Chapter 49: GILF

May 24, 2001, Milford, Ohio

🎤 Steve

My hormones, as imbalanced as they were, screamed ‘yes’. Trudy was a very sexy woman, one whom I’d seen naked on numerous occasions, and to whom I was very much attracted. My brain, on the other hand, suggested caution. And my heart, well, it worried about what might happen if Melanie ever found out. And there was the obvious fact that only two months had passed since Frank’s death. All of those things had to be considered, along with my own motivations for asking Trudy to have lunch.

Frank’s death had removed the one immovable obstacle, though it also created a concern about Trudy’s emotional state. She seemed fine, but I knew very well from my own grieving over the years that it was possible to put on a thin veneer of stoicism. I had difficulty doing that with Birgit, Stephie, Nick, and Jorge, but I’d seen Bethany do it when Nick had been murdered, at least in public. She’d cried on my shoulder, and in my arms, for what seemed like hours, but she’d always showed her stoic face to everyone else, including to Doctor Mercer. I hadn’t seen Trudy mourn, which gave me a bit of pause.

As for Melanie, well, Trudy had said ‘what happens in Milford stays in Milford’, and I trusted her to keep anything that happened private. That said, I knew there was a risk that at some point, she might let something slip to Melanie, and I honestly wasn’t sure how Melanie would react. The fact that Melanie knew about my previous ‘close call’ with Trudy also indicated caution.

Finally, I had to weigh Trudy’s obvious intent, signified by her cooking lunch after an offer to take her to lunch, and the fact that she’d had an STI test. Added together with the light flirting and innuendo, as well as bringing up things that had happened fourteen or more years in the past, and I hadn’t needed her to ask me directly to ‘fool around’. I was actually happy she’d said it that way, as if she’d said ‘make love’, I’d have been even more wary of her emotional state. And ‘fooling around’ would be exactly what it was - a fun, enjoyable time with no deeper meaning.

“I see you haven’t changed,” Trudy said lightly, interrupting my thought process. “You’re evaluating the pros and cons, aren’t you?”

I nodded, “You know me pretty well.”

“May I make a comment?”

“Of course!”

“A woman of fifty-three is far different from a naïve, virginal teenager; or even a college girl”

“Obviously,” I chuckled.

“Your main concern really has to do with Frank, doesn’t it?”

“I believe so, yes.”

“It wouldn’t be cheating.”

“That was the concern years ago, but now I’m concerned about your emotional state.”

“We each have our own ways of coping with loss. You happen to be very emotional; not everyone is. I’m not trying to argue that I’m not sad or that I don’t miss Frank, but this isn’t about that. I think this is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to fulfill a fantasy. If it’s going to happen, it’s here in Milford, today. Once I move to Chicago, things will be different.”

She had a very good point about things changing once she moved. Oh, certainly, I could visit her townhouse, but I suspected it was more complicated than just absolute privacy. This was, among other things, the scene of the ‘original crime’, as it were, and nobody except my wives knew I was seeing Trudy. I realized that privacy was as important for her as it was for me, and not just with regard to Melanie.

“Tell me about the fantasy,” I said with a smirk.

Trudy laughed, “No. I need an answer first. If you say ‘yes’, then I’ll tell you.”

“So the sauna and shower all those years ago were the teasers?” I asked with a smirk.

“I suppose! And now you have a chance to be part of the ‘cumming’ attraction!”

I laughed hard, “I’ve always known Melanie came by it honestly! You were always quite the flirt and tease, and quick with the innuendos!”

“You were one of the few people with whom I could really let my hair down. A few of your and Melanie’s friends, too. But mostly my friends went to St. Andrew’s.”

“And those ‘safety checks’?” I asked with an arched eyebrow. “Those were NOT about safety!”

“Of course not!” Trudy replied, giggling like a schoolgirl. “Melanie bragged about your prowess and how hot you looked naked, even at fourteen, that I decided to see for myself!”

“And got an eyeful!”

“Frank was a very happy beneficiary of those ‘safety checks’ without having a clue as to why!”

