Chapter 7

My plans for Saturday afternoon and evening with my family and Alex and her family came together without a hitch. I told Mom and Gianna what I wanted to do and as usual they ran with the plans. Mom talked to Margaret and convinced her that I really wanted to cook for both families and all she had to do was provide the dessert. Gianna questioned me about what I wanted to do and helped me run the grocery gauntlet. Mom made the sangria after I promised to give everybody just a little bit. Dad supervised as usual.

Saturday morning I cooked baby-back ribs, slow cooked until they were almost ready to fall off the bones. Azee agreed to have a charcoal grill ready for me to give the ribs the final fifteen minutes with barbeque sauce. Gianna and I made ten bread baguettes and hoped that would be enough for Azee and the rest of us. I made Italian potato salad, with sweet onions and olives and olive oil and red wine vinegar, and Gianna made a huge platter of crudités. I made the aioli. Gianna always messes it up.

Mom and Dad were reluctant to agree to swim like the rest of us, even though we compromised and said we were all going to wear something over our butts. I’d seen Gianna’s breasts since she got them and they were beautiful but nothing new. I’d seen Mom’s breasts too on occasion and she never minded. Hers were damn good for a thirty-nine year old woman. Dad wanted to wear baggies, not a Speedo, and I knew it was because he was hung about like I am. He and I are about the same body size and both skinny so I just put one of my new Speedos on their bed and left it up to him.

Gianna and I cooked that morning wearing nothing but a Bikini bottom and a Speedo. Mom and Dad kept looking at us and grinning and shaking their heads. After lunch, when we left for the Andreas’s house, I still didn’t know what they’d decided to wear. Alex and Azee and Gianna and I had plotted to get everybody in the pool with nothing but butts covered or maybe uncovered even if we had to push them.

When we arrived, Azee and Alex were already half naked, bare chested and bare breasted up above and barely covered down below, and ready for the pool. Aiden and Margaret still had on casual clothes. Then after we unloaded dinner, I just took off my shorts and shirt and showed off my best or worst Speedo. Azee said it wasn’t decent since it left some of my butt crack showing but theirs was just as bad. Mom and Dad went in the bathroom and changed and came back out in a Bikini bottom and a Speedo. I looked at Dad and, yeah, his Speedo was showing a big package about like mine. Margaret and Aiden came out of their bedroom dressed or undressed the same way and we all stood looking at each other and grinning. Everybody had a little butt crack showing.

Azee and Gianna jumped in first and did three good cannon balls. I waited with Alex until they were out of the way and then we did a cannon ball too. I said here as soon as I came up so she could swim to me and hang on. The old folks thought they were going to sit on the steps at the end of the pool and talk but the young folks plotted against them. We dragged them in the pool one at a time and ducked them. They were laughing and not fighting too hard so I suppose they didn’t mind. Then we played a couple of games of Battle with girls on guy’s shoulders, except for one Azee, and there were no more old folks, just nine kids trying to splash the pool empty and yelling and screaming and groping and grinning.

Maybe that was enough to break down any barriers between families. After a while I whispered to Azee to go get towels and then Alex and I went to the shallow end and climbed the steps. We all toweled dry and then went to the back porch and flopped. After we recovered, Azee and Gianna served the sangria I’d brought. I knew Gianna was used to a little wine, especially with meals, but I wasn’t sure that Margaret and Aiden permitted Azee to have it. Margaret watched them carefully but didn’t say anything when Gianna poured them a glass like everybody else’s. I told her the sangria was mainly fruit juice, with just one bottle of wine. I’d just brought enough for everybody to have one glass anyway.

As soon as Alex put down her empty glass, I took her hand and we stood up together. We stood there, side by side, my arm around her shoulders, hers around my waist, and we waited until everybody was looking at us.

“I want you all to look at us. This is the way I want to spend the rest of my life, with Alex beside me,” I began.

I waited a few seconds.

“Mom and Dad, Margaret and Aiden, we need your help. I don’t mean financial help because we both get our tuition free at the university. Maybe I could provide everything else for us. I’m a good cook and I could probably get a job somewhere. I already work as a cook whenever the university has a black-tie dinner and then I change into my penguin suit and work as a server. That pays good money. I’ve got good job prospects some other places but Dad says I don’t need to work. I’m not going to quit my cook and server jobs though.

I paused a moment.

