Chapter 34: Thanksgiving

November 1978

Thanksgiving week had only three days of school, but a lot happened. On Monday, Brent asked Beth out on a date and she accepted. When she told me about it, I was happy for her. She was a bit disappointed that it meant the end of our physical relationship, but she knew my rule.

On Tuesday, Petra Johansson asked me if I was interested in coming to a St. Lucia party on December 13th. She would be making «pepparkakor» (‘ginger cookies’) and «Lussekatter» (‘saffron buns’) and laughingly said I could come dressed as a «stjärngosse» (‘star boy’). I told her I’d be happy to come, but I didn’t think I’d dress as a «tomte» (‘elf’). I knew those because the orientation book for Sweden had St. Lucia Day as the cover picture and it was one of the first culture things discussed in the manual.

After school on Tuesday, Jennifer, Larry, and I went to see Melanie. We were all allowed in the room together and we spent about twenty minutes. I gave Melanie a soft French kiss when it was time to go. I wasn’t surprised when Jennifer did the same. She was following my lead and trusted me to keep her safe.

Melanie would likely be released from the hospital on Saturday or Sunday. She was behind in schoolwork, but her teachers would work with her to make sure she got assignments and when she was ready, she could take tests. Her broken arm likely would require long-term physical therapy.

On Wednesday, the most surprising thing happened, at least as I saw it. Kathy Will approached me and asked if I would go out with her on Saturday.

“Kathy, are you taking me up on my offer?”

“Yes. I talked to Jennifer and Bethany. You can really do that?”

“I can show you what you’ve been missing if you let me and you don’t limit what I can do.”

“I know. I remember what you said.”

“I’m getting pretty serious with Jennifer, so our mutual crush can’t really lead to anything other than just a very good time.”

“Jennifer made that clear.”

“I work on Saturday. Can you meet me at Andreas’ Deli in Milford at 4:15pm on Saturday?”

“Sure. And you have a place we can go?”

“I’ll take care of it. See you then.”

Now I knew why Jennifer was so sure. Kathy had talked to her. At lunch, I talked to Jennifer.

“So, you really wanted this to happen, huh?” I asked.

“Yes. You get your fantasy, she gets her world rocked and I get to keep you!”

“The real fantasy is if she happened to show up in her cheerleader’s uniform!”

“You’re bad! Just remember, one time only?”

“Oh, it’ll be five or six times!”

“You know what I meant, Buster!”

I kissed her.

Wednesday night was a YFU meeting that covered the rules. Most of them made sense to me. I found the one that said no driving under any circumstances interesting and the one that said getting pregnant or making a girl pregnant was an automatic expulsion from the program quite funny. You also couldn’t be in the program if you already had a kid. We also were expected to obey our host parents as we did our own parents. Based on what Birgit and others had told me, that wouldn’t be an problem, certainly not compared to my mom.

Thanksgiving Day at home was normal, with us eating mid-afternoon and then heading to my grandparents’ house. Vickie was already there and gave me a huge smile when I walked in. She was smart enough not to do anything overt, and she and Stephanie disappeared down the hall to one of the spare rooms to chat. I sat down in the living room and chatted with my grandpa and one of my uncles.

About fifteen minutes after they had gone down the hall, the girls went to the basement. I got up and got a small snack, and wandered downstairs. Surprisingly, they were the only two in the basement at the moment. I went to sit with them.

“Steve, can we get together during Christmas Break?” Vickie asked. “Stephanie can arrange a sleepover!”

“Sure, if that’s what you want. How’s the search for a boyfriend going?”

“Some prospects, but nobody I’m interested in doing stuff with, if you know what I mean.”

I laughed, “Yeah. You’re lucky my girlfriend is OK with me doing stuff with you.”

“You would stop?”

“If she and I were exclusive, yeah, she has total control of that. But we probably won’t be exclusive until I come back from Sweden. Once that happens, then yeah, no sex with anyone else ever again.”

Stephanie looked daggers at me. I’d have to have a talk with her, but I couldn’t say anything now. I didn’t want her accelerating her timeline because of what I just said.

A few more of our cousins came into the basement, so there wasn’t any way to continue the conversation.

When the girls got up, I did as well and grabbed Stephanie and whispered into her ear, “Come talk to me tonight.”

The rest of the day was pretty typical, and we got home around 9:00pm. I went to my room and wrote in my journal and read. I was surprised that Stephanie hadn’t come to see me. Well, it was on her timetable. Around 10:30pm Mom and Dad went to bed. I read for a few more minutes, closed my door, brushed my teeth and got into bed.

A minute later, the door to my room opened and then shut silently. I saw a shadowy figure come to the bed and lie down, thankfully, on top of the covers.

“Steve, were you serious? If Jennifer tells you to stop having sex with anyone, you will?”

“Of course, Squirt. But, and this is important, she already said she was OK with what you wanted. So don’t worry.”

“Really? You talked about it with her?”

“I told you that she told me that’s what you were going to want, remember?”

“OK. I was worried. I’m not ready to ask yet. But I would right now if she could stop it in the future.”

“I know Squirt. It’s fine. You aren’t excluded. And I’m not ready either.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, I am terrified. Maybe I always will be. I’m afraid of hurting you or messing up our relationship or messing you up.”

