Day Twenty-two - Monday
I woke at six snuggled to Sue's back with my left hand clutching a breast. I squeezed the breast and kissed her neck thinking that we might get something started. She moaned and turned over for some wakeup kisses. We kissed for only a few seconds when her eyes opened wide and her hand shot down to her crotch.
She brought it up and looked at and said, "Shit," getting out of bed quickly and going to the bathroom. She came out and grabbed her panties, put them on then stuffed some toilet paper in them.
"I've started my period. I think it's early as I still have a couple of pills left. I have to go home and get some supplies. Don't mess with the sheets, I'll wash them later. I've got to go, I'll be right back."
She left in a rush. I looked at the bed and there was not a spot anywhere. I put on the coffee then took a quick shower then put on jeans, one of my new shirts and my new boots. Grabbing a cub of coffee I went out to the patio and turned on the light.
This was a neat signal. Glenda came walking across the yard with Hanna, while Tiny and Ruth came from the other direction. A minute later, Shawna walked up. The girls were all wearing conservative terrycloth or thick robes this morning. Not showing anything.
Shawna bitched, "I got my damned period this morning, now the world has to pay for me being female for a couple of day. Warning, I am not a nice person when I get this."
Hanna laughed, "Must be in the water out here, mine came too, I don't think I'm early but then I'm not the best at keeping track."
Tiny looked at Ruth and rolled his eyes. Ruth spoke up, "Don't feel like the lone stranger, I popped my gasket this morning too, right in the middle of some damn good loving. Sure glad the giant isn't put off by that stuff. It was too good to stop. But I had to put the sheets and mattress pad in to soak."
Sue had come up during Hanna's exclamation looked at Shawna with a questioning look who nodded then said, "Damn, all of us at once? Well at least we must be in sync with each other."
Glenda laughed, "I guess I have all the men to myself for a couple of days. Okay guys, take a number, I'll be with you as soon as I can."
"You wish," Martin said as he came onto the patio, "You wouldn't know how handle all these guys. They would be way to much for any one woman."
Charlie came up on the patio and said, "Where do I get my number, Glenda's a prize. I get firsts."
"First at what Charlie?" asked Jim. "You're always trying to do something with someone."
Shawna, the least bashful of the bunch proclaimed, "For you two sleepy head's information, all four of us have begun our periods this morning which means the bitchiness begins, as of right now."
Charlie and Jim looked at each other and groaned at the same time, "Oh shit."
I brought out more coffee and made some more.
Ruth asked Sue if she was going to the gym or get some sun saying, "If you don't get back out in the sun, you're going to lose that dynamite tan."
"I guess I'm going to have to work out a schedule for myself too. The gyms important but I don't have to tan. I can always use the tanning booth they have," Sue said thinking about the problem.
Ruth said, "I don't have to stay out in the sun long just about ten to fifteen minutes on the front then on the back about same. You can afford a half-hour right. Besides you could swim a half-hour then tan a half-hour and get your exercise and tan all at once.
"We might do that," Sue said looking at me. "Steve has a bunch of things he wants to do today though."
I asked Jim, "I'm going to bring my bike in so if you have the used parts, put it on otherwise order them in and do whatever service is scheduled on that thing. I really want to get back on the road.
"That'll work, I'll let the service guys know your family. They'll take care of you," Jim said. "Time for me to get, I have to punch the clock."
Charlie said he had a bunch of work to get caught up on and said he would see us later. Shawna smiled and followed him.
Tiny said to Ruth, "stay out in the sun a little longer today and get your vitamin C. It will make you nicer to be around. I have to get going early, I have a big day."
Hanna looked at Ruth, "I'm off today, can I come with you? I need some sun."
"Sure honey, we'll go over and tease some guys. They don't know that we're out of commission," Ruth laughed.
"I ain't out of commission," Hanna smiled. "That's what plastic sheets are far. Are you kidding, I'm not giving up dick just because I'm bleeding. I have to be a little careful but Jim is as gentle as can be. Not to worry Ruth, if Tiny needs some help, I'm ready and just as horny as ever."
"Charlie won't let me go to work when I have my period because I am a bitch when I'm on the rag. I'll send him over to you Glenda or you Hanna cause I don't want anything to do with men for a couple of days," Shawna said then continued. "I want to sunbathe with you guys though, it might make me feel better."
