Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience.
 
 Chapter Four

   "Help me into the wheelchair, babe.  I need to go to the bathroom.  That
coffee."

   Ronni stood and helped me up, an act that still brought pains.  I sat
rather heavily in the wheelchair and she rolled me to the bathroom.  With
help I stood and started to use my right arm to attend to my needs.

   "Nuh-uh, babe," she said.  "let me..."

   I kept my good right arm around her shoulder.  She supported me with her
left, and with her right hand she unsnapped those accursed pajamas.  When
the last snap parted she looked at me.  "Uh, purely clinical, okay?" And
she reached her fingers inside and caught my dick.  "I've never done this
before, Dave," she said.  "I just watched you."

   Now, if you've ever tried to pee with a sweet girl holding your dick for
the first time, then you might understand my problem.  I wanted to go.  I
needed to go.  But I couldn't go.  I explained the problem to her and she
started giggling.

   "I'm sorry," she said in between chuckles.  "I was really trying to
help."

   "Let me take a few deep breaths," I countered.  I breathed.  Tried not
to look into her eyes as she waited patiently.  After a few moments I said,
"Okay.  It's getting ready to.  Just don't let me pee on the floor."

   Giggling, she played the stream around the toilet.

   "Drawing designs in the bubbles is NOT clinical, little girl child," I
said.  "Now shake it."

   She didn't shake it.  She tore off some toilet paper and dabbed it dry.
"There," she announced, then tried putting it back in my pajamas.  She was
successful, but couldn't refasten the snaps with only one hand.

   "Is it too early for us to get you in bed?" she asked.

   "No, it's not.  Let's go." I said.  We hobbled back into the bedroom and
she helped me lie down.

   "Do you want a pain pill now, babe?" she asked.

   "Not yet.  Let's lay here and watch TV for a while."

   "Okay," she said.  "I'm gonna get my shower.  Here's the remote." She
put the control in my right hand and then left, stopping to kiss me gently.

   I heard the shower run, then stop, then the hair dryer.  And then she
bounced back into the bedroom wearing that darned nightshirt.  "Put your
arm out, babe," she said.

   I stuck my right arm out and she cuddled into it.  Very pleasant
feelings came over me.  My nostrils flared as I turned my head to nuzzle
her.  "Mmmmm, you smell good, angel," I said.

   "I'm trying to be careful, babe," she said, turning to face me.  "I've
wanted to do this for so long, and now you're fragile." Her face met mine,
lips first.  The kiss was...  hot.

   "Where'd you learn to kiss, baby?" I asked.

   "I dunno," she said.  "I haven't kissed a boy since I was ten."

   "Then you were made for me to kiss, angel."

   She smiled and kissed me again.  I did the best I could to hug her with
one arm.  Her night-shirt-clad body was pressing against my side.

   She giggled.  "Babe, it's a good thing you're crippled.  If you
weren't..."

   "If I wasn't?  What?"

   "Hush," she said, silencing me with kisses.

   I accepted her kisses and answered with my own.  I wrapped her with my
good arm, fitting my hand on her waist, feeling her feminine firmness
beneath my hand.  The thought crossed my mind that this was the first time
I'd touched Ronni except for the occasional "Help me climb up THERE" sort
of events in a young person's life.  And now she was no longer a generic
"young person", she was a soft feminine form dressed in panties and night
shirt, she was in MY bed, and she said she loved ME.  My life was changing.

   So was hers.  She giggled.  "I like you holding me, baby."

   "I wish I had two good arms, sweetness," I said.  Well, I sort of had an
arm and a half.  I could swing my left arm up and over her, but with the
soreness and the tugging of the healing rift, the arm was useless for
hugging.

   She had two hands, though, and she caressed my face as she kissed me and
never in my life had I felt as loved as seeing those brown eyes sparkling
in front of me as our lips parted.  I felt her body shift.  "Tell me if I
start hurting you, babe.  I've never snuggled with a guy before.  And I
don't want to hurt you." She eased her right leg over me, insinuating her
body snugly against mine.

   "That doesn't hurt a bit.  Matter of fact, that's the finest feeling
I've had in ten years." It was.  I didn't realize how much I missed a hug
that went past the one you gave your kids or your sister or a happy
co-worker.  Ronni's leg over me, her smiling face, and all desires I ever
had of being possessed by a loving partner came tumbling out of dark
recesses of my memory, and compared with the sweet, soft innocence of
Ronni, those memories faded.  This was better.

