Chapter 10: The Babysitter

So there I was, ringing the doorbell at the Wilkinson house at seven-thirty sharp. I was freshly showered, and I had shaved off the peach fuzz from my chin. I looked presentable enough in my Chicago Sting jersey. When I rang the bell, I heard the pounding of small, active feet running inside, and the door flew open. Davey and Kip flew out and tried to gang-tackle me on the front steps, very nearly succeeding before Molly came out to rescue me.

"Davey! Kip! You're going to tear him in two! If you will just let him go for a second, he'll come in and play," she said laughingly.

"Sean! I didn't know you were coming over!"

"Sean! We're making popcorn! Come in, come in!"

I let them pull me into the house, and we stumbled into the family room. They were getting ready to watch a movie called The Bad News Bears, and I could smell popcorn popping in the microwave. The boys jumped onto the couch while Molly went into the kitchen to get drinks for everybody, and I slipped the tape into the VCR. Kip and Davey were fighting for supremacy over one of the pillows on the couch, until I finally took it away from them both and plopped down on the floor with it. Molly came in with platter loaded with a big bowl of steaming hot popcorn, and four glasses of ice with matching cans of soda. The boys each settled into a corner of the couch. Molly and I sat next to each other on the floor, leaning back against the sofa. I pushed the button on the remote, and the movie started as we dug in and devoured the entire bowl of popcorn.

After about forty-five minutes, I stopped the movie so the boys could get ready for bed. We promised them that they could watch the rest of it with us, as long as they brushed their teeth and put on their pajamas. They raced each other to see who could be the fastest. Davey, being a year older, ran down the stairs first, reclaiming his corner of the couch. Kip was right behind him, and when they both were settled, I started the movie back up. While the boys were getting ready for bed, Molly and I cleaned up the spilled popcorn and carried the dirty dishes and glasses into the kitchen. Molly rinsed everything off, and I took a dishcloth and wiped down the coffee table in the family room. When the boys came back down, Molly and I sat back down on the floor, our knees and shoulders just touching. By the time the movie ended, Molly had her head resting on my shoulder, my arm was draped around her, and the boys were fast asleep on the couch. We shook them gently awake. Molly and I each accompanied one boy up the stairs and into their beds, tucking them in and turning out the light. We shut their doors and went back downstairs to the family room.

We found a dark, black and white movie from the thirties on some channel and let that play as we sat back down on the floor. I was suddenly very nervous again, unsure of what to do with my arms or hands. Molly turned toward me, looking into my eyes, and I could see that she was just as nervous as I. Oddly, this had a calming effect on me, and I put my arm around her shoulder. She naturally, almost unconsciously, moved closer to me, her face tilted up to me. I lowered my lips to touch hers lightly, softly. Our first kiss was a tender, evanescent moment, experienced by both of us with our eyes wide open, watching each other. Finding no resistance on either part, we kissed again, and it allowed me to savor the fleshy, soft feel of her lips. She reached around to my neck and held me, turning a little more in to me. I reached around her waist with my other hand and held her lightly, undemanding as we kissed, the ghostly images of the old movie on the television playing across our bodies.

We stayed like that for a long time, kissing and nibbling and tasting each other as we hugged, warming slowly and steadily, until we heard a car pull into the driveway. Startled like two deer stranded on the side of a highway, we stared out the window, still clutched together, until the slamming of a car door shook us from our frozen state. We scrambled up, both secretly grateful that we hadn't gotten too carried away in the moment. Hurriedly, we moved to more chaste positions in the family room, ready for Lori to come in the house.

The back door opened, and Lori called out.

"Molly? I'm home."

"Hi, Mrs. Wilkinson," Molly said as she got up and walked toward the kitchen.

Lori stepped into the doorway, and saw me just as I was getting up from a chair. "Sean! I didn't know you were here."

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Wilkinson," said Molly. "I should have told you, but I invited Sean over to watch TV with us. I hope it's all right. I know how much the boys like him, so I thought..."

Lori gave us both an appraising look. Molly was a little flustered, and she was flushed from our hugs. For myself, I was very self- conscious as Lori examined us.

