Chapter 23

They did eventually eat, still naked, sitting in the cool mountain breeze. And, before they left the glen they made love a third time, finally able to take the time to pay attention to each other's special likes and turn-ons. It was actually Becca who called out that it was time to be heading back. They'd been gone hours and she was afraid that Fran or Val would come looking for them and find them at the wrong time. She and Denny hadn't talked of long term relationships on their side of the tree. She had been insatiable, wanting him in her all the time and taking him in her mouth when he wasn't hard for her. It was too perfect for them both, sharing a closeness that neither of them felt could be any more real. Denny, in his own mind, was already thinking of how soon he could suggest that they "wander by a jewelry store ... you know ... just for fun."

Both women walked a little gingerly on the way back, sore from too much of a good thing, but the kinks were pretty well worked out and they could force themselves to try to walk more normally after a quarter mile. Polly lengthened her steps to come up even with Becca, who was following Denny.

"Your mother is going to skin me alive if your belly swells." she said, not trying to keep the men from hearing her.

"How old was Aunt Betty when she had you?" asked Becca slyly. She already knew the answer. Fran had pointed it out several times.

Polly looked sideways at her niece. "Fifteen, but apparently you already know that."

"Yes, I do," said Becca.

"But you're going to college in a month or so. You have your whole life ahead of you." objected Polly.

"And how old were you when you had Fran?" asked Becca, ignoring the argument.

"Twenty-two ... and ready to graduate from college, I might add," said Polly smugly.

"And when did you meet Roger and fall in love with him?" asked Becca, undeterred.

"I was a sophomore ... nineteen," said Polly. "What does that have to do with anything? Are you telling me you think you're in love with this man?" She pointed at Denny, who kept walking and did not turn around, even though it was obvious he had heard her.

"And why did it take you three years to have Frannie?" asked Becca. "Was it because you were on the pill?"

"No," said Polly doubtfully. "Roger and I didn't ... I didn't know then that he was ... we just didn't do that while we were going out. In fact the night I let him for the first time was the night I proposed to him. I wasn't planning on that. It just ... happened. In fact it happened a lot like today." she said, looking over her shoulder at Brian. He had fallen back a ways, as if he were giving them some privacy.

"But you didn't get pregnant right away," said Becca.

"No, Roger said we shouldn't ... he didn't want to..." She went quiet as, for the first time she processed his behavior during their engagement with new eyes. He had expressed his desire that they not do anything stupid. He had not encouraged her to go on the pill, and had not suggested that he use rubbers. He had suggested that they not make love until they were actually married. He couched it in terms of something so special that he wanted to save it for special occasions. She had thought he was romantic, and only rarely did she get so horny for him that she demanded he make love to her. It was one of those times that she got pregnant. She wondered now if he had ever felt any sexual passion for her at all. It was just as likely that he was passing as a straight man by being engaged. They liked each other and liked spending time together. Lovemaking just wasn't the center of their relationship.

She looked over her shoulder again at Brian. Even though she was sore she wanted to be with him again, already. And she knew that if she stopped and put the blanket down, he'd take her again, right there on the trail. She knew she liked him as a person, even though she didn't know that much about him, and she was sure they would have fun doing things other than making love together, even if she didn't know what those things were. In a sense, it didn't matter what they were. She just knew it would be fun doing almost anything with him. His humor made any situation fun. His seriousness made him seem dependable. Her relationship with him, after two dates, was disturbingly richer than anything she had ever had with Roger.

She looked back at Becca, who was walking along silently.

"So doesn't he have anything to say about this?" she asked, nodding at Denny.

"Hey, Corporal!" said Becca loudly. "What are you gonna do if you knock me up?"

He stopped and turned. His face was quite serious.

"Will you marry me?" he asked.

"What?" Becca stopped so quickly she stumbled.

"I asked you if you would marry me. Right now. Today." he said.

"I can't do that," said Becca, horrified. "Denny I hardly know you. You can't ask a girl a question like that without at least talking about it first! That's silly!" She looked confused.

"You asked me a pretty silly question." he said, his voice level.

"I was joking." she said, her voice going higher. "You haven't knocked me up."

"How do you know that?" he asked, still serious.

"Because it's the wrong time of the month for anybody to knock me up," said Becca.

"Famous last words," said Polly.

"You're serious!" said Becca to Denny, not sounding too happy.

