Chapter 11

Claire’s turn:

It’s safe to say I was a bit distracted at school Friday. Before classes started, I went to see Miss Green.

“Good morning, Claire,” she said, when I knocked on her doorjamb. “You certainly look happy today.”

“Happy doesn’t begin to tell the story!” I said. “Things have been happening very fast in my life this week, but the end result is that Charley and I are getting married at the courthouse next Monday at 4:15. Miss Green, I really appreciate all the help you’ve given me — it’s made a huge difference in how this year is going here at school. You’ve done so much for me that I’m hoping you can be there at my wedding.”

“Wow!” she said, sitting back in her chair. “I won’t ask why a judge signed off on your marriage license, but I will say it’s unusual at your age. I’m very happy for you.” She paused in thought for a moment before answering. “Yes, I’ll be there.”

“Thank you! Oh, and as of Tuesday, we’re changing our last names to Lewis-Black. It’ll take us some time to make it official, but that’s what will be on our wedding certificate.”

“Thanks for letting me know. I’ll make sure the faculty are all informed. I’m so happy for you, Claire. Still, you need to run to homeroom now.”

Trish commented on how happy I seemed as soon as I showed up in homeroom, but didn’t have time to grill me about it. After class, I just told her that I’d tell everyone during lunch, and that I had a favor to ask of them all.

Mrs. Schonfield noticed my upbeat mood, as did my study group. I simply told them all that I was incredibly happy, and the reason would be public knowledge on Tuesday.

When everyone had shown up at the lunch table, Trish said, “Okay, we’re all here. Come on, give! What’s got you glowing?”

I chewed my lip for a moment, then said, “You know I wasn’t in school yesterday, right? The reason I wasn’t here was that Grandma, Grandpa, Charley and I had a hearing in front of a judge due to some things my mother is trying to do in Tacoma. In the end, the judge agreed with our attorney on something very important.

“Please keep it down, but do any of you think you can be at the courthouse on Monday at 4:15? I’d really like you all to be there for our wedding!”

Everyone seemed to be asking the same question, so I said, “I’ve told you all before that there’s something back in my past I don’t talk about, right? This is related to that, and to why my grandparents are my legal guardians. Judge Smith decided that letting us get married now is the best solution to my mother’s attempt to regain custody.”

I stopped and thought for a moment before saying, “You know, I think I may be able to talk more about the whole problem and my background next weekend, after we’re married. I think having this all settled, and having Charley there to support me, will make a big difference. I’ll let you know next week, though.”

Tom and Shelly excused themselves to go outside to call their jobs. In the end, they all managed to get the time off.

I was going to have my friends at my wedding.

When I let Charley know, she told me that her brother would also be able to make it, and that he was treating us all to dinner after the ceremony. At the same time, I told her that I got the time off for the Christmas party, as long as I brought back some good information for robotics.

Charley’s turn:

Saturday, Claire, Terri and I went across the Sound to get dresses, both for the wedding and the Christmas party.

Matching for the wedding was a challenge as we needed something that was in stock in both of our sizes, and which would look good on both of us. We struck out at three stores specializing in wedding gowns, before we finally we found what we were looking for — at Nordstrom downtown. They were white with ankle-length full skirts, Queen Anne necklines, and short sleeves. They weren’t frilly, but we all thought they looked beautiful.

Formals were easier since we’d have gone to Nordstrom first, anyway. Mine was sleeveless, deep blue, with a full skirt, and what they called a jewel neckline. All I knew was that I thought it looked nice, and Claire’s eyes lit up when I tried it on. She ended up going almost monochrome, matching her hair with a pale pink dress that had a narrower skirt, but was slit way up the sides. Oh, my. When she posed with her leg sticking out the slit on one side, I caught her eye and licked my lips. With matching jackets, I thought we looked elegant, yet fun, together.

Nordstrom began as a shoe store, and they were still one of the city’s best destinations for a nice pair of shoes. With the dresses in hand, the choices were simple. As usual, medium to low heels for me and flats for my sweetie.

Sunday started with French toast with the neighbors. Nothing too unusual there, except that Terri sat while Claire and I cooked. It’s not like French toast is difficult to make, or at least that’s what Terri kept telling me. Okay, some of the cuts were more ragged than what Terri would’ve done, but it all tasted good.

After breakfast, we started moving Claire’s things to what would soon be our house. While I’m happy to buy special clothes when needed, I’ve never been much of a clotheshorse, so there was already plenty of room in the bedroom closet for Claire’s hanging clothes.

Dresser space was a different issue. Between Bill and Claire, they managed to move over the dresser that she was currently using, but it was so big that it wouldn’t fit in the bedroom with everything else. After some more thought, we decided we’d need to look for a double dresser, so we’d only need one piece of furniture for the two of us. For the moment, her dresser went into the guest room. I reminded her to get out a couple of days worth of clothes, though, since Chuck and his family would be in that room Monday night.

Her recreational equipment was already at my place, so that was simple, though she needed to move her biking and hiking clothes over.

