Chapter 9

Christmas morning in Wyoming was beautiful. The snow had stopped sometime during the night and at least 16 inches were on the ground. It was very light and dry powder ... the kind skiers love.

Julia and Cliff were up early to prepare the milk mixture for Nick. The air was very cold and the slight wind blowing made it even colder for their walk to the barn. Nick was waiting for them as they entered his warm stall. He walked directly to Cliff, who was carrying the bottle, and bumped his hand demanding to nurse.

"He caught on fast," Cliff said.

"Yeah, it only took two feedings. Of course, it's been eight hours since we last fed him. The boy is hungry."

"What will happen to him?"

"We'll wait until a cow has a stillborn calf and then try to get her to adopt Nick. It sometimes works. If we can't find a new mom for him, we'll keep feeding him and try to wean him to solid food and water as soon as we can. He'll then be turned out with the herd and sold with the rest of the steers this fall."

"He'll end up on the dinner plate in a restaurant, like all the others, I suppose."

"Yeah. That's the plan." Julia scratched Nick's neck as he nursed the bottle and flicked his tail, obviously happy. After the bottle was empty, Cliff changed out the hay and collected the small manure piles in a wheelbarrow. Julia checked Nick's scrotum to be sure there was no redness or bleeding. It looked fine.

The overhead heater was doing a good job in moderating the temperature in the stall. Its purpose was to keep the temperature about the same as it would be in the shed with all the cattle bunched together, or about 45 degrees Fahrenheit. With the loose hay to lie in, Nick would be very comfortable and protected from the bitter cold.

When they entered the mudroom to remove their boots and heavy coats, the wonderful aroma of brewing coffee hit them. "Merry Christmas, Mom."

"Merry Christmas you two. How's the calf?"

"We named him Nick and he's doing great. It didn't take long to down that bottle."

"Your dad is dressing and Clark is on the way over to help him bury the cow."

Julia explained, "We have a Deere 410K backhoe loader that we use for jobs like this. The ground will be frozen at the top but Dad should be able to break through. Mom, did Dad plug in the engine block heater last night?"

"I don't think so, sweetheart."

"Cliff, get your boots and coat back on and come with me." In five minutes, they walked together to the equipment shed and found the extension cord to connect the engine block.

"Why do we need to heat the motor?"

"The diesel fuel gets really thick and gels with the cold weather. Water vapors in the fuel tank will freeze and may block the fuel filters and the fuel in the engine won't properly ignite."

"There's a lot to learn," Cliff moaned.

They returned to the house. Breakfast was well under way and Julia pitched in to help. Her dad walked in and wished everyone a Merry Christmas. "I'm surprised you two are up, Julia."

"Dad, we've already fed the calf, mucked his stall, put down fresh hay and plugged in the loader's engine block for you."

"It's only 6:30, baby doll. You never used to be up this early."

"It's all Cliff's fault."

"Cliff, you should have come here years ago," Bob replied. Everyone but Julia laughed. "Is the calf doing well?"

Julia smiled and replied, "Great. He went straight to the bottle and his cut is fine. He's a cute boy."

"His dam was one of our older cows. I think the stress on her system was just too much this time and she probably ruptured something. Older cows have that problem sometimes. I was surprised she delivered him all the way. He's a good sized calf to be several weeks early."

"Mom said that Clark is coming over to help bury her. Maybe Cliff would like to go with you to see how it's done."

What Julia didn't mention to anyone is that Clark was one of her first lovers. He was only 20 when he came to work for her dad and Julia seduced him in the hayloft one day. He was very nervous, banging the daughter of his boss, but Julia's obvious charms overcame that fear in only a few minutes. His cock was the first one she had tried to suck but she really didn't know what she was doing and it didn't result in anything memorable. He was now married with a year-old boy.

After breakfast, Cliff and Bob bundled up and walked out to the equipment shed to start up the backhoe. Clark arrived while Bob was checking the oil and fuel levels.

Bob introduced them, "Cliff, this is Clark." They shook hands. "Clark is our foreman. Cliff and Julia are dating."

