After we got done with the calendar (See Sweet Calendar Girls), things quieted down quite a bit at the studio. Most of the high school seniors were done getting their pictures taken and even the burst of business photos I was taking after that big wedding (See The Wedding) had slowed. I was still being asked to do some executive portraits, but not as many. What was happening was that a number of the wives of the executives saw their husbands’ portraits and were asking me to photograph their families. You’d be surprised how many of the executives had children who were either off at boarding school or college. Those children were due to come home for the Thanksgiving break, and those wives wanted new family portraits for Christmas. Thanksgiving weekend was booked solid! However, the weekdays were pretty slimly populated.

That was OK by me, but Lou was still mostly out-of-town working for Gina’s father, George Tralmark, tracking down an embezzler. As a consequence, things were very quiet at home, too. Before she left on her latest trip to Tralmark’s business up in the big city, Lou left her cat with me, along with some of her clothes and her toothbrush. Luckily, Jake (my dog) and Henry (Lou’s cat) seemed to get along just fine. Despite what some people might believe, dogs and cats are not natural enemies. When we introduced them, Jake was eager to play, but Henry just sniffed at Jake and walked away. Soon, however, they were playing with each other. If I threw a ball for Jake, Henry would ambush Jake as he ran past. Henry never had his claws out and only batted at Jake. I had even seen them chase each other around the house, first one chasing the other in one direction, then back they come with the other chasing the first. It made me smile.

Other than that, it was pretty quiet. I was getting home at a decent time for a change, and Jake and I got to take walks together. Sometimes Jenny, my next-door neighbor’s child, would join us. Jake was always happy to see Jenny and obeyed her better than he obeyed me. Jenny was growing up on me and we would have surprisingly adult conversations about what was going on in the world as we walked. She often sought my hand and so we’d walk hand-in-hand around the neighborhood or the park. It was getting colder day by day, so our coats were getting heavier, and we had started wearing gloves, but that did not prevent her from holding my hand.

Just before Thanksgiving, Jenny looked up at me and asked, “When’s Lou’s birthday? I’d like to get her something.”

I stopped. I had to think about that. “I think it’s in December, somewhere around the middle of the month, if I’m not mistaken,” I said as I resumed our walk. “I’ll have to ask her.”

“You know,” she said, “we talked about a party for her. Remember?”

I hated parties, for the most part, especially if I was to be the guest of honor. However, giving Lou a surprise party piqued my interest and my imagination. “What would you think if it were a surprise party?” I queried. I had thought of that earlier and had broached the subject with her mother, Angela.

Jenny squealed as she dropped my hand and started jumping around. Jake joined her enthusiasm, jumping up on Jenny and me. “That’s perfect!” she squealed. “We could invite all of those people who were at the party for the ad campaign!” And she was off and running, planning the party. I had to smile. She would be the perfect hostess for this little idea. I just hoped she wouldn’t give it all away the next time she saw Lou.

I got through the Thanksgiving holiday even though I had about a half-dozen family pictures to do, none of them at my studio. Luckily, we (my assistant, Naomi, and I) had planned things pretty carefully: one session in one town in the morning, a second session in the afternoon, with plenty of time to drive and set up in-between. We photographed Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at the clients’ homes. Friday was an especially and unusually pretty day, so we were able to take pictures of the clients in their yards, and believe me, some of those yards were magnificent. Saturday turned gloomy, so indoor pictures were done, but the homes themselves were beautiful. Baby grand pianos featured in three of the four family pictures taken indoors, one with a beautiful young lady seated at the piano, playing while we photographed the rest of the family gathered around her.

By the last session Sunday, both Naomi and I were exhausted and we were very glad that Mondays were our usual day off. That way we could recover a bit before tackling the pictures the rest of the week.

Lou had made it home for Thanksgiving Day, but seemed very subdued all day. We went over to our neighbors, the Ciccorelli’s (Jenny’s folks), for dinner. Angela had a traditional Thanksgiving meal for us, with a little bit of an Italian twist. There was turkey with stuffing, but instead of mashed potatoes, there was ravioli in a creamy cheese sauce. Jenny was very proud of the apple pie she’d made with her mother’s supervision, and I made sure I praised everything as I ate my fill.

Normally, Lou has a healthy appetite, but this time she took very little onto her plate. She had a bit of everything, but by the end of the meal, it looked like she hadn’t eaten very much at all. We stayed for a while there, with me watching football with Giovanni (Jenny’s father) and the ladies cleaning up the kitchen, and while there was snack food all around, I didn’t see Lou take any. I vaguely wondered if she was feeling alright and resolved to ask her when we went home.

