Chapter 21: First Thoughts

"What if I screw up?" she asked in a panicky voice. "Honey, tell Sam to do this. He is the guy who always gets ideas. "I just know if I go to Sacramento, except as a tourist, I'll mess things up royally. Tell Sam to do it."

"Sorry, Chicken Girl," Sam came up behind them. "They want you. I have the thankless task to try to make you look good and not step on your own dick in public."

"She will never step on it," Mark announced, as he smirked at his lover. "I happen to know she does not have one unless she is great at hiding things from me. My lips are sealed on how I come know all this personal information. My lips are sealed." He made a zipping motion.

"What's got into you?" Amanda asked, puzzled. "You were so sweet and innocent and uncomplicated when I first met you. Now you sound like a punk from another world."

"Well, lover girl, when I met you I was an ignorant virgin. Everything from that point on is your fault. I have evolved into a more complex and interesting person, thanks to you." He made a face and wrinkled his nose at her, then laughed at the expression on her face.

The newly installed intercom sounded. "We have a ton of reporters and people with cameras out here. What do I do?" The guard on the front gate sounded nervous.

"Oh hell," Amanda called into the speaker by the front door. "Let them in." She sighed. "Go get your hair brushed while I entertain the troops." She slapped his butt and stepped smiling down off the porch to greet the press.

"Amanda," one reporter greeted him. "What do you say to the fact that nearly ninety-five percent of the people polled pick you as the best replacement for the governor's office?"

"I'd say a lot of people are wrong. I can't be the best there is. I have no experience as a politician and know nothing about governing. I have nothing but contempt for career politicians."

"Does this mean you will refuse the job if you are offered the appointment?" The person asking the question looked familiar.

Amanda thought a moment. Then she remembered the reporter was from a conservative newspaper in Southern Orange County. "No," she answered. "Greta, that's your name, isn't it?" Greta nodded cautiously. "Well, Greta, I am going to accept the job just to piss you off."

The other members laughed as Greta backed away from the front row. "Amanda, what will be the first thing you do when you get to Sacramento?" a news announcer asked. He was co-anchor of a station in San Diego.

Everyone tensed in anticipation as she looked upward as if seeking divine guidance. "I am going to ask the state legislators to form a select committee to look into the dealings of both parties in this state. When the unpopular president of the United States takes time from his busy schedule to smear me and mine and his sock puppet friends all sing in the chorus, something is wrong.

"I have been informed that both parties make deals with each other behind closed doors, like vultures sharing a rotting corpse. I want to find out how much truth there is in that and I pledge five million dollars of my own money toward funding a bi-partisan committee to seek out the truth of these allegations."

Mark came out wearing a new sports outfit with Italian loafers and a silk polo shirt. "Hey, that's our money you're throwing around there, lady. You talk to me before you get so generous. Kiss me." Caught off guard, Amanda kissed him as the reporters cheered.

A radio talk show host from a fundamentalist radio station called out. "You two have been living together without benefit of marriage. Many people do not approve of that sort of living arrangement."

"Hey Dude, did you ever happen to think I don't give a damn what those people think, or even if they can think. If those people don't approve of me and of Mark and our living arrangements, tell them to start a recall petition. I'll sign it first, okay?"

Mark jumped into the breech, "For your information, Amanda is the only woman I have ever been with. Can you say the same about you and your husband? Your precious Jimmy Swaggert chased whores and that loud mouth so-called Reverend Thorney is shacked up with my mother and another woman while my father is in jail. You so-called fundamentalists have way too many skeletons in your own closets to try rattling any in mine.

Amanda interrupted, "Today is Monday. Saturday we plan to get married. If there are no more questions from the hypocrites present, let's get back on subject. Just to stop any other questions about religion, I believe in God. Solomon said something about how only a fool believes in his heart there is no god. He also said something about how he never met anyone that foolish. Makes sense to me. I refuse to tell anyone else how to believe and I demand the same courtesy from others."

A few more questions were asked and answered. Amanda closed with, "If any of you believe in prayer, pray for us during the coming days. We need all the help we can get, no matter where it comes from." She and Mark walked back up the steps into the house. Billy's men closed the gates.

"If there ever was a person who worked hard to piss people off, it has to be you." Sam shook his head.

"I'm hungry. Let's see what we have for lunch," Amanda said. They returned to the house while Billy's men shooed the news people out and closed the gates.

They picked at their sandwiches. "I'm going to take a nap. You coming?" She looked at Mark and smiled that smile. He knew sleep was not first on her agenda.

"Sure Babe, let's go." He stood and joined her as she left the snack bar. The cook gave them an amused look as Mark rubbed Amanda's butt. He kissed the back of her neck and followed her up the stairs.

They undressed and held each other close. He gave her butterfly kisses and tongue flicks from her lips to her breasts and back to her lips again. "Oh Mark, I love it when you tease me like that." He brought his lips to her nipples, first one and then the other. He began to slowly work his tongue down her belly.

He kept licking and teasing until finally she whispered her urgency, "Get up here and do it right. Hurry!" They worked in counter point to each other until she moaned and whispered, "Yes, yes." She relaxed. Mark eased off her a little and stayed inside her as they both drifted off to sleep. When he awoke he was still inside.

Mark felt himself slide out as he rolled away from Amanda's sleeping form. He stretched and lay back again. The movement woke her up. "I certainly do not feel like a blushing bride to be. In fact I feel more like ... Oh god!" Horrified, she rolled out of be, rushed into the toilet and barely positioned her face over the toilet bowl before vomit spewed from her mouth. She finished, washed her face and said, "I feel like I'm pregnant." Haggard eyes stared back at her as she looked into the mirror.

"What's the matter, Hon?" Amanda asked as he came up behind and wrapped his arms around her. Be bent to kiss her, sniffed and wrinkled his nose. "You smell like you just threw up. What's wrong?" he asked in a concerned voice.

"I think I'm pregnant," she told him. "Are you mad at me?"

"Ah," he answered, unable to think of an answer. "Are you sure?"

"Kind of," she told him softly, "I seem to have morning sickness and that usually means the person having it is pregnant. Are you angry with me?"