"Great to meet you, Cliff. She's a great girl."

"Thanks, she sure is."

"Clark, take one of the snowmobiles and let's go out to shed six. Cliff, ride along with him."

Bob climbed into the cab and fired up the engine. It started up immediately and he backed it out to check the hydraulics by running the bucket up and down a few times. He then started the long, slow drive out to the shed that was about three miles away.

Cliff and Clark checked over the snowmobile and fired it up. Clark asked Cliff if he wanted to drive.

"I've only ridden on one, never driven it."

"They're easy, just don't go too fast and don't turn too quick. Get on and I'll help you. How long are you and Julia here?"

"Another two weeks."

"Then you'll have plenty of time to use these and get familiar with them. They save a ton of time when the snow is deep enough. When did you guys meet?

"Early September."

"Well, if she's already brought you home, she's serious and proud of you. That's good."

The snowmobile fired up immediately and Clark showed Cliff how to back it out of the barn. The run to the cattle shed only took ten minutes and they passed Bob on the backhoe about half way there. While they waited, they walked in and checked on the cattle, the water, and the turbine and dropped down bales of hay. Clark was impressed by how hard Cliff worked but didn't say anything.

"Where will Bob bury the cow?"

"We have a spot just behind the barn. We have to bury a few every year, it seems. Sometimes the wolves or coyotes get to the carcass before we do and there's not much left to bury. I'm surprised they didn't get to this one last night."

"You have a family?" Cliff asked.

"Yeah. Son is one and just starting to walk. He's not aware of Santa or Christmas yet, he just knows that we have a tree in the house which is strange to him."

Bob came driving into the barn lot and went around behind to dig the hole. That took about 20 minutes and another ten minutes to load up the carcass with all three men having to help roll it onto the front bucket using long pry bars and the stiff legs. After the burial, Bob headed back to the house while Cliff and Clark checked all the other sheds and threw down hay. By noon, they had the job behind them and Clark headed home to spend the rest of Christmas day with his young family.

Julia came out of the barn as Clark was leaving; she was carrying the empty milk bottle. While walking to Cliff, she exclaimed, "Nick is one hungry calf. He almost attacked me to get to the bottle." They both laughed before Julia leaned in to give Cliff a nice kiss. "How was burial duty?"

"Interesting. I enjoyed being out with your dad and Clark. He's a nice guy."

"Yes he is. Let's go have lunch and then open our presents."

It was a very nice afternoon and many great gifts were exchanged, including new iPhones for both Cliff and Julia and a new computer that Julia had hinted she wanted. Cliff also received some very nice clothes and Julia and Cliff gave Gore-Tex Everest Pro coats to her parents. These were some of the best made for extremely cold weather and were sold at a Gore factory store near the university. The special gift Julia gave her mother was the legacy video that her mother, Victoria, had done. Judy immediately watched it on Julia's new computer. She was touched by many things her mom said.

"This is one of the best gifts I've ever received," Judy said. "I learned a lot by listening to her. Thank you and be sure to thank Layla for me. This is a very special gift."

When the late afternoon feeding time for Nick came, Cliff prepared the bottle and started walking toward the barn. To his surprise, Bob decided to walk with him and see the calf. As Julia had warned, the calf attacked the bottle when the stall door was opened.

"Whoa, there boy. It's all yours." Cliff held the bottle while Nick extended his neck to nurse it as quickly as possible."

Bob asked, "Is this all new to you?"

"Yes, I've never been on a farm or ranch so all of this is new. I have to say, it is an eye-opening experience so far. Hard work but very rewarding."

"I grew up on a ranch and don't really know anything else. Julia is well rooted here and has become very experienced in handing issues that come up."

"I can tell. She taught me a lot these last few days."

"She seems to like you very much."

"Sir, I am fascinated by her. She is a very special lady."

"She is."

Bob refreshed the hay and mucked out the small piles while Nick was busy with the nursing.

After a few minutes, the calf started nudging the bottle trying to get more milk to come out. "I think he's still hungry."

