Chapter 4

I didn't, as it turned out, leave right away. Gertie's lust seemed to be sated by what we had done. She wanted to cuddle and talk. Whether it was her propriety, or just habit, she straightened her clothing. I did too, and we sat on the love seat while she asked me question after question about all sorts of things. She was starved for information on the real world, outside their little safe enclave in the farm house that was now surrounded by that real world. She wondered what school was like, and what my apartment was like. I thought about inviting her over, but I knew what would happen if I did, so I let that thought lie. We talked about what the "normal" relationships were like between men and women I knew, and I told her how close I had come to taking her virginity.

"I wouldn't have minded, you know," she said, her jaw jutting out a little.

"There is quite often pain the first time," I said. "I felt your hymen with my fingers, and it will tear the first time a man enters you."

"As good as all that felt, I don't think a little pain will bother me," she said confidently.

"Talk it over with Millie," I suggested. "She's been through it."

"Millie doesn't want me to ever grow up," she said. "She treats me like a little girl." She bit her lip. "Maybe I'll just move away from here. You know, get a job and find out what life is like. Maybe go to school like you."

I thought about her 'schooling', and the fact that she didn't even have a GED. As far as I knew she had never been enrolled in any public school at all. When she ran up against the bureaucracies that lay in wait for her they would crush her.

"It's not as easy as just walking out the door and finding a job and all that," I said. "Your life has been very very different from that of most people out there. They won't understand that you're intelligent, and capable. And there are a lot of men out there who wouldn't treat you very well."

"You could help me," she said hopefully. "You've been very nice to me."

I was saved from having to make any promises that I might not want to keep by the return of Mildred and Hiram. Both looked relaxed and were smiling. Hiram said he needed to do something outside and walked out the door. Millie stood looking at Gertie and I, but didn't comment at all on how close her sister and I were sitting. Instead she walked over and touched my shoulder.

"You have changed our lives Bob. I cannot thank you enough."

"Aw shucks... it weren't nothing," I quipped.

"It was everything," she said sternly. "It's like Hiram and I have awakened from a very bad dream, to find that the world is safe and comfortable, and a wonderful place to be in."

"I told you sex was an important part of marriage," I reminded her.

"It isn't just the sex!" she said, blushing. "Though I have to admit that I like that part a LOT better than I used to. I don't know how to explain it, but now I know that Hiram LIKES me." She didn't seem to know what to do, and went to her chair and sat. "What did you two do while we were... talking?"

"He made me feel wonderful," said Gertie effusively. "Did it hurt when Hiram took your virginity?"

Mildred looked slightly astonished. "You didn't do THAT did you?"

"He wouldn't," said Gertie, pouting a little. "But I want him to. Did it hurt?" she asked again.

Mildred looked at me with something in her eyes that was hard to read.

"It was awful," she said. "It has always been awful." She looked slightly surprised suddenly. "Until Bob came into our lives. Now it isn't awful at all." She looked at me again. "That's what I mean. You've changed everything. We even TALK to each other while we're... talking. I told Hiram what I wanted and he LISTENED and he told me what HE wanted and it was just so different. I just can't describe it!"

"I'm glad your life is better," I said.

"You don't understand!" she said excitedly. "I actually HAVE a live now! Hiram wants to take me someplace. He wants to eat more pizza. We didn't' know. We didn't understand ANYTHING! Everything is so different we don't know what to DO!"

She looked at her sister. "And YOU!" She slumped. "We've ruined your life too."

"No you haven't," said Gertie calmly. "I'm perfectly fine. I'm going to do things differently than I did before, but I still love you Millie. You just did what you thought was right."

"But you want to have SEX!" moaned Millie. "And part of me says that's horribly wrong, except another part of me knows now what that can be like and I WANT that for you too, and I just don't know what to do any more." She was obviously distraught.

"Millie," I said. She looked at me. "Look, a lot has happened in a short amount of time. You don't have to do anything right now. You're financially secure, and you have new things in your life. Just think about them until you feel comfortable with the changes. Then you can try something else new and explore as much as you're comfortable with. You have lots of time. You don't have to make a ton of decisions right now. Gertie's a big girl, and you don't have to make decisions for her either. Tell her what you think, but let her make her own decisions."

