When Valentina walks into the dining room early one Tuesday morning, about three weeks after the first local auction, she is surprised to find Jane and Alexia already at the table. The past few weeks she had risen early, skipping the communal breakfast the rest of the women attended religiously, and done a daily inspection of the work done the previous day, before beginning her own tasks.

“Que?” She asks, cocking her head at an angle.

“Join us.” Jane says from the head of the table, patting the chair on her right, directly across from Alexia.

“What is going on?” Valentina asks in Spanish, suspicion obvious in her tone and facial expression.

“Just take a seat, and I’ll explain while we have breakfast.” Alexia responds reassuringly in the same language. “It’s nothing bad; You aren’t in trouble or anything.”

“I know I’m not in trouble.” Valentina says as she takes a seat. “I haven’t done anything to get in trouble. I’m too busy working.”

“What’s she saying?” Jane asks.

“She’s trying to figure out why we are here this early, and I was just reassuring her that she’s not in trouble.” Alexia says.

“Of course she isn’t in trouble.” Jane says, smiling over at Valentina. “She’s doing a wonderful job.”

Valentina’s scowl slackens the tiniest bit at these words, betraying her comprehension, despite her previous protestations to the contrary.

“Mistress Jane had something she wanted to ask you about.” Alexia explains. “She wanted you to be sure that you understand that it’s an offer, not a demand. You can say no.”

“I told you both at the auction, I’m a lesbian.” Valentina responds immediately, face growing red as her voice rises. “I’m not...”

As Jane stares at Alexia in horror at the outburst, Alexia manages to cut in. “No, no, not that!”

Valentina stops talking, staring at her for a moment, before gesturing for her to keep talking.

“First, we wanted to know what you thought about Chad?” Alexia asks. Seeing the problem before Valentina can open her mouth, she quickly adds. “As a person, not someone to screw.”

Valentina takes a moment to think, and calm herself, before responding. “His guys like him.” She eventually says. “And he’s a good contractor. He doesn’t let them cut corners.”

“Yes, but what do you think of him?” Alexia asks. “Again, as a person, not as a builder.”

“I don’t.” Valentina says. “Why would I spend time thinking about a man?”

Alexia sighs, looking over at Jane. “She’s being... evasive.”

“Just explain the idea.” Jane says. “And ask if she has any interest.”

“Look, here is the deal.” Alexia says. “Chad still hasn’t taken any concubines, besides his wife. It seems like she’s a jealous woman, and he’s a little scared of her. She doesn’t want him claiming anyone she knows, which rules out basically everyone in town. She wants him to go to auctions out of town, but the local auctions are having trouble getting enough purchases every weekend to keep above the quota. Jane was wanting to know what you thought of Chad, because she thought you might be interested in moving to his household, so you could keep working with him and his crew. Then she could take one of the local girls.”

“Why?” Valentina asks suspiciously. “Why would I want to move?”

“We don’t know if you would want to.” Alexia says. “That’s why we are asking. We are asking if you would want to, not saying you should want to, or that you have to. It’s a question, not a demand.”

Valentina takes a moment, thinking this over.

“There is one reason you might want to.” Alexia says quietly. “I know you want a girlfriend, and that none of the girls in the house are interested, because you aren’t involved with Robert. Chad is going to have to add several more women, and once his wife realizes that lesbians are an option, there is a good chance she’s going to get him to only pick them. I think you’d have a very good chance of finding someone over there.”

“If I did this, I would need to be sure he wouldn’t touch me.” Valentina says. “Ever.”

“Mistress Jane will make sure he promises that.” Alexia says. “We already talked about that.”

“And I need to meet his wife.” Valentina says. “I don’t need to have some crazy bitch getting mad that I’m going off with him in the mornings for work.”

“Jane is going to ask him to bring her tomorrow, so we can meet her.” Alexia says. “If you are sure you are that interested.”

Sensing that the conversation had reached a critical junction, Jane reaches over, grabbing Alexia’s hand. “Make sure she knows she doesn’t HAVE to do this. She’s welcome to stay here.”

“What did she say?” Valentina asks, eyes darting between the two women.

“She wanted me to tell you that you can just stay here.” Alexia says. “If that’s what you want.”

