Their plane touched down in Thessaloniki three hours later. They let the other passengers exit before they got up. A stewardess approached them, handed Lily her crutches and said that they would get a special transport to the gate. She also mentioned that there were wheelchairs waiting for them at the gate that they could use for the remainder of their stay at the airport. James picked up Hanna, while Lily crutched, Lena hopped, and Emily walked.  Exited the airplane and were hit by a wall of hit air, the sounds of airplane engines cooling down and the smell of kerosene mixed with hot clay-y earth and the sea. They climbed down the stairs and got into the van that was waiting for them and arrived at the gate two minutes later. Hanna was placed in the one wheelchair, while Lena sat down in the other, and James took it upon himself to push Lena’s wheelchair, since she couldn’t use her stumps to turn the wheels and pulling herself forwards proved way too slow. They went through the border control, but since Greece was also part of Schengen, they merely had to let the officials have a look at their passports. While they waited at the baggage claim, Ben left to go and pick up the rental car. James organised a luggage cart and slowly collected their stuff one by one. Once they had all their luggage, James handed Lena off to Lily, who slowly pushed Lena’s wheelchair by putting her weight forward while hopping, while Lena held on to Lily’s crutches with her stumps, and James took care of the luggage cart. Everybody went to the bathroom, the girls helping each other, before they headed towards the exit.

When they exited the airport, Ben was already there waiting with a VW-van with an automatic gearbox. James and Ben stowed the luggage and the crutches in the trunk, while the girls climbed into the van. Finally, when everybody and everything was in the car, James went to drop off the wheelchairs at the information desk and then came back sprinting to the car, while Hanna and Lily made sure the two armless girls had their seatbelt fastened. At last, everybody was set to head off.

“Well, here we are! Is everybody alright?” Ben turned around to check with the girls. Everybody nodded. “Okay then! We have about an hour to drive. If anybody needs anything just let me know. Just one question: Do you want to go by the supermarket on the way to the house, or should we first go there, drop you guys off and then go for groceries?”

“I think it’d probably make sense to drop us off at the house first”, said Emily and shrugged her armless shoulders to stress her point.

“Fair enough, we’ll do just that then”, said Ben and drove off.

Emily enjoyed the ride to the house. She looked out of the window as they drove along the coastline. They passed plenty of fruit vendors and other stores, selling everything from honey and olive oil to garden utensils. She felt an itch in her nostril and tried to scratch it, but wasn’t able to do more than shrug her shoulder. Eventually, she figured out that she could rub her nose against her shoulder and leaned back with a gratified grin.

They arrived at the house about an hour and a half later. It was idyllic. Built in the local building style, the house was located on a big property that included its own strip of beach. The beach was small, but shielded from outside views. The house itself was actually two houses, one main building and a smaller guest house. It was surrounded by pine trees and had a few fig trees growing around it, as well as a small vegetable garden in the ‘back yard’. The dirt road leading up to it went straight through a field of olive trees.

“This is…perfect”, said Hanna.

“Hell yes”, said Lily and Lena agreed.

“Damn, dude, what the hell did your parents do for a living?” James seemed almost rattled.

“My dad was a teacher and my mum used to be vice president of the national branch of some big American corporation.” Ben shrugged.

“That explains it”, said Lena. “Wow! Must’ve been awesome coming here while growing up.”

“It was! My parents have always been very welcoming to any of my friends, so I spent my summers here with my family and with whomever I wanted to invite. I got really lucky in that regard.”

“When we first got together, this was the first place he took me to”, said Emily, leaned in towards Ben and they kissed. “His family is absolutely lovely!”

“They love you too”, said Ben, as he went up to the door, opened it, switched off the alarm and pulled retrieved a parcel that appears to have been stowed inside. He opened it and pulled out the second wheelchair, which he had mailed to the house in advance. He unfolded it and offered it to Hanna, who climbed in.

“Right, last thing we need to discuss is the sleeping arrangements. There are the bedrooms in the main house and two in the guest house. Each house has its own kitchen, though there’s also an outside kitchen right at the beach. Emily and I will take the second bedroom in the main building, the master bedroom stays free, as that was the only condition my parents for us coming here. So that leaves two bedrooms in the guest house, one with a double bed and one with two singles. Who wants to sleep where?”