“It’s not so much money we need to worry about. What we need is really your love, your support, and your wisdom. I want to tell you what Alex and I want and then I want you to talk together and to decide what you can to do to help us. I love my family. I’ve always thought I had the best family in the world. Now I’ve met Alex’s family and I think her family is just as great. No matter what happens we both want to stay close to our families.”

“Yours is better, Mikey,” Alex said. “You don’t have an Azee.”

“Well, I’ll swap Anthony for Gianna,” Zorba said.

“You’re Anthony, dummy. I’m Zorba,” Anthony said. “But I’ll swap you for Gianna any day.”

I ignored them. Mom and Dad looked confused.

“We’re going to need support from both families when we start our lives together. I don’t want answers from anybody this afternoon. I want you, Mom and Dad, to get together with Margaret and Aiden and talk so you can help us decide how to accomplish what we want.”

“First of all, we both want to finish college. I don’t know how Alex does it but she’s a good student. So am I. Come hell or high water, I want us both to graduate and we will one way or another. Dad wants me to go straight through and not have to work like he did but I’m not afraid of work.”

“Second, I want to marry Alex. Maybe you won’t believe me since you all know we’re slept together but we’re both still virgins. Mom and Dad, you know I won’t do hookups. Maybe I’m old fashioned but I guess I got that from you. I believe that love should come before sex. Well, Alex and I are learning to love each other.”

I shifted my gaze over to Alex’s parents.

“Margaret and Aiden, someday soon I’m going to say three little words to Alex. If she says them back, I’m going to ask her a four-word question. If she says yes, then we’ll be committed to each other for the rest of our lives and we’ll probably rush to her bedroom, rip our clothes off, and do it.”

“Just don’t scream too loud, Alex,” Zorba said.

“Alex? Huh, Mikey will be the one screaming. Enough! Ouch! Enough!” Anthony said.

“Shut up, Azee,” Margaret and Aiden said at the same time.

“After we get married, I hope you’ll let us keep living with one or both of our families. Maybe we could stay with my parents a week or two and then stay with Alex’s parents. We don’t want to be independent yet. That can come later. If we’re married, we’ll be happier together and we’ll be better students.”

“Yeah, get us somebody to sleep with and we’ll be better studs, I mean students,” Zorba said.’

“Shut up, Anthony,” Anthony said. Mom and Dad looked more confused.

“Aiden and Margaret, I’m a neat-freak and I don’t leave a mess for anybody else to clean up. I don’t drink except a little wine and beer and I’ve never been drunk. I don’t do drugs; that’s stupid. I suppose I’m a nerd but I’m proud of it. I’ll do my share of household chores just like I do at home and I’ll even volunteer to cook sometimes. I won’t be any trouble to you.”

“Mike, Alex is blind. You haven’t said one word about that,” Aiden said. “You’ll be taking on a big responsibility if you marry her. Are you sure you know what you’re doing?”

I waited a moment before answering and then I turned and pulled Alex up against me and held her close for a moment. I was very conscious that her breasts were pressed against my chest.

“No, I’m not sure and I’ll admit it,” I said. “I just know how I feel when I’m with her and it’s good and peaceful and it just feels right and I’m content and happier with her than I’ve ever been. Did you know what you were doing when you and Margaret started out together?”

He just smiled at me and shook his head.

“Mikey, we could swap bedrooms and you and Alex could have my big bedroom,” Gianna said.

“Yeah, we could even buy you and Alex a king-size bed so you’d have room to wrestle,” Dad said. “I’ve been wanting to redo that upstairs bathroom to update it and put in a big shower. Maybe this is a good time to do that.”

Mom looked at him and smiled. I knew she’d been nagging him to update the upstairs bathroom for years.

“We could redo Mikey’s computer setup so it does the same thing Alex’s does,” Zorba said. “Anthony and Gianna and I volunteer to do all that. We’re good at it.”

Aiden looked at Margaret. I saw that they were both smiling. I didn’t know it was going to be so easy.

“Thank you for listening to me,” I said. “I really don’t want answers this afternoon. I just want all of you to think about what I’ve said and decide how you can help us. I thought it was going to take more convincing than this.”

“May I say something,” Alex said.

“Of course,” I said.

“I’ve deliberately kept my mouth shut while Mikey was talking. He’s better at talking than me. I wanted to see how he expressed what we’ve talked about. There wasn’t one word he said that wasn’t exactly what I wanted him to say. I want to marry him. I don’t know if anybody has noticed but I’ve been happier with him this summer than I’ve ever been in my life. I just want to ask my parents and his to please help us. We’ll make you proud of us.”