"If you're serious enough to let me do what we just did, unprotected - I should have asked you first and didn't ... that's my fault - but if you're serious enough to let me do that with you, then I have to be serious about what will happen to you, and my roll in that."

"I was just having fun." objected Becca.

"I take that very seriously," said Denny. "I could be a father right now because you didn't think seriously about the consequences of what we just did. I can't believe you would do that Becca."

Becca stopped. He was angry and she was hurt. Her eyes filled with tears.

"But..." She was at a loss for words. "Please don't be mad at me." she finally finished.

Denny walked up to her. He seemed to tower over her. "If I've made you pregnant I'm going to want to marry you. That will be our child, and I'll not want to be left out of it. If you don't think you could be happy that way, then we shouldn't see each other again."

"Hey, Denny, cool down buddy," said Brian, stepping forward.

"How can I cool down?" he asked. "You know how I feel about children. I want to make children with the woman I love and who loves me ... who will stand beside me and stay with me as those children grow up. I want to choose the woman who bears my sons and I want her to choose me."

"Did you tell her that Denny?" asked Brian patiently.

"No," said Denny. His face screwed up and then it looked like he might cry. "I think things got out of control, somehow."

Becca's mind was whirling. She knew she liked Denny. She knew she liked being around him, and the way his mind worked. He was exciting and interesting ... a man. She thought about him leaving and never calling her again and something twisted up inside her. Like Brian, she had never really been in love with anyone ... didn't know what it felt like. But now, the idea that he might go away mad made her want to die. The only thing she could think of to do was what she did when her cousins were mad at her.

"Can we talk about this?" she asked.

Denny looked down at her. She couldn't decipher what was in his eyes.

"Please?" she asked. "I don't want you to be mad at me. I understand what you said, and I'm not pregnant, but that's not the point. I don't want to be without you. Please don't just go off and leave me and never come back. I'm sorry."

"Was it just ... fun ... for you today Becca?" he asked.

"I've never done this with anyone before." she said, meaning a romantic walk in the woods that turned into a sex fest of astonishing dimensions.

"You were a virgin?" asked Denny incredulously. She was too accomplished a lover to have never had a man before.

"No, that's not what I meant." she said. She was frustrated now. "Only one other man has ever touched me. He was more of my teacher than anything else. And I love him, but not in the way you're talking about. All I know is that I never wanted to do what we did today with any other man ... not like it was today. Does that make any sense?"

"I don't understand," said Denny mournfully.

"Have you ever been in love with a girl?" asked Becca.

He nodded.

"And why aren't you with her now?"

"It didn't work out." he said. "But what does that..."

"Does that mean your love wasn't real?" she asked.

"No." he said shortly.

"I don't know if I love you." she said. "I'm not sure what love is, except that I felt it for that one man. He's not available to me and never will be, but I love him just the same. I feel something different for you, just as strong ... but different. The point is that I don't just go out and do this with anybody. You're special somehow. I don't know if that means I love you or not, but I do know this. If you leave here and don't ever see me again I'll just curl up and die Denny. I can't imagine dating other men, or letting them do to me what you did today."

"You're in love sweetness," said Polly reaching out to touch her. "You have all the signs." Part of her mind was whirling, trying to figure out who Becca's "teacher" was. Her niece's situation was more important though, and she shoved those thoughts aside.

"But how can I be?" moaned Becca. "I hardly know him!"

Polly turned to Brian. "Does this conversation sound familiar?"

He grinned. "Yup, you're in love Becca. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. I mean Denny's surely no catch, but I think you have it bad for him."

His attempt at humor didn't go over very well. Becca shot him a murderous look and then she looked surprised and then she looked shocked. She turned to Denny.

"What if they're right?" she asked, panic in her voice. "What if I really do love you?"

Denny rolled his eyes. If this was what dating a younger woman was like he wasn't sure it was a good idea any more.

"You're asking me?" he grumped. "I don't even know how to feel about it if you're pregnant."

"I'm not pregnant!" shouted Becca. "Won't anybody listen to me?"

"You sure better not be," said Polly under her breath.

"And what about you?" Becca turned on her aunt. "You were doing the same thing. Are you on the pill Aunt Polly? Is Val? Is anybody?"

Before Polly could even answer she turned on Brian. "Are you going to marry her if you knocked her up?!"

