Prick Van Winkle

by Lubrican

Chapters : 1-2 | 3-4 | 5-6 | 7-8 | 9-10 | 11-12 | 13-14 | 15-16 | 17-18
19-20 | 21-22 | 23-24 | 25-26 | 27-28 | 29-30 | 31-32 | 33-Epilogue

Chapter 25

Two hours later they finally got out of bed. The whole time after he "got her pregnant" as she later described it to him, they talked. She told him more about what she had thought of and remembered while they were making love. It was a cathartic kind of confession for her because they lay there naked and cuddling, but no sex was going on. She included that as something new and wonderful, a gift he had given her. She told him about how she had been sure at that instant that he was impregnating her, and about how her mother and aunts had been so good about it when she came crying home, sure she'd be thrown out.

"I hope I didn't make you pregnant, then." he said at that point.

"Could you ever hope you did make me pregnant?" she asked amazed.

"Of course." he said. "You're a wonderful mother who has raised a fabulous daughter. More children deserve to have you as a mother."

"I've been a horrible mother." she sighed. "All Becca wanted to do was date that nice young Denny and look what I did."

"Didn't it work out all right?" he asked.

"Yes, but I'm surprised she doesn't hate me." said Gidget.

"You're pretty hard to hate." he commented.

"And you're sweet." she said, kissing him.

"And you taste tangy." he reminded her.

"Are you trying to seduce me again?" she challenged.

"You bet I am." he grinned.

"Well, you can't." she said firmly. "This is just practice. I'm going to find some nice rich man who can't live without me, and seduce him."

"You already did that." he smiled.

Her eyes widened. "I guess maybe I did at that." she said. "But it wouldn't work. I can't marry you, and you can't marry me."

"I don't think marriage is the glue that is needed to hold this relationship together." he said. "I've been thinking about buying a big house, one of those monstrous things with twenty-seven rooms, and inviting all you girls to live with me."

"You want your own harem, do you?" she asked grinning.

"Well sure I do. If they're anything like you, I want them all." he said. He didn't think it politically correct to tell her he already had more than half of them already.

"Why that's ... that's ... that's polygamy or something!" she said leaning back from him. "You can't do that! It's just ... wrong!"

"Let me ask you this. Would you do this with me again some day?" he asked. He cupped a breast and squeezed it.

"Yes." she said immediately. "I loved what we did today."

"What if you got married?"

"That would be different." she said. "I might still want to, but I wouldn't."

"Good for you." he said. "What if you don't get married?"

"I already told you." she said.

"What if I get married?" he asked.

"No go." she said firmly.

"What if I have a girlfriend, or several girlfriends?"

"Now you're trying to trap me. One girlfriend ... no. More than one girlfriend and all's fair in love and war." she said.

"You have the strangest rules." he laughed.

"Wasn't it that way back in 1950?" she asked.

"Yes, I suppose it was, but I'm not in 1950 any more. This is a whole new world and I've broken a lot of rules already." he said.

"Could you make love to more than one woman and feel good about it?" asked Gidget. Her whole life had been steeped in the supposed virtues of monogamy.

"Only if it they were the right women, and it didn't hurt them." he said.

"Good luck." she said. "Women just don't want to share like that. Most women anyway." she said.

"Let me ask you a question." he said. "What if the women I wanted to make love to were you and ... say Sunny, or even June?"

She started to answer and he put his finger to her lips.

"Before you answer that, think about it. When you came here today, did you intend to end up like this?"

"Of course not." she said

"Are you unhappy that you did?"

"No!" she was frustrated. "But..." she stopped. She suddenly understood what he was getting at. She had done something crazy and wild and against the rules ... something completely unscripted and it had been wild and wonderful and full of ecstasy. There had been pain and fear in it too, but they had been washed away on a sea of trust and faith that she wouldn't be abandoned. She was even more convinced, if anything, that this man would never abandon her.

"That's pretty weird to think about." she said finally.

"So, if I told you I'd made love to Sunny, would you be mad at her, or jealous?"

"Did you?" she asked.

"No, but use your imagination." he said. He was suddenly glad he hadn't used her mother's name.

She was quiet for a long time.

"You know, I think you're turning me into some kind of kinky freak." she said finally.

"What I'm trying to do is free you from some of those rules that have choked you half to death." he said.

"Okay, so no, I don't guess I'd be all jealous if I knew you were making love with both Sunny and me, but that's Sunny, not some strange woman."

"You want to know something?" he asked.

She nodded.

"If I'm lucky enough to get to experience what happened here, with you, or Sunny, or any of the beautiful women in my life right now ... I don't need any strange women."

