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K R I S T E N' S C O L L E C T I O N
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Nina
by Oyster50 (oyster1950@gmail.com)
***
One day a single guy goes to the park and meets a
pretty, bright teenage girl. She's different, and he's
single, and things just workout for them. A friendship
turns to love. (M/f-teen, underage, 1st, oral, rom)
***
Author's Note: This is a work of FICTION. That means
that not only did none of it actually happen, but also
there is no intentional depiction of any actual human
beings.
Further, there are graphic depictions of sex acts
between two people, even references to sex acts
involving ONE person. Therefore, if you're under
eighteen or have scruples about reading such things, now
is the time to go somewhere else. It's a big internet.
You should find something that interests you somewhere.
And speaking of interests, I do NOT write short, quick
whack-off stories. This is about romance and love and
human interactions. If that's your bag, then read on. If
you're looking for nine-inch cocks and steaming love
tunnels, again I remind you: BIG internet.
Have a good day!
***
One of those perfect spring days. We get so few of them
down here on the Gulf Coast between our two seasons:
cold and wet, or hot and wet. I couldn't resist. I
grabbed my e-book and headed for the park. The book
stayed in the car while I fast-walked a couple of miles
on the walking path. A good brisk walk felt good. I
passed up all but one woman who, dressed in spandex and
an athletic tank-top, was obviously a regular.
After my half an hour was up, I retrieved the e-book and
settled onto a partially shaded park bench to read and
relax. I was near the playground equipment and a half-
dozen or so kids from toddler to about eight were
climbing, swinging, sliding under the watchful eyes of a
couple of adults, one an obvious mommy and the other
with all the marks of a divorced dad doing his weekend
with the kids. I opened my Kindle and punched up the
middle of the book I was currently reading.
It was just about idyllic. The kids' voices were far
enough away as to not be annoyingly loud, and they were
all happy, and closer, I could hear squirrels and
songbirds in the trees. I wished to myself that I'd
brought the iPod with me, but oh, well... I read. And
every now and then I'd look up, eye distracted by some
movement in my peripheral vision, or some sound caused
me to look up, or just to change my focus to keep my
eyes from tiring.
But the voice startled me. Feminine. With a lilt.
"Excuse me. Is that a Kindle?"
I looked up. Young lady. Five-six, maybe five-seven. Not
fat. Not skinny, but it was hard to get too specific.
Her jeans were loose-fitting and her torso was under an
over-sized sweatshirt with the logo of the local
university emblazoned across the front. The face was
pale, a scattering of freckles across her nose and
cheeks. Eyes were an astounding light blue. Eyebrows and
hair were dark, her hair almost black, except about an
inch of the tips was bleached blonde, stopping just at
her chin, and across her forehead at eyebrow level, a
set of heavy, straight-cut bangs.
I was thinking "Goth" but the hair was dark brown, and
her nose, lips and ears were bereft of the hardware
affectations of most Goth chicks. Okay, ears... A tiny
silver round ear stud, conventionally placed in each
ear.
All that thought took me about a second and a half
before I answered her. "Yes, it is..."
She smiled. I thought to myself how well that fit her
face. "I've been thinking about getting one. How's it
working out for you?"
"Wonderfully," I said, and then we talked about how it
worked and what it cost and what I liked and didn't
like.
"Oh, by the way, I'm Nina. Nina Sayers." She offered her
hand.
I shook it. "Dan. Daniel Gleason."
"Happy to meet you, Dan. I saw you walking earlier. You
come here often?"
"No," I said. "Just in the spring when the days are
pretty. This one's beautiful. And you?"
"Pretty often. I'm taking care of that little blonde
girl and boy over there. Baby-sitting. If I bring 'em to
the park, they'll be tired when I get them home and I
can study."
"Study? High school? College?"
"High school senior." I mentally filed that. Seventeen,
maybe eighteen. She looked at her charges clambering up
the play equipment. "And you?"
I laughed. "Waaay past high school."
"Really... New SUV. So where do you work?"
I named a local industrial facility.
"I know that place," she said. "I know some people who
work there. What do you do?"
"Engineer," I said. "Electrical. I deal with power
generation."
"Really?" She didn't sound as if she were feigning
interest. "That's what I'm gonna major in when I go to
college."
Now I folded my book closed. "Now that's interesting," I
said. "No arts major, or mass communications, or
teaching?"
"Nuh-uh," she said. "What's wrong? I don't fit the
stereotype?"
"Oh, no," I laughed. "It's just that female engineers
aren't that common, and I've NEVER met a fledgling."
Giggle. "I've never heard anyone use the term
"Fledgling" in conversation before. 'Specially about
ME!"
"Get used to vocabulary, Nina. Engineers have some.
You're going here to college?"
"Yes," she said. "Where'd you get your degree?"
"Here. Fifteen years ago."
"Really? D'you think they did a good job teaching you?"
"Sure," I said. "But what makes you an engineer is what
you do AFTER college."
"That's what I've heard," she said. "That's why I wish I
could do something other than babysitting this summer. I
mean, the money's okay. Actually the people I do this
for pay me very well, but still... "
I reached into my pocket for my wallet and pulled out a
business card. Handing it to her, I said, "This is me.
That cell number is good around the clock. If you're up
for a field trip, let me know. I can give you the tour
at the plant."
Her eyes twinkled. "Wow! Thanks!" Her eyes went to an
eight-year-old blonde girl approaching. "Oh, that's one
of mine," she said. "I guess playtime's over."
The little girl whined, "Mizz Nina, I'm HUNGRY..."
"Okay, Haley," said Nina. "Go get your brother and we'll
go..." Nina turned to me. "Dan, it's been really nice
talking to you. Really. Maybe I'll see you here again.
"She paused for a second, then she patted her jeans
pocket. "Oh, no! I'll call you. I want that tour!"
I watched her gather up the two children and walk to a
little sub-compact car. They all piled in and she drove
off. Pretty young thing, I thought. And I went back to
reading. An hour later I was home, alone in my house,
except for a big cat that didn't think I was alone as
long as HIS needs got met.
Saturday evening, sitting alone playing on the laptop
and watching TV at the same time. Sunday morning, get
up, fix a light breakfast, then hop in the car and go
for a drive through the springtime countryside. Sunday
evening, finish up the week's laundry, fix a bowl of
soup, do a couple of miles walking in the neighborhood,
then shower, and go to sleep after petting the cat,
showering, shaving, petting the cat some more...
Monday morning I was at work. Tuesday, same thing. It
was a good job. I worked with a compatible bunch of
people and we managed our facility well. Office politics
was almost non-existent and the pay was acceptable.
About me. I'm divorced. Didn't WANT to be divorced, but
wasn't exactly in a textbook "happy marriage" either.
But I could've lived with it. Unfortunately, the former
wife was one of those "the grass is greener" people and
she hauled up and took my daughter with her, three
states away, with an old high school flame that she re-
discovered on the internet after, just coincidentally,
HE divorced HIS wife. And there I was, a house to myself
(and the cat) and nothing but child support payments and
occasional visits as a vestige of what I thought a
"normal" life was supposed to be.
And a religious upbringing left me a mental wreck when I
tried the modern dating/mating scene. Trouble was, every
woman I'd met was either like the ex, looking for the
greener pastures, or was the victim of a husband who'd
pulled that stunt on her. And the baggage would've
filled a freighter. I got far enough in a few
relationships to meet the kids, and I could've gotten a
major in abnormal child psychology. A few bouts of that,
well, I gave up. I could see myself doing dinner and a
movie, or a light social scene, but I wasn't bringing
'em home for the night, nor was I spending the night
with any of 'em. My conscience rode tight herd on me.
That's why it was a surprise when, Wednesday evening, my
cellphone rang and I didn't recognize the number on the
display.
"Uh, hello. This is Dan..."
Female voice. "Hi, Dan! This is Nina. From the park,
remember?"
"Oh, hi, Nina." I ran the slideshow entitled "Nina –
cute teen girl" from my memory bank. "How are you?"
"I'm fine, thank you." Proper little thing, she was.
"Does that offer still stand for the plant tour?"
"Sure. We need to set a date so I can get it all
cleared. Next week?"
"Uh, okay... How about Wednesday?"
"I'll do it. Afternoon?"
Tiny bit of a giggle. "That'll work. I'll make the
arrangements on my end."
"We'll do it." I was thinking that this would be an
interesting diversion.
"Oh, and Dan?"
"Yes, Nina?"
"I'll be at the park Saturday afternoon with the
kids..."
This was a turn I hadn't expected. A ball had been
lobbed my way. Interesting. Okay... "Okay, Nina. I was
going to be there myself." I wasn't lying, at least not
too much. The park was always an option, but I never
planned a trip on a specific day.
Brightly, she said, "'Kay! See ya!"
"Okay, bye..." I punched the "end" button on my phone
and laid it on the end table. I mulled over a couple of
thoughts, none of them of any consequence, and I caught
myself before any of them got too far.
Thursday was pretty much routine. Meetings. Walking
around my little fiefdom, looking at big spinny things
and checking to make sure that a million things were in
the right places, doing the right things at the right
times. I chatted with co-workers, drank an offered cup
of horrible coffee, ate a donut that might have been
better when it was bought early in the morning, and then
I went back to my office. Last thing on the day's agenda
was running down the list of last minute emails.
The normal ones were there, salesmen, other engineers,
admin stuff, and... one I didn't recognize. One from a
NinaS8421. Normally my spam filter caught this stuff,
but I clicked...
"Dan:
I checked with my guidance counselor about our field
trip. He thinks it's a good idea, but he's interested in
what sort of things are on the tour. Here's his email.
Could you send him something about that? Make it sound
impressive.
Thanks, Nina"
And a smiley emoticon.
That was easy enough. I composed a list of interesting
features and sent it to him. That was my last shot for
the day. I was out the door, out the gate, and on the
way home.
In the house, I changed to shorts and walking shoes and
did a couple of brisk miles. I was showering when I
heard the phone ring. I stepped out and dried enough to
pick it up. Nina.
"I hope I'm not bothering you, Dan," she said. "Is it a
good time?"
"Well, Mizz Nina, I was in the shower. If you can call
me back in twenty minutes..."
"Ooops! Sorry. I'll call back!"
"'Kay! Gimme twenty minutes."
I finished showering and shaving and donned my "knocking
around the house in the evening" shorts and t-shirt. I
kicked back in my recliner and ministered to the cat. He
determined that he needed petting today.
And the cell phone rang again. I looked at the display.
Now I recognized the number.
"Hi, Nina," I said.
"Hi, Dan..." she paused. "You don't mind me calling you
Dan, do you. I mean, you ARE a lot older..."
I felt the vestigial bubble of my ego deflate. Yes, I
was "older". "No, just call me Dan, Nina. That's fine."
Lilt in her voice. "Mmm-Kay! Did you get my email?"
"Yep! Sent one to your counselor. I should've copied
you. I'll forward it to you in the morning."
"Thanks! I'm sorry I got you out of the shower."
"That's okay. Thank you for understanding. Some people
will keep talking and let me drip dry..."
Giggle. "Yeah! I know. But what I called you about..."
"Okay, what DID you call me about?" I laughed.
"Trig." Her sigh was audible. "Trig finals are coming,
and I wanted to see if you'd help me study..."
"Wow. I've been out of school for a while, Nina. Are you
sure I'm the guy to help you?"
"Well it's not any of the other students, Dan... I'm the
top of the heap. But I'd like to get the most out of
it."
"We could try, I guess. When?"
"Am I being rude if I ask if this evening would be okay?
I mean, if you're not doing something..."
"I'm free."
"I'll drive over. Where do you live?"
I gave her a street address.
"I'll be there in fifteen minutes."
"Oooo-kay, Nina. I'll be waiting." And when the phone
call ended, I got up and made a frantic pass through the
house, making sure that it was a cut above its normal
tidiness. I looked at the cat. "Sam," I said. "Best
behavior, bud. We got company coming." I was excited
enough to talk to the cat. Oh, never mind. He and I had
many conversations. Mine were about everything. His were
about food and litter box and why I insisted on sitting
in his favorite spot, my recliner.
The doorbell rang. I opened it and there she was, a
bookbag dangling off her shoulder, those blue eyes
twinkling, a big smile on her face.
"Come in," I said. The cat was at the door to evaluate
the intrusion.
She saw him. "Who's this?" she asked.
"This is Sam. He runs the place. I am his unworthy and
incompetent staff."
"Oooooh, what a beautiful big ol' cat!" She bent over,
reaching for him. This is where Sam usually headed for a
hidey hole. He wasn't the cuddly kind of cat. But he sat
back on his haunches and let her pet his head. And
purred.
"Wow!" I said. "You're the first visitor that's ever got
to touch him."
"I like cats," she smiled. She closed the door behind
her. "Where's the best place to work?"
"My office. Right this way." I brought her up the short
hall, past the bathroom. The end of the hall had two
doors, both open. One led to the bedroom, my king-sized
bed (a vestige of a dead marriage) visible, and yes,
made up perfectly, that is, except for Sam's cat-shaped
wrinkles in the center. I noticed Nina look in that
door.
The other door opened into my home office. I had a desk;
a drafting table (got it for free. Everything was done
on computers now), a computer table with a HUGE monitor,
a file cabinet, a print rack and a couple of chairs.
"Here," I said. "Pull up next to the desk."
She sat. I sat facing her as she pulled a trig book and
some notes out. "This is nice. You don't work here, do
you? I thought you worked at the plant."
"I do some side stuff. Consulting. This is where that
happens. I have an office out there, too. You'll see it
next week."
"Neat!" she said. She opened up her trig book and
shuffled through some papers. "Here's what I want to go
over..."
The next thirty or forty minutes we spend going over
things. I had to stretch a bit. Yes, I took this stuff
in school. And passed, quite handily. There was a
"professional engineer" license displayed in my office.
But it was still a matter of exercising memories I'd not
needed for years. I managed. We managed. Nina actually
prodded ME a couple of times, to her glee. And my
discomfiture.
"It's two weeks to finals," she said. "I've got a
scholarship."
"Really? To the engineering department?"
"Yessss!" she smiled. "But I wanna end high school on
the best note."
"You should be proud, babe... Nina!"
Her eyes cut toward me and at first I thought I'd done
something wrong, but the smile stayed there. I'd just
called her "babe". A slip of the tongue. But she was a
babe. Hiding it in that baggy shirt, but from a range of
three feet I saw a delightful face, soft, rounded, open,
freckled. And smiling.
We finished up.
"You wanna coke, Nina?" I stood.
"Sure!" Brightly. She finished stuffing her book and
papers back into her backpack. "This is nice."
"Nice?"
"Yeah. Your house. You keep it neat. I like how you
turned this into an office. What's that other room?"
"Spare bedroom. It turns into a little girl's room for a
month in the summer," I said.
"Little girl?"
"Yeah. My daughter's ten. She comes to stay with me for
a month."
"So you're divorced."
"Uh-huh... four years. Sad story. Not the sort of thing
I should discuss with a teen-aged girl."
"Oh, I'm sorry. I wasn't being nosy."
"Oh, that's not what I mean. I mean, it's a sad story,
and I'm glad you're visiting and I don't want to ruin
the moment with sad stories."
She poked her head into the kitchen as I retrieved a
couple of cokes and poured them over ice and handed her
one. With a straw.
"Thanks," she said.
"Sit." I pointed to the end of the sofa. She sat, and
immediately Sam showed up and snuggled up against her
thigh. For a brief flash I hated Sam for his ability to
do that.
She put her face to him and stroked his head with both
hands. "You're just a big ol' fluffy kitty, huh, baby!"
"I can't believe he lets you do that. He won't even let
ME do that, and I feed his sorry carcass."
She was sipping her coke and dangling a shoe off her
toe.
"So tell me. What's with the hair?"
She tossed her head, bouncing it and flipped her hand
under the back of her neck, giggling. "Oh, I just wanted
to be striking. Grandma freaked."
"It IS striking," I said. "And I can see where grandma
might just take exception to it."
"She's really pretty good about me. Bought me my car. I
shouldn't jerk her around like this."
"You live with your grandma?"
"Like your divorce story. Long. And sad. Grandma's the
happy ending."
"Oh, really?"
"Yeah. Been at grandma's for two years now. Mom's, well,
Mom's in prison."
"I'm sorry," I said.
"Oh, don't be sorry for Mom. She wasn't innocent."
"Well..." I stuttered.
"Anyway, I live with Grandma, and life is pretty good.
Could be better, but a lot of kids have it worse, too."
