BACK TO GLENWOOD:

There he was, traveling back to Glenwood. He'd taken time to have all his patients cared for and had gotten a few friends to pick up his surgeries for a number of days.

Arrangements made; people told that it was a family emergency.

"Family emergency!" he snorted to himself, not able to get it all off of his mind for even a few minutes. "More like a family tragedy."

It was that. His sister, his lovely, lovely little sister Gerry, Geraldine was dead, as was her husband Hal. Auto accident: the words still cascaded across his mind, causing him to, once again, fight back tears.

"Just gone," he said to himself. "They're gone and I'm going back."

But he acknowledged to himself that going back was the next really, really important thing. Of course, it was necessary to take care of the 'final arrangements', as they are euphemistically called but even more important was the fact that he was going back for little Geraldine, his sweetheart Gerry.

He was not only the 'favorite', and, he chuckled to himself often enough, the only uncle he was also God-Father to Geraldine.

He'd made promises, promises to his sister Gerry and to Hal, promises before God and promises that he intended to keep to take care of little Geraldine. The promise was 'if anything should happen to us."

That was accompanied always with the thought: 'of course nothing will happen to them'. But it had: auto accident, late night, wet road, complications with another vehicle that no one seemed to know anything about. The unthinkable had happened, and now his love, little Geraldine was being cared for by a next door neighbor, Mrs. Wilts, who was awaiting him to come and get Gerry.

He tried to turn off the thinking but it all came rushing back to him and it played again across his mind and brought on the sadness again.

Dave Harris was, at the time, 32. He'd been a practicing surgeon for about 6 years and was very good at what he did.

There had not seemed to be, in the rush to get his credentials, help take care, in their final time, of his Mom and Dad and get established, any time for romance.

Dave was, at that time in his life, a good looking fairly tall man, 6'2" and carried 205 lbs very well. His hair was curly, and already getting some gray in it. He had, like his sister Gerry, smokey gray eyes that fairly sparkled. He was indeed a good looking man.

'And now.' the words came to him through the light of the early morning, 'now he was a father.'

Of course, the pain of it all was mitigated by the fact that he was now father to the lovely little Geraldine, his beautiful 6 year old niece.

There might not be a Mommie but he had to acknowledge that there was now certainly a family, him and Geraldine.

He had already made some initial arrangements. He knew the current proprietor of Parker's Funeral Home in Glenwood. He'd been raised with Ray Parker and they'd been friends for a long time: played sports together and still would take time for each other, whenever Dave as in town. As a matter of fact, they'd been together about 10 days ago, during Dave's visit.

He'd spoken to Ray, who told him that it was all well in hand. He knew that his sister Geraldine had wanted minimum fuss about a funeral and that's the way it was planned.

There would be a one afternoon gathering at Parker's for friends who might want to call, though he'd arranged with Ray for his sister Gerry and her husband Hal to be cremated right away.

His thoughts went back then to little Geraldine, 'his Geraldine, ' it's the way he thought of her more and more now. She had always been his lovely niece and, in a way, 'his' Geraldine but now the phrase meant that much more. She was in fact truly 'his' Geraldine.

He and his sister had made official arrangements for him to be the legal guardian of Geraldine, in the case of anything happening to her and Hal. She was, to be sure, 'his' Geraldine now.

He let all of these thoughts wander across his mind, as he drove toward Glenwood. He'd taken time to get all of his practice issues straightened out. He was pleased about the fact that he had indeed had such arrangements made, in case of special vacations. Invoking them now, with the family tragedy, had been fairly easy.

He knew that Ray Parker was taking care of what are called 'the remains' of his sister Geraldine and her husband Hal. That meant that the first order of business and the most important for him was to get to Glenwood, and be there for little Gerry. It was upper most in his mind right then.

The outskirts of the town seemed to be more somber today than they had about a week ago, when he'd made his semi-yearly visit to his sister Geraldine and her husband Hal and lovely little Gerry. He knew it was his mood.

He also took a few moments, as he slowly drove into town, to take himself in hand and get a grip. He needed to be simply loving with Gerry, who must be in a lost state that it was probably even hard for him to imagine, though for him the loss also was grievous.