The image of one of Bob's readings from Rip's journal popped into Gidget's mind. She envisioned them all sitting around in the semi dark as Bob sat alone, reading. Her imagination stripped all the women naked, and made Bob's penis jut a foot into the air. She laughed, thinking about it and he looked at her quizzically. She didn't tell him about it though.

"You'd better eat a lot of oysters if you plan to keep nine women happy." she laughed.

"You and I both know I won't be keeping nine women happy. I wouldn't even try."

"What if we all demanded it?" she asked impishly.

"Then I'd have to set up a schedule." he said grinning.

"That wouldn't work." she said. "I'd want you every night myself." She was at once shocked that she'd said it, and amazingly happy that she felt free to say what she felt.

"Then some of you are just going to have to find your own man." he said.

Finally they got out of bed and dressed. They cleaned up the cabin and got back in the car to head back home. As they rode along Gidget played with the wind with her hand, making it plane up and then down as the wind pushed against it. She felt relaxed, and peaceful ... sedate in a way she hadn't felt in a long time. Could mere sex do that?

"Grandpa?" she said. "Bob! I'm going to call you Bob from now on. I can't call you grandpa after today."

"Bob's fine." he said.

"I'm glad this happened, but I don't think it's going to help me with dates. I don't want to be seduced ... well by anybody besides you ... and most men don't want to be chased by a woman. Besides, I wouldn't do what we did with a man until ... I don't know when I'd do that."

"That's probably a good plan, if the man has enough control to wait for you to be ready." he said.

They rode on a while.

"Bob?"

"Hmm?"

"What if you did make me pregnant?"

"You want the truth?" he asked.

She nodded, frowning.

"I'd be a very happy man." he said.

She looked surprised. "But you know we couldn't get married." she said.

"Big house." he said. "Lots of room." He looked at her. "Big family house." He drove on a little further. "How would you feel about it?"

"I don't know." she admitted. "My brain tells me it would be terrible." She turned toward him. "But my heart tells me it would be wonderful."

He just reached over and squeezed her hand.

They went the rest of the way in an easy silence. When they were almost to the house, she spoke again.

"Bob?"

"Yes?"

"I don't think one date is going to be enough for me to figure this all out."

He was grinning like a madman as he pulled up to her house.

In Sacramento, at the North substation, there was a desk in a corner that was used by detectives whenever they were up that direction on a case. Zack liked to hang out there both because the personnel were friendly, and because he could get more done there than at the main station, where everything was crazy all the time. He had mentioned this to Val, but didn't think anything of it. The desk was behind a partition for privacy during interviews and there was a computer terminal that accessed the same information he could access at his real desk down town. He was reading through a witness statement and thinking about calling it a day when he heard a female voice ask for him at the booking desk.

"I'm looking for Detective Simpson."

The Booking sergeant's rough voice came next. "And the nature of your business with Detective Simpson?"

"I want to see him." said the voice, which Zack now recognized as Val's. He grinned. He'd see how fast on her feet she was. The men she'd have to get through were trained to weed out superfluous complaints and domestic arguments that didn't amount to enough to be worth a detective's time.

"And what, exactly do you want to see him about?" asked Sergeant Rollins.

"I just want to talk to him for a minute." she said, her voice rising. "If you tell him my name he'll want to talk to me."

"I'm sure he will." said Rollins, sarcasm in his voice. "Now, are you going to tell me what you want to see him about or not? I'm a busy man here."

Zack almost laughed. Rollins hadn't booked anybody into jail in two days. The North substation was a quiet place. That's why Zack hung out there.

"Look, don't be a jerk, just tell him I'm here. He'll want to see me." she said.

"Ma'am", he heard the booking sergeant's voice rise. "I told you already that you have to tell me what you want to see him about!"

"He's not going to like it if I tell you why I want to see him." she warned. There was something in her voice that made Zack sit up and take notice. He started to close out the file he was reading in preparation for getting up.

"You just let me be the judge of that." said Rollins' heavy voice. Zack could see that four or five other personnel had drifted into position, both in case something got ugly, and just to watch.

"Okay," she said sweetly, but loudly. "I haven't had hot, sweaty sex in over a week, I'm as horny as a three antlered goat, and he's got the stick to scratch my itch with!" she finished loudly.

There was an instant of complete silence.

"Now, may I please see him?" Val asked politely.

It was pandemonium as all the personnel within earshot started laughing, hooting and generally making fools of themselves. Zack stood up sighing, and as his head popped up over the partition Val waved gaily at him.

"Hi honey." she said over the hubbub.

"Better get going sweetie" said a patrolman to Zack in a high falsetto voice.

"Don't want to keep the little missus waiting any more than you already have" whined another in an equally bad falsetto.