“I don’t know any of you, really”, said Hanna. “You all seem nice enough, so I really don’t care where I end up at, and with whom.”

“I can go into a room with you”, said Lily.

“Great!” Hanna smiled. “I guess we should take the double bed and leave the singles to Lena and James. Is that okay with you two?”

James smiled. “Sure thing!” Lena agreed as well.

James and Ben brought the bags into the respective bedrooms, and James, Hanna and Lily began to unpack them, helping Lena as well. Ben quickly unpacked his and Emily’s things and helped Emily get undressed and covered her with sunscreen. He admired her armless shoulders, her silhouette flowing from her shoulders to her hips unobstructed. Emily enjoyed the effect her attractive body was having on him and struck a few poses. He rolled his eyes, grabbed her shoulders, and pulled her towards him. He swiped a strand of her copper-coloured hair out of her face and gave her a kiss. They took a moment before they got back to the sunscreen.  He then helped her put on her bathing suit before he went to check in with their friends in the guest house.

“I’m going to go to the grocery store now, get some things for dinner today and the weekend. There are two stores nearby, one is way better than the other one. I’ll go to the worse one now, so that I don’t confuse the hell out of the employees when I come back as an amputee in a few days. I was thinking we could make some grilled fish today, some meat tomorrow and some pasta on Sunday?”

The others agreed. Ben had been coming here for most of his life. He knew what he was doing.

“Splendid. That just leaves me to ask what kind of meat you would like. As shitty as that supermarket is, their fresh meat and fish vendors are pretty damn awesome. I recommend the lamb or the goat. We could use the fireplace in the outdoor kitchen here to slow roast it.”

“I have never had goat. Lamb is amazing, but goat would be new to me. I vote for goat”, said Hanna, giggling at her involuntary rhyme.

The others agreed, and soon Ben left to buy groceries. Emily joined the others in the guest house. James locked himself into the bathroom and got changed into beachwear. Hanna and Lily quickly talked it over and decided they’d both seen enough of the female anatomy to not be ashamed to be naked around each other. They went to their room and got changed into bikinis. Lena was left looking a little lost.

“I would love to help you with your things, but…” Emily shrugged her armless shoulders again.

“Don’t worry. I’ll try to do this myself”, said Lena. She raised her arm stumps, bend over forwards and wriggled until her top slid over her head, leaving her in her pants and her bra. She tried to reach the pants with her stumps, but while she could reach far enough, they were too short to actually pull the pants down with them.

“Hang on, stand near the bed”, said Emily. Lena hopped over. Emily sat down on the bed and began pulling Lena’s pants down with her feet. The button was still closed, so they were rather tight. It looked awkward, but eventually, the pants fell to the floor and Lena hopped forward to get clear of it. She crouched over and picked it up with her stumps. She hopped over to the closet and dropped her pants and the shirt into the top drawer, which was still empty. Then she opened another drawer and picked up her swim bikini between her stumps. She hopped back to Emily and dropped the bikini next to her onto the bed.

“Wow! Well done! I’d clap if I could”, said Emily.

Lena smirked. “Thanks. Could you pull down my panties as well?”

“Sure! Come a little closer!” Lena did as she was told, and Emily freed her of her panties, revealing her legless hip and her shaved vagina. “I can try the bra too..”, Emily offered.

“Okay, hang on!” Lena crouched down on her single leg. Lena dried to open the bra’s clasps, but couldn’t get them open with her feet. “Let me try something else”, said Emily. She pulled the straps over Lena’s shoulders and then attempted to pull the bra down Lena’s body with her feet, but to no avail. “Sorry, that won’t work, I’m afraid”, Emily said.

“It was worth a shot. Thanks for your help, though”, Lena replied. “I will ask James to help me.”

Two minutes later, the bathroom door opened, and James exited, wearing swim trunks and no top.

“James, could you get in here for a second?”, Lena called.

“Sure, I’ll be right there”, James said. He entered the bedroom and froze, seeing the almost naked Lena.