"Yeah, I guess so. Life can be messy."
She giggled. "That's a good word for it. Messy."
"So you're an honor student?"
For the last two years. Grandma pushes me. I did "C's"
before I moved in with her. Didn't have to study or do
homework to do C's. Grandma pushes, and I do A's."
"That's good. A's, especially if you're doing trig."
"Last year was geometry. I did two extra maths and two
extra sciences. Chemistry and physics."
"You didn't take the easy road. I'd be proud..."
"Thank you. I am. I mean, I don't flaunt it, but I am."
She glanced at her watch. "I guess I gotta go, Dan. Is
it too much to ask about tomorrow?"
"No, but come over early and we'll go get something to
eat. I'll buy."
Squeal! "Like a date?"
"Like eat and do homework."
She smiled a quirky grin. "Call it what you want. Five?"
"Perfect!"
I had trouble concentrating at work all day Friday. Like
a kid going on a date to the movies with his young
girlfriend. I slid out of the office right at the
whistle and was home and bathed, shaved and ready when I
heard the doorbell.
I opened the door to a surprise. The only views I had of
Nina were somewhat frumpy, baggy jeans, loose-fitting
shirt, hair not exactly disheveled, but not noticeably
attend to. The girl standing at my door was dressed in a
dark green dress that fitted her well, not tight, but
formed, length stopping midpoint between hip and knee, a
pair of matching pumps on her feet, and her hair,
including the improbable blonde tips, was shining
perfection.
It took my breath away. And in retrieving that breath, I
caught a subtle hint of perfume.
She had the backpack clasped in her hands.
"Hi, Dan!"
"Good lord, Nina! You clean up very well..."
"UHHH!" she said, feigning irritation, "I didn't think I
was doing THAT bad before..."
I laughed, "No you weren't. But it's like you just waxed
a Maserati..."
She smiled. "I just thought you might be less scared to
take me out in public if I wore something nice. Is this
okay?"
"Uh, yeah! You choose wisely, fledgling."
"You called me that before, you know."
"Yes, little one, I DO know." I rattled my keys. "Where
would you like to eat?"
"Oh, I don't know."
"Is there something you DON'T like?"
"Nope. I'll eat anything."
"Okay," I said. "Italian? As in NOT pizza?"
"Yeah, but where?"
We had two Italian places in easy distance. One was a
national chain. The other was a local place with a good
reputation. I named the second.
"Isn't that kinda expensive?"
"I'm buying. And you're dressed for it. Is it okay?"
"Oh, yes. I've eaten there once. I loved it."
Twenty minutes later my SUV pulled into the parking lot
and I escorted Nina into the place like the princess she
was. We sat at a table in a private corner, not by
design, just by good fortune. And we talked.
"What's your grandma say about you coming over?" I
asked.
"I told her, Dan. That you were an engineer and you were
thirty-something and I met you at the park and you could
help me with my school work. Why?"
"Because I don't want an angry grandma after me."
"She won't get mad, Dan. I don't date. I have a few
friends at school, and sometimes I go out with a group,
but I DON'T date guys."
I guess I raised my eyebrow a little too noticeably.
"Not like THAT! I'm... I'm, well, DIFFERENT."
"Okay," I said, "do you want to tell me why you're
different? I mean, you don't look like your name is
really Bradley or something like that..."
She giggled. Did I tell you that her giggle was like
tinkling little silver bells? It is. "Thank you for
making me laugh. No. I'm a girl. For almost eighteen
years. But I get called "dyke" at school because I've
never been on a date, not a "date" date, you know, with
holding hands and kissing and making out and stuff..."
"Oooohhhh!" Like I was getting it. But I wasn't getting
it. Salads arrived. We ate. I noticed that she knew her
way around silverware and etiquette.
"It's part of that sad story." She ate a bite of salad.
"You might be interested to know that YOU'RE the first
guy I've ever gone someplace with, alone."
"Uh, I'm flattered, Nina, but we're at a restaurant."
"I know," she said. "I know." She sighed. Then her nose
wrinkled. "I love these peppers!" she chewed a
pepperoncini. "What's gonna happen when they retire the
space shuttle?"
And we talked about space missions and aviation and
space exploration, on through her lasagna and my
linguini with clams in white sauce.
She noticed a couple at the table across the room. "In
another month I'll be able to have a glass of wine with
my meal," she announced. Won't be able to buy it, but if
YOU buy me one..."
"If YOUR grandmother says it's okay..."
"Yeah. You need to meet Grandma."
Why did I get the feeling that this was more important
than it should have been?
We ended up back at the house, in the office, doing a
little bit of studying. She showed me her English paper
with an A on it. We looked at her science lessons, such
that they were, two weeks before the end of school.
"I can't believe that they're starting reviews already,"
she said.
"Reviews?"
"Yeah," she snorted. "Two weeks of reviews so kids can
pass the finals."
"Oh. Well, Nina," I chided, "everybody's NOT you. Not as
smart. Don't catch on, don't retain like you do."
Nina looked at me. "I know... but sometimes I just want
to LEARN!" She was putting her books in the bag.
"Got time for another coke?"
"Yeah. I gotta use your bathroom, though."
I went to the kitchen to fix our drinks and heard the
toilet flush. She was leaning over the bar smiling at me
a minute later.
"I noticed something," she laughed.
"What? You've got a mischievous look on your face."
"Only ONE toothbrush."
"Meaning exactly what?"
"Just that you don't have somebody else staying her with
you. At least not often enough to leave a toothbrush."
"Either that or I date women with poor dental hygiene."
She laughed. "Yeah, that is a distinct possibility."
While I was handing her a glass of coke and ice, I was
mulling over a couple of things, first, that she had a
quick and inquisitive mind, and second, that she was
checking on my single status.
This time we sat at opposite ends of the sofa.
"Lots of books," she said.
"Not as bad since I got the Kindle," I said.
"Uh-huh. And CD's." She got up and scanned the labels,
reading some off. "Mendelsohn. Bach. Mozart. Beethoven.
Boccherini... Wow! You've got taste, mister!"
"Try telling that to my ex," I said. "Now I can listen
to it any time I want. Alone."
She fixed her eyes on mine. "I love this stuff."
"You got an iPod? I can fill you up!"
"I'll bring it next time," she smiled.
"I thought kids were all into hip-hop and stuff."
She shook her head. "Or here, country and western is
big. And I can't do either of them. Noise. Production.
Do you ever wonder what went on in Bach's head when he
was doing the Brandenburg Concerti?"
"Concerti?" She KNEW the difference.
"Yes. Plural of concerto... Can you imagine getting into
the mind of Mozart or Beethoven? And I'm supposed to get
all overheated over four guys who use volume to cover
lack of innovation and skill? Puh-leazzzze!"
"My thoughts exactly, babe," I said. I knew she caught
"babe" this time. Her eyes ...
She sat back down. "It's stuff like that, you know, that
makes me NOT fit in. I mean, I can't sit with a bunch of
girls my age and get all excited about boy bands and
fingernail polish and who's going with who and who's
doing what... It's just not ME. I want to be ME."
"Took me thirty years to figure that out, Nina. Do you
know who YOU are?"
"I think so, Dan." Her face was serious. "I have plans
for school. I know more about how people are than most
people."
"What makes you think that?"
"Living with Mom... when she wasn't dumping me at
Grandma's. I mean, I think sometimes she tried to be a
mom, but it wasn't her. And I learned about
relationships, because she COULDN'T get it right. Kept
experimenting. I learned about women and men and how
they are and can be and how things can be so wrong and
people just keep doing the same things over and over
hoping that something different will happen."
"Wow..."
"Mom's in prison for prostitution and being involved in
a meth lab..." Her head hung. She raised it. There was a
tear on her cheek.
"I'm sorry, Nina. I wasn't trying to make you sad..."
"Oh, I know, Dan. You've just been nice to me. I don't
know why I'm telling you this. I'm just harshing our
mellow."
"Nina, you're my friend. Friends talk. Even when it
hurts. And sometimes talking makes things feel better."
"Thank you, Dan. For listening."
"And your mom, whatever she did, that's nothing to do
with YOU. You're smart and cute and you have your head
on straight."
"It's not THAT straight, Dan. Sometimes I'm scared... I
mean, Mom didn't start that way. I don't want to end up
like that."
"Your grandma is taking care of you, babe, and you'll do
just fine."
She picked up her backpack. Standing there in that green
dress, NOT smiling, she was still beautiful.
I stood to escort her to the door. We eased toward it
and I opened it for her. She turned to me and looked
into my eyes. And kissed me. Light, almost like the
touch of a butterfly. On the lips. For a brief second.
"You're a good friend, Dan."
"You're a beautiful, bright, delightful girl, Nina." I
sighed. Inside I wished I was twenty years younger.
As she walked the short distance to her car, she looked
over her shoulder. "Tomorrow. One o'clock. At the park."
Chapter Two
I finished my laundry before lunch. At one, I was
pulling up into the park near the kiddie playground. I
got out. No Nina. I started walking. Fifteen minutes
later I had a mile under my belt and had completed a
circuit. And Nina's car WAS there. And Nina was walking
her charges to the swing set. She released them to go
play and then she came to sit beside me. I was sipping
on a fountain drink.
"Did I bum you out last night? Dan?"
"No, Nina. You needed to talk. I listened. 'S what
friends do."
She eyed my drink. "Can I have a sip?"
"Sure," I said, "if you don't mind drinking after me."
"I'm too thirsty to worry about boy cooties," she
giggled, and she sucked on the straw. And before she
finished, she looked at me and sucked it one more time,
then released it and licked her lips. And handed it back
to me. And grinned.
"It's not nice to tease old men, Nina," I said.
"Was that teasing? I didn't think it was teasing." She
giggled. "You know," she continued, "I really enjoyed
last night. It was a perfect first date. Well, almost
perfect. I got all sad there, but it was a good first
date." She looked at me a little more intently than I
expected. "Can I call it a date?"
"You can. If you want. I had a good time, too, Nina.
It's been a long time since I had a day with somebody as
pretty as you. You were stunning."
"Uh," she feigned hurt. "I'm not stunning now?"
"Of course you are. You're enough to melt hearts."
She changed the subject. "So where's your Kindle?"
"I left it at home," I said. "Thought that since you
were here, I'd have somebody to talk to."
"You do," she smiled. "I like talking to you. So what do
you like about being an engineer?"
And off we went on career discussions: what my day was
like, what I used from school, how I learned, who I
worked with, and all sorts of things about engineering.
"So what made YOU decide to take up engineering?"
"I like learning stuff and doing things. Our guidance
counselor gave me one of those aptitude tests, and it
said that I had the personality traits to be an
engineer. And he said that with my grades, I was smart
enough."
"No,"I said. "You're gonna be a lot smarter than a lot
of other engineers."
"You think?"
"Yeah, I think..." And looking over her shoulder I saw
two little blonde kids approaching. I knew our time was
up.
Little Haley whined, "Miss Nina! We're hungry. And
thirsty."
"Okay, you two," Nina said. "We'll go home and feed
you." She turned to me. "Bye, Dan. Can I call you
later?"
"Sure," I said.
And as she walked the kids to her car, I heard little
Haley singing, "Nina's got a boyfriend" in a teasing
song.
I thought that silly. Flattering. I'd known Nina for a
week. Seen her four times, counting today. And there was
that twenty years disparity in ages. But what red-
blooded guy wouldn't look at her and entertain a thought
or two... I pushed those thoughts away. Since that
pretty teen with the striking hair was gone, I headed to
my own car and drove home.
Kicking myself. I had a pretty good world going for me
up until a few days ago, and now all of a sudden I was
feeling alone again. I walked in the house, headed
straight to the shower, and performed my evening
ablutions. I popped open a can of chili for supper and
put some dried beans to soaking for tomorrow.
Dinner behind me, I retired to my recliner and flipped
on the TV. I flipped through the channels and found
nothing interesting enough to occupy my attention, so I
left it on the most interesting of the rejects and put
my laptop on my lap and started surfing the net.
Remembering that I'd left work abruptly, I remoted into
my company email server and checked the email. Nothing
new there, but I saw that email from NinaS8421. I copied
the address to my personal email program and did a new
message.
"Nina- Here's my personal email address. It goes to my
cellphone, too. Just in case you need to get hold of me
when I'm not at work. – Dan."
And I hit "send". And immediately asked myself "why". I
went back to surfing the web, looking at curiousities
and funny videos and things. No. No porn.
It was a few minutes after eight when my cell clanged. I
looked at the display, hoping that it wasn't work. I
have some horrible stories about "Uh, Dan, we need you
out here right away. Half the plant's dark..." The
display had four letters on it: N-I-N-A.
"Hi, Nina," I said.
"Hi, Dan!" In my mind's eye I could see the smile that
accompanied that tone. "I just got in the car. I'm on
the way home. Just wanted to call you."
"Be careful while you're driving, Nina..."
"I am, Dan. Uh..."
I beat her to it. "What's your day look like tomorrow?"
"Nothing," she said. "Well, Grandma and I go to church.
But we're home at noon. Why don't you come over and meet
her?"
"Meet your Grandma? You sure? I mean, HOW are you going
to introduce me?"
"My friend. My mentor. She knows about mentoring. Why?
Should I tell her something different?"
"Oh, no, Nina. That sounds good."
"And then if you want, we can go for a ride or
something..."
"That works," I said. She dutifully gave me her
grandma's street address and I wrote it down.
"12:30, okay?"
"Okay, punkin," I said.
"Uh, Dan..."
"Yes, Nina?"
"Is "Punkin" a good thing?"
"Yes it is. EVERYBODY loves punkins..."
"Okay... I'm pulling up at Grandma's. I'll see you
tomorrow, okay?"
"I wouldn't miss it for the world."
Thirty minutes, maybe forty-five, and the sound popped
up on my computer's speakers indicating incoming email.
I clicked the email program to the top of the stack and
there was, indeed, an email from NinaS8421. With an
attachment. A picture.
Nervously I clicked the message open.
"Dan—
Thank you for giving me your personal address. Maybe
there are things you shouldn't get at work. Like jokes
and links. I know Grandma can't get some of those
things.
So now I can send you stuff. Like this picture. Grandma
took it. Says it's one of her favorites.
I hope you like it.
Nina"
I clicked on the picture. Nina. Pre-blonde banded hair.
Not quite a profile, she was caught turning toward the
camera, her eyes and mouth formed into a smile, her hair
swinging, the motion caught, trapped, the freckles a
whimsical punctuation to a bit of photographic
perfection. I opened the picture in my photo editor and
printed it on 5x7 photo paper. When the picture came out
of the printer, I stuck it in my briefcase.
And the email dinged again.
"Dan—
I thought you might like these too...
Nina"
And three more, one of them a longer shot, giving her
whole body, another delightful face picture, a third of
her sitting, wearing a dark sweater, her face like the
sun...
"Okay," I said to myself. "I can do this." I opened up
my picture folder and selected a few for her: Me at
work, crawling out of a transformer, a smudge of oily
brown on my cheek. Me behind my desk at the office. Me
kayaking with my friends last summer. And I sent them.
Ding.
"Dan—
Thanks. The one with you in the kayak, that's going on
my desktop...
Nina
x"
And I caught the "x". But surely, I thought, that was
just reflex to a teenaged girl... But desktop?
Phone clanged. Nina.
"Hi, punkin," I said. Okay, "punkin" was as innocent a
pet name as I could come up with. Like a little sister
or something... I was trying, wasn't I?
"Hi, babe," she said. I was "babe" now. But that was
just friendly, right? Right! "I just wanted to talk to
you one more time before I go to sleep."
"I like hearing your voice, Nina..." True, I would have
probably liked hearing ANYBODY'S voice on some Saturday
evenings. Sometimes loneliness was tougher than other
times. But this was MORE true.
"I'm listenin' to Beethoven," she said. "But I want
more. From you... uh, your collection. You said you'd
let me load some on my iPod."
"Oh, sure! We can do that. Tomorrow, if you want."
"Maybe," she said. "Either that or we do that riding
around you talked about."
"Whatever YOU want to do. Tomorrow's your day, okay?"
Sigh. "Okay, Dan. I better go to sleep," she said.
"G'nite, babe."
"G'nite, sweetie." I hung up. "Sweetie". Like in little
nieces and such, right?
I closed... started to close the laptop, but I went back
to that directory that said "Nina". And I looked at the
pictures. I closed my eyes. Okay. Shut the stupid
computer down, Dan.
I went to sleep after the nightly round of cat-petting.
