#-.-#
Red sat in the back seat of Mrs. Kazan's car, watching the scenery stream past. The ride home from school usually took a half hour or more, and often he would be asleep by the time they reached his house. Mrs. Kazan would sometimes talk (or argue) with her son Jason, who always sat in the front seat, and Red shared the back with Jason's little sister, Beth. The Kazans and Red's family were one of the few in their town who sent their children to the magnet school several towns over, so it made sense to carpool. Red's father had morning drive duty, on his way to work in the city. 
As they pulled into Red's neighborhood, he blinked the drowsiness from his eyes and yawned, flicking his red squirrel-tail. 
Beth looked away from her window and said in a petulant voice, "Hey, watch where you're waving that thing!"
Red pulled his tail away and sighed. Beth was in 6th grade, and had suddenly got a lot less pleasant over the last year. Taller and cuter, though, he had to admit. Must be puberty, he mused. They get tall, cute, and nasty when it hits. Well, towards him, it seemed.
He had had a pretty abysmal day in the girl department, which would partially explain his negative attitude. The spring dance was coming up in a couple of weeks and he had managed to summon the courage to ask the mouse he had a tremendous crush on if she might like to go with him. She had claimed to already have a date, which might or might not have been true. It had left him feeling depressed for the rest of the day. He wasn't sure if he'd bother asking another girl. Probably just go stag.
He was still in a nice little indulgent cycle of self-pity when the car rolled to a halt in front of his house. He shouldered his backpack and mumbled a perfunctory "Have a good weekend..." to the jackal family and got out. 
Walking up the drive, he noticed that there was a beat-up looking Jeep parked out front. His dad's car wasn't there- he didn't usually get home until dinnertime. He didn't recognize the Jeep. His mom was home, of course, so he wasn't worried that the house was being ransacked. Still, he listened at the front door before opening it. He heard female voices. His mom, and someone else.
He opened the door and walked inside, calling out, "Hey, mom? Is someone here?" He shut the front door and dropped his heavy backpack by the couch.
From the kitchen, he heard, "Oh, there he is."
Red waited where he was. From the kitchen door emerged his mom, followed by a raccoon woman dressed in fairly tight jeans and a loose blouse that draped nicely over her chest. He caught himself staring and consciously looked up to her eyes, set in the dark bandit-mask of fur that marked her species. He raised a paw and waved. "Uh... hi!"
Before Red's mother could introduce him, the raccoon murmured to her, "He's the spitting image, Ellie."
Red's mother ignored that and said, "Eddie? This is Pam Piper. Your father and I went to college with her! She's in the area for a gallery opening and has come to visit for the weekend."
Pam grinned, rather toothily. "Just like old times! Pleased to meet you, Eddie." She offered him a black, long-fingered paw.
Eddie shook her paw, and she squeezed more firmly than he expected. "Uh, likewise, Miss Piper."
Pam released his paw and said, "Please, just Pam."
"Ok... then call me Red. Only mom calls me Eddie." He gave the raccoon a bucktoothed grin. 
"You got it, Red."
"So, uh... a gallery opening. Are you an artist?"
Pam shook her head, laughing. "Oh, no. I'm an agent. One of the artists I manage is having a show. I get to set things up, make all the material-plane arrangements that artists cannot be bothered with themselves."
Red perked his ears and said, "Cool. Can I go to the show?" He realized, as he asked it, that he had no idea why he wanted to go. He had never been all that impressed with art museums. 
"I don't see why not!"
Red's mother injected, "We'll talk about it later, hun. For now why don't you take your books up to your room and make sure your bathroom is decent. Pam's going to be staying in the guest room and sharing your bathroom."
Red felt like he was being dismissed, but he realized that his bathroom probably did need a bit of work. He didn't want Pam to think he was a filthy slob! He picked his backpack back up and trudged up the stairs, looking a little sullen for effect. His mom and Pam went back into the kitchen and continued their conversation out of his earshot.
After tidying his bathroom (and his bedroom for good measure... what had got into him?) he headed back downstairs. The two women were still chatting away in the kitchen. He could see his mother through the open doorway, with a mug of tea in her paw. He collapsed onto the couch in front of the enormous flatscreen television and flipped on the GameStation. Grabbing the controller, he settled in to a session with his favorite space sim game, trying to forget the frustrating day he'd had.
#-.-#
Eventually the smell of stir-fried vegetables penetrated his game-induced tunnel vision. His father had come home at some point, and all three adults were in the kitchen, talking and laughing. He saved his position and turned off the GameStation, rubbing his face with his paws. He was hungry! He ambled into the kitchen and was greeting by his dad. 
"Ha! I told them you'd come looking for the food. Your mother said I'd have to turn the TV off to get your attention."
Red snorted but didn't argue. "It does smell pretty awesome."
Red's mother was busy mixing the frying vegetables around in a large bowl-shaped pan over the gas flame. "Why don't you set the table for us, Eddie?"
Red nodded and gathered up four plates and sets of forks, arranging them at the kitchen table where they ate most of their meals.
Soon after, Red's mother added some mostly boiled noodles to the pan and flash fried them up with the vegetables. Then she poured the whole thing out onto a serving platter and brought it to the table. Red sat across from his dad, and his mom and Pam soon joined them. He reached for the serving spoon but his mom tsked. "Let Pam go first. She's the guest."
Red pulled his paw back and looked sheepish. "Sorry. Sorry, Pam."