Monday morning, I again ate with Bill, Terri and Claire. It wasn’t until we were sitting there enjoying Claire’s favorite breakfast — bacon and eggs — that the nerves hit.

It was so strange. I’m normally calm and confident, but it felt like my self-confidence just drained out through my feet. I grabbed Claire’s hand and squeezed, startling her.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“What if I screw up? I don’t want to embarrass you! What if I flub my lines? Where are the rings?” I knew I was babbling, but I couldn’t seem to stop.

For a second, Claire looked to be at a loss, but then she stood and pulled me out of my seat. When I was standing, she wrapped her arms around me and crushed me to her chest, just as my tears hit. I didn’t know where they came from, they were just there. Claire just held me tight for a few minutes, kissing my head and telling me it would all be all right.

Eventually, she dragged me to the sofa. Reversing our normal roles, she sat and guided me to lie down with my head in her lap. She stroked my hair and my face, all the while telling me that everything would be fine. It helped some, but I was still shaking and on the verge of crying when I heard a brief, whispered conversation.

Then she laughed! When she resumed talking, though, the subject had changed dramatically.

“I was just remembering when we first met,” she said. “I thought you were the most beautiful woman in the world. In bed that night, I was horny for the first time in a long time, and I started thinking about you. I imagined you eating me, how you’d look between my thighs, how it’d feel, how you’d sound. Then I imagined taking my turn eating you. I imagined how your pussy would look, and how it would smell and taste. Just as I brought you to a screaming orgasm, I came so hard my stomach muscles cramped. Afterward, I brought my fingers to my mouth and licked them, imagining I was tasting you.

“Then that Friday, when you came back from your bike ride? When I saw you bending over your bike, I was suddenly hornier than I’d ever been. I just wanted to rush over and start fondling your beautiful butt, peeling your shorts off you, and licking and kissing every inch of you. When I went inside, I had to get some time alone. Lying on my bed, I played with my breast with one hand, while I fingered myself with my other. In bed that night I imagined peeling off your Lycra, licking and sucking on your breasts, licking the sweat off the inside of your thighs as I worked my way up, then giving you the best orgasm of your life!

“Do you remember when we went to that art exhibit downtown? You wore that cute little blue skirt? I imagined you in that skirt, but commando. I imagined laying on the floor as you lowered yourself down to my face, reaching around, under your skirt, playing with your butt while I ran my tongue along your lips, then up into you.”

On and on, she went, telling me about how she played with herself while imagining making love to me and how I’d make love to her. Somewhere along the line, I quit panicking, but I was so engrossed in her recital that I never noticed.

Abruptly, she stopped and beeped my nose, before saying, “I’ll bet you aren’t nervous anymore, are you, love?”

My eyes flew open to see her grinning down at me. I couldn’t help it, I started laughing! I lay there, looking up at the woman I loved so much, and laughed. When I stopped, I sat up and hugged her.

“Thank you! I don’t remember ever being that nervous, and I couldn’t seem to break out of it.”

She smiled past me to her grandparents, still sitting at the dining room table. Oh, God! They’d been listening to the whole thing.

Sitting there, Claire’s expression was almost angelic when she said, “Grandpa came over and told me I needed to change the subject, since what I was saying wasn’t calming you down. And he was right — it worked. But I’ll bet he didn’t stop to think about what would be on my mind on my wedding day.”

Bill blushed bright red, then started laughing. Terri laughed so hard she cried.

I eventually excused myself, telling them I needed to go clean up. I wasn’t fooling anyone.

Claire sparked more laughter when she said, “Uh, yeah. I have to go clean up, too.”

I really did clean up, but not until after I’d relieved my tension, thinking about Claire thinking of me.

After my shower, I wasn’t surprised to find that my panties were soaked. I was surprised to find that my sweatpants were a bit damp, too. After dressing, I called everyone over so they’d be here when Chuck arrived. We’d decided that having Claire here when Chuck walked through the door would be the best way to handle the introductions.

Just before 1:30, a strange car pulled into the driveway and I hurried out to greet my big brother.

“Chuck!” I shouted when he got out of the car. “Oh, Chuck, it’s so good to see you again!” I hugged him tight, then gathered Elise in a hug before picking up Charlotte and carrying her inside. “Come on in and meet everyone.”

Chuck grabbed their bags and followed me into the house. Bill and Terri were sitting at the dining room table, but Claire was standing just a few steps inside, waiting for us. When Chuck saw her, he stopped dead in his tracks. I could understand why. After all, his little sister’s fiancée was young and pretty. Or maybe it was because she had pink hair and was taller than him.

I went to stand beside her and took her hand. “Sweetie, the guy standing there with his mouth hanging open is my big brother, Chuck. The pretty lady next to him is his much better half, Elise, and the cute little girl there is their daughter. Unfortunately, someone had the bright idea to name her after me, so she’s stuck being Charlotte, which isn’t nearly a pretty enough name for such a cutie.