“Well, it’s my turn to say something,” Aiden said, and stood up. “I wish you two kids could know how proud I already am of you. I hear horror stories every day about how bad kids are today and then I come home and I’ve got the best kids any man could have. I think Mike is going to be a wonderful man for Alex and he’s got me on his side.”

“Damn, Zorba, did you hear that? We’re the best kids any man could have.” Zorba said.

“I’m not Zorba,” Anthony said. “You are.” Mom and Dad must have understood Azee’s little game because they just smiled.

For a while, everybody talked about what they could do to help. I had been worried about convincing both families but my worries seemed wasted. Maybe both families had already made up their minds that Alex and I were perfect for each other.

Dinner was great and I’m not bragging about the cooking. Everybody else did that. I’m talking about how good it was to sit around the folding table on their back porch, everybody bare chested or bare breasted, and nobody seemed ill at ease or self-conscious about it. For the first time my parents sat and relaxed and talked to Alex’s parents and seemed to enjoy getting to know them. Alex’s parents seemed to like my parents and our moms were almost like old friends.

I assumed the job of serving Alex’s plate. I found her some nice rib pieces with the rib bone sticking out a little and put them on her plate with the ends at three o’clock. I piled up some potato salad at nine o’clock and put a piece of a baguette at twelve.

We all had salad plates so I did an assortment of crudités with a little ramekin of aioli in the center of her salad plate and put the plate at nine o’clock. I whispered to Alex where everything was and she turned her face up toward mine and puckered up. I gave her a quick kiss.

Azee carried the food around the table so everybody else could serve their own plates. Margaret served everybody sweet or unsweetened tea. Mom broke the baguette up into pieces so we would not have to break them with barbeque sauce on our fingers. Aiden and Dad just sat there smiling at their families. Alex and Gianna kept whispering about what we’d planned on doing after dark. I told them to shut up and not let our parents know.

Azee disappeared for a moment and came back with wet washcloths and paper towels for everyone. Then everybody started eating and didn’t have much to say for the entire meal, just groans. I wiped Alex’s mouth with the wet wash cloth once and then wiped my own. A drop of sauce fell between her breasts and I wiped that up too. Nobody said anything about me doing it.

After dinner, we all sat and talked some more. Mom and Dad sat at the end of the table with Margaret and Aiden and they usually had their own conversation going. Their five kids sat at the other end and joked and cut up and listened to what their parents were saying. I really had been unsure of our plans when I presented them to our parents and I was surprised that they seemed so willing to help us. It seemed like they’d already made up their minds that Alex and I belonged together. Maybe our happiness all summer had convinced them.

The two moms put away the left-over food and Azee and Gianna cleaned off the table. I heard Gianna yelp and I wondered who had done what to her. Then everybody settled down and we sat and talked for a while longer.

When the last light faded, I whispered to Alex and asked if she was ready. She was so I looked at the other kids. They were ready too, big grins all over their faces. I stood up and led the parade off the porch to the pool. We lined up: me, Alex, Azee, Gianna, and Azee and stood there on the edge of the pool for a moment with our backsides toward the porch. There was still more than enough light from the back porch so I knew our parents could see us.

When I said strip, we all pushed our bottoms down and off our legs, and bent over long enough to show our parents five moons. Then we held hands, ran toward the pool, I said “Jump” so Alex could jump with the rest of us, and we all jumped in the pool at the same time. Bedlam! Two naked girls and two naked guys did their best to duck me. After I yielded, I think two guys named Azee were gang-groping Gianna but she wasn’t complaining, just squealing and giggling. From the way they were yelling and laughing, I think she was doing her share of groping. Of course, Alex and I were doing a little groping and giggling too.

A few minutes later I looked up and saw both sets of parents standing at pool side watching us, still wearing something on their butts. I whispered to Alex. The other kids noticed them too. The five of us stood there in a row looking up at them and I suppose our faces were daring them.

Then our parents got back at us. They all turned around with their backs to us, peeled their Speedos and Bikini bottoms down and off their legs, stayed bent over long enough to moon us, and then turned around again. I whispered to Alex what they were doing. When I saw the four of them holding hands, both moms in the middle, dads on the ends, I backed up and the other kids followed. Our parents took a few running steps and, still holding hands, jumped in right in front of us. After that, we had nine kids acting wild and playing in the pool, stark-assed naked and loving it.