He pulled into the driveway and Mrs. Wilts was out on the porch immediately.

"Oh, Dr Harris," the elderly lady said, pulling him into a hug.

"Mrs Wilts," he said, into her ear, "Thank you for taking care of her."

"You're welcome, you wonderful man," Mrs. Wilts said. "She needs you now. She knows you're coming and is on the couch with her stuffed rabbit, Leo."

"Yes," he said, "I'll go to her. I've already talked to Ray Parker and that is underway but this is the first important thing."

"Yes," she said. "I'm going to be out here on the porch." she said. "I'll leave you two to it."

"Thank you again, Mrs Wilts," he said, kissing her cheek.

"You're welcome, Doctor," Mrs Wilts replied.

Then he walked into the house. It was quiet. That in itself was strange. The house always rang with little Gerry's voice and the plans and schemes of his sister Geraldine. It was a constant at their house. The quiet itself now proclaimed that something had happened.

Mrs Wilts stood aside as he went to the living room, where she'd said that little Geraldine was waiting.

He stood in the doorway and looked. Gerry was on the couch, lying, clutching her stuffed rabbit Leo.

Then she looked up and the dam burst for her. She saw her Uncle Dave and was up and hugging him immediately. She gave in to the crying, as though she hadn't done any crying up to that point.

He gathered her into his arms. She had her face turned into his shoulder and she began to cry, expressing the fact that an important part of her world had come to and end.

"I'll be fixing some lunch, Doctor," Mrs Wilts said.

He said a very soft 'thank you' to her and took Geraldine to the chair.

The living room had a huge, brown leather chair, a lounge chair. He often, especially when he was caring for Geraldine, which did happen during his visits, when he especially wanted to give his sister and her husband a 'night out', snuggled in that chair with little Gerry.

He did that now.

He settled into the chair and gathered her to himself. She was lounging on top of him, holding onto him, her arms at his neck and simply crying her grief.

Nothing was said for many minutes. Then he kissed her on the head and said softly: "Oh, my love, my love, my little Gerry!"

She looked at him then and said, in a voice laden with her tears and grief: "My Mommie and Daddy!"

"Yes, love," Dave answered.

"Gone," she said next.

"Yes, love," he said.

"To God?" she asked.

"Yes," he said, "That's where they went, and we'll talk about that in a bit. Just now it's you and me."

"I love you, Uncle Dave," she said, her face showing that she was going to cry again.

"Yes, honey, my Geraldine," he answered, "I love you too."

They were that way, in the big chair, for many minutes. Mrs. Wilts stopped in the doorway of the room said: "Doctor, I have some mac and cheese cooking. I will leave it for you, for whenever you're ready."

"Thank you, Mrs Wilts," he said, "For everything."

"You're welcome, Doctor," she said, "You let me know, if there is anything else that you need."

He smiled and nodded. Geraldine just looked at Mrs Wilts through her tears. Mrs. Wilts came over and kissed the little girl on the head too.

"Thank you," Geraldine said, as Mrs Wilts left them.

They stayed that way, in the big chair, for a long time. Geraldine had two more crying sessions and Dave simply held onto her and let her cry. She calmed down only slowly and gave herself over to the comfort of being with her 'favorite' Uncle.

THE TALK AND GETTING ON:

Dave decided to simply let Geraldine talk, when she was ready and able. It certainly took a while but in the meantime, they sat there and he held her. It did help to calm her down.

After a bit, Geraldine looked up and said, in a tiny voice: "My Mommie and Daddy are gone."

"Yes," he said, kissing her on the forehead.

"To God?" she asked.

"Well, yes," he said, and sensed that she was waiting for more. He continued: " They went to a place to be with God and will always be there waiting for you, when, in the far, far future, you're ready to go to where they are."

"Ohhh," she said. "They'll wait for me?"

"Yes, love," he said, "They certainly will."

"But now?" she asked, her face betraying maybe a need to cry again.

"Now," he said, "It's you and me, love; we're together and I'll never leave you."

That did make her cry.

"That's so nice," she said, after a while. "You'll be my Daddy."

"Yes, I will," he said. "That will make me so happy; I love you, sweetheart."

