Elizabeth 'Becky' Simmons had what was shaping up to be a marvelous October! It was all coming to exactly the head that she wanted and she was immensely pleased by it.

In the first place, she had finally, Yah! Finally!, finished her dissertation, defended it and had gotten her long awaited and slaved for PhD. The issue of Fractal Geometry, which had dominated her life for so long, could be put a bit aside and she could get on with living.

That was the first place. Of course there was also the second place, and in the second place, she'd been granted tenure at the university and received a promotion to full professor. That was another 'Yah' for Becky, lustily shouted in the privacy of her shower and heartily felt.

An only daughter, Becky was her parents pride for as long as she could remember. She grew up with a great relationship to both her Mom and her Dad, a very close relationship.

She had inherited a bit of her own physical makeup from each of her parents. She had her Mom's looks and hair, dark with reddish highlights, which she wore on the short side. "Less muss and fuss," she would constantly tell herself.

She was fairly tall and lithe, like her Dad though. She had been, in college, athletic, playing for the women's basketball team and track. She still maintained a good habit of working out and keeping herself in shape.

Whereas her Mom, Mona, was 'zaftig', as the Germans were wont to put it, short and roundish, with large breasts and also a large derrire, Becky had the same 'zaftig' kind of features, but in her case, they were tempered by her Dad's tallness.

The result for Becky was the best of all possible physical worlds, as far as her physical features were concerned.

She was a musician, taking to the piano at an early age, and continuing to love the music, and music making as an expression of the mathematical world that she'd come to love, through her studies and the course of her advanced degrees and final PhD. She saw an intimate connection between the two worlds and music filled her.

And she loved animals. Her house companions were a very loving cat named 'Constable' and a joyful, full of life, tail wagging golden lab named 'Whistler'. Her house companions reflected her love of art, being named for two of her favorite painters: James McNeill Whistler, and John Constable.

Mona and John Simmons had wondered long and hard about what kind of gift would be appropriate for Becky's coming degree, once she'd settled in at the university, teaching Math and Physics. Their decision, communicated to Becky over a particularly lovely dinner that she'd made them at her apartment, was to offer to pay for half of any house that Becky wished to buy.

John had gone on, on that occasion, to explain that both he and Mona knew Becky well enough to know that she was independent enough to want to do some of the providing for her own home but the gift that they intended would give her an absolutely free hand in home selection.

Becky was overjoyed at the proposed gift and began the exciting adventure of house seeking in earnest that very month. The search was fairly long, and involved her seeing almost 30 homes before opting for a large brick beauty that stood in a remote part of the city with few neighbors.

Becky had certainly had boyfriends, no 'girlfriends' as it happened, but she'd never seriously met anyone who competed with her love of Fractal Geometry, the piano and Whistler and Constable, neither the painters nor the dog and cat.

She was certainly not celibate but she refused to participate in the mating rituals that she witnessed, whenever she went out for a drink with friends. She tended to be a bit shy, and somewhat retiring, until you got to know her well, and she was busy tending to her own life.

She did keep, in a drawer by her bed, a canopy bed that was one of the bright spots in her life, a vibrator, which she called 'the man killer'. She never really knew why she'd called it that but that was the 'lovely purple beauty's' name, as she called it often enough.

She was certainly outgoing enough to meet and become friendly with her new neighbors. She had neighbors only on one side, since her house purchase included land to the right and north of her own house. She had neighbors next to her but was cut off a bit from them by hedges, though they did share contiguous back yards on the south side of her property.

The folks next door were the Smiths. Jake Smith was a construction worker, from what Becky could discern, and they had a little boy, Bernard, whom they called Bucky. Bucky was a rather intelligent 11 year old. The mother of the family, Suzanne, was a thin blond, who, to Becky's way of thinking, looked rather sickly.

After moving into her dream house, and beginning the process of getting it set up in the fashion that she wished, a process that was encouraged and gladly aided by her Mom, and certainly indulged by her Dad, a few things happened that set events on the courses that they would eventually take.