I didn't sleep too late. I was up, breakfast out of the
way, a cup of coffee, and catching up on current events,
that kind of Sunday morning routine. And the clock
crawled. Finally, about a quarter to noon, I did a quick
shower and then dressed up. Not too dressy. A good pair
of jeans. A polo shirt. Sneakers. With socks. I
holstered my cellphone and got in the car. At 12:28 I
pulled into the drive behind Nina's little Honda. "Okay,
"I told myself, "Here goes."
I got out of the car, walked up and knocked on the door.
Nina opened it. "Hi!" she grinned. She turned and said
loudly, Grandma, he's here!" And she escorted me into
the house with her hand on my bicep.
"Dan," Nina said, "This is my grandmother, Helen Sayers.
Grandma, this is my friend, Dan Gleason."
"I'm pleased to meet you, Dan," Helen said. "Nina has
been going on about you for a week."
"Nina is a bit of work," I said. "I'm pleased to meet
you, too, Mizz Helen."
Helen smiled. "Don't do "Mizz Helen" with me. I'm not
THAT old..."
"Okay," I said, but my poor ol' momma would beat me if I
hadn't started out that way."
Helen laughed. "So Nina tells me you're an engineer?"
She motioned toward an overstuffed chair. "Sit!"
"Yes ma'am. I am an engineer."
"There you go again. And you're helping her with her
school work?"
"Uh, she doesn't need much help. We're just reviewing.
And I'm showing her what she's in for next year."
"That's what she tells me." She fixed her gaze on Nina.
"Nina, could I have a couple of minutes with Dan,
please, dear?"
I was nervous now. Hadn't done a darned thing but send
her grand-daughter a few pictures of me, fully clothed,
but I was nervous.
"Don't be mean to Dan, Grandma. He's a nice guy." And
Nina left the room.
Helen fixed me in a serious stare. "She thinks you're a
nice guy, Dan. She's known a whole lot of guys who
weren't nice. Her mom's uh, friends."
"I AM a nice guy, Helen. I have helped Nina with
schoolwork, and taken her to dinner once, and we've
talked about everything under the sun," I paused,
"including the Sun. She's a terribly bright girl who's
given me only the tiniest idea of what's gone on in her
life. And she says that the past two years, living with
you, are the best she's had."
Helen sighed. "Lord knows I've tried, Dan. I'm surprised
she made fifteen without being on drugs and pregnant.
Did she tell you about her mom?"
"Was she not supposed to?"
"No," Helen said. "I didn't know if she'd open up to
anybody about that. What'd she tell you?"
"Prison. Drugs and prostitution."
"That's the truth. And some more truth is that she's
lived with me on and off all her life. Her mom would get
a home, bring Nina there, some guy would move in, and
Nina would end up back here. Last one before her mom
went to jail, I had HIM picked up for tryin' to molest
Nina. He tried. Spent a week in the hospital with a stab
wound in a very uncomfortable place."
"Really? Nina?"
"Slept with a knife under her pillow. He crawled into
her bed naked, figuring she was her mother's daughter,
and she took a couple of whacks at his, uh, his
manhood."
"Wow." And I cringed a little bit, as any man might.
"But Helen, she's sweet and bright, and funny. It seems,
just from what little I've seen that she's good with
kids. And she's very well-mannered, from what I saw at
the restaurant Friday evening."
Helen sighed. "I've tried to teach her right from wrong.
Church. How to get along with others. "She's a good
girl, Dan."
"That's the side I see, Helen. Are there bad sides?"
"Dan," she said, "the only bad side is that she is very
hard-headed and she will stand up for herself. That's
the only trouble she's had at school. Two years ago when
she started at this school, some girl made some comment
about how her mom was in jail and Nina was the same
thing. Nina put a fist in the girl's face. Fortunately a
teacher saw it and knew that the girl had been goading
Nina for a week. Nina got 'counseled'. But they don't
mess with Nina, either. Boys neither. One of the
football players decided that she needed his special
attention. He got HERS. Missed two games with bruises
to, you know..."
"Remind me not to get Nina mad at me," I said.
"Yeah," Helen said. "I can laugh now... But Dan, she's
ten days shy of her eighteenth birthday, and two weeks
from now she's going to graduate from high school, and
she wants an education. I've done my best with her so
far."
"It appears to me that you've done darned good."
"I like to think so. But here's the deal. You came
along."
"Me? What'd I do?"
"If I believe her, you've done absolutely nothing but be
a friend. Frankly, I'm more than a little surprised. She
hated men. Until YOU came along."
"B-but... I didn't do anything."
"That's what she said. Said the first day she met you,
she was watching you walk and you walked past a bunch of
women and didn't turn and stare at them. Then you were
sitting there reading and the same thing: women would
walk by and you just looked up and then went back to
reading."
"Okay. I don't do that leering thing that some guys do."
"Impressed our Nina, it did. So you're her friend now.
She said Friday was her first date, ever."
"She told me that, too."
Dan," Helen said, "Do you have a girlfriend, a
significant other, a whatever they call them these days?
A woman in your life?"
"No, I don't."
"You're not gay, are you?"
"Uh, NO! Just celibate. Single in a big way."
"Nina. She's almost eighteen. I can't stop her from
doing what she wants any more. I mean, I'm not going to
let her do anything in these four walls. It's MY house.
But it's HER life. And since you seem to be her friend,
I'm asking you to be careful with my, with OUR Nina."
"Wow... sounds like Miss Nina's... I don't know, Helen.
I've been single for a bunch of years."
"Well, son," Helen said. "Looks like you just might have
collected a girlfriend."
"B-but... I'm thirty-eight..."
Helen smiled, "Boy, I know guys who'd die to have an
eighteen year old girl falling for him. And stranger
things have worked." She sighed. "But, Dan, if you're...
be careful. Let her down easy..."
"Helen," I said, "I didn't even pick her up. But I would
NEVER hurt her. A week. That's all I've known her.
And..."
"Okay, Dan. I believe you. But if you hurt my
granddaughter, I will personally hunt you down..." Her
gaze was stern, resolute.
"I believe you. And I won't hurt her. But she's
eighteen. What if I'm the one that gets hurt?"
"You will learn about my granddaughter. She's not the
hurting kind..."
"You just told me three people who would differ with
you..."
"Keep that in mind, Dan." She raised her voice. "Nina,
you need to come in here."
Nina was back in the room, and this time she perched on
the arm of my chair. Her hand sat on my shoulder, like
she was marking me as her possession. "Were you hard on
'im, Grandma?"
"No, I wasn't, Nina. I told him a little background
stuff. And how much I loved you and wanted good things
for you. That's all. I think you said you two were going
out driving this afternoon?"
"Yes, ma'am," Nina said. "I guess. Since he didn't run
screaming out the door." She stood up and tugged at my
bicep. "Come on, babe. Let's go."
I stood up. "Helen, I guess that Nina and I are going to
go for a ride. I will have her back home... what time?"
"Eight. She's got school tomorrow."
"And I have work. Okay. We'll see you then." And we,
yes, "WE" walked out. Buckled in the SUV, I backed out
of the drive and headed up the residential street. Once
on the road, I rested my right arm on the console, as
was my habit. I felt a soft, warm, feminine hand take
mine.
"D'you mind this, Dan?" she asked in a soft voice.
"No, Nina, I don't. Are you telling me something?"
"I heard what Grandma told you. All of it."
"And what I said, too?"
"All of that, too..."
"This is scary to me, Nina... I've known you for a week.
It's..."
"Special?!?"
"How did you know that's what I was thinking?"
"I just sort of know..." Her hand left mine and touched
my cheek. "How about we just be friends... And we'll
see..."
"I'd ... Just friends... Okay..."
And the afternoon was just that, holding hands, the
occasional caress of face or arm the seemed to be
transmitting so much more. We ate dinner at a country
barbecue joint, laughing at the mess we made, walked a
nature trail at a park, and finally headed back into
town. I walked her to the front door. Before she opened
it, she turned.
"Thank you for a wonderful day, Dan." And she kissed me.
Chastely. Lips closed, but soft, so desirable. "I'll
call you tomorrow. Homework. Okay?"
"Okay," I said. This time I got a little bold. I touched
my hand to her waist and gently pulled her toward me and
kissed her back. "I'll see you tomorrow, baby." And I
left.
I don't remember Monday. I did remember a photo in my
briefcase. I put it in a frame, camouflaged by being in
with a bunch of other pictures of me, co-workers,
friends. But a thousand times during the day, I looked
up at those eyes.
I was out the gate at four. Home by four-thirty. Bathed
and shaved and thinking about supper when the cell
buzzed. I was hoping... Nina!
"Hi, sweetness," I said.
"Hi, boyfriend," she answered. "You busy?"
"Not in the least. Waiting."
"Me too. I'm on the way."
"Come on."
Fifteen minutes later she walked in. "I didn't even
knock."
"So I noticed." I reached onto the counter. "Here's
something, just in case."
"A key?"
"Yeah. In case I'm not here and you need anything."
"But you're ALWAYS here," and then she smiled. "I guess
you're not worried about me walking in on you and some
other woman."
"There ARE no other women, babe. And there will BE no
other women."
"Serious friends, then, huh?"
"Serious," I affirmed. "Uh, got any homework?"
"Nope. Just reviews."
"Do you need any help? I mean, I'm supposed to help you,
you know..."
The grin was enormous. "You DO help, babe," she said.
She produced her iPod. "Can we do this?"
"Oh, yeah. Here! Let's get it started. I have most of
them on a hard drive. I got the transfer started. It's
gonna take a while."
She smiled. "Then put this on." She handed me a CD,
Beethoven. Pastorale. I put it in the player and then
accepted her tug onto the sofa. This time we were NOT at
opposite ends.
"Turn the lights down," she said. I turned down the
lights. And she nestled back into my arms and that's
where we stayed. No groping. No heavy breathing.
"Mmmmm. You smell good, babe," she said. She nestled her
face into my chest.
That presented me with her hair, brushed to perfection,
smelling clean, soft to the touch of my lips. I kissed
the top of her perfect head and she responded by pulling
my arms tight around her. On top of a pair of small but
wonderfully firm breasts. But she had my hands captured
in hers, and there was no way I was going to make a move
to touch things that needed touching, caressing,
fondling... No way.
Her breathing was even, regular... asleep in my arms.
Oh, well. If she wanted to sleep, I'd let her sleep.
Finally, a cramp in my leg required, insisted, demanded
movement. I tried not to disturb her, but was
unsuccessful.
"Mmmmm" escaped her lips. "I thought I was dreaming,
babe." I adjusted my crampy leg and she rearranged
herself in my arms again. "This is better."
"You were asleep, Nina."
"I know. I didn't sleep good last night. Just tossed and
turned for hours it seemed. I don't know how I made it
through school today. But the music... You holding me...
It's perfect. Uh... I'm sorry I'm not much company,
babe."
"Oh, it's horrible, it is... Lounging on the sofa with a
pretty girl in my arms. I am perfectly happy, little
one."
"I am, too, Dan. Uh, what time is it?"
"'Bout time for you to head home, babe... as much as I
enjoy this..."
"I know," she said.
We untangled and she stood. I stood with her and then
went and retrieved her iPod. "Here," I said. "You'll
have good music." I escorted her to the door and got
another chaste, tender, lips closed kiss. And a hug. And
I kissed the top of her head and breathed the sweetness
in, and I let her go.
Tuesday was different. Nina was excited. "Don't forget
tomorrow's the day you're supposed to give me my tour,"
she reminded me.
"Like I could forget. How's that gonna work? Am I
supposed to pick you up at school?"
"Can you get off to do that? I can ride the bus, and
then you can come get me at school and bring me home at
the end of the day..."
"I can do that," I said. "Do they know what we're
doing?"
She smiled. "Just ask for Mr. Simpson. He's my
counselor. I talked with him and I got a permission slip
signed by Grandma and everything's cool."
"I'll be there at twelve-thirty," I said. "Wear
something comfortable."
"I can do that," Nina smiled. "I'm looking forward to
seeing your world."
"Not just my world, babe," I said. "You're wanting to be
an engineer too, you know."
"I know."
"I want to help you." I picked up my car keys. "Let's go
for a ride..."
"Where?"
"I don't know," I said. "Just ride around..."
"No," she said. "I liked last night. We just sat and
listened to music. It was nice, just to not worry about
tests and lessons and school for a while. And be
held..."
"Okay," I said. "Just didn't want you bored. What do you
want to start with?"
She reached in her purse and picked out her iPod and
punched at the touchwheel. "Moonlight Sonata. For
starters."
I took the suggestion and lined up her first choice and
several others of similar vein on the playback queue of
the computer I used to manage my sound system and
started the music.
"Dim the lights, babe," Nina said. "And come sit in your
chair."
"My chair" was a big recliner. Many a night I'd fallen
asleep in its comfy confines. But last night Nina and I
had snuggled on the sofa. The recliner wasn't wide
enough for both of us. But I followed her instruction
and sat. And she slid onto my lap.
"Am I too big to sit on your lap?" she purred.
I answered by encircling her in my arms and kicking the
recliner back to deposit her on top of me. "Is this
okay?"
And she kissed me. Not the safe, chaste kiss from the
evening before. No, her lips, while closed, were hot,
soft and searching and I responded in kind.
"Mmmmm," she said.
"Oh, Nina," was all I could do. I sucked in a breath,
trying to clear my head, thinking, "Dan, what did you
expect? You have her in your arms."
Another kiss. Her lips parted, her tongue tentative,
almost frightened, touched my lips and I parted my lips
and lightly touched my own tongue's tip to hers. Feeling
that, her tongue became emboldened and she probed my
mouth as I tasted her for the first time. She broke the
kiss after long moments, sighing.
"Mmmm, Dannnnnn..."
"My Nina." My words drew another kiss, her body twisting
to put us face to face, her arms between us, her hands
grasping my shirt.
"Dan..."
"Nina... baby. Oh, god..." I breathed in, the scent of a
hint of her perfume in my nostrils. "another, baby." And
she turned her face to me. This one was hotter than the
last. My hands stroked her hair, sleek, soft to my
touch, my fingers brushing the bare skin of her neck.
When she raised her lips away from me, I touched her
face, enraptured.
"Dan... you..."
Me? Me, what..."
"No, never mind. You'll think I'm a silly young girl."
"I haven't thought you were silly from the first time we
talked, little one. What are you thinking..."
"Stuff that I probably shouldn't..."
That intrigued me. There was a single part of my anatomy
that was a long way past any intrigue. My dick was hard,
almost painful, because it had gone hard while pointed
in the wrong direction. But I didn't think with that. I
wasn't going to LET myself think with that. I knew in my
head and in my heart that I could not be the kind of man
who'd take advantage of Nina. "Babe, I'm your friend..."
She put her fingertip to my lips, shutting me up.
"That's just it! You ARE my friend. But..."
"But, what..."
"No, I'm being silly..."
"Try me. I can evaluate silly. I'm an engineer." She
kissed me again, almost like she was slaking a thirst.
"Okay... Dan, is it silly to believe in love at first
sight?"
"It's not silly to believe in love," I said. "And I
guess it can happen fast, and it can happen ... I don't
know, why not? With who?"
"you." she said, simply. "Who am I kissing? YOU!" She
sighed, "Dan, you're the first guy I ever kissed because
I wanted to KISS him. I mean, I was a little girl and I
kissed little boys, like little kids do. But since I was
old enough to get over the little girl, little boy
thing, I have never kissed a guy. Like since I was ten."
She brushed her lips across mine like she was testing,
then they melted into mine, her tongue brushing my lips
as I opened my mouth to her.
A thousand heartbeats later, it seemed, I was gazing at
her perfect face in the dim light of the room, the music
of the masters adding to the perfection. It was my turn.
"Nina, baby, dearest..."
A brief kiss before she answered. "Yes, Dan..."
"How can I... I've fallen in love with a dream..."
Giggle. Sigh. "You too?"
"Yeah. And your grandma said..."
"I heard what Grandma said. You hear what Nina says."
She sat up a little straighter, out of kissing range. "I
am a week short of my eighteenth birthday. I have NOT
had a good life except for the time I spent with my
grandmother. And at school, even though I have been an
outsider. Kids at school know about my mother and they
know me, and I don't put up with getting the two of us
confused. I am NOT my mother in any way, shape or form.
And I am different from other eighteen year old girls. I
don't have any illusions about knights and shining armor
and castles and princesses and pretty ponies. None of
that crap. I am logical and mature and intelligent. And
at THIS point, Dan Gleason, I think I have found myself
to be in love. With you."