By now the sun was getting Florida bright. I looked around, "alright girls anyone that wants to go for a swim and get some sun, get your suit on, grab your lotion and a towel and let's get. Times a wastin'."
The five women went in mostly five directions. Martin said, "you sure know how to get them moving. Man, five women, four on the rag, you're nuts. I'm stayin' right here. Leave the door open and I'll have some more coffee and clean up. I'll either stay here or watch the place."
"Okay Martin, it's a deal," I said going in to put on my swimsuit and grab a towel. As I passed the counter I added tanning lotion to my 'things to buy' list.
Hanna, Shawna and Ruth stretched out in hot morning Florida sun while Sue and I got in the pool and swam. We pounded the water fast and hard for close a half-hour before we gave up. We spent long enough oiling each other down that the other three were chiding, "Get a room."
Sue watched the time and had us flip at fifteen minutes. When the next fifteen minutes was over she said let's wind ourselves again in the pool then go get some stuff done. We did a good job tiring our bodies out, as my arms were almost numb.
Sue went to her place to shower and dress while I showered and dressed in my trailer. I redressed in the same clothes as I had on when I started the day then met Sue outside. I had her drive the pickup while I rode the bike into the Harley store on Dale Mabry. Jim was at the service desk when I walked in and said, "You're in luck. You have a choice of new or used."
The bike was used so it didn't make any difference if the dash, fairing and windshield were used. I saved over one hundred fifty by buying used. Jim said I could pick it up this afternoon if I paid the people up front now. He said paid for work always goes to the front of the line. I reminded him of the service work and he said he knew the bike and it wasn't due for much. He would make sure it was done.
Sue and I left for an opportunity to pick up some used Onan mobile generators to rebuild and resell. The place was actually a junk dealer. He had almost new stuff to old machinery that was made before he was born and he was old.
He had seven big generators and four compressors. At least half looked like they could be put back into service. The others were questionable. He had it in his head the eleven pieces were a package deal. I think he just wanted t o clear some space. We were not anywhere near an agreement when I spotted something. He had what looked like a brand new group of equipment setting together, just what I was looking for. A commercial compressor, a big parts washer and a bead blaster. The gloves in the bead blaster didn't look like they had been used. The other pieces of equipment were a sand blasting unit and a commercial pressure washer.
The guy saw me looking at the equipment and he said that if I would pay him a grand a piece for the eleven units he would throw the stuff I was looking at in for five hundred.
That probably wasn't a bad deal but I really didn't want five of the units and that represented five grand. I tried to explain that to him. He threw his hands up and said, "okay, okay, give me seven fifty each and I'll give you the stuff you want."
I grimaced to make it good then shook my head. Take a check or you want a credit card. And how much to get it delivered. He soaked me another five hundred to get them all over to the storage place but said they would be there around three. I called the shop and asked Abe if he could be there at three to take delivery of a bunch of stuff and he said he could be. I told him that he would be busy for a while. He laughed and said, "bring it on." I mentioned that he needed to arrange a couple of parking spaces together so we could store the units before they were rebuilt.
That took care of a bunch of items on my list. I took Sue to lunch at a little café in an industrial park I had seen. We found out it was run by a Greek guy whose family had run the restaurant there for fifty years. This kid knew everyone in business in the area. Hopefully he enjoyed Sue's cleavage within her industrial strength bra as he stared at it the entire time we spoke. He kept coming over to our table to get another look. I know Sue's chest is the eighth wonder of the world but jeez, the guy was really obvious. Sue thought it was funny.
From there I went to see Gene real quick to get an estimated timing on when they would need the next frame. He said I could do another with materials he had any time. The sooner the better but it wasn't critical like the last one. He also said that a couple of team owners had looked at my work and wanted me to call them. Gene went to his office and came back out with names and phone numbers. He gave a little advice. Some owners are good pay some are really slow. You might want to make sure you have an agreement in writing when you will be paid, like when the work is accepted. He also suggested that I should sell the tubing and make a profit, as most of the owners didn't shop the price very well.
I told Gene that when he buys next to let me prime the place where I got my materials and perhaps we could do better. He said he wanted to try a frame with my idea of 18 percent stainless and see how the car drives.
From there we went to the car builder to make sure he had his tubing and the copies of the blue prints. He did and I said I would set up and start tomorrow. I wrote out a simple agreement that said he would pay me upon acceptance.
