When Emmy got home Angela and I were relaxing on the couch, cuddled together. Rosalie and Grace had retreated to their room and were probably feeling really sorry for themselves, leaving us in peace.

Emmy sat down on the edge of the sofa cushion, in the little amount of space that was available. Since Angela was lying on top of me, that left her sweatpants-clad butt right there, so Emmy ran her hand up and down, squeezing Angela’s buns as she did so.

“We are going to equip the new studio next week,” Emmy announced as Angela wriggled her hips a bit to give Emmy better access.

“Yeah, Ned told us that we just missed you and the boys. I guess we got there right after you guys left.”

“The new house is so amazing, Leah,” Emmy said. “And the studio- it is like a dream. The sound stage, too. It will be so wonderful, to have facilities like that available.”

“Ned says that we can move in after the sixteenth,” Angela said, her eyes closed, enjoying Emmy’s touch.

“Yes, that is what he said as far as the house is concerned, but the studio? It is ready to move in and get started now, which is how we can begin setting it up starting on Monday.”

Changing the subject, Emmy said, “I saw Grace’s car in the garage. Are they home?”

“Yeah, in their room. They had a bit too much to drink and now I think they’re suffering the consequences,” I explained.

“Do you think they will want dinner?”

“I’d be surprised,” I said. “Maybe we should get them some Gatorade so they don’t get too dehydrated, but I doubt they’ll want anything solid.”

“Perhaps some udon from downstairs?” Emmy suggested.

“That could work,” I agreed. “That’s about as mild as you can get.”

“I will call it in,” Emmy said, do you two want your usual?”

The two girls did emerge when dinner was delivered, and they certainly looked miserable, but they did eat their udon noodles before heading back into their room.

It was a bit chilly out on the balcony, but we started the fire and Angela grabbed a blanket so we could snuggle on the couch out there after dinner.

Of course I was at the bottom of the pile, but that was O.K. with me. I loved the feeling of the weight of Emmy and Angela pressing me down onto the plush cushions of the couch. Angela lay back against me, and Emmy lay on top of her, face down on Angela’s chest. Somehow Emmy’s hand had found its way up under Angela’s Cardinal T shirt and as we talked, I could see the shape of Emmy’s hand caressing, pinching and generally fondling Angela’s boob.

“Em,” I said after a bit. “Are you- I mean, the corporation you and Lee and Jackson set up, is it going to have a sufficient budget for everything you need for the studio?”

“Yes, at least for the initial set-up and perhaps the first six months of operation with the funds we have banked,” Emmy said, a bit distracted. “We are going to make the facilities available to other performers, and that will extend our window. If things work out as Jackson expects, the studio should do more than cover the operational costs by the end of the first year.”

“Jackson?” I asked.

“Yes, he is running the business side of things. He has been reaching out to many of the musicians that he knows and has been generating interest in the community.”

“Huh,” I said.

“That makes sense,” Angela said. “He seems to know everybody, and everybody likes him.”

“That, and his law degree makes him very suited to the task,” Emmy agreed.

“Em,” Angela said, changing the subject. “I talked to Leah about this earlier today, but I want your opinion, too. I’ve been asked to do a photo shoot. It’s good exposure, and the pay is good, too.”

“Angie, baby,” Emmy said, reaching up to kiss Angela. “Do it or not because you want to. You know that you will never need for money ever again.”

“I… I hate feeling like I’m just living off you two,” Angela finally got out.

“That is not what I meant,” Emmy said, sitting up a bit to better look at Angela’s face. “I meant that taking the job should not depend on how much they pay, but how much you would like to do it. I do not want you to feel as if you are… sponging off us?” she glanced at me to check to see if she had the phrase correct, and when I nodded, she continued. “Here is the thing. To put it simply, we are rich, and you, now that you are a member of our family, are rich, too. But it is very important to do something, to pursue your goals, even though you do not have to do so to pay the rent.”