Rollins looked over at Zack and grinned. "Zack, I believe this young woman, I repeat young woman has some business with you. Maybe I should ask for some ID? Wouldn't want you to get in trouble for robbing the cradle!" He burst into laughter as there were more hoots and hollers. Through it all Val stood, tall, slim and beautiful, holding her purse in front of her with both hands, looking as unruffled as if she were alone at a bus stop.

Val pulled up her purse and pretended to look through it. "My fake ID is in here somewhere" she said earnestly. "I'm eighteen." Her clear soprano voice went throughout the station.

"Sure you are sweetheart." guffawed Rollins.

"She's almost twenty." snarled Zack as he threaded his way through laughing cops. He walked up to Val, who leaned forward to kiss him on the cheek, smiling.

"You're gonna pay for this." he growled to Val.

More laughter.

"Oooo" she said in her little girl voice. "I sure hope so."

The place went wild as Zack, red faced, pulled her toward the door. As she went through she waved at all the laughing cops and sang out "Bye fellas."

As the door closed it sounded like a convention of comics was there, all of them telling their best gags.


"You just had to do that to me, did you?" he said as he drove her to dinner.

"There's a door back in the corner." said Val.

"Yeah, it goes to the property room." said Zack, wondering where she was going with this.

"It has a window in it. I saw your reflection in the window when I asked for you. I couldn't tell for sure, but it looked like you were smiling." she said matter-of-factly.

"Oh." he said glumly.

"Oh, come on, it's not that bad." she said smiling.

"Have you looked in a mirror lately?" he asked. When she looked confused he said "Look at me. I'm a broken down old gumshoe who, alongside an astonishingly gorgeous woman like you, looks like a '57 Chevy beside a Corvette."

Her laughter tinkled in his ears and she slapped at his thigh.

"I happen to think '57 Chevies are sexy." she said smiling.

"Those guys will never let me forget this." he moaned. "It will be all over the whole department by the time we're finished with dinner."

"Are you ashamed of me?" There was a dangerous note in her voice.

"Oh hell no Val, but they're going to rib me about this for months!"

She sniffed. "Well, then, you just remind them that they got to look, but you get to touch."

"Oh that will work." sighed Zack, shaking his head.

He was in a better mood by the time they got to the restaurant. It was a tiny Italian place that served his favorite Lasagna. There were only four other customers, since it was still early. He ordered Cokes for them both while they waited for the food.

"Zack?" she said.

He looked at her.

"I want to keep dating you."

He smiled. "A broken down old gumshoe like me?"

She didn't smile. "I want to keep dating you." she said again.

This time he was serious. "That makes me happier than you can even imagine."

"If I changed schools ... I'm thinking of Cal State ... would you keep seeing me?"

"Of course I would." he said.

"Would you see ... only me?" she sounded nervous.

"Do remember me asking you if you've looked in a mirror lately?" he tried to joke. When she didn't smile he nodded. "I can't even think of another woman right now. You're affecting my work."

"I'm going to ask you this question and I want you to tell me the honest truth. Don't sugar coat it or tell me what you think I want to hear, okay?" She definitely looked nervous now. Her body language was talking to him loud and clear.

"Shoot." he said, leaning back.

"If I got pregnant ... if you got me pregnant ... what would you do?"

"Boy, do you know how to get a guy's attention." he said. When she frowned he held up his hand. "Calm down, it's just an odd question in this setting." He looked at her, his gaze level. "Are you pregnant?"

"I asked you first." she said, looking achingly beautiful. Zack remembered someone saying that being pregnant made a woman glow. He wondered if her beauty was from that glow.

"Are you pregnant, Val?" he asked.

"No." she said. She looked down. "Not yet."

"Then why in the world are you asking me that question?" he asked.

"Because when we get finished here I'm going to take you home and have that hot sweaty sex with you and I might get pregnant." she said.

"Val, we can do something about that." he said.

"You don't understand." she said, looking disappointed. "Nothing works a hundred percent except not doing it. I am not interested in dating you and not doing it."

"Oh." he said. He wasn't used to a woman being quite this forthcoming.

"Well," he went on. "If I got you pregnant I would feel compelled to do the right thing." he said.

"What does that mean exactly?" she asked.

The waiter brought them their food and Zack felt irritated at the intrusion. When the waiter left she was still sitting and looking at him.

"It means I'd marry you." he said.

"I wouldn't want you to marry me unless you wanted to marry me." she said.

Zack almost groaned. "Val, you're the best thing that's ever happened to me. I can't stop thinking about you. It's been what, a week since I saw you?"

"Eight days exactly." she said primly.

"Well, anyway, what I'm telling you is that there is nothing I want more in this world than for you to be my girl. If you had my baby inside of you I don't think I could let you out of my sight. I'd be crazy to do anything but marry you." He looked at his plate. "But sweetheart, you don't want to marry an old guy like me."