When we finally quit playing and settled down, we were all standing in a circle, about waist deep in the water, prune-fingered, hair stringy and wet, looking at each other in the almost dark, and talking. I didn’t want the occasion to end but I knew it must. The parents waded to the end with the steps first and the kids followed. We all helped to match our swim wear to people and went to the back porch still naked with butt covers in our hands. Maybe darkness had kept us from getting a really good look at our nakedness but I knew we were about to go in the house where the lights were still on. Margaret had anticipated what was going to happen. She had put a big stack of towels on the back porch table.

I toweled Alex’s hair dry and she returned the favor. Then we stood there grinning at each other and dried off the rest. Everybody else was doing about the same and nobody seemed too self-conscious about our nakedness. When everybody was through, I put my arm around Alex’s shoulders, she put her arm around my waist, and we stood there, naked to our families and to the whole world. I wanted everybody to see us, to see us naked and open and honest as to what we were. I felt that we had reached a turning point in our lives and our families approved and I was proud to be with Alex.

“All of you know Alex and I have slept together,” I said. “Well, we just played because I haven’t yet said three little words to her. What we did was fun but that wasn’t the best thing. Sleeping spooned up to her all night, seeing her smiling at me the next morning, showering with her, then getting dressed and going in the kitchen and seeing her family smiling at us, nobody teasing us: I don’t think I’ve ever been happier in my life.”

“I was just as happy as he was,” Alex said. “I liked sleeping with Mikey’s arm over my chest and one of his legs over mine. I want that feeling to last the rest of my life. I’ve got just one more thing to say.”

She paused and everybody waited. “Shut up, Azee,” she said and grinned.

“I’ve got one more thing to bring up,” I started, and Azee interrupted me. I knew they wouldn’t let Alex get away with it.

“Let Alex help,” Anthony said. “She can bring it up,” Zorba said. I ignored both of them.

“As I was saying, there’s something else we haven’t talked about. My face and Alex’s blindness are not hereditary and can’t be passed on to our children. We want to have children. Are you ready to be uncles and aunts and grandparents? I think we can have beautiful children; don’t you?”

“Of course, we do,” Mom said. “But you two can wait a few years.”

I couldn’t help it. I grinned at her. “Why? You and Dad didn’t. Anyway, we want to wait until we both finish college.”

I expected to go back home with my family but I was surprised. Alex told me that I couldn’t leave and I was going to sleep with her again. I protested that I had not planned on staying and didn’t have any clean clothes and didn’t have my razor and toothbrush. Mom told me my clothes and other stuff was in my overnight bag in Alex’s room. Everybody else grinned at my stupidity and I felt a little foolish but I was so damned happy, not because Alex and I were going to play at sex but because everybody expected us to and wanted us to be together.

Showering with Alex seemed to me like some sort of miracle. I was tall and she was a perfect tallness for me. She turned her face upwards at me, a slight smile on her red lips, while I shampooed her hair. I looked down at her closed eyes and wanted so much for her to be able to see the love in my eyes. Then when I rinsed her hair with the hose and used my hands to press the water out of her hair, she opened her beautiful blue eyes and looked up at me and I couldn’t understand how she could unseeingly keep her eyes locked on mine. I whispered to her about what I felt for her, trying to avoid saying the three little words I wanted to say to her but at the same time fumbling for other words which said it. Maybe she was just following my voice and turning her head to keep me centered.

Then I used a soft washcloth and bath gel to wash her body and experienced another miracle. Her breasts were small but oh so delectable and I wanted my mouth on them. Instinct? Why would I want to suck on her nipples like a baby? Her butt was another miracle of curves and hidden places and I wanted to feel the head of my penis sliding in and penetrating those hidden delights. I shook my head to get rid of the idea of doing it between her rounded cheeks. I wanted it between her legs and so deep in her that I could squirt out my life into her womb and make a baby with her. Maybe we could do it that way, from behind but with my dick in her pussy. I wanted to try.

I squatted down when I washed her legs but my eyes were fixated on the small tangle of hair and the little crease on her mound. There’s really nothing there and it’s all hidden and I wanted to spread her legs and get my tongue in the little crevice and lick her until she was open and hungry for my penis to penetrate her.

Then I stood there while she washed me and I wondered what she was feeling with her hands but feeling inside too. I liked my body, hard and slim and almost hairless, and I wondered if she did too. Did feeling me make her ache inside for something like I felt for her? She left my penis and testicles for last and then dropped the cloth and just used her soapy hands. I think the last drop of blood left my brain and went down to my penis when she did that.