There was first of all, the relationship between Bucky and her 'pals', Constable and Whistler. It became apparent to Becky, through a conversation with Bucky, that Suzanne was allergic to animals and they couldn't have any.

It happened on a Saturday, when Becky was home. She was puttering around in the back yard and heard Whistler give a 'woof', which she knew meant that friends were near. She looked over and there, in a gap in the hedges, stood Bucky.

"Hi!" she said.

"Is he friendly?" Bucky asked.

"The world's friendliest!" was her reply.

"Can I pet him?" he asked, and then, remembering his manners said:

"Oh, I'm Bernard from next door." (She would only find out later that he thought it not quite polite to introduce himself by his nickname.)

"Hi, Bernard," she said, "This is Whistler. Come on in and he'll be glad to have another friend."

Bucky went into the yard and Whistler began to all but vibrate in the spot where he was sitting. He took the petting that Bucky did as only an outgoing dog can, and the two of the were instantly friends.

Bucky took time with Whistler and gave his a good going over, and then cautiously went to where Constable was sunning himself. He allowed Bucky to muss his fur a little and pet him also. But it seemed obvious that the main attraction was Whistler.

Becky watched, as Bucky petted Whistler one last time and gave the happy dog a kiss on the head, causing the tail movement to speed up by huge amounts.

"Come and spend time with him any time," she said.

Then before he left he said to her simply, in the innocent way that only a child could:

"My Mommie's sick."

"Oh," Becky said, "I'm sorry to hear that. Does it help you to spend some time with Whistler?"

"Yes, ma'am," he said, smiling. "It does; thank you. And with you too!" he said, Becky's response, when she'd discovered from the little boy this one salient, and sad fact of his life was a simple one: she invited Bernard, she'd not yet learned to call him 'Bucky', to be great friends with her Whistler and Constable.

He said a very kind 'thank you', and vanished, leaving Becky tearing at the eyes.

He came the next day, and gradually learned what Becky's schedule was, so that he could be on hand to spend some time with her, although she secretly believed that the real draw, at least at first, was Whistler.

He and the dog became great friends and it even became possible, when Becky was out walking Whistler, that he could go along and hold the leash, leading Whistler himself.

This major step forward came a day or so after the next major step in Becky's acquaintance with the new neighbors. It was a sunny day and Bucky was playing with Whistler, when they heard a call:

"Bucky!"

"Oh," he said, "That's me! Bucky!"

Then the caller appeared at the hedge and said:

"Hey, pal, what you doin'?"

"I invited him to spend some time with me Whistler, she indicated the dog, and Constable, she now indicated the sunning cat," Becky said, walking forward and introducing herself.

"Jake Smith," he said, taking the hand that she offered.

Becky could see that Jake was a bit younger than she and strongly built. It did turn out that he worked as a construction foreman.

"Just getting to know Bucky here," she said, using his nickname for the first time, and glancing at him, getting a twenty four caret grin from the boy.

"It's kind of you to let him come over," Jake said, "He ... we can't have animals and he loves them so; it's my wife..." but he faltered at that point and Becky simply said:

"Yes."

Then she went on: "It's a joy to have him come over; any time that I'm around and Whistler and Constable are available, he's welcome."

"Thank you," he said, showing by his face alone that her offer was very comforting and a relief.

"Don't stay too long, pal," Jake said, leaving, and thanking Becky again.

She turned then to Bucky and grinned.

Bucky, whose name was now known to Becky, stopped to giggle about their two names:

"Aren't we a pair?" she said at the time, "Becky and Bucky!"

"Yeah," He answered, "We'll be best pals!"

"You bet," she said in return, "Just like you, Whistler and Constable."

And that did reflect the truth of the situation. Whistler loved Bucky flat out.

So, it was shortly after that, when Bucky began to take walks with Becky and Whistler.

A few days later, Becky baked some cookies and took them next door to the Smith's. She was greeted at the door by a frail looking but smiling Suzanne. Becky introduced herself and Suzanne asked her in saying:

"Oh, yes, Bucky talks about you and, is it 'Whistler', all the time."