Pam took the serving spoon and laughed it off while she scooped a serving of noodles and veggies onto her plate. "Oh, it's all right. I imagine you're hungry. I remember your dad used to eat an unbelievable amount of food! I couldn't figure out where he put it all. I accused him of having stashes around the house."
Red laughed and nodded, waiting for his turn. He *was* hungry. Thankfully, Pam handed him the spoon directly when she was done. He was careful not to take too much. 
After everyone was busy eating, Red's parents and Pam chatted in little snippets between mouthfuls, and Red listened. They were mostly catching up, talking about what they had been doing since they last saw each other, which was apparently some years ago. Red's father had settled into a steady engineering job right out of college. His mother worked part time as a physician's assistant. Red was attending the area magnet school and doing quite well. Red blushed a little when his parents crowed about him. Pam, for her part, enjoyed her job managing artists, got to travel to several big cities throughout the year, and was happily single. 
After dinner, Red helped clear away the dishes. His father had got out a bottle of dessert wine and poured glasses for the adults. He seemed about to ask Red if he wanted one too, but got a pre-emptive look from Red's mother and he rethought his plan. Red seemed excluded from the adult talk, so he went upstairs and logged onto the net, checking to see if any of his friends were online.

#-.-#
After a couple of hours of text-chatting and some gaming, he was surprised by a knock on his bedroom door. He pulled off his headphones and said, "Come in?"
It was his father. He grinned at Red. Red's dad was a lightweight drinker- two beers and he got very silly. It looked like he was already there. He asked, leaning against Red's doorframe, "Want to come back downstairs? We need a fourth."
Red blinked. "Fourth?"
Red's father had already turned to head back down. "Yeah, come on."
Red followed.
Pam and his mother were seated at the kitchen table. The bottle of wine was mostly empty. His dad sat down and motioned him to do the same. Pam was shuffling a deck of playing cards. 
His mom explained, "When we were in college, we used to play cards all the time. Hearts, spades, euchre, even bridge. We need four, though. Do you know any of those games?"
She sounded pretty mellowed out to Red. He nodded. "We play hearts and euchre at school, during free periods."
Pam said, "Perfect! Let's play hearts."
Truthfully, Red was really good at hearts. He grinned, pleased to have been invited to join the adults in their game, and secretly hoping to show them how sharp he was. Pam began dealing out the cards, and Red picked his hand up, sorting and arranging it. He had a fairly average hand, and pitched some high hearts to his left, expecting to score nice and low. As the playing began, he asked, "So you guys played between classes too?"
Pam shook her head. "We didn't see much of each other during the day. Different majors. We played in the evenings, at home."
Red took a safe trick and led off with a spade, hunting for the queen. 
His father said, "Pam was one of our roommates. We all lived together in this rundown old house off campus. 
Red chittered, "Sounds totally cool. Did you have parties and stuff?"
His dad grinned. "Damn near every weekend! Ahh, college. There's nothing else like it."
Red's mother took the trick and led off another spade, continuing the hunt. Red followed suit and the queen still didn't drop. He made a mental note. Only five spades left. Luckily, he didn't have any of the high ones. 
Red asked, "So, like, you guys drank beer and did crazy stuff, huh?"
Pam giggled off to his right. His mother looked uncomfortable, but said nothing. His dad said, "Some beer, sure, but mostly liquor. Believe it or not, I used to be able to drink more than a couple of glasses of wine! We used to have some friends over, drink some booze, play some games... and paint! We all painted. Only Rick was any good though. What happened to Rick?"
Pam replied, "He made a go of it, but his stuff didn't sell. Last I talked to him, he was in real estate."
His father led off a diamond, which Red had none of. He gleefully pitched his highest heart on the trick. A club came back and he elected to take that trick, leading off with a small heart. So far, so good. He was enjoying hearing about his parents' life before they were married. They actually sounded pretty cool. It was a little disconcerting. Especially since he felt far from cool, himself.
He asked, "So you guys all lived together... did you and mom, like, date then?"
His father said, "Believe it or not, I knew Pam first. We dated for a while, even! But then Pam introduced me to your mother, and it was like..."
His mom finally smiled. "It was like we already knew each other."
His dad said with a chuckle, "The fact that there was *maybe* only a dozen male reds at the entire school helped me, I think."
Red digested this new information. His dad had been dating Pam, who then introduced him to Ellie, his mom. Something didn't add up there. Did girls just pawn their boyfriends off on each other like that? Or had Pam been upset when his mom and dad started dating? For that matter, had his dad slept with Pam before meeting his mother? He didn't ask these questions. He had a feeling Pam would have answered them, but his mom, despite the wine, seemed reluctant to even be having this conversation in front of Red. What was she afraid of him knowing?
Red finished the hand with zero points. A good start. 
Two rounds later, Red was still in the lead. More little tidbits of history had filtered out in the conversation. There had been a total of five roommates in the house. Stories were told, laughed about, people Red had never met or heard of before discussed. His parents had been pretty cool people, it seemed. Something was still lurking around the edges though, that his parents didn't want to share. He hoped he'd find out what it was, if not this weekend, maybe when he got older, ready to go off to college himself. It wasn't too far off- he was a sophomore already.
In the fourth round, Red was dealt an interesting hand. An enormously long 9-card diamond suit, no spades, the ace of clubs, and a few middling hearts. He decided to go for it. He pitched the hearts off and got two very high ones back, plus some random club. He planned carefully, tossing the random club on the first trick and then getting a diamond led back to him, making the rest of the hand for him. He could drop the pretense after a couple more tricks and shoot the moon with ease. It brought his total down into negative numbers. 