"I love you too, Uncle Dave..." she thought then just a bit and said: "Daddy."

"Yes, that's right," he agreed.

"But we don't have a Mommie," she said softly, beginning to tear up again.

"I know," he said then, and held her a while.

"What shall we do?" she asked, after just a bit.

"We'll just kind of keep that in mind, just the two of us; shall we?" he replied.

"Yes," she said. "Keep that in mind."

The time, in their near future, was a time for getting on and getting things done. They did things together; were always together. Dave knew that his being with her so much of the time was helping Geraldine to deal with it.

Mrs Wilts helped by keeping Geraldine, while Dave was busy. He was grateful to her and they came to an agreement about his paying her, although she had been reluctant to accept anything from him at first.

Parkers were marvelous in taking care of the funeral arrangements. It was a Saturday afternoon, when friends came to call. The cremation had been a private affair. This was to be the only 'public' event.

Dave kept Geraldine with him all the time. It was the way they were arranging their new life. For the immediate future, Dave moved into his sister Gerry and her husband Hal's house. He kept house there for a bit with Geraldine.

They had a talk about it one day at dinner.

"Sweetheart," he began. "I want to talk to you about something."

"Yes?" she asked, pleased that he thought her big enough to have a serious talk. She paid close attention to what he had to say.

"What do you say to you and me, the two of us, moving into my house?" he asked.

Her face showed that she hadn't thought about this possibility. Going to and staying at 'Uncle Dave's' had always been a huge treat for her.

She was smiling now. "I think that I'd like that!" she said to him.

"You can have your own special room there," he went on, "We'll get special furniture for your room and your own computer. What do you think?" he asked.

She was smiling broadly now, and clapping her hands.

"Maybe," he said finally, "A cat or kittens?"

Now Geraldine was all but jumping up and down.

"Kittens," she said, "Can we have kittens?"

(Her Father had been allergic and they never were able to have kittens at her house.)

"Yes," he said.

They talked about it a bit and, in the process, Geraldine got really excited about the possibility of it.

"When?" she asked, finally almost breathless.

"Well," he said, "I'm going to take a few more days and thought that we'd do it beginning tomorrow. Getting our things ready and moving to my place. It's not too far."

"Oh, goodie!" she said, really jumping up and down now.

It's what they did. The next day they both worked at packing suitcases with her clothes and bags with her favorite things and moved to his house.

Within the next week, Dave planned, with the help of Ray Parker, an auction of his sister and her husband's things, putting the proceeds into an account for Geraldine.

They also planned, when they got to his house and were settled, for some new furniture for Geraldine's room, and the shopping trip for the furniture was a grand day's task.

It took them a little time to get it worked out but they did get it done, little by little.

Dave and Geraldine settled in at his house. He thought that it might even be better for Geraldine for them to have moved out of Glenwood altogether.

That first night that they were there, finally at his house, together, he even let her sleep with him, since the house was a bit strange.

She was excited the next day to begin to get 'her room' all arranged. They concentrated on it every day. They went shopping and got towels that Gerry liked. It was both fun for the two of them and a way for them look to their future.

They spent time also every day talking about Geraldine's Mommie and Daddy. Dave got her large framed pictures of the two of them, which were installed on top of Geraldine's bureau.

It was a time of growth.

It was a very brilliant and shining day about a week after they established their home together that Dave took Gerry to the local shelter.

There were cages of animals waiting for a home. Gerry fell in love with a tiger striped, fairly young cat named Claudie. It seemed to be a love match from the start.

Claudie had had already all of his shots, had been neutered and was 'ready to go', as the attendant told them.

For his part, Claudie lounged on Gerry's lap all the way home. They stopped off at a Wal Mart to buy the necessary cat items and were prepared, when they arrived at home.

Claudie made it his business to roam around the house right away to check it out and kept on coming back to rub up against Dave and Gerry's legs. Every time he did, he got a hug and some petting and scratching from Gerry. They seemed to establish a close bond with each other immediately.

It was as though, with the advent of Claudie, their household was set.

Claludie and Gerry became the best of friends and close companions. Her bed was where Claudie loved to lounge in the light of the afternoons. It was a love match.