It was still early enough so I drove to the DMV and stood in line to get my picture and permanent carry permit. With that done we went to the shop.
Abe was showing a guy with a big flatbed where he wanted the units. The delivery people had a forklift that was able to pick up the units and put them right in place. Abe had looked at them and told the driver to put one at his workshop along with the flat full of the extras I had gotten thrown in.
We wrestled the compressor we were going to use into place where the electrician could wire it. I told Abe to have a plumber put pipe around his shop and around my future shop with air connectors. We also needed a good dryer for the air compressor so any tools we used would stay in good condition.
We put the washer and bead blaster in place then put the sand blaster in my space and the pressure washer in the storage area.
I wrote in my to buy note book, fluid for the parts washer, beads, shop towels, air chocks and some air hose...
Abe was already messing with the generator he picked out. He said he needed some diesel fuel so I told him to take it out of the big truck if he wanted then we would order fifty five gallon drums of fuel with a hand pump like the stuff used on construction jobs. Abe suggested we buy gas as well because some of the units are gas burners and some are diesel.
I went up to the office to ask about hazardous storage. The owner said he appreciated that I came to ask him. He said to store it with a lock and key in one of my parking spaces. He gave me the name and phone number of some fuel delivery people. I used my cell phone to call them. The guy asked if this was for construction or off road use. When I said generators and compressors, the guy gave me a price that was sixteen cents a gallon under what you pay at the pump. I ordered the two products with hand pumps and locking nozzle. The person who I talked to said a driver should be by before we closed today. After I gave him my credit card number, he said a driver would check and refill the barrels every two weeks on his regular route.
Back at the shop, Abe asked me when my steel tubing was coming. I thought that since it was coming by truck, delivered from either Akron, Ohio or Dunedin, New York, the tubing and flat steel would be here probably by the end of the week.
The electrician came by to finish the lights in the big unit so I had him wire compressor. The bead blaster and parts washer operated off 110 and we had an outlet there already.
Telling Abe I would be back in less than an hour, I went to ACME industrial supply. I bought two types of parts washing fluid in five gallon bottles. Next was a hundred pound bag of beads. They had a huge case of shop towels with a fifty- percent rebate if you used their cleaning service for the towels. I knew they had a bunch of air equipment so I bought the dryer, a kit with all the different types of air tools except impact wrenches, a thirty foot pull down air hose and two twenty five hoses with fittings already on them.
On the way back we stopped at a gas station and repair shop that had a Snap-On driver making his regular route visit. I asked him if he covered the storage place and he did. When I said that we were a new shop and needed a complete set of impact tools, he asked if he could stop by after this call. I smiled happily saying, "Come on down."
Back at the shop, I unloaded everything, filled the bead blaster, put the jugs next to the parts washer then worked on the dryer for the compressor. As a temporary fix I used a twenty-five foot hose to connect the reel pull down unit that I mounted on the door side of the big work bench.
There was a motor starting, coughing and spitting then catching and finally smoothing out. It ran for a minute then shut off. A couple seconds later, it cranked up again, this time smoothing out instantly.
Outside Abe was busily making adjustments of the big generator he had put down by the shop. He shut it down saying the motor was in great shape as was the generator. The best he figured it had probably been used only once or twice then set out unused rusting. He said the oil was old but still clean, that's how unused the generator was.
Abe made a list of, tires, paint and oil saying this and two others we had bought were the largest top of the line industrial generators available. He bragged than Onan had made such a good product about ten years ago, they had not changed one thing on them since.
When he told me that this generator sold for over thirty thousand new right now, I asked him where we were going to find a buyer for something so expensive used. With a big grin, Abe told me that if the local guy didn't buy it, he knew of several big construction companies that would willingly pay fifteen or better for a good used product. The idea of doubling my money on the first item sold made me giddy. I choked while drinking from a water bottle.
Sue was standing in the shop with her hands on her hips, laughing at me, "You were so afraid to take all of those units, you made the man take far less than they were worth. Aren't you ashamed."
Abe answered her, "Never be ashamed of negotiating a good deal. If the guy were going to lose money, he wouldn't have sold Steve everything he brought back. I don't know what he paid for all this, and I don't care, what I know is that I have six or seven months of work out there plus anything else that Steve or I can bring in. This is the happiest I've been since I retired. I work when I want to and I get to work on what I want to. This," he waved at the shop, "is becoming a first class shop."