“I’ll meet her.” Valentina says, grabbing a muffin off the table, and standing to leave. “If she’s crazy, I’ll stay. If she isn’t, I’ll go.”

*****

“What are we doing for Robert’s birthday?” Lucia asks when everyone who is likely to attend breakfast has arrived. “It’s only a few days away.”

“We usually don’t make a big deal about birthdays.” Jane responds, toying with her food. “Trust me, when you reach a certain age, they stop being as much fun.”

“We have to do something special, it’s our first year with you guys.” Alexia interjects.

“We could do a big party.” Taylor suggests. “We did that for my Dad’s sixtieth birthday. Invited everyone we knew, and made it a big thing.”

“Robert would hate that.” Jane objects. “And birthdays are kind of weird for him. If you girls really want to plan something, we should keep it small. No need to invite anyone who isn’t part of our household.”

“Doesn’t he have some family we should invite?” Reyna asks. “Parents, siblings, cousins? A favorite aunt or uncle?”

“Not everyone has that kind of family.” Jane says shortly. “If you asked Robert, he would say we are his family, and no one else.”

“There has to be someone.” Taylor says. “No one has no family at all.”

“I don’t.” Emily says quietly, looking down at her plate.

Taylor and Reyna look over, disbelief and guilt on their expressions. “You don’t?” Taylor asks, in a tone that made it clear that she was aware of her mistake.

“My parents died in a car crash when I was a baby.” Emily responds, still staring at her plate, hands hidden in her lap. “My grandmother raised me until I was twelve, but then she died. Then I was alone.”

“I...” Taylor says, clearly uncertain how to fix her faux pas. “I’m sorry, Emily. I didn’t realize.”

“I know.” Emily says, taking off her glasses to wipe at her eyes, before looking up at Taylor. “If Jane says we are the people Robert would want to spend his birthday with, we should respect that.”

“Robert loves quality time with all of you.” Jane says. “Why don’t you plan to spend time with him in small groups, doing things you know he likes, on Saturday? I don’t think he’s used the shooting range yet, has he?”

“Not yet.” Jia confirms.

“You could do that.” Jane suggests. “Emily, Megan, maybe you could show him your progress with your projects? Mei can make his favorite dinner.”

“Ooh!” Reyna exclaims. “Orgy after dinner! Or the night before? Or both!”

A murmur meets this idea, mostly positive, but with a few exceptions.

“No way.” Megan says, setting down her silverware, and pushing her plate away. “I’m not doing some weird fucking orgy shit.”

“Megan!” Amber says, looking over at her. “We’ve talked about this. You can disagree with an idea without being combative.”

“I’m not doing it.” Megan says again. “And neither is Layne.”

“I’m doing it.” Layne says. Or, that’s what most of them think she says, given that her mouth is half full of pancakes.

“Layne, honey, please don’t speak when you have food in your mouth.” Jane chides her.

Ignoring Megan’s glare, Layne swallows her pancakes, and then tries again. “I want to do it.” Layne says. “I can do it if I want to, right?”

“I don’t think we’ve decided that it is happening at all.” Jane says. “But if we do, each of you can decide if you want to participate, just like any other time.”

“Even me?” Mei asks hopefully.

“If we decide to do something, you and I can discuss your level of involvement.” Jane says.

“I think he’d like it.” Lucia says. “He enjoyed the welcome home event.”

“It’ll have to be different than last time.” Alexia adds. “He should be in charge, and we do whatever he wants, all night.”

“How is that different than any other night?” Jane asks.

“Because most of us would be there, at the same time.” Reyna says. “Normally, Robert keeps it to just a couple of us, so we don’t feel neglected. This would be all about him, until he is too tired to keep going.”

“I can’t say he wouldn’t enjoy it.” Jane says. “I’m going to assume Kendra won’t be part of this, since she isn’t on the schedule yet. Jia, same for you?”

Jia nods. “I’m out on this one.”

“No problem.” Jane says. “Valentina will be out as well. Other than Megan, is there anyone else who would prefer not to participate?”

Glancing around the table, Jane doesn’t see any sign that any of the other girls are out on the idea. “Megan, Jia, maybe you two can work with Kendra to plan something to keep Isabel busy that night? Call it a slumber party or girls’ night or something.”