"Don't you think I should be the one to decide that?" she asked archly.

"I know your family would give you just as hard a time as those boys are going to give me the next time I show my face at the North substation. Everybody and their mother is going to be pestering you with advice and questions about why in the world you want to marry an older man."

"If I was pregnant I'd have a pretty good excuse to marry the man who got me that way, even if he was an older man." she argued.

"You don't want to get married for that reason, Val. You know that. You need to be with a man you love, and are comfortable with."

"That's not what I'm saying." she objected. "What I'm saying is that, if I were pregnant, nobody would be able to object to my marrying you just because you were an older man. It's one thing to marry an older man and have a baby. It's another to have a baby and then marry his father, who just happens to be an older man." She smiled.

"You're a devious woman, Val." said Zack. "Wouldn't it just be easier to keep dating and not have any babies at all?"

"So you're not interested in marrying me ... unless I'm pregnant with your baby. Is that about it?" she asked. There was no rancor in her voice and Zack noticed that.

"I'm not saying that at all." he said. "A month ago there was no woman of any kind in my life and I haven't really had time to sit down and think about getting married ... to you or anybody else."

"But you just said there isn't anybody else." she pointed out.

"Val, what do you want from me?" he asked, frustration in his voice.

"I just want to know if there might be a time in the not terribly distant future, when you might feel the urge to marry me, even if I'm not pregnant." she said.

"That's pretty vague." he said. She frowned and he held up his hand. "Let's get down to brass tacks here. What do you mean by the 'not too distant future'?"

She wrinkled her nose. "Two years?"

Zack's deductive oriented mind wondered why two years. She'd be in college for three more at least. He ignored that for now. "Would you be willing, during these two years, to go on the pill?"

"No." she said.

"Can I use condoms?" he asked.

"No."

"And I can't ask why because you already explained it to me the last time we were together." he said.

"Correct." she said with a cute little nod of her beautiful head.

"Well then, I have to marry you." he said, picking up his fork. "Cause in the next two years I'm probably gonna knock you up twice."

"Not if we're careful." she countered.

"I don't want to be ... careful ... do you?" he asked around a mouthful of lasagna.

"No." she said.

"Then why are we having this conversation?" he asked.

"Because..." she let it hang in the air and picked up a piece of garlic bread. "Because I think I'm in love with you, but I can't say that because this is only our second date and you'll think I'm childish, and I'm ovulating right now and Becca's pregnant and all I can think about is how wonderful it would be to have your baby growing inside of me, but it's too soon and I'm afraid I'll chase you away and I'd just die..."

She had to stop to take a breath.

"If that happened." she finished. She stuffed the bread in her mouth, tore a piece off viciously and looked down, her jaw working furiously.

Zack sat and stared. Then he put his fork down and carefully wiped his mouth with his napkin. Val peeked up at him for an instant and looked back down. She swallowed convulsively.

"You know," he said conversationally, "I never used to believe in love at first sight and all that stuff." He waited until she peeked up at him again. This time she kept her eyes on his for a few seconds.

"Becca's pregnant?" he asked suddenly.

"I wasn't supposed to tell you that." she said miserably. "She's terrified, and I'm terrified for her."

"And for yourself," said Zack.

Her head moved in a tiny nod.

Zack asked himself two questions. The first was: "Can I live with this tumultuous, passionate, go-off-on-a-tangent, gorgeous woman?" The second was: "Can I live without this tumultuous, passionate, go-off-on-a-tangent, gorgeous woman?"

"Yes." he said. He picked up his fork and started eating again.

Val's head rose and she looked at him carefully.

"Yes ... what?" she asked.

He had to swallow before he could answer. "Yes, I might, in the next two years, feel the urge to marry you, regardless of your maternal status."

He watched as she flushed bright pink.

"Really?" she said in a tiny voice.

"Oh for pity's sake!" he growled. "Val would you please marry me so we can get on with our lives? I'm starving here!" He sounded gruff, but his face was soft and smooth, his eyes steady, and it was obvious he was neither frustrated or angry.

Val pounced on his question with a shrieked "Yes!" and actually clapped her hands. Everyone else in the restaurant looked over to see what her shout was about. She blushed and looked down again, picking up her fork.

They ate in silence for a few minutes, but Val was practically wiggling in her seat.

Zack looked up between bites. "Didn't I hear something about Becca and her ... aunt ... going out with Brian Spruell?"

Val nodded, chewing.

"He's been walking around on cloud nine with a grin on his face that scares people," said Zack. "I don't think Becca has anything to be scared about ... unless she doesn't like him."

