Chapter 24

Judith reached up while the three hugged and gave John's face an affectionate pass with her hand. Looking down at her, John could see the glow in her eyes didn't diminish as Judith let her gaze pass from Matthew to him. Soon the hand that caressed his face shifted to behind his neck, pulling his face to hers and she repeated the passionate kiss she had just exchanged with Matthew.

For John, the world stopped in his mind. No one, not even Mary, had ever kissed him the way Judith so openly expressed affection to him. Her lips warmed his in a way he had never known before. Strangely John felt comfortable being there with Matthew at his side and witness to Judith's lasting display. When the deep tongue exchanging duel ebbed and their lips parted, Judith laughed.

Her face was beaming crimson with passion and her eyes bright with pleasure darting between both of the men at her side as she said, "Wow! You two can really kiss!"

Somehow, John felt no competition with Matthew and innately understood Judith and Matthew's deep affection for each other. Their body posture and intimate little touches signaled they knew each other real well.

With another laugh, Judith said, "Ooops! Sometimes I'm so stupid."

"What?" commented Matthew and John simultaneously.

Turning her attention to Matthew, Judith told him, "We were just over at the clinic and John gave his sample. I totally forgot to pump up," she added as she put her hands under her breasts and gave them a gentle push upward and a little shake.

"I can't go the whole afternoon with full breasts. Riding with a pair of full boobs just doesn't work," she said as she continued to laugh. Then turning back to John she said, "You stay here with Matthew. He's great with horses and he'll give you a quick lesson on how to stay up in the saddle.

"Let's get these lunch boxes onto the buckboard and then I'll run to get myself emptied."

The metal lunch containers were quickly transferred and Judith sped off back toward the tunnel in the huge oversized golf cart. Both John and Matthew watched until the gaping entrance swallowed Judith and she disappeared into the darkness.

"I forgot to put all of the containers onto the buckboard a couple of weeks ago," Matthew admitted as he started up a conversation with John. "Mother Superior was sure pissed!"

"Yeah, she mentioned it today. I think she was directing the thought to me that I should make sure you and Judith behaved," John commented.

Matthew laughed through a huge smile. "Yeah. It was two weeks ago. Judith and I were making out in the stable and the group arrived a little early. We left one of the most important ones in the cart. It was lunch for the field workers. Boy did we get ribbed for that!"

John patted Matthew on the shoulder and laughed with him. "I'm sure you'll hear about that for a long time to come."

"Suppose so," Mathew replied, then looked John squarely in the face and a serious look shadowed over his face. "You really like Judith, don't you."

Surprised at his remark, John returned in a similarly serious tone, "Yes ... I do."

"I know what you're thinking about Judith and me," Matthew offered, "We love each other a lot. We've been together for as long as we've known each other. I'd like someday for us to be married ... I want us to be married.

"John, I have a feeling that you'll be a part of our lives for a long time too," he added after a thoughtful pause.

"I'd like that," John replied. "I can see how much you two adore each other ... even in the short time I've seen you together. Plus, I'm sure that the way Mother Superior talked about you she has deep affection for you too."

"Yeah, Judith's mom and dad are the greatest. They took me under their wing from almost day one. I've spent every holiday with them and I can tell you, I think of her as my mother since my parents were killed in that accident when I was just twelve."

After a long introspective moment he continued, "I don't know how I'd have survived if it hadn't been for Judith and her family."

"I'm sorry about your parents," John told Matthew. "It must have been terrible."

"I think of them often," Matthew replied. "But that's now long ago. Yes, it would be great for them to still be here but I've found peace and love here at the Convent. This is such a great place."

"Yes. I can understand that. This place is really different from what I had as a stereotype of what a Convent would be like," John commented.

"I'm lucky too," Matthew added. "Most boys go to the Order's Monastery. Judith put up such a fight when there was talk about moving me there when I turned thirteen. We'd gotten to be hard and fast friends. Even though she was only seven at the time, and because I'd become almost one of their family, all girls you know, I'd just fit in ... Judith just didn't want me to go.

"Her dad's a lawyer with the Order and she got him to make a special petition for me to stay here. It's what's allowed me to be here!" Matthew said with a broad grin.

"I'm glad you stayed too," John commented thinking Matthew and Judith looked like they should be together. There was something about them that radiated their feelings for each other.

Then out of the blue, Matthew said, "You're her first, you know."

As what he said seeped into John's consciousness, Matthew smiled. "We've never had sex," he explained. "I'm sure you and Judith have." Then after a pause as he observed John's expression, confirming what he assumed, he continued, "From the time Judith was thirteen, she wanted to be a surrogate so, she, no we, made the decision not to have sex.

"Because we'd been a couple for a long time, other boys left her alone. I knew that's what she wanted. Early on she'd decided to 'Always' be ready. So, we just abstained from intercourse." Then with a real broad smile he added, "We did just about everything else though."