"Wow. That's quite a speech," I said. "Now, do you want
to hear mine?"
"You've got one?"
"I didn't PLAN one, but since YOU started it, I am
thirty-eight years old, I have been badly hurt by
several women in my life whom I've, in each case,
committed to spend the rest of my life with. One has my
daughter, and the way things are going now, I will never
get to be a father to her. I do not easily fall in love,
and I do not sleep around or do one night stands. I find
that my tastes are different than most people's
especially most women's and I had decided that unless
some bolt of lightning out of the blue dropped a
lifemate into my lap, I would just as happily spend the
rest of my life with a cat as a companion." I paused.
"And YOU'RE in my lap. Thirty-eight year old guys are
NOT supposed to be in love with eighteen year old girls.
Especially after knowing them for a week and a half. But
I am in love. And I like it."
"Shut up," she said, "and kiss me. Lots."
I ignored the discomfort in my crotch. I wasn't about to
break this mood. I complied with her order and provided
her with kisses. Lots.
Chapter Three
At eight PM I let Nina go. My hands had wandered over
her back and shoulders and arms and her hands had done
the same to me. Neither of us had teased or attempted to
touch skin that was covered by clothing. Chaste. It was
little wonder that after seeing her out the front door,
I was in the shower easing the pressures that had built
all evening.
I wasn't a constant masturbator. I wasn't asexual, it's
just that I didn't do fantasies very well. I didn't have
a fantasy in mind on this night. I saw blue eyes and
almost ebony brown hair and that outrageous blonde
fringe and laughter and I squirted for relief, not lust.
At twenty minutes after noon the next day I was at the
local high school, in the office, asking for Miss Nina
Sayers. The middle-aged lady at the office counter sent
a student assistant away to get the guidance counselor.
I met him in a couple of minutes, a balding, fifty-ish
man of husky build.
"Hi! I'm Jim Simpson. Guidance counselor. You're getting
one of my prize students."
"I'm Dan Gleason. Electrical Engineer. I promised her a
plant tour."
"Ah," he grinned. "Electrical engineer. So THAT'S the
connection."
"Yessir," I said. "She indicated an interest, and I let
her talk me into an afternoon of wandering around a
smelly old chemical plant."
He laughed. "She's a joy. A student who wants to get it.
Who works to get it. Gosh, I wish I saw more of 'em."
"Hi, Mister Dan," came a chirpy voice.
I looked to the door and saw Nina, jeans and a long-
sleeved cotton shirt, sensible leather shoes, her
backpack slung over her left shoulder.
"You ready to go?" I asked her.
"Yessir. Sign me out!"
"Mister Jim, here's my card. Maybe we can get together a
program for other interested students."
"Thanks," he said. "I'll call you."
"Okay, do that. We'll see you later." I signed the
proper forms and walked out with Nina at my side. We got
in my SUV.
She poked me. "Just remember, mister, that this
"interested student" LOVES you."
"I will not forget that, baby. This old engineer loves
you too."
The ride to the plant was twenty minutes, followed by
signing her in the security gate, giving her a visitor's
hard hat and safety glasses, and then hopping in the
golf cart that was my personal in-plant transport.
Somehow, the idea that I had a golf-cart to run around
in all day was impressive.
"My time's a bit too important to waste walking back and
forth," I said. We did the grand circle around the place
as I showed her the production units and the shops and
my pet, the powerhouse where two big generators
converted steam to electricity. "Wanna see my office?"
"Sure," she beamed.
I pulled up and parked.
"You have your own parking spot."
"Yep. And my own office." We walked in the door and I
started introducing her to my co-workers.
Old guy, Harvey. "So this is the one you've been telling
us about? Nina, is it?"
"Yessir," Nina said.
"And you're wanting to be an electrical engineer?"
"Yessir."
He laughed. "I wish my daughter'd want to be an
engineer. I'm paying out the nose so she can go into
marketing. Hah! Miss Nina, you're too pretty to be an
ELECTRICAL engineer. You ought to do mechanical."
Nina laughed. "Oh, no sir! Mister Dan says they're all
knuckle-draggers!"
Harvey guffawed. "That's what I expected him to say."
I showed Nina my office, the piles of books and prints,
the big monitor for the computer, and the unit clerk,
thirtyish, plump, smiling Jannie.
"Jannie," I said, "This is Nina Sayers. Soon to be an
engineering student."
"Hi, Mizz Jannie," said Nina.
"Hi, Nina," said Jannie. "Don't let him fill your head
with ideas. **I** run this place."
"She's right, you know," I laughed. I guided her to my
office.
"Hmph! The one at your house is neater," she observed.
I showed her some artifacts of some notorious equipment
failures, a few pictures, a few examples of our
drawings, and then we went back out into the loud,
smelly world I worked in. The tour took us in the noise
and heat and humidity of steam powerhouses and clean,
cool, high-tech of modern control facilities. We peeked
at the maze of wires that did the control, and at the
arm-thick cables that moved huge amounts of electrical
power, and the odd-looking apparatus of high voltage
substations, and she drank it in.
We caught a crew of electricians at work pulling in a
new set of cables and she pretty much shut the job down
by showing up. Pretty young girls with striking hair
showing underneath their hard hats can do that. And I
really flustered the crew leader by asking HIM to
explain a bit about what they were doing. And she smiled
and thanked him.
We toured a couple of production units and I took her to
the quality control lab so she could see chemists
testing the final products. And I introduced her to the
plant's engineering manager and told him that Nina would
be lining up for a summer internship a year hence.
Four o'clock saw us pulling my golf cart into its slot
so we could walk together to the parking lot. I signed
my fledgling out of the plant and then scanned my own
badge to end my day, and we got in my car to head home.
As soon as we cleared the boundary fence she grabbed my
free hand, hauled it to her lips and kissed it.
"'Cuz I can't crawl over the console and kiss YOU!" she
cooed. "That's all so wonderful, Dan!"
I shook my head, almost disbelieving. "It's WORK, doll!"
"I know, but EVERYBODY'S got to work at something, and
that's INTERESTING!"
"It is," I admitted. "It's what I like to do. Well,
maybe not the paperwork, but the technology, the
constant mental challenges of making things work better,
helping people learn to do things, that's what I like."
"I saw that, baby," she said. "Those guys we talked to,
you could see it in their faces, that they thought a lot
of you."
"I don't know about all that," I said. "I've pissed 'em
all off at one time or another."
"That happens between people," she said. "If you're put
together, there's always going to be times when you
don't necessarily want the same thing at the same time.
But there's always somebody who's right, and somebody
who's boss. You have to hope those two belong to the
same person at the end of the day, and that everybody is
mature enough to get past getting told "no" and go on."
"You're a wise young lady." I took my eyes off traffic
long enough to regard her pretty face.
"You don't live with my mom without getting crash
courses in human relations, Dan."
"I suppose. And you seem to apply them yourself. The
right way."
"I try. But you know, I know other people who try
sometimes, and things just go wrong. Like I said, one
person's right, and one person's going to win, and you
hope those are bath the same person. Because if the one
who's right, loses, well..."
"But sometimes that's the way life is, babe," I said.
"sometimes being right is a matter of life or death.
Sometimes being right is choosing the entertainment for
the evening. One battle is worth pulling out all the
stops. The other is worth a shrug and eating spaghetti
because that's what your partner wanted instead of
schnitzel."
"Don't sweat the small stuff, huh?" She giggled. "And
most of it IS small stuff."
"Yeah, like dinner tonight. I drop you off at your
house, you clean up and get a little bit dressed up
while I go to MY house and do the same, and then I pick
you up for dinner and I'm thinking rib-eyes and you're
thinking enchiladas..."
"Actually, I was thinking of calling Grandma and seeing
if she wants to go out to eat with us. She's got this
friend..."
"Boyfriend?"
Giggle. "If you want to call a sixty-something guy
"boy", I guess so. But we could ALL go out and eat."
"That would be nice. Makes us look respectable."
"Hah! Babe, we ARE respectable." She smiled.
"Yeah, once you get past the part where a seventeen year
old girl is running the roads with a thirty-eight year
old guy."
"Where the guy is an engineer who just took a high
school student on a field trip. And helps her with
calculus and trig and physics." She sighed, sounding a
bit exasperated. "Besides, I'm a week shy of being
eighteen, and at eighteen if I want to go out and get
MARRIED, I can, with nobody's permission..."
"Except maybe the guy you're marrying..."
She laughed, "Yeah, there is THAT. But what I'm saying
is that there's nothing illegal."
These conversations were what I liked about Nina. She
let her mind roll around a subject, as much to see what
SHE thought as what I thought. "Nina, punkin, " I said.
"There's a huge difference between what's legal and
what's considered proper."
"Believe me, babe, I know that," she continued. "And
sometimes," she continued, "that's good. And sometimes
it makes NO sense at all. Like, I'm seventeen. D'you
KNOW how many seventeen year old girls I know of who are
still VIRGINS?"
"Uh..." I had no idea.
"I'll tell you. One. ME! But I don't know everybody. But
the girls I hear, they've ALL done it. Some of 'em do it
a LOT. With a lot of different guys. I'm sorry. I had a
mom like that. I don't EVEN want to be like Mom."
"But just because a lot of people do something doesn't
make it right. Stupidity can flourish in large groups."
Giggle. "I saw that on a sign in your office!" I had a
poster that said "Never underestimate the stupidity of
people in large groups."
She kept on. "But what irks me, Dan Gleason, is getting
lumped into the group. Like my hair. Until I did this
blonde tipping thing, I looked pretty conservative. I
don't do fashion trends. But do something striking to my
hair, and then I was lumped in with a group. Just
because of how I look." She sighed. "That was a
revelation. Even some of my teachers..."
"You learned a lesson."
"Yeah. I should've gotten it trimmed off for my
birthday."
"You do what you want. I have to admit, though, the
first day I met you, I saw the hair and the first
thought was "Goth chick". Until I looked closer and saw
dark brown, not black, and the only piercings were one
in each ear. And then you started talking, and that
erased any preconceptions I might have entertained."
"See," she said. We turned on the street of her
grandma's house. "Anyway, what I'm saying is that in
some cases it's okay to go counter to the accepted
norms. Sometimes the norms are good. Sometimes they're
stereotypes. And eighteen and thirty-eight..."
We pulled into her driveway. This time she did climb
halfway over the console and deliver a chaste kiss.
"I'll call you after I talk to Grandma... See ya, babe!"
I smiled. "See you in a bit, angel." I wanted, almost
blurted, "I love you..." but how stupid could I be,
three weeks into knowing her. But then I remembered
already crossing THAT line. I drove home, silently
thinking. At the house, I met the cat at the door, gave
him a perfunctory scratching behind his ears, then
stripped, showered, shaved, and the phone rang. Nina.
"Hello, little girl."
"Hello, old man," she giggled. "Can you come get me in
forty-five minutes? Grandma's gonna ride with Ed. That's
her guy. And I wanted to ride with you."
"Where are we going?"
"I hope you're up for that Italian place again..."
"Good memories there. Most wonderful first date in my
whole life took place there. With a girl you'd think was
a Goth until you found out different..."
Her voice was lower, almost a whisper... "Dan, you say
sweet things to me..."
"You mean sweet things to me."
Her sigh was audible over the phone. "See you in forty-
five minutes, okay..."
"I'll be there, babe!"
Dinner was an enjoyable time. Nina's grandmother, Helen,
was an interesting person in her own right, and her
"friend" Ed was a business man, semi-retired, and a
funny guy, smart, acerbic wit, and Nina, was, well, in
conversation, capable beyond her years. Salads came and
went. Entrees. Desserts. Coffee.
In the parking lot, we split up into two couples again.
I promised to have Nina home by nine, it being a school
night. That gave us an hour alone together and Nina's
comment: "let's go to your house."
Twenty minutes later we were there. In my recliner. With
Nina in my lap, and we were kissing and caressing one
another, each keeping hands strictly limited to no
private areas. The only feel of her perky, smallish (now
that I'd seen her in something other than over-sized
shirts) breasts was the feel of them pressed against my
chest or arm. The only feel of her softly curved,
shapely butt was it pressed against my lap.
Her lips melted me, though. Except for one particular
part, and I knew she HAD to feel it pressing against her
from inside my trousers, but she never acted as though
it was of concern to her.
"I know we don't have a lot of time, tonight, Dan, but I
just needed you to kiss me and hold me." We kissed. I
lead the way at first, but her own mouth was ranging
around my neck and face now, and I said NOTHING about
her use of her teeth but she had a habit of attaching
herself to my neck and sucking and biting.
I loved it, although I cautioned her about visible
marks. We kissed and caressed. "Dan," she said, "I...
Uh... You make me feel... Uh..." Her voice fell to a
whisper. "I love you. You make me love you."
"I love you too, Nina..."
She turned her head. The clock was clearly visible. And
our evening was almost at its end.
"Dan," she said, preparatory to dropping a bomb, "I wish
I didn't have to go home..."
I took a deep breath, knowing that the response to this
simple statement was of monumental importance to the
future of Dan and Nina. "I think that would be
wonderful. I love having you near me."
Kiss. She said, "I mean, like "together", Dan... I've
thought about it."
"I have, too, Nina..."
She burrowed into my chest. You have? Really? Me?"
"Who else? You're my everything... If you want to be."
"I do, you know. I've thought about it."
"And..."
And then my Nina shifted from hormonal teen to Little
Miss Logical. "And I think we might... It just could
be..." She sighed. "Dan, I love you. Very much. You're
the first guy I ever loved..."
"I feel quite privileged to have that distinction
bestowed on me, sweetness," I said.
Kiss. "Mmmmm..." sigh. "You've been... Uh... Is this the
way it is?"
"No," I said truthfully. "It isn't."
That answer caused her to raise herself to look into my
face. "No?" Her eyes looked concerned.
"No. Never has been. This," I said, "is the way I WANTED
it to be."
"Really? Because it's important to me..."
"Babe," I said, "I look at how we are, three weeks
together, and I'm amazed. You walk in here, pull a CD
from my collection, and it's Boccherini. We talk, and
it's about science and news and philosophy. We kiss,
and..."
"I know," she said," finishing my sentence for me. "I
know... You've always let me be myself." Another sigh.
"I guess I need to go... home."
We untangled, my body aching for her continued presence,
and then entwined ourselves together, standing, kissing,
and I felt her hand slide downward past my belt and over
my butt. And then pull away. Her eyes surveyed mine but
she said nothing.
A short while later we were at her house and I walked
her to the door. Ah, the "door kiss". Chastely, she
tiptoed and planted and kiss on my lips, short, oh so
sweet. "Dan, this has been a wonderful day. We'll have
more. And better."
And I went home.
Thursday. Friday. Less than a week to her birthday. A
week until her high school graduation. Despite her
grades, she wasn't valedictorian. She'd only maintained
the high average for the past two years. The kid who got
the honors had been pumping out straight A's for four.
And wasn't doing four maths and four sciences and was
likely headed into liberal arts instead of engineering.
Nina's commentary on this fact was wry and laconic. "He
played the game for points. I'm after knowledge."
Saturday was her babysitting job. We did meet at the
park and sat together while her charges worked
themselves to exhaustion, and I retired to spend
Saturday night accompanied by my cat. And the cat missed
Nina.
Sunday I got Nina after church and we did the classic
drive in the country. Monday was the last of her final
exams. Grades were Wednesday, and Friday night I was in
the stadium watching my love receive her diploma, along
with five hundred other kids. I knew that many of them
were headed off to parties afterward. Nina'd told me
that she'd been invited.
"Babe, go if you want to. This is your only high school
graduation."
"Yes it is, Dan," she'd said while holding onto me with
her arms around my neck. "Let's see. What should I do?
Choices... I could go to a social event with the same
kids who used to give me pure hell, and where there will
be drinking and drugs and loud music that I fail to
appreciate, or I can come here, have a quiet dinner with
a man whom I adore, and listen to the masters... Oh,
such a difficult choice..."
"Did I mention that you have a sarcastic streak?"
"Me?!??!" she squealed in mock indignation.
"Yes, you." I kissed her on her nose. "And I find it
delightful."
And that's why, after her graduation ceremony, we ended
up at my house.
But her birthday was two days before. And we celebrated
with a quiet party for four, me, her, her grandmother,
and her grandmother's beau, at a nice restaurant. And I
presented her with a ring. No, not an engagement ring.
Just a, as I said at the dinner table, "friendship"
ring. With a sapphire, because I remembered her telling
me that she liked the blue color.