"Oh, she likes him. She's just scared he won't want anything to do with her now that she's pregnant. She's afraid to tell him."

Zack frowned. "That's not fair to him. And, like I said, he's smitten with her, or at least somebody. There are a several things that will get a cop killed. One is carelessness, and another big one is being in love. He needs to know the state of affairs so he can make plans and keep his head in the game when he's on duty."

Val's smile was brilliant. "I'll tell her as soon as I get home."

Zack thought about his impulsive proposal during the rest of dinner. When Val looked at him, it was with puppy dog eyes. He suddenly realized he might just have made the most important decision in a life that didn't hold tremendous number of really good ones. By the time dinner was over, he was sure this decision was one of the best he'd ever made.

They left the restaurant and before they even got out of the parking lot Val's hand was in his lap, feeling and squeezing.

"What are you doing?" he asked, laughing.

"I want to play." she said. "I can't wait."

"I'm driving." he said.

"You keep your eyes on the road then." she said, trying to unzip his pants. "They're not what I want to play with anyway."

She tugged and got the zipper halfway down.

"Lift your hips." she ordered, using both hands now and leaning over across the console between the bucket seats.

"No." he laughed. "I told you I'm driving."

She had just gotten her hand inside his mostly open zipper and was feeling for a way to get through his underwear when he said "Shit!"

"What's wrong?" she giggled.

"We're being pulled over ... that's what's wrong." he growled.

"Uh oh," said Val, sitting back up and twisting to look out the rear window. There were flashing lights behind them.

Chapter 26

Zack pulled to the right and put the car in park. He twisted the key viciously and sighed. Then he tried to put the window down, but with the key off the button did nothing. He was reaching for the key when there was a knock on the window. He turned the key and the window slid down. A flashlight shone into the back from the passenger's side and then played over Val as the second man in the patrol car inspected the interior of the car for danger.

"Good evening sir," came the deep voice of the policeman standing beside the car. "Oh!" said the voice in what sounded like surprise. "It's you Sarge."

Zack looked up and out, shading his eyes from the light of the flashlight that was shining into the car.

"That you Paul?" he asked.

"Yeah, Ricky and I have the lower east side tonight," said Paul.

"So ... what's up?" asked Zack.

The voice returned to its professional deep tone.

"License and registration please."

Zack sighed and fumbled for his billfold. He reached across Val, who was sitting back, feeling bad for having distracted him. He flipped open the glove box and pulled out the registration. Then he handed that and his license out the window.

"Sir, the reason I stopped you is because you were weaving and almost crossed the center line. I thought there might be some problem in the car. Have you been drinking sir?"

"Of course not Paul," sighed Zack. "You know me better than that. I was just ... distracted for a minute."

"Step out of the car please sir," ordered the grim voice.

"Come on Paul, you know I haven't been drinking. Give me a break here."

"Step out of the car Sir!" came the command.

Zack snarled and pushed the door open to get out.

"What the hell is going on officer Jackson?" he said, his voice rising.

"Gee Sarge," came the voice, "You sure look all ... hot and sweaty. Are you sure you're okay? You want me to call you an ambulance or something? I wouldn't want you to have a heart attack or anything."

Zack fumed as Paul's partner Ricky called over the car. "Paul, I don't see a goat in there anywhere."

There was a burst of laughter as Zack got back in the car and slammed the door much harder than he needed to. He started the car and a hand was thrust through the window holding his license and registration.

"Here you are Sir," said the laughing officer. "Oh, and you might want to zip up so you don't get distracted again." There was maniacal laughter as Zack took off so fast that his tires spun, screeching.

Before Zack got a block there was a line of at least ten police cars following him, their lights flashing and the occasional siren bleeping. Zack didn't stop this time, but no matter which way he turned they followed, sometimes honking. The only way he could get away from them was to head out of town.

"I'm sorry," said Val, her voice high and contrite. She giggled.

"I just bet you are." Zack growled. When they left the city limits the last squad car finally peeled off with a triple warble of its siren. "Well I said you'd pay, and you're paying now. No way we can go back to my apartment. They'll be waiting to ambush me there too, knowing those guys."

"We could go to our family cabin." she suggested. "Up in the mountains. I'd rather pay up there."

Zack laughed. This would make a good story to tell someday.

If it wasn't already a legend by then.

When they got to the cabin and got inside, Val attacked him. She stripped him efficiently and took him into her mouth hungrily. Then he pushed her off and stripped her. They tumbled onto the feather bed, bouncing as she crawled onto him, eager and anxious.

"Are you like this every time you're ovulating?" gasped Zack.

"I've never done this while I was ovulating." she panted, finding what she wanted and putting it where she wanted it. "Besides, you just asked me to marry you. A girl gets excited when that happens."