"Yeah, he thinks he is. That's a half gallon bottle and it's all he needs for now. I'm going tomorrow to the dairy farm a few miles from here and buy some fresh raw milk for him. That way, we don't need to worry so much about the nutrients and that milk will be more filling to him. They have Jersey cows which give milk with almost 5% butterfat."

"Could I go with you? I've never been to a dairy farm."

"Be glad to have you ride along. I need to pick up a tractor part at the John Deere dealership so we'll go there first."

"Sir, could I ask a very important question?"

"Sure, what is it?"

Cliff sucked up his courage and the words eventually came out. "Sir, Julia and I are very much in love and I uh, I uh would like to have your permission to ask her in the near future to be my wife. Is that possible?"

"Oh, this is an important question." Bob smiled.

"I know we've only been dating for four months and that's not long in terms of courtship. But we both graduate in May and must make our future plans sometime soon. I love her very much but I know how important your blessing is to both her and to me."

"I understand. Julia has made plans to come home after graduation. Are you willing to move here with her?"

"Yes sir. I've a lot to learn but I'm willing to learn and do anything it takes to help her."

"Cliff, I don't have any problem with you asking Julia to marry you. You seem to be a very serious young man and I think you would do fine here. She will kick your tail if you don't, just like her momma kicks mine when I disappoint her." They grinned.

"The only thing I ask is that you wait at least a year to have the wedding. You will continue to learn about each other during that time and you'll learn a lot more about this ranch. You're taking on a very tough job. You may change your mind and she may change hers. Otherwise, I'm fine with it. I suggest that Julia talk to her mom and make sure she's happy with it. They are very close and her momma means a lot to her. If momma isn't happy, none of us will be."

"I understand, sir. Thank you."

"When I asked my father-in-law for Judy's hand, I thought he was going to strangle me. We'd only known each other a year and I don't think he was very happy with her marrying a rancher. They lived in Delaware and he was a very well-to-do businessman. Judy and I met when I worked there a couple of years on an agricultural project for the same company her dad worked for. Then my dad, who was running this ranch, had a fatal accident and I had to come home to take it over. Judy and I got married, despite his concerns, and we've had a wonderful marriage.

"The reason I'm telling you this is that parental blessings are nice but it's all up to you and Julia to make that decision, commit everything you've got to it and work on it every day. People seem to think that marriage is a 50-50 deal, both have to bring equal commitment, work and sacrifice to a marriage for it to be successful. That's not right. It's a 100-100 deal. Both of you must give more than you think you should and give it every day. You must think that the happiness is totally up to you and never start keeping score of who did what. Scorekeeping is for sports, not a marriage."

"That's very good advice. Thank you."

Julia and Cliff had been assigned separate bedrooms but managed to get together each night for at least an hour. Bob and Judy's bedroom was downstairs. The visit Christmas night started at 11:00. Cliff slipped quietly into Julia's room and under the warm covers.

"You're cold."

"I know. Your body is very warm."

"Did you ask daddy about proposing to me?"

"He agreed."

"He did?"

"Of course. I'm a great guy." They giggled.

"I knew that but he may not."

"He wants us to wait at least a year to get married."

"I was thinking that anyway."

"Yeah, I was too."

"That's all?"

"No, we talked a long time about marriage and he gave me great advice. He's a very wise man."

"I know."

"He said that you should talk to your mom and make sure she's in agreement."

"I was thinking I should. She already knows what I think about you but I haven't mentioned marriage yet."

"Your dad and I are running some errands tomorrow. He wants to buy some raw milk from a nearby dairy farm for Nick."

"Why didn't I think of that?" Julia asked.

She smiled and turned into him for a kiss. Their hands caressed each other until Cliff slipped under the covers to pay special attention to Julia's loins. She could feel him pull off her skimpy panties and slowly lick the inside of her thighs before moving into her warm valley. Julia raised and spread her legs. He slowly licked and sucked her clit, using his fingers to butterfly her labia. Cliff sank his tongue as far as he could into her and the moans were instantaneous.