It was a rhetorical question, but Brian thought things had gone way too far already.

"Yes." he said firmly.

Becca had taken another breath to say ... she didn't know what she was going to say ... but she was going to say ... something ... and his answer took her breath away. He looked dead serious.

"Really?" she squeaked.

"Yup," said Brian. Polly was looking at him as if she didn't believe what she was hearing either. "We're gonna have a whole baseball team." he said, as if it were the most normal thing in the world to say.

"That's not what I said," said Polly. "As I recall, I told you I didn't think I had a whole ball team left in me."

Brian waved. "I have faith in you." he said airily.

Polly put her hands on her hips. "If you think I'm going to be barefoot and pregnant for the next nine years you got another think coming, buster!" she said hotly.

"Okay, okay, just two or three then," said Brian, giving up way too easily. "Can we start now?" He reached for his zipper.

Polly blushed at being teased so blatantly. "I thought you were being serious with me back there."

"I was." he said, pulling her to him. He gave her a serious kiss.

When he pulled his lips from hers, Polly pushed him away. "I thought you said you didn't know." she accused him. "Where did all this come from?"

"Watching her," said Brian, nodding toward Becca. "She's like a young colt, frisky and not caring about anything, just loving life and everything in it. You're more like a thoroughbred race horse, full of passion, with a love to run the race. It just occurred to me that you make me feel like a stallion. I like that feeling. So, if I have to knock you up to get to see more of you, I'm game."

"You do not have to knock me up to see more of me," said Polly, disgusted.

"Well, it was getting too serious around here. We're a fun bunch, us four. And if it stops being fun then ... well, it won't be any fun. So everybody lighten up. Becca's not pregnant, and Polly's not pregnant, and we'll be more careful in the future and everybody will be all happy."

He was the only one who was completely upbeat about it, but he did lighten the mood. As they walked the rest of the way Becca took Denny's hand, and he squeezed hers.

"I'm really sorry." she said.

"Never mind." he said. "We'll have a nice long talk about it next time we go out. For now, just try to act normal. Your mother is like a polygraph. She'll be asking all kinds of questions and I don't want either of us cracking under the stress."

"So you don't hate me?" asked Becca in a little girl voice.

"I don't do that with women I hate." he growled. Then he leaned over, put his shoulder in her stomach and lifted her like she was weightless. As she squealed and giggled and fought he carried her back to the cabin.

Behind them Polly gave Brian a searching look.

"You better watch what you say there, little boy." she smiled a grim smile. "What would you do if I accepted your erstwhile proposal?"

"Hmmmm." he said, gripping his chin with his thumb and forefinger. "Knowing women, and knowing your situation, I'd have to say I'd do my best to get you showing nice and public like before you could get loose from Roger and get a wedding planned. I've always had a yen to watch my pregnant fiancé walk down the aisle toward me." He grinned.

"That could be why you haven't had any fiancés," said Polly. But she smiled.

Other than remarking on the fact that they'd been gone for a long time, no one seemed to notice anything odd about the two couples. Even if they would have, it probably wouldn't have been discussed. Fran was bubbling over with the news when Becca was carried into the cabin.

"Guess what!?" She waited a split second and went on. "Aunt Gidget is going on a date with Grandpa!"

Of course Polly and Becca hadn't been there, or heard what had happened. All Becca could think about was how grandpa had told her about how only the girls' mothers hadn't done anything with him ... yet. Her recent induction into the joys ... and perils ... of being a fully sexual woman hadn't yet settled into something she could fully wrap her mind around. And now ... her mother was going to go on a date with the man who had taken her own virginity!? Her joy at Denny's apparent willingness to forgive her selfishness ... her casual attitude about something that meant so much to him ... was suddenly assailed by a mental image of her mother's kicking legs, and Bob's bouncing buttocks between them. At the same time, she was aware on a completely different level that her Aunt Polly had, just that afternoon, found something joyous and exciting, something she deserved ... that every woman deserved to have in her life.

In short, she had no idea how to feel about that statement. She sat down suddenly, unable to keep her knees stiff enough to stand on them.

If Polly would have had a chance to reflect on her own life and actions this past couple of weeks, she would probably have raised an eyebrow and said "Good move sis. You need to get out and do things." But her recent exploits hadn't had time to sink in, either, and her reaction was typical for the woman she had been these past few years instead.