Chapter 16: No talking! Just screw me!

September 13, 1991, Chicago, Illinois

“Not having Guys’ Night and the Rap Session is a good idea,” Jessica said.

“I just wish I could take a warm bath right now,” I said. “The swelling and discomfort isn’t something that aspirin or ibuprofen really helps a lot with. It doesn’t hurt, it’s just very uncomfortable. And the ice is almost as bad!”

“No baths until you get the stitches checked. At least the swelling has gone down significantly since last night.”

“Small favors,” I said. “I could really use a sauna, too. These ice packs aren’t any fun!”

“No. Not until you talk to Doctor Carter again.”

“I had to go and marry a doctor,” I groused.

“He’s cranky again, Jess,” Kara said. “I think it’s time for some more ibuprofen.”

“Are you feeling better, Dad?” Jesse asked, coming into the great room.

“A little,” I said.

“Do you need ice, Daddy?” Birgit asked.

“No, Pumpkin. I do not need any more ice!”

“Birgit, honey,” Kara said. “Daddy is a bit cranky. Why don’t you go play?”

“No! Want to cuddle him!” she protested.

“He’s in the recliner, honey, and you can’t sit on his lap.”

“Because they cut his boy parts so he can’t make more babies?”

“Yes! No more sisters!” Jesse laughed.

His mood had changed in the two weeks since Ashley had been born. Now he was joking about it, rather than being a pain in the ass. At least most of the time.

“No more noisy boys!” Birgit responded.

“OK you two!” Elyse said. “Off with you! Your dad needs some rest! Abbie? Can you escort these two to play?”

“Got it!” Abbie said. “Come on you little turkeys!”

“I will take that ibuprofen now, Kara,” I said. “Did you get the movie?”

“Yes. I rented Backdraft as we discussed.”

We watched the movie after dinner and then went to bed early. Both Jessica and I needed it.

September 16, 1991, Chicago, Illinois

“Everything looks good,” Doctor Carter pronounced.

“That’s what the girls always say!” I chuckled.

“Smart Aleck! Remember, no sex before Friday, and take it easy the first few times. You may feel a bit of discomfort or even pain. If it seems severe, or doesn’t go away after a few days, give me a call. And remember, until you’re tested, twice, do not consider yourself sterile. That means condoms or other birth control are mandatory.”

“I got the message, Doctor. Is it OK to go back to work?”

“If you feel up to it, yes. But don’t overdo it. No heavy lifting. No strenuous exercise.”

“When can I start running and karate again?”

“Running, let’s say Saturday, but again, take it slow and easy, and don’t push yourself. Karate, I’d say another two weeks. And even then, be careful with kicks. If you feel ANY kind of pain, stop. Got it?”

“Got it. I assume I can use the sauna now?”

“Yes. Just avoid baths until the end of the week.”

“Excellent.”

“I won’t see you when you come for the tests unless there’s a problem, but I’m here if you have any questions.”

“Thanks, Doc.”

We shook hands and I headed out to meet Jessica. She dropped me at the office, then headed home.

“Does it still work?” Penny giggled when I walked in.

“I’m not allowed to use it for THAT until the weekend. But the doctor assured me that it would!”

“If you need a test subject...” she smirked.

“Get back to work before I call your husband in here!”

“Ooh! Both? Awesome!”

“You are VERY bad, Pretty Penny.”

“And you only have yourself to blame for that.”

September 21, 1991, Chicago, Illinois

“Very gentle, Tiger. Remember.”

“I know. And Kara knows.”

“I’ll move to the loveseat so you two can have the bed!”

She got up from the bed, got Ashley from the crib, and went to sit on the loveseat. Kara beckoned me to roll on top of her and I obliged. We kissed softly and took things slowly. I felt a bit strange as the blood flowed into my groin. A slight pulling sensation, but no pain. I slipped into Kara and simply enjoyed the warm embrace of her silky smooth walls on my shaft. I made a first tentative movement, and not feeling any pain, I began slow, gentle thrusts. I was fine until I came, when I felt a twinge, but it wasn’t excruciating.

“Any pain, Tiger?” Jessica asked after I moved off Kara.

“A twinge, but otherwise, no.”

“That’s normal. It’ll go away. Just remember, don’t go all out right away. Work up to it!”

“Yes, Babe. I got it. Trust me! The last thing I want is pain there! Although I do have to say I itch!”

“That’s the hair growing back. You could always keep it shaved!”

“I did that once before. I’ll do it if you prefer, but I don’t like the itching.”