The Snap-On guy drove up about then and I told Abe, "Lets make it better." Get all the impact wrenches, sockets and tools you need. Check the tool kit I picked up so you don't buy duplicates unless you need them. Also be sure to buy any other tools you might need."
I gave him a company credit card I had gotten for him from the bank, complete with his and the company name. He looked at me funny and said, "You know, I worked for Onan for most of my life, traveled all over making sure people knew how to fix our products and managing a huge budget. But in all those years, they never gave me a credit card. This just shows me how much trust and faith you have in me."
"Good," I said happily. "You've been a friend, a good landlord, and now a great partner having some fun while I'm either on vacation or starting a business."
"If this is your idea of a vacation, you must be a terror at work," Abe said.
Sue let it slip, "When I was finding out about Steve, one of his bosses in Oklahoma said they used to have to make him go home at night and to take days off. When there wasn't anything to do, he would help the mechanics pull routine maintenance on the equipment."
"You talked to Fred?"
"Yes," Sue admitted. "He was listed as your sponsor to go to the platforms and had the same address as one of my customers so I asked his wife to find out if I could ask him questions. He really liked you, but he didn't feel they had enough work to keep you so he sent you off to the platforms where there are several places to work, not just a couple."
"I wondered how they chose me to go out there. Sure was good money though."
"Only good money if you don't go to shore and spend it all on booze, women and drugs according to Fred," Sue said.
"I don't like to just go out drinking alone, the women I saw probably had bugs crawling up and down their legs and drugs are no fun. I've seen too many people hurt by them. I tried pot but didn't like the feeling of not being in control, the other stuff may have a bad rap but it scares the shit out of me."
"You're a good young man," Abe said. "You have good values and you offer yourself to others as a good friend. With that attitude and as industrious as you are, you'll do fine. Now that you seem to have a woman looking after you, your life will get even better."
Sue blushed but said, "He's kind of my keeper right now but I'm not going to let him out of sight because I feel we were intended."
"Then I hope you snare him and keep him around," Abe said. "I need him to keep my sanity."
"Enough chatter, go slow down that Snap-On guy so we don't pay for his wife's new car. He was in surveying what tools you have so he probably is making a huge list," I said thinking that a big tool chest full of useful tools would be good to have, anyway.
An hour later and almost ten grand later, we had a stack of new tools, both standard and impact. A new big roll around chest would be here in the morning. I was even able to get some more bits and small files for the truck.
The electrician was done so we tested the compressor. Since it looked new I really didn't anticipate any problems with it. The big hundred and fifty-gallon tank filled up quickly and shut off where it was set at one hundred-sixty-five pounds per square inch. Air would bleed off when it was not in use but this would be a boon for Abe while working on equipment.
Abe asked if he could get some sand for the sandblaster, as he wanted to clean up the sheet metal on the generator before he painted it. I made sure he knew to use the spray bottle and the compressor when he did the job and he understood. He said he would pick up the tires, a new battery, paint and some grease for the wheels and other moving parts in the morning. He said the generator should be ready to sell by Friday at the latest.
Sue asked me, "If you want to pick up your motorcycle today, we should be going. It's starting to get late and the traffic picks up on Dale Mabry."
We said goodbye to a happy Abe and drove to the Harley store. Jim said the bike was done and in the ready lane. I told him, we would look for him for a beer in a bit and he nodded. I paid the rest of the bill then asked Sue to drive the truck home. She said she would stop at the grocery store for the supper the girls had planned.
The bike rode well riding home so I now felt there probably wasn't any additional damage to it caused by the accident. The new/used fairing, dash and windshield were all like brand new and were an exact match to my existing paint. No one would ever know. The insurance company didn't need to know I had intentionally wreck the bike with a passenger on it, regardless of the circumstances.
When I rode up to the house, there was a sheriff's marked car in the drive way with the Sargent and one of the detective suits sitting on the patio. I shut the bike down and asked them how I could help them.
The detective sort of sneered, "I'm here to take your statement about the incident. The Sargent wouldn't let me call you down to the station. I don't know what makes you so special, but let's get it done."