SUSIE SWEETON:

Susie did one last short review of the material that she'd been working on, before changing in a hurry into her waitress dress and running off to work. For her it was by now a familiar drill.

She spent a good deal of time working on her studies, she was working her way through grad school, as a waitress in a kind of lunch and ice cream establishment. Her studies for an advanced degree in economics and accounting kept her, along with her work schedule, fairly busy.

Susie was 25 years old at the time. She was a bit older because she'd taken the time to work her way through school. She came out not owing too much for her education and did her grad school stuff, while working as the waitress and simultaneously paying off the over-head loans. It was hard work but it was going okay for her.

She lived with her Momma, Gloria; her Dad, Bob, had had a fatal heart attack about a year and a half ago. Since then it was only Susie and Gloria.

Susie was short, like her Momma, 5'3". She had brown hair that she kept short and had highlighted with some light streaks. She was a very pretty girl and had the form, the body of an athlete. She'd played soccer in grade school and in high school, though she didn't have much time for the sport, when she got to the university, due to her strenuous work schedule.

She was on time for work that day, as usual and began to work the 'station' that was usually hers.

Susie had had the opportunity to meet, at the restaurant, a few times Dr. Harris. They had established a pleasant relationship.

That afternoon, while she was still working, Dave came in, holding Gerry by the hand. They were out for some ice cream that day.

"Hey, Dr. Harris," Susie said, once Dave and Gerry were seated.

"Hey, yourself, Susie; how's the waitress and hardworking student?" Dave answered.

"Keeping up with it," Susie said, "But who in the world is this lovely, lovely little girl?"

Gerry gave Susie a huge smile and said: "I'm Gerry; that's short for Geraldine, like my Mommie!"

"Bet your Mommie is pretty, since you are so pretty," Susie said with a smile.

Geraldine was nothing if not totally honest all the time. She was in that instance.

"My Mommie and Daddy died in an accident a few months ago," Gerry said.

Susie looked on with a pained look on her face.

"I don't have a Mommie any more," Gerry said, "My Uncle Dave is my Daddy now; we live together, with Claudie."

It made Gerry sad, just the relating of it and the tears were in her eyes right away.

"Oh, honey," Susie said, going down on one knee. "I'm so sorry."

To Dave'e wonder, Gerry clambered down from her seat at the table and was in Susie's arms right away, and sobbing.

Susie gave Dave a sorrowful look and said a soft: "Sorry!"

He held up his hand to show that it was okay.

Susie held Gerry, while the little girl calmed down.

"Thank you," Gerry said softly into Susie's ear.

Susie asked then: "And who's Claudie?"

"That's my kitty! I have a new kitty! We got him from the shelter and he's a best friend. He sleeps with me. Claudie's grand," Gerry explained, now with a smile, as she got back up into her seat at the table.

"Well, isn't that wonderful," Susie said. "I'd love to meet Claudie some day."

Gerry turned to Dave then and said: "Can we? Can we have Susie over to meet Claudie some day?"

He smiled and shook his head 'yes'. That got a bit of celebrating from Gerry, who now had recovered.

"So," Susie said then "Ice Cream?"

"Yes," Gerry said triumphantly.

They ordered their treat then.

It was a few days later; Dave was finished with work and had decided on a quick stop to pick up an ice cream treat to take home to Gerry, who was with her new sitter, Mrs Lee.

As he approached the ice cream parlor, he happened to meet Susie Sweeton just coming out.

"Hi," he said happily.

"Hi, Dr. H," she said.

"You finished?" he asked.

"Yep," she said.

"So am I!" he explained. "Getting a treat for Gerry."

"To be shared with Claudie?" Susie asked.

They both laughed, as he acknowledged that such might well be the case, once he got home.

"She has someone to care for her?" Susie asked, feeling strangely as though she didn't want to hurry off at all.

"Yes, a neighbor, Mrs Lee, Alice," he said. "She watches her. It's a very good solution for me. And Alice is always available, even when I'm on call, though that only happens these days about once in two months."

"I see," Susie said.

"You?" he asked then.