I chuckled, “That sounds like Kurt and Kathy. She and I ‘dirty dance’ as do Kara and Kurt, and right after the dances, Kathy or Kurt drags the other one to the closest spare bed!”

“But your wives don’t, ah, exercise their freedom the way you’re reputed to exercise yours.”

“They have the freedom if they choose to use it.”

“The only important question at the moment is if you choose to exercise yours.”

I chuckled, “Nice play on words!”

“I’d much rather play with you!”

“I’d need to see the permission slip,” I replied.

“The permis ... oh, on the counter behind you.”

I reached over and picked up an envelope from the Clermont County Health Department. Unsurprisingly, the envelope contained a printout showing no STIs. I knew I couldn’t delay any longer, and when it came down to brass tacks, it was something Trudy wanted to do, something I wanted to do, and something for which there was no true impediment.

“I suppose I should show you mine,” I smirked. “Permission slip, that is!”

Trudy laughed, “I’ve seen it! Remember the ‘safety checks’?”

“And the shower,” I replied, removing the card from my wallet and showing it to Trudy before putting it away. “So, the fantasy?”

“I assume you’re saying ‘yes’?”

“You always were the MILF!” I said with a silly smile. “The only MILF, really.”

“No way! Wait! You’re serious?”

“The other situations were ones where I was with the moms before the daughters.”

“I think I’m actually a GILF!” Trudy smirked.

“GILF?” I asked, then started laughing. “Never mind! I got it. ‘Grandmother’!”

“There really was no other?”

I shook my head, “No. What I said before was true - my maximum age was about two years older. You would have been an exception, back in the day. And I was fourteen!”

Trudy smirked, “And now you have MUCH more experience! And I have way more experience than a fifteen-year-old!”

I chuckled, “Melanie was NOT a typical fifteen-year-old!”

“And you weren’t a typical fourteen-year-old, either!”

“True! So, the fantasy... ?”

Trudy laughed softly, “You remember how I found you during that ‘safety check’?”

“That’s all?” I asked.

Trudy smirked, “Not on your life! Champagne in the tub, the shower where we had our close encounter, my bed...”

“No champagne, unfortunately. And I only have a few hours,” I said. “You might have to prioritize!”

“Only if you were planning on sleeping alone tonight.”

“I was ... but I might have changed my mind!”

“I’m going to go upstairs and turn on the sauna. Finish your lunch and then we’ll turn each other on!”

I laughed softly and returned to eating my soup, though I did watch Trudy sashay out of the kitchen, something I knew she’d done because she was sure I’d watch. She was back four minutes later, wearing a silk robe which she nonchalantly dropped to the floor, revealing her very sexy body. Her breasts were a bit bigger than Melanie’s, and her hips a bit wider, but her stomach was flat and her breasts didn’t sag - they drooped a bit, which I found very sexy. And she was shaved bare, something Melanie had never done. Trudy sat down, and resumed eating her lunch. I laughed again, stood up, disrobed, then sat back down to finish my lunch.

“You just have to try to one-up your daughter,” I said, eating some cheese.

“Just wait!” Trudy declared, her eyes twinkling. “I have a tattoo!”

“And where might that be?” I asked with an arched eyebrow.

“You’ll see it soon enough!”

My guess was the inside of her thigh or on her butt, given I’d had an eyeful of her breasts, stomach, and shaved mons before she’d sat down.

“There is one additional condition,” I said.

“Which is?”

“No comparisons. No asking me about Melanie and no telling me about Frank.”

“But won’t you think about it?”

I shook my head, “No. I mean, sure those ideas pop up from time to time, but I actively push them out of my mind. They can only serve to hurt someone.”

“You’ve never done that?”

“I believe Kara pushed me into answering some questions like that years ago, but I do my best to avoid it. I mean, how would you feel if I said Melanie was better?”

Trudy laughed, “As if! But I understand the point you’re making. I have to confess that I did that in my fantasy.”

“Fantasy and reality are two VERY different things, and they often don’t come close to each other.”

“Perhaps you’re better?” Trudy smirked.