“I’ve known since I was seven that you were going to be the one who first did it with me. As soon as I knew what sex was, it was always going to be you. If I wasn’t your sister, you would be the only one, ever.”

“You’re that sure, Stephanie?”

“Positive. I was sure before, but after I read your journal and then watched you with Vickie, I’m even surer!”

“I’m scared, Squirt.”

“Me too. That’s part of why I’m not asking yet.”

“Well, I hope it’s a while, but whenever you’re ready, I’ll do it.”

“Do what?”

“Make love with you.”

“Thanks, Big Bro.”

She kissed me on the cheek and got up and went back to her room. I was committed now. There was no turning back. The only question was when.

I was glad that I didn’t dream that night. I knew it was only a matter of time.

On Friday, I woke up early as usual and swam laps, then showered and ate breakfast with Stephanie. Our interactions had a completely new dimension. Everything was a prelude. Everything was an inexorable step towards a known destination. It was a freight train hurtling down the tracks.

Joyce picked me up at 10:00am as planned and told me that we were headed to Loveland today. I was a bit surprised, but I remember she had asked me on a date for the day, not for one of our usual dinner and lovemaking sessions. We chatted as we drove, but she gave me no clue about what the plans were. I wasn’t really surprised when we pulled up to her house. I was surprised that her family was not there.

“Dad, Mom, and Connie are in Indianapolis visiting one of dad’s college buddies. They’ll be home tomorrow afternoon.”

“Convenient!” I chuckled.

“Very! Let me show you my room!”

I hadn’t ever seen it. In fact, I had been only in the dining room and in the hallway when we had dinner here before the dance. She led me upstairs and into her room.

It was a typical girl’s room. I immediately saw a framed picture of us on her desk. It had been taken at the dance last Spring.

“Want to make love in my bed? It’s never been used for that!” she giggled.

“I would love to make love to you, Joyce Abbadelli!”

“Slow and sweet, please.”

“Of course.”

She drew the curtains and lit a candle on her desk, turned on some music, and turned off the light. She moved some stuffed bunnies from her bed, turned down the sheets, and began removing her clothes. I removed mine as well, and we climbed into her twin bed and pulled the comforter over us.

Lying side by side, we started with soft, gentle kisses, taking our time. We weren’t in a rush. We knew the destination and could arrive whenever we chose. I ran my hand along her flanks, feeling her soft skin under my fingers while she rubbed my arm. After a few minutes, her lips parted, and we gently touched just the tips of our tongues. I cupped one of her butt cheeks in my hand and squeezed, and she did the same to me.

Our tongues gently explored every nook and cranny of our mouths, exerting only gentle pressure. It felt to me like we were building up to something tremendous. We had never taken so long in the simple preliminaries. I moved my hand from her butt to her side and then placed my hand flat across her firm breast. I simply left it there with nothing more than the gentlest of pressure. Joyce caressed my face as we continued kissing.

There was still no urgency as I began to lightly move my fingers across her breast. I began kissing her neck and used my index finger to circle her nipple. I moved my kisses to her shoulder and gently tweaked her nipple between my thumb and forefinger. Joyce moaned softly and ran her hand to my neck and gently urged my head lower. I understood what she wanted.

I trailed soft kisses down to her breast, and opening my lips, touched her nipple with the tip of my tongue. I slowly drew circles around it with my tongue, bathing her areola. She pulled my head gently to her, and I gave a little suck on her breast. I nestled my head on her chest and nursed, though there was no milk to have. Joyce caressed my face while I did that.

I returned to kissing her lips, and she moved to her back. I moved on top of her and she spread her legs, allowing my rock hard erection to contact her already moist labia. A slight adjustment and I pushed the head inside her and stopped. We kissed for a few minutes and I pressed another inch in. I held that position while we kissed and then slowly pulled back so that only the head was inside.

For the next few minutes, it was just slow, short strokes, never getting more than a couple of inches in, accompanied by gentle kisses with light tongue action. Every few minutes I went an inch deeper and lengthened the strokes, but they were always slow and gentle. I could tell our orgasms were building, but they were building slowly. We continued the process until I was fully embedded.

Joyce hooked her ankles behind mine and we kissed without any movement other than the ripples she induced with her vaginal muscles. I slowly withdrew, inch by inch, and then pressed forward just as slowly. Our breathing was rapidly increasing, and we were getting very close. I moved my hands under her butt and she put her hands on mine.

We began a slow thrusting rhythm where she met every push forward by gently raising her hips. The pleasure was so intense at this point it bordered on pain. She urged me to increase my tempo with gentle pressure on my butt and I felt the first small spasm of her orgasm. That was my signal to begin thrusting faster, though still gently. More ripples and I felt my orgasm welling up.

We stared deep into each other’s eyes and I pulled back and pressed deep, mashing her clit with my pelvis and she ground into me. Her body went stiff, and I began quickly thrusting as her orgasm crashed over her and I felt mine begin. Our breathing became ragged, and I pushed as deep as I could and she pressed her hips strongly against me and we both groaned as I filled her full of cum. I started pumping harder and her orgasm continued washing over her.

When the spasms subsided, I stopped, fully buried in her, and we held each other while we got control of our breathing and our heartbeats returned to normal.

“Wow!” Joyce sighed. “That was totally intense.”

“I agree. It’s a great way to kick off the day!”

She smiled, “Want to take a bubble bath? We have a big tub.”