Pam looked at him sideways. "I think we have a ringer here, Allan."
Red blushed and flickered his tail. "That was an easy hand to shoot the moon with."
Pam trilled, and said, "Maybe. It could also have easily been a safe zero-point hand too. But you went for it. Nice job!"
Red felt his ear-tufts pricking up as his face flushed with pride at the raccoon woman's praise. 
His dad yawned. "I swear I had no idea he would beat us all. Course, he hasn't had any wine."
"I could have some, if you want!"
His mother laughed. "Nice try."

#-.-#
Four rounds later, his father rubbed his face with his paws. "I'm actually starting to fade here. Sort of sad, isn't it? Back in the day, we could stay up until sunrise!"
His mother leaned over and kissed his dad's cheek. "My poor tired party animal. Come on, let's get you to bed."
His parents got up, leaving the empty glasses and bottle for the morning. They said their good nights and headed up the stairs to their bedroom. Red looked at Pam, who was collecting the cards. "It's so hard to... imagine. I guess. I dunno. I never really thought about mom and dad being... people."
Pam laughed. "We're all people, Red. And we were all young once. Your dad was a lot like you, when I first met him."
"What? No, he sounds like he was cool. I'm... well, I'm kind of  a geek."
"Oh, so was he! But he was so cute, and skinny and had this spastic infectious energy. He could be walking along on campus, and suddenly drop his books and climb up the nearest tree! And he never lied to me. I still think about him sometimes. Don't tell your mother. She's quite possessive, I think. She's watching me."
"So did you and dad..."
Pam obviously knew what Red was asking and nodded. "Uh huh. Every chance we got. And it was fun. But we knew that's all it was, I think. How old are you, Red?"
"Sixteen."
Pam nodded. "You're old enough to start figuring this stuff out, I guess. Your mom might disagree, but... you should try to get your dad alone and see if he'll give you some advice. I don't know. I never had kits."
Red rubbed the back of his neck and nodded. "I'm... I don't have a lot of luck with girls. Got shot down today, in fact."
Pam reached over and patted his arm. "I'm sorry. I can almost promise you whoever she was, she has no idea what she's missing. Or anything at her age. Hell, even when I was in college, I didn't know... like, for instance, when I introduced your mom and dad to each other."
"Did you know what was going to happen?"
"Nope. I should have, of course. I just didn't think. And then we were all roommates and we had this sort of open... thing. Together. It worked for a while. But it was obvious, after a year, that they were making plans for a family, and I couldn't be part of that. Species trumps all."
Red's eyes widened. "So you all..."
Pam answered again, looking Red in the eyes, "Uh huh."
Red could only offer, "Whoa."
Pam trilled a laugh and said, "You don't know the half of it. Which is probably for the best. Already I have a feeling I'm going to be in trouble for telling you any of this."
Red vowed, "I promise I won't breathe a word of it to them."
"Good. I think it's time I went to bed as well, young squirrel. Thanks for showing me how much I've forgotten about hearts."
"Thanks for, uhm... teaching me a little about hearts. The other kind, I mean. Heh."
"Oh lord, that's corny. Just like your father! I'm going to bed. See you in the morning."
Pam got up and headed out of the kitchen, her ringed tail flicking behind her. Red was able to stare at her somewhat wide hips and backside as she walked away. He wondered how she had looked in college, then imagined her, and his parents, naked, all snuggled up with each other, squirming and humping and chittering and trilling and... he blinked. Time for bed, yes.
He flicked off the kitchen light and went upstairs. Once in his bedroom, he could hear Pam getting ready for bed in the shared bathroom, through the closed door. He waited, silently, sitting on his bed. He needed to pee. And so did Pam, apparently, as he clearly heard her doing so on the other side of the door! He couldn't help but imagine her sitting on his toilet, with her jeans and panties pulled down, her naked butt parked right there. Man, he needed to do more than pee now! The toilet flushed, and he could hear Pam leave, shutting the other door behind her. 
He opened his door to the bathroom and peeked inside, as if she might still be hiding in there someplace. Maybe he hoped she was. But she was getting into the unfolded futon in the guest room. He undid his pants and lifted the toilet seat with one paw, pushing his pants down far enough to pee with the other. He was half-hard just from thinking about Pam being half-naked in here, but it didn't interfere with what he needed to do.
Once his bladder was drained, he held his tapered squirrel dick in his paw and considered rubbing one out right there. But he knew he wouldn't be able to hide the sounds from Pam, and for all he knew she'd be able to smell his cum. He decided it was a dumb idea, and flushed, heading back into his bedroom and closing the bathroom door. She'd only be staying for two nights, after all. 

#-.-#
There was a time when Red would be up before dawn on Saturdays, watching cartoons on the TV and stuffing his face with bowls of Nut Cluster cereal. But that had ended a few years ago, and now he'd stumble out of bed at nearly lunchtime. 
So when the bathroom door opened at 7:00 AM, he was dead to the world, curled up in the center of his bed, tail covering his face. 
Pam grinned at the cute ball of red squirrel and padded across his room and scratched his head between his ears. When he made a "mrrp?" sound and opened his eyes, she said, "Hey, if you still want to come with me to the gallery you need to get up and get ready. I'm leaving in 30 minutes."