“Sorry to do this to you”, said Lena. “But I’m stuck. I’m okay with this if you are. It’s not like you’ve never seen a woman naked before, right?”

“Right”, said James.

“And I have seen dudes naked before. It’s nothing new. So if you’re cool with this, I am too.”

Lena smiled at James encouragingly. She was very attractive, with an athletic body and well-groomed hazel hair. She took care of herself, and it showed.

“Okay, sure”, said James, and approached Lena. He undid her bra’s clasps and freed her of it.

“Thanks! I’ll take care of that”, Lena said. She picked up her panties between her stumps again and dropped them onto the bra, which James had placed on the bed. Then she hopped over to the closet, opened the door and the drawer, hopped back to the bed, picked up her panties and bra and brought them to the closet. James watched her with some fascination. Emily noticed he had an erection. His beachwear did a poor job of hiding it. While hopping back, Lena’s eyes flickered to James’ crotch, and a smirk crept on her face. James blushed and repositioned himself.

“Do you need help with your bikini?”, James asked.

“Yes, please, that would be great. However, before I put that on, could you help me with the sun-lotion? I’m a bit… limited for that right now”, Lena asked and waved her arm stumps.

“S-sure”, said James. He grabbed the sun-lotion from the side table and began spreading it on Lena. She seemed to enjoy his attention but did a good job of keeping cool and not building up too much sexual tension. It visibly helped James feel comfortable with the whole situation.

When Lena was completely covered in sun-lotion, he helped her into her bikini.

“Thank you, James”, said Lena, smiled and gave him a kiss on the cheek once they were done.

“You’re welcome”, he replied. He smiled and blushed a bit.

They heard a car pulling up and headed outside to see Ben pull up with their groceries. James helped Ben unload and put everything away, while Lena, Hanna and Lily headed to the beach to catch some of the afternoon sun. Hanna was sitting in the wheelchair again. She had a bag with towels on her lap and drove herself right to where the path ended and the sand began, while the other two hopped alongside of her. Once she reached the sand, she set the bag with towels down, lowered herself to the ground and began moving forward by lifting herself um with her hands and swinging her lower body forwards. She pulled the bag with the towels behind her. Progress was slow but steady, and when they were about 15 feet from the water, Lily and Hanna pulled the towels out of the bag and spread them. They helped Lena with hers and then all three lied down.

Inside the main house, Ben and James were just done stowing everything away. Emily had been keeping them company and pushing full grocery bags from the door to the kitchen with her feet. When they were finally done, Emily led James to the living room, while Ben went to fetch the Atomizer.

“So, I think it’s time we join the others”, Ben said when he returned with the Atomizer.

“True, they’ve been having fun with that all day. I’m looking forward to taking part in that”, James agreed.

“What were you planning to lose?”

“Well, when I experimented with the gummy bears, I realised that you can walk on leg stumps relatively painlessly. I think I would like to try that for a week. If you take them right up to my knee, make the amputation go through the knee, can you do that?”

“Yeah, that should be no problem. Okay, sit down here.” Ben pulled up a chair and James sat down.

“Before you do this, could you set the timer to a month? I think I would like to keep trying this a little longer”, James asked.

“Sure thing!” Ben tapped the buttons on the Atomizer and then went to work. A short while later, James’ legs had been cut in half. Ben helped him up and James took a few careful steps.

“Feeling okay?”, Emily asked.

“Yeah, I just need a little to get used to it”, said James. “I will go and join the others at the beach, if that’s okay with you guys.”

“Yeah, absolutely, go right ahead, we’ll be joining you soon too”, said Ben.

“Awesome, see you guys later.” James waddled out the door.

“So we’re finally getting a little time to ourselves”, said Ben and leaned in to hug Emily. She snuggled up to him, looked up at him, smiled and gave him a kiss. “You’re beautiful”, Ben remarked.

“I know”, Emily replied and stuck out her tongue at him. Ben rolled his eyes and chuckled.

“Seriously, though, I love you”, Emily said.

“I love you too.”

“Do you think the others will be okay?”

“Yeah. The terrain here is easy, we are in the middle of nowhere and we can do whatever we want here. They’ll have a blast.”

“…and so will we!”, Emily added and grinned. “Come on, let’s get you reduced in some way, then we can join the others.”