But back to that post-graduation thing. She was eighteen
years and three days old now. And our post-graduation
dinner was the standard foursome, late in the evening,
courtesy of reservations. And after a surreptitious
conversation with her grandmother beforehand to make
sure I wasn't violating HER wishes, I asked Nina if
she'd like to try a glass of wine with the meal.
And Ed proposed a toast: "To Nina, who's like a grand-
daughter (he cocked an eye towards Helen and winked) to
me. Young lady, may this page in your life turn and find
you in a new and wonderful chapter!"
And we clinked glasses and enjoyed our meal.
And in the car after the meal, we headed back to my
house, because, she said, "Every place we go will be
full of graduating kids. It'll be a madhouse." So we
turned towards the house and in twenty minutes I was in
the driveway. We walked inside.
After the door closed behind us, I faced a very pretty
eighteen year old girl who wanted a kiss. And when she
wrapped her arms around my neck to get that kiss, her
body formed against me and I felt myself getting hard.
I'm sure she did, too, but she made no notice except to
merge into my arms. After the first kiss broke, she
said, "I told Grandma I'd be home at midnight. She said
that was reasonable, considering that it was my
graduation."
"That is reasonable, babe." I kissed her again. And when
this one broke, she took me by the hand into the living
room.
"Sit," she commanded. I sat while she picked music for
the evening and loaded the CD player. When she got the
music started, she came to sit on my lap. Together we
rocked the recliner back and she eased into her snuggle
mode, semi-sideways, the soft roundness of her hip
pressing into my crotch, her torso twisted to let us
kiss and cuddle, and my hands, one cradled her head, the
other softly stroked her shoulder and back, never
straying lower than her waist, never to the soft,
waiting breasts. Her lips, her neck, her ears, those
were a playground for my mouth, and she took equal
liberties with me, although she did give herself free
reign over my chest.
Her hundred and thirty pounds was never the problem.
There was a problem. My dick. I learned early in these
exercises that I needed to make sure it was pointed in
the right direction before we began our marathon
cuddling, because the smell, the feel, the taste of her
lips, the feel of her skin, I got hard and stayed hard.
Was it torture? Yes. And no. I told myself that here was
this delightful creature who wanted to be held and
caressed and kissed, and I decided that I would do just
that until doomsday because of the riches of her smile,
her laugh, the joy I got from seeing twinkling eyes and
that lop-sided smirk when she dropped a horrible pun
into conversations or laughed at our jokes together.
And she said she loved me. In my mind that put me in a
different position. Love. Not lust. At least not the
lust that put us in bed together. I figured that if she
wished that at some time in the future, I would accede
to her desires. But that would be at her pace.
We listened to the music for a while then flipped on the
TV and watched a bit, talking about what we saw in the
middle of some fairly recent chick flick.
"Dan, baby," she said, "is it wrong to want the fairy
tale?"
"Fairy tale? Like in "happily ever after?"
"Yes," she sighed.
"I dunno, sweetness. I guess. But I think you have to
define your own happiness, and know that pieces of it
come up after some tough things. Some people never learn
that."
"Do YOU know how to do that, Dan?"
"I was doing pretty good, babe," I said. "You know I
love my profession. I enjoy the people I work with.
Yeah, I was being pretty happy until about a month ago."
"And then I came along and made you unhappy?" Her face
took a sad look.
"No, babe, not a bit unhappy, every day that I have you.
I'm just fitting you into my new definition of happy.
It's dangerous."
"How's it dangerous?"
"Because I've been hurt before by women I thought I was
happy with. And they were happy with me. Until they
weren't. Hurts..."
"Oh, baby, I didn't mean to make you sad." Her eyes were
moist, on the verge of tears.
"Oh, please, Nina, don't even think that you make me
sad. You're the thing in my life that makes me
happiest." I kissed her, brushing her bangs aside with
my lips so I could reach her forehead. "But you brought
the subject up. What's on YOUR mind, babe? Hmmm?"
And a first happened. She rolled her hips to place her
body full length on mine. And she propped her face in
her hands, looking at me.
"Me. And you."
"Us?"
"D'ya think of it as "us"?"
"Yes, pretty much. Let's see. Since I met you a month
ago, the only place I go by myself is to work and to the
grocery store. And the park. But when I get there,
you're there."
The cat jumped up on the arm of the recliner. Nina
stroked him, starting his loudest purrs.
"So, yes," I continued, "it's "us". At least in my mind.
But what do you think?"
"Us. But I thought I was being presumptuous."
"Presuming what?"
She had an incredible shyness at times. This was one of
those times. "That you could love me. Like, love, not
sex."
"You, dearest, are smart, funny, and in my eyes,
incredibly pretty. You have a quick wit and you
apparently read books without pictures. Your vocabulary
includes words like "presumptuous" and others with more
than two syllables. If I was a quadriplegic and could
never hope to do any more than just see you and listen
to you and talk with you, I'd love you."
She smiled.
"But here you are in my arms and I breathe deep when
you're around, just to add the happy scent of you to the
happiness I get from seeing you and hearing you, and
you're in my arms, and I just as well have had my first
kiss a month ago when your lips first touched mine, for
the way I feel when we kiss. Yeah. Love. Not sex."
"Dan," she said, "Love is... Is... forever. I think."
"I thought so, too, babe. But some people don't. I've
fallen in love, forever, before. Had it shoved up my
nose."
"I'm sorry," she said softly. "I kinda know..."
"How, babe? You've..."
She put her index finger against my lips. "Shhhh! I paid
attention. Mom. And had long talks with Grandma about
what I saw. I don't want that done to me, like Mom did,
guy after guy, getting dumped on because she didn't know
the difference between sex and love at first, then later
when she just didn't care, and she dished out as good as
she got. But you know, somewhere deep inside, I think
she was still hoping..."
"It's my turn to say I'm sorry, babe." I kissed her
gently. Her lips melded into mine.
"But some people get it, huh, babe?"
"Yeah, sweetie, some do. That old guy who told you to be
a mechanical engineer, he's been married forty years.
Has pictures of his wife and kids and grandkids. Some
do."
Another sigh. "'It's what I want, Dan."
I sighed. We'd had parts of this conversation before..
Gently I said, "Sweetie, we've talked about this. I'm
afraid. You're eighteen. Pretty. Getting ready to start
college. And every class you go to is going to be filled
with kids your age, some of them guys, and you're taking
engineering courses, so that screens out a lot of the
run of the mill jocks and dumbasses. You'll meet some
guy and the two of you will click and then you'll decide
to start off your careers together."
This time there WERE tears. "Dan, do you still TRUST
people? Me?"
"I want to, baby..."
There was a new insistence in her next kiss. "You'll
see." She pushed up from my chest. "Babe, it's time to
go. Almost midnight. 'Kay?"
"Okay..." came from my lips. "One of these days... uh,
make that "nights"," was in my head, running around,
screaming.
We kissed long and hard, standing. In the car she said,
"Babysitting tomorrow, sugar. Meet me at the park?"
"I'll be there. To see my dream in the sunlight, taking
care of kids..."
"Brats..." she laughed. "Well, they ARE getting better."
"Yeah," I said. "You said you won't be babysitting all
summer?"
"Nope!" she giggled. "This is the last weekend. They're
going somewhere for the summer. I won't know WHAT to do
with myself on Saturdays after this weekend..."
"I can think of a million things..."
"Me too, love," and she giggled. And I was glad. I loved
her when she was giggly. We pulled into the drive at her
house and I walked her to her door and kissed her.
By seven AM Saturday morning I was running a fever. I
don't know... some kind of virus, I thought. I took my
own temperature and it was 101. I couldn't see straight.
Every muscle in my body ached. I tried eating breakfast
and it came back up faster than it went down. I
staggered back to bed and lay down and passed out.
In the dim spaces of my head, I heard ringing. Insistent
ringing. It went away. Came back. Finally, in my fever I
deciphered that it was my phone. I picked up.
Nina's voice. "Dan, I'm at the park. Where are you?"
I croaked, "Home. Sick. Fever. Can't move. Throwing up."
"Baby..." she gasped. "I'm coming..."
"No, not with the kids. Don't come here. I don't want to
expose you..."
"Grandma will watch the kids. I'm coming over!"
The exertion drained what little energy I had and I
flopped back down and in a second I was back out of it.
The next time I awoke, a cool, moist cloth was
soothingly wiping my face. "Nina..." I croaked. My
throat felt like nails were driven into the back of it.
"Babe, you're SICK! I've been wiping your face for an
hour. You've been out of it."
"Uhhh" was all I could get out.
She picked up the electronic thermometer from bedside
and stuck it in my mouth for a minute, then read it.
"102," she said. She flipped open her cellphone.
"Grandma. He's 102. NO. Semi-conscious. No. I can take
him if I can get him to the car." She looked at me.
"Babe. Can you walk? We're going to the emergency room."
I tried several times to turn and rise to a sitting
position; oblivious to the fact that I was wearing only
a t-shirt and tightie-whities. As I was gathering
strength, she rummaged through my dresser to find a pair
of shorts and knelt in front of my legs as they dangled
off the side of the bed. She picked up one foot at a
time and put my feet into the pants legs, then pulled
them up as high as she could with me sitting. As I tried
to stand, she helped steady me and knelt down again,
pulling my shorts up, reaching around the back to pull
them up to my waist, then tugging up the front.
Disastrously, there was a bulge that just didn't fit
easily. She looked up at me and saw me dazed and shaking
from the effort of standing, and she shrugged and her
fingers pushed on the bulge in my drawers and pulled my
shorts up. She snapped them then pulled the zipper up,
her fingers pushing gently to keep that pesky bulge out
of the way. She stuffed my wallet into my back pocket.
She supported me to the front door.
"My car," I said hoarsely, my throat a mass of pain.
"You sure, babe?"
""Sure..."
She picked the keys off the board by the front door and
we left the house. She opened the passenger door and
pushed me to get me inside and then buckled my seatbelt.
"I do this for my kids all the time, she said, trying to
make me feel better. She returned to the front door and
locked it, then got in my SUV and cranked it up. Fifteen
minutes later I was a dazed mess under the awning at the
emergency room and Nina was haranguing the staff to get
a gurney out to unload me. As the orderlies rolled me
inside, Nina recovered my wallet from my pocket and
attended to the registration.
Twenty minutes later I was being poked and prodded and
stuck and Nina was at my side, fretting, holding my hand
in hers. The doctor came in, left, came back.
"Miss Gleason," he said, "He's got bad strep throat.
We're going to keep him overnight and put some
antibiotics in him."
"It's serious?" Nina asked in a small voice.
"It could've gotten worse and we'd have been in trouble,
but he's gonna be okay. This nurse is going to give him
a couple of shots. One for the pain, the other is a
quick-acting antibiotic. And he's going upstairs."
I was in and out. Swallowing was like having a red-hot
poker driven into the back of my throat. The pain-killer
was blessed relief, and as I drifted off, Nina patted my
arm. "Babe," she said, "I'm gonna go home and get you
some things. I'll be back." And she kissed my cheek and
left.
Some hours alter I woke up in a hospital room, dimly
lit, and there at my bedside was Nina.
"Babe," I said.
"Hi, baby. I'm worried."
I looked at the IV dripping into my arm, big bag of
fluid, little piggyback of IV antibiotics which were
apparently kicking streptococcus ass in my body. I could
almost swallow without wincing.
"I'm gonna be okay. I can swallow now."
"Good." She rubbed my arm gently.
There was a knock at the door and the voice of a staff
nurse.
"Come in," said Nina. "He's awake now."
The hefty nurse came in with her instrument cart. "Well
hello," Mister Gleason," she said. "Good to see you
awake." She stuck an infrared thermometer in my ear.
"Fever's coming way down. You were over a hundred and
two when you came in. Have you tried drinking."
"No, not yet."
"Can you give it a try for me," she smiled. Nina handed
me a waterglass with a straw. I sucked at the straw,
wincing first from the movement of my throat as I tried
to suck then again as the ice water hit it. But that
felt GOOD. I drank a bit.
"Very good!" chirped the nurse. "I've got another round
of Demerol on the chart for you."
"Uh..." I said.
The nurse said, "You ought to take it. You're still
running on the last dose and you're gonna hurt when it
wears off."
"Do it, then," I said.
The nurse injected the painkiller into my IV line and I
started drifting off.
"He's going to sleep some more," she told Nina. "If you
need to go home and rest.."
"I'm not leaving his side," Nina said, determinedly.
Chapter Four
I woke again after midnight when the nurse made her
rounds. When the nurse walked in, Nina woke up and stood
by me. My fever was drastically down and I was feeling
much better.
Morning came, and so did my regular doctor. "Well,
Mister Dan, you had one raging case of strep throat.
Could've been really bad if you hadn't gotten to the
emergency room."
Nina interjected, "I found him almost unconscious... He
missed our date..."
Doctor Regan laughed. "He'd HAVE to be unconscious to
miss a date with YOU." He turned to me. "Keep 'er, Dan."
"I have to," I said. "She saved my life." Nina sidled up
to me and put her hand on my cheek.
"He's MINE," she announced.
The doctor smiled wryly at that pronouncement. "Well,
he's gonna go home today. He's gonna be weak for a few
days. You see that he's taken care of, okay?"
I looked at Nina. Nina looked at me. She smiled. "Sure
will!"
Doctor Regan said, "I'll go sign your charts and get you
checking out. You'll have some prescriptions for a week
or so. And if you start hurting again, call me and come
back in. Don't wait until you're hallucinating this
time."
"Okay," I said.
"Is he contagious?" Nina asked.
"Have you shared a drinking glass or something in the
last week?" he asked.
"Yes, something like that..." Nina smiled. Me too. I
remember having her tongue searching the inside of my
mouth two nights ago.
"Then he's not contagious to you."
"Good. Thank you, doctor!" She watched him leave and
then came to me and kissed me lightly on the lips. "I'll
take care of you," she said.
An hour later I was walking, still shaky, out of the
hospital, Nina carrying a bag in one hand, her other arm
wrapped around mine like she was supporting me. She sat
me in the foyer and went for my car, parked it, and came
in to retrieve me. "I'm NOT helpless," I complained.
"Doctor's orders. Said to take care of you." She held
the door as I got in the passenger seat, closed the
door, then climbed in the driver seat. "Let's go home,"
she looked at me, smiling. On the way home she drove
through the pharmacy drive-thru and dropped off my
prescriptions. "I'll come back and get these for you
after I get you home, babe," she said.
We got home. I wasn't used to being a passenger in MY
car, but Nina did a perfectly good job of driving. And I
was still riding down off a Demerol haze, and that
helped. She got out first, unlocked the front door, then
helped me into the house. "Go get in bed," she ordered.
I went in the bedroom and undressed myself, then crawled
under the covers. I was immediately joined by Sam the
cat. He formed a cat loaf beside me, waiting to be
petted. I obliged. Even old yellow tomcats need love.
I heard Nina on the phone talking. "Yes, Grandma," she
was saying, "I brought him home from the hospital. No,
he's gonna be okay. The doctor told me to take care of
him. Said he's gonna be shaky for a few days. No, ma'am.
I'm gonna stay here. My guy's sick. I need to be here.
Okay. I love you, Grandma. Thanks for worrying about me.
Bye."
It sounded like I had around the clock care. She
appeared in the bedroom door. "Are you okay, babe?" she
asked.
"Better. Sweetie, I'll be alright by myself. Really.
Don't get crosswise with your grandma."
She giggled. "She ASKED me if I wanted to stay here and
take care of you. Didn't sound surprised when I said I
was." She approached. "D'you mind if I sit on your bed?"
"Uh, no," I answered.
She picked up the pants I'd discarded on the floor and
hung them on a hanger, depositing my wallet on the
dresser. "We can't be messy now," she grinned. And she
sat on the edge of the bed and stroked my face.
"Yesterday you were burning up, babe. And turning
colors. I was SO worried."
"You handled things very well," I said. "I don't know
what would have happened without you."
"You're my guy, babe. It's what I'm supposed to do." She
leaned over and kissed my cheek, pulled back, then
returned, kissing me lightly on the lips. "Mmmmm," she
said. She sat back up. "Can I get you anything? Coke?
Juice? Soup?"
"Maybe later, babe. I'm tired." I was. I let my head
sink into the pillow. Almost a surprise was Nina kicking
off her shoes and laying down in the bed beside me,
although she remained on top of the covers, I underneath
them.
She kissed my cheek. "Rest, baby. I need to go get your
medicine at four. I set my cellphone. I'm tired, too."