Red stretched and yawned, forgetting for a moment that he slept naked. Luckily his tail, still curled up between his legs, covered most of the important bits. Pam had already turned and gone back to the guest room, closing the door behind her, and he wasn't sure what she had seen of him. 
He dithered a little, sprawling across his bed and wondering if sleeping for another four hours or so might be more enjoyable. But eventually his curiosity won out and he swung his legs off the bed and dragged himself to the bathroom. He noticed it was already warm and moist in there- obviously Pam had taken a shower. She must have brought her own shampoo, as it smelled very feminine to Red. He turned the water back on, brushed his teeth, and got in. He took a fairly slow shower, and once again considered relieving the pressure in his balls, but Pam had told him she was leaving at 7:30, so he decided he didn't have time to really enjoy it. Once clean and mostly dry, he picked out some clothes that he hoped would be cool enough for artists: a pair of almost-baggy jeans and a t-shirt with an obscure gaming logo on the front. 
He padded down the stairs, hearing muffled conversation from the kitchen as he approached. 
"...worry. I'll put him to work. Plus, you'll have a nice day alone with Allan."
Red appeared in the doorway and his mother looked up, wearing her bathrobe and holding a cup of tea. She looked from him to Pam, then finally shrugged, flickering her tail. She said, "Have fun at the gallery, Eddie."
Pam grinned, her masked eyes making her look very mischievous. She was dressed in a sort of stylish professional manner today- charcoal grey slacks that matched her fur and a silk burgundy blouse with a black and silvery paisley pattern vest over it. 
Red knew they'd been talking about him, and could tell his mother didn't really want him to go. He wondered why not. Hadn't they all been friends in college? Hadn't she invited Pam to stay at their house for the weekend?
Before he could roll it over in his head any more, Pam was jingling her keys. "Right, let's get going. I'll buy you breakfast on the way. Maybe you can show me where to get a good bear claw near here."
Pam nibbled on her bear claw as she drove, occasionally asking Red to read from a sheet of printed driving directions. He had already scarfed down his banana nut muffin and saw from the map that the gallery was not too far from his school. Pam's Jeep needed new shocks, and the interior had that old car smell- baked vinyl, a little mildew, oil. Red thought that this would be the kind of car he wanted to get, to drive to school. It was definitely cool, in his book. 
As if reading his mind, Pam asked, "Do you have your license yet?"
Red shook his head. "Next year, dad said. And I gotta take a class first. Makes it cheaper on the insurance."
Pam nodded. "Ok. Can't send you out to fetch lunch then. No prob."
Red cursed silently. She would have let him drive the Jeep!
Once they reached the gallery, Red unbuckled his seatbelt and hopped out, leaving the map behind. The gallery was in a strip-mall, down at one end. It didn't seem very large or glamorous to Red. Pam was heading for the front door, so Red followed, his tufted ears perked with curiosity. Pam pressed a button next to the door, which must have been a doorbell, though Red didn't hear anything.
A grey tabby unlocked and opened the door. Pam said, "Morning! I'm Pam Piper, here to set up for the Matheson show."
The feline nodded and stood aside. He said, "The pieces are in the back by the alley door. The hangers and title plates and stuff are back there too in the rolly cart," as Red and Pam came inside, then locked the door behind them.
Pam said, "Thanks! C'mon Red, time to put you to work."
Red wasn't sure he liked the sound of that. The cat grinned, though. Maybe he would have been helping Pam if Red hadn't been there.
He followed Pam through the surprisingly large space of the gallery. The walls were of course white and bare, with anchor points for hooks everywhere. There were half-walls and other surfaces breaking up the main space of the room, providing many places to display wall art. There were also white boxy pedestals to place sculptures and other three-dimensional pieces. The back room, by contrast, was filthy and crammed with hardware and tools and ladders and old pieces of artwork that apparently had no home. 
Pam was already pawing through the neat stack of plastic-and-paper-wrapped canvases. Red watched her ringed tail flit from side to side as she checked off the tags on the backs of the canvases with her list. Her slacks pulled tight over her round rear end while bent over like that, enough to see the lines of her panties. She straightened up and said, "All here. Ok, I'm going to unwrap these and you can carry them out to the gallery. Just lean them against the wall where you think they might look best. We'll see what kind of eye you have."
That didn't sound too bad. Fun even! Pam had a utility knife out and was carefully slicing open the brown paper and plastic sheeting that covered each piece. All paintings, it seemed. As she uncovered the first one, Red got a look. He guessed it was one of those "abstract" things, as it was mostly shapes and lines and colors. He thought it might look a little like a bird, but he wasn't sure. He picked it up as Pam moved to unwrap the next one. The label tag on the inside of the canvas was unhelpful. It said "Untitled". He carried it out into the space, and tried to pick a spot. The tabby was nowhere to be found. Red picked a spot the furthest from the back room and leaned the canvas against the wall, then went back for the next one.
Red soon figured out that it was less important where a painting was, as long as it was near others that seemed to compliment it. He spent more and more time moving things around as he accumulated more pieces.
Pam carried the last one out herself and saw Red standing in the middle of one of the larger spaces, hands on his hips, looking at a row of four paintings. She said, "Hey, not bad!" and walked over to him, placing a paw on his shoulder. She then slipped her arm around his waist and gave him a sideways hug. "You've got a good eye. Lemme just switch a couple around, and then we'll get to hanging. 
