When Paul finally laid his head down, he drifted off quickly. Not only had it been a long day, it had been a long week. Even on his 'days off,' he worked. He had been sleeping next to the Iversen family for several hours when his sleep cycle began to reach its third peak, just broaching the line from unconsciousness into sleepy semi-consciousness. It was then he noticed his skin was cold. The region was undergoing a temperature inversion.

"Paul? Paul?" he heard. "Paul! Move closer!" He heard a feminine voice, a familiar voice, one that he knew he could trust, and follow. Frejdis' voice.

Without completely waking, he rolled onto his right side, and began to scoot his whole body in the direction of the voice. His body undulated across the surface of the air mattress, moving only a few inches when his body encountered another body; a back, buttocks and legs.

Again, the voice directed him. "Keep your lower arm under the pillow. And, here, cover with this! We're spooning underneath it."

He felt cloth material tossed over his body. He grabbed the edge, and tucked it between his hip and the mattress. He recognized it right away, even in his present foggy mindset; his wool blanket. He flopped the upper corner over his left shoulder and, using his feet, folded the bottom corner between them, and then moved back toward Frejdis' feet.

He felt Frejdis grab his left wrist, and pull his arm over her body. She placed his hand down over her stomach, his palm directly over her belly button. When Gunnar backed up against Frejdis, Paul found his hand pinned between their bodies.

He sighed deeply, relaxed, and drifted back into unconsciousness. And he soon reached REM sleep.

* * *

For Frejdis, there was truly only one thing in the world that she absolutely hated, and that was feeling cold. She loved winter, like she loved all the seasons. She was an accomplished ice skater, not so much a skier, but she took her place in a 4-person bobsled, when she and Gunnar took a winter vacation at Lake Placid, New York. She just did not like being cold. So, when the temperature inversion that covered the region enveloped Magnolia and Moss, she felt it, and reacted quickly to it. She reached down to her feet, and pulled up the first thing that her hand touched: Paul's wool blanket.

Since she and Gunnar always slept close, even in the most 'hazy, hot, and humid' of nights, she only needed to get Paul and Kate to move closer to them.

"Gunnar, get Kate to move closer to you. I'll get Paul to move in closer," she whispered, as she unfolded the blanket.

"Paul? Paul? Paul! Move closer!"

As she heard and felt him moving, she laid back down, against her husband. Not sure he would understand, she turned her head, and said to Paul, "Keep your lower arm under the pillow. And, here, cover with this! We're spooning underneath it."

She tossed the blanket to both sides as Paul made contact with her, and spooned against her exactly right. Lying between her husband and Paul, she began to get warm again, and wondered why it seemed women were always cold, and men were always warm. She felt Paul's feet move toward hers, so she moved one of her feet between his, moving the other between Gunnar's. 'Let's see who warms one up first!' she thought.

She reached back and grabbed Paul's wrist, bringing his hand around her stomach, resting it over her belly button. As Gunnar adjusted into his position against her, Paul's hand was firmly held in place, keeping him in place against her back.

After a few moments, she contemplated the configuration of their bodies. Knowing Gunnar's body intimately, she concentrated on where Paul's body was in relation to her own. His face seemed to be centered at the nape of her neck; his chest against her back. She felt his penis at the base of her spine, his thighs against her thighs, knees locked in behind her's, with her left foot between his. She could tell he was getting some sun; the skin of his foot was soft on top, an indication of just the right amount of sun, and being properly hydrated. She was grateful to have someone equal in size to Gunnar behind her. In fact, she remembered something from her past with Gunnar, and smiled.

Quietly, she said, "Gunnar, remember the time when we first started living together, when Kate took the room I was to have, and I started sleeping with you? Remember how I thought, even in your sleep, all you could think about was sex?"

"Yes!!" Gunnar chuckled, quietly, thinking back. "I remember explaining nocturnal penile tumescence to you; that I wasn't really thinking about sex, but under the right conditions in REM sleep, a man could..." He became quiet again before speaking. "...um, are you telling me that someone has reached REM sleep behind you?" His voice was tinged with just a bit of jealousy.

Frejdis listened to Paul's breathing, feeling his breath against her neck, and the rise and fall of his chest against her back.

"Yes! Yes, I believe he has. But nothing has come up if that's what you are asking."

"Are you okay with it?" Gunnar asked, now more concerned.

"Of course! But nothing is happening as of yet. And even if it was, we both know he has no ill intent; he's fast asleep. You know better than I that he has no control over it. But it would show that everything is normal and healthy with him, right?"

"Yes! Yes, it would. I just wanted to be sure you were okay with it. We could switch places if you are uncomfortable."

"Oh, no need. It wasn't any different than when we spooned together with your brother and sister-in-law when we went camping, zipping our sleeping bags together. He got an erection several times throughout the night, and we all considered it normal and healthy. Why should we believe any differently about Paul, if and when it should happen to him?"

Gunnar thought about it for a moment. "You're right. I was being...please, forgive me!"

Frejdis smiled, and kissed the back of Gunnar's neck. He was protective for all the right reasons, and she thought it was sweet. "Think nothing of it." She squeezed her arm around his chest. She felt his feet surround her foot as he rolled back into her, then moving forward into a more relaxed position.