“You just have to shave every day,” she smirked. “You know, like Kathy does!”

“Now you’re just being mean!” I chuckled.

“I was surprised to see Cindi yesterday at the User Group meeting.”

“She felt she had to be there. And I agreed because of the customer relationships. I honestly think she’ll be back to work sometime in October. She just needed to relax and spend some time with William and away from Chris.”

“I didn’t realize how bad it was.”

“Nobody did. It’s what worried me about Pete and Melanie at first, and in fact, what caused them to break up back when she was still in High School. But they figured it out. He moved a bit her way and she moved a bit his way and they found something they could both be happy with. Cindi and Chris appear to be like what would have happened if Kara had married Nick.”

“Nick was a sweetheart,” Kara said, then giggled. “But I don’t think he could have kept up with me!”

“The TWO of us struggle to keep up with you, Honey!” I agreed.

“And he certainly wouldn’t have tolerated ‘naked breakfast’ or anything even remotely like that!” Kara added.

“My point exactly. That’s where Cindi and Chris are.”

“Irreconcilable differences,” she agreed. “Do you think he’ll sign the waiver like Kenneth did? Or will they have to be separated for two years?”

I couldn’t reveal the confidence, so I had to temporize.

“I’m not sure. I haven’t talked to him. When I asked, he told me it was none of my business and he didn’t show up at the next breakfast. Hopefully he’ll show up today, but I’m not counting on it.”

“Why?”

“For the same reason we never see Anala.”

“But Nick came here!” Kara protested.

“At first it was because of Karl. And Nick was only peripherally involved. Once he got involved with Bethany and the true nature came out, he loved her enough to tolerate what you all like to call Cirque du Steve. He got used to it, though he was never completely comfortable with it. Kind of like Pete. Chris, on the other hand, never got used to it or comfortable enough to make Cindi happy. He’d come to parties, to Guys’ Night and breakfast, but think about it; when’s the last time he was in the sauna with us?”

“A LONG time ago. I see your point.”

“All we can do now is hope that Chris can find it within himself to meet Cindi part way, and she can find it within herself to meet him part way. But I don’t think that’s going to happen.”

“So they’ll get divorced?” Jessica asked.

“I’d say so,” I said. “But now I need to get out of bed and shower so I can get to breakfast.”

The phone rang while I was in the shower and Jessica went to answer, then came back into the bathroom.

“That was Zeke. Tasha had her baby early this morning. They named him Charles Andrew.”

“Fantastic!” I said. “I’m surprised. She worked yesterday, and wasn’t due for at least another week!”

“Zeke said he’d miss breakfast this morning.”

“You think?” I chuckled.

September 27, 1991, Milford, Ohio

“Hi Steve! Hi Jesse!”

“Hi Sweetheart! I assume Nicholas is in bed?”

“It’s nearly midnight! What do you expect! Let’s get Jesse into bed and then you and I can crash.”

Fifteen minutes later, I was cuddling Bethany in her bed.

“How are you feeling?”

“Good. The swelling has gone down and the discomfort is gone.”

“It’s not swollen? And that’s a good thing?” she giggled.

“Very funny!”

“So this means that since I stopped taking the Pill we can make love without worrying?” she teased.

“First of all, I need to have two clean tests. Second, you know better!”

“You are still so easy to wind up!” she laughed.

“Except you were only half kidding,” I said gently.

“You’re right,” she sighed.

“Bethany, you know we can’t do that. What would happen?”

“A score of earth-shattering orgasms!” she giggled.

“Fine. Let’s say we do that. What happens afterwards, Sweetheart? What happens next week? Or next month? Or next year?”

“You know, I wish we were fifteen again,” she sighed.

“Was I any less frustrating then?”

Bethany laughed, “No!”

“So, what would happen?”

“I get it,” she sighed. “Would you just hold me, please?”

“That, I can do.”

I pulled her to me and, mercifully, we both fell asleep.

September 28, 1991, Milford, Ohio

“Bethany!” I hissed.

“Shut up!” she said fiercely.

She had quietly climbed naked into the combination shower/tub and slipped her arms around me from behind.

“We can NOT do this!” I said.

“We’ve been in the sauna naked together,” she protested.

“That is way different, and you know it! Sweetheart, if I can’t trust you, I have to stop seeing you!”

She dropped her arms, turned to face away from the spray, and started sobbing.

“No! I need you, Steve!” she said, and began sobbing louder. “Don’t leave me because I’m weak! I need you!”