   It got better than that.  Ronni's hand slid in between the snaps of
those accursed convalescent pajamas and gingerly, tentatively caressed my
chest, at least the undamaged right side.  I was overwhelmed and one
particular part of me was more overwhelmed than the rest.  And it was
pressing against the inside of Ronni's thigh.

   She slowly moved her thigh.  And giggled.  "I feel that, Dave," she
said. "I'll stop..." She kissed me.  "This is all new to me...  I mean, I
listen to the girl talk an' stuff.  But it feels so good to be so close to
you, babe.  I don't mean to tease you, though..."

   "This is the best I've felt in years," I repeated.  I kissed her as my
right hand touched her chastely.

   "It's the best I've felt, EVER!" she purred.  "I knew that if you and I
could hold each other, it would be like magic." Her smile, coupled with
happy eyes...  that was magic.  Her leg moved again, rubbing.

   Her eyes connected with mine.  "I've touched that before, Dave."

   "Yeah, babe, but that was different." I sighed.  "Baby, we just found
out we loved each other."

   "Mmmm, Dave," she countered, "I've known I loved you for years, you
know..."

   "And I've loved you for years too, Ronni.  But..." My protests
disappeared as slender fingers traced their way down from my chest.  When
her fingers slid under my waistband, I caught my breath.  "I should stop
you, Ronni."

   "Why would you, Dave?  Don't you think I'm old enough to know what I'm
doing?"

   "Are you?  Ronni...  I love you.  But I don't want to take advantage of
you."

   "Too late, Dave.  You've been taking advantage of me for ten years,
being nice and decent and caring.  Now it's too late.  I'm in love with
you. And ...  you said you love me too, Dave."

   "I do, Ronni," I said.

   "D'ya mean it?" Her face was mere inches from mine, her brown eyes soft,
that slightly crooked nose, those wet lips.

   "Yes, I mean it, Ronni."

   "Ya know, Dave, I go to school and I know a lot about kids my age.  I
don't think I'm like that."

   "I don't think you're like that, babe," I admitted.

   "Darned straight, Dave.  For one thing, I'm still a virgin.  Another
thing.  I haven't thought I've been in love sixteen times like most girls
my age.  And I've got BOTH my original parents still married to each other
and I think they're great and they love each other.  And that's how I want
to be.  US to be"

   "Ooooo-kayyyy..." I answered.

   Ronni was on a roll.  "D'ya think that...  Wait!  D'ya know how old Mom
is?"

   I knew this.  I'd been at Rena's last birthday party.  She was
thirty-six.  "Yes, Ron," I said.  What's that got to do with this?"

   "They were married TWO YEARS when I was born.  Mom was NINETEEN when I
was born.  She got MARRIED when she was my age.  She met Dad because he
used to come in where she worked after school.  And Dad's older..."

   I interrupted.  "Ronni, I know.  Your dad's ten years older than your
mom.  I know all that.  I know your parents.  So what are you saying?"

   "I'm saying that it is just possible that a seventeen year old girl just
MIGHT be mature enough to decide...  Uh, David Johnson, REAL love is
forever..."

   "I know, Ronni," I answered.  "that's the scary part..."

   She'd pulled her hand out of my waistband.  It was on my chest and she
was resting her chin on it, gazing into my eyes.  "Why's it scary, babe?"

   "Dear little one," I said, "It's scary because I put my heart into this
and I think it's forever...  and I can tell you how it hurts when the other
person decides that it's not."

   "You're talking about when Mizz Lisa left, aren't you?"

   "Yes, baby."

   "I'm not her, Dave.  I know what forever is..."

   "So what you're saying, Ronni, is that you love me forever..."

   "Like in Mom and Dad "forever", Dave."

   "There's another thing, Ron," I said.  "It's a big thing."

   "What?" she looked worried.

   "Uh, baby... that's it: babies.  I can't make any.  When Brittney as
born, there was something wrong with Lisa and it would have been dangerous
for her to get pregnant again.  So I got fixed.  I can't make babies."

   "So what?  Do YOU need a baby from ME to show that we love each other?
Does a baby seal the deal?"