* * *

Gunnar felt Frejdis' kiss, and he shifted his feet around her's. 'Think nothing of it,' she said. In that moment, however, his brother Lars was all he could think about.

He put his arm around Kate, who was lying in front of him, like she had on various cold nights for much of the last 20 years. He rolled back against Frejdis, and pulled Kate closer to him, before rolling forward again, closer to keep her warm. He felt Kate take hold of his hand, and bring it up to her right shoulder, his left forearm resting between her breasts.

Kadlyn Iversen, known to all as Kate, was the only living legacy of his older brother Lars and his sister-in-law, Thora. He remembered dropping them off at the airport for their flight to central Africa, for another Physicians without Frontiers expedition, twenty years earlier. They presented Kate with a small gold necklace with a cross before they left. It was the only thing she wore with any consistency, like her second skin. And that was the last time the family saw Lars and Thora.

Gunnar loved his brother. When they were young, they were always together. If one saw Lars, one would soon see Gunnar, and vice versa. Gunnar was Lars' best man, and Lars was going to be Gunnar's. Lars was just four years older, but Gunnar saw him as bigger than life most of the time. Gunnar always knew Lars to be there. While growing up, they bathed together, slept in the same bed together, ate off each other's plates, etc. And, even though they grew up in a nudist household, it was through Lars that Gunnar understood why doing things naked, anything and everything, was always better than being clothed. 'Except for frying bacon and chicken...wear a loin cloth,' Gunnar remembered Lars saying. That became an Iversen family joke for years afterward.

There was no question that Gunnar was going to take care of his niece Kate when Lars and Thora left. And there was no thought at all for Gunnar to keep taking care of Kate when word came of Lars' and Thora's death. The only issue at the time was that Gunnar had Frejdis in his life, too. She, however, never felt put upon having a niece/daughter around during those first few years of married life. He knew that Frejdis loved Kate as if she had given birth to her. There was no question that Kate was where she needed to be, and with whom, when Lars and Thora were killed.

Gunnar let one tear roll out of his eye, and over the bridge of his nose. For a long time, he hated life and hated God for taking his brother away from him, from his daughter, from this world. Lars was going to be such a great father to Kate and every other child he and Thora would have brought into this world. He would have been such a great uncle to Gunnar's children, and those of Frejdis' sister. It took time for Gunnar to realize that he needed to accept that Lars was no longer in his life, and that he needed to step up, and take care of the things that really mattered in Lars' absence.

* * *

Kate felt Gunnar's arm come over her body. She grabbed his hand and brought it up to her shoulder, like she had done since she was four. There was nothing wrong with this as far as she was concerned. She had done this with Uncle Dad since before she knew what sleeping close meant, warmth and comfort, and being nude, a closeness that she also shared with her cousins. She also looked forward to the day when she would share closeness, and more, with one other man. The man who would be her husband...if Uncle Gunnar would stop driving all her boyfriends away!!

As soon as she heard Frejdis mention her father's name, Gunnar became emotional. He grew quiet, had settled himself, but she held his hand, knowing that his 'protective position' would give him strength through the turmoil which was currently running through Gunnar's head.

She felt that one tear drop land on the side of her neck and roll across the back of it, mixing with her perspiration, becoming too heavy to stay on her skin, and eventually dropping to the mattress below.

Kate thought about Paul, sleeping on the other side of Aunt Mom. He was a nice guy, good looking, not that that was a consideration, but it helped. He seemed to be at peace with himself. Yes, he was concerned about getting an erection. Most men were. But he seemed to be holding his own. She chuckled quietly at her accidental double entendre.

She remembered tonight's dinner conversation. Once he understood that everyone at the table was on his side, was going to support him, and not judge or embarrass him, he opened up, a whole lot faster than her other boyfriends from high school and college. Some of them turned out to be real creeps when she started talking about naturism, and being nude. Most of them thought it was an invitation for sexual intercourse, and when they found out it was not, and especially if they got a royal sendoff by way of Gunnar, Kate started to get the reputation for being a tease. It was not fair, but that was high school.

College was a bit different, but a lot of the boys were just the same as they were in high school, just taller, more confident, and sometimes, with a chip on their shoulder, believing they were God's Gift to all Womankind.

Paul was different. He looked like he enjoyed being nude, or at least tolerated it a whole lot. He seemed to have no problems running around, working, rowing, swimming, playing yard games, and most importantly to her, playing volleyball. She did notice that at dinner, when he spoke, he seemed to be holding back on something, mostly where his family was involved, just like the night before. Everybody has a skeleton, she thought. But she envied him just a bit. At least he still had his parents; she would not give up Aunt Mom or Uncle Dad unless promised her own parents in return.

Still, she thought, he is cute. Seeing him in her mind's eye, she sighed, wondering if he was as good at nude mixed doubles volleyball, her favorite sport, as he seemed to be at rowing with Howard. Tomorrow would be another day, a day to watch and wonder, spend some time together and get to know him better. With that she closed her eyes, thought about the warmth of his hand when he held hers, and was soon fast asleep along with the others.

* * *

End of Memorial Day Weekend - Saturday Evening

But the series will continue...

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