There was a point, about ten minutes later, as the pressure increased in his body, that Zack wondered if he might have a heart attack after all. His balls solved the problem by emptying themselves in the woman who would have his children ... starting tonight, if possible.

The clan was together at June's house on a Saturday afternoon for another reading of Rip's journal. Bob had just closed the book after reading Rip's description of waking up, and how the world had changed. He had peppered this reading with his own observations about how his world had changed in many of the same ways, and pointing out how important it was that his experience was much better than Rip's.

"Ohhh what happens next?" moaned Polly. "You always stop too soon."

"We know what happens next!" called out Fran laughing and referring to her cousins. Everyone knew they had already read the journal front to back. Still they listened just as carefully whenever Bob read from it. "You won't believe how close it is to what happened to Grandpa." she teased.

"You're being impertinent, young lady," said her grandmother. "It isn't nice to tease your elders."

Fran laughed. "Okay, okay, he moves in with his daughter!" she squealed.

"Oh my!" sighed Betty. "I don't remember that part of the story I heard when I was a little girl."

"Well he does," said Fran. "And he lives with her the rest of his life. At least for the rest of her life. It wasn't too clear."

"Speaking of which, there's something I need to talk to you all about," said Bob. He looked around and went on. "I'm thinking that this moving around and living in different places is a difficult way to live. So I've decided to buy a house."

Only Gidget knew the details of his vision. The rest displayed varying attitudes about it. His daughters objected that it was no imposition on them to have him live with them. Others wanted to know where it would be, and if it would be too far away for them to visit him. Sunny wanted to know why he wanted to live alone.

He waited until they ran down.

"Actually, I was thinking of more of a family home." He looked around. "Something big enough that all of you ... at least all of you who wanted to ... could live there too."

That shut them up ... for all of fifteen seconds. Then it was a jumble of voices, some doubtful, some excited, and some with questions.

It went back and forth as he said that since he had the money, and since living together would be both more efficient, and more luxurious, and would give them a base for whatever family business they ended up pursuing, it just made sense.

"You all would be able to come and go as you liked, of course, and could still have your own lives. Your part of the house could be as private as you want it to be. We could hire a cook and some maids and things like that. It would free you up to do the things you want to do, but don't have time for now." he argued.

Then there was another hour of arguing about how such a house should be laid out, and whether it should be custom built, or whether they should move outside of Circleton, which didn't have anything remotely like what Bob was describing available. Little by little they came on board, as the possibilities expanded and the problems were given solutions.

Gidget finally stood up. "Well I'm all for it." she said. "I need to remodel my house anyway, and this way I won't have to worry about it. Besides, if I'm going to start dating, I'd much rather have a man pick me up someplace nicer than my poor old house."

Sunny snorted. "Are you really going to start going out?" she asked, clearly unbelieving.

"I had fun with Bob." Gidget said with dignity, though her cheeks pinked up a little. "And I intend to have more fun. You should try it yourself!" she said with a little heat.

Sunny rolled her eyes and June spoke.

"Sunny, dear, I haven't seen Gidget as happy and carefree as she was after her date with Daddy in just years and years. Don't make fun of her for trying to find some happiness."

"That must have been some date," said Sunny, still unconvinced.

"I try to show a girl a good time," said Bob, smiling. "And I learned a few things from Gidget too. I'm sure it will make my own future dating experiences much more positive than if I'd have tried to just go out and try it on my own."

"Me too," said Gidget. "If I'd have tried to go out on a regular date it would have been disastrous. He helped me understand things about men that I didn't know. I was afraid of men. But Bob put me at ease and I ended up having a wonderful time. In fact, we're going to do it again." She started to blush. "Just to brush up on things." she said weakly, and turned away, going to the kitchen.

Sunny watched her younger cousin walk away. Her eyes narrowed. Gidget's whole attitude had changed. Sunny held some of the same opinions about men and dating ... or they had held them ... and both had agreed that men were more trouble than they were worth. If Gidget had changed this much after being with grandpa just once, he must be a very interesting man.

Sunny looked at Bob, who was in conversation with Martha about whether the new house should be a condo style kind of structure, or something with radiating wings where each wing would be a more or less separate residence connected in the middle by a common area for family gatherings like meals, parties and such. She looked at his hair, and the shape of his face and his shoulders. She'd always thought he was a nice looking man, but he still seemed strange and exotic to her, more so now that he had worked some kind of magic on Gidget. He piqued her curiosity in a way that men just didn't. Her divorce had been painful, and her former husband's disinterest in both her and their daughter had been painful too.

Yet, here was a man, a stranger for all intents and purposes, who cared enough about women he hardly knew to offer to give them a luxurious lifestyle and pursue whatever interests they wanted to. And there didn't appear to be anything in it for him other than the company of those women.