   "It didn't with Lisa," I admitted.

   "We'll borrow some.  The countryside's crawlin' with 'em," she giggled
at her own joke.  "I love YOU!"

   And inside my head thoughts were running a mile a minute.  I know that
the normal thing was to meet somebody, spend weeks and months dating and
getting to know them, their habits, likes, dislikes and then, after careful
thought, the subject of marriage could be sensibly considered.  And I
thought about me and Ronni.  I knew Ronni.  Possibly the only person on the
planet that I knew more about than Ronni was me, and sometimes I wondered
about me.

   I thought about times I was driving Ronni across the state, two or three
hours in a car together, laughing, talking, on the way to or from a sports
tournament and I knew Ronni's taste in music and movies and TV.  I'd
tutored her for years in academics, and I knew what she was like when she
was frustrated and disappointed and aggravated.  I'd seen her win and I'd
seen her lose and I'd watched her interact with her team-mates, and I knew
that those eyes six inches from mine were the property of a quite decent
person.  Young, maybe, but level-headed.  And smart.  Not 4.0, but almost.

   And as the program ran in my head, I could see the register filling up
on the "don't be a dumb-ass.  She's the ONE" branch of the program.

   I sighed.  "Ronni, I love you.  Like in "forever".  I think you and
I..."

   Her eyes brightened.  "Belong together.  Like Mom and Dad."

   "Yes.  Does that scare you?" I asked.

   "No, Dave.  It makes me feel happy.  And cared for.  And secure." She
smiled.  "I know you, Dave.  You're my best friend, but you know that we've
been around each other for ten years."

   It sounded like she was mirroring my own thoughts.

   She continued.  "I used to lay awake at night and go through the list of
things that I liked about you and that I didn't like.  That last list is
short.  And silly.  And when I thought about it, and I thought that I loved
you, I used to think what it would be like if we were married.  Like, would
I change, or would you change.  Do you think you'd change?"

   "No.  Are you saying..."

   "That I thought about marrying you?  Yes." She smiled.

   Oh, well.  Dive off the cliff, Dave.  "Veronica Jameson, will you marry
me?"

   Squeal.  "Yes, David Johnson, I will marry you." And she kissed me. 
"Now what?" and a little giggle.  "I've never been engaged before."

   "I need to give you an engagement ring.  And we need to set a date.  And
you tell all your friends and they get all squealy and stuff, and they plan
your wedding and you have a wedding shower and..."

   "God, no, Dave.  That's not how we'll do it, if you don't mind, babe."

   I grinned at her.  "Goodness, Ronni!  You've given this a lot of
thought."

   "I have, Dave." She had that wrinkle over her nose that was her "I'm
determined" look.

   "Then how do YOU want to do this?" I asked.

   "We tell Mom and Dad.  Because they have to sign for me to get married
since I'm only seventeen.  And we have a simple wedding.  If you want your
brother and sister, and of course Mom and Dad, and then we can go off for a
little honeymoon somewhere."

   "Your dad will be relieved to hear that.  What about your mom?"

   "Mom and Dad got married in the pastor's office of Grandma's church. 
She thinks those big weddings are a waste of money.  But they'd try.  But
why would we want to do all that?  You and I and our families are what's
important, right?"

   "You're a wise young lady, babe."

   "And I want a wedding band.  No diamond.  Just a band."

   "Babe, I'd buy you a diamond the size of a doorknob..."

   "And then I'd have what?  A piece of carbon on my finger?  Nope.  A gold
band."

   "Okay.  As soon as I can get out of the house, babe."

   She smiled.  "Would it be too soon to tell Mom?"

   "I don't think your mom's gonna be surprised, sweetie."

   "I don't think so either," she smiled.  "But I'm about to burst...  I
gotta tell SOMEBODY!"

   "Call her, then.  After you kiss me one more time.  That way, when she
comes over here with a butcher knife and stabs me fifteen times for
molesting her daughter, I'll die with your kiss on my lips."

   "Daaaave," she giggled, picking up my cellphone.  She punched the button
to dial her house.  "Hi, mom," she said.  "No, nothing's wrong.  Everything
is VERY right." She paused.  "Mom, Dave just asked me to marry him."

   I could hear the squeal coming out of the phone from a foot away.

