The Sopaths by Piers Anthony Read Free Book Online Page A

her.
    Both Abner and Bunty had to repress smiles.
    “Not as much?” Clark asked.
    “Girls are just more interesting than boys,” Abner explained. “So boys peek more. You know that.”
    The boy nodded, satisfied.
    “Dreda is not your sister,” Abner concluded. “But for now maybe you should think of her as one.”
    “You’re not my father,” Clark said surprisingly.
    There was more than one way to interpret that statement. Abner chose the one that fit his purpose. “True. I am not. None of us are related to each other. But you may if you wish think of me as your father, and Bunty as your mother. We are thinking of you as our children. We have all lost our families, and now this is all we have.”
    “But will you take us back to Pariah tomorrow?”
    “No!” Abner said. Then he looked at Bunty.
    “No,” she agreed. “We are an artificial family. A pretend family. We won’t send you away until you want to go.”
    Thus was another decision made. “We’ll go back to Pariah as a family,” Abner said. “We will stay together.”
    Both children relaxed visibly. They had feared being isolated again. Then Dreda came to hug Abner, and Clark hugged Bunty. Abner discovered to his surprise that he was just as relieved as the children were. He dreaded the prospect of being alone with his grief, and this kept him from that.
    Bunty set about preparing them for a residence in what had been Jasper’s room. Abner sat heavily on the couch, unwinding, continuing his thought. They had become an impromptu family, and he was not dismayed. The children filled a raw hole in his life, as did Bunty. In fact a significant part of it was that this meant that Bunty would remain here indefinitely, playing the role of wife and mother. Running the household, keeping things in order, being company. Giving him sex. He felt guilty acknowledging it, but he did crave it. All of it. Maybe he was in a state of rebound, not just in love, but in the whole family. Still, it felt right.
    Bunty and the children reappeared. Clark was dressed in Jasper’s clothes, which fit well, they being the same age. Dreda wore more of Jasper’s clothes, cinched to fit her smaller frame. Abner looked askance.
    “Two things,” Bunty said briskly. “Your little girl was three, and Dreda is five, so she’s too big for that clothing. And yours was the sopath. We don’t want to touch her things.”
    Poison. He had to agree. Abner spread his hands. “Of course. You can take Dreda shopping for her own things.”
    “This afternoon,” Bunty agreed. Then she paused. “I will have to borrow some money.”
    Because she had nothing. “We’ll all go. I’ll pay for anything we need. Tomorrow we’ll see about getting your ID restored so you can function on your own.”
    “Thank you.”
    It was in one sense an entirely typical family afternoon with two parents seeing to the needs of two children. In another sense it was refreshingly strange, as the four of them integrated despite their disparate origins. All he had to do was follow Bunty’s cues. Abner really appreciated it.
    Things ran late, so they stopped at a fast food place for dinner. It was fun.
    That night, the children safely in bed, Bunty embraced him and kissed him ardently. “You were wonderful!”
    “You were the wonderful one,” he said. “You handled everything.”
    “You supported me completely, and I don’t mean just monetarily. You gave me legitimacy.”
    “You are legitimate.”
    “I’m a lost woman you took in. Then you let me take in the children. You have been more than kind.”
    He was embarrassed by her gratitude. “Well, you flashed me with your legs. What else could I do?”
    “Shut up.” She wrapped those legs about him, and they were in the throes of fantastic sex.
    “Seriously,” she said when it abated. “Can you afford all this? We spent a fair amount of money today, and it promises to continue.”
    “I have a good job. As long as I keep that, I can afford