“Like I was saying earlier, Ange,” I said, giving her a hug. “Do it if you want to, if you think it’ll further your career, or even if you like the photographer’s style and want to do it for art’s sake. Don’t feel you ever need to take a job you might not like just because it pays.”

Angela sighed, but didn’t say anything for a moment. Finally, she grabbed Emmy’s hand and put it back up under her shirt. “Thank you,” she said.

We didn’t really talk much after that. The three of us just made out, kissing and touching each other for a while until we got a bit overheated and had to retreat to the bedroom, where I did my level best to knock both of them up. It was hard work, but sometimes that’s its own reward.

Afterwards, sprawled in a tangle of sweaty limbs, Emmy asked, “How did I get so lucky?”

“I was wondering that about myself,” Angela said with a tired laugh. “I’m happier than I’ve ever been in my life.”

Sunday morning rolled around far too early, but I got up anyway, leaving my two lovelies in bed while I made coffee and breakfast. The smell of the fresh coffee roused everybody, and soon we had a full table for French toast with blueberries. Grace and Rosalie looked much better for a night’s sleep, but when I offered grapefruit juice both turned a bit green at the idea.

“Do you two have any plans for the day?” I asked.

“We’re gonna go down to Disneyland,” Grace said, pouring some more syrup on her already-drowning breakfast. “Rosie’s never been.”

“I went to Disney World in Orlando, but I haven’t been to Disneyland,” Angela said, making conversation. “I guess real Disney fans can tell you the difference between the rides in the two parks. For them it’s a big deal.”

“Like?” Rosalie asked.

“Well, O.K., in the Haunted Mansion, you start off in a room that gets really tall- the ceiling rises up, and the walls stretch, right? In Florida, that’s what happens. The ceiling rises up. But in Anaheim, it’s an elevator, and the ceiling stays in place but the floor drops down,” Angela explained. “I guess it has to do with sea level or something.”

“And people geek out about things like that?” Grace asked, appalled.

“People geek out on all kinds of things,” I said. “I distinctly remember listening to you argue with one of your friends about the merits of the various Star Wars movies.”

“That’s different,” Grace said, dismissively. “Star Wars actually matters.”

After the girls left, we discussed what to do and finally settled on a little wine tasting trip up to the Santa Ynez Valley, up past Santa Barbara. Emmy and I had done some tasting tours up in Northern California, but we hadn’t taken the time to try any towards this end of the state.

Just north of Oxnard on Highway 101, Angela pointed to the islands offshore. “Catalina! We really need to go back- all three of us this time.”

“Um, that’s not Catalina,” I said. “I think that’s Santa Cruz Island. But yeah, we should go back.”

“I loved the photos you took,” Emmy said, smiling at the thought. “I cannot believe you took nude photos in public!”

“Yeah, when Ange ditched her bikini I expected people to show up at any moment,” I agreed.

“They almost did!” Angela exclaimed from the back seat. “Do you remember those girls? If they had been there just a moment sooner, they would have seen me naked!”

“You know, Ange, if I’d seen you naked when I was that age, I never would have bothered with boys at all,” I said, looking at her in the rearview mirror. “That would’ve been it. I’d have known I was gay at that very moment.”

“You say the sweetest things sometimes,” she said, batting her eyes at me in the mirror.

Emmy had chosen the wineries she wanted to visit, so I just followed the directions and drove through the cute little towns and country roads of the region.

I will readily admit that I’m not a wine snob. I can tell the difference between a Syrah and a Pinot, or a Cabernet and a Chablis, but that’s about my limit. Angela seemed to be in more or less the same boat, but of course Emmy could easily detect and discuss the nuances of the various wines we tasted. Angela and I were basically, “Yeah, that’s nice. I like that,” while Emmy held long discussions with the winery staff about notes of blackberry, hint of earthiness, nice finishing acidity, and I don’t even know what else.

It was a lovely way to spend the day, though, and we went home with orders for nearly a dozen cases to be delivered to the new house the week before Christmas. Of course, we had a few singleton bottles to take home then and there, but the bulk of the purchases would wait until they could populate our new wine cellar.

