Chapter 23

‘Oh, shit!’ I thought. ‘Talking to her and knowing we’d be together in Twenty-eight days or less will be way worse than viewing her pictures and knowing I’d see her on May fourth!’

But forcing myself to smile, I replied, “Just a little eager, are we?”

“Of course I am,” Tanya exclaimed. “You will make me a woman and give me the night of my life, but Gary must not find out!”

“Why’s that?”

“Because I’m going to marry him as soon as I’ve completed my Master’s of Business Analytics, but if he learns I’ve been with you, he’ll freak out!” Tanya declared.

Seeing a way out, I offered, “Then wouldn’t it be better if he and not I came up next month?”

Tanya sighed, “Daddy Liam, do I have to get Aunty Nessa to beat you over the head again? Us girls talk, you know? Gary is willing in bed but not very skilled, so I’ll have to teach him, but how can I until you’ve taught me?”

Defeated by teenage girl logic again, I sighed, “Well, I guess you can’t.”

“Good! Now tell me you love me and want to see me next month, and go and get Aunty Nessa.”

“I do love you, and I’m very much looking forward to next month, but I don’t need Ness beating me over the head, so is there something else I can help you with?” I said hurriedly, trying to stave off another round of lectures from my wife.

Tanya’s chiming laugh came from the other end of the phone before she said, “Oh, that’s too funny! What are you, Daddy Liam? 193 cm (6ft. 4in.) and 95 kg? (210 lbs), strong enough to bench press your wife and me both, yet your knees are knocking because your 163 cm (5-ft 4) and 54 kg (120 lbs) wife might growl at you? Oh, lord, give me strength, as I think I will pass out from laughing too hard!”

“Gary’s more scared of her than I am. That woman screeches when she’s angry!” I muttered defensively.

Of course, that only set Tanya off again, so I placed the receiver on the table and got Ness.

“Tanya for you,” I said as I nudged her sleeping body.

“What? Oh, okay,” Ness mumbled as she rolled over and went back to sleep.

“Ness!” I barked.

“What?” My wife answered, now awake.

“Tanya’s on the phone for you.”

Vanessa sat up and blinked owlishly as she tried to kick her brain back into gear and said, “For me? Don’t you mean you?”

“We’ve already spoken,” I patiently explained while waiting for my wife’s brain to reset.

“Okay,” Ness acquiesced before swinging her feet out of bed and heading for the door.

“The boys are home,” I pointed out before she opened the door.

“Oh,” My wife replied before taking her robe from the hook behind the door and putting it on.

‘What do women talk about that takes so long,’ I wondered an hour later when Ness hadn’t reappeared. Giving up trying to sleep, I got up and gingerly tucked my rubbed-raw dick into a pair of briefs before pulling on my running shorts and a singlet, donning my runners and heading out. Being tired and stiff from the previous night’s activities, I thought I’d have to drag myself through my 30 km run, but it flowed easily and less than two and a half hours later, I was back home.

Walking into our room, I saw Ness sleeping, so I turned to take my shower in the main bathroom rather than wake her, but as I turned, Ness sat up, smiled and said, “Come here, you smelly, gorgeous hunk of a man.”

“I’m sweaty, and I stink,” I pointed out.

“I love how you smell after you’ve exercised, babe. You know that it gets my motor running!”

Grinning at her as I sat down, I said, “And does it cure a stinging pussy?” Then after Ness shook her head, I added, “Do you want your motor running, then?”

“No, probably not,” Ness acceded. “But give me a kiss and cuddle anyway!”

Pressing her naked body firmly against my sweaty one, Ness inhaled through her nose deeply before purring, “Gawd, you smell good!”

“Let me go, you hussy!” I kidded. “You just want my dick in you!”

“Always,” Ness admitted. “But we’ll have to wait because we’re both too sore to go again.” Then she added, “I’ll make coffee and think about putting some dinner on after I’ve met you in the kitchen.”

“If the boys are home, why don’t you see if they want to go to the club for dinner tonight? We haven’t done anything as a family for ages, so tonight seems like a good time to fix that.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Ness responded.

Another week passed without incident, and mercifully, no letters or phone calls from Tanya. Vanessa and I spent more time kissing and cuddling than fucking even after our ‘bits’ healed. Having her deepest fantasy fulfilled seemed to bring my wife and me closer together than ever. That closeness was expressed by soft kisses and tightly held hugs instead of the animalistic fucking we usually shared after one of us had taken a ‘day pass’.

A week passed, and I’d just come home from my run when Vanessa yelled, “Phone for you!”

“Who is it?” I yelled back.

“Your paramour,” Ness answered in her normal voice, given I was right beside her. Then hugging me, she took in my sweaty odour and sighed happily.

“Which one?” I teased as I picked up the phone.

“The only one that matters, Daddy Liam!” Tanya said in my ear.

“Hello, gorgeous girl,” I answered.

“Only for another Twenty-one days. Then you’ll make me a woman!”

“I’m looking forward to it, honey,” I replied, realising it was true!