Julia threw off the covers and rose to her knees. When Cliff turned onto his back, she straddled his face and sat firmly on his nose and mouth. He was buried in her womanhood and firmly pressed his nose into her clit. She rubbed herself on his nose and then exploded when those coveted tingles began shooting through her midsection.

Cliff pulled her off and turned her to be under him. He grasped each leg and spread them into the air before easing his erection into her tunnel. The next two minutes were heaven to both as her vagina squeezed his cock on each stroke. They were moaning and grunting until Cliff shot his load in six or seven spurts. They rolled over and relaxed with his cock still inside her, their lips locked together.

Unknown to them, Julia's door was quietly closed and her mom eased back downstairs. She had come to talk with Julia about the great news Bob had just told her. When she heard the two, she peeked in from the dark hallway and watched their wonderful lovemaking. Her pussy was immediately soaked as she watched Cliff thrusting into her daughter and heard their moans and grunts. Judy wanted a man and quickly returned to Bob.

Amy had an emotional time adjusting to life without Miss Annie. She had loved that doll for half of her life. Miss Emily gradually moved into Amy's bed. She was one of the new dolls but Amy liked the way she talked and was soft and cuddly. Layla told her that Miss Annie could come for a visit any time but Amy wanted to wait until she spent the weekend with her first mom. That would be the weekend after their visit to Disney World.

The trip to the Philly airport for the flight to Florida was exciting. There was a heavy snowfall the day before and there was still snow and ice on many of the roads. Eric was an excellent driver and they finally made it in time to rush through security and get on the plane. The de-icing process fascinated Amy and her first plane trip was fun. The cabin crew gave her a set of pilot wings and a coloring book with crayons. Layla had brought a few cookies and the attendant brought Amy a carton of milk. Amy had her iPad and played games with Mommy and Daddy watching and sometimes participating.

Orlando was warm with flowers in bloom and the smell of recently mown grass in the air. Their rental car with appropriate child restraints was ready and they were off to the hotel within an hour of landing. The tickets for Disney World were valid for the next four days and they would visit the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, the Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios. They also wanted one day at a water park. Fortunately, Steve insisted on paying for the entire trip as a Christmas gift for Eric and Layla.

If there was any phrase to describe ultimate excitement in a four-year old, it could have been used for Amy. From the time they arrived at the Magic Kingdom gate, it was non-stop joy. Doc and Dopey met her as she walked through the gate. They hugged her as Layla's camcorder captured the moment. Minnie was found on Main Street, USA, and Donald Duck helped Amy onto the train.

They eventually saw Mickey near Frontierland and it was love at first sight. Amy was all over him, hugging his legs as he patted her back. The camcorder was working overtime to capture this special moment. Another visitor used Layla's iPhone to take a group shot of them with Mickey. And so it went for four days. Every ride, every show, every restaurant, the parades, the fireworks and the animals, both real and characters filled them with wonder and happiness. Amy probably said, "This is fun," 200 times. Every night, they were so exhausted when they returned to the hotel that very little TV was watched. Amy had her own queen size bed, which allowed Layla and Eric to have quiet encounters during the night.

The last full day was spent at the waterpark and Amy found a few new friends to play with. Layla and Eric stayed close to her for safety reasons but Amy gave them no reason for concern. Their efforts to keep sunscreen on worked well and sunburn was avoided on all three.

The return trip home was sad, especially when their plane landed in ice-cold Philly. The trip had been one to always remember but real life waited for Eric the next day.

Layla was not scheduled to return to class until February 8^th. She kept Amy every day she could and took her to Melissa's house for visitation as planned. Melissa and Layla gradually grew closer and decided to have dinner together with Amy on several occasions. The biggest news was that Melissa had met a real man, the son of another federal judge who worked with her dad. He'd had a troubled history with drugs similar to hers but, like Melissa, had found a way to overcome. Their dad's introduced them and they began dating and going to church together.