Finally, Lori relaxed a little, apparently satisfied with what she saw. "No, Molly, it's fine, I don't mind. I just wasn't expecting to find him here, that's all. Sean, of course you are welcome anytime," she said, looking at me. "Did you have a good evening?"

"Yes, we did," I said. "We watched The Bad News Bears until Davey and Kip fell asleep. They'll probably be dreaming of baseball and popcorn all night."

"Just as long as they stay dreaming all night," said Lori with a small smile. "I hope they decide to sleep in tomorrow morning, so I can get some rest." She looked around the room absent-mindedly. "Grab your things, and I'll give you both a lift home."

"Oh, no, that's okay, Lori. I've got my bike here, so I'll just ride home," I said.

"And I live on the way, so I'll just walk with Sean, if that's all right," Molly added.

"Are you sure? I really don't mind driving you."

"No," we both echoed. "We'll be just fine," I added as we headed for the door. "Good night, Lori. Hope you're able to sleep in tomorrow."

Molly and I stepped outside. I picked up my bicycle, and we walked down the sidewalk, aware that Lori Wilkinson was watching us until we rounded a corner and moved out of her sight.

We walked slowly toward Molly's house, reluctant to part company. We talked quietly about the upcoming school year, about soccer, about nothing. When we stopped in her driveway, her house was dark.

"It doesn't look like anybody's home," I said.

"I guess not. Heather had a date, and Mom and Dad were going out with some friends, but I thought Josh would be home."

"Maybe he's over at Shayna's," I said.

"Maybe," she said. She looked over at me. "Do you have to go home right away? Or can you come in for a little while?"

"No, I can stay for a little," I said. We walked together around the side of the house. I set my bike down on the ground beside the garage, out of the way. Molly held my hand as we walked around to the back door and went in to her house. Her palms were sweaty, and I could feel just the faintest tremor in her hand.

"We can go upstairs and listen to some music," she said quietly as she led me through the darkened house. We walked down the hall to her room. She opened the door, but didn't turn on the light. Instead, she turned on the light in the closet and closed the door until just a sliver of light came through, keeping the room dim. She walked back to me, and unhesitatingly stepped close to me. She was only a couple of inches shorter than me, so she didn't have to raise herself up very far to put her arms around my neck and press herself close to me. I could feel the soft bulges of her breasts and the sharp tips of her engorged nipples against my chest. As I put my arms around her waist and pulled her close, I felt my cock rise and press against her between her legs. She felt it too, and pressed herself harder to me, opening her legs slightly and trapping me so that the pressure of my erection rubbed against her center as it rose and throbbed.

Our lips came together, but this was no chaste kiss. Our mouths were open, and our tongues snaked out to meet in a wet, sucking, high- pressure contact. I heard a moan, but I couldn't tell if it came from me or from Molly, nor did it really matter. We were both too wrapped up in our sudden incendiary feelings to care much beyond the immediate.

Her hips started moving of their own volition, side to side, creating exquisite contact at our most sensitive places. I was clutching her to me so hard her breasts were squashed against me, but that slight pain only served to increase the release of heat and moisture in her pussy. I could feel her soft hair brushing against my arms and hands as her head moved during our kisses. The combination of sensory signals racing through me created a nearly unbearable pressure in my chest and solar plexus, and animated itself in the throbbing of my painfully hard cock, still trapped between her legs.

Nearly simultaneously, she grabbed at the hem of my jersey while I found the buttons on the back of her halter-top. She pulled my jersey up and off as I raised my arms, and then she reached behind her and practically ripped her own top off, bra and all. Even in the dim light, just before she clutched me to her again, I could see a light pattern of freckles across her chest and down onto her lovely uptilted breasts. She pushed me back, forcing me to step backwards until I felt the edge of her bed against my knees. I sat down when she pushed, and she kept on coming, forcing me onto my back with her on top of me, her lips once more searching for mine. I held on to her with one arm around her, and my other hand moved to find her breast and pinch her turgid nipple. That time I knew that it was Molly who moaned, for her reaction was to reach down and roughly clutch at my straining cock, grabbing it through my shorts and pumping her hand up and down.