Red blushed when she hugged him. She was warm and smelled nice... it made his tail fluff up a bit. She set to switching a few of the pieces around and then returned to the back room to fetch the cart with the wall-hangers and hardware. She pushed it to the far end of the gallery and said, "Go get the ladder," to Red.
Red scurried happily back to fetch it. Carrying it carefully back to where Pam was pulling out hangers. 
She said, "These are pretty easy to figure out. Climb up there and anchor them in the little holes in the wall, right above where we've got the painting sitting.
The holes weren't really that far above the ground, but the ladder made it easier. As he finished each pair of hangers and moved the ladder, Pam hung each piece. 
She said, "Thanks for helping, Red. Normally I do this all myself before an opening. We'll be done in no time."
"I thought the artist would be here, helping you."
"Oh, sometimes they do. A lot of them are very particular about the way their pieces are presented, and in which order. I've worked with Greg on lots of shows, though, and he trusts me to do it for him. Plus he hates to wake up early."
Red chittered a laugh. "I'm right there with him."

#-.-#
They finished the whole show in a half hour and put away the cart and ladder. 
Red asked, "Now what? When does the show open?"
Pam replied, "Not until 10 AM. So we've got about an hour before we open the doors. Greg won't show until after lunch, probably. It will probably be pretty slow until then anyway. By this evening, it will be packed, hopefully. Hopefully with art buyers!"
She sat cross-legged on the carpeted floor. Red followed suit, across from her. He asked, "So, do you get like a cut of the sales?"
Pam nodded. "A percentage commission. For making the contacts, scheduling the gallery, setting up. The gallery also gets a cut."
Red looked around at the nearest paintings. "There's no prices on the tags."
Pam shook her head. "You have to ask to get the price. We find it's better that way, so the price doesn't immediately scare them off."
Red asked, "Wow, how much are they?"
"Greg's a moderately well-known artist and has a bit of a following. His work is also very good, and fits with the current trend in art as status-symbol home decoration. He can ask for over a thousand for some of these pieces."
Red's eyes widened. "Damn! Maybe I should take an art class..."
Pam laughed. "Remember all those people who get a cut? And not to mention the time each piece takes to finish, materials... you really don't end up making much money, even with a following of wealthy fans. What's your backup plan, in case starving artist doesn't work out?"
Red clawed absently at the carpet in front of him. "Oh... well, dad's en engineer, and I figured I could do that too. I'm good at math and physics and chemistry and stuff like that. I dunno exactly what he *does* at work, but it seems ok."
Pam watched the young squirrel, leaning forward. "You are *so* much like your father when he was young, it's a little spooky. I think he decided on his engineering major because he was good at that stuff and because he heard they made good, steady money. Which is fine... practical. Honest. I told you your dad was always so honest..."
Red looked up, and caught Pam's eyes. She was looking at him intently. He laughed nervously. "Yeah, sometimes he says things that he really shouldn't. It's kinda funny. Anyway, how did you meet him? I mean, you guys didn't start by living together, right?"
"We met while we were still both living on campus. We were in the same dorm, and there was a party one weekend- one of those parties that was just a bunch of people's rooms, with alcohol, and music everywhere. I was room-hopping, checking out the people in each room, talking with the ones I knew. Fairly buzzed. Anyway, most of the rooms were pretty similar. Some booze, some music, people sitting on the chairs and beds talking and laughing. Until I got to this one room where they had pushed everything to the edges and set up a poker table in the middle of the room. There were about six or seven guys, just playing poker. Door open, free beer on a table nearby. I stopped to watch. Your father was at the table. One of them asked if I wanted to buy in and I declined. Your father kept looking at me, though. I think I was ruining his concentration!"
Red laughed and nodded. He could relate.
"So after he lost a couple of hands he looked right at me and said, "You look pretty sharp, can you play my stack for me while I go to the men's room?" I know, smooth, right? I gotta go to the can! Haha! Anyway, I said, "Sure!" I liked that he thought I "looked sharp". I sat down and managed to win one hand while he was gone. When he came back I was in the middle of a hand so he just stood behind me. Leaned down and murmured "Thanks... I'm Allen, by the way," in my ear, then started rubbing my shoulders. I was actually having fun by this point and when he asked if I wanted to keep playing his stack I said, "If you keep rubbing my shoulders!" and he said "Deal.""
Red said, "That's... amazing. I wish I could... like... I dunno. Be that cool with girls."
Pam grinned. "I think you're pretty cool, Red. 
Red laughed ruefully. "If only you went to my school... I ask the girls out, they find excuses to say no. I send them flowers, notes... and I'm a creepy stalker."
Pam tsked. "You know what you want, but you want it too much, I suppose. I think the girls you're asking don't know what they want yet and your enthusiasm scares them, maybe. But look at how your dad did it- he was just casually friendly, sort of took me by surprise, but not in a creepy way. And it worked! Not saying it always will, but..."
"Yeah, I understand. Thanks, Pam."
"And he wasn't very experienced, as I found out later that night."
Red's eyes widened. "You had sex with him, just like that?"
Pam blushed a little, and nodded. "I know... but he was so much fun! Silly and funny and under the surface I could *tell* he wanted me. Badly. But he was so scared to let it show. Probably had a high school full of experiences like yours. It made him jittery and nutty. So I calmed him down the best way I knew how. It worked out well for both of us, I think."
Red said, "Went all in, huh?" making a poker reference.