Amy took Miss Emily to meet Miss Annie and ended up sleeping with both of them on the weekend visit with Melissa. One afternoon, Melissa heard Amy talking and went to her room to check. She stopped outside the door and listened.

"Miss Annie, I asked you to take care of Mommy and you're doing a good job.

"I know but she needs you to love.

"She doesn't have anyone else when I'm not here.

"I miss you too but mommy needs you.

"We don't want her to leave us again.

"I will always love you, Miss Annie.

"You can come visit me but your job is here."

Melissa turned and walked quietly downstairs. She now understood why Amy gave her the doll. It was a gift of love in its purest form.

The start of classes seemed to come too soon. The three couples were having too much fun being somewhat carefree. But reality set in and their schedules were suddenly very tight. This would be their last few months together and the three sisters did what they could to use the time wisely.

Layla's business took off after the students were back and she learned that one other fraternity had decided to require their pledges do sex demo DVDs. There were numerous rumors on campus about these sex recordings and many students were claiming to have seen them.

One afternoon, Layla was at her studio editing videos when she heard a knock on the door. She looked out the window to see a university police officer and another well-dressed man. Fearfully, she opened the door and greeted them with a forced smile.

"Hi. What can I do for you?"

"I'm Jack Morris. I'm one of many assistants to the dean of students and this is Officer Stiles with our campus police. Are you Ms. Russo?"

"Yes. I'm Layla Russo."

"May we come in?"

"Sure. Is this an official visit?"

"We're just looking into a situation on campus and need to ask a few questions."

"Do I need to call my attorney for this meeting?"

He smiled. "That's up to you of course. We aren't here to arrest you or anything like that. Let's sit and talk and then if you want to call a halt to our discussion, we can do that until your attorney is present."

"I'm fine with that."

They sat around the conference table. She offered them a beer but they declined.

"We've heard rumors that you're producing porn films here involving students of the university."

"Those rumors aren't true. I shoot videos for students and they can be on just about any subject. Some of the students want videos of themselves having beautiful sex and I do those but they're not sold and are not porn. I also video their parents or grandparents doing what I call legacy videos." She went on to explain those.

"Ms. Russo, you are a student at the university, I think."

"That's correct."

"Do you own this facility?"

"I rent it."

"Are you licensed to do business in Delaware?"

"Of course." She returned to her desk and pulled out the files containing her business documents and contracts. The two men reviewed the documents and nodded.

"The rumors are that you're selling videos on the Internet that the students in the videos did not authorize you to sell. Is that true?"

"No, it's not. I only do videos ordered by the participants and all copies go to them unless they didn't want to buy the copyright. If I retain the copyright, I can sell them to anyone in the future but I haven't done that."

"How can you prove that?"

"Now we are getting into serious accusations and you're asking me to prove a negative. Let's stop now and schedule a meeting so I can have proper representation. I will say that every video is done under a contract and all the contracts are here in this file."

"Can I look at just one? I'm looking for the paperwork for the one you did for a Ben and Ashley."

Layla turned to the stack and pulled that one off the top. "This is the contract I had with them. They purchased the copyright and I kept no copies of the video. They left here with the master and four copies plus a set of stills. I was paid a little over $1100."

The two men quickly read through the contract and asked if they could make a copy of it. Layla agreed if they signed a statement that it would not be used in anyway as part of a legal complaint against her or her business. She typed out a statement for them to sign before she made the copy they requested.

The assistant dean said, "Thank you, Ms. Russo. I don't see any issue here. Your records appear to be in order and the two students clearly agreed with what you did. They're adults. This video you produced for them is on the Internet on an amateur site. It still has your studio information on the opening legal notice frame. Someone else must have sold it to the site." They stood and thanked her as they shook hands.

Before he left, the officer turned to her and said, "It's a great video, by the way." Everyone grinned.

"Could I ask if you talked to Ben or Ashley before coming to see me?"

"Yes. You confirmed what they said but they are at a loss as to how a copy got out. They have the master and four copies, like you gave them."