They sat for a bit and got to know each other, and Becky got the impression that Suzanne was much sicker than she'd thought.

Suzanne thanked Becky for allowing Bucky to be friends with her dog and cat, and for allowing him to spend time with her. Becky went home smiling.

It was during the next few months that the situation began to change for the two neighbors. On a weekday evening, Jake went to Becky's door and asked a favor:

"Becky," he began, "Can Bucky come over for a bit? I'm going to have to take Suzanne to the doctors; she's got a kind of complication."

"Of course, Jake," Becky said, "Shall I come for him?"

"Meet you in the yard?" he asked and she shook her head.

Once the little boy was with her, he spent some quality time petting Whistler and scratching Constable. Then he said, idly:

"Momma's pretty sick tonight; they needed to go to the doctor."

They spent the time that night playing a game on Becky's computer, in her downstairs office. Bucky had a kind of natural knack for it, and since those kinds of past times were among Becky's favorites, it was an enjoyable time, with time out for snacks.

Becky made sure that she told Jake, when he came to collect Bucky, that she'd do that for them any time it was needed. It did occur a number of times in the period of a few months. Suzanne made it a point to thank Becky very much, every time and her time with Bucky, Whistler and Constable, was precious to Becky.

At the end of the month, during which Becky had 'hosted' Bucky more than a few times, one evening the door bell rang. She opened it and let Jake in.

"I've come especially to thank you," he said relatively awkwardly. "You've become such a good friend to us and especially to Bucky. It's just so wonderful of you."

"Please come in," she said. "Something to drink?"

"You know," he said, "That might just be the best thing possible for me. It's been so hectic."

Becky fetched drinks for them both and they sat and talked. He explained to her that Suzanne's illness was probably fatal and it made her friendship with Bucky that much more important.

The near future was not kind to the Smiths family. Suzanne got worse, and was finally confined to a hospital from which she didn't return.

During that time, Becky had Bucky with her more and more, their friendship grew, as did his affection for Whistler especially and Constable.

The phone rang on a mid afternoon. Becky answered the phone; it was Jake.

"Becky," he said, his voice sounding as lost as humanly possible.

"She's gone, Jake?" Becky asked, knowing in advance the answer to the inquiry.

"Yes," he said, his voice shaking.

"Jake," she said,"Can I help? Can Bucky come over and spend some time with me and the guys here?"

"Oh, Becky, could he?" Jake asked, the relief in his voice palpable.

"Have you two talked?" she asked softly.

"Yes," Jake said, "He seems to understand but there are so many..." his voice started to break again.

"So many things to do," she said, "Yes, if it's not an imposition, I'll come for him now. Jake, do you want me to keep him overnight?"

"I'm not sure," he said, "What do you think?"

"Maybe we should let Bucky decide and then we'll see. If he wants to come home, I'll let you know before I bring him. If he wants to stay, that'll be fine and I'll let you know that."

"Becky, you're a life saver!" he said with an audible sigh.

"Relatives?" she asked.

"Not really," he said, calming down now, "She was an orphan and I have really left only a cousin in Ohio, but that's all."

"I'll be there in a minute, Jake," she said.

"I'll open the door for you," he replied.

When she got to the door, she knocked softly and he stood there, the very picture of grief. He looked lost. He was big, certainly handsome but in that moment, he was like a lost child.

Becky followed her instincts, she reached out for him and gathered him into her arms. She said nothing, she only held onto him, as he shook with his weeping.

"Thank you," he said then, kissing her on the cheek.

Then they went looking for Bucky. They found him in his room. He had a game out but was only listlessly paying attention to it.

When the door opened, and he saw Becky and his dad standing there, he dropped the game and flew across the room, putting an arm around each of their waists and holding on. He cried then for many minutes.

Jake knelt, when Bucky was finally done and asked: "Hey, pal, Becky has invited you to her house to see her and your pals, interested?"

Bucky looked up at Becky with tear laden eyes and shook his head 'yes'. The look that he gave her and then to his Dad at that moment was one of mixed relief, and pure unadulterated love.