Then I turned to Gertie. "And you have to understand that sometimes your decisions won't be the best ones, and you might be unhappy with what happens. When that happens you just have to learn from the mistakes and try to make better decisions in the future. You don't need to be in a hurry to experience everything you want to do. You have lots of time too."

I sat back. I felt strange. I really wanted to help these people, not that I'm a do-gooder or anything. They had just had a strange and tough way of living, like the jungle boy who is brought to America and doesn't know how to act. They would have made a good case study for a sociology project all by themselves. At least until I came along and changed things for them.

Hiram came back in, beaming.

"I just talked to our neighbor!" he announced proudly. "His name is Chuck."

"Whatever did you talk about?" asked Mildred.

"Privet hedge," said Hiram with some satisfaction. "He likes our hedge and would like to do something to make his yard look a little less bare. I'm going to help him plant."

That started a conversation that eventually led to them wanting to go out and do something. They didn't know where to start and asked me to take them somewhere. Since I had no idea what they might enjoy, I decided to set a date for a game of miniature golf. I thought that might be pretty safe, and anybody could learn to putt.

We did that the following Saturday afternoon, followed by ice cream at Baskin Robbins, which blew them away, followed by dinner at McDonalds - Gertie insisted - followed by a shopping trip to the mall. That was a mixed success. They didn't like the crowds, but the women looked at clothing they had never taken the time to peruse before, and made several purchases. Lingerie like that they had seen in the movie was high on their list. Mildred bought her first pair of slacks, and both women bought blouses and skirts instead of one-piece dresses, which was all I had ever seen them wear.

I made the mistake of taking them to a club, which was a complete disaster. The music was too loud, and there were too many people. Their clothing didn't fit in, and they didn't care for alcohol.

By the time we figured all this out - about ten minutes - and left, it was getting late, but they didn't want to go home. The lights and activity of the city street invigorated them. So we decided to take in a movie at an actual theater.

That blew them away too. With speakers on all sides of them "Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade" just about left them comatose. It was also their first movie that contained gratuitous violence. When we straggled out of there, they were gorged with the outside world. Hiram had spent more money that day than he'd spent in the previous six months, but he was happy. He couldn't wait to see Mildred in her new undies.

That was interesting too, because Mildred insisted on modeling for both Hiram and me. She said it was my doing that had resulted in her decision to widen her horizons, wardrobe-wise, and that I was "family" now. All she had gotten was a pair of high-rise panties and matching bra, but they were sheer and lacy and feminine and even without makeup she looked great.

That, of course, led to Gertie modeling HER choices, which were similar to her sister's, but then there were TWO women prancing around in nearly nothing, and both of us male types responded.

And THAT led to another cuddling session, and it took place right there in the living room, right in front of each other. When Hiram took Millie's bra off and began to slurp at her breasts, Gertie felt permitted to do the same thing. It was a little uncomfortable for me initially, because I kept looking over at the other couple, waiting for them to react.

But they didn't. They were too wrapped up in each other and what they were doing. They were like teenagers at a drive-in who aren't aware that someone is looking in the window. Still, their newfound sense of freedom would only let either of the women go just so far "in public" so to speak. Gertie wanted me to do the same thing I had done to her the last time, but not in front of her sister, so she pulled me up and toward her bedroom. That made me a little uncomfortable too, because I knew if she got me in bed, I was going to plumb her depths.

"Where are you going?" asked Mildred's breathy voice.

"To my bedroom," said Gertie simply.

Millie struggled up and out of Hiram's embrace. She looked good standing there in only panties, her nipples spiked.

"You're sure about this?" she asked, concern overlaying her breathlessness.

"I want to feel what I heard through your door," said Gertie.

"Ohhhhhhh" moaned Millie, agitated because of her emotions about a number of things, not the least that she was ready to go to bed too. "Let me be there," she finally said. "To make sure everything is all right."