When we got back, Jake wanted a walk and I was able to persuade Lou to walk with me. As we were walking, I asked Lou if she was feeling all right. She hesitated before answering. “I’m OK, Jonny,” she said. “I just have a lot on my mind, I guess. I can’t talk about it a whole lot, but Gina’s father does have a problem. And when it all comes to light, some people are going to be very hurt in the process.”

“Oh,” I replied. “Who?”

“The guy’s family. He has a wife and two young children, and when he’s put in jail, they’re not going to have anything. I’m building a pretty good case for Tralmark’s lawyers.”

“Perhaps he should have thought of them before he started stealing.”

“I know,” she said, “and I don’t have any sympathy for him. The family doesn’t seem to have a whole lot in the way of lavish living, but he’s stealing a lot of money. His wife is going to be devastated. I know I would be. I wonder if he has a gambling problem?”

“Well, you don’t need to worry about that with me,” I said pointedly. “Having my own business is enough of a gamble for me. I don’t think I could even be a farmer; too much risk and not enough control.”

She hugged my arm. “I’m glad. But still, it’s tough to think about those children growing up with a father who might spend a good part of their life in jail.”

We walked on for a little bit without saying anything. “Is that all that’s bothering you?” I asked.

Again, she hesitated before answering. “Isn’t that enough?” she said harshly. “I’m losing sleep worrying about it.”

We’d reached our house. I was still getting used to that idea: this was not just ‘my’ house anymore; it was ‘our’ house. I was fully aware of how empty the house had been before Lou came into my life. I just hadn’t acknowledged it before. I opened the door for her and Jake forced his way between us.

“If you’re sure that’s all it is,” I said.

“Isn’t that enough?” she repeated. She brushed past me. “I’m tired,” she said. “I think I’ll head to bed.”

It wasn’t all that late, but if she wanted to go to bed, who was I to argue? I went around the house, turning off lights, locking doors. Henry was on the back of the couch and I made sure to pet him as I went by. I was rewarded with a loud purr from deep in his chest. Jake followed me all around the rooms, then led me to the bedroom. The lamp from the dresser cast a warm, soft light to the room, and Lou was already in bed, breathing regularly, fast asleep. Jake curled up on her side of the bed while I undressed and crawled in and snuggled up to Lou. She stirred slightly, sighed, then settled back down. I was asleep in minutes.

I was up early the next morning, Friday, because of the photo shoots I had scheduled. I meant to let Lou sleep, but she was up before me and in the kitchen pouring herself a glass of orange juice. She’d already set one out for me, and I took down a bowl to fill with cereal. I sat there eating, watching her nibble on a piece of toast, sipping the OJ. There was something the matter, but I didn’t want to pry too hard, our relationship was still too new for me to press her. ‘Oh, well,’ I thought, ‘she’ll tell me when she’s ready, I guess.’

When I got home that night, it was to an empty house. I knew it was empty the second I opened the door. There’s a feeling, maybe a lack of sound, that lets you know when something is missing, and I felt it immediately. Jake came up to me, and instead of wriggling or jumping on me, he just slunk in, tail between his legs, his head hung down. I reached down and pet him, rubbing between his ears and I said, “What’s the matter, boy? Did you do something you shouldn’t have?”

I started looking around to see if he had had an accident or gotten into something, but nothing was out of place and there didn’t seem to be a mess anywhere. That’s when I saw the envelope on the mantel.

It was addressed to me, and as I took it down from the mantel, I had a feeling of dread pass through me. That feeling did not go away as I unfolded the note from inside the envelope. I read:

“Jonny,

I’m sorry I can’t stay. I have to get this thing with Gina’s father done before I can relax. I hope you understand. I’ll be back as soon as I can, but I’m going to stay up there until it’s done. Please forgive me.

I love you,

Lou”

Well, I did, and did not, understand. Maybe she couldn’t share because of confidentiality, but I wanted to be there to let her know that I would be there, no matter what. I thought about calling her but decided against it. Maybe she needed to figure it out on her own. I’d be here when she got everything straight.

She called Sunday night, just about the time I was getting ready for bed. We spoke for a while, but nothing of any consequence. She said she would probably be done with the problem in a week or so, and she’d be home when it was over. I assured her I loved her, and that was it. She sighed, and I sighed, and we both hung up about the same time. I couldn’t help but think there was something else going on.

