Desperate Measures

On Sunday morning, right after breakfast, Guin made her way to Seascape's place with all of her homework. She'd already finished some on Friday night, and some the night before, so very little was remaining. However, very little was not nothing. There was still a bit more, and she didn't know how much time she would have today.

Knocking on the door, an older pegasus opened it. He looked to be about Jack's age, if not a bit older. He was definitely bigger, but being a pegasus rather than a donkey probably played a big part in that.

"What?"

Guin shuffled her claws. "I'm here for Seascape," she explained. "Is she--"

"Out."

"Oh. When will she be back?"

"Later."

Seeing that she wasn't going to make it very far, Guin nodded and turned away, but then she heard Seascape behind the door. "Who was it?"

"Filly scouts," answered the stallion. "You can't afford--"

"Guin?" As Seascape walked into the main entrance, she smiled. "Come in, come in!"

Guin entered, squeezing past the stallion, who scowled at her, and followed Seascape into the living room. "So, is that your dad, or something?"

"Stepdad," answered Seascape. "A bit standoffish, but that's better than my real dad. Anyway, what's up?"

"I need help," admitted Guin. "It goes against my pride as a gryphon, but I'm a little bit desperate. Can we talk privately?"

Seascape looked up at her stepdad and shooed him away. "What's wrong?"

Guin explained the situation she now found herself in, along with a brief summary of her conversation with Kurt. When it came time to explain that the marriage itself was fraudulent, she whispered, not wanting to be heard if her stepdad was around the corner.

Seascape, for her part, listened intently. "And Kurt didn't want to think about his dad's balls swinging around and slapping you in the arse..." she nodded. "Why didn't you talk to your husband about this?"

"He's been mad since the accusation was made. He's afraid that we're going to lose the kids, and I'm terrified that I won't be able to do anything about it."

"That certainly is a conundrum." Seascape leaned back. "So, what do you need?"

Guin took a deep breath. "I want to legitimise our marriage. We can't be lying if we're actually telling the truth, right?"

"Right."

"So, in order to do that, I need to be able to do a few things. First is cleaning. I can already do that, so not a problem. Then there's cooking. Jack taught me how to make waffles, and today we had pancakes. That's about all I know. Finally, as far as I can see, there's the sex, and I don't know anything about that..."

Seascape nodded. "There's more to it than that, but it's a start."

"Wait, what else is there?"

"Loads, but let's start with the parts you're already thinking about. Food first. What's your favourite thing to eat?"

"Peach pie with ice cream."

"Something healthy."

Guin thought for a moment. "My gran had a tater tot casserole. I don't know where the recipe is, though. It was put in one of the boxes and packed up, I think, so it's somewhere in the garage, but I don't know where."

Seascape nodded. "We'll make a potato casserole. I have a recipe for that."

As Seascape jumped up from the couch and headed for the kitchen, Guin followed her, but didn't make it very far before Seascape doubled back. She waved a card in front of her. "Have to buy ingredients, first."

They didn't spend very long at the supermarket. Guin's gran had always done the shopping during the day, while Guin was at school, and Jack tended to do it on the way back from work, as it was right in the middle of his route. Guin hadn't been there very often, as a result. Her gran had allowed her to write stuff on the shopping list, if it was needed, but the intent was to work around the schedules when available so they could spend more leisure time together.

Seascape's stepdad had watched the baby while they were out, as her mother was out for the afternoon at a dental appointment. When they returned, he was sitting on the living room floor, reading a children's book aloud.

Seascape and Guin went to the kitchen, and as they started prepping the food, Guin had a lot of questions. Many were about what they were doing, but now that they were out of public and in a more relaxed area, it was time to start her next line of questioning.

"So, how does sex work?"

Seascape sighed. "I'm really not the best pony to answer this."

"You're better equipped to answer it than I am," noted Guin. "All I know is that it makes babies. You had a baby, so you must have done it at least once."

"Only once," answered Seascape. "Trust me, you don't want to do it the same way."

"But I should at least hear about it, right?" asked Guin. "That way I know not to do it the same way you did?"

Seascape sighed. "You have a point, but... perhaps it's best if you..." she grunted. "Okay. What I'm about to tell you doesn't leave this room, understand?"

"Of course," answered Guin. "I can keep a secret."

"A few years ago, when my parents divorced, I was under joint custody. Half the time with my mom, half the time with my dad. Well, one day my dad had one of his work friends over, and when my dad passed out, his friend pinned me to the bed. It was agonizing. And it's made me a bit envious of you."

"Envious of me?"

Seascape nodded. "I don't know Jack very well, but he seems nice. Your first time will likely be better than mine. Most importantly, talk to him about it. It's more important that you discuss it with your husband than with me. Jack has two kids. Bare minimum, that's twice as much experience as I have."

Guin nodded. "If you think I should, the--"

"Yes. I really do think you should. If you do anything at all, he's going to be involved in it, right? So, he should be a part of this conversation. He should be a big part of this conversation." As the casserole was put together in a disposable foil pan, Seascape placed it on Guin's back. "Take this home. Try not to jostle it too much. Bake at a hundred and seventy-five degrees for an hour or so. Jack can help you out if you need it."

"You're not going to help me anymore?"

Seascape shook her head. "We both have dinner, in a practical sense. All you have to do is pop it in the oven. I'm going to look some stuff up, and I'll send it home with Kurt when I have something for you. Good luck."