Emmy was tired from being out and about in the bright daylight, so she was relaxing in the back seat with her eyes closed for the two hour drive back to Century City.

“I had a really good time today,” Angela said, reaching out and taking my hand. Speaking a bit louder so Emmy could hear, she said, “Em, thanks for suggesting we do this. Spending time like this with you guys is… It’s the best.”

“I had a good time today, also,” Emmy said, keeping her eyes closed. “I am glad we could spend the day together.”

Angela let go of my hand to reach back, and Emmy clasped her hand in turn. “We have forever,” Angela said. “We’ll have a lot more days like this.”

“Angela,” Emmy said. “I love you.”

“I love you, too, Em,” Angela said, looking back over her shoulder at Emmy.

We had a mellow evening at home, since the three of us were a bit tired from a long day out, and of course, had not gotten much sleep the night before. Grace and Rosalie came back late, after we’d gone to bed, so we didn’t see them at all.

I was tempted to skip my workout with Jody the next morning, but I got up and did it anyway. As he’d pointed out, when you don’t feel like it is when it’s most important to rise to the occasion.

This thought came back to me when I had to deal with more of the Coastal Commission’s bullshit. We’d made the changes they required and resubmitted the plans, but now they were finding something new to throw a stick in our spokes. Something about the ‘historical character of the area’. Several of our investors were getting gun-shy, considering pulling out of the project entirely, so I had to spend the morning soothing nerves and calming things down.

I was convinced that the project would pay off big-time in the long run, but some of our investors only wanted quick returns and weren’t enthusiastic about waiting a few extra years to cash out. The more time I spent on the phone wrangling cats, the more I just wanted to tell them all to sit this one out and let me shoulder the whole thing, just so I could laugh at the money they weren’t going to make.

Needing a break from the office, I ate lunch at the Irish pub, taking the empty seat next to Real Estate Henry at the bar. “Ever have one of those days?” I asked when he glanced up.

“Almost every day,” he said. “Almost every single day.”

I ordered the tacos, even though it was Monday. I just felt a little rebellious, I guess.

“People can be real pains in the ass,” I said to Henry.

“Well, yeah, they can,” he agreed. “You know what they say- you can’t live with ‘em, but you can’t shoot ‘em, either.”

“No, you can’t,” I agreed, a bit mournfully.

“So what has your knickers in a twist?” Henry asked. “More HR issues?”

“No, not this time,” I said. “The Coastal Commission is making life hard and a bunch of my investors are looking to bail out.”

“That sucks,” Henry said. “Can you round up new investors?” he asked, sipping his Sprite.

“I’m not sure I want to. At this point I’m thinking I might just plow ahead solo, and fund the whole thing myself.”

“I always figured you were a high-roller type,” he said, looking me up and down. “Out of curiosity, how much are we talking about?”

“All in, about four hundred mil for the build-out, but we have lease agreements for all of the key tenants, so cash flow will turn positive almost immediately upon occupancy,” I explained.

“Holy shit!” Henry exclaimed. “Pardon my French, but that’s one heaping big pile of cash.”

“Yeah, it is,” I said with a sigh. “It’s a great project, a real signature, you know? I just wish…”

“So what are you going to do?”

“Probably keep the investors that want to stay, and pick up the slack myself, I guess.”

“Wow,” Henry said, and looked me over again. “Well, if you think it’s a really good deal, I could maybe throw in a few hundred bucks.”

I laughed, appreciating his effort to lighten the mood. “I may hit you up for it, when all is said and done,” I told him.

“Well, I gotta get back to the office,” he said, standing up and tossing some money down on the bar. “Remember- if the project is that good, you’re better off making all the money yourself, right?”

“That’s one way to look at it,” I agreed.

Rosalie and Grace were home when I got back to the condo, but Emmy and Angela were missing.

“They went out shopping for stuff for the new house,” Grace said when I asked where the two had gone. “Hey, when are we going to be able to check it out?”