The week after Thanksgiving just seemed to fly by. Lou and I spoke a couple of times, but each call seemed a bit short to me. One time, she just said “hello,” and a moment or two later said “I gotta go,” and hung up. I almost thought of calling Tralmark to find out what was going on, but then I thought better of it. If Lou wanted me to know, she’d tell me sooner or later.

Angela, Jenny, and I put our heads together the weekend after Thanksgiving and I found out that the two Ciccorelli’s had the party completely planned out. The party would be at their house the following weekend and all I had to do was bring Lou over. They’d have everyone hide until we came in, and then, “Surprise!”

I thought it was a good plan. I said I had to do more, but they assured me that I didn’t. They wouldn’t even let me pay for anything. Angela put it like this: “If you’re going to be hosting this little hellion for a couple of weeks on your dime while we’re on vacation, Giovanni and I can pay for a little party.” And that was that. Once again, I was out-maneuvered by the women in my life.

My life had slowed down considerably as it always did around Christmas. Naomi and I got everything finished for viewings and the women of the families we had photographed over Thanksgiving gave us rather large orders. I knew the week before Christmas would be very busy getting all of the orders back from the lab, packaged and delivered. I was just very glad everyone seemed happy with the work Naomi and I had done.

Lou finally wrapped things up the next week. When she came home on Friday night, she was exhausted. She ate very little and went right to bed. When I finally got there, Henry, the cat, was snuggled tight up against Lou’s stomach, leaving me no place to snuggle. He glared at me balefully, as if to challenge me. The message was clear: “Don’t disturb either of us, or you’ll get a fistful of claws for your trouble!” I got the message and got in on the edge of the bed very gingerly. As I went to sleep, I could hear the rumble of Henry’s purr.

The next morning, Henry was gone and Lou was sleeping with her back to me. I took the opportunity to scoot over and spoon with her. As usual, she slept in the nude, as did I, and, even though I had the normal ‘morning wood,’ I still got as close to her as I could. She worked her way even closer to me as I wrapped my arm around her. She took my hand away from her breast and placed it on her stomach, then bent her arms to prevent me from fondling her breasts. I was a little confused, and, after a short while, decided to get up and get my day started. She groaned a little as I got out of bed, but otherwise didn’t stir.

I got my shower and dressed. There were a few things I needed to do at the studio, including one straggler teenager, so I started breakfast. Lou came in as I was scrambling some eggs, took one look at it and ran from the room, her hand over her mouth. I turned off the stove and set the pan to the side and followed after her. I found her in the bathroom, leaning over the bowl of the toilet, puking up whatever she’d had the night before.

I knelt beside her, taking her still-short hair and holding it away from her mouth. She heaved a couple more times, but nothing came up and she sat back on her heels.

“Are you OK?” I asked. I know, stupid question, and she gave me the look that said it was stupid.

“No, I’m not,” she answered shortly. “I think I might have the flu. I think I’ll go back to bed.”

“OK,” I said as she started to get up. “I have a session around ten, so I should be home by one.” I paused. “I hope you’re better by this afternoon. Angela wants us over for dinner so we can discuss Jenny staying with us over Christmas break.”

Lou leaned against the doorframe. “We’ll see,” is all she said, then headed back to the bed. Henry came back into the bedroom, jumped up on the bed and snuggled back into her tummy. I could hear his purr from across the room.

I went home early so that I could surprise Lou. I made a couple of stops before I got home, and even though I came in as quietly as I could, Jake barked when I opened the door, then was bouncing all over the place as I came in the kitchen. I spied Lou getting up from the kitchen table where she had her laptop set up. She peered around the doorframe and said, “Hi.”

“Honey, I’m home!” I shouted and pulled the bouquet of flowers I had hidden behind my back. “Happy Birthday!”

She got up, and while she didn’t exactly run to me, she didn’t hesitate, either. She took the bouquet and put her face into the flowers and inhaled deeply. “Oh,” she said, “these are wonderful!” She gave me a big smile. “But my birthday isn’t until Monday.”

“So, I’m early; does it matter?”

“No, but I was thinking you got the date wrong,” she said, her smile wavering.

“Nah,” I replied, “I just wanted you to know I hadn’t forgotten.” I hugged her. “You haven’t forgotten about dinner at the Ciccorelli’s have you? Are you feeling well enough to go?”