She went to a knee and gathered him into her arms and let him cry again.

"I'm so sorry, honey," she whispered to him, "She was a wonderful woman."

"Yes," was all that he could manage.

"Your Dad and I talked, and if you want, you can stay over night with me and the guys next door. Would you like that?"

He shook his head 'yes' again and she took him by the hand to gather the things that he might need. When everything had been gathered, they went downstairs and Bucky gave his Dad a hug at the door.

"Lots to do, pal; Becky is very nice to invite you," Jake said.

"Yes, Poppa," Bucky said, collecting another hug from his father.

Then Becky got another hug from Jake. "You're an angel," he whispered.

She kissed his cheek and said: "Call me any time, any time at all."

The first thing that Bucky did, when he arrived next door at Becky's house was to greet Whistler effusively and Constable, where he was lying down with his tail twitching.

"Entertain the troops, sport, will you?" Becky asked, as she went to take his things into the house.

Bucky did indeed spend the first half hour at her house busy with Whistler and Constable. It seemed to make him forget all together.

Becky came back into the room, after a while, and said: "Milk and cookie time?"

"Good!" he said, getting up and planting a kiss on Whistler's head and one on Constable's, which seemed to almost aggravate the very independent cat.

After the milk and cookies, Becky said to him:

"Got something neat to show you. Come with me."

She took him into her home office, down the hall from the living room. There on the desk was a brand new Apple Desktop computer.

"Oh, Wow!" he said enthusiastically, and the two of them sat down to put the new computer through its paces.

They sat for a couple hours exploring all that the new machine would do, and only then did they take time out for dinner. She fixed burgers and fries for the two of them, and then it was back to the computer. There were also some new games that the two of them tried out. It took him out of his grief for that brief time period totally.

After the gaming was done, she sat with him and asked:

"Bucky, do you want to stay here tonight?"

"Yes, please," he said. "Can Whistler and Constable sleep with me?"

"They might insist on it," she said.

"Will you lie with me for a while please?" he asked softly.

"Of course, I will," she said. She even got out a pair of pj's that she almost never wore, so that she could lie down with him.

Once he was ready for bed, she was going to bed him down in the guest room, which had a king sized bed in a large room, she snuggled him in and in quick succession Whistler and Constable settled down on the bed with him. He was pleased.

Becky went to her room to change into the pjs and came back soon, moving the two animals around so that there was room for her to settle in with him for a bit.

They talked in the dark. He took the time to talk about his Mom, how sick she'd been for so long, and the difficulty for his Dad with that increasing sickness. Then he turned on his side and started sobbing. She gathered him in and he went to sleep that way. She simply settled down on the opposite side of the bed and went to sleep herself.

They were that way in the morning, when Whistler and Constable woke them, her first, to get some breakfast.

She looked over at him, smiling at the peacefulness on his face, when his eyes opened.

"Oh," he said,"You're here."

"Yes, sweetie," she said, "I'm here, and we need to get you spruced up a bit and breakfasted, your Dad is going to need your help today. Difficult times, love, difficult times."

"Yes, help!" is what he said, taking in the message and shaking his head in agreement.

Then with a patented grin on his face, he launched himself at Whistler and received a hero's welcome from his pal. He also gently gave Constable some morning scratches and they were off for breakfast.

He assured Becky that he could shower on his own and get himself ready. Since she'd gotten some clean clothes from Jake the night before, she had those ready for him in the bathroom, and got herself ready at the same time.

They went hand in hand back to Jake's house, and it was Jake that met them at the door. He opened his arms to give Bucky a hug, and a kiss with a whispered:

"Hey, pal! You okay?"

"Yes, Dad," he said, striving for mature, "Becky, Whistler and Constable took good care of me."

Jake gave Becky, who stood smiling, a smile of great appreciation.

"And," Bucky went on, "She's got a neat new computer with great games. You should see it."

"He can, whenever he wants," she said, and Bucky broke off from his Dad's hug to give one to Becky, which was followed by a hug from Jake, which made her positively tingle. But she shut that feeling down immediately.