“I could take you guys tomorrow morning,” I said. “I don’t go in to the office on Tuesdays.”

“That’s right- your evening classes at UCLA, right?” she asked, looking up from her phone. “How’s that going?”

“It’s alright,” I said. “Mostly it’s still review from stuff I took at Stanford, since it’s really an MBA program for non-business majors. In fact, I doubt I’ll actually learn anything new this semester at all.”

“That kinda sucks,” Grace said. “Most of my classes are like that, too- they’re teaching things that people really should have learned just fine in high school, you know?”

“Welcome to freshman GE,” I said with a laugh. “Hey, how was Disneyland?”

“It was awesome!” Rosalie piped up from her end of the couch. “You know what Angela was saying about the Haunted House? How it’s really an elevator? Well, I wouldn’t even have noticed it, it moves so smooth, but after what she said, I paid attention, you know? And, like, you can just barely feel it.”

“What else did you guys go on?” I asked, amused.

“We hit all the classics,” Grace said. “The Haunted House, Pirates of the Caribbean, Space Mountain, Matterhorn… We even did the teacups.”

“Oh, Jeeze,” I said. “I’ve never been so sick from a ride as the time I rode the teacups in junior year of high school,” I groaned, remembering back.

“I know, right?” Grace said. “You can get those things really spinning.”

“I thought the Indiana Jones ride was pretty lame,” Rosalie said, putting her phone down. “But Matterhorn- that was cool.”

“We were thinking about going back to the other park,” Grace said. “Is it worth it?”

“Sure, yeah, it’s fun,” I said. “I like the launch tower thing.”

After I changed out of my work clothes and just started to think about dinner, Angela called to ask if they should pick something up on the way home.

After a bit of back and forth between me, Angela on one side and Grace and Rosalie on the other, we finally settled on Thai.

“I’ve only had Thai food one time, down in Sedona,” Rosalie admitted. “But I thought it was pretty good.”

“We usually go to a place over on Sawtelle. It’s really good, but a few of the dishes are maybe a bit too authentic for me,” I said.

Rosalie looked doubtful, but I assured her that some of the dishes Emmy and Angela would bring home would be really pretty standard stuff and she’d be fine.

“Lee sent me a file for the final version of our first single from the new album,” Emmy announced during dinner.

“Can you play it on our stereo?” I asked, looking forward to hearing it.

“Yes, the stereo can play digital files,” Emmy said. “Lee wants Jackson and me to listen to it. We all liked it when we worked on it together, but he has cleaned it up a little bit, and wants to know if we are happy with the final product.”

“So, like, nobody has ever heard this song yet?” Rosalie asked, her eyes wide.

“Lee has, of course,” Emmy laughed. “And maybe Jen has, too, but no, nobody in the the public has heard it yet.”

“That’s awesome!” Rosalie said. Turning to Grace, she asked, “Have you ever gotten to hear a Downfall song before it even got released?”

“Yes,” Grace replied, totally deadpan.

After we cleaned up dinner, I poured some glasses of wine for anybody that wanted them (Grace and Rosalie seemed a bit unwilling to touch alcohol, for some reason) and we sat down in the living room to listen to The Downfall’s newest song.

Emmy hit play and sat down next to me on the couch as the initial drumbeat filled the room. It was a simple double beat of the kick drums, sounding just like a heartbeat. Gradually the guitar faded in, a single long, clear note that abruptly turned into a baby crying.

Emmy’s voice, clear, powerful and strong, belted out of the speakers, singing

“I was born to make you cry

I was born to make you smile

I was born to sing this song,

But most of all, baby,

I was born to die,”

The song continued, coming back to that same refrain: “Baby, I was born to die.”

It was an odd mix of boasting about her achievements, proclaiming herself made to be a star, but yet lamenting that it was all going to end. Finally, the music faded out except for the slow blues slide guitar and that heartbeat from the drums, which faltered, stumbling, then ceased, leaving the last notes of the guitar to fade away.