   Ronni continued.  "Yeah, we talked about it.  For a while.  And Mom, it
just makes sense." Another pause.  Ronni looked at me.  "Dave, Mom wants to
come over."

   "Tell her okay, but leave the knives at home."

   Ronni giggled as she repeated the answer.  She looked at me.  "She wants
to know if you remember if Dad's chainsaw will start..."

   "No, tell her that she can beat me to death with a clawhammer."

   Ronni said, "Okay, Mom.  I'll be at the front door." Ronni climbed out
of bed.  And the little minx reached under the covers and gave my dick a
squeeze.  And left the room giggling.

   I heard the door open and a pair of squeals.  The squeals were happy
noises, therefore I stopped fretting over the idea of an angry mother
assaulting my crippled ass.  The pair showed up in the bedroom, Ronni still
in that nightshirt, her mom in a terrycloth robe with the embroidered name
of a hotel chain over the left breast.

   Ronni smiled.  "Mom, our neighbor and best friend is now my fiancé."

   Rena's eyebrow arched.  "Well, I guess this is..."

   "Not a surprise?" I said.  "Of course I still need to formally ask Alex
for the hand of his daughter in marriage."

   Rena laughed.  "Oh, he's gonna make you take ALL of her..."

   "Mommmm!" Ronni giggled.

   Rena said, "You can ask him tomorrow, Dave.  He's coming in, probably
midafternoon."

   "I'm looking forward to seeing him again." I was honest.  Alex was what
we called "good people", hard-working, bright, knowledgeable in a rather
esoteric field, and he and I'd fished together many times over the years
and were constantly trying to outdo one another in outdoor cooking.

   "Yeah," Rena said.  "He's really sorry he hasn't been around since you
got out of the hospital."

   "Man's gotta work," I said.

   Ronni chirped, "Well, Mom, what about your future son-in-law?"

   "Good choice, babe," Rena said.  She leaned over and kissed me on the
cheek.  "Like he HASN'T been a member of this family all along, huh?"

   Ronni stood beside the bed, her fingers entwined in my own.  "We belong
together," she smiled.

   "Okay, Miss Belong Together, just remember he's crippled and be careful,
okay?" Rena smiled.  "I'm gonna go home now.  I'll bring ya'll breakfast in
the morning.  I'll call to make sure you're awake."

   "Thanks, Rena," I said.  "I appreciate it."

   "Thanks, Mom," Ronni chirped.  I heard her escort her mom to the front
door, then the click of the lock.  A smiling Ronni returned to the bedroom.

   I was laying there with a grin on my face.

   "Oh, don't be so full of yourself, Dave.  Come on.  I know you need to
go to the bathroom, and I don't want you waiting and waking me up in the
middle of a good dream."

   "Okay, nurse," I said.  I reached up and grabbed the trapeze bar and
pulled myself up to sitting, swinging my legs to the edge of the bed.

   Ronni smiled.  "See!  You're getting better every day!" She offered her
arm and I stood beside her, letting her assist me to the bathroom.  Inside,
she said, "Can you stand without me holding you?"

   "Yeah, I think so," I answered.

   She unsnapped my pajamas and let them drop, then unsnapped the legs to
remove them.  I was naked from the waist down, except for the blue splint
wrapping my left leg from mid-thigh down to my foot.  She unsnapped the
snaps on the leg of the convalescent pajamas and they fell the rest of the
way to the floor.  "There!" she announced.  "Now tinkle!"

   I complied.  Finishing, I performed the standard shake.

   "Nuh-uh!" She handed me a wad of toilet paper.

   Okay.  I dabbed.  "Now help me get these back up."

   "Why?  They're awfully inconvenient."

   "I am trying to maintain decorum, young lady.  If we lose the trappings
of civilization..."

   She smiled.  "Oh, you're always so practical." She helped me pull my
pajamas back on.  Then kissed me.  Standing.  Supporting me as I rested
most of my weight on my right leg.  I wrapped her with an arm and a half.
My right arm felt her, warm, soft, desirable.

   "Mmmm", she purred.  "Let's put you back in the bed.  It's getting
late." Together we got me back in bed, then she went around to lay on my
good side.  As she scooted next to me, she said, "Now, where were we?" She
insinuated her leg over me.

   I said, "And now we're all respectable?"