Pam stared, then laughed. "He said almost that exact thing, at the uh... opportune time. That may have endeared me to him forever. The fact that he could make me laugh at a moment like that." She shook her head, closing her eyes. "It's like you're... a mirror out of time. You're younger than he was when I met him but... *sigh*."
Red didn't know what to say. Here he was, talking with this hot independent raccoon woman, old enough to be his mom, discussing his father's early sex life. His curiosity finally got the better of him. "So was he any good?"
Pam trilled a laugh. "He was really enthusiastic. And oh gods... you rodents..."
Red tilted his head. "We rodents?"
Pam licked her nose. She looked embarrassed now. "Copious producers," she murmured quietly. 
Red blushed now, thinking of some of his messier masturbation sessions. It made his jeans feel tight, even though he had worn a baggy pair. After an uncomfortable silence he quipped, "I should have brought a deck of cards."
Pam laughed and stood up, ruffling his headfur as she passed him. She walked over to the door. "Almost time to open up. Do you mind manning the door and handing  out flyers? I usually try to float around the gallery, helping guests."
Red nodded, wondering about the abrupt end to the interesting conversation. Maybe he could tease more juicy details out of her later.
"We usually try to get guests to sign the book and give us their e-mail too, so ask them if they want to, but don't hard sell it, ok?"
Red nodded again and finally stood up, straightening his jeans and adjusting the contents. Pam noticed, but said nothing. She unlocked the door.

#-.-#
As Pam predicted, the morning saw only a handful of guests. Around lunchtime, Pam went out and got some sandwiches for herself, Red, and the tabby whose name Red still did not know. Red helped the two guests who came into the gallery while she was gone with no trouble. 
Mid-afternoon, the artist showed up. He was a lanky pine marten, and seemed off the scale of cool to Red. He was very friendly towards Red, thanking him for his help, asking him about school, the logo on his shirt, his favorite games, which Red was only too happy to chat about. Eventually he had to go schmooze with the public, weaving through the knots of guests, introducing himself, greeting the ones he knew, discussing the work on the walls. 
There were some catered hors d'oeuvres brought in around dinnertime, and Red was ravenous. He had to control himself, though, as they were mostly for the guests. Greg (the artist) snuck him a glass of red wine and a little plate of shrimp, winking. Red sipped the wine, unsure if he liked the taste all that much. But he wasn't going to turn down a little illicit alcohol at the coolest event he had ever attended. Screw the spring dance! This was *culture*. 
By the time 9PM rolled around, he had given away half his stack of flyers and managed to get a couple dozen e-mail addresses in the guest book. The gallery was closing, and the guests amiably made they way out. He helped Pam and Greg and the tabby clean up and then they left as well. Greg once again thanked Red for coming and helping, and said he hoped to see him at his next show. The marten kissed Pam on the side of her muzzle and she and Red headed back to her Jeep. 
"Did you have fun?" She asked.
"Totally. Greg is so cool! I don't really get the art, though I think it looks nice. I can't afford it anyway, heheh."
"I'm glad you enjoyed it. And Greg is super nice. I wish all my clients were like him. Some are royal pains."
"Thanks for letting me come, Pam."
Pam smiled as she drove along the darkened streets back to Red's house. "You were a big help. Thank you, Red."

#-.-#
It had been a long day, certainly. Red's parents were watching TV when he and Pam got home, and he yawned, saying that he needed to get some sleep. 
His father asked, "Wow, what did you make him do? He's usually up all hours on the weekend."
Pam laughed. "He was up and down a ladder all morning, hanging artwork. And handing out flyers... an excellent worker."
Red beamed, and headed up the stairs. He said over his shoulder, "I think I wanna be an artist."
His parents chittered an amused laugh and Pam said, "He was very impressed by the artist at the show. Buy him some pastels and see how he does! Did you guys have fun while we were gone?"
Red's mother nodded, wrapping an arm around his father. "We did, thanks."
Pam winked and said, "I'm going to bed too. See you in the morning," then headed up the stairs to the guest bedroom.
Red, true to his word, had already collapsed in bed. He didn't remember doing anything all that strenuous, but he felt sleepy regardless. He didn't even sign in online. He just took a leak, stripped off his clothes (leaving them in a heap on his floor) and curled up in bed. 
Pam went into the bathroom from her side to brush her teeth and get ready for bed, and noticed that Red had left the door to his room open, and his light on. She peeked in and saw him curled up in a ball of red fur in his bed. She rinsed her muzzle and left the bathroom, undressing and placing her things in her overnight bag. Dressed only in her panties and bra, she sat on the edge of the bed, tail flicking behind her. She looked down at herself. She had a little bit of a belly these days, and her hips were mature but still pretty firm. If she took her bra off, she knew her grey-furred breasts would sag a little, but the nipples still faced out and not down. She sighed, resting her forehead against her paw. 
Finally she stood up and headed back into the bathroom. She leaned against the doorframe of the open door into Red's bedroom, watching him sleep. His breath was slow and even. His back was to her, all reddish-orange fur. She knew his belly and groin would be white, like his father. She watched for several minutes, gnawing on her lip. Then she went back into the guest room and shut the door.

#-.-#
Something was touching the sensitive fur tufts on his ears. He flicked them involuntarily. The tickling sensation did not abate and he gradually rose into half-consciousness, pawing at his ears to wave off whatever was there. His paw encountered nothing, but he opened his eyes, squinting at the light in the room. He turned his head and then his eyes widened. Inches from his face was the masked and smiling face of Pam. She had been nuzzling his ears. He asked, "Pam?"