“Okay! Here’s what I was thinking. I am the host here, and you can’t really do a whole lot without arms. So, I was thinking, I should probably keep an arm and a leg so I can still drive a car and do tasks around here.”

“Makes sense. Sorry I can’t be of more help”, Emily said.

“Uh, don’t worry about it. Just enjoy yourself and have a good time.”

“Thanks, Ben!” Emily kissed him again.

“Okay, I should get started. But let me get changed into beachwear first.” Ben headed out and came back three minutes later wearing appropriate clothing. “I was able to spread sunscreen everywhere but on my shoulders. I’ll take the bottle and ask one of the others with arms to do it. Let’s get me reduced now.” He picked up the Atomizer and sat down on the chair. “I am not too big on below the knee leg stumps, though they are really practical in that you can walk on your knees. However, so can James. I think I will make my right leg like his stumps.” He switched on the Atomizer and did just that.

“This looks odd, but fun”, Emily giggled. Ben’s leg stump looked disproportionate due to its length. He got up and walked around the chair on his knee and stump.

“It works exactly as I hoped, though. Okay, now my arm. I am right-handed. I will keep my right hand and take away my left at the wrist, so I can still use the stump.”

“Good thinking”, said Emily. Ben switched on the Atomizer again and got rid of his left hand.

“Okay, all done”, he said while inspecting his stump. He got up and hopped to the table, where he had already placed the bag with his and Emily’s towels and the sunscreen.

“Uh, you can give that to me”, said Emily. “Hang that over my shoulder.” Ben did as he was told. Emily felt the weight of the bag, but since it only held two towels and a bottle of sunscreen, it was light enough. She shrugged her shoulder to keep the bag from slipping down.

“That works”, she exclaimed excitedly.

“Awesome”, Ben commented. “Okay, let’s roll.” He hopped to the door and opened it for Emily.

“Oh my god you are cute!!” Lena squealed with excitement when James arrived waddling at the beach.

“Well, thanks”, he said, grinned and struck a pose.

“And you can walk on these?” Hanna seemed curious.

“Yeah, doesn’t hurt at all. It’s a bit like walking on my knees all the time. Things take a little longer, but hey, at least I’m still mobile.”

“Man, I really didn’t think this through”, said Hanna and wriggled her stumps of different length. James chuckled.

Shortly thereafter, Ben and Emily arrived. Ben spread out their two towels next to the others and helped Emily lie down. He took a bottle of sunscreen into his hands and asked the others to help him with his shoulders. James waddled over and assisted him.

They enjoyed the sun and later went for a swim. There were a few rocks underwater that housed different kinds of fish. Emily tried to point out a painted comber that stood waiting over a ledge but was reminded again that she couldn’t point. They even discovered an octopus peeking out from underneath a rock. The Mediterranean Sea is not known for being particularly spectacular in its underwater world, at least not compared to most other seas of the world. It is horribly overfished, and it has taken a visible impact on the wildlife. Even so, they were surprised by just how colourful the fish around the rocky reef were.

After their swim, they all went to take a shower. Ben helped Emily and James helped Lena. Then Ben went to prepare dinner. Lily joined him and lit up the fireplace while Ben gutted the fresh fish he had purchased. Then she prepared some bouyiourdi, a Greek appetizer that consists of baked feta cheese with kasseri, tomatoes, oregano, and olive oil. James joined them and sat on a chair while he prepared a Greek salad.

Just as the fish and the bouyiourdi was ready, Hanna came shuffling to the outdoor kitchen table carrying three bottles of retsina. Lily set the table and helped Lena and Emily sit down in their chairs. She put two straws in their glasses, so that they could drink with them. Then they all sat down to enjoy their dinner, Ben helping Emily and James feeding Lena.

After dinner, James and Hanna cleaned up the kitchen and washed the dishes. Emily, Lily, and Lena went back to the beach and enjoyed the calm sounds of small waves hitting land. They were soon joined by Ben, who mentioned there were some folded up deck chairs in the storage closed and enlisted Lily to help him. They made two trips bringing out six folded up deck chairs and then went ahead to unfold them. The four of them lied down and looked out to the sea. A row of fishing boats set up on the horizon and formed a line of single lights in an ocean of darkness in front of them.