The Sargent was smiling, "He doesn't understand or appreciate that you saved one of us, it could have been him. He also doesn't believe the file on the wars you had out here. He says no biker and little girl could take on that family, especially outnumbered. He just doesn't understand what a Marine is, Semper Fi," the Sarg smiled real big.
"Ow Rah!" I said in the patented response of one Marine to another.
The detective grilled me and I responded. When he was done, the Sargent began his instruction, "Detective, the way to get a statement for a homicide investigation is to first find out if the interviewee will write it down for you. Then you read the statement, ask any questions that you feel are valid and you have a good interview. As it is, you do not have a time line or an accurate series of events in the order they happened. Instead of being a creative writer, why don't we do this in a proper order."
"You can't tell me how to do my job," the detective blustered. "I'm a detective and you're nothing but a street cop. I'm done here, let's go."
"Steve, please observe an appropriate reprimand," the officer said pointing to his collar. "These new bars, saying I am the captain, give me the right and rank to assist and train you in anyway I deem necessary. Although my primary area of responsibility is with the patrol units, I'm still the captain of our division within which, you are a lowly newbie detective. Now go sit in the car while I apologize to a man that saved one of us."
The detective was really frowning but got up and went to the car. I turned to the new captain and stuck out my hand, "Congratulations, that's quite a promotion from Sargent to captain. You skipped a grade."
"It happens where there is an opening. They wanted experience in the position and there was no one with more than a couple of years as a deputy to promote, so I got the chance."
"Well good luck. Stop by when you're off duty and have beer one evening. We're here most every evening from around five-thirty to six. We're all friendly out here so feel welcome to come."
"I have to go, because the jerk didn't do a very good job, we may have to come out to do it again, sorry about that. I will make sure none of them call demanding you come down to the station."
"If that is what's needed, then I'll come down," I said then remembered something that had been said, "What's this about a homicide investigation?"
"Well the guy that you squashed had just popped a guy ten to fifteen minutes before the patrol deputy stopped him making part of it a homicide investigation. The shooter didn't live through getting his insides squished by a big Harley so that is accidental or as the coroner's inquest stated, a justifiable homicide. You're clear, it's just that the file needs to be complete in case the deputy has action against us in the future. He may not ever come back to work."
"Sorry to hear that," I said. "If you need me to talk to him, call me. I can always give a guy a pep talk."
"We have all the shrinks in the world to fix him. I got to go, but I'll stop by soon and take you up on the free beer."
Sue drove up in the pickup as the new captain was leaving. He stopped the car and got out to say hi to Sue who had gotten out of the truck. While they were chatting, I opened the trailer then went out to the truck to get the groceries she bought.
The captain was cool, he kept eye contact with Sue instead of talking to her tits. I'm sure that made her day. We carried in everything. Sue had a bunch of chickens. She said we should cut them in half and slow cook them with some sauce.
While I was firing up the grille, Sue came out and said she was going to shower, put on some shorts and get comfortable. She would be back to help with supper in a few minutes. Before I could finish getting the fire started Glenda and Martin came over. Martin sat in the Glider while Glenda made herself at home going in to get some beer for the three of us. Jim and Hanna came over next, followed by Tiny and Ruth.
We were discussing my idea about getting a converted refrigerator to put out on the patio so we could just get full size kegs instead of hauling it in by the case. The beer distributors would swap kegs for us and make sure the co2 bottles were full. Tiny said one of his company's clients was Pepin distributing who was the local Anheuser Busch distributor. He said he would find out if they had any coolers like that or if they knew of anyone who was making them.
Tiny said we could just get a Draft Meister but he thought those only held a pony instead of a full keg. We all agreed a keg would be better. The route drivers wouldn't come out for a pony, they would for a keg.
Tiny was given that job to do.
The chicken had been on the grille a while when Shawna and Charlie rode in. When he came up, he said the bike looked good as new. I said I was happy that it was back as I was looking forward to a ride. Both Charlie and Jim chided me for riding a big garbage truck instead of an open bike like they had.
Eventually we ate, feeding all five couples salad, then barbecued chicken, mashed potatoes and a combination green bean, carrot and pepper mix that was really good. The five women had teamed together in my little trailer's tiny kitchen to produce a great dinner.
Feeling really full after supper Glenda and Martin went out for a walk. Tiny and Ruth thought they would go with them while the six of us that were left said, "let's ride."