She nodded. 
He looked past her face. She was sitting on the floor next to his bed. She was nude. He licked his nose and said, "Dreaming."
She shook her head. She also held a finger to her muzzle. She leaned in closer, until her wet black nose was almost touching his ear.
She whispered, "It's late. Your parents are asleep. Would you like to play... hearts?"
Red's mind was still very muddled. It took him several breaths to process that. He blinked and sat up, turning around and sitting cross-legged on his bed. Pam looked down to his lap, now that she had an unobstructed view. His penis was just peeking from its furry little pouch-like hiding place, and below that, his white-furred rodent-sized orbs. He looked down to her. He could see her full breasts, her black nipples perked and crinkled. Her position on the floor did not offer a view of her groin, but he could see the line of her belly framing the soft beginning of her mons below. 
When he didn't answer, she whispered, "I'm dealing you a hand, like the one you had last night. You could easily take not a single trick, if you wanted. Or, if you can stay quiet about it, you can shoot the moon. It's your choice, Red."
She stood up, and suddenly her sex was only a couple of feet from his face. It was covered in velvety dark grey fur. He could see the central line of her black labia. He could smell her... oh gods it was like nothing else he had ever smelled. He leaned forward, whiskers flexed. But she turned, and walked (with a fair amount of tail-swishing saunter) out of his room, through the bathroom, and into the dark guest bedroom.
He was almost instantly, painfully hard. His groin throbbed with two days of pent-up denial, and several years of frustrated pubescent desire besides. His heart-rate shot up and his fingers and toes felt tingly. He hopped off his bed and walked to his bathroom. There really wasn't any question in his mind how he wanted to play this hand. 
The bathroom light was still off, and the guest bedroom was mostly in darkness except for what leaked through from his room. He padded in, following her scent, and the sound of her rustling in the bedcovers. He climbed onto the bed, and she opened the covers for him. He slipped under, into her warm nest.
Her paws wrapped around him, holding him, stroking him. He shivered and he found his nose in between her breasts. Her raccoon musk was alien to him, but it still smelled good. Spicy. Interesting. He nosed around until he found a nipple. It was still stiff and he licked it. He got a quiet little gasp from Pam. A velvet-padded paw encircled his squirrel shaft and he chittered. 
He was admonished by a "Hush... your parents are across the hall." He nodded and swallowed hard.
He whispered back, "I can be quiet... got a lot of practice." He didn't elaborate.
Pam stroked his rigid cock, feeling his tension, his need, his dribbling pre-fluid. She rolled facing away from him under the covers. She let go of his maleness and murmured over her shoulder, "Spoon with me, Red. Mate with me..."
Red scooted up against her back, his belly curving against her round rear end. He could almost believe he was still dreaming... which meant if he wanted this to be one of the good dreams- the ones that necessitated furtive laundry being done, he had to work fast before he woke up. He hunched himself up against her rear, wrapping one arm around her belly. She helpfully lifted one of her legs slightly. He humped against her, his pointed shaft prodding her vulva, but missing the mark. She had to help him, her nimble fingers guiding him into her molten center. Red gasped and pushed into her all at once. He could not believe how *hot* she was inside. And *wet* and... oh gods he never imagined it would be like this.
Pam trilled quietly, unable to stop herself. The boy still had some growing to do, but his squirrel cock was wider than the average raccoon male's already, so it felt snugly pleasant. But more than that, she was claiming his virginity, just as she had claimed his father's. 
Red started humping Pam, driving his straining young shaft into her sopping wet mature pussy quickly. He panted against her upper back and his paw gripped her belly, heedless of his claws. Her tail curled back against his front and tickled his nose. He began to realize this was not a dream. He whispered, "Oh gods, Pam... I can't... feels so good..."
She turned her head and whispered, "Shhh... I know... don't try to hold it. Just come for me."
Red huffed and rolled against her, grinding himself as close and deep as he could manage. Her closed thighs made for a tight squeeze at her entrance. He whispered, "Inside?"
She sighed, "Uh-huh..." and pushed back against him. Red really couldn't hold out, the sensation was too incredible, too much for his overloaded nerves. His tail flagged wildly behind him, trapped under the covers as he pressed himself in deep, using his clawed toes to push against the mattress. All at once, Pam turned onto her belly, and he had no choice but to roll up onto her. The new position allowed him to sink an inch or so deeper into her and that's when he exploded. He clenched his teeth, seething against the urge to cry out as his balls twitched and began shooting his potent teenaged seed into his unlikely first partner. The question of protection had not even crossed his mind, despite the repeated health class warnings. Fortunately his squirrel sperm would have no chance of fertilizing any raccoon eggs they might find. 
Two days of unspent stock flowed into Pam in strong, ropy spurts, swirling and filling her internal capacity quickly. The warm and juicy feeling made her shudder and moan into her pillow. The memories came flooding back again, of her time with this boy's father, how he would fill her again and again. She had not climaxed herself yet, but she knew that once this first barrier was burst, Red would be able to give her that as well.
Red panted and clung to Pam's back, his orgasm tapering off until he was twitching dry. He felt woozy. He slurred, "Shot th'moon..." which made Pam giggle and wiggle her rump under him. Red shuddered through an aftershock and then lay still again. 
Pam whispered, "Don't fall asleep yet."
Red grunted.
Pam whispered, "Oh, no. You need to learn to make a girl come. C'mon, sit up."