The next year went by quickly for them. Over the months, they, Becky and Jake, established a routine for Bucky that worked for all of them. They added a partner, Mrs Gaines, who took over when neither one was available but Becky was in charge of her own schedule and, with her tenured position at the university, could pretty much dictate times.

It worked for them well and served too, when another significant wrinkle entered their lives.

It came out in a conversation that Becky and Jake had over a cup of coffee:

"Beck," he began softly, "You know I'm in the guard, and I have a month long stint coming up."

She put her hand over his and said: "Nothing easier, Bucky can come to us for the month and we'll watch over the house at the same time."

He sighed: "You are such a lifesaver!"

She laughed: "No, actually Whistler is so in love with Bucky that it's the perfect solution."

They both laughed and she went on: "And besides, I'm in love with him too."

(Of course the undeclared part of the statement was that she was also beginning to adore Jake Smith. But she was silent about that.) The month with Bucky was a great time for Becky. Mrs Gaines helped out and Becky's Mom and Dad got into the act also. All of them became fans of Bucky and Whistler was positively smitten. Even Constable deigned to sit on Bucky's lap often.

Of course, shifts in the way that lives are lived are the normal of life and the next significant shift came as a result of 'Star Wars'. Both Becky and Bucky were fans of star wars. They watched the movies and played video games.

It was a late hot afternoon and the 'Star Wars' mania, as Jake called it, had moved outside. It was, improbably, a water balloon battle, with Bucky as the Empire and Becky as the rebellion.

In the course of the battle, Bucky had gotten her once on the knee but she was better at dodging that he was and he was getting wet at an advanced rate. His strategy called for a barrage and he went for it, missing rather badly with each balloon.

She stood and grinned at him. He was out of ammunition, and she had one big one left.

"No, wait!" he said desperately.

"The Empire is done!" she said, lifting her head to make a shout of triumph, which was her undoing.

He took the opportunity and snatched the hose, so that by the time she was looking at him again, he had the hose turned on and soaked her totally. She put up her hands to defend herself in a vain gesture and dropped her last weapon, which broke on the ground.

It was just then that Jake came around the corner. He was taken aback by the scene with Bucky streaking toward their house, yelling:

"Hi, Dad, the Empire just won!"

Becky had just made a move in Bucky's direction, yelling: "Criminal!" as she did, when she encountered the surprised Jake.

She stopped short only as she almost ran into Jake.

She gave him a sheepish look and said:

"We were playing 'Star Wars'."

"And you lost, I presume," he said with a broad smile but quickly, as he looked at her the smile faded.

"He cheated..." she began to say but then realized the way he was looking at her.

"Love and war," he began to say but then she let out a little shriek and he acted, pulling her up against himself.

The water had soaked her white tee shirt and white shorts, leaving her wearing see-through clothes and showing both a lacy bra and a pair of lacy bikini panties.

"Sorry!" she whispered against him, trembling a little, "Wet and all!"

"I don't know what to do!" he said softly.

She was quiet, enjoying the contact, despite the wetness, and realizing, suddenly realizing that he had a raging erection, which was poking against her.

"What to do?" she asked softly trying to get him to speak.

"Yes, I'm afraid to let you go and look at you with your clothes that way, and afrai to hold you letting you know how I'm reacting to the way you look," was his conclusion.

"Then I'll just walk calmly and slowly into the house and get myself re-arranged," she suggested.

"No, first this!" he said, and he kissed her.

It wasn't expected; it had all been a fluke, a kind of emergency, all of it and here she was being kissed the way she'd wanted to be kissed for such a long time. They broke the kiss after just a little and she reacted then: She kissed him back, but this time, she left her lips open and first, ran her tongue along his lower lip, inviting his tongue in return. She pressed her wetness against the positive hump of his erection, for the duration of the kiss.

"I have to go change," she said, as she walked away, with him watching intently.

With a twinkle in her eye, she turned to him, showing him 'the show' again and dipped a curtsey, as he responded to what she'd said:

"No, don't change! You're perfect the way you are!"

