hmmmmm. Her dresses should be hung up in the same order as they are laying on the bed. Looks like she has them organized the way she wants them."

Duende was relieved to see that his young friend had things well in hand, and followed his lead. When it came to the undergarments though, he left that to Dani, not wishing to make it look like he was lingering over her most personal things. Both of them could not help but notice though that amongst the sturdy and practical underthings she most likely used for work, there were several pieces of very sexy looking lace bras and panties that looked brand new.

Blushing at the sight of these, Dani wondered out loud if she had gotten them for the occasion of her moving in with them. Duende refrained from answering that and turned away, leaving Dani to deal with those as well as the others. He busied himself hanging up her dresses and nurses uniforms in the wardrobe as he heard the soft rustle of cloth as the delicate things being put away. He then heard him say, "It's ok to look, Duende; they're all hidden away." Dani was grinning as his friend turned. He held the drawers open so Duende could see that all her "intimates" had been neatly dealt with.

Dani opened the terrace doors so the nice breeze would come into the room while Duende did a last check of the adjoining bathroom. Dani couldn't help but sit on the bed and give the mattress a test bounce. As Duende came in and saw him, he came over to the bed and said, "Madre Dios, Dani, get up! You don't want the first thing the woman sees when she gets here is you, sitting on her bed like � like you are ready to pounce on her before she can even get her breath!" Looking disapprovingly at him, he shooed Dani up off the bed and then smoothed out the quilted coverlet.

"You're just miffed because I beat you too it," Dani teased. "Want me to check on the puppy? Don't want him to chew every thing in the laundry room to bits!"

"I forgot about him!," Duende said, looking alarmed. "Dani, please, would you? Everything must be perfect when she arrives - I am sorry I scolded you for sitting on her bed," he said, hoping his apology would soothe things so that he would indeed go and check on the small pet they'd penned up in the laundry room. The puppy was going to be a special welcome gift from the both of them, and he had picked him up first thing that morning in preparation for Sarah Jo's arrival..

Dani bounced down the stairs, taking three at a time as he dashed into the laundry room. The little red Irish setter puppy had just woken up from his nap and had already drug the bedding from his box all over the floor. Dani gave the puppy a cuddle and then set about cleaning up the papers the pup had piddled on.

Meanwhile, Duende was doing about his 50th tour of the house that morning, wanting everything to be as perfect as he'd told Dani. She was such a beautiful woman, as sweet as the bees' own honey, and she had consented to live with them! A smile crossed his face as he thought about that fact and he puffed with pride despite his nervousness. Both he and Dani were hoping a much closer relationship would develop after she moved in.

Dani came back in from taking the soiled papers out to the trash cans. "I saw her coming! She'll be here in just a minute," he said excitedly.

A new wave of nervousness ran through Duende at those words, and, trying to stay calm, he said "All right - the dog, is it secure? She is going to be disorganized enough when she comes into a new home, we don't need a puppy jumping around her heels at a time like that."

"He's chowing down on the food I just gave him," he said. He ran a hand through his shaggy hair and straightened out his shirt a little. Duende of course, looked as debonair as usual.

"All right, fine. Just remember, later on, one of us has to walk him - I don't want a mess in that room." Then, his final instructions given, Duende opened the door. They both smiled as Sarah Jo walked down the path to the door towards them. She looked a little tired but she was still all smiles as usual. But when she saw her two handsome charges standing waiting for her in front of her new home, she positively beamed.. She had timed her moving in so that it would come right after she worked her two night shifts, so she now had the next couple of days off to rest and to get settled in.

"Howdy!" she said with a grin as she ran the last few steps up to them. She tackled Dani first and the two of them hugged exuberantly. "Good to see you here cupcake!" he said with a huge grin. As he held her tight, his hands wandered down her back until they rested on her firm bottom. Grinning at him, she squirmed out of his arms and reached out to Duende.

He took her in his arms and held her gently a moment, her scent like a perfume to his nose, and smiled softly "Welcome, Sarah Jo. Everything has been made ready for your arrival; your room is ready, and your clothing has been put away." Tipping her chin up he then gave her a loving kiss.

She smiled softly up at him, "Thank'ye, sugar." Then the two of them each took an arm and escorted her into her new home. They showed her the downstairs first with its living room, library, dining room and huge country style kitchen. She was especially impressed with the kitchen and how well the pantry was stocked.

"Katherine told us what type of food you liked; and we have tried to include everything in our stores, or at least as much as was practical. There are also several different kinds of soda, we wanted you to have a variety when you desired one," Duende informed her, trying to look very authoritative, as his young friend grinned at him behind his back.

Sarah Jo opened the fridge and glanced at the contents. "Looks good to me!" she said with a grin. Then they took her down into the daylight basement into the recreation room, which was set up into a mini dance studio.

"As you can see, there is room to practice a number of different styles here, including ballet, modern, old fashioned...any thing you might want to. There is also a selection of many different kinds of music, of course, including Celtic," Duende smiled, leading her to the CD racks at one side and showing her the impressive collection. He put on some 40's band music, and led her out into the middle of the floor and they danced for a few minutes together until Dani cut in and had his turn. When the song ended, Dani hugged her tight again and led her to a room off to the side of the dance floor.

"And we have a special place for you too!" Dani said. He covered her eyes with his hands as Duende opened the door to a room that had been turned into her own art studio. Her loom had been moved from the needlework store in the mall to there so she could work on it at home. There was a large storage cabinet for all her materials as well as a drawing table. Sarah Jo looked around with a touch of moisture in her eyes, smiling happily. "You know we put your potter's wheel just outside on the patio, but we have something else out there now for you. Come and see!" Dani told her excitedly.