She snuggled against me and against all odds I was too
tired to react. We went to sleep for the first time
together.
Two hours later we both awoke to the sound of the alarm
of her cellphone. I told her to take my wallet with her
to pick up my prescription.
Heading out, I heard her holler, "Root beer float?"
"Yes!" I hollered back. She remembered a treat we'd
shared together on a previous Sunday outing.
I sank back down into the pillow and drifted on the edge
of sleep for a while longer. I must have drifted a bit
deeper because I was gently stirred by a soft hand on my
shoulder and a gentle "Babe?" in my ear. I opened my
eyes.
"Can you sit up? I brought you a root beer float."
"Uh, lemme get to the table, babe."
"You feel strong enough?"
"yeah. I'm getting better." I stood up. And realized
that I was clad only in my skivvies. "Oops!" I
exclaimed, turning my back to her.
"Here's you some shorts, babe. And don't get all
embarrassed. I dressed you yesterday. I saw you closer
then..."
"How close?"
Giggle. "I couldn't get your shorts up until I pushed
things in place."
I turned red.
"Oh, don't be embarrassed. It was all very clinical."
She smirked as I pulled on my shorts and buttoned and
zipped up.
We headed into the living room. "Sit in your chair and
sip this, babe," she smiled. "I'll get your pills."
I sat down and kicked the recliner back and let ice
cream and root beer sooth the soreness out of my
tortured throat. Nina handed me three multi-colored
pills and I chased them down with more for the drink
"So," she said, "since I'm spending the night, where do
I sleep?" She had a sweet expression and a look I was
trying to decipher.
"Uh, that's a problem, babe," I said. I only have the
one bed. One of us gets the sofa. Or this chair. Or..."
"Or I could just quit being silly and we BOTH sleep in
our... uh, YOUR bed."
"Sweetie, You know I love you, but I'm a bit sick, not
dead. Both of us in bed..."
She touched my lips with her fingers. "Shush! I think I
know what I'm doing..."
"B-but..."
"But nothing! I just spent twenty-four hours with you. I
looked at you in a hospital room with IV's in you and
worried about you. And I got to thinking. I asked myself
some questions. And I answered them. You only have to
answer one..."
"Question?"
"Yes. One question."
"What, baby?" I looked at those improbably blue eyes.
She could ask me to slit my wrists and I'd do it for
her.
"Are we..."
I jumped ahead. "Nina. Will you marry me?"
"That answers my question."
"Answer mine."
"Yes," she said. "I told Grandma last night that if you
were okay, I'd ask YOU."
"You planned to ask ME?" I, well she DID tell me she
loved me. But marriage?
"Yes. I planned. I mean, it's been a month... some
people wait years. And some people get married after
meeting overnight in Vegas. And we're not even drunk."
I took a long sip of my drink. She sucked on her own
straw and looked at me, eyes twinkling.
"You've talked to your grandma? About me?"
"Yes. About you. She and I talk about stuff, Dan.
Everything. My mom. Her life. Her mistakes. Men. Grandpa
died seven, no eight years ago. He was quite bit older
than Grandma. She said she never regretted marrying an
older man, that they'd had the greatest life together."
"Really?
"Yeah. But she told me like she tried to tell Mom. Not
just ANY man. I told Grandma that in all the time we
spent together, all you ever did was kiss me and hold
me, and she said that meant that you weren't after sex
with an eighteen year old girl. That you must love me."
"I do love you."
She smiled sweetly. "Not lust?"
"Babe, it is easy to lust after you. You're pretty. But
love first... If I never laid a hand on you, never
kissed you, I'd adore you anyway."
I heard her straw sucking dry. She got up. Took my own
empty cup from me and went to the kitchen to dispose of
them.
She returned. "Is your lap okay?"
"Yes, my love," I said.
She scooted into my lap and kissed me lightly. Her nose
wrinkled.
"What?!?!?" I asked.
"Babe, I forgot. You were doing chills and fever
yesterday. You sweated. A lot. My baby's pretty rank.
You need a bath. I'm sorry..."
"Oh, I'm sorry, too, babe. I should've known."
"It's okay, babe," she said. "I've smelled you sweaty
before. That's okay... kinda musky... I dunno, almost,
uh, sexy. But this is different."
"Because I was sick, babe."
She looked thoughtful. "Yeah. Makes sense. "D'you think
you're up to a shower?"
"I think I can do a shower." She got up out of my lap
and I lowered the recliner and stood. I was feeling
better. MUCH better.
"I'll go take a shower, baby," I said.
"Call me if you get woozy," she said.
I grabbed a change of clothes and went into the master
bathroom and started the shower. I undressed and got in.
For minutes I stood there, breathing the steamy air in,
letting hot water push some of the achiness out of my
body.
And the door slid open. And a naked Nina stepped in.
Completely nude. Deliciously, wildly unclothed. Her arms
folded across her breasts.
"Nina!" I exclaimed. "You..."
"I thought you might need help."
"Oh, god, Nina!" I wrapped her naked body in my arms.
"This is a big step, Dan, my love... You gotta know..."
"I know..."
She grabbed a washcloth and soap. "I really AM going to
help you." She slathered up the cloth and started.
Giggle. "A lot more to you than Jimmy..." Jimmy was her
babysitting charge, now maybe five years old. She sat on
my shower bench. It was BIG shower. I'd bought the house
from an older couple who'd put in amenities for old age,
and old people don't do tight showers. And for the first
time, I thanked my lucky stars for the goofy seat in the
shower.
Water spray slicked Nina's hair against her head. "Leg,"
she said, slapping my left leg. I lifted it. She soaped
and washed my left leg. My dick was about two-thirds
hard by now, inches from her face, and she was
studiously ignoring it. "Right leg." She repeated the
ablutions. She washed my back, my arms, my stinky pits,
reached up and shampooed my hair, and I was beginning to
wonder exactly what manner of girl I'd gotten.
Then she sat back down and hooked a hand behind my
thigh. And lathered... "I'm thinking that I don't want
to use a washcloth here." And she gently lathered my
balls and my dick. "Turn around." I didn't want to turn
around. I wanted her to touch me forever. But I turned
around. And she lathered my butt, running fingers inside
the crack. "Gotta get you clean," she smiled, turning me
around. She took the telephone showerhead and rinsed me.
"Can you wash me?"
Oh, man, could I. But I replicated her careful
indifference, no more lingering over those "B" cup
titties, I lathered over quarter-sized areoles and noted
that the ministrations of the washcloth and soap perked
her pink nipples up like little strawberries. I noted,
too, the soft dark hair sparsely sprinkled on her mons,
and as I lathered washed her pussy, I heard her draw a
sharp breath when my fingers first touched those puffy,
pink lips. After shampooing her hair, I carefully rinsed
her off.
"Time to get out," she said. "I hope I helped okay."
I got out behind her, fully erect. I opened the linen
cabinet and pulled out towels, handing her two, one for
her hair, one for the rest of her. And another for me. I
didn't make a move to get out of the bathroom, and
neither did she. As I dried off, I was overrun with
mixed feelings. This was truly unique. We were both
absolutely nude, seeing each other for the very first
time.
"Let me get your back, Dan." I let her.
"Your turn," I said, and I dried hers. She'd done her
best on her hair. It was still wet, but she reached into
her purse and pulled out a brush.
"I'm gonna need a hair dryer if I do this again," she
smiled. She brushed her hair to clear the tangles, but
short hair doesn't tangle badly.
"Just a sec," I said. I rummaged in the back of a
cabinet. "Here's one. Hasn't been used for hair, though.
She looked at me questioningly.
"Seriously. I dry wet boots with it."
She laughed. "Okay. I don't want a second-hand hair
dryer." And she plugged it in, and I said, "Sit!" She
perched on the bathroom's stool and I dried and brushed
her hair.
"That's good," she said, turning around. And when she
turned around, my semi-hard dick was just a bit below
her eye level. And her eyes looked down. And she looked
up. And stood and draped her long arms lovingly around
my neck. "You're feeling better, huh..." and kissed me.
And her body formed against mine and the semi-hard dick
disappeared, replaced by one that could possibly cut
diamond.
"Uh, babe," I said, "I am fast running out of self-
restraint."
"Me, too," she purred into my ear. "But I'm a little
scared, Dan..."
I didn't let her out of my arms. "Babe, you're
beautiful, the most beautiful creature I've ever held in
my arms, more beautiful to me than I ever imagined. But
if... We don't have to do anything. Not until our
wedding night."
She whispered in my ear, "Dan, this IS our wedding
night. I love you."
"I love you, Nina. D'you really mean this?"
One word escaped her lips. "Forever."
"Forever it is, Nina... Mrs. Gleason." I followed as she
walked back into the bedroom.
"Are you feeling okay, Dan? I mean, you were really
sick."
"And I feel really okay, Nina."
"I don't want you to die on our wedding night, babe."
"I promise I won't die."
She pulled back the covers and slid to the middle of the
bed. "I don't think I could've kept my hands to myself
tonight if I slept with you, babe."
"Me neither. And I was afraid that I'd scare you or
something." I crawled into the bed beside her. She took
my face between her hands and stared into my eyes.
"Babe," she said. "I just said I was going to spend the
night in your bed. Don't you just think that I might
expect things to happen from that?"
"I see you as so innocent, Nina."
She smiled. "I love that, Dan. And in a lot of ways, I
am. But I... I know about sex. And love. And the
difference. And I know that you and me, we're putting
them together. There is no "sex" for me. And you. Only
love." And her hand touched my hardness. She kissed me
and I kissed back, our tongues weaving intricately
together. "Mmmmmm, Dan...."
I stroked her shiny, sweet-smelling hair. My Nina.
Really my Nina." My hand slid down her back and over the
smooth, succulent curve of her butt. I couldn't help but
squeeze.
"Mmmm... I've wanted you to OWN me, Dan. I want to be
YOUR woman." Her hand, her fingers explored the shaft
she held.
I groaned. "Oh, god, Nina. I've wanted you. How I've
wanted you. This way, too..."
She pushed me gently onto my back. "Dan," she said, "I
don't know what I'm doing, babe. I'm serious. You're the
very first. When I touched you in the shower, that's the
first time I've touched one over four years old. I don't
know anything except what I've heard."
"Oh, god, Nina... You just turned me into a virgin
myself. Your hand... it's perfect. Let's learn each
other together." I looked at her face, seeing her glow,
and I kissed her. Then her neck. I knew her neck. I felt
shivers run down her body from my lips touching, sucking
gently. She returned the favor, except she knew that I
liked to feel her teeth biting into me.
"It's throbbing," she whispered. "Did it do that
before?"
"Every time you kissed my neck, little one."
"Oh, Dan... I didn't know..."
"Baby... It's a GOOD thing..."
Her fingers left my dick and explored my balls. Gently.
Curving, cupping, tugging lightly. "Like that?"
"Yes, like that. Don't squeeze hard. They're sensitive."
"I've heard that. I'll be careful."
"I know you will." I cupped one delicious breast,
letting my thumb gently circle the nipple. She moaned.
"Oh, Mmmmm... Dan..."
My lips moved from her throat, softly down her chest to
nuzzle the soft mounds. Her hand went to the back of my
head and gently urged me. My lips found a nipple.
Waiting. I kissed. "Mmmmmm...suck..." I sucked. My
tongue circled and teased. I felt her shivering. I
gently moved a hand down the softness of her belly, my
fingertips lingering in the soft hair on her mons. I
kept working on her titties, first one, then the other,
then my lips moved downwards to feast on her navel. Then
a kiss lower...
"Oh, godddddd, Dan... You'd... I... I've... dreamed
about..."
I planted a kiss on her mons, just a fraction of an inch
above the beginning of her slit. "This?" I asked. "Or
this?" I kissed the beginning of her slit. "or..." and I
let my tongue seek out the moisture that was glistening
the length of her womanhood.
"Oh, god, yesssss..."
I moved in the bed, lying between her legs as she
quivered in expectation, and I savored her wetness.
Every sense of mine was tuned to the joys of Nina's
body. I looked at her beauty. Felt the quivers of
expectation running through her. Heard her whimpers and
sighs. Smelled her musk, and then I tasted. Nectar.
She threw her thighs apart, opening herself wide, her
fingers clawing at the back of my head, pulling me into
her. I licked and sucked, laving her labia with my
tongue and lips, and then I gently prodded her little
erect clitoris with the tip of my tongue. She bucked up
against me.
"Yessss," she hissed through clenched teeth. "There." I
stopped for a second. "Oh please, Dan. There. Please do
me."
And I did her. Virgin pussy. Delicious. And responsive.
And she came. Hard. I let her surges stop, then flicked
her button again. And she clapped her hands on the back
of my head, "uh-huh! Yes. Again!" And I complied. This
time her shudders were accompanied by "Nnnnnggghhhhhh!
Ahhhhh!" and a collapse.
I moved up beside her and cuddled her to my chest.
"Mmmmmmm. Oh, Dan..." Her fingers found my dick and she
stroked its length. I let her breath for a minute.
Longer. "Dan. I want you... us." She gave my dick a
little tug.
"Babe. Nina, my love, if we... you only get to give this
away once..."
"It's yours, Dan." She kissed me. "I'm yours. It's been
yours all my life. I'm..it's time..."
"It could hurt."
"I don't think it will. I want you."
"Then you get on top of me. That way YOU get to go as
fast as you want."
She gave it no thought. She pushed m onto my back and
straddled me. I looked up at feminine perfection. That
outrageous hair. Those bangs above blue eyes, freckles
sprinkled whimsically across her nose. I wanted to sink
myself into her. Now. But I wanted HER to be in control.
This was her time to make us one.
She worked her wet pussy back and forth over the
underside of my shaft, smearing delicious juice over me,
mixing hers with mine. Her hips took an insistent motion
and she was biting her bottom lip.
"Dan! This is GOOD!" She slid back and forth happily,
then stopped and raised up. Her hand went between us,
guiding my dick towards her waiting hole. And she eased
down. I felt the head squeeze into nirvana. Her eyes
closed in concentration, still biting her bottom lip,
wiggling hose hips, forcing downward. I felt the head
inside of her. She rose, withdrawing, then easing back
down. Two inches. Up. Back down. She breathed. And
further down. And up. And further down. I felt the kiss
of her pubic arch against mine.
Her eyes opened. "Gahhhh, Dannnn. You're in me..." She
rocked. I realized that there was no definitive sherry-
popping moment. I was just in her. All the way. Her face
changed to smiles. She sat right there, not moving.
"I love you, babe," I said. "You okay? No hurt?"
"Nuh-uh," she said, then just a little hip movement. And
she slid up and down my shaft, then back and forth,
looking for HER motion. And found it. And I joined in,
seeking MY orgasm inside her. Her motions complemented
my own and I felt the building fires.
Her hips pounded me as I plunged upward into her.
"Gahhh, Dannnnn.... I.... I... Nnnngghhhh!" and I
spurted. Hard. Deep. She kept her motions and I felt
deep muscular contractions in her pussy. My own surges
dwindled to a glow in my groin and she fell into my
arms, her cheek on my chest. I kissed her head.
"My Nina," I said.
"I am," she sighed. "You own me. I'm yours. You've got
every bit of me."
I sighed. "And you have all of me, too, little one."
We basked in our mutual rapture for a while. Finally she
slid off to my side and I rolled to face her. Our lips
met. Long minutes, our lips locked, out tongues lazily
teasing each other. Finally, with a sigh, we pulled
apart.
"Nina," I said. "I was serious. Married."
"Dan," she said. "This... this is what used to seal a
marriage. We chose each other, and consummated our
bond." She looked at me with love in her eyes. "But yes,
let's make it right for the world to see. Soon. Like
before the end of June. Okay?"
"Yes, Mizz Gleason."
She giggled and kissed me. "I like that," she said.
"Just a second." She got up and went to the bathroom. I
heard water running for a minute, then she came back in
with a wet washcloth. "We made a mess, babe. Lemme clean
you up."
She gently wiped the stickiness of our lovemaking up. "I
had a little blood. I guess I didn't try hard enough."
"Try what?" I asked.
"I knew about that hymen thing and how it was supposed
to hurt, so I've been trying to stretch it all out.
You're bigger than my finger."
"You've been planning this?"
"Dan," she said matter of factly, "I knew we'd
eventually make love. I wanted it to be good, not
painful. I read some stuff, and I tried to make sure
that our first time was good."
"You're a smart one," I said. I kissed her. I felt a
hand stroking me back to hardness.
She backed her face away. "Let's love again, babe..."