“We can do that.” Jia says, before Megan can renew her objections to the idea.

“Thank you.” Amber says, grateful for Jia’s initiative. “We can talk after this, and I’ll give you some ideas.”

“One other thing I wanted to talk about.” Jane says, getting everyone’s attention. “We are coming under some pressure again to take a few more local women as concubines. The auction last weekend barely met its quota. Megan, Layne, if there is anyone you can think of that would be a good fit, let me know.”

“I don’t think Robert wants anyone else.” Lucia objects. “There are already twelve concubines, and with you and Amber, that makes fourteen women. Even with Valentina, Kendra, and Jia off the schedule, that’s eleven women for him to keep up with.”

“And Jia and Kendra may want to get on the schedule eventually.” Taylor adds. “That would take it to thirteen.”

“We may not have a choice.” Jane says firmly. “If it comes down to it, they will assign someone to us to meet the quota. I refuse to be put in that situation. I’m working through our options, but if push comes to shove, we may have to take one or two more. If you give me names, I’ll look into them. I’m planning to ask Lorraine if she has any suggestions as well.”

“Mistress, we are going to run out of room again, and end up in bunk beds.” Alexia says quietly.

“Oh, don’t worry.” Jane says in a sugary sweet voice. “I’ll get you a little doggy bed, and put it at the foot of our bed. Then one less person has to share a room.”

Alexia gulps, clearly concerned that Jane might follow through on her promise.

“I understand space is a concern.” Jane says more loudly, addressing everyone. “I also understand we are nearing completion of the first sleeping floor. Some of you will be sharing a room temporarily, until the last floor is done. Start thinking about who you are willing to room with, and who you can share a bathroom with, since there is one bathroom attached to two bedrooms.”

Finishing the last bite of her breakfast, Jane looks up. “I think we are done for this morning. We may have a guest for breakfast tomorrow. If we do, we won’t be discussing family business. Are we clear?”

*****

“Chad.” Jane says from the formal sitting area when he comes through the door, a few hours after breakfast. “May I have a moment of your time?”

“Sure.” He says, shrugging off his jacket and hanging it by the door before coming over to sit across from her. “What’s on your mind?”

“I’d like to meet your wife.” Jane says, in a very matter of fact tone. “Tomorrow would be good for us. Breakfast would be ideal, so she could meet most of my girls.”

“She’s not really leaving the house, right now.” Chad says, clearly taken off-guard by the request. “I guess I can talk to her about inviting you over for dinner sometime...”

“I’m afraid we don’t have time to pass invitations back and forth.” Jane says. “As much fun as that is. Tom and Lorraine have spoken to me about your situation, and I think I have a solution. I need to meet her to determine if it would work. The fifth auction is in two days, and there is a real question of whether we are going to reach our quota. If we don’t, Tom is going to start dropping women off at random houses, including ours. I can’t have that.”

“Pushing her isn’t going to help.” Chad says. “I’ve already told both of them that. If anyone pushes, she’ll dig in, and then I’ll be caught in the middle.”

“I’m not going to push.” Jane says with a smile. “Like I said, I think I have a solution she will find agreeable, based on what I’ve heard about her and her objections. But I need to actually talk to her to find out.”

“What is this solution?” Chad asks.

“I’d much rather talk to her first.” Jane says. “If I’m wrong, and it’s not something that would work for her, I’d much rather not have to explain why.”

“If I just tell her you want to socialize, she won’t come.” Chad says. “She really, really doesn’t want to leave the house.”

“Then tell her I’d like to meet her and discuss your concubine situation.” Jane says. “You can even tell her I have some ideas that could work for her, and not upset people in town. Or just tell her I’m a very pushy  client from the city, with absolutely no manners at all, and you don’t want to upset me.”

“Lorraine is keeping her informed about what is going on in town.” Chad says. “So, that last part won’t work.”

“You know her, and I don’t.” Jane says. “Tell her whatever you think will get her here tomorrow morning. We typically do breakfast at eight. Does she prefer pancakes or waffles?”

Chad shakes his head in frustration. “Look, I’ll ask. But I can’t make her come.”