We rode to Jim's and visited for a while then over to the Vanishing point. Jim wanted to ride out to Plant City, as there was a great place to go on Monday night. We went out I275 to I4 to get there. It's only about twenty minutes from the outer area of Tampa to Plant City. I turned the radio on asking Sue what kind of music she liked. She had me turn to WQYK to listen to top forty country tunes. Hanna heard the music and made Jim scoot up next to us to she could listen.
Sue was very relaxed riding. I was surprised since we had a bad experience the last time she rode. She was either fearless or she trusted me. Hopefully both, because if she were going to be my keeper, she needed to be fearless.
Jim led us to the small bar with a couple of hundred people milling around. There were folks from as far away as Orlando and Sarasota that were there. We had a beer but passed on the ribs they were cooking, as we were all still full. Jim knew several people and Charlie knew even more. The big topic was that it looked like the coming year, the legislature would repeal the helmet law in Florida. If it were repealed, I'd have to think about it a little, as I didn't think I would want Sue riding with me unprotected.
We stayed for an hour or so then agreed that it was time to head home. It was a pleasant ride home. Not much traffic, no incidents, just a smooth ride. Sue said she loved riding and wanted to take a long ride during the day soon.
We all went to our respective places, I put my bike away and then with Sue wanting to use her own bed with me in it, got my stuff for the morning and we went to her place. We needed something sweet, so Sue got out some sherbet for us. We took it into the bedroom and stretched out in the bed watching TV. I had not noticed that she had a big built-in TV high on the wall opposite the bed. You could lay there and watch TV. She had a speaker built into the headboard of the bed so you could keep the volume low.
We ate our sherbet, then kissed and hugged forgetting about the TV. Sue whispered in my ear, "You know I can't tonight, I'm broke."
"We don't have to have sex every night. I do have to have kisses and hugs though."
"But you're all hard and poking out."
"That's because I'm snuggled up to you. You turn me on just thinking of you much less hugging and kissing."
"You are so sweet. I just love the way you are," Sue said holding my hard dick poking out at her.
She kissed me then dove under the blanket and top sheet to place her tongue on the underside of the head. She licked it like an ice cream cone then took it into her mouth while stroking me. She took her mouth off me and I felt her rummaging around under the covers then she put her mouth back on me sliding me in and out, sucking.
Something felt different, smoother, more exciting. I was fondling and lightly pinching her nipples making her squirm while she brought me closer and closer. I told her that I was going to come, for her to take me out of her mouth but she kept on, increasing her stroke speed and the intensity of her sucking. I couldn't help it, I came in her mouth. My body had been getting used to a lot of sex and it had been more than a day since we had made love so when I came, it felt like a lot. She sucked until I began softening then she came up and kissed me, giving me a taste of myself as well.
She was "mmmmming" and then said. "Oh, nice, that really is good stuff. I wanted it on me but I like it in my tummy better. You're addicting."
Sue reached under the covers then brought her dentures to her mouth and slid them into place, "Did you like your first gum job?"
"Loved it."
"It won't be your last, cause I really like it. I even came when you did without touching myself. Just sucking you and you messing with my breasts, I came. That is really nice."
She snuggled up to me half laying on me, one of her giant boobs laying on my chest, "The first time I told you I loved you I was sort of involved doing something strange to be telling you that. I loved the fact you were so sharing but were still watching me, you were enjoying that I was being pleased. I had this overwhelming feeling of love for you right then, strange isn't it."
She turned her face to me for some kisses then looking me in the eye, "I hope I don't run you off for being so forward, so fast but I want to tell you every minute we're together, I love you. I love you Steve. It's the type of love that is consuming. I can't explain it, but from the first time I saw you I knew inside that you were special. When I met you in the rain, I felt a longing inside me for you that I've never felt before. Now, every time we make love, and laying here with you right now, it's so right, I feel complete, totally satisfied and content with you."
"Wow! How am I going to live up to all that. Sure hope I can because I've really grown fond of you in a very short time. The feelings I have for you are overwhelming, I don't understand them, as I've never felt this way before. I'm very comfortable with you and want you to be the same with me. That may be love. I'm searching inside to find out if that's what love is."
"Take your time honey, I think we have plenty of time to decide what our future is and what love is."
We kissed for a few more minutes till our lips relaxed and our breathing became soft and regular. We slept.