She frowned. She "knew" men better than that. There had to be something in it for him. She thought about Val and her new detective boyfriend. Val was acting like she was in love, and that worried Sunny. The man seemed nice, but he was old enough to be Val's father. After their latest date Val had been on cloud nine, humming and dancing around the house. Sunny had asked her about it and learned that Val was transferring to Cal State to be near the man. She had gone into "mother mode" then, warning Val about men and how they manipulated women.

"Mom, he hasn't asked me for anything," said Val. "In fact he keeps trying to tell me I should find a younger man."

"Good advice! And from a man!" Sunny had quipped.

"I don't want a younger man," said Val firmly. "I want him. And I'm going to get him. You just wait and see." There was a gleam in her eye that suggested there was more to this story than Val was telling, but she wouldn't talk about it any more, other than to say "He's a good man, Mom, and he cares about what I think."

Sunny wavered for a moment, watching Bob talking to Martha and then as June joined the conversation. Both of them obviously loved him. You could see it in their eyes, and in the way they touched him. Sunny felt a pang of loss that she had never had a father to love like that, and that the man she had chosen to be her mate had turned out to be such a rat. Maybe if she'd have had a father ... She shoved thoughts of her father out of her head. She tried not to think about that any more. What seemed amazing to her was how much her mother and aunts loved their father even though he slept through their whole childhood. If she'd have had a father like Bob, she wondered, how much different might her life have been. Being around him, even for just one night had certainly affected Gidget.

She got up and went to find her cousin.

Gidget was making up a new pitcher of iced tea and humming to herself. Sunny thought about Val humming. What was going on around here?

"Hi," said Sunny.

Gidget turned around. "Oh ... hi." she said flatly.

"Don't be mad at me." chided Sunny. "What happened to 'men are all evil and you can't trust any of them'?"

Gidget went to the fridge and got ice to put in the pitcher. "I was wrong. We were wrong." she said.

"How can you know that after being with grandpa for just one evening?" asked Sunny.

Gidget seemed to think about it, almost like she didn't want to talk about it.

"He explained some things to me ... about men." she said. "Things I didn't understand before."

"What kind of things." asked Sunny.

"About why men do some of the things they do ... and how they think about things ... you know, why they act like they do sometimes."

"And you just believed him? Just like that?" asked Sunny.

"No! It wasn't like that! Sunny I said hateful things to him and he just sat there and talked to me about it. I accused him of things, but he was patient and kind to me. He didn't act like what I thought he would act like. He acted like a nice guy, a guy I liked being around. He was a nice guy. He made me feel good inside."

"So why do men do what they do?" asked Sunny.

Gidget threw up her hands. "It took me six hours to understand what he was telling me. I can't explain it in five minutes."

"Did he admit that men want sex?" asked Sunny.

Gidget flushed and turned away. "Of course." she said. She fiddled with the tea, stirring it, even though it didn't need stirring.

Sunny's suspicions flared. Gidget was acting guilty. But before she could grill her cousin further Fran came in and asked if there was more tea yet. Gidget smiled at her and ignored Sunny, taking the tea out into the living room.

Sunny followed them into the living room. Betty and Martha were getting ready to leave. Bob was staying with June this week. Gidget poured tea for those who wanted more. Now Val and Becca were huddled with Bob drawing pictures on pieces of paper. They looked like floor plans.

June saw her sisters to the door and closed it.

"Mom?" Gidget said. "I was thinking, Bob and I had such a nice talk the other night. I've missed so much not knowing much about him. Couldn't he stay at my house for a few days? I have plenty of room, and he wouldn't be bothering you."

June, who had been looking forward to spending the night in bed with her father waved her hand.

"Oh, he's no problem. I'm getting to know him better too darling. But you're right. You girls need to catch up. You neglected him when you were growing up. I'm glad to see you taking an interest now. How about if I send him over there tomorrow?"

Sunny's eyes narrowed as she looked at Gidget, who looked ... hopeful and even happy. Sunny looked at Bob, who was looking up from the drawings. He was smiling, but didn't look strange in any way. He also didn't say a word. They were talking about sending him here and there like he wasn't even in the room and he didn't object in the slightest. Curiosity ate at Sunny.

She wandered over beside Gidget and leaned toward her. "You're not telling me everything. What else happened?"

Gidget looked at her nervously. "You just go out and spend some time with him. Then maybe you'll understand."

She wouldn't talk about it any further.

Polly was too preoccupied with her own situation to pay attention to the byplay with her cousins. Brian had called her and wanted to go out with her again. He had promised to behave himself this time.

The problem was that Polly didn't want him to behave himself. He had reawakened something he her she hadn't realized was so important and she wanted it again.