The two men escorted her out to the patio, where indeed all her clay supplies and the wheel were waiting. Duende brought her to it, he smiled "There you are ... now you can create things to your hearts content. Some of which, hopefully, you will be gracing our home with. It cries out for things of beauty that you have made with your own hands, as well as your beauty itself," kissing her hand softly as he let her go. Sarah Jo almost purred with delight as he did so. Dani rolled his eyes at Duende's flamboyant style but said nothing.

They then proudly showed her their surprise. They had built a kiln for her to fire her pottery in and she was truly delighted. That led to more hugs as they stood in the small garden area next to the kiln that awaited her green thumb. Their thoughtfulness got them both very thoroughly kissed, which was a very pleasurable experience for all. Then with big smiles on their faces they escorted her up the stairs. She was shown their rooms first, saving hers for last.

Duende's was as she expected it to be, with dark, elegant furnishings, with a spanish theme. The room just spoke of him, with everything put away and straightened up in a very orderly fashion. Dani's, by contrast, was more like a dorm room, with cheerful overtones. She stifled a giggle as she saw a 2-foot tall poster of a scantily clad young model hung on the inside of a closet door he'd forgotten to close. All in all, it was quite a contrast between the two men, she thought. Giggling as she walked out, and the two of them then held open the door to her room. She covered her mouth with surprise when she walked in and saw the lovely antique cedar bedroom suite in the large, airy room.

Duende spoke first. "Is everything as you like it, Sarah? All the pieces in their correct places? You will also find your clothing put away....all of it," he said, blushing a slight pink at the thought again of those sexy underthings they'd seen.

"It's perfect!" she exclaimed. "Rayden said he would be sending a bedroom set over here I never expected anything like this!" She wandered around the room, opening drawers to see where everything had been put. Occasionally she adjusted the position of some of the articles of clothing but overall she seemed very pleased. Then hands on her hips she turned and studied the bed. "Now is that a parade ground, or is it a bed?" she asked with a wide grin on her face.

There was another slight blush, as he said almost apologetically, "The design was suggested by Ev, I believe ... Rayden just followed her instructions. Do you like it?"

Sarah Jo went over to the bed and sat on it, bouncing on it just as Dani had done just a little while before. "This is great!" she said with a smile as she patted the bed on each side of her, inviting her two *boys* to sit down with her.

Dani sat down to one side of her with a suddenly shy grin but with no problems whatsoever. Duende, of course, sat formally with his back straight and stiff as he sat on her other side. The three of them sat that way for a moment, not quite certain where to proceed from there. Sarah Jo suddenly broke out into giggles as a thought crossed her mind. "I think Ev has been talking to Carol too much," she said with a laugh.

Dani looked at and grinned "Yeah, she said this bed would be big enough for three people to�"

Duende cut him off, saying, "Dani! Dio, show some respect for this fine woman. Do you want her to think we are only interested in that?" He looked slightly exasperated as he shook his head at the younger charge and rolled his eyes. The two men had already talked extensively amongst themselves about the possibility of the two of them sharing the bed with her but he hadn't thought the subject would come up this quickly.

Sarah Jo dissolved into another fit of giggles as she took both their hands and

squeezed them. "Don't worry about offending me, fellas. I have to admit the idea has crossed my mind frequently ever since I agreed to move in here with the two of you. Once we have gotten comfortable with each other, I don't think I would mind trying it at all."

He looked at her, slightly relived, as he said, "Forgive me, bellarosa; I just did not want you to think us as sex mad. Things will, of course, be as you say. We don't want to push you into anything you are not ready for." He kissed her hand again. Clearly, this man thought the world of her and valued her opinion of him.

"Ah really do appreciate that," she said softly as she smiled invitingly at them. Dani was gently rubbing her thigh with his hand as Duende leaned over and gave her a tender kiss. But before things could progress any further, the faint sound of one very unhappy puppy floated up the stairs.

Duende turned a bit pale, as he said, half to himself, "Madre, the dog! Dani, what in the world could be wrong with it? Do you think something is hurt or something?," he asked, looking worried at his young roommate.

Dani had already leapt off the bed and was racing down the stairs to go check on the puppy. Curious, Sarah Jo got up and followed with Duende close behind. As Dani opened the door, she saw a dark red setter puppy sitting in the middle of a bunch of shredded newspaper yelping and howling his head off piteously simply because he was feeling lonely and deserted.

Duende had been last down the stairs, but he positioned protectively himself in front of Sarah as the door was opened just in case the little beast had gone mad or something. But all he saw the pair of soft, dark eyes just looking miserably at him. But now that people were there to adore and play with him, the yipping stopped. His tail starting to wag and he wiggled his fat little body in ecstasy. Duende sagged visibly, letting a breath out he didn't know he'd been holding. The silly little thing had just been lonely, not hurt.

"A puppy! You got us a puppy!" Sarah Jo cried out joyously as she dropped to her knees. The little fur ball immediately tumbled into to her arms and started licking her face excitedly. Duende smiled broadly, glad that his little surprise for Sarah Jo was obviously so pleasing to her.

As he watched them together, he saw Dani grinning at him as if to say, ***oh, that's right, scoring points already!*** He ignored him, and asked "Do you really like him, Sarah? He was the best of the litter." Sarah Jo was still kneeling on the floor getting her face washed to within an inch of her life. Dani and Duende both joined her on the floor to play with the puppy too.

"I love him!" she said as she laughed happily. As she sat in the middle of shredded papers with the squirming puppy wiggling in her lap and her two charges on each side of her with their arms around her shoulders, she knew in her heart that she had truly made the right decision in moving in.