Her mouth fastened to my neck and her teeth bit into me.
I shuddered. I knew I was hard again. Her fingers
wrapped me, stroking, then she cupped my sack again.
I eased a hand down to her cleft and explored with a
fingertip. "You're not sore?"
"Mmmm. A little. But I want..." Her fingers left my sack
and tugged my dick. "this..." She tugged me as she
rolled onto her back, spreading her legs. The hand that
had been fondling me guided my hardness into her. She
exhaled a sigh. "Ahhhhhh..."
"Nina, you feel so good..."
"Do I, babe? Are you happy with me?"
"God, yes, little love. And the fact that I'm in the
most wonderful place I've ever been has nothing to do
with it. But I am perfectly happy with you, Nina."
I felt her wiggle beneath me, her pelvis pushing her
pussy up to plunge me further inside her. Our pubic
bones met. Long, muscular legs wrapped wound me.
I started slow strokes in time with her hips and looked
into her eyes. I found lust and adoration and her face
was smiling for me. I melted. Well, at least my heart
did. Another part was quite hard. And it was stroking
into nirvana. She hauled my face to hers and our lips
merged. I caressed her head and face as we kissed. Her
hands were on my hips, urging me into her as she bucked
against me seeking her release, her clit rubbing against
the shaft of my plunging dick. Our lips broke apart.
"Hnnnnnghhhhhh... ohgodohgodohgod... Dannn....
Nnnnghhhhhh!"
I kept stroking. I was close. Very close. I felt her
fingers dig into me and I went over the edge, squirting
hard, deep inside her. After that first surge from my
body, all I could manage were a few feeble thrusts as my
orgasm turned from squirt to dribble. I wrapped her in
my arms and rolled us over, putting her on top of me.
"Baby... MY baby..." I said.
"I am," she whispered. "I really am."
My hands glided over her smooth curves from her
shoulders, down along her waist, over the sweet curves
of her butt, to her thighs. She brought her own hands up
and cupped then on the sides of my face. She kissed me,
grinning, and then nodded, pressing our foreheads
together.
"I love you, babe," I said.
"I love you too," she smiled. "Is it always this good?"
"No, babe."
Her pretty brow wrinkled. "No?"
"Babe, it was NEVER this good. It's better than it ever
was."
"Dan, you're just saying that. It's okay, baby. I know
you've been with other women."
I ran my fingers up her neck and tangled them in that
distressingly brown hair. "You didn't listen, babe. It's
like YOU are my first. Like I really experienced love-
making for the first time."
"It IS my first time." She giggled. "Well, counting an
hour ago, my second."
"Little one, it erased every memory I ever had of
another woman. My life begins with you."
"Good!" came her reply. "Makes it easier that way." Her
lopsided grin was infectious. I was smiling so hard my
face hurt. She pushed her hands against my chest and sat
back astraddle me. I ran my hands up her thighs, upward
across her belly and cupped her titties.
A little cloud crept across that perfect face. "Uh,
babe, I'm not very big there." She covered my hands with
hers as I played with the firm flesh. "Guys like big
ones, don't they?"
"Nope. Not necessarily. I don't. And yours are perfect."
"Your hands feel good on them. And the first time your
mouth... gahhhh, Dan... You acted like you were
enjoying... "
"I wasn't acting, Nina. It's like you're made for me. I
hope YOU liked it..."
She didn't answer with her words. She bent forward and
pushed a perfect pink nipple into my mouth. Her hand
cradled my head as I sucked and nibbled. She purred,
"mmmmmmm" I shifted to the other and gathered another
purr for me efforts.
Finally she rolled off me and cuddled up to my side.
"Tonight we sleep together, Dan."
"I know, princess," I said. I moaned as her hand found
my soft dick.
Giggle. "It's mine. I get to play with it, huh?"
"Yes, it is, babe," I said.
"I'll be back," she said, bounding out of the bed and
grabbing the washcloth we'd used after our previous
coupling. I heard the water running, then she returned
to the bed and began to wash my dick and balls clean. "I
did me, too," she laughed. "Will it always be messy like
this?"
"I'm afraid so, babe. You get juicy when you get
excited, and so do I. And when I come... you make me do
a lot."
"Coming. I've heard that term being used before. Mom and
her "friends" weren't very quiet. But now I know why...
I don't think I could be very quiet either, love. Not
when YOU make me do it."
I looked at her with the obvious question on my lips.
"Yeah, I know... I do that sometimes. Not much... until
lately..."
"Lately?" I asked.
"Yeah. Remember that first time we really kissed?"
"The day I took you to work?"
Uh-huh. Dan, I went home... and I... I felt kinda nasty
doing it because I was thinking of kissing you. And..."
"I did the same thing, babe. And felt just as guilty."
"We don't have to feel guilty now, do we?"
"Not any more, babe," I said. "You have exceeded the
fantasies..."
"You have too, babe. I mean, I imagined how it would be,
and I knew what uh... coming felt like when I played
with myself, but I wasn't prepared for how it just takes
over my whole body..." She hooked a leg over mine and
hauled herself halfway back on top of me and attacked me
with a passionate, hungry kiss. "I didn't miss it
because I didn't know it. Now I know."
"I know... I had fantasies in my head, Nina, and I tried
so hard NOT to. But now I realize that I can't dream as
good as reality with you..."
Her hand was now back on my dick and it was stirring.
She giggled. "It's coming back alive." She shifted lower
on my torso, propped up on one elbow, her free hand
fondling me. "I can look at it now. I never looked at
one before." She looked at me with a little girl twinkle
in her eyes. She grinned, showing her even teeth.
Her soft strokes and the proximity of her face to the
head of my dick combined to get me hard again. "I love
the way the skin is so soft, and it's so hard
underneath. And it slides."
"That feels real good, babe."
"Does it?" She examined me further at close range. "This
is so neat. The tip is soft..." Her fingertips brushed
over the rounded head and traced the coronal ridge,
following it to the underside, to the most sensitive
spot. I moaned. "Is that a good spot?" she asked,
grinning.
"Oh, yeah," I gasped.
"Can I squeeze?"
"Yes," I said. "Squeeze. Start at the bottom and squeeze
and slide the skin up to the tip."
Squeal! She did that. And a big drop of clear pre-cum
escaped the tip.
"Wow!" she squealed. "I MADE stuff come out. That's not
your, uh... semen?"
"No, babe. That's just lubricant. Makes it slide inside
you easier. The semen doesn't come out until orgasm.
When I come." Then it occurred to me that I hadn't old
her everything... "Babe, there's one thing I haven't
told you... About my ex-wife."
She sat straight up, releasing my dick. Turning her
attention to me, losing the wonderful adoring, excited
look, and I hated myself because now I was scared. I
wanted to spend my life with this kittenish young woman
in my bed, and there was one thing that I was going to
tell her that could be the deal-breaker.
"What, Dan?" Her eyes looked at me with a combination of
love and fear.
"Babe," I said, "When I got married the first time, I
thought it was forever. And when she got pregnant and
had our daughter, she had bad issues and they said she
should never try to have another baby. So I got fixed.
Vasectomy."
Squeal! Giggle. "Is THAT all?" She dumped herself on top
of me and showered me with kisses. "You scared me, Dan.
I didn't know WHAT you were gonna say."
"Babe," I said, "I can't give you a baby."
"Dan Gleason! Get this! I don't WANT a baby! I want
YOU!"
I breathed a sigh of relief. "Babe, it's just like you
thinking that all guys want girls with big titties. I
thought all girls want babies."
Her hair flared out to the sides as she shook her pretty
head. "No, Dan. I thought about it. I mean, if YOU would
have said you wanted one, I would have gone along with
it if you insisted, but I know where babies come from,
and how they get out, and I just can't imagine..." She
looked down and I followed her eyes to that pink,
recently virgin pussy, the lips open as she spread her
legs. "I ... That scared the hell out of me."
"I wouldn't want to wreck that either, babe, but..."
A soft kiss landed on my lips. "Shush! I love you. Me
and you, okay? And tomorrow I'm telling Grandma..."
Another set of dark thoughts. I liked her grandma, and I
could see all sorts of scenes that ended up with me
being called names and a crying Nina and... "Babe, how's
your grandma going to take this?"
"You don't worry," Nina said. "We talked about the
possibility already. You seem to be an acceptable
choice, remember?"
"Yeah, but I thought, like after a few months of
courtship... It's been three weeks..."
"Just days on a calendar, love." Her eyes twinkled and
her face was confident. "Now, where was I before we
averted disaster?" Her grin was lascivious. "Oh, yeah."
Her fingers encircled my soft shaft. Giggle. "I like it
when it's soft. It's so CUTE!"
It didn't stay soft for long. She remembered the
instruction I've given her about a milking motion and
there was another big drop of pre-cum glistening on the
head. She looked at me. "So, if I was like, sucking on
you, this stuff would be in my mouth?"
My mind raced through a whole set of possibilities and
the best of them were very pleasant. "Yes, it would."
"Have you ever tasted it?" she asked, grinning.
"Yes, I have to admit that. Salty. Not too awfully
different from YOU. After all, our bodies are getting
ready for the same thing."
Bigger grin. "I know what I taste like." Her fingertip
scooped the droplet off my dick and she stuck it in her
mouth. Then her eyes twinkled and she grinned. "Just
checking. You know I have to suck this." More grins as
she shifted around.
"You don't HAVE to, babe," I said, all the time inside
going "please, please PLEASE suck me" in my head.
"D'ya want me to?" Eyes questioned me.
"Uh-huh. I'd love for you to try. If you want to."
I watched that dark brown hair bounce as her head bobbed
downward and an indescribable warmth enveloped my dick.
I felt a tongue exploring inside her mouth. And she
sucked and pulled back, releasing me with an audible
pop. And looked at me, smiling, those blue eyes
twinkling. "Well?"
"Well, yourself. Yes? No?"
Giggle. "Dan, this thing's MADE to suck on. And I tasted
it. Mmmmmm."
I smiled. She crawled up and kissed me.
"We're going to learn everything about each other, huh,
babe?"
"You betcha..."
Chapter Five
Waking to find a soft, naked female form in bed after
all these years as a special joy. When I gently explored
the form with my fingers and her eyelids fluttered and
then opened and her first words were "I love you, babe,"
the experience got richer. We both had full bladders and
made the trip to the bathroom.
Back in the bedroom, she turned into my arms and kissed
me. "Dan," she said quietly, "I don't regret last night.
I do love you."
"I don't regret it either, Nina. And I was serious.
Marry me."
Giggle. "You ask me to marry you and we're both naked?"
"Put your clothes on. I'll ask you again after we go get
breakfast."
"Nuh-uh. This comes first." And she pushed me backward
onto the bed. She was all over me, sucking me to
immediate hardness and then straddling me and demanding
that I serve her to orgasm, a task I joyously performed.
Her own orgasm left her collapsed in my arms, my emptied
dick slowly squeezed out of a perfectly tight pussy.
She rolled off me and twisted, surveying the mess we'd
made of each other. Two of her fingers dipped into the
white slop oozing out of her happy hole and she held
them up and surveyed the results. She looked at me. "I
suppose we need to find out, huh?" she smiled. And she
stuck her fingers, laden with her juices and mine, into
her mouth. And smiled. "Not bad. Now I know how to clean
up our mess." She looked at me. "Does it gross you out
to think of licking YOUR own juice?"
I shook my head.
"Can we, like, I do you and you do me? At the same
time?"
"That's called sixty-nine."
"I heard that before. Now I think it's a pretty good
idea."
"You get on top of me, then." I was rewarded by the
immediate presence of a sopping, musky, freshly fucked
pussy in my face. Yes, that while ooze was mine, along
with some of the clear stuff mixed in with it, but a lot
of that juice was the woman I loved, and it was US, and
I lapped happily, my tongue causing shivers in her body.
And I felt her tongue and lips performing the same
functions on me.
Finished, we were in each other's arms. Her dark hair
was splayed out on my chest as we breathed in unison.
"Babe?"
"Yes, my love?" I responded.
"Breakfast would be nice now."
"Uh, babe, we need to shower. We smell like an orgy."
"Yah think?!?!? Shower? Isn't that how this all got
started?"
I laughed. "I don't know. I haven't had a blood supply
to my brain since you opened the shower door last
night."
She started to get out of bed, pausing to give me two
kisses. One of them was on my lips.
The shower this morning was wonderfully sensual. Nina
wasn't the least bit bashful now and we soaped and
rinsed and soaked and kissed and hugged under the warm
spray. Afterward we dried each other and while I shaved
she dried her hair. We got in another couple of hot,
nude kisses before we got dressed.
In the car, I was definitely well enough to drive, and
we headed out towards a breakfast of pancakes at a
nearby eatery. Nina flipped open her cellphone.
"Hi, Grandma. Yeah, he's MUCH better. No, we're going
out for breakfast. Yes, I got a good night's sleep. So
did he. No, when we get finished, we're coming by there.
We need to talk with you. Uh-huh. Yeah. That talk. I
love you, Grandma. You're the best. Okay. Bye."
She turned to me. I had the questioning look on my face
again. "She knows what we're going to talk about."
"What are we going to talk about? Me and you getting
married?"
"Yeah," she said. "But, Dan, I wanna know..."
"What, babe?"
"Do you have a problem with me moving in? Before we're
married? I mean, some people have... objections..."
"Babe," I said. "You said it yourself last night. In
another day and time, we'd have walked out of the house
this morning, gone to meet our friends and family and
just said, "We're married" and wrote it down in the
family Bible and waited for the travelling preacher or
judge to make it official."
"So you think we're married?"
"Do you intend for us to be together forever?"
She said simply, "Yes."
"So do I. We're married. Let's go eat pancakes."
She laughed at the incongruity.
We were seated in a booth in the rear of the restaurant,
per my request, and I ordered coffee for starters.
"Me, too," Nina said.
"I didn't know you drank coffee, baby."
"Every now and then." We sipped steaming mugs of the
best commercial coffee in town, but I was missing my
home-roasted stuff. I told Nina so. "You'll have to show
me how to make, it, babe."
"You got it."
"Uh, just in case you're wondering, Mr. Gleason," she
said, "I can cook. Grandma showed me how."
"Really?"
"Really," she said. "I'm thinking that when you're at
work, I will cook and take care of your house this
summer. And start college in the fall."
I looked at her. I shouldn't have been amazed, but every
hour I spent with Nina I found more and more depth of
thinking. "You sound like you've got it planned."
"I changed my plans. The part about taking care of YOU."
She sighed. "And I wish I had a bigger scholarship. I
can get through the first two semesters with my
scholarship and what I've saved. But I was going to get
another job or do student loans."
I smiled. Here was going to be my first chance to share
our lives. "You just became eligible for another
scholarship."
She looked at me quizzically. "How so?"
"You, Mrs. Gleason, are the first, and only, recipient
of the Dan Gleason Scholarship for Fledgling Engineers."
Her smile was sweet. "Dan, I didn't... it's not about
money."
"I believe you, Nina. But you're my wife, and what
husband wouldn't do this for his wife? It's settled.
Money isn't going to be your problem, Nina."
"Thank you, husband."
The waitress that brought us our food and refills for
the coffee overheard that comment. I was one of her
regulars. She looked at us both. "Married?"
Nina smiled. "Mmm-hmmm... this is where he takes girls
on a honeymoon..."
The waitress laughed. "Well, Mister Dan, I'd've never
figured you to remarry. But she's a doll."
"Thank you," Nina chirped. "Uh, Dan... extra tip..."
The waitress walked away chuckling. "Good one there,
Dan!"
We finished breakfast and paid the bill. With an
unusually generous tip.
I wasn't anything less than anxious about seeing Helen,
but that was next on the agenda, after Helen got back
from church. So we were sitting in her living room when
we heard the sound of her car in the drive. I stood up
when she walked in.
"Dan, you don't have to get up," she said.
"I wanted to be in position to run," I said, smiling.
"Oh, sit down. You act like this is a surprise to me."
She looked at Nina. "You didn't tell him?"
"I told him some of it, Grandma. I don't think he
believes me."
"Okay," said Helen. "Dan, Three weeks ago I told you
that you'd collected a girlfriend. Change that to wife.
I guess... You ARE serious, aren't you?"
"Confused. But serious. I owe her my life after
Saturday. And she acts like she wants me."
"I want him, Grandma."
Helen looked at the two of us as Nina scooted against me
on the sofa. "How soon?"
Nina's turn. "We get a marriage license tomorrow. Then
it's seventy-two hours."