"Why don't you ask them who had a grudge to settle. I also hear rumors. And look for someone who can remove the copy protection features I installed. That's not easy to do so it's probably a computer geek."

"We will. Thanks. Just so you know, we're not prudes. We know this goes on all the time. Lord, I did it when I was your age except it was VHS tapes back then. We're just trying to keep the false accusations from hurting someone or forcing us to take disciplinary measures that are not warranted."

"I understand. If you two ever need outstanding videos to document a wedding, a Christening or a party just let me know. We do great work."

Jack replied, "You sure do." They turned and walked to their cars.

The senior art exhibit was at the end of February and Julia was ready with twelve paintings. The university promoted the show because it was good advertising for their program and always attracted many art lovers and dealers from the tri-state area. Layla did the promotional video for the university and it was widely seen on local television.

Each artist was required to be at the show during certain hours of the afternoon and evening to meet and greet the patrons and hundreds of other students. The artists were allowed to sell their work, hand out business cards and take orders.

When the paintings were hung, Layla and Julia made photos and videos of her work to document the event.

The traffic was heavy and paintings were being sold. Julia was a little nervous that she'd set her prices too high at $2000 to $2500 but she had a couple of smaller ones at $1500.

The third and last night of the show came and Julia had only sold one of the smaller ones. Cliff came to support her ... she was clearly disappointed. Everyone said they loved her work but no one was buying.

A gray-haired gentleman in a business suit walked up while Cliff and Julia were talking about calling it a night. He carefully studied each painting and took time to make notes. Julia walked to him and said, "Sir, you seem to be interested in my paintings. Are there any questions I can answer for you?"

"Are you Ms. Richards?"

"Yes sir." She gave him her card.

He reached inside his jacket and handed her his card. She was shocked and tingles raged through her. He was Jules Kaufman, owner of the largest and best-known gallery in Philadelphia. She only knew him by reputation, which was at the very pinnacle of the profession.

"Sir, I'm honored to meet you." He smiled.

"Young lady, you have a very rare talent. From a few feet away, these look like high quality photos. I'm astonished."

"Thank you sir. Your opinion means the world to me."

He smiled and Julia introduced him to Cliff.

Jules explained, "One of my clients saw this show yesterday, talked to you briefly and called me last night. He was impressed, although he's more into modern art. He made me promise to come tonight."

"I'm thrilled. Thank you for coming."

"Are they still for sale?"

"Yes sir, except for the smaller one of the coiled rattlesnake."

"I'll buy all of them. Can I give you a business check?"

The blood instantly drained from Julia's face and lightheadedness overwhelmed her. Cliff reached for her just as she fainted. Jules helped Cliff lay her gently on the floor and another student rushed for water. The first aid kit was brought but not used since she recovered when Cliff laid his wet handkerchief across her forehead. A dozen or more of her friends and visitors gather around as she sat up and regained her composure.

Within another minute, Cliff and Jules helped her up and into a chair. She apologized and said, "I suppose I just fainted."

Cliff replied, "You sure did."

Jules asked, "Are you okay now?"

"Yes sir. Mr. Kaufman, did you say you wanted to buy all of my paintings?"

"Yes, plus any more you have like these. There's a big demand for art of this quality. I've clients across North America that will buy these in a minute."

"I'm shocked. I've been told that by others but not by anyone with your reputation." He smiled.

"May I call you Julia?"

"Please do."

"And my name is Jules. I don't like being reminded how old I am."

"Yes sir. I mean Jules." He smiled again and pulled up a chair to sit near her.

"I never do this, Julia, but I'm going to give you some advice that will hurt me."

He paused and then spoke in a very low voice. "Your prices are too low. This grizzly is perfect for a fan poster for a number of universities and sports teams. You can't imagine how many teams are called the bears, the bruins, the golden bears and so on. That bear looks like it's going eat me. I can almost smell the breath of those coyotes. The eyes on that timber wolf are looking right through me. We could print 5000 posters of any of these and sell them in universities and ballparks everywhere. We could make a limited edition of 500 numbered and signed prints and get $250 each for them."