“So am I, Daddy Liam. So am I!”

“Have you planned where we’re meeting, Tanya? Or is it up to me?”

“It’s all organised,” Tanya replied. “All you have to do is turn up on the day and follow along.”

“I’ll go back to trying not to think about it then!” I only partially joked.

“You do that. Just make sure you remember what to do on the day!”

“As if I could forget, honey!” I emphasised. “Did you want to talk to Ness?”

“Nah. Nessa and I already caught up. Talk to you next Sunday, Daddy Liam!”

“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t,” I remarked as I began to hang up. But Tanya chimed, “I can’t think of anything you wouldn’t do, Daddy Liam, so that’s easy!”

‘That girl will be the death of me,’ I thought as I looked for Ness. ‘But what a way to go!”

Instead of my wife, I found a note on the bench saying she’d gone shopping. So looking at the time, I realised I had time to catch the afternoon skills session at my old club and headed in to see if they needed help. I wasn’t on the training roster, but ex-players were always welcome to turn up and help. As usual, the coach assigned the recruits to me for kicking practice. During my career, I was acknowledged as one of the best field kickers in the game, regularly hitting my teammate ‘lace-out’ on the chest as they led to the tiniest of gaps.

Two hours later, with a grateful “Thanks” from the skills coach, I headed home. Coach has a standing offer for me to join the coaching staff, but I’m uncertain that I want to be back that deep in the glasshouse the AFL is. If I took that route, I knew my competitiveness would drive me to seek a senior coach role, putting me right back in the spotlight again. Not something I relished or felt like doing to my family again.

Getting home, I smelt Vanessa’s ‘world famous’ spag bog cooking, so I jogged inside, kissed her and gratuitously groped her ass and tits, receiving an eye roll from my eldest in the process, and took a third shower for the day.

The rest of the week rolled by without incident, and soon it was only fourteen days to go. I looked at the wall clock and waited in the kitchen. It was nearly 11.00 am, and Tanya had called at that time the last two weeks. Sure enough, right on 11.00 am, the phone rang. Picking it up, I answered, “Liam Shephard, hymen shredder and slut maker, how may I help?”

Of course, it wasn’t Tanya. It was possibly the worst person to whom I could have said those words —Vanessa’s dad Damon.

“Don’t think I’ve ever forgiven you for that, either,” Vanessa’s father growled. “Is my daughter there? Her mum has taken ill, and she needs to come home.”

“Anything serious, Dad,” I asked.

“Just the flu, but she’s running a high temperature and needs someone to stay with her, and you know how bad I am at looking after that type of thing.”

Okay, well, that’s good, I guess. Better than anything serious, at least,” I lamely added. “Hang on, and I’ll get Ness.”

“Her mother and I named her Vanessa, Mister Liam,” he growled. “Why is that too hard for you to remember and say?”

Figuring I couldn’t say anything that wouldn’t elicit a negative response, I didn’t answer. Instead, I put the phone down and bellowed, “Ness! Your old man’s on the phone!” knowing he hated being called that.

“Who is it?” Ness asked,

“Your progenitor,” I replied, aware that Damon also hated that.

I walked away as my mobile phone rang. Answering it more traditionally, I said, “Hello?”

“Hello, Daddy Liam,” a happy Tanya chirruped in my ear. “I tried the house phone, but it went straight to the message bank. Fourteen days!” She added excitedly.

“Yeah, baby girl,” I replied. “Not long now! But that’s a Sunday, gorgeous. Won’t you be in school the next day?”

Sounding wicked, Tanya used her deepest sultry voice and replied, “Yes, a Sunday will be good! Not so many neighbours to complain to management about the noise!”

Gulping, I said, “Well, there is that!” Then wanting to avoid any more anticipatory nerves, I asked, “Do you want to talk to Ness?”

“Yeah, that’d be good. See you Sunday after, Daddy Liam!”

I checked that Ness was off the phone, then handed her my mobile. Once they were done, I asked if she would head to her parent’s place to look after her mum.

“Going to have to, sorry, babe,” Vanessa acknowledged. “Dad’s hopeless when mum’s crook, so I’ve got no choice. I’ve already phoned the NUM (Nurse Unit Manager) and asked for two weeks off.”

My face fell, so she quickly added, “I’ll be back on the Saturday night before you leave for Rockhampton and take you to the airport the next morning, so don’t stress out at me!”

Somewhat mollified, I nodded and said, “Okay.”

I followed her into our bedroom and sat on the bed, feeling bummed as she packed her bag. But what was she to do? Her dad didn’t cope with his wife’s illnesses, and Ness was a nurse, so? I didn’t have to like it, though.

Ness kissed me and said, “You can always drop over and see me.”

“And listen to your dad berate me for ‘ruining’ his daughter, and your mum whinge about how you’re an unfit daughter again? You know how pissed off that makes me! I put up with them at Christmas and the boys’ birthdays because that’s the right thing to do for you and our kids, but not any other time.”