"Home to Momma," she said. She went on then: "It's only the two of us. Daddy died of a heart attack about 18 months ago. She's just beginning to get over it. I make sure that I'm always home after work."

"Have you had dinner?" he asked, just on the chance that she hadn't. "Can we get something?"

"No, not really," she said, "But I need to go home and have it with Momma. Thank you for inquiring."

She smiled at him then and said: "Please ask me again. I know it's not polite to say 'no' on the first time."

"It's fine," he said, "And I promise that I will be persistent."

"Oh," she said with enthusiasm, "I like you Dr Harris!"

She surprised him then by launching herself at him into a hug. He held her and kind of took in the smell of her hair.

"Love the way you smell," he said, and she giggled a 'thank you', and said: "Even though I'm a dirty girl, after work."

"Can't even imagine the way you'd be cleaned up," he said with a smile.

"Keep pitching," she said, grinning.

"I will," he assured her; "I can be very patient."

"Sorry again," she said, "I know that Momma has something special for dinner for us tonight. I need to go home."

"Understand," he said.

"Say 'hello' to that beautiful little girl that lives with you," Susie concluded.

"Will do," he said, "Gerry will be enchanted; you're a favorite of hers!"

"And of Claudie's, I hope," she said, as she turned to move off.

"Won't take 'no' for an answer next ice cream night," he said.

"Yes, sir!" she said saluting him and then, going on tip toe, kiss his cheek before she moved off.

As they parted, both of them were thinking of, remembering the hug and the brief encounter that they's shared.

Susie was simply aglow, at what had happened and the smile never left Dave Harris' face at all. They both thought a bit about it, as they were going home.

Susie got home and let herself in, hearing her Momma, Gloria right away.

"Hi, sweetie," Gloria called out.

"Hi, Momma," Susie said and they hugged.

"How was today?" Gloria wanted to know.

"Need to shower and then I have to talk to you about something," Susie said.

She took her shower and came down to have dinner with her Momma.

"What is it?" Gloria wanted to know.

"I've met someone, Momma," Susie said.

Gloria smiled. "Tell me," she said.

Susie went into the contacts at the ice cream parlor with Dr. Dave Harris and then the wonderful relationship that she had with little Geraldine.

"It sounds wonderful," Gloria said.

"What do I do, Momma; I think he likes me?" Susie asked.

"Well, if you want my advice, the next time he asks you to go with him, say 'yes' and simply give me a call. That'll be fine," was Gloria's advice.

They hugged then and Susie said: "Momma, you're the best!"

"I love you too, sweetie," was Gloria's answer to that.

When Dave got home, he said to Gerry, after they'd hugged and he had thanked and paid Mrs Lee: "Guess who I saw at the ice cream parlor?"

"Susie!" she said almost explosively.

"Yep," he said, "And she sends a hug for Gerry, her very favorite."

They hugged again.

They sat and had their treat then.

"What do you think," he asked Gerry, "Should we ask Susie to dinner here some time?"

"Oh, could we really?" Gerry said, all movement now and very excited.

"I think that we could," he said conclusively.

It did happen a week later, on their 'ice cream night'; it was a Wednesday. Dave stopped at the ice cream parlor to get treats to take home to Gerry, when he ran into Susie again, who was now finished and going home.

"Hey, beautiful," he said to her and got a hug from her right away.

"I think I'll keep coming here every week or so, as you get off of work just to get those hugs," he said to her, kissing her cheek.

She giggled.

"Home with me? Light dinner? Treat?" he asked.

"See Gerry, meet Claudie?" she said then.

"Exactly," he replied.

"I'd love to; I'm a dirty girl again, from work," she said.

"Everything is forgiven," he said with a grin.

"Momma dropped me off today," she said to him.

"It's okay, I have my buggy here," he replied.

He led her into the parking lot, where he'd parked his car, a new model, light colored Jaguar.

"My, my," she said, "Very handsome ride!"

He grinned: "Glad you like it."

"Yes," she said, turning to him, "I like it and I think everything about you, Dr Dave."

She turned to him, as she said that and was hugging him again. Only this time, she lifted her head and brushed his lips with hers.

The kiss started lightly and grew into something more passionate in a few seconds. It left them clinging together.