Helen sighed. "That fast, huh?" She looked at me. Sighed
again. "Well, I talked to Reverend Roberts after church
this morning. He said he'd do it. In his office if you
want. I'll make an appointment for Thursday morning."
She smiled at us. "If that's not too soon."
We responded almost in chorus, "Great!"
"Uh, Dan," Helen said, fixing her eyes on me, "since
you're not on death's door this morning, am I to
assume..."
I hung my head. Nina said, "Grandmaaaaa!"
Helen snorted. "That answers that, I guess."
"Helen," I said, "I know this is a lot, but I want to
move Nina in with me. We don't want to be apart
anymore."
"I kinda figured that from Miss Nina's conversation this
morning. Dan... Nina... You two be good for one another.
Such as it is, you have my blessing. Nina, go pack some
clothes and stuff. I need to talk to Dan again."
Nina left. Helen fixed me in her sights. "Dan, I hope
you're serious about that little girl. I told you
before. I will hunt you down. For real."
"Helen," I said, "I wasn't looking for women before, and
with Nina as my wife, I damned sure don't have to look
any further. She's cute, and smart, and self-confident,
and lord only knows why she chose me, but I am truly
thankful. But, how's this going to work for you? You're
losing your grand-daughter..."
"I'm not losing my grand-daughter, Dan. She's eighteen.
I couldn't keep her forever. And big secret... Ed's been
wanting us to go get married, too... but I wasn't going
to do that and move in with him until I was sure Nina's
okay."
Nina was walking back in with a suitcase and a couple of
shopping bags. "And I'm okay. So Ed's finally gonna be
my new Grandpa?"
Helen smiled. "Yeah, little girl, you're not the only
one who can net a guy..." She looked at Nina's load.
"You don't have to move it all today, child."
"'Kay, Grandma," Nina said. "We'll be back. I'll call."
"You've got your key, too, honey," Helen said. "If I'm
not here."
"Bye, Helen. And thank you," I said as I took some of
Nina's bags out the door. We loaded up into the SUV and
drove home. OUR home. Inside I started moving my things
around, giving her the dresser, taking a chest of
drawers for myself. I moved my clothes to one side of
the walk-in closet, and carried my winter cloths into
the closet in the spare bedroom that was my office.
And Nina went into the bathroom and unloaded a dozen
mysterious bottles and vials of the substances women
need and men can't identify. And when I stuck my head in
the door to check on her, she laughed and pointed.
"Look! TWO toothbrushes!"
I remembered her glee at discovering ONE toothbrush, and
I laughed.
She faked a frown. "SO you think that's funny?"
"Yes, I do. A month ago, I was having a good but boring
life, and then one day at the park and angel showed
up..."
She moved up to me and tiptoed to kiss me on my lips.
"Dan," she said, "I know it's... this is not just
supposed to be about sex... I mean, we LOVE each
other..."
"Buuut..." I laughed.
"But," she laughed back, "D'ya think we could get naked
and..."
I was already unbuttoning my shirt.
"I take that as a "yes"," she said. She looked over her
shoulder heading into the bedroom. As she bent over to
shove her pants down her long legs, I grabbed her hips
and pulled her against my hard dick, netting me a peal
of squeals and giggles. She struggled loose and turned
to me, delightfully naked from the waist down. Her arms
looped around my neck and tugged my face to hers and she
purred "Mmmmmm" as we kissed.
I turned us around and I sat on the bed and helped her
unbutton her blouse. She pirouetted to present me her
bra's strap for me to unhook. I unhooked her strap and
twirled her back around as she shed her bra. That gave
me access to a perfect pair of firm, rounded breasts. I
feasted, her hands pulling my face into her chest.
After I nursed on her for a couple of minutes, she knelt
and gently pushed my knees apart. I shuddered in in
anticipation of her next move as she bent forward. I
wasn't disappointed. I was transported to another
dimension as Nina sucked and licked and stroked me.
"Gahhhh, baby, I...I'm... uhhhhhhh..." Breathe "I'm
gonna come."
She halted her assault on my dick to look up at me and
grin. "Then you just need to go ahead and do that," she
giggled. "I wanna see how it is to do that to the man I
love." And her head went back down. My hands were on the
back of her head, not to force her or to even guide her.
Her enthusiasm was working wonders, and all I wanted was
to touch her as she purred and moaned and sucked and
stroked.
I felt teeth gently tugging the skin of my dick up and
down. "Am I biting too hard? I wanna bite it a little
bit, babe."
"It's wonderful, doll," I said. "I'm so close."
"I can tell," she said, then her mouth took me again. I
felt my scrotum draw up in her hand and the first surge
shot out. "Mmmmmm," escaped her throat. Her hand milked
me in time with the second, third, fourth... Each time
she sucked as I squirted. It dwindled to a flow and she
kept sucking until I was emptied, and then she pushed me
backward on the bed and kissed me. I tasted traces of my
orgasm in her mouth. She straddled me then lay down on
top of me.
"Mmmmm, babe," she smiled. "D'ya know how great it is
that I can do that to you?"
"Oh, baby," I answered. "You're the greatest." We
kissed, our hands roaming freely over each other. She
moved from my lips to my neck and worked me over, and I
responded by pushing her over on her back and then
kissing my way down her body to her pubes. She spread
her legs and pulled her knees up, opening herself to my
mouth. I feasted my way through three orgasms before her
hands topped pulling me into her and gently denied me
further access.
We lay in each other's arms.
"Mid-afternoon," she sighed. "Can we just stay in bed?"
"Or we could go to the jewelry store and get something.
I never asked you what kind of rings you wanted."
Squeal. And a sexy teen pressed herself into me.
"Rings?"
"Yes, my dear... It is customary for a girl to get an
engagement ring and a wedding ring. And her husband gets
a wedding band."
"That's all I want, Dan. A simple wedding band. No
diamond. No engagement ring. Just a plain little simple
band that says that I have given myself to somebody.
You."
"Are you sure, babe? I mean, anything you want..."
"A band, Dan. A gold band."
"Okay, dearest," I conceded, "Besides, a diamond who
only be a pale beauty next to you." That got me another
kiss. "So, d'you wanna go?"
She grinned wickedly. "Nope. I wanna come!"
"Then get up here and turn around." She squealed with
delight as we fit ourselves together in a sweet sixty-
nine. Gamely she tried to keep sucking on me as I
tongued her juicy slit and started ministering to her
clitty, hidden as it was, just inside her sweet fold.
She pulled me out of her mouth and held my dick against
her cheek as she gasped through first one orgasm, then
another.
After she came back to this planet, she swung around
between my legs, her face hovering over my crotch.
Asking questions about things before her.
She gently bounced my balls in her hand. "Don't squeeze
hard?" she queried.
"Very gentle. But you're making them feel really good,
tugging and rolling them around like that."
"Can I suck 'em?"
"Gently. More like just get one in your mouth and play
with it using your tongue."
She tried. "Good?"
"Wonderful. And you can grab the skin of the sack with
your teeth and gently bite and tug. Bite about as hard
as when you were sucking me while ago."
Giggles. And delightful experimentation. "SO I take it
that you liked the biting part?"
"Oh, god, yes. Just perfect."
"Then you won't be too mad about the teeth marks and
bruises on your neck, huh?"
"It's worth it to me, babe. You make me feel so good."
She kept exploring, experimenting, turned my dick
sideways and chewed and sucked her way up and down the
underside like it was an ear of corn. Worked her way
around the corona with little nibbles. Every time a
droplet of pre-cum appeared, she sucked it off, I was
solidly, completely erect and she decided it was time
for a ride.
"No, babe, let's try it this way. Get on your hands and
knees."
"Uh, babe, I don't want it in my butt. I mean, I've
heard of that..."
"Ain't exactly my thing, babe. Just wait." I knelt
behind her and rubbed the head of my dick up and down
her wet slit, causing her to purr.
"Now THAT feels good," she said, then she gasped as I
eased into her from behind. "Ahhhhh, Dan! That's GOOD!"
She was rocking on her knees, pushing into my groin then
pulling away as I guided her hips with my hands. I
worked my own thrusts into the party. "I can feel your
balls bouncing against me, baby... Is it good?"
"Oh, god, yes, angel." I felt the juices rising after
her little play session.
"Come in me. Dan. Please! I'm close again!
I pounded her, matching her motions with my own, until I
plunged forward and felt the fire exiting me to find its
place deep inside my darling Nina.
"Auuughhhhh! I feelitDan! Nnnnnghhhh!" Her pelvis surged
backward and up, pushing her clitty against the base of
my rapidly emptying dick, and she came. I froze for a
minute, then fell backward onto the bed. And Nina just
slithered backward to put her juicy pussy in my face. I
felt her lips close on my dick as she sucked and licked
our overflow and for the second time today I emptied her
full pussy with my mouth.
Finishing that exercise, Nina turned back around into my
arms. Cuddling close, she turned her eyes toward me.
"Dan, that butt thing? Did you ever?"
"No," I said. "I never had the desire. And you... why
would I? It's either a dominance thing for a guy, or a
submission thing for a woman, or maybe a woman is just
too loose from having babies. But it's not made for
that. And you've got pleasant places that are..."
She made a show of licking her lips. "Mmmmm, yes," She
paused. "And we'll probably need to think about that
this week. I'm due for a period mid-week."
"Oh, really?"
"Yeah. Probably Wednesday. I'm regular, you know. And
the Pill."
"You're on the Pill?"
"Yeah. Didn't need the birth control, but it regulates
my periods. I was kind of erratic. They make book-
keeping easier. And keep me from scaring Grandma to
death."
"Ohhhh," I said.
"Uh-huh. When I first moved in with her, I went two
weeks late. Grandma thought for sure I was pregnant,
even though I told her that I was a virgin. Now she
believes me, but back then, even SHE thought some of Mom
had rubbed off on me."
I kissed her and held her. "Babe," I said, "Life is just
gonna get better and better for us. And a period...
Nothing. Just life."
She kissed me on the nose. "Let's go to the jewelry
store, babe."
"Got it, angel." And we got up and dashed through the
shower yet again. In the hot water she said, "Man, you
make me feel sooooo good."
And hour later we were sitting in the food court of the
local mall, in possession of a couple of little black
velvet-covered boxes, smiling, drinking fountain drinks
and observing the wildlife, her term for the mall
denizens
Since it was the only mall in a fifty-mile radius, and
Nina was eighteen and a recent high school graduate AND
many of the "wildlife" were her classmates, several of
them waved and a few stopped by to chat. Two of those
were dressed in carefully planned dishevelment., hair
colored in variegated bands of blonde and brunette, and
a little more makeup than teen complexions need.
"Hi, Pammy, Hi, Cenda," chirped my Nina.
The taller of the two answered first. "Hey, Nina! Ain't
it cool? We're out of school!
The short one added "Pammy's getting' a job at The Gap.
Starts next week. I'm still looking. What about you?"
Nina grinned. "I dunno. I'm starting college in the
fall."
Pammy looked at me in a measuring manner. "And
you're...?"
"Dan Gleason," I said. "You're Pammy," and I nodded to
Cenda, "and you're Cenda?"
"Nina, he catches on fast!"
"He should," Nina laughed. "He's an engineer."
Cenda giggled. "Your big brother? Cousin? Uncle?"
Nina pulled one of those little velvet boxes out and
popped the lid back. "Nuh-uh. Husband. Thursday."
"Uhhhhh..." Cenda was rendered speechless.
Pammy stepped in. "Wow! An' we wondered why you weren't
dating guys in school."
Nina smiled sublimely. "I find that Dan is a much better
deal. Smart. Mature. Real job."
The pair pulled up chairs. Pammy asked, "So how'd you
meet?"
Nina giggled. "I logged on to www.findanengineer.com."
"No, really," Cenda recovered her speech.
Nina gave the condensed version, carefully omitting
dates so as to not make it look quite as crazy.
"That's just craaazy!" Pammy sighed. "Can you imagine?"
She looked at me.
"Oh, don't ask me. My imagination stopped working when I
started helping her with homework."
"So are ya'll having a big wedding?" asked Cenda.
"Nope," Nina answered. "Just going to Grandma's church
and letting the preacher marry us. The wedding's not the
big deal, the two people are."
"Oh, I want a BIG wedding," Pammy said. "The works!
Dad's dying. He's hoping I'll turn out lezz or elope or
something."
"Brad doesn't think you're a lezz, Pammy," said Cenda.
"Hah!" Pammy snorted. "Brad doesn't want to get
married."
Cenda relieved the conversation with all the
concentration of an ADD kid. "Oh, look! There's Jarvis
'n' Brandi!" The two visitors got up and scampered off.
"You know, I think my IQ dropped ten points, Nina."
"Yeah," Laughed Nina. "And those were two of the smart
girls." She sighed. "And in twenty minutes news will be
all over town that Nina's getting married" She
snickered. "And the next question asked will be "is she
pregnant?" and the third will be "Who's she marrying?".
Just so you know."
"Just people doing what people do. They like to talk,
and other people make a good conversational topic." I
smiled. "You thought enough of us to tell 'em that we
were getting married."
She giggled. "I kinda wish that we'd have put the rings
on, babe! That would've dropped their jaws."
"Uh, I suppose it would."
"Well, anyway," she opined, "the news is out."
Like I said. The only mall. And Nina's contemporaries
weren't the only ones in a mall on a Sunday afternoon.
It was my turn. In the form of my unit admin clerk,
Jannie and her husband and a couple of pre-teens.
"Hi, Dan," she said. "You remember my husband, Robert,
don't you?"
I stood and took Robert's offered hand and shook it.
"Yeah I do. Hi, Robert. How're you guys doing?"
"I'm in the mall on Sunday afternoon instead of
fishing," he chuckled. "I'm not doing too good, am I?"
The ten-year-old boy standing with them piped in, "Yeah,
Dad! We could be fishing."
Robert patted him on the head. "We have all summer,
son."
Jannie turned her attention to Nina. "Aren't you the one
he brought in a week or so ago? Uh, Nina, wasn't it?"
"Mizz Jannie, you remembered!" Nina smiled.
"Hard NOT to remember a pretty young girl after seeing
dumpy old engineers all day, Nina."
This is where Nina let the cat out of the bag with as
much sublety as a hand grenade in a flour barrel. She
stood up and encircled my waist with her arm. "I picked
the one that wasn't dumpy, Mizz Jannie."
Jannie's eyebrow arched. "Picked?"
"Yes, ma'am, We're getting married on Thursday. I'm
keeping 'im."
"Wow, Dan. You do have a way of surprising people."
"Nobody's more surprised than me," I said.
Robert was pumping my hand again. "Well,
congratulations, Dan. Nina. I... we wish you the best!"
Jannie frowned for a second and then slowly let her
smile come back. "After all those times I tried to set
you up. I was wondering about... oh, never mind. She's a
doll. Congratulations, Nina. And don't worry about him.
I'll watch him for you every day."
Responding to the tugs of the eight year old daughter at
her side, Jannie said, "Well, we' have to go get
vacation stuff. I'll see you tomorrow, Dan."
We waved as they left and Nina said, "She tried to set
you up with women, Dan?"
I knew that I needed to explain. As we walked toward the
exit, I said, "Babe, you have to understand that every
married woman in the world has a bunch of unmarried
friends, and her goal in life is to match them up."
"Uh-huh," Nina responded. "So? Go on."
"Jannie's my age. So are most of her female friends, and
every one of 'em is a divorcee or a single mom who never
bothered to get married in the first place. And
underneath each of those somewhat acceptable exteriors
is enough baggage to fill a semi-trailer, and claws just
looking for two things."
She cut her eyes to me, half-smiling. "Uh, what two
things?"
I snorted. "A dong and a paycheck."
"Dan! Nice talk!"
"It's true. I don't do one-night stands. I won't go to
bed for sex. And I won't get married for it."
She curled her arm around mine. "So you're not marrying
me for the great sex?"
I laughed. "Uh... After a night with you, I think I
could change my standard. But no, I'm marrying YOU
because you're WONDERFUL."
She said, "Why, yes! I am!" with a wry smirk. She
paused. "So! I took care of informing the whole school."
"And we told Jannie, which takes care of everybody at
work. All we need is a few spots on the radio and the TV
station, and everybody will know."
In the parking lot, she spun me around and kissed me.
"And that's just fine with me!"
I smiled. "Me too, babe. Me too!"
END
Want more? Email me: oyster1950@gmail.com
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This story was written as an adult fantasy. The author
does not condone the described behavior in real life.
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Kristen's collection - Directory 69