   "As respectable as I can be, in bed with my fiancé, babe," she giggled.
"And we both have our clothes on and we're keeping our hands to ourselves."
Her hand went inside my pajama top.  Giggle.  "Mostly."

   "Getting awfully free with our hands, aren't we, babe?" I commented.

   "Uh-huh," she giggled.  "Want me to stop?"

   "Did I say that?" I flopped my left arm over my chest.  The movement was
painful, but my fingers could move enough to lightly caress her covered
breast.  She didn't protest.  "Do you want ME to stop?" I asked.  I didn't
want to stop.  My fingertips traced the gentle curve of a firm young
breast.

   Her breathing pattern changed noticeably with the first touch.  "Noooo,"
she said softly.  "Never."

   My fingertips touched her nipple and a shudder shook her.  She released
her breath with a hiss.  "Gahhh, Dave.  Wait!" Her hands grabbed the hem of
her nightshirt and pulled it up, exposing sweet flesh.  "Now!"

   My fingertips touched her bare breast for the first time.  "Mmmmm," I
said.  "Perfect!" Her lips met mine, our kiss modulated by the tracings of
my fingertips around the nipple I could reach that damaged left arm.

   "I wish I could kiss you there, babe."

   "I can help you with that, sweetheart," she said, shifting herself to
put her right nipple in front of my face.  I bent forward to kiss it.  Then
my tongue circled it.  That was too much, the first time.  She pulled back.
"Gahhhh...  too much, babe!" She took a deep breath and leaned forward to
present herself to me again.  I sucked her nipple, teasing its pert pink
hardness with my tongue.

   "Oh, Dave, I never imagined it could feel that good..."

   "I quite enjoyed it myself, babe," I said.

   She scooted back down in my arm and her hand strayed downward on my
belly.  She kissed me.  "I'm teasing you, ain't I?" she asked.

   "No, but you are indeed arousing feelings like I haven't felt in years,
babe." I kissed her back.

   Her fingertips insinuated themselves under the waistband of my pajamas.
It was my turn to suck in a breath.  "D'you..." And she slid her hand
inside my pajamas.  This wasn't the first time she'd touched my dick. 
Except maybe it was a penis for all those other times, when she was
dutifully bathing me.  And I was dutifully concentrating on NOT getting
aroused.

   This was not one of those times, and her fingers touched a DICK that was
hard and expectant and a soft giggle escaped her lips.  She looked into my
eyes and grinned.  "You don't know how much I've wanted to just PLAY with
this thing..."

   "Gahhhh!" I gasped.

   She continued, "Because it belongs to YOU and I wanted to make YOU feel
good..." and she kissed me.  "And I figured I'd have fun with it, too..."
Her fingers explored the length of my shaft.  "Does it feel good, Dave?"

   "Oh, god, yes, babe..."

   "Can I get this stuff out of the way?" she asked.

   "Stuff?"

   "Covers.  Your pants..."

   "Anything you want." What was I going to do?  Argue with my best friend
who just tonight had become my fiancée...  my lover?

   Squeal.  She bounced out of bed, pulled the covers down and unsnapped my
pajamas, freeing me to her view.  And then I got the benefit of her
stripping that nightshirt off and then with a lascivious grin, she hooked
her thumbs in the waistband of her panties and pulled them down and off. 
"It's only fair, don'tcha think?  I mean, I've seen every inch of YOU."

   I stared.  "Ronni, you're beautiful." I thought she was.  That stuff I
said earlier about "Plain"?  It goes away when you find out you love
somebody.  Slender, long-legged, not an ounce of fat, but not grotesquely
muscled, either.  Small breasts carried high and proud on her chest, flat
belly, hips flaring only slightly with femininity, a thin dusting of fine
dark hair on her mons.  She was cute.  And to me, beautiful.

   "To you , maybe, Dave," she smiled.  "And that's good enough.  Perfect,
really." Her eyes surveyed me naked for a moment, the first time she'd done
it for purely recreational purposes.  "You're a lot, uh, bigger today than
the other day, babe." She smiled.

   "I was trying NOT to be hard the other day.  Today I let it get as hard
as it wants." I jumped a bit as her fingers wrapped around it.

   "Did I hurt you?" she asked.

   "Oh, no, babe.  It feels so good that I kinda jumped."

   Giggle.  "Like when you kissed my titty?"