I wanted to take her in my arms, but doing that would only lead directly to a place we couldn’t go. I had willpower, but it only went so far. Bethany was, despite her scars, a beautiful, sexy woman. But that wasn’t the real source of the problem; it just made the real problem worse. The real problem was that she was my Sweetheart and I loved her intensely. And because of THAT, I wanted to make her pain and loneliness go away. The scars, in fact, only reminding me of OTHER intense pain and suffering that she’d gone through.

Once again, presented with a situation that had an answer that was both very difficult and very easy to accomplish, I did what I HAD to do. For her. For us. Without turning around, I quickly rinsed off the remaining soap, turned off the water, and grabbed two towels. I wrapped the first one around my waist, and the second one I slung around my neck. I got out of the tub and pulled the shower curtain shut. I’d managed to avoid seeing her naked, and that was a good thing.

“Take your shower, Sweetheart. I’ll stay right here.”

I heard soft sobs, but then, movement, and the water was turned on. I opened the linen closet and extracted two large towels. I waited about five minutes before the water stopped, then handed a towel past the shower curtain.

“Wrap this around you. Properly!”

A few seconds later, the shower curtain was pushed back and I saw that she’d complied. I took the other towel and draped it around her neck.

“We need to talk this through,” I said gently.

“I’m sorry. I just, well, I have needs, Steve!”

Bethany had always been a very sexual being. When I met her, when she was first recovering from the rape, it had been that nature that had driven her to seek out someone safe to have sex with. The intent had been a one-time thing, at least with me, but her intense libido had changed that. It was something I’d discovered that very first time, in the apartment.

“I know, but...” I started to say.

“Quiet!” she giggled. “No talking! Just screw me!”

I laughed because I remembered that phrase, despite the thirteen years which had elapsed since she’d said it the first time. A shared memory of the past; It made sense, after all. What was going on now was, in many ways, like that first year we were together. Sexual tension that had led directly to the memory we were both having.

“That first night. In the apartment.”

“You remember?” she asked.

“Are you kidding? Of COURSE I remember!”

“Do you also remember just how frustrated I was then?”

“That is also something I could never forget,” I said.

“That’s me now,” she sighed. “It’s been nearly two years.”

“I know.”

“So help me again, please. Like the first time.”

A replay of the previous thirteen years flashed through my mind. The dance. The pursuit. Making love with Bethany that first time. And then the second. Our Senior Prom. Sharing Bethany and Kathy. College. Sharing Bethany and Pam. Punching Gene. Trying to be a couple. The accident. Andrew. The break up. Our weekend in Kohler. Nick. The funeral. The sheer emotion of those memories caused my head to spin and my knees to grow week.

“Steve? Steve?” I heard Bethany say through a slight fog.

I recovered after a moment.

“Sorry. I just got a bit dizzy.”

Bethany took my arm and carefully led me back to the bedroom and had me sit on the bed.

“What happened there?”

“Our life together passed before me at warp speed. From that first turnabout dance to Nick’s funeral. It made me light-headed and weak in the knees. I’m OK.”

“Are you sure? Should I call someone? Maybe Jessica?”

“No, I’m OK. It’s just that what you said recalled all those powerful memories, and it blew me away.”

“We did make some pretty intense memories!” she giggled. “Prom!”

I smiled, “That was one that was there. Along with many others, good and bad. But we need to dress and get the boys some breakfast.”

Bethany smirked, then dropped her towel, revealing the sexy cheerleader body I knew so well. I did my best to control my breathing and my facial reaction. Bethany stared at me intensely for a moment, then walked to her dresser and began dressing. I got up from the bed and opened my weekender bag, pulled out a pair of briefs, and carefully pulled them on without taking off my towel. Only then did I drop it and finish dressing.

“Hi Dad!” Jesse said when Bethany and I came into the kitchen.

“Hi Uncle Steve!” Nicholas said.

“Morning, boys!” I said. “I see Nicholas’ grandma made you breakfast.”

“Frosted Flakes!” Jesse grinned. “With milk and sugar!”

I frowned. That was pretty much the exact opposite of what his diet was supposed to be. One day wouldn’t hurt, but I’d need to talk to Nora. I’d especially need to say something about letting Jesse add extra sugar to his Frosted Flakes! Of course, I’d done that when I was younger, and I understood. But given what I knew about my sister and myself, that was something we really couldn’t allow Jesse, or any of the other kids, to do.

“Hi Steve. What can I get you?” Nora asked.

That gave me a chance to address the issue.