Red whined a little but pushed himself up, ending up straddling Pam's thighs, his palms on her ass cheeks. 
"Let me up. I need to do something with what you shot in me."
Red pushed himself back, slipping free of Pam's slippery wet cunny. He rolled to the side and she quickly got up, holding her thighs together tightly. She shuffled to the bathroom and sat on the toilet. Curious, Red followed.
When Pam saw Red watching, she opened her legs and smiled, pointing down. A stream of pearly white goop was pouring from her vagina, making streamers in the water of the toilet. She flexed her kegel muscles as the stream weakened, pushing out a few more globs. Red watched her sex ripple, fascinated. She whispered, "Copious rodent."
Red nodded, and felt his dick regaining some of its hardness, despite the ache that told him it was too soon. Pam watched it twitch and bob with his heartbeat and she asked quietly, "Want to fill me up again?"
Red nodded again, looking dazed. This was undeniably the best day of his entire life. Pam reached out and cupped his balls with both paws. She jostled them gently and said, "This time, you can go slower." She rose from the toilet and led him by the balls into his bedroom this time.
Pam lay down in Red's bed, on her back, spreading her legs apart with her knees up. Red climbed on after her, kneeling between her legs. She said, "Take a nice close look."
Red moved in close with his muzzle, getting his first close-up look at a real pussy. He noted that the black color of her labia turned to reddish-pink inside, and that his semen clung still to her. Her scent was now a mix of that and her original spicy female scent. He could see what must be her clitoris up near the top of the split of her labia, though it did not look like the diagrams they had been shown in health class. He huffed warmly over her mound and then lapped experimentally at her clit. She gasped and he looked up. He guessed that was a good gasp so he did it again. Soon enough he had her wiggling her hips and humping his face. He had seen this in porn videos, and now he was actually doing it! 
Pam was getting increasingly wet again, and though Red was trying his best, she could not seem to find the crest of her wave. He'd need to learn her landscape before it would work, she guessed, and there was no time. She finally hissed, "Fuck me, Red." And used her paw to spread herself open.
Red didn't think she had come yet, but he wasn't going to refuse. He rose up on his knees and shuffled forward, his red squirrel dick pointing straight at Pam. He spread his knees and lined himself up, sinking back into her heat with a breathy, "Ohhhhh".
Pam did not remove her paw from her sex. Instead, she began to rub herself vigorously as Red began to thrust. She curled her tail up between his legs, tickling his balls and the underside of his tail. Red didn't feel the insistent pressure in his balls this time, and was able to fuck her steadily while she brought herself closer and closer to climax. He watched her fingers and what they did, how she touched herself. And he watched his cock disappear inside her, over and over, and wished he had a video camera. 
Red leaned over her chest and lapped at one of her nipples, eliciting a moan and quicker rubbing down below, which he could feel against his lower belly. He quickened his pace. He let go of the nipple and asked, "Are you gonna come?"
Pam had her eyes squeezed shut. She nodded, teeth clenched and ears laid back. She began to breathe heavily. She trilled, then made a chuffing sound. Her hips bucked. She wrapped her free arm around his back and her legs around his thighs. She croaked, "Oh gods cumming... oh fill me now... fill me fill me fill me nowwwwww..."
Red was suddenly worried that he wouldn't be able to get there before it ended for her- he had been trying to hold himself back this time. Plus now she was holding him in with her legs. He had to begin bouncing on her, driving his stiff flesh into her quivering muff, now pushing himself to seed her as fast as he could. The bouncing was making the bed squeak, but that couldn't be helped. He had to do as she asked, soon! Finally he felt the familiar burning tingle at the base of his cock and he groaned, pushing all the way inside her 'coonpussy. She bucked up against him as he began pumping her full again. It wasn't near as much as the first time, but it was still a rodent-sized load, and it threw Pam into a gyrating extra climax as her cervix spasmed, drinking up the seed he left for it. She shuddered and made a thin keening noise that trailed off into a contented murring. 
Red lay atop her, unable to move for a little while. Luckily he was a skinny teen, and she could still easily breathe with his deadweight on her chest. As her peak faded, she released her legs and arms and stroked his back gently.
A few minutes later, Red was half-asleep. She giggled quietly. "I can't wake up here, silly. Can you imagine your mother's face?" Red nodded and managed to push himself up. He rolled to the side and collapsed in a heap, his penis pulling free and flopping wetly onto his belly, leaving a long trail of cum across his leg and bed. Pam leaned over and kissed his muzzle. "Thank you, Red. This meant... a lot to me." 
Without another word she strode into the bathroom to add the second load to the first, and then flushed the evidence away. She went back into the guest bedroom and closed the bathroom door.
Red lay dazed on his bed. Finally his mind began to engage. What had happened to him? Had he been taken advantage of? Or had he made a choice, an adult choice? He grinned up at the ceiling. He had made the right choice, he thought. Still grinning, he closed his eyes, and let the post-orgasmic trance transition into sleep.
#-.-#
Pam had departed in the morning while Red was still sleeping. No one could expect him to wake up early twice in one weekend. When he finally came down to find something to eat, his mother studied him. He looked a little taller, somehow. A little more like his father. Maybe Pam was right, after all, she mused. Well, at least that meant she could stop worrying about him getting into girl trouble until he got to college.
"Morning, Eddie. Pam said to tell you she wants to play hearts with you again the next time she's in town. I guess you made a good impression!"
Red just smiled, and went to paw through the pantry for some cereal.

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