Chapter 101

The window was open, and we slept in each others arms all night. We were together and we were home.

It wasn't an alarm but a whimper that woke me up at 6:15. Bozo wanted out.

"Jill, your dog needs to go out."

"Jack, take care of it, please. Thank you."

That's how I found myself going out to the landing outside our door in my shorts on that cold October morning. And of course, Bozo couldn't make it down those stairs all by himself. I don't know if they were suddenly too steep for him or if he was afraid he was going to get lost or that he'd be left outside alone. He started his whimpering again. I swear, for such a handsome animal, he was sure being a wuss.

Of course, once I started walking down the stairs, he damned near knocked me over as he tried to run through me. Stupid dog.

He got to the grass next the house and squatted like Queenie. I'd heard that if a male dog was neutered early enough, he'd never learn to lift his leg when he peed. He kind of glanced over at me.

"Yeah, I'm thinking about you. Cut your balls off."

It didn't seem to matter to him one way or the other. He went over to the gate, he and Queenie sniffing each other. I went over and she shifted her attention to me. I reached over and scratched behind her ear.

"Atta girl, Queenie. He can't scratch you, can he? All right, you Bozo. Now that your nose is good and cold, let's go wake up your mother."

No such luck. Jill was already in the kitchen. The coffee was on and she was sticking something in the oven. She still had her nightgown on but was wearing a light robe over it.

"Good morning, Don't we look domestic."

"Hi Jack. I found muffin mix. Coffee's almost ready."

"God. Muffins for breakfast. I could get used to this."

I leaned into her and gave her a kiss. Good. I decided to give her another.

"Have I told you that I love you?"

"Not enough."

"Well, I do."

"I love you too. But you need to brush your teeth."

"Yes, Dear."

I brushed my teeth and called out to Jill.

"Do I have time to take a shower?"

"Please."

I guess that meant I had some time. I turned on the water. It got hot almost immediately. One of the advantages to living right above the water heater. I got in and let the water run on my head. It felt good after being outside. I backed up, picked up Jill's shampoo, flipped up the lid and smelled. Her strawberry. It was a little overpowering, but it brought back memories of how her hair used to smell. Funny what was important to a girl. She'd lit up when she saw that last night. Heck, she lit up when she saw just about everything last night. We were definitely loved. Sometimes I wondered why but I decided it was best not to question it but accept it. And not rock the boat.

I put some of my new shampoo in the palm of my hand and worked it in. Much better than the stuff I'd been buying at Thrifty. Hell, I was making $50 a week now. I could afford this all by myself.

I finished my shower and got out. The towels were huge. Soft and fluffy. I had my back to the kitchen and the towel up to my face when I felt a couple of hands massaging my butt.

"Hello, Big Boy."

"Hello yourself. Watch what you're doing or we won't make it to school."

"Would that be so bad?"

"Yes, it might. They might start to wonder what a fourteen year old girl is doing living with a seventeen year old guy in his own apartment right under his mother's nose and haul you away to a home and throw our parents in jail."

"They wouldn't."

"You wouldn't. And I wouldn't. And our parents wouldn't. But they would. Don't you know that they know what's best for us?"

"Oh, Jack, you're too cynical."

"Right. Tell me that from your new foster home."

"All right. I'll go to school. Hurry up. The muffins are ready."

The muffin tray was on top of the stove. I could see the steam rising from the warm muffins. Jill reached up to the side of the refrigerator and got an oven mitt that was hanging from a hook stuck to the side. One of those magnets with a hook on it. I hadn't noticed it before, but there were two of the mitts, right within easy reach of the oven.

She went over to the table and turned the tray upside down, pounding on the bottom with the heel of her hand. Well, something between tapping and pounding. The muffins fell out onto the plate she had there.

I got coffee and plates while she went to the refrigerator and got butter and milk. We sat down and I grabbed a muffin.

"Good. They don't have those stupid paper things on the bottom. I can never get them off without tearing them. I either take a chunk of muffin off with them or end up chewing paper."

"They make this new thing, now, Jack. It's called Teflon."

"Cool. Isn't it from the same place as Velcro?"

"Yep. Tang, too."

"I don't think they invented Tang for the space program. They just wanted some tasteless drink mix they could send up to make the astronauts want to come back."

"Aah. I didn't know that."

There were lots of things we used everyday as a result of the space program. Stuff we wouldn't want to live without. Now I don't think if a Senator said "Lets spend a couple of gazillion dollars to send people up in a tin can so we can have non-stick cookware and non-zip fasteners" that we'd jump for the chance, but nobody complained that we had them now.