"My clothes?" she asked, wide eyed.

"No, just you!" he answered and turned to walk to his house.

"You're just trying to make me cry," she said.

"Not at all," was his quiet answer, "Just telling the truth."

He hesitated and then: "Drink in a few minutes?" he called over his shoulder.

"Serve you right if I come over there naked!" she called to him and gasped at even having said it, let alone thought it. She clasped her hand over her mouth as he turned and shot her a wide open grin.

"Nice idea but let's keep Bucky as pure as possible!" was his response.

She said immediately: "I'm sorry..."

"Don't you dare apologize for saying that!" he responded and went away humming.

To Whistler, as she went into the house, she said: "Whistler, pal, the size of that thing, imagine!"

Whistler wagged his tail.

Once she was dried off and cleaned up, she dressed in jeans and a tee shirt and went next door. Jake and Bucky were in the kitchen, Bucky giving her wide eyes, as she went in.

"Are you mad?" he asked with a soft voice, and unsure of himself.

"No, pal," she said, "Love and War!"

He dashed across the room to her, enfolding her in a hug and said: "Becky, you're the best!"

Then he skipped off to work on whatever caught his fancy next, in his room.

The two adults were left facing one another in the kitchen.

"I didn't know what to do," he admitted to her. "I held you rather than stare at the beauty that the water had shown, but then the obvious reaction that it all produced in me was another problem altogether. I guess I should apologize."

"No, I think not!" she said. "We'll take it for what it was. I admit it was scary, is scary but I'm not going to deny what happened or what it is starting to mean. I'm just not going to do that."

He went to her then and enfolded her in his arms and kissed her. There was passion in the kiss this time. But he was still not completely sure of himself.

"It needs some thinking," he said to her, "It's so unexpected and yet so real at the same time."

"Yes, it is," she admitted. "It'll take some thought and we'll be slow and careful about it."

The went to find Bucky then. When they found him in his room, she said:

"Since I am the losing general, I concede and will take the victor and his Dad out for pizza. How about that?"

"Hooray!" Bucky shouted at the idea.

They left hand in hand, both Jake and Becky remembering what they'd said about being slow and deliberate.

THE CRISIS It was their shared decision to think about the events that had happened but crisis often enough will make events take shape, even when people are not necessarily ready for them.

Becky had been at a two day faculty retreat and got home in the evening, tired and talked out. She was only home for a bit, when there was a knock on the back door. Going to it, she opened it and smiled as she found Jake standing there. His face told her that his news wasn't good news.

"Jake," she said, alarmed now, "What is it?"

"May I come in?" he asked softly.

"I'm sorry," she replied immediately, "You look so devastated."

She stood back to let him in and he entered and sat down at the kitchen table.

"I've had news," he said.

"News?" she repeated, trying to stave off her forebodings.

"Two things," he said, "The first, not the worst but bad enough. We have had a rent to buy option on the house and when Suzanne died, I let that lapse and we've been more or less renters, since then. But now they have a new contract and we have to be out in a week."

He hesitated then and finally went on:

"But the second news is the major jolt; our guard unit has been activated," he said softly, "We're going to Afghanistan.

"Oh, Jake!" she said, her hand covering her mouth. "How soon?"

"Ten days!" he said. "I just wanted to let you know; I have a lot of arrangements to make. My Ohio cousin and all. I just wanted to let you know."

She was stunned by what he'd said and just stood there as he nodded and slipped out of the house.

She, for the time being, could hardly think straight. She was, to tell the truth, stunned.

One of the things that Becky often did to help herself get through a crisis was to think about it while she showered. She gave herself that time and thought it through.

Out of the shower, she put on a nightgown, soft pink nylon that was floor length and had spaghetti straps. It was while dressing in her bed clothes that the realization finally hit, as well as its obvious answer.

She grabbed a short, white silk robe and strode toward the door.

"He said to me 'don't you dare' but I will dare," she mumbled to herself, "I'll show him how much I'll dare."