"Ohhhh," she moaned, "That was something! Something!"

He ended simply smiling at her.

"Home now with the treats," he said.

When they got home, he took care of Mrs Lee and then went hunting for Geraldine, who was in her room.

"Hey," he said, "Treats, ice cream and a special guest."

Geraldine came out immediately and, with a squeal, went streaming for Susie for a hug. She was followed by a very affectionate Claudie, who became a favorite of Susie's right away.

"Oh, Poppa brought you home," he said.

Then she was in Dave's arms and saying to him, earnestly: "You brought Susie my favorite with you."

"And I brought ice cream," he said.

"I'm sorry that I never got a chance to clean up," Susie said.

"Poppa," which is what Geraldine had started to call Dave, "Susie can use my room to do her clean up."

"What a capitol idea," he said.

Then turning to Susie, who was smiling, said: "I'll get you running pants and a tee shirt to wear. How about it? Clean up after we've had the ice cream.?"

"Please, please," Geraldine said and Susie simply smiled and agreed.

Geraldine insisted on helping to pick out clothes for Susie from her Poppa's things. They did end up with a pair of running pants, a tee shirt and an array of silk shorts for Susie to chose from.

Once they had their ice cream and Susie had her clean up, Geraldine insisted on showing Susie her room and all her things. It took some time.

After a bit, Dave looked in and said: "Bath time."

At the time, Susie and Gerry were busy looking over Gerry's dolls and her doll house.

"Poppa," Gerry said, "Can Susie help me with my bath tonight?"

He turned to Susie, who was smiling, "I'd love to."

"Have time?" he asked.

"Yes," she said, "No classes tomorrow and work a later shift."

"Goodie," Gerry said, clapping her hands joyously.

Dave waited and was called, when the bath was finished and Gerry was ready for bed. Both Dave and Susie oversaw Gerry's prayers and kissed her 'good night'.

Dave got a hug and a kiss from Gerry and then Susie bent over her to do the same.

Gerry put her arms around Susie's neck and held onto her. She had her eyes closed and, when she spoke, it was with some emotion: "I wish, I wish you were my Mommie!" Gerry said.

"Oh, honey," Susie answered and simply held Geraldine for a bit, as the little girl sobbed with the thought. "I love you," Susie concluded.

"I love you too," Gerry said, and with another kiss from Dave, she drifted off.

Dave and Susie sat on the screened in back patio for a bit and each had a glass of wine.

"That was certainly something new, I guess," he said.

"Yes, but I love her so; she is so wonderful," Susie said.

She looked at him then and said: "And I have a request."

"Yes?" he asked, smiling.

"I want a good, proper kiss," she said.

She stood and they were quickly entwined.

"Good and proper?" he asked.

"Yes," she said, "That means that, during the kiss, I get to feel your hands on my ass and other places."

"Ohhh," he said. "What a great idea that is!"

They were kissing then, and, taking her at her word, he let his hands drift down her back, along the trail of the tee shirt that he'd loaned her and settle on the bulge of her marvelous ass cheeks.

"Oh, my," he said into her ear, "What an ass!"

She grinned up at him, licking his lips and said: "Glad you like it!"

"Might need to check it out, sometime, when you aren't wearing my clothes! Or your own clothes for that matter."

"Sounds like an idea," she said.

Then they kissed again, with his tongue playing a kind of game with her own.

"Have thought of this any number of times," she said.

"Hmm," he responded, "Glad that it's time has come."

"Have to admit," he said next, "That I love the feel of your ass."

"Well, then how about this?" she asked, as she reached behind her and pushed the running pants down and then the silk shorts he'd given her, exposing her naked ass cheeks.

"Better and better," he said.

"Yes, better and better," she said, turning around then in his arms, to give him a chance to run his hands over the front of her body.

"Feel," she said. "Play doctor with me."

"Glad to," he said, pushing against her and giving her the feel of his erection, pressing against her naked ass cheeks.

He was running his hands down the front of her at the same time, feeling her breasts and nipples and then the deep pile of her brown, curly pubic hair.

"Sexy, gorgeous woman!" he said to her.

"Feels like I'm getting a response!" she said.