She was hugging me but leaned back a little as she said, “I’m feeling much better, now. Maybe a little dinner will be the perfect thing to help me forget about that guy who stole from Gina’s father. He’s in jail, now, you know.”

I shook my head. “No,” I said, “I didn’t realize that. I take it the information you gave Tralmark was enough.”

“Yes,” she said as she broke our hug. “Gina’s dad was not happy, and he swore out a warrant for the guy’s arrest before I left. Now, where do you keep vases?”

I got her a vase big enough for the bouquet and she put the flowers into it. She looked over her shoulder at me and asked, “When are we supposed to be at Giovanni and Angela’s place? I haven’t seen Jenny all day.”

I glanced at my watch. “Well, it’s only three now,” I said, “and they’re expecting us around 6. We’ve got plenty of time to get cleaned up before.”

She finished with the flowers, turned to me and said, “I’m a little tired. How about we lie down for a little, then get cleaned up?”

I thought that was an excellent idea and pulled her down the hallway to the bedroom. I pulled back the comforter and we lay down and snuggled a little. Before I knew it, Lou was asleep, her head on my shoulder. It was a little uncomfortable, but I was soon asleep, also.

I woke up about a half-hour later. I lay there, just watching Lou sleep. She looked so beautiful, so peaceful. I hated to do anything, but I could feel that my arm had gone to sleep because I couldn’t feel my fingers. I gently turned her so that I could extract my arm. The returning circulation made my fingers tingle.

I propped myself up on my arm after it had recovered. I leaned over and kissed Lou, my tongue just painting her lips gently. She smiled a little and I moved a little so that I could kiss her eyelids, then her nose. I was working my way down her neck when I heard and felt her stirring. She was still on her back as I was kissing her jawline and I felt around for the bottom hem of the tank top she wore. I moved it up a bit and moved my face to her stomach and started kissing her there. I was using my tongue lightly and I heard her giggle and she squirmed a little when I touched her belly button.

By this time I was hovering over her. I took the hem of the tank top in both hands, pulling it above her breasts. I leaned in and started kissing her as she wriggled around and removed the top. She then put both hands on my head and pulled, directing me to her right breast. I knew what she wanted and kissed her, using my tongue to lightly lick as I sucked the nipple into my mouth. I heard the hiss of her in-drawn breath and felt her try to push more of that sensitive flesh into my mouth. I used my teeth to gently grip her nipple and I flicked it with my tongue, eliciting another sharply in-drawn breath. I closed my lips over the nipple and sucked and licked on it as much as I could. Not so gently, I gripped her nipple with my teeth and pulled it away from her chest, making the tit into a cone, which I released and then I attacked the other breast, treating it as I had the first. Throughout, I was being manipulated by her hands, directed first to one teat and then the other, back and forth until I heard the keening wail that always heralded Lou’s climax.

I felt her hips moving as I kissed, nipped, and licked her breasts and when Lou came, her butt pushed down and her chest heaved upward, making her back arch as far as it could. Suddenly she collapsed, her arms wrapped around my head, holding me to her chest. Thankfully, her tits were not too large or I might have suffocated!

She took in a deep breath and then shoved me off of her. I flopped to the side and saw her hands were scrambling to remove her jeans. She managed to unbutton the waist button before I was able to regain my knees, but when I did, she was working her zipper down. I grasped her jeans at the hips and pulled downward, and she accommodated me by lifting her butt off the bed. Her ass is one of those that most men would call a “bubble-butt” and the jeans resisted being easily pulled off, but between the two of us, we managed to pull them off of her hips, then down her legs, her panties accompanying the jeans on their journey.

Eventually, we had them off one leg, but the other leg was stubborn and the jeans would not come off. She hissed, “Damn! Leave ‘em,” and pulled on my shoulders to bring me up to her. I started to drop towards her pussy, but she insistently pulled at me, saying, “No! In me! NOW!”

Well, I’m not stupid. A little slow on the uptake, maybe, but I’m not stupid, and when she was that insistent, I gave up my plan to savor her taste and smell, and worked my way up between her wide-spread legs. I took only the time I needed to pull off my pants and underwear, then planted myself where I could do her the most good. I took my cock in my hands and swabbed it around her pussy. I was surprised at how wet she was, and it was obvious by the way she was pushing and pulling at me that she was ready for me to impale her with my cock. We hadn’t made love since Thanksgiving, so I was more than ready.