   "Yeah.  I hope I make you feel as good as you are making me feel." I
reached my good arm out and brushed my fingers through the hair on her
pubic mount.  It was her turn to jump.

   "Oh, Dave..." she moved closer so I could reach further between her
legs. As my fingertips traced between her thighs along the puffy lips of
her virgin pussy, she shuddered.  She moved forward to lock her mouth on
mine.

   "You're the very first, Dave...  I wanted you to be the first..." she
whispered.  "I'm soooo wet there."

   She was.  My fingertip slipped between those firm lips and into her
secret place.  I let my digit explore as she writhed slowly under my touch.
Gently, tentatively, my fingertip found the pea-like head of her little
clit and I softly brushed it.  "Nnnnnnghhhh, ohgod!" One of her hands
grasped my wrist.  "There!" she hissed.  She buried her face in my neck and
I complied with her instruction, my fingertip gently circling and flicking
her clit, amply lubricated by the juices of her excitement.

   In a minute she was shuddering and whimpering through an orgasm, then
collapsing in my arms, sobbing.  "Oh, Dave, that's...  I...  I love you so
much..."

   I accepted that, kissing her face.  "Are you okay, baby?"

   "Gosh, yes,' she sighed.  "I've...  I've never been better.  You made me
feel sooooo good!"

   "You're my angel, Ronni.  I want to make you feel good..."

   "You did, baby.  I've never felt anything like that before..." She
crawled half on top of me and smothered me with kisses.  "Can I...  what
can I do?  I want to..." she turned, half-sitting, to regard the hardness
she was holding in her hand.

   I was very hard and very close.  The spectacle of this nude and sexy
girl in my arms, coming hard, I was beyond excited.  I was on a hair
trigger myself.  "Just play, babe.  Hold it in your hand lightly so that
the skin slides up and down and stroke it gently."

   She bit her bottom lip and smiled as she complied.  I gave over my
control to her as she followed instruction.

   "Look at all that stuff," she said.  "Is that your uh...  semen?"

   "No, babe.  Semen is milky.  That's a lubricant to make it easier when
we...  when you get me inside you."

   "Oh," she said.  "I didn't know that." She smiled, one hand working up
and down my dick.  Her other hand explored my scrotum, lightly gripping my
balls, feeling them.  "Wow!  I feel this changing in my hand.  It's getting
all tight."

   "Ohgod.  I'mclose, Ronni!" I wanted to thrust but that bad leg stopped
me.  I remained in her control.  I was in good hands.  A few more seconds
of her hands at play and the first fiery surge erupted, sending a glob of
semen arching to who knows where.

   She squealed.

   "Keep doing it, babe," I gasped.  The second squirt arced onto my chest.
The third landed on my belly, then a continuous flow covered her hand.

   "Now THAT'S semen, huh?" she grinned.  "I had no idea it would squirt
like that.  They make it sound so dull in health class."

   I was trying to get my breathing under control after the first orgasm
I'd had in ten years that wasn't the result of my own hand.

   "Are you okay, baby?" she asked.

   "Very much okay, love," I answered.

   "I'll be back," she said.  She left and returned with a wet washcloth
and began cleaning up the mess.  "Is there always this much?"

   "No baby.  But this is the first one that I didn't do myself since Lisa
left.  And Lisa didn't compare to you."

   "You're sweet, Dave, but you don't have to say that."

   "Baby, it is completely true." I tugged her to me with my good arm and
did my best to roll over on my right side to face her.  "Ronni, little one,
you're my everything."

   "You're mine too, Dave." She molded herself against me.  "You need to
understand something, baby."

   "What's that, little angel?"

   She sighed.  "It's...  Us.  It's not about sex.  There's plenty of guys
out there to have sex with if that's all I wanted.  But you...  I LOVE you.
I want to be loved.  I want US to love...  each other."

   I kissed her brown hair.  "Yes, baby, I understand.  I never wanted to
settle for anything but perfect.  And you're perfect.  You're the part of
me that's been missing."

   Giggle.  "The missing piece?  I guess we'll have fun making the pieces
fit, huh?"

   "In due time, sweetie.  We have..."

   She finished my sentence.  "A lifetime together."

   "Yes, we do, angel," I said.

   She reached over and punched up late-night classical music and turned
out the lamp and we slid to sleep in each other's arms.