I chuckled, “If I make a certain type of philosophical argument, real sex is better than fantasy sex because real sex actually happens! Anything else is just imagination, and having something is better than imagining it. Of course, it’s entirely possible for the experience to be disappointing and not live up to expectations.”

“Has that happened to you?”

“Not really.”

“You’ve never had a disappointing sexual encounter? With what I have to assume are scores of girls?”

She’d be somewhere around number 170, by rough estimate. I hadn’t counted, and Elyse was no longer ‘keeping score’, so I didn’t know for sure.

“Not in the sense you mean, I suspect, at least for a guy. I’ve had some that were disappointing in the sense of the emotional or spiritual interaction, but as several female friends have pointed out, guys orgasm pretty easily!”

Trudy laughed, “Sometimes too easily!”

“That was only the very first time!”

“At fourteen? I’m not surprised! Well, at least according to anecdotal evidence!”

“I suspect there isn’t much anecdotal evidence about teens that age these days, given how insane society has become on the topic of teen sex, and honestly, sex in general.”

“Don’t you think part of that is parents fearing their kids would contract AIDS?”

I shrugged, “I suppose that could be part of it, yes, and I do think that did give a lot of teens pause, but it’s moved beyond simple fear of a disease for which we can test. And other than one set of friends who contracted HIV due to what I’m sure you would call a ‘swinging’ lifestyle, and one other girl who failed her STI test because she was HIV positive, I’d say that testing resolves the problem.”

“Not to be indelicate, but the sample size?”

“North of a hundred and fifty,” I replied. “I can’t give you an exact count.”

“A HUNDRED AND FIFTY?!” Trudy gasped.

“North of,” I replied with a grin that bordered on smug.

Trudy shook her head, “Melanie hinted at that, but I never believed it! You’re not pulling my leg?”

“No, I’m not pulling your leg. And on the STI situation, if I include all my friends, I’d say the sample size is large enough to say that regular testing is as close to perfect as necessary to make sex nowhere near as dangerous as some would say it is.”

“What happened to your friends?”

“One of them died of an AIDS-defining illness. The other is HIV positive, but has no symptoms and AZT seems to be working. I don’t know what happened to the girl who tested positive. I think, going back to the societal view of sex, that the panic in the late 80s played right into the hands of the puritans, especially with it being defined, at least at first, as a ‘gay disease’. The fear-mongering created an environment where the prudes and puritans could push their agendas. Couple that with the elimination of STI tests for marriage licenses, and we’ve actually created a perfect storm of no education and no testing!”

“You think there will be a resurgence of VD?”

“I’d say it’s likely. Thorough, accurate, and extensive sex education ought to be a priority. Using my own kids as a model, you start when they’re toddlers and work from there, with age-appropriate information. But you also honestly answer questions, even when the kids are little. Needless to say, that’s created some hilarity.”

“I bet!”

“The funniest time was when someone jokingly mentioned an orgy and my precocious then nine-year-old asked what that meant. Kara basically said it was lots of people having sex together and Birgit’s response was, and I kid you not, that it was just another day at the Adams’ house!”

Trudy was laughing hard, “Interesting!”

“Oh, it got better when Kara tried to explain that’s not what happened and Birgit asked how that would work. I and a few others were laughing so hard we were crying. Kara was stuck with talking to Birgit!”

“She’s what? Twelve?”

“Thirteen on Tuesday,” I replied. “She’s no less precocious than when she was nine!”

“In some ways, she sounds like Melanie at that age.”

I chuckled, “No doubt! Melanie and Birgit have had a few conversations I suspect were VERY interesting. I wasn’t privy to them any more than I’m privy to the ones she has with Penny or Katy.”

“I don’t recall either of them.”

“Penny lives next door and she and her husband work for me, and their kids are friends with my kids. Katy is a friend from college. She owns the bed-and-breakfast in Vermont we visit every March. Birgit goes to visit her every Summer.”

“You have a very interesting parenting style.”

“Partly learned from you!”

“Well, if you’ve finished your lunch, perhaps you can teach an old dog some new tricks!”

“You are ANYTHING but old,” I replied, standing up, “and I’d call you a ‘fox’! I also have a sneaking suspicion that you made very good use of the book Melanie shared with me!”