After Hanna and James were done and had joined them, Ben hopped to the house to turn off all the lights and once their eyes had adjusted to the darkness, they were presented with a breath-taking view of the night sky, almost completely free of light pollution.

“When we are here in July and August, this is the best place to watch the Perseids. I’ve been making it a point to end my days here like this since ever since I was a little boy.”

“It’s incredible”, said Hanna.

They gazed at the night sky for a long time, until the mosquitos drove Lena and James inside. Hanna and Lily stayed for a little longer, but eventually called it a night too, and so only Emily and Ben were left alone on the beach under the fireworks of stars.

Inside the guest house, Lily and Hanna had gotten changed into their pyjamas and wished James and Lena a good night. James helped Lena into her night gown and brushed her teeth. He was seemingly enjoying his unofficial task of taking care of attractive Lena. She noticed and decided to make a little step towards addressing it.

“I hope you don’t mind helping me out a bit. I really appreciate your help, but this is supposed to be a holiday for you as well.”

“Oh, don’t worry. I didn’t expect it to turn out like this, but I can’t say I’m complaining.” He smiled.

“Well, thank you! You are very kind to do this. I am having a wonderful time, and if there’s any way I can make it up to you, please, let me know!” They left the bathroom and entered the bedroom. He helped Lena into her bed and pulled her blanket over her.

“Good night, Lena!”

She propped herself up on one stump and gave him another kiss on the cheek. “Sleep well, James!”

On the beach, Emily and Ben were still stargazing. It was still springtime, and the nights were still chilly. Emily got up from her deck chair and cuddled up to Ben on his. Ben pulled her closer into a hug. He stroked her armless shoulders with his hand and stump. Emily kissed him again, passionately this time. If she had had a hand, she would have slipped it into his pants and toyed with his member. It frustrated her that she couldn’t.

“I want you in me. Right here, right now”, she whispered coyly.

“I don’t have a condom with me”, he said.

“Doesn’t matter. I had a coil put in place about a week ago. I wanted to avoid running into a situation like this.”

“You are amazing!” He grinned.

He sat her up and pulled down her bikini pants. She had goosebumps from the chilly spring air, but she didn’t care. Ben pulled his erect cock out of his pants and guided himself into Emily’s waiting pussy as she lowered herself on him. She began to move her pelvis rhythmically. He countered her movements, their breaths getting heavier by the minute. He rubbed her clitoris with his hand, and she tensed and released the muscles of her vaginal tract to create more girth and soon they both moaned as they orgasmed together. Emily fell forward and kissed him passionately again. Ben hugged her tightly and enjoyed the intimacy and pureness of this moment, the two of them alone on the beach under the stars.

Eventually they got up and took a stroll down the beach, her walking slowly and him hopping alongside her. At the far end of the small bay, they got into the water and washed the bodily fluids off themselves. They swam back to the deck chairs and got out of the water. They didn’t have any towels with them, so they went back to the house dripping and freezing. On the way, Ben admired the natural beauty of his girlfriend, her wet copper hair and her pale skin in the blueish starlight. Suddenly he stopped.

“Em?”

“Hm?”

“I was planning to do this around a whole special occasion, but I just realised that this is by far the best moment I will ever get.” He got down on his one knee and her eyes went wide.

“I love you…so much! You are my best friend and my companion. I feel complete around you and I never want to feel like I am missing that again. These past few years have been the best of my life and I still cannot fathom what I did to deserve you.”

“Emily Graz, will you do me the honour of marrying me?”

“Oh my God, yes!! Ben Manding, I love you and I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you!” She jumped into his arms and they both fell over, giggling.

“We’ll have to go get you a ring when we’re back home. Like I said, while I was planning to do it, I didn’t plan to do it just now.”

“No worries. You are here, that’s all that matters to me.” She smiled up at him and they kissed once again.

When they got home, they hopped into the shower – Ben did so literally – and washed themselves properly. Then Ben helped Emily dry her hair and get ready for bed. It was almost one in the morning when they fell asleep, cuddled up closely in a tight embrace.