She knew she was being foolish, and that she hardly knew him. What had happened up in the mountains seemed to be the product of some kind of magic. If so, she now believed in magic thoroughly.

Thinking about Bob's idea of a family home had her torn. Brian could come see her any time at her house, at least as long as Fran was not around to see her mother drag him to the bedroom, as she already knew she would do. Could she still do that if they all lived together? And yet, the togetherness that had increased since Bob woke up was also something she hadn't realized she had missed. She liked being around her cousins and her aunts like they had been doing.

She'd think about it on the drive. She got up to go tell Fran that she would be going to Sacramento and would be late getting home.

Polly sat in the car and read a book, waiting for Brian to get home from work. When he drove up he smiled and waved.

"You're early." he said, getting out of his car. He looked so handsome in his dark blue uniform. He looked ... dangerous.

"Oh, I didn't have anything else to do." she said, blushing at how her belly felt just looking at him.

"Well, come on in. I need a shower and then we can go."

He took her in and she walked around the living room, looking at family pictures, and sports trophies and things displayed that told a little of his life. There was a picture of him in his uniform with a big German Shepherd.

"I didn't know you had a dog." she yelled down the hallway.

He appeared with a towel wrapped around his waist and nothing else on. Polly felt her stomach flutter at seeing his broad chest.

"I started out to be a dog handler." he said. "On our first call we went to a burglary in progress. The perp shot her and killed her when we sent her in after him. I couldn't go through that again, so I switched to patrol duty."

"Oh, I'm so sorry." she said, her voice sad.

"Stuff happens." he said, his face not in tune with his words. "Be right out."

She heard the shower go on and imagined him dropping the towel and stepping into the water. That made her think of the waterfall and she was suddenly even hornier. She tiptoed to the bathroom door and eased it open. She could see his vague image through the glass as he rubbed at his chest. Feeling wild and silly she dropped her clothes and went to the door. She opened it and stepped in with him. It was a tight fit and her body slid against his.

"It's not skinny dipping" she said as water ruined her hairdo. "But it will have to do."

He laughed and his arms encircled her. She was pushed against the wall and lifted a leg to hook it on his hip. He got in her, and it felt good, but it wasn't what either of them wanted right then. They settled for him being inside her as they kissed under the running water.

"You're clean." she announced. "I want to see your bedroom." She felt giddy at being able to be so free with him ... telling him what she wanted.

He turned the water off and they dabbed at each other with towels. They ran to his bedroom, still wet, but they didn't care. Then he was on her like a wolf and she spread her legs joyfully anticipating the feeling of that wonderful fullness. Then it was there and she was off to the races, having an orgasm almost immediately. He was rough with her this time, pounding her into the bed and groaning at how good she felt. He stopped suddenly and his head drooped.

"Did you go to the doctor?" he asked.

"No." she whined.

"I want to cum inside you." he moaned.

"I want to feel it." she cried.

Then he pounded her again until he spurted her full of his silvery semen and they collapsed in a heap.

Fifteen minutes later they did it again.

After that time he licked her shoulder as he lay beside her.

"I thought we were going out." he said.

"Me too." she said.

"I promised to be good." he said, his voice a little whiny.

"You were." she breathed.

"You still want to go out?" he asked.

"No." she said. "Maybe next time."

This time she rode him on top and he played with her breasts, describing them as succulent fruit and pretending to eat them.

"I can't believe this." she moaned as her orgasm washed over her, sweet and hot. "Where have you been all my life?"

"I had to grow up to find you." he huffed. He grunted and she felt his warm bath inside her again.

She sagged down on top of him. "You don't know how glad I am you did find me." she sighed.

They got up then, and got dressed and he fixed her something to eat. They watched TV together, sitting on his couch, holding hands. When she said she had to leave he pouted and begged as she laughed. She made the mistake of kissing him good night, and that led to feeling his hands on her again, and feeling his hard prick pressing against her.

They made love on the couch as he sat back and she straddled him again, hunching forward and kissing him as he gave her yet another load of hot spunk.

She made him stay on the couch, naked while she got dressed. Each time he tried to move she barked at him to stay still.

"Don't I get a goodnight kiss?" he whined.

"You already did!" she giggled.

"I'm off Monday" he said hopefully.

"I get off work at five." she said. "But this time we're meeting somewhere where there isn't a bed." she giggled. "Or a waterfall or a blanket." she added. "Or a shower either!"

"You drive a hard bargain." he said. "But okay. How about I come up there?"

"Meet me at the Wagon wheel on fourth street at Six." she said.

"Just one more kiss?" He stood up.

She fled, laughing.

<< Previous Chapter | Next Chapter >>