Trudy stood up and I made a point of looking her over, head-to-toe before I moved around the table, took her hand, and led her upstairs.

[Chicago, IL] 🎤 Jesse

“Hi, Jesse!” Jerry said when I sat down for lunch.

“Did everyone get permission to see Pearl Harbor tomorrow night?” I asked.

“My dad was a pain in the butt,” Mia groused. “He made a big deal about the fact that we won’t be home until after midnight because the run-time is over three hours. I’m a Senior and eighteen, for fuck’s sake!”

I laughed, “I’m pretty sure that last bit is his concern!”

Mia laughed, “Obviously! But he decided it was OK. The movie, I mean! Anyone else have problems?”

Jerry, Kenny, Libby, Rachel, and Sheila all shook their heads.

“Cool!” I declared. “Natalie is bringing Nicole, Mikey, and Marissa with her. They’ll meet us for dinner at Ed Debevic’s, as will Matthew and his friends Maggie, Josh, and Nick. I talked to Tom, but he thinks it’s too late for Nicholas to go with us. Aunt Jess said it’s OK for Albert to come along. I think my dad will be there, along with Mike Knox and April’s husband.”

“Is everyone staying at your dad’s house?” Libby asked.

“You mean the ones who are coming in from the burbs? Yes. You’re welcome to spend the night if your parents say OK!”

I could say that because my closest friends had figured out that Libby and I were ‘friends with benefits’, which when I thought about it, wasn’t a surprise given how much time Libby and I spent together and the things we said to each other.

“I wish!” Libby replied. “My parents are cool, but not THAT cool!”

“Jesse, could we have a graduation party at your dad’s house?” Jerry asked.

“I’m sure he’d say ‘yes’,” I replied. “Which day?”

“Probably June 9th. My parents are taking me out to dinner on Friday night to celebrate.”

“Who would we invite?” Mia asked.

“We want to be careful,” Libby said. “If we invite the wrong people, or too many, some parent is going to insist they attend to ‘supervise’ and wreck the whole thing!”

“You know my dad will talk to any parents who are difficult, right?” I offered.

“And there are some who wouldn’t be moved,” Mia said. “I’m not saying we’d invite them, but Cynthia’s parents and Kelly’s parents would be concerned and might want to be there.”

“Well, we seven are cool for sure,” Libby replied. “And I know we can ask some of your hockey teammates. Kenny, do you know your friends well enough to know which parents are cool?”

“Yeah, I got this,” he said. “How many can we have there, Jesse?”

“I think Dad won’t be concerned if we keep it to no more than twenty-five or so. More than that and it’s hard for us to manage. Just get me the numbers. And everyone has to promise no booze and no drugs.”

“Besides you, Libby, and Sheila, it’ll all be Seniors, and mostly from the hockey team. Obviously, you guys can invite others if you want. Nobody I ask will try to bring drugs or booze.”

“Cool,” I replied.

“Jerry,” Kenny asked, “when do you guys move up to Wisconsin?”

“We have orientation the last week of August, so we’ll move into the dorms then. I have to go up in July for hockey, but that’s just for a couple of days. Mia already talked to the coach of the girls’ hockey club, but nothing happens until after school starts. When do you go to Maine?”

“July for hockey camp,” Kenny replied.

“Which stinks,” Shelia said. “I’m only a Junior, so he’s going to be far away and I’m stuck here in Chicago!”

And she was Kenny’s third girlfriend since the start of his Senior year, so I was pretty sure that wasn’t a problem for Kenny. But it wasn’t my place to say anything. In any event, it was time to return our trays to the counter and head to class, because the bell was about to ring.

[Milford, Ohio] 🎤 Steve

“Why do I suddenly feel like a fourteen-year-old girl home alone when her boyfriend comes over?” Trudy asked as we sat side-by-side in the sauna.

That was an interesting comment, especially given the fact that the last time we’d been naked together, we’d been in a position where the simplest of movements would have caused Trudy to break her vows. She hadn’t shown any reluctance or hesitancy then